Governance

Chad Steelbergis a co-founder of our company and has served as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board since our inception in June 2014. From January 2007 to December 2012, he served as a board member of Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc., a technology and marketing services company. Prior to that, Mr. Steelberg served as the general manager of the Audio Division of Google Inc. from February 2006 to February 2007. From February 2002 to February 2007, he was the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of dMarc Broadcasting, an advertising company that was acquired by Google Inc. in 2006. Prior to that, Mr. Steelberg was the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Adforce, a publicly traded centralized independent ad-serving company that was acquired by CMGi in 1999.

Chairman of the Board

Jeff P. Gehl has served as our director since May 2017. Since 2001, Mr. Gehl has been a Managing Partner of RCP Advisors, a private equity firm he co-founded. Mr. Gehl is responsible for leading RCP’s client relations and fund-raising activities, as well as its relationships with private equity fund managers in the Western United States, and he also serves as a member of the investment committees and advisory boards of various funds in which RCP is invested. Prior to co-founding RCP, he was involved in a number of private equity-financed companies, where he held senior positions in finance and operations. In addition, Mr. Gehl founded and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MMI, a technical staffing company, and acquired Big Ballot, Inc., a sports marketing firm. Mr. Gehl received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California’s Entrepreneur Program, where he received the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 1989.

Member of the Compensation Committee

Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee

G. Louis Graziadio, III has served as our director since August 2016. Since March 1990, Mr. Graziadio has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Second Southern Corp., the managing partner of Ginarra Partners, L.L.C., a closely-held company involved in a wide range of investments and business ventures. Mr. Graziadio is also Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Boss Holdings, Inc., a distributor of consumer goods. From August 2016 to June 2018, Mr. Graziadio served as the Executive Chairman of Acacia Research Corporation, a leading patent licensing firm. From 1984 to 2000, Mr. Graziadio served as a director of Imperial Bancorp, the parent company of Imperial Bank, a Los Angeles-based commercial bank acquired by Comerica Bank in January 2001. Mr. Graziadio, and companies with which he is affiliated, are significant shareholders in numerous private and public companies in a number of different industries. Since 1978, Mr. Graziadio has been active in restructurings of both private and public companies, as well as corporate spin-offs and initial public offerings. Mr. Graziadio previously served as a director of True Religion Apparel, Inc., a publicly traded premium clothing company, from May 2005 until its sale in July 2013, and as a director of World Point Terminals, LP, a previously publicly traded company which owns, operates, develops, and acquires terminal assets relating to the storage of light refined products and crude oil, from August 2013 to August 2017. In addition, Mr. Graziadio is a member of the Pepperdine University Board and the Board of Visitors of the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. He is also a founding member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Fire Department Scholarship Fund.

Member of the Audit Committee

Member of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee

Knute P. Kurtz has served as our director since June 2017. Until his retirement in June 2016, Mr. Kurtz was the Managing Partner of the Orange County office of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”). During his ten years in that role, Mr. Kurtz was responsible for leading all important market facing activities on behalf of PwC and overseeing the delivery of assurance, financial/tax and advisory services to public and private clients in the market. He was a member of PwC’s senior leadership for the Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas cluster of offices and also served as the Market Leader for PwC’s Private Company Services practice in that region. Prior to his role in the Southern California market, Mr. Kurtz served in various other leadership positions with PwC over a career that spanned 38 years and six offices throughout the United States. His professional experience includes serving as the lead advisor and audit partner to public and private clients in a number of different industry sectors and companies as diverse as Fortune 500 companies to high tech start-up entities. In addition to financial/audit services, he has extensive experience in capital market transactions including initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions and debt offerings. His client work has also included advising audit committees and senior management on matters pertaining to corporate governance, risk assessments, internal controls and strategic initiatives.

Chair of the Audit Committee

Member of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee

Nayaki R. Nayyar has served as our director since October 2018. Since July 2020, Ms. Nayyar has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer of Ivanti, a leading supplier of enterprise IT security solutions. From October 2016 to July 2020, Ms. Nayyar served as President of Digital Service and Operations Management at BMC Software, Inc., a leading enterprise software solutions provider. Prior to joining BMC Software, Inc., Ms. Nayyar served as General Manager and Global Head of the Internet of Things (IoT) division of SAP SE, a leading provider of enterprise application software, from January 2016 to October 2016. She joined SAP SE in 2011, holding the positions of Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, from March 2011 to December 2011, and Senior Vice President, SAP Cloud, Customer Engagement, from January 2012 to December 2015. Ms. Nayyar also served as Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Enterprise Architecture and Application Services, at Valero Energy Corporation, an international petroleum company, from August 2000 to February 2011. Ms. Nayyar currently serves on the board of directors of Corteva, Inc., a publicly traded agriculture company, and on the board of directors of Tech Data Corporation, a privately held technology distributor. We believe that Ms. Nayyar is qualified to serve on our Board due to her technical expertise in enterprise cloud software and IoT technologies, and her extensive experience in leading large teams in complex global organizations through acquisitions, technology transitions and growth phases, which provide valuable insight to our Board with respect to our technology and growth strategies.

Member of the Compensation Committee

Ryan Steelberg is a co-founder of our company and has served as a director since our inception in June 2014 and as the President of our subsidiary, Veritone One, Inc., since June 2015. In March 2017, he was also appointed as President of our company. From October 2007 to December 2014, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Steelberg served as the Head of the Radio Division of Google Inc. from February 2006 to February 2007. From September 2002 to February 2007, he was the co-founder and President of dMarc Broadcasting, an advertising company that was acquired by Google Inc. in 2006.

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Richard H. Taketa has served as our director since May 2019. Since September 2018, Mr. Taketa has been President of Taketa Capital Corporation, a private equity investment and consulting company. Previously, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of York Risk Services, Inc. (“York”), a leading provider of technology-enabled, integrated insurance services to the property and casualty insurance industry, from January 2014 to September 2018, and served as Chairman of York’s board of directors from October 2014 to July 2017. Prior to becoming CEO at York, Mr. Taketa served in a variety of capacities including as the President of Commercial Business, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. Mr. Taketa joined York in 2006 upon its acquisition of Southern California Risk Management Associates, a regional provider of third-party administration services to insurance companies, where he had served as Chief Executive Officer since 2004. Prior to that, he was a co-founder and managing director of Eventide Capital, a small private equity firm, after working as a corporate securities lawyer with DLA, a global law firm and in various public policy roles with non-governmental organizations in Washington, D.C. Mr. Taketa currently serves on the board of directors of Palomar Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded provider of property catastrophe insurance, and has also served on the boards of directors of several privately-held companies and charitable organizations. He was named an Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017 for the State of New Jersey. He has been a recurring guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is a member of the California Bar Association, inactive status. Mr. Taketa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University and a law degree from Stanford Law School.

Member of the Audit Committee

Chair of the Compensation Committee