About Us

Day-to-day
Nick is responsible for Rakuten Advertising’s day-to-day operations and provides strategic guidance to ensure the company is accelerating its speed of innovation and corporate growth. An experienced operator and corporate strategist, Nick is focused on leveraging proprietary data, advanced data science, and real-time technology to drive growth for brands and create new opportunities across Rakuten Group.

Career history
Before joining Rakuten, Nick was a consummate entrepreneur, founding companies in the mobile analytics and fintech industries, and consulting CPG and retail brands.

Notably, Nick was the Senior Vice President at The Nielsen Company (NLSN), where he led the launch of Nielsen’s mobile business outside of North America. Nick came to Nielsen by way of the firm’s 2007 acquisition of mobile analytics firm Telephia, where, as a founding team member, Nick was involved in the development and management of the company’s strategy, products, marketing and commercial efforts, and corporate development activities.

Prior to Telephia, Nick spent 8 years in consulting at Swander, Pace & Company and Braxton Associates, primarily working with consumer packaged goods manufacturer and retailer clients. Over the course of his consulting career, Nick developed broad engagement experience in new product development, competitive assessment and benchmarking, channel and sales force management, and mergers & acquisitions.

Alma mater
MIT, BS, Management with an Economics Minor

Favourite quote
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Of personal note
Nick was born and raised in Syracuse New York and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management with an Economics minor from MIT. He is a first generation Greek-American and loves Syracuse University sports and traveling the world with his wife Alyson and two young daughters.

Day-to-day
Cindy oversees Accounting, Financial Planning & Analysis, Corporate Development, Legal and General & Administrative.

Career history
Certified Public Accountant, over 24 years of global experience in Advertising – from strategy, creative and production to media and consumer insights. Board member of the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago.

Alma mater
Northern Illinois University, MBA, Global Marketing
University of Illinois, BS, Accounting & Finance

Favourite quote
“A comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there.” – Author Unknown

Of personal note
A private pilot who loves to travel with her husband and spend time with her beloved Australian Shepherds.

Day-to-day
Vincent leads Global operations for Rakuten Advertising, designing the company’s innovative roadmap to keep pace with the swiftly evolving industry. With a team of more than 250 specialists across the business, Vincent oversees Publisher Development, Ad Operations, Analytics, Business Operations, Product Management, Product Adoption and Corporate Strategy. Underscoring everything he does is a commitment to making things happen and creating new avenues for growth for both Rakuten Advertising and its clients.

Career history
An entrepreneur at heart, Vincent has nearly 20 years of experience scaling software businesses through product innovation. Vincent joined Rakuten Advertising as CEO and Founder of Nextperf, the AI-based retargeting business that Rakuten Advertising acquired in 2016. He oversaw the integration of the company’s programmatic assets, and laid the foundational platform its display business is built on today.

Prior to NextPerf, Vincent ran IT services and software companies, and invested in start-ups across the entertainment, marketing/advertising and retail sectors.

Education
MIT, Executive Education Certificate in Artificial Intelligence, Implications for Business Strategy
Institute Superieur de Gestion, Master’s Degree, Business and Finance

Favourite quote
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs

Of personal note
Father of three, Vincent has a huge passion for golf.

Day-to-day
Delight clients. Period.

Career history
More than 20 years in marketing, audience measurement and technology, supporting leading clients across all aspects of media, content consumption and technology. Most recently, led Local Media at Nielsen.

Education
University of Texas at Austin

Favourite quote
“Be influenced by nothing but your clients’ interests. Tell them the truth.” – Arthur Nielsen

Of personal note
Proud Dad and Husband. Native Texan, and proud of it, too.

Day-to-day
Manage and lead technical teams that develop world-class platforms that support Rakuten’s partners and customers.

Career history
Bjorn has more than 25 years of experience leading technology teams in Search, Advertising and E-commerce. Before joining Rakuten, Bjorn was CEO of an enterprise search and big data company in Boston, MA.

Alma mater
University of Colorado at Boulder

Favourite quote
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Of personal note
Married and proud dad of three children.

Day-to-day
Builds brands.
Builds partnership.
Builds trust.

Career history
Yuko has spent 20+ years in partnership development, account management, marketing, consumer communication.
Expertise in Asia, IMEA, and Greater Europe.

Alma mater
Sophia University
Universite de Paris
MA Philosophy, Art Criticism.

Favourite quote
“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Of personal note
Proud mum of a pre-teenager. Yuko is a classical musician who is active with London-based amateur orchestras, and often gets a bit too enthusiastic when talking about Mahler and Sibelius, her favourite composers.

Day-to-day
Anthony is head of the North American region. He focuses on advancing the performance marketing programmes for Rakuten Advertising’s largest global brands through innovative and strategic partnerships.

Anthony is also responsible for driving deeper integration with Rakuten Americas properties, including Rakuten Rewards, Rakuten Viki and Rakuten Viber.

Career history
Before joining Rakuten, Anthony was the general manager of Salmat Targeted Media and has over 20 years of experience working alongside many of the world’s major brands. Anthony began his journey with Rakuten Advertising nearly a decade ago in Australia before relocating to London to lead the international business (APAC, EMEA and LATAM).

Education
University of Western Sydney, Bachelor of Business, Marketing

Favourite quote 
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain

Of personal note
Anthony is a die-hard soccer fan, often spending his weekends watching his beloved (and tragic!) West Ham play in the English Premier League.

Day-to-day
Rakhee oversees the EMEA, LATAM and APAC markets for Rakuten Advertising and is responsible for strengthening its services for both brands and publisher partners.

Career history
Rakhee has an extensive background in publishing, ad operations and affiliate marketing. Before joining Rakuten in 2010, Rakhee worked on the international client services team at Tradedoubler. Her decade-long career at Rakuten has spanned affiliate marketing, programmatic advertising and publisher partnerships.

Education
University of Westminster, BA Hons, Graphic Information Design

Favourite quote
“It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.” – Admiral Grace Hopper

Of personal note
Rakhee is an avid traveller and was fortunate enough to have travelled to 16 countries in 2019. When not travelling, Rakhee is based outside of London and has a one-year-old Golden Retriever named Bruce, who is officially more Insta-famous than his owner!

Day-to-day 
Shunsuke is an executive officer of Rakuten Group Inc., leading the advertising business. He endeavours to strengthen and expand the internet advertisement market, making it profitable for clients.

Career history
Before joining Rakuten, Shunsuke was the President and CEO of IREP, the leading Japanese digital marketing agency. Under his leadership, IREP grew to become the top SEM (Search Engine Marketing) agency. He also writes books and lectures on topics ranging from market insight to the future of business.

Alma mater                    
Yokohama City University