Our Team
Martin Tobias
Founder and CEO
A Seattle entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Martin Tobias is a recognized leader in the software and technology industries. From his beginnings as a programmer, Tobias has focused on applying technology to solve real world business problems.
Tobias has 25 years combined experience in the venture capital and technology industries, working in various managerial and executive roles with Tippr (founder), Kashless (founder), Imperium Renewables, Ignition Partners, Loudeye Technologies, Inc. (After founding Loudeye in 1997, Tobias led the company to its public offering in March 2000 and soon after moved from CEO to Chairman. Loudeye formed partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, Real Networks, NBC, CBS, AOL, Universal, Sony, Warner Bros., and EMI .), Microsoft and Accenture.
Tobias and his companies have been featured in prestigious media outlets from National Public Radio to Newsweek. A marketing and computer science graduate of Oregon State University, Martin sits on several boards, and is involved in numerous charities through the Martin Tobias Foundation. His Twitter handle is @MartinGTobias
Jerry Goade
CFO
Jerry is a highly experienced financial executive with over 20 years of expansive knowledge in all aspects of financial management and accounting within various industries including high-tech, SAAS, clean-tech, wireless internet, digital media, telecommunications and retail.
Prior to joining Tippr, Jerry was the CFO of Avalara, a recognized leader in web-based sales and use tax automated services and solutions. Prior to Avalara Jerry was the VP of Finance and subsequently CFO of Imperium Renewables, the nation’s largest manufacturer of biodiesel where he led the development of the company’s corporate and financial infrastructure in its startup phase. Jerry’s career accolades include CFO and executive level positions at industry leaders including Clearwire (VP Finance) , Loudeye (CFO), and D. Garvey Corporation (CFO).
In the early stages of his career Jerry worked as a CPA at Deloitte and maintains membership today with the Washington State Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. Jerry graduated with honors from Seattle University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
David Tobias
VP, Sales and Online Marketing
David joined Tippr at its inception in 2009. A highly experienced sales and online marketing leader, he has spent the last 13 years building sales revenue and ecommerce strategies for SaaS and direct-to-consumer businesses.
Prior to joining Tippr, David spent 2 years as the EVP of Operations & Business Development at Iventa, a SaaS ecommerce engine servicing entertainment clients including the Grateful Dead, Frank Sinatra, Hillary Duff and Metallica. He joined Iventa in 2007 after selling his online subscription business, ValueDirect.com, to Commerce Planet, Iventa’s parent company.
He also served as a the Vice President of eCommerce at Irwin Naturals and spent 5 years as the Vice President of Sales for Touch Commerce, an online conversion marketing start-up he helped launch in 2000.
David lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters, and holds a bachelors degree in Law and Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Stuart Ellman
Lead Investor, Board Director
Stuart Ellman is Co-Founder & Managing Partner of RRE Ventures. He has been immersed in information technology since the early 1980’s when he taught himself computer programming.
Since co-founding RRE in 1994, Mr. Ellman has been responsible for over forty technology investments, ranging from incubation-stage to post-revenue companies. He has invested in sectors across information technology, from security to green IT, from consumer-facing web companies to enterprise software. He currently serves as a Board Director of Betaworks, Business Insider, Ember Corporation, Kroll Bond Ratings, Payfone, Rave Mobile Safety, RecycleBank, and Tippr.
Mr. Ellman began his career as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in Australia. Later, he was a Financial Analyst at Dillon, Read & Co. where he focused on leveraged buyouts and restructurings and an Associate at Morgan Stanley & Co., specializing in fixed income capital markets. After graduating from business school in the early 1990s, Mr. Ellman was a co-founder and Vice President at Advisory Capital Partners, a principal investment and advisory firm.
In addition to his work as a venture investor, Mr. Ellman has served as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia Business School since 2002, where he teaches a popular Venture Capital Seminar to MBA students. In 2009, he taught a graduate seminar at the CDTM in Munich, Germany, a joint program with Technical University and Ludwig Maximilians University. He is the Treasurer/Chairman of the Finance Committee of the 92nd Street Y where he has been on the board since 2001. Also, Mr. Ellman is a member of the New York City Investment Fund’s Clean Tech Sector Group, the VC Advisory Group of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Economic Club of New York.
Mr. Ellman holds an MBA with Distinction from Harvard University and a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University where he was a Gilbert Clee Scholar and a Horace White Fellow.
