WordStream Leadership

WordStream Management Team

The WordStream management team has a proven track record of developing and marketing innovative, scalable, and productive software solutions to markets worldwide.

[1]Ralph Folz [1] is WordStream's Chief Executive Officer. Ralph joined WordStream's board in August 2009 and was elected the company's CEO by the Board of Directors in August 2010. He has an extensive background in the digital marketing space, including founding and subsequently selling Molecular Inc., an interactive Web design and marketing agency. Folz spent the last two plus years as Global Chief Operating Officer of Isobar, one of the largest digital marketing agencies in the world.

As CEO Ralph is responsible for developing WordStream's product and business direction as well as playing a key role in business development and in overseeing the company's day-to-day operations.

Visit Ralph on LinkedIn. [2]

Larry Kim [3] is WordStream's Founder and Chief Technology Officer. Larry founded the company in 2007 and secured a Series A venture capital investment from Sigma Partners in August 2008. In September 2008, he stepped down as company president and CEO to focus on marketing and product management. Larry is currently responsible for defining WordStream's product direction and features.

Larry has a background in software engineering, software product management, and product marketing (including SEO and PPC), and he has authored four award-winning books on software development. He is also a frequent writer and speaker in various search marketing forums and events. Larry received a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (with honors) from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada.

Visit Larry on LinkedIn. [4]

Kristen Yerardi [5] is WordStream’s Vice President of Customer Success. Kristen joined WordStream in November of 2010 to build a world-class client services organization through developing training modules on the product, providing ongoing support materials, and ensuring our internal processes deliver efficient and effective resolutions to client issues. Kristen has led teams as large as thirty-five and as small as four throughout her 15-plus years of focusing on delivering exceptional experiences to customers.

Visit Kristen on LinkedIn. [6]

Will Eisner [7] is WordStream’s Vice President of Product. Will is responsible for defining WordStream’s product direction and making sure that WordStream’s products continue to delight and benefit our customers.

Will joined WordStream in February 2011, bringing 14 years of software industry experience to WordStream. Previously, he held strategic product roles at Awareness, Inc., a social marketing software startup, Palm, Inc., maker of Treo and Pre smartphones, and Rational Software Corporation.

Patrick Heath [8] is WordStream’s VP of Engineering. Patrick is responsible for leading WordStream's engineering team, delivering high-quality products and driving innovation. Patrick strives to build high performing teams committed to delivering new technology at a rapid pace while maintaining a high level of quality for end users.

Prior to joining WordStream, Patrick worked at Isobar, where he supported numerous clients, building custom solutions across ecommerce, content management, social and mobile projects. At Isobar Patrick played a number of key roles including Managing Director, Executive Technical Director, and SVP Client Partner.

Visit Patrick on LinkedIn. [9]

Jason O'Hare Jason O’Hare [10] is WordStream’s Director of Inside Sales. Jason is responsible for sales operations and new client acquisitions. He is a passionate leader whose goal is to grow WordStream into an industry leader by providing the best entry experience possible for every new client.

Jason has over a decade of experience building sales organizations in online software companies. At Pictage Inc., Jason led the company from a few hundred clients to become the leader in online image hosting and e-commerce for professional photographers. When not studying up on everything PPC, Jason can be found playing a guitar or on the ski slopes.

Visit Jason on LinkedIn. [11]

Laura Taylor [12] is WordStream’s Vice President of Acquisition and Experience Design. On any given day Laura can be found fine tuning WordStream's very own PPC campaigns, generating powerful email marketing campaigns and landing pages and continually evolving our website.

Laura is responsible for the entire journey of a prospect from arriving at our website, to providing tools for a prospect to consider our platform, to purchasing, and ultimately starting their relationship with WordStream. She is passionate about making all WordStream's touch-points world-class and on brand and to elevate WordStream products and offerings to a best-in-class user experience.

Visit Laura on LinkedIn. [13]

Christopher Butts [14] is WordStream's VP of Finance. Chris joined the company in March 2010, bringing maturity and discipline to the finance department as well as the company. As VP of Finance, Chris is responsible for all aspects of the company's finance and accounting functions, including financial reporting, budget, forecasting, treasury, etc. Chris has experience building finance and accounting teams at companies who went on to experience tremendous growth.

Prior to joining WordStream, Chris spent two years at Virgin Money building their finance department. Chris received his Masters in Accounting from Stonehill College in 2000.

Visit Chris on LinkedIn. [15]

WordStream Board of Directors

WordStream's board consists of individuals who have founded, built, and grown successful technology companies.

WordStream Advisory Board

WordStream's advisory board is a team of seasoned business-to-business leaders that will help position WordStream for continued growth in the search engine marketing space.

Carol Meyers, Chief Marketing Officer at Rapid7 – Meyers joined Rapid7 in 2011 as CMO, leading the marketing team to drive Rapid7 into the next phase of its development. She brings extensive marketing and sales expertise and proven success in driving technology companies to growth, including delivering more than $1.5 billion in market value for investors through three IPOs.
Chris Litster, Vice President & General Manager, Constant Contact – Litster, who has been with Constant Contact since 2006, currently runs the company’s newly formed Event Marketing Business Unit. Previously, he was responsible for overseeing the web strategy and business group, a cross-functional/multi-skilled organization focused on driving Constant Contact's web experience.
Janet Holian, Chief Operating Officer Gemvara – Prior to joining Gemvara in 2011, Holian spent 11 years at VistaPrint, in roles including president of European operations, executive vice president and chief marketing officer. She is passionate about helping early-stage companies define and prove their business model.