As long time friends, Alexis and Alexandra knew that they would always create something innovative together. For Alexis and Alexandra, the question was never “if” but rather “when.” Alexis returned from the West, her proving ground was Silicon Valley as a founding member of eBay, while Alexandra hailed from the East coast, blazing a trail up 5th Avenue with tenures at both Bulgari and Louis Vuitton.
However, it was not until 2007 that their plans coalesced, the stars aligned and Gilt Groupe was born. Bringing complementary strengths, interests, and areas of expertise proved the perfect combination. Alexis and Alexandra set out to take the New York invitation only sample sale “on the road” via the Internet superhighway; they made what was once accessible to New Yorkers, accessible to the country. With the launch of Gilt Groupe, ecommerce met fashion and your closet breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Susan Lyne
Chief Executive Officer
Susan spent more than two decades as a media executive before joining Gilt
Groupe in September 2008. Most recently, she served as president and CEO of
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO), where she led the company's recovery
and return to profitability. During her tenure, MSLO significantly expanded its
merchandising business, launched a successful new content website, and
diversified its brand portfolio with the acquisition of chef Emeril Lagasse's
company.
Before joining MSLO, Susan spent eight years at Disney/ABC, rising to president
of ABC Entertainment, where she oversaw the development of shows such as
Desperate Housewives, Lost, and Grey's Anatomy. Prior to her role as president,
she ran the network’s longform division, fielding a schedule of original movies
and miniseries that regularly dominated the ratings and earned numerous awards,
including a Peabody, Golden Globe, Humanitas and multiple Emmys. Susan’s early
career was spent in the magazine industry. She was managing editor of New Times
and the Village Voice and, in 1987, created and launched Premiere magazine. The
Wall Street Journal named Susan one of its "50 Women to Watch" in 2006. She is
a director of CIT Group and serves as a trustee of the New School and the Posse
Foundation.
Susan can be reached at sl@gilt.com
Carl Sparks
President and Chief Marketing Officer
Carl served as general manager for Hotels.com USA and Canada while it was the
second-largest operating unit of Expedia Inc. and had nearly $2 billion in
annual bookings. Prior to leading Hotels.com, Carl was the chief marketing
officer for Expedia.com, where he was responsible for driving a $10 billion
revenue business by leading the areas of brand strategy, creative development
and marketing communications. Carl has also served as vice president of direct
business and brand at Capital One, where he helped develop the business through
direct marketing, new product development and brand strategy. He has also
served in senior marketing and strategy roles at Guinness, PepsiCo, and Boston
Consulting Group. Carl graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and
received his MBA with Highest Distinction from Harvard University.
Carl can be reached at carls@gilt.com
Alexis Maybank
Founder and President Premium Products and Services
Alexis has dedicated her career to building and launching innovative and compelling ecommerce experiences for consumers. In 2007, Alexis became a founding CEO of Gilt Groupe, working to expand the company's sales categories from women's brands to include lifestyle categories such as sporting goods, home decor, children's apparel and luxury travel services. Prior to founding Gilt Groupe, Alexis served as general manager and business development director for AOL's ecommerce businesses. In 1998, she became an early member of the eBay team, where she helped launch the company's first strategic planning group and also launched eBay Canada, which grew to become Canada's largest ecommerce business. She later helped found eBay Motors, which grew to over $2.5 billion in gross sales and continues to be the largest category of goods sold on eBay today. Alexis holds a BA and MBA from Harvard University.
Alexis can be reached at am@gilt.com
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson
Founder and Chief Merchandising Officer
Alexandra brings more than 12 years of international experience in the luxury-goods, retail and finance sectors. Most recently she managed retail operations at Bulgari, overseeing 15 stores throughout North America. Prior to working at Bulgari, Alexandra managed Leather Goods Sales Planning for Louis Vuitton North America. Alexandra began her career working as a consultant for retail guru Marvin Traub at Financo Inc., and in investment banking at Merrill Lynch. Alexandra speaks five languages, holds a BA and MBA from Harvard University, and is a native New Yorker.
Alexandra can be reached at aw@gilt.com
Michael Bryzek
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Michael brings to Gilt Groupe extensive experience in developing user-focused
Internet software and a deep passion for leveraging technology. Prior to Gilt
Groupe, Michael founded Volunteer Solutions, an Internet-application service
provider for the philanthropic sector. Volunteer Solutions was acquired by
United Way of America in 2001. Michael then served as chief technology officer
for United eWay, the United Way of America's technology subsidiary. He holds a
BSc and Masters in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Michael can be reached at mb@gilt.com
Jennifer Carr-Smith
Chief Operating Officer
Jennifer brings to Gilt Groupe 15 years experience in operations, finance and
strategy for retail and technology companies, including eight years in start-up
ecommerce operations.
Most recently, Jennifer oversaw finance and operations for Ralph Lauren Media.
Before Ralph Lauren, she was senior director of operations for Drugstore.com.
Jennifer started her career as a consultant for Accenture and as an analyst for
Gartner Group. She holds a BA in Economics from Brown University and an MBA
from Harvard University.
Jennifer can be reached at jcs@gilt.com
Melanie Hughes
Chief Human Resources Officer
Melanie joins Gilt Groupe with more than 20 years of experience in human
resources, organizational development and change management in the technology,
finance, consumer goods and retail sectors. Most recently, she was the
president of Org4Change, and prior to that, she was the senior VP of HR for
Coach. Melanie has also served as the senior VP of global human resources at
DoubleClick, and she set up the European recruitment programs for Guinness PLC
and Swiss Bank Corporation. Melanie holds a BSc. Honors from Brunel University,
London, and an M.B.A. from INSEAD in France. In her spare time, she dedicates
herself to not-for-profit education and leadership-training programs.
Melanie can be reached at mh@gilt.com
Peter Glusker
Head of Business Development and International Operations
Peter joins Gilt Groupe after having served as a senior executive at a
number of leading media and technology businesses. Most recently, Peter was the
CEO of Latina Media Ventures LLC, and previously served as senior vice
president of the Viacom Digital Media Group and the CBS Internet Group. Earlier
in his career, Peter served as Senior Vice President of Content Programming
& Business Development at Prodigy Inc., and also held positions at the
International Finance Corporation, Bain & Company and First Boston. Peter
has served on the boards of numerous public and private digital-media
companies, including SportsLine.com, iWon and MarketWatch. He holds a BA from
Wesleyan University and an MBA from Stanford University.
Peter can be reached at pg@gilt.com
Jyothi Rao
Vice President & General Manager, Women's
Jyothi Rao brings to Gilt Groupe extensive experience in the retail sector with
a focus on merchandising. Most recently, she served as a senior vice president
and general manager at Calvin Klein, where she launched the Specialty Retail
division. Prior to that, she spent 16 years at Gap Inc., where she held several
leadership positions and was responsible for aggressively growing both the
regular-price and outlet businesses for Gap and Banana Republic. Jyothi, who has
resided in Africa, India and Europe, also helped Gap International succeed in more
than doubling its sales in Japan, France, the U.K. and Canada. She was educated at
the University of Texas at Austin.
Jyothi can be reached at jr@gilt.com
Nathan Richardson
Vice President and General Manager, Men's
Nate began his career in Citibank's Emerging Markets Group and his online
experience at dotBank, the first viral peer-to-peer payment platform. After the
company was sold to Yahoo!, Nate rose to become the General Manager of Yahoo!
Finance, leading the business to the top spot in the online finance space and
earning a No. 1 ranking from Institutional Investor. From there, he headed up
Dow Jones’ online businesses, including WSJ.com, Barrons.com and Marketwatch.
Most recently, Nathan was the CEO of ContentNext Media, where he oversaw the
sale of the company to Guardian News & Media. Nate holds degrees from
Babson College and Georgetown University and sits on the board of Preview
Networks and on the advisory board of Tile Financial. He served as a Peace
Corps volunteer in Senegal and recently took a sabbatical to be the country
director for the International Rescue Committee's Liberia Program.
Nathan can be reached at nr@gilt.com
Stefan Pepe
Vice President and General Manager, Home
Stefan joins Gilt Groupe after a decade of experience at Amazon, where he
served in a variety of key leadership roles, including Director of North
American Books and Magazines, Amazon’s largest category to date. Before its
acquisition by Amazon in 1998, Stefan worked in marketing and business
development at PlanetAll.com, and prior to that, in marketing at Zip2.com.
Stefan holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BA from
the University of Vermont.
Stefan can be reached at sp@gilt.com
Kevin Ryan
Chairman
Kevin is one of the leading Internet entrepreneurs in New York's Silicon Alley.
Over the last three years, Kevin has started six New York-based businesses,
including Gilt Groupe, Business Insider, ShopWiki, Panther Express, 10gen and
Music Nation. Kevin helped build DoubleClick from 1996 to 2005, first as
president and later as CEO. He fostered DoubleClick's growth from a 20-person
startup to a global leader with over 1,500 employees.
Currently, Kevin serves on the board of Human Rights Watch, the NYC Investment
Fund and INSEAD, and is a member of the Yale International Council and the
Council on Foreign Relations. He has served in the past on the boards of the
Direct Marketing Association, the Ad Council, Hotjobs and on the Advisory Board
for Doctors Without Borders. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A.
from INSEAD.
Kevin can be reached at kr@gilt.com
Nick Beim
Investor and Board Member
Nick is a General Partner at Matrix Partners, one of the leading venture
capital firms in the United States. His work at Matrix focuses primarily on
Internet and software companies. In addition to Gilt Groupe, his investments
include TheLadders.com, Care.com, Sparkroom, OatSystems and JBoss. Prior to
Matrix, Nick advised a variety of technology companies on strategic,
operational and financial issues at McKinsey & Co and Goldman Sachs.
Nick serves on the board of Endeavor, a non-profit organization dedicated to
helping entrepreneurs in developing countries, and is a member of the Council
on Foreign Relations. He graduated from Stanford University and holds a masters
of philosophy from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar.
Nick can be reached at nbeim@matrixpartners.com
