Builds what
comes next.

Founder mindset. Operator discipline. Executive leadership.

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Career Highlights

The numbers tell the story.

Four venture-backed companies founded. Three exits (so far). One venture arm built from scratch inside a Fortune 500.

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Years building businesses
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Venture-backed companies founded
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Successful exits (so far)
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Capital raised · IVP, First Round, GV, SV Angel
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Exits from 27 AOL Ventures investments
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DPI at AOL Ventures · ~24% annual return
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AOL Local revenue scaled in 18 months
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Roam customers across 40+ countries
Why Jon Brod

Most executives pick one lane.
Jon has won in four.

Entrepreneur, intrapreneur, general manager, and venture builder — a combination that compounds.

🚀

Entrepreneur

  • Founded four venture-backed companies
  • Successfully exited three
  • Raised $43.5M+ across ventures
🏀

Intrapreneur

  • Launched NBA Canada, Raptors, Grizzlies
  • Founding teams: WNBA & NBA Store
  • Founded AOL Ventures inside AOL
📈

General Manager

  • P&L ownership, startup to Fortune 500
  • Built and led organizations of 1,000+
  • Scaled revenue from zero to $50M+
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Venture Builder

  • $30M deployed across 27 companies
  • 22 exits · 3.8x DPI · ~24% annual return
  • Built AOL Ventures from inception
"Most effective where the destination is clear but the path is not."
Venture Experience

Three decades of building.

Click any chapter to expand.

Roamro.am ↗
2020 – Present
Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer

Venture-backed workplace technology platform — 1,000+ customers across 40+ countries.

  • Scaled from zero to 1,000+ customers across 40+ countries; 0.7 K-Factor product-led growth
  • Led growth, customer acquisition, partnerships, and go-to-market from inception to first 1,000 business customers
  • Established market position within the future-of-work sector
  • Supported $40M capital raise, including a $30M Series A led by IVP
+ Details
Confide Acquired by IACgetconfide.com ↗
2014 – 2020
Co-Founder & President

Privacy-focused communications platform used by millions of consumers worldwide.

  • Built to profitability with millions of global users across multiple revenue lines
  • Launched ScreenShieldKit — expanded into B2B enterprise software and licensing
  • Authored two patents; raised $3.5M from First Round Capital, Google Ventures, and SV Angel
  • Led the company's successful acquisition by IAC
+ Details
AOLaol.com ↗
2009 – 2013
Co-Founder & President, AOL Ventures · President, AOL Local

Founded AOL's internal venture arm; led the local media business through growth and transformation.

  • AOL Ventures: $30M invested across 27 companies — 22 exits, 3.8x DPI, ~24% annual return
  • AOL Local: scaled revenue to $50M in 18 months; built and led an organization of 1,000+ people
  • Led acquisitions and integrations of TechCrunch and The Huffington Post
+ Details
Patch Acquired by AOLpatch.com ↗
2008 – 2009
Co-Founder & CEO

Local news and community platform; founded and led sale to AOL shortly after launch.

  • Co-founded from inception and led the company from zero to acquisition by AOL
+ Details
Earlier Career
1999 – 2008
Polar Capital · IAC · Ask Jeeves · Excite Network

President & COO, SVP/GM, and first-employee COO & CMO roles through two acquisitions.

  • Polar Capital Group — President & COO (2006–2008)
  • IAC Consumer Applications & Portals — SVP & GM; built $50M business via direct and white-label channels (2005–2006)
  • Ask Jeeves — SVP (2004–2005), acquired by IAC
  • Excite Network — first employee; COO & CMO; grew to $40M revenue, managed $100M marketing budget (1999–2004)
+ Details
National Basketball Associationnba.com ↗
1993 – 1999
Marketing, Media & Licensing

Founding teams for five of the NBA's most significant expansion initiatives during a transformative decade.

  • Established NBA Canada; launched the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies — the league's first international franchises
  • Founding teams for the WNBA and NBA Store
  • Final role: Special Assistant to NBA President & CMO Rick Welts — at the center of league strategy, growth, and partnerships
+ Details
Select Media
Jon Brod on Mad Money with Jim Cramer
CNBC · Mad Money

Demonstrating Confide to Jim Cramer on-air

▶ Watch on YouTube
Jon Brod on CNBC Squawk Alley discussing iOS 10
CNBC · Squawk Alley

"Confide President: iOS 10 Quite A Big Release"

▶ Watch on YouTube
Jon Brod on Bloomberg West
Bloomberg West

"Confide: The Snapchat-Like App for Executives"

▶ Watch on YouTube
Jon Brod and Henry Blodget on CNBC Squawk Alley
CNBC · Squawk Alley

With Henry Blodget on tech giants, social media & misinformation

▶ Watch on YouTube
Leadership Philosophy

High standards. High trust.
High transparency.

High Standards

Clarity around what great looks like. Hire exceptional people, establish accountability, and build cultures that reward performance and continuous improvement.

High Trust

Give talented people ownership, not just tasks. Empower decision-making, minimize bureaucracy, and create environments where people do the best work of their careers.

High Transparency

Share context broadly, communicate openly, and explain the why behind decisions. The strongest organizations understand both the mission and the strategy.

Act Like an Owner
Default to Action
Obligation to Dissent
Be a Pro
Relentlessly Restless
Win Together
Take Fun Seriously
Background

The rest of the story.

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Bowdoin College

B.S. History & Government · Graduated Cum Laude · James Bowdoin Scholar · 1989–1993

🗂️

Board Director

Online Publishers Association · 2010–2013

🎺

Chart-Topping Ska Band

Trumpet, percussion and backup vocals for a ska band that hit the charts in England.

AI Lab · Live Demo

First Serve.
An AI agent that hunts tennis courts.

Manhattan's public courts book out in minutes. So I built an agent with Claude that scans three NYC Parks facilities on a smart schedule — every 15 minutes each morning as fresh inventory comes online, with afternoon check-ins for cancellations — diffs the results, and pings me the moment a slot opens, each one a single click from the official booking page. This is its live output.

Scanning… Open Prime
01 · ScanA Claude agent drives a real browser through nycgovparks.org on a smart cadence — every 15 minutes at dawn when new slots drop, plus afternoon sweeps — extracting the full 7-day grid for all three venues.
02 · DiffEach scan is compared against the last. New openings — with weekday evenings and weekends flagged prime — trigger an instant alert.
03 · BookEvery slot links straight to its exact reservation page; a companion autofill completes the form. One click left: payment.
The Next Chapter

Let's build something enduring.

Leading and growing a media, sports, or technology business with the resources, brand, and runway to create long-term enterprise value.

✉️ jonbrod@gmail.com 📞 646.831.5893 📍 New York, NY