About

Our Team

Andy Hunter is the CEO of SPUN. He is the co-founder of Broadcastr, a Brooklyn-based startup creating a platform for geo-targeted content distribution and discovery on mobile devices. Mr. Hunter also co-founded Electric Literature, which has won accolades and awards for its innovative use of digital publishing and promotion. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of various publications, including Electric Literature, Mean Magazine, and Lollapalooza Magazine. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Mr. Hunter was an IT consultant for entertainment companies such as Disney and MGM.

Scott Lindenbaum is the President and COO of SPUN.  Scott has been covered by CNN, MSNBC, and FOXnews, and has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and numerous other outlets. For ten years Scott was a halfpipe snowboard competitor sponsored by Burton Snowboards. He holds an MFA in creative writing, has studied Behavior Design with Stanford Human Interaction professor BJ Fogg, and is currently working with Apple on the UI design of future SPUN iterations.

Rick Mangi is CTO at SPUN and is responsible for developing the backend services. He has been active in the New York software development community for over 15 years developing web technology for numerous startups and large companies. Most recently he was at MTV where he was Director of Technology for Nick Jr. and for the core platform team supporting hundreds of websites. Rick has a B.A. from The University of Colorado in Computer Science and Sociology. The father of three daughters, he also enjoys coaching soccer and teaching Lego Robotics.

Peter Grates works on iOS development for SPUN. He holds a CS degree from Rutgers and has 14 years of experience as a programmer, with frontend, backend, CSS, and Objective C proficiency. Peter is the reason that SPUN has a 3D interface.

Ilya Lyashevsky. Currently Director of Mobile Development at Broadcastr, Ilya Lyashevsky previously co-founded Good To Know, Inc. which created Storied, an educational suite of software aimed at helping students learn vocabulary by reading original stories. He also headed mobile development at Electric Literature, helping it become the first magazine of its kind to be published on the iPad, and using its iOS publishing platform to create apps for such organizations as Human Rights Watch and the Kenyon Review.  Prior to that he had worked as a senior software developer at Motorola, upon graduating with a BS and MS in computer science, as well as a minor in creative writing, from Stanford University. He is, in addition, a published fiction author and a PhD candidate in Cognitive Studies at Columbia Teacher’s College.

Renato Castilho is a veteran designer and brand development specialist, who in the past 15 years has been responsible for creating and leading the implementation of visual systems for NickJr, iVillage, General Mills and Cadillac, among many. As owner of Write Down Everything he collaborated with SPUN to conceive and create our logo, app user interface and overall brand assets. He’s also known for shredding the electric guitar so loudly he “had” to move to the burbs, where he lives with his wife and their three children.

Robb Ware is Project Manager at SPUN.  He holds a Bachelor’s in Music Composition and Production from SUNY Purchase and has studied Product Design at NYU.  Robb spent nearly 4 years at Apple Retail in the NYC metro area in a number of roles, with a focus on training, visual merchandising and back-of-house operations. He designed and built sustainably-produced lighting at a Brooklyn factory during that time, as well as volunteering for the design and build of a YMCA rooftop garden.  His love of great design and human-focused technology inform his work on product development within the company.

Leanne Butkovic is a Wrangler of Content and Producer of Good Vibes at SPUN. She is a 2012 graduate from the University of Missouri-Columbia’s School of Journalism where she reported, produced and edited for myriad of local media: Mid-Missouri Public Radio, Vox Magazine, Newsy.com and KCOU student radio. She also wrote a comprehensive guide titled, “So, You Were Teargassed?” as an intern at VICE one summer. Along with editorial prowess and devout adherence to AP Style, Leanne would say she’s “pretty OK” at web design, discovering cool music and jokes.

David Lumb might be one of the last writers to say he got his start in print journalism. After graduating from UC Irvine as Editor-in-Chief of the New University student newspaper, he interned at KPCC Public Radio, reported for their South Los Angeles cell OnCentral.org and the local chapter of Patch.com, tested games for 343 Studios in Seattle, and interned at Animal NY a few blocks west of Times Square. Now on his fourth corner of the continental United States, David sees SPUN as a fantastic handheld venue for things urbanites didn’t know they were interested in. This includes hurricane-flaunting concerts, Banh Mi, and optimistic book store openings.

Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman brings a touch of outside perspective to SPUN. Born in Italy and transplanted to the USA in 2010, she is a journalist, a blogger and an alien (immigration-wise and viewpoint-wise). She blogs on theitalien.com and tweets @The_ItAlien. You can find stuff she wrote on CoolHunting, CLOG, BOLD and BreakThru Radio. In the past, Francesca has been a Visiting Scholar at NYU and a Research Scholar at CUNY Queens College, and she graduated with a dissertation on Literary Journalism in 2011 at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome. She loves people, places, food and the internet. In case you were wondering, she is not related to former mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Bison Messink studied writing at Grand Valley State University, and earned an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Wyoming. Previously, he has worked at the Grand Rapids Press, The Ann Arbor News, AnnArbor.com, and Ology.com. In his free time, he eats cold eels and thinks faraway thoughts.

McArthur Joseph is the keeper of Weekend content for SPUN. Hailing from the  “hard knocks” world of Fashion Journalism, he’s worked with a variety of brands in the digital space via positions held at Vibe Magazine and FashionIndie.com. If you’re into menswear and GIFs then you should check out his blog, dailymister.com.

Sounds and the musical intro for SPUN were created by Mikael Jorgensen (homepage).