Richard Cusick has a track record of innovation and repositioning companies for rapid growth, with two successful exits – Gemstar and Gracenote – for $2+bn and $600mm respectively.  Richard was the co-founder of the modern Gracenote, formulating a business plan to transform a legacy data business into the world’s largest provider of entertainment search and discovery services, with majority market share in the largest media markets in the world.  Richard drove digital brand extensions for existing media brands, growing TV Guide Magazine’s digital presence to become the largest independent entertainment website (and ultimately a larger reach than the print publication) with over 20mm uniques.  Richard developed an e-commerce business for DailyCandy that drove $10mm revenue run-rate in its first year and contributed over half of DailyCandy’s incremental users.  Richard launched a co-branded video production between CBS’s The Insider and Yahoo! Celebrity, which became the top entertainment web series with over 20mm monthly views.
Richard is a seasoned C-level executive with significant sales, operations and M&A expertise.  He has cultivated deep relationships across the internet, media and cable landscapes with a proven ability to build multi-level account relationships leading to significant revenue wins (examples: managed $5-$10+mm relationships with companies such as Apple, Roku and Comcast).  At Gracenote, Richard built and scaled international operations on four continents, managing over 1000 people across 20 locations, and ultimately grew international revenue from less than 10% of total revenue to more than 40% of total revenue.  Richard has deep mergers and acquisitions experience, starting his career as an investment banker at Bear Stearns and Lehman brothers.  Over the last 15 years, Richard has overseen multiple corporate sales and acquisitions.