About Dogasaur
Josh Abrams, Founder and CEO
A lifelong passion for dogs and their welfare inspired Josh to create Dogasaur.com in 2008. As CEO of Dogasaur, Josh has final approval over all product, marketing and design decisions. After graduating with a B.A. in American Studies from Drew University, Josh spent 10 years working in the book publishing, sales and media/public relations fields. Despite his success at these endeavors, Josh sought a way to use his media relations and communication skills in a more personally fulfilling way that would also help others. He then pursued his longtime interest in dog training by working under the tutelage of professional trainer Steve Diller and earning a certificate from Mercy College in Westchester, NY, which at the time offered the only professional dog trainer program in the U.S. affiliated with an accredited university.
Soon after, Josh joined Canine Companions for Independence, a national not-for-profit organization that trains and then places highly-skilled service dogs with people with physical disabilities. In his time at CCI, Josh trained nearly 100 service dogs. During training classes he taught participants handling skills as well as how to incorporate their new working dogs into their lives as a whole. Josh also served as the CCI Participant coordinator for the entire Northeast region of the U.S., managing the applicant, candidate and graduate program.
After leaving CCI and moving to Florida with his family in 2005, Josh ran his own dog training business, Top Spot Canine Academy, LLC, serving Southern Palm Beach County, before devoting his time in full to Dogasaur.com. Josh lives in Boca Raton, FL with his wife, two sons and their Silky Terrier.
Steve White, Chief Operating Officer
Steve is a web services and e-commerce veteran. Steve oversees Dogasaur's business operations including sales, marketing and communications. Prior to Dogasaur, Steve was President of eWorks Interactive, a successful new media marketing agency he started in 2008. While at eWorks, Steve focused on developing and launching start-ups and helped build Dogasaur from its inception.
Steve also held leadership roles at top internet services companies; Layered Technologies, Affinity Internet, NTT Verio and Web.com. Steve holds a bachelor's degree from Arkansas Tech University and resides in Boca Raton, Fl with his wife, two children and their two Rhodesian Ridgebacks.
Alex Cobb, Chief Financial Officer
Alex is a partner with IWP Wealth Management, a family office. Before joining IWP, he was a senior equity analyst with Fidelity Investments, where he managed the technology and energy segments of the Fidelity Small Cap Opportunities Fund. Prior to that, Alex was an equity analyst for the Raptor hedge fund at Tudor Investments in Boston, responsible for the technology, media and transportation sectors.
Before that, Alex covered the software and Internet industries in the Equity Research departments of Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan. A CFA charterholder, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Alex lives outside Boston with his wife, two daughters and their Golden Retriever.
Erlend Wilhelmsen, Business Development
Erlend came to the US from Norway in 1995. He's started three companies and helped raise equity for four ventures. During the first dot-com boom, Erlend founded and raised seed capital for Studystar – a Facebook for international students.
In 2001, he Founded Fabric Interactive – a successful interactive shop with offices in Los Angeles and New York. As CEO of Fabric, Erlend has headed up more than 100 interactive marketing projects. Fabric clients include IKEA, Porsche, Subaru, JC Penney, Yahoo!, Kelloggs, Nintendo, and Hachette Filipacchi Media. In addition to Fabric, he's the Co-Founder of Viking Digital Media and Director of Business Development for Dogasaur.
Erlend holds a degree in Media and Communications from the University of Oregon and is a semi-frequent speaker on Internet marketing at the University of California Los Angeles. He lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles, with his wife, son, and Shanti – his American Staffordshire Terrier.
Russell Smith, Innovator
Russell Foltz-Smith is a respected business development executive, technical leader and product innovator. He is a veteran of new media, online advertising ventures and search engines. His career involves a series of successes in the rapid development and explosive growth of innovative interactive experiences.
Over a 10 year period, Russ has launched more than 75 web products with several key market valuation successes. Many large venture capital firms and established media companies turn to Russell for early stage company development and/or M/A activity. Russell's experience includes key leadership roles with Wolfram|Alpha, Citysearch/IAC, Business.com, AlphaMediaGroup, Hachette Filipacci, PureVideo and other engineering and strategic engagements with Yahoo!, SupplyFrame, eHarmony, Reunion.com/MyLife, and American Greetings.
Outside of strict business pursuits, Russell actively researches and writes about learning theory, human behavior, mathematics and economics. He holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago. He lives in Venice, CA with his wife and two daughters.
Ryan Nash, Editor
Ryan Nash has worked in the online interactive industry since 2001 writing, designing, producing and project managing for a variety of clients in industries ranging from new venture startups to big advertising with brands such as Porsche, Subaru, ELLE and IKEA. Prior to joining Fabric Interactive, Ryan founded his own web design company working with clients like Troublemaker Studios and the Austin Film Society.
As the Editor and Producer at Dogasaur, he is responsible for all content and functionality that makes it onto the live site.
Ryan received his Bachelor of Science from the College of Communications at the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Los Angeles, CA with his three computers and two television screens.
