Management Team

Brian O’Kelley, CEO and Cofounder

Brian O’Kelley is the CEO and Co-founder of AppNexus, a next-generation display ad management platform connecting performance-driven ad buyers and the largest inventory sources on the Internet. Widely considered a visionary in the field of online media, Brian created the first successful ad exchange as CTO of Right Media (acquired by Yahoo for $850MM in July 2007). Prior to Right Media, Brian was CEO of Netamorphosis, an early social networking and e-commerce site for events and venues. Brian was also an early innovator in real-time personalization and real-time ad optimization at LogicSpan, a leading consulting and technology integration firm, and later co-founded Cetova, a web-based reporting and analytics platform for enterprise financial systems. While earning a computer science degree at Princeton University, Brian started a web design firm, building an open-source e-commerce engine used by more than 100 companies. Brian is an active partner at Grape Arbor, an angel investor group. Since its founding in 2006, Grape Arbor LLC has made investments into more than a dozen technology companies.

Mike Nolet, CTO and Cofounder

As Director of Analytics and a product manager at Right Media, Mike Nolet designed and managed key applications including predictive optimization, inventory forecasting, and Media Guard. He worked with clients Yahoo, MySpace, CPX Interactive, and others to leverage the Right Media Exchange for maximum benefit. Mike’s insight into the intersection between business needs and technology innovation began at 15, when he sold his first software application, and continued at Princeton University, where he studied Economics. He has used that insight as a cofounder and CTO of AppNexus, where he is the core architect and manager.

Michael Rubenstein, President

Prior to joining AppNexus in September 2009, Michael Rubenstein served as Director, Ad Exchange for Google. Before Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, Michael founded and was VP and General Manager of DoubleClick Ad Exchange, reporting to the company’s CEO. Michael previously held a variety of senior management roles at DoubleClick, including VP, Global Accounts, where he spearheaded the company’s landmark partnership with AOL. Michael joined DoubleClick in 2001 as part of the company’s acquisition of FloNetwork, an email marketing ASP. Michael started his first ad network while earning his BA from McGill University. He also holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.