Blogtronix Founders and Investors

Blogtronix was founded by Vassil Mladjov in 2005 and backed by Michael and Douglas Engmann, who are angel investors and entrepreneurs based in San Francisco.

Vassil is a life-long entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of executive and high-tech experience. His companies have focused on innovative business collaboration using the latest web and media technologies.

From his experience in the industry, Mladjov recognized the shortcomings of existing collaborative systems and founded Blogtronix. His goal of using Web 2.0 tools to enhance such systems, and to improve communication both inside and outside of an organization, are embodied in the Blogtronix platform.

Over the past 20 years Vassil has worked in a variety of positions with the Engmanns in their various companies. They have now come together to partner in Blogtronix. Michael Engmann serves as Chairman, Doug Engmann as Co-Chairman and Vassil as the CEO.

The Engmanns began their careers as options traders on the Pacific Stock Exchange and have started and funded several successful businesses in the financial, data and software industries.

Their first company, Sage Clearing Corp, was a listed derivatives clearing business which developed state of the art real-time risk management and portfolio management technology in the mid-1980s that was a decade ahead of the industry. Sage was sold to the Dutch bank ABN AMRO in 1998.

Their second company was Preferred Trade, Inc. and it became a leading online stock and options brokerage firm after developing one of the first electronic execution and direct access software for active options and equities traders in the mid-1990s. Preferred Trade was sold to the French bank Societe Generale in 2005.

The Engmanns created MDNH Partners in 1989 as the first broker-dealer that allocated investment capital among affiliated options traders, thus allowing private parties to invest in the business of market-making, heretofore closed to outsiders.

They are owners and Co-Chairman of Revere Data, an innovative and leading edge business intelligence and software company. Revere services hedge funds and money managers and sell-side broker-dealers as well as U.S. Government defense agencies.

As angel investor entrepreneurs and operators, the Engmanns employ a hands on style of investing in their portfolio companies, applying their extensive management and industry experience to assist management in the strategic direction and operations of their companies. Budget discipline is applied by demanding justification of expenditures and the allocation of operating funds on a monthly or quarterly basis through their investment firm: Kendu Partners Company. This approach has been very successful to building profitable businesses and is currently being applied to Blogtronix.

Vassil Mladjov

Vassil is a life-long entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of executive and high-tech experience. His companies have focused on innovative business collaboration using the latest web and media technologies. From his experience in the industry, Mladjov recognized the shortcomings of existing collaborative systems and founded Blogtronix with the goal of using Web 2.0 tools to enhance such systems, and to improve communication both inside and outside of an organization.

Vassil brings to Blogtronix a long history of technological experience spanning many sectors. Most recently, Mladjov was the Chief Technology Officer for the Always On Network, which was the first media brand to socially network its online readers and event attendees. In 2002, Mladjov founded StreamingMarketplace.com, which features an on-line portal focused on streaming media technology and services. Prior to his work with Always On, Vassil served as Vice President and Director of Technology for Corporate Communication at ABN AMRO Bank, and as Vice President and CIO in charge of media streaming operations and media hosting at ITN. He has also worked as a technology consultant with UB Group, Preferred Technology, and Sage Clearing.

A lifelong innovator, Vassil started writing software applications while still in high school. While serving in the Bulgarian Air Force, Mladjov developed an e-training software. After coming to the United States and obtaining a degree in Finance from San Francisco State University, Vassil teamed with former Sun Microsystems executives on one of the first ventures to offer business software as a service over the Internet (today known as SaaS). Over the years, Vassil has created new business models for the digital media industry and has worked closely with Microsoft, Apple, Akamai, Speedera, PBS, Charles Schwab, Sun Microsystems, and Wells Fargo.

Vassil has a degree in Finance from SFSU.

Sean Engmann

Sean brings nearly a decade of management experience in several industries to Blogtronix, and has served in several roles since its founding in 2005. Engmann initially served as a strategic development advisor to CEO Vassil Mladjov before being appointed a managing member by Kendu Partners and becoming a Vice President in charge of budgets and finance in 2008. In June 2009, Sean was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, where he will continue to oversee budgets, finance and HR as well as be responsible for revising and overseeing the company's operational and sales plans and procedures.

In addition to Blogtronix, Engmann has spent six years as an International Project Coordinator for Kendu, where he is in charge of the SEC-Edgar Project, which produces a financial data feed and XBRL solution using cutting edge technologies. Sean is responsible for the strategic direction of the project, business development coordinating between management in the United States and teams of financial analysts in India and software developers in Bulgaria.

Prior to joining Kendu, Engmann worked as a general manager in the restaurant industry and served as a volunteer aide to San Francisco Supervisor Tony Hall. In college, Sean co-founded of the University of San Francisco College Republican Party and served as Vice President.

Sean resides in San Francisco. He currently works as a high school baseball coach and officiates basketball at the collegiate level in his spare time. Engmann holds a BA from the University of San Francisco.

Nick Dimitrov

Nick brings to Blogtronix nearly a decade of technical expertise and management experience, as well as the strong passion for collaborative software that led him to become the architect of the Blogtronix platform when the company was founded in 2005. Dimitrov oversees all of Blogtronix' systems and software development operations. He is also a key voice in the strategic direction of the company.

Dimitrov has worked with Microsoft .NET throughout his entire career and is a Microsoft certified developer. Nick also brings several years of corporate experience to Blogtronix, having worked as a Technical Prime at a major telecommunication company in Canada, where he served as an architect and team leader on numerous communications systems. Prior to his work at the telecom, Dimitrov worked as a senior software developer at Tenrox and as a consultant and team leader on projects for companies such as Fimat USA, Mitsubishi and Norton Systems.

Nick holds a BS in Engineering and Computer Science from the Technical University of Sofia. He is currently a permanent resident of Canada and will be granted citizenship in less than a year. Nick resides in Montreal with his wife Ani. In his spare time, Nick is interested in cars, biking and table tennis.

Ivan PopGruev

Ivan brings to Blogtronix large scale corporate experience from his tenure at Bechtel in e-business, corporate strategy, six sigma operations, project management and engineering. His corporate leadership experience is complemented by his service in the military.

As a Project Director at Bechtel Corporation, Ivan was a member of the CEO-initiated 2000 e-Business Team, which formulated the e-business strategy for the firm and invested in strategic initiatives and start-ups. Ivan introduced and managed the successful implementation of a deal-driven knowledge management program at Bechtel's finance and ownership arm, communicated to Bechtel's executive team his vision for extended online social networking across Bechtel's value chain, and worked with Bechtel Fellows to develop a long-term strategy for collaborative tacit knowledge management.

He is formally trained in Six Sigma operations and has managed and put into practice operation improvement projects in information technology and corporate finance. His experience at Bechtel also included engineering and industrial scale project management.

Ivan has an MBA from the Rady School of Management at the University of California at San Diego and the Anderson School of Management at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has held appointments as a Teaching Assistant in investments, project management, financial accounting and financial analysis. Ivan earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

Sofiya Dimitrov

Sofiya comes to Blogtronix with over a decade of experience in business and computer technology. In addition to her versatility, Dimitrov brings management experience to Blogtronix from her tenure as a co-founder of Meral Media, a start-up that sought to deploy free standing cell phone charging stations throughout Montreal.

Sofiya joined Blogtronix in 2008, and has served as an Enterprise Project Manager working directly with Blogtronix' most prominent clients, including Thomson-Reuters and Telus. Additionally, following Blogtronix' acquisition of Edno23, Sofiya headed up the development efforts of new Blogtronix offerings Sharetronix and BlogtronixMicro. Dimitrov was promoted to Head of Marketing in July of 2010.

Prior to joining Blogtronix, Dimitrov worked as a marketing manager for the Hotel Imperial and for a monthly professional accounting magazine in Bulgaria. While an MBA student at John Molson School of Business in Montreal, Sofiya served as the VP of Marketing for the International Business Network Club at the college. On the technology side, Dimitrov worked as a help desk team leader for Alijon Consulting, where she worked on accounts for GlaxoSmithKline and Agere Systems.

Sofiya moved from Bulgaria to Montreal in 2003 and obtained Canadian citizenship in 2007. She holds a Masters in Computer Technology from the University of Plovdiv and an MBA from John Molson School of Business, and currently resides in Montreal with her husband Angel.

Richard Walton

Richard is an experienced entrepreneur and executive who has founded several companies and worked in a variety of roles in many industries. He has an extensive background in business development, marketing and advertising services, business unit management and production management.

As Vice-President of Business Development for Blogtronix, Richard is responsible for working with enterprise level clients. His responsibilities include relationship development and management, and high level client support. Prior to joining Blogtronix, Richard served as Sr. Vice-President of Business Development for VentureChoice where he sourced and researched investment and investor opportunities, evaluated business plans and developed the corporate message to position a company for presentation and to find funding.

As Production Manager at Heinzen Manufacturing Walton helped a small company grow into the leading U.S. manufacturer of fresh food processing and handling equipment. Rich's responsibilities included production management and scheduling, new manufacturing technologies acquisition, and IT acquisition and implementation, facilities management.

As Director of Marine Services for TransFRESH Corp. Richard was responsible for all U.S business operations, including service operations at major west coast and gulf ports, business development, sales and marketing efforts to both export and import clients in the U.S and Pacific Rim countries. TransFRESH is the recognized world leader in the development of freshness extending modified and controlled atmosphere techniques for fresh perishables transportation.

Walton's experience as a top executive includes a stint as President and COO of Matrix Communications which provided marketing, advertising and sales, support, services and materials for many prominent Silicon Valley companies, as well as a role as President and CEO of Trophy Packing, which provided custom packing and packaging, sales, marketing and distribution for fresh agricultural products.

Richard resides in Lafayette, California.

Mike Engmann

Mr. Engmann is the Chairman and of Blogtronix. He is also co-founder and an owner of Kendu Partners and Engmann Options, Inc. and he serves as the co-Chairman of Revere Data.

One of the pioneer market-makers in the Pacific Stock Exchange's options program, Engmann began working as an options trader in 1976. Recognizing the need for a West Coast based clearing company that provided superior service and advanced technology, Engmann co-founded Sage Clearing Corporation in 1980 Sage was acquired by ABN-AMRO Bank in 1998 . Two years after founding Sage, capitalizing upon Sage's proprietary technology and Engmann Options' trading expertise, Engmann co-founded Preferred Capital Markets, Inc., a broker-dealer providing research and trade execution services for stocks and options on an agency basis. Preferred was acquired by Fimat in 2005.

Additionally, Engmann co-founded in 1989 MDNH Partners, a broker-dealer that allocates investment capital among affiliate options traders, allowing private parties to invest in the business of market-making, heretofore closed to outsiders.

Engmann holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Donna.

Doug Engmann

Doug Engmann has had long career as a key executive in large companies. Engmann most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer of Fimat Preferred LLC, a direct access brokerage for active retail, professional and institutional traders. From 1998-2004, he was retained as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ABN AMRO Sage Corporation, a subsidiary of ABN AMRO Bank, after the bank’s acquisition of the privately held company. While at ABN AMRO Doug also served as Chief Executive Officer of ABN AMRO Clearing and Execution Services (AACES), Vice-Chairman of ABN AMRO Incorporated and was a member of the ABN AMRO Mellon Global Securities Services Supervisory Board. The AACES unit consisted of ABN AMRO's prime brokerage, futures and U.S. securities execution and clearing operations with 1200 employees in 14 offices worldwide.

An active participant in policy matters regarding securities trading and processing, Engmann has served on the boards of the National Securities Clearing Corporation and the Options Clearing Corporation, SEC-regulated clearing houses responsible for the clearance of stock and options transactions. He also served on the Securities Industry Association's Options Committee from 1990-1992 and was a member of the Board of Governors of the Pacific Exchange (PCX) from 1982 to 1988, winning re-election to the Board of Governors in 1993. He was Acting Chairman of the PCX in 1986 and 1987.

Engmann began his career in the securities industry in 1977 as an options market maker on the PCX. Formerly, he was Director of the White House Conference of Youth (1970-72) and worked as a management consultant in urban affairs and government. Engmann recently served as the Honorary Consul for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in San Francisco.

Engmann holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in economics. He has held a number of civic appointments, including serving on the City of San Francisco's Planning Commission from 1988 to 1992 and the Board of Permit Appeals from 1977 to 1988.

Doug lives in San Francisco with his wife Barbara. They have two children, Michelle and Natalie.