Accomplished Executive Joins Startup as COO: BotProof LLC Poised for Growth Under Dynamic Leadership

April 29, 2009 - PRLog -- Salt Lake City, UT: In the midst of a a challenging economy, joining a startup may not seem like the safe choice for an accomplished tech industry executive - but the timing and the opportunity seem like a perfect match for Tim Brown.

Brown, who has two decades of experience in strategic business management, specifically in e-business strategy, business operations, product development, and new market development, recently joined BotProof as Chief Operating Officer.

“I like the idea that a small team of creative individuals can still dream of changing the world. Here two developers created a better CAPTCHA -- something that everybody in the world sees every day and HATES because they are so hard to read. It was a good fit between what they had in place – an innovative idea and technology - with what I could bring in terms of experience starting companies, creating pragmatic business and product strategies, ramping up operations, and ultimately attaining funding to fuel growth.”

A software development company that has evolved from founder and CEO Jason Koziol's development of a more effective CAPTCHA into a business innovation platform leveraging its intellectual property to meet compelling market demands and opportunities, BotProof’s primary mission is to provide software-based certainty solutions to e-businesses, enterprises, and individuals: certainty for e-business that transactions are emanating from humans and not unwanted automated programs; certainty for enterprises that untrusted computing resources can still be utilized for secure business processes; certainty for individuals that on-line resources and interactions are indeed what they appear.

"Tim Brown is a perfect management complement to our company,” says Koziol. “He brings exactly the experience with the business realities of launching a startup that we need. With his help, we should be able to provide both an effective solution for our customers and an exciting business opportunity for investors and partners."
Based on patent-pending intellectual property, the company has developed a CAPTCHA-based platform and point solutions that ensure transactions and interactions are, in fact, completed by humans and not automated programs known as “bots.”

“The company's flagship product, CAPTCHA 2.0, has proven effective at screening out bots and is far easier for humans to read,” notes Brown. “This was made possible by the singular focus of the management and technology team to create working prototypes backed with protection of the IP via the patent process.”

Brown's immediate focus will be to drive revenue to grow the company and sustain further R & D. He is especially excited about the applications of the product outside the current use of CAPTCHAs as tests for humans versus spam bots.

“AdEmbed is very powerful,” he explains. “Not only are we creating new ad inventory for publishers, it's premium - a site visitor must look at the CAPTCHA, thus must look at the ad. And, we own that real estate unlike the banner ads that surround a page that can be populated with ads from any given ad network.”

Prior to joining the innovative young firm, Brown distinguished himself in the technology sector with senior management roles for several successful startups and mature businesses including serving as CEO of iTOKhelp.com, Vice President of Strategy and Operations at DirectPointe, Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief Technology Officer at Mstar.net, and as Senior Consultant at Diamond Management and Technology Consultants, a business strategy firm working for such clients as Visa USA, Visa International, Dana Commercial Credit, Ben Franklin, and US Cellular.

Noting that the company's corporate structure is a model of cost effective new millennium workplaces, Brown explains, “We work virtually. I've never met any of the team! Anthony's in Gainesville, Fla.; Jason in Illinois; Sante in Colorado; and me in Salt Lake City.”

Brown received his M.S. in Telecommunications and his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Married for 10 years with two young children, Brown also has a diverse non-technical background that includes teaching mathematics and computer science at a private boarding school in Steamboat Springs and English in China, coaching soccer, running a mountain biking program and leading trips abroad. He is an avid skier and mountain biker.



***BotProof provides software-based certainty solutions to e-businesses, enterprises, and individuals: certainty for e-business that transactions are emanating from humans and not unwanted automated programs; certainty for enterprises that untrusted computing resources can still be utilized for secure business processes; certainty for individuals that on-line resources and interactions are indeed what they appear.

BotProof: Think outside the bots!

Executive Staff Bios:

Jason Koziol, Founder and CEO
Jason Koziol has more than 12 years of commercial software development experience at SAP AG including architecture, user interfaces, database management systems, high-performance graphics and device drivers. In addition, Jason has significant experience developing multiple products based on artificial intelligence concepts such as neural networks and genetic algorithms. Jason also has more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience with a number of startups, including technology consulting and commercial software design with Trading System Consulting, Double Helix Software, and Campbell Software.

Anthony Koziol, Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Anthony Koziol has more than 10 years of experience in commercial software development, project management, and systems analysis. Anthony is an accomplished software innovator with multiple patents pending. In addition, Anthony has more than five years of experience with small, dynamic companies during or shortly after their startup phase. Anthony received his Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from the University of Florida in 1999.

Tim Brown, Chief Operating Officer
Tim Brown has more than 18 years of experience in strategic business management, specifically in business strategy, business operations, product development, and new market development. Prior to BotProof, Tim served in senior management roles for several successful startups and mature businesses, including as CEO of iTOKhelp.com, VP of Strategy and Operations at DirectPointe (iTOK’s acquirer), and SVP of Operations and CTO at Mstar.net. Tim was also a senior consultant at Diamond Management and Technology Consultants, a business strategy firm working for such clients as Visa USA, Visa International, Dana Commercial Credit, Ben Franklin, and US Cellular. Tim has a B.A. in Mathematics and M.S. in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Sante Suffoletta, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development
Sante has 17 years professional experience in sales, marketing, business development and operations with 11 years concentrated in technology fields. Sante began his career in high-tech with Level 3 Communications in 1998 where he led project teams responsible for planning and deployment of their entire Eastern U.S. soft switch network. In 2001, Sante moved to Qwest Communications where he has held high level roles in sales, operations and business development targeting both wholesale and enterprise markets.

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About BotProof LLC:
Industry: Online advertising and security
Brief Description: BotProof is a company that has created a more effective, easier-to-read CAPTCHA that also enables publishers to incrementally monetize their site with premium ad inventory. Applications of BotProof products and services benefit indivduals, businesses, government, and enterprise in terms of online security, advertising solutions, and ease of use to the general public.
Number of Employees: 10
Website: www.BotProof.com