Management Team

Navic is led by a team of all stars from the advertising, cable, and technology industries.

Chet Kanojia

Chief Executive Officer

Chet Kanojia, Chief Executive Officer, is an innovative leader known for pushing beyond the conventional to discover breakthrough solutions. He honed his entrepreneurial edge providing product strategy analysis, systems architecture design, and program management at Product Genesis, Inc., a strategic product development, consulting firm spun out of the MIT Innovation Center. Chet's background also includes doctoral-level work on the commercial applications of artificial intelligence. He holds a master's degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Northeastern University and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Regional Engineering College Bhopal in India.

Alec Gerster

Chief Marketing Officer

Alec Gerster, Chief Marketing Officer, is responsible for broadening industry awareness and usage of Navic’s sophisticated digital targeting and optimized television advertising technologies. Most recently, he was worldwide chief executive officer for Initiative, a major media service company owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG), where he oversaw worldwide operations in 58 countries and a global workforce of over 3,000 employees. Prior to joining Initiative, Alec had a 30-year career at Grey Global group, where he served as chief executive officer of Grey’s media service arm – MediaCom Worldwide. Under his leadership, the agency became one of the industry’s leading global media networks. In addition, he was an executive officer of publicly held Grey Global Group and heavily involved with the group’s pioneering digital activities.

Tom Walsh

Senior Vice President

Tom Walsh, senior vice president, is a seasoned business and technology veteran with more than 25 years of sales, marketing, and operations experience. At Navic, Tom oversees all MSO business development and sales. Prior to joining Navic, Tom held a variety of senior-level executive positions in marketing, sales, finance, and operations at both public and private high-technology firms. He has been involved in the introduction and market acceptance of numerous, leading-edge technology initiatives in the areas of computer-aided design, pharmaceutical automation, software distribution, and telemetry. Tom has an MBA from Bentley College and a BS in Finance from the University of Massachusetts.

John Hoctor

Vice President of Business Development and Marketing

John Hoctor, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing, brings a unique mixture of engineering expertise and business experience to the Navic management team. John has been with Navic for over eight years, and during this time has participated in nearly all facets of growing the company. Currently John is responsible for setting Navic's strategic direction and executing on a number of Navic's strategic initiatives. As part of this role, John is responsible for securing partnerships with programmers, distributors, and national advertisers. John also oversees all of Navic's marketing activities. Prior to joining Navic, John was a founding partner at StartingPoint Venture Partners. At StartingPoint, John invested in numerous early-stage companies, while also serving as a board member and advisor to a number of StartingPoint's portfolio companies. Earlier in his career, John worked in the Emerging Technology division of AXA Assurance in Paris, France and at Product Genesis in Cambridge, MA. John holds an MBA from Le College des Ingenieurs and both an SM and SB in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Matthew Emans

Vice President of Product Management

Matthew Emans, Vice President of Product Management, leads Navic's product strategy. Matt has been with Navic for the past eight years, and during this time he has been instrumental in leading the development and launch of Navic's industry leading iTV software and service solutions. Prior to joining Navic, Matt honed his skills providing product strategy analysis, systems architecture design, and program management at Product Genesis, Inc., a strategic product development, consulting firm spun out of the MIT Innovation Center. Matt received his SB in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Harvard College and has additional background in robotics for medicine and control systems. Matt holds a number of patents related to optical biopsy systems and advanced surgical instruments.

John Pruellage

Vice President of Business Affairs

John K. Pruellage, Jr., Vice President of Business Affairs, is responsible for overseeing the finance and legal functions of Navic and has played an integral role in Navic securing deployment deals with cable and satellite operators. John has been with Navic for eight years and has been responsible for deal structuring, negotiation of customer and strategic partner agreements, forecasting revenue and expenses, and overseeing other finance and legal matters for the company. Prior to joining Navic, John practiced for over four years as a corporate attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City. John earned his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude. He also earned his bachelors degree in Economics from Harvard College.

Tore Tellefsen

Vice President of Program Management

Tore Tellefsen, Vice President of Program Management, brings a diverse background in technology consulting, product development and client services to Navic's management team. Tore leads Navic's Program Management teams which have responsibility for all customer deployments from initial engagement through on-going account management and operational/technical support. Over the past seven years, Tore has been intimately involved in successfully managing all of Navic's numerous customer engagements. Prior to joining Navic, Tore honed his skills during stints with Price Waterhouse Consulting, Lehman Brothers Global Equities and as co-founder of a venture backed Web-Health startup in Austin, Texas. Tore received his BS in Computer Engineering and BA in Economics from Lehigh University.

Darren Wetzel

Vice President of Engineering

Darren Wetzel, Vice President of Engineering is responsible for the product development and project management of Navic's cutting-edge technologies. He has an extensive track record as a leader in the high-tech industry and brings almost two decades of experience in software engineering and program and project management to Navic Networks. Prior to joining Navic Networks in 2000, Darren was a project leader with development responsibilities at Mak Technologies where he managed government research contracts. Before his work at Mak Technologies, Darren was a software engineer at Stratus Computer, Inc. where he designed and implemented components for various operating systems and infrastructures. Darren started his career at Raytheon Company as a hardware engineer. Darren holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.