Wes Cruver, President, CEO
Before founding KZO Innovations, Wes co-founded Kidz Online, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, when he was 11 years old. Kidz Online is a leading provider of comprehensive online communications and training solutions and services for global youth. It was at Kidz Online that he developed a unique leadership style and domain-expertise in video technologies.
In addition to his leadership role, Wes is the chief software architect for the KZO platform and the inventor-of-record for all current KZO patent applications. Wes has extensive programming experience and was instrumental designing and implementing KZO's 8 Gbit/s optical network.
Jeff Fissel, VP Business Development & Co-founder
Jeff is VP of Business Development and plays a key role in select strategic accounts and corporate development activities. He is an expert with interactive streaming media technologies and was a member of the development team for the KZO technology. Prior to KZO Innovations Jeff founded KZO Webcasting and over the past five years produced hundreds of global webcasts ranging from events in the White House for President Bush to film festivals in Hollywood. Jeff has a B.S. in Information Technology with a concentration in Information Security and Network Administration from George Mason University.
Steve Mullins, Chief Financial Officer
Steve is an experienced CFO who has served in entrepreneurial environments and helped build companies over the past 15 years. He served as the CFO of a NASDAQ traded company, and successfully engineered the sale of a company to a $4B NYSE company. In addition he has been a CFO of companies in the wireless entertainment space, a network security provider and a consumer electronics reseller. He has extensive M&A experience in public and private company arenas, having sold or acquired over 10 different entities. He has helped raise capital for multiple companies, totaling over $100 million in outside investment. Steve has also co-founded several companies in the finance and hospitality space.
Scot T. Edwards, Chief Marketing Officer
Scot is responsible for driving KZO's strategic and marketing initiatives. He brings 25 years of technology marketing, sales and general management leadership experience to KZO, ranging from start-ups to managing billion dollar global businesses across hardware, software and services segments. His experience spans consumer, commercial and government markets, where he has held executive positions with industry leaders including SPADAC, GTSI, Altec, Lexmark and Epson. Additionally, he has participated in several successful mergers and acquisitions involving both publicly traded and privately held companies, as well as IPO activities.
Brian Kelly, VP, Sales
Brian is responsible for leading all revenue related activities for KZO including large account, vertical industry, OEM and channel sales. Prior to joining the KZO team, he developed and led key revenue generating programs for Vettro, a leading enterprise mobility company. Before Vettro, Brian held several leadership positions at VeriSign, a $1.7B public company, focusing on new business development and sales. At VeriSign, Brian was on the team that founded the Supply Chain business unit and drove sales to $25M before the unit was sold to outside investors.
Oscar Navarro, Internet Application Architect & Co-founder
Oscar designs and implements back-end web applications. He is fluent in many programming languages and specializes in writing code for complex database applications. Previously, Oscar worked for the Verizon Information Delivery system department, developing and maintaining Verizon's Intranet. Mr. Navarro has a degree in application software development and is completing his degree in Computer Science at George Mason University.
Jodi Wilkinson, Sr. Software Developer & Co-founder
Jodi serves as senior software designer and web development manager. She utilizes her background in web technologies to oversee user interface design, customization enhancements, and client specifications for KZO. Jodi holds a B.S. in Information Technology, graduating Magna Cum Laude from George Mason University.
Phil Cruver, Co-founder
Phil is president and CEO of Kidz Online, a provider of comprehensive online communications and training services for global youth. Prior to Kidz Online, he was the founder of 3 start-up companies in the transportation, wind energy, and petroleum industries. Phil has served as CEO of two public companies. He has written more than 70 articles published in national magazines and trade journals on the subject of emerging technologies, and holds two U.S. patents .
In 2009 SmartCEO Magazine awarded Wes the Circle of Excellence Award in recognition of his outstanding leadership and record of success.