Until recently, Don was the Vice President and General Manager of the Americas and Advertising for Skype. In addition to driving Skype’s growth in the region, he managed the launches of multiple new advertising revenue streams globally. He was one of the company’s longest-serving execs, having come to Skype shortly after eBay acquired the company in 2005, and remaining through the recent agreement by Microsoft to purchase it.
Prior to Skype, Don spent 4 years at eBay, where he and his team formed partnerships with marketers. He was recognized in 2004 as a Marketer of the Year by Promo magazine for his team’s innovative marketing partnerships. Prior to joining eBay, he held senior management roles at several leading Internet and media companies, spanning marketing, advertising sales, and business development. He was Sr. VP Marketing and Sales at synchronization technology startup fusionOne. Prior to that, Don was Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales and E-Commerce at rich media pioneer PointCast.
He led early efforts in online classified and directory advertising at AOL’s Digital City, where he was head of ad sales and marketing, and at washingtonpost.com, where he was SVP of Advertising Sales and part of the launch team. Don’s online experience dates back to 1989, when he was an e-commerce manager and the national ad sales manager at Prodigy. He was a charter member of the Internet Advertising Bureau, and was a founder and Vice Chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association.
In addition to his Internet experience, Don has held senior marketing roles at several leading media companies. He has served as Director of Marketing and Sales Development for both Sports Illustrated and Newsweek magazines, and held various sales and marketing management positions at the New York Times. Don holds a BA in Politics from Princeton University, and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
