Jason Kulpa
Chief Executive Officer
Jason drives the vision of Underground Elephant's business, technology, and products road-map. He is responsible for high level business alliances, strategic partnerships, and defending Underground Elephant's market position. Jason brings over twelve years of web traffic monetization experience, spanning multiple product and industry channels, to Underground Elephant as Chief Executive Officer.
Underground Elephant is San Diego’s 2011, #1 Fastest-Growing Private Company, and twice voted Top Ten Best places to work, according to the San Diego Business Journal. Jason was awarded the Most Admired CEO Award by the San Diego Business Journal in 2011, and is a Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year semi-finalist. He is also a member of the Young President's Organization, and avid supporter of the San Diego Humane Society, and the San Diego State University Athletics Department.
Jason attended Northern Arizona University, before graduating from Arizona State University's School of Letters and Sciences, with a degree in Business Communication. Currently Jason is attending Harvard Business School's Executive Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
William Huff
Chief Financial Officer
William has over 30 years of experience in the financial industry and has been the CFO of First Interstate Financial Services, the Travelers Acceptance Corporation, and Family Fitness Centers. In his experience, he has taken companies public and has been responsible for the development of highly successful financial instruments. In addition to joining the Underground Elephant team, William owns a business and tax consulting firm in San Diego.
His leadership has advanced corporate entities into multimillion-dollar operations with successful growth in high-potential sectors. He has been a key resource in the creation and growth of start-up companies throughout the business industry.
Taryn Lomas
Senior Vice President, Strategic Accounts
Taryn serves as the Senior Vice President of Strategic Accounts. Seasoned in sales, marketing, advertising, and business development, she clearly executes the vision of the company. Taryn has been recognized for multiple awards, including the SDBJ’s Women Who Mean Business Award and the Stevie Award for Women in Business. Taryn has carved her way into digital marketing and lead generation industries through her aptitude, tenacity and hard work.
Prior to Underground Elephant, Taryn was the Marketing Director at National Powersport Auctions. She graduated from The School of Letters and Sciences at Arizona State University, with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies Degree in Business and Communication.
Keola Malone
Senior Vice President, Technology
As the Senior Vice President of Technology, Keola is responsible for establishing the foundation for Underground Elephant’s technology systems. Keola has helped to develop and implement the core proprietary software which has been the backbone to the Company’s technical operations. By overseeing the development of new technology iterations, he works closely with the team in order to continually optimize platform features and functionality.
Keola was recognized as a finalist for SDBJ’s IT Executive of the Year Award for his outstanding vision and leadership of his department. He has a comprehensive background in information technology, systems support, and mass communications.
Mike Norman
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Mike, Senior Vice President of Marketing, is responsible for developing, growing, and maintaining the Company’s revenue generation process at Underground Elephant. Using his vast knowledge of the industry, he manages and directs the Marketing Department, including the Search Engine Marketing, Social, Display, Business Intelligence and Design teams.
Mike spearheads all marketing initiatives and streamlines production operations so that management expectations are carried through each stage of development. He is responsible for assessing the profitability of current and future verticals and has successfully launched the marketing team into the education, automotive, mortgage and insurance verticals. Mike graduated from Purdue University with an emphasis in Business.
Michael Herndon
Senior Vice President, Products
Michael is responsible for growing the company through expansion of current capabilities and targeted acquisitions. Michael brings over 20 years of product monetization experience spanning contextual advertising, games and web applications to his role as Senior Vice President, Products.
Michael joined us from Sambreel Holdings where he launched and managed several of their most successful web applications. Prior to Sambreel, Michael owned the refactoring of Digital River’s game monetization suite, integration of an acquired virtual currency company, and key client relationships. Additionally, Michael designed Sony Online Entertainment’s first virtual currency system and has also been a featured speaker at game and monetization conferences. He has a Bachelor of Science Business Administration, Finance from San Diego State University.
James Riebel
Vice President, Business Development
As Underground Elephant's Vice President, Business Development, James is responsible for driving the Company into new markets, expanding their presence in current verticals, and leveraging it's current position in the space to fuel explosive growth. James manages the Company's Sales, Account Management, and corporate business development initiatives across a broad spectrum of vertical markets.
James joined Underground Elephant from InsuranceAgents.com in 2012. During his years with InsuranceAgents, James helped fuel the growth of a two time INC 500 company by building Insurance Carrier relationships, and growing and maintaining a base of 5,000+ Insurance agent customers. Since joining Underground Elephant, James has successfully guided the Company into the Insurance vertical, managed their operations in the New Car space, and is leading it's re-entry into the Mortgage Industry.