Corporate resources, support resources and contact information.
Dean Hantzis, Co-Founder, CEO
Dean's passion lies at the intersection of technology and human connection. He has over 20 years of web, mobile and cloud development experience. Having held leadership positions at three start-ups reaching public exits, Dean is primed for a fourth. He holds a BS in Information Technology from Boston College and holds a Master's degree in Information Technology Management from Brandeis University. Dean also served as an adjunct professor at Boston College for over a decade.
"Innovation lies at the intersection of art and science."
James Gray, Co-Founder, Advisor
James has served as CEO and Co-Founder at four Boston-based tech companies in the last 15 years, and has held numerous product design, marketing, and operational roles in startup ventures over the past 25 years. James has a BA from Gettysburg College in Economics and a MBA from Boston College.
"Don't find fault, find a remedy." - Henry Ford
Mary Hirtle, Chief Financial Officer
Mary has over 23 years of financial leadership experience in entrepreneurial technology companies. Her broad experience and knowledge assists companies in all aspects of finance. As a proactive leader, she brings a great focus and integrity for results oriented, venture capital based businesses. She has extensive experience in achieving operational efficiencies through technology, process improvements and best practices, and centralized accounting functions. Mary obtained her MBA from Curry College with a 4.0 GPA. She is also a Certified Public Accountant and Registered Investment Advisor.
Vasili Hantzis, Development Operations
Vasili is an automation engineer with over 15 years of progressive experience. His processes employ a significant cost savings strategy by reducing downtime while improving the platform’s efficiency through the implementation of cutting edge technology. Vasili holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Thanos Pantazis, Advisor
Thanos Pantazis has over 25 years of expertise in the scientific and technology startup community. His career started as a scientist for Amptek Inc., which produced satellite instrumentation for the US Air Force and NASA. Amptek produced x-ray detectors which revolutionized the analytical instrumentation landscape and other products that analyzed lead in paint, toxic materials in toys, and rocks and soil on the surface of Mars as part of the Pathfinder Mission.
As Managing Director, he sold the business in 2011 to a private equity group and then again to Ametek Inc. in 2014, an S&P 500 corporation, for a total of 200M. After 25 years with Amptek/Ametek, Thanos retired from his then current role as President, having grown Amptek by 85% and maintained a profit margin close to 50%. He began investing in start-ups and serves as a scientific advisor and board member for a number of technology-centered businesses. Thanos most recently became President of a start-up in Quantum Computing in the Boston area. He holds a B.A. in physics with a minor in art history and archaeology from Cornell University.
Sarah Morgan, Product Strategy
Sarah brings with her more than 18 years of experience in the software industry. She has run the gamut from web development to product management at both industry leading enterprise companies and small, scrappy startups. In addition to her current role as a Sr. Product Manager at EverTrue, she is a featured speaker at Product School where she regularly shares her experience and innovative approach to building successful products and solving hard customer problems creatively and elegantly. Sarah holds a BS in Computer Science, a Masters of Science in Innovation from Northeastern University, and an MBA also from Northeastern.
Damon Jones, Design Strategy
Damon Jones is a Boston-based Creative Director with an expertise in User Experience Design. His work and oversight span a variety of mediums, from web to print, with a primary focus being native mobile apps, including wearables and Apple TV. He holds a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he also received a MassArt design award. Damon's work has received awards and accolades from Yahoo tech, Money.com, Forbes magazine, and in 2015 he received a Gold Stevie® Award for Integrated Mobile Experience of the Year: Fidelity Mobile® for Apple Watch.
Ryan Williams, Security Strategy
Ryan Williams has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, with the last 10 years supporting organizations through merger and acquisition transformations. Over the years, Ryan has built and lead large high performance teams focusing on site reliability engineering, devops, cloud engineering, corporate IT services and security and compliance. Ryan is currently the VP of Cloud Operations at Frontline Education, a leader in the education industry. Prior to that, Ryan held leadership positions at Energy Services Group, Cvent and Marchex. Ryan holds a BS in Biology from Siena College and MBA from Northeastern University.
Irene Theodore, Advisor
Irene has over 30 years of experience as an operationally oriented financial executive in the high technology manufacturing industry. Most recently, Irene directed the financial operations of AMPTEK, an X-Ray Instrumentation manufacturer whose product was selected to perform rock and soil analysis on board the Sojourner Rover on Mars. She brings a track record of delivering financial and operational results in both private and publicly traded companies, including executing mergers and acquisitions and driving value through successful investor exit. Irene holds a BS in Computer Information Systems and a MBA from Bentley University.
Emily Taylor, Legal Advisor
Emily is an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP specializing in representing start-up companies like Tapple. She advises founders and companies on early-stage formation and strategy, debt and equity financings, M&A transactions, public offerings, securities law compliance and corporate governance. Emily received her BA from Yale University and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
Scott Kliger, Advisor
Scott Kliger is a serial entrepreneur who has started and sold three companies for more than $150 million. A renowned innovator, Scott was the founder of LeadsToday which pioneered the use of big data analytics in the residential real estate market; Jingle Networks, the company that created the 1-800-FREE-411 service which saved Americans more than $1 billion in 411 information charges; Narrative Communications which created Enliven and invented rich media advertising on the Internet. Scott was named by InformationWeek as one of the four people who would change the future of the Internet. Prior to starting his entrepreneurial pursuits, Scott held senior technical positions at Lotus Development, WordPefect and IBM, and earned a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Adam Zaks, Advisor
Adam Zaks has over 20 years of experience in Business Development & Sales in the Boston SaaS community. Adam was one of the first 100 employees at HubSpot, which after a successful IPO in 2014, now employs over 4,000 people with offices in 9 countries. As Head of West Coast Sales, Mid Market, and a five-time President's Club award winner, Adam has been an integral part of HubSpot's growth over the past decade. Professionally, Adam enjoys working closely with businesses of all sizes to fuel their growth through inbound marketing strategies. Personally, Adam loves spending time with his family, seeing live music, and is a committed fundraiser for The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Adam received his BA in English from the University of Vermont.
Kima, Public Relations
Kima is our PR specialist. She started as an intern but has quickly moved up the ranks with her positive attitude and sweet smile.
In 2017, our inventor left his comfy tech job to solve one problem: how can technology help us build richer, real life experiences?
While some saw a growing divide between technology and human interaction, he saw an opportunity to build a bridge. Our goal is to turn fantasy into reality for small and large business owners, empowering consumers to "meet" the makers of a bag, join an event, purchase a piece of artwork, or simply checkout of a hotel, all without opening an app or making a call.
Tapple is extremely powerful yet wonderfully simple, and can deliver nearly any kind of message you can imagine, anywhere your audience is located, instantly.
Our service offers relief from immeasurable marketing efforts by making your communication accessible anywhere, and simultaneously gathering data on when, where and how often your message is accessed.
Want to change your message based on the weather or an upcoming holiday? Now you can. Go ahead, pinch yourself.
Tapple hit the market for public consumption on January 1st, 2019. We are humbled to say that just a few months later, we became proud partners with several landmark Boston organizations including hotels, museums, and community organizations. We're helping them move from mass marketing to smarter messaging, and we'd love to do the same for you.