CEO, Openads

James is CEO of Openads, the developer of free, open source ad serving software used by more than 20,000 online publishers in 140 countries around the world. Under his leadership, Openads is disrupting the global online advertising industry by offering publishers a simple, independent and reliable way to make more money from online advertising.

Before joining Openads in July 2007, James was one of the early executive team members at Skype, the global internet communications company that allows people to make free, unlimited, superior quality voice calls. At Skype he served first as vice president of global business development, and was later appointed general manager of European operations, Skype’s largest region.

Prior to joining Skype in November 2004, James spent five years at Yahoo!, where he served as managing director of consumer and network services across Europe. In this role, he ran the regional communication, broadband, community and content businesses. He also co-led Yahoo!’s €475 million acquisition of Kelkoo, Europe’s leading online comparison shopping service, in March 2004.

Before joining Yahoo! in May 1999, James was CEO and co-founder of UpMyStreet.com, an online local information company, and vice president in the investment banking division of JP Morgan Chase.

James holds a first class degree in Modern Languages (French and German) from the University of Bristol in the UK.