Leadership

10 Foot Wave has assembled a world class management team with a wealth of relevant expertise with well-known companies both large and small. As a group they have either lead or founded six successful startups and have constantly developed winning strategies for their organizations. They bring a combined 80 years of leadership experience to 10 Foot Wave.

Jeff Rayfield

Chief Executive Officer

A founder or principle of several successful software startups, prior to co-founding 10 Foot Wave along with Brett Crossley, Jeff was Vice President of Engineering at PacketVideo. A leading software developer of mobile multimedia platforms, Jeff joined PacketVideo following its acquisition of Tusonic, a music personalization software company which he also co-founded in 2004.

Prior to Tusonic Jeff was the Lead Software Architect for Venetica, where he led the development of an enterprise content integration software platform which was later acquired by IBM. Earlier in his career he also held senior software development positions with Rogue Wave Software and Inmark.

An entrepreneur at an early age, Jeff started his first company after graduating from college and licensed the technology two years later to Inmark. He holds a BA and MS in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

David Van Epps

Chief Operating Officer

David has spent more than 25 years successfully developing businesses focused in media and communications. Prior to joining 10 Foot Wave, David was Senior Vice President and General Manager at Broadcast International specializing in digital media communications solutions for large enterprise clients.

As CEO and President of ScentAir he revolutionized the use of fragrance as an environmental marketing and branding tool. Prior to his tenure with ScentAir, he held a number of executive leadership positions with Muzak, the world's leading provider of music, video and sound system design utilized to enhance retail environments.

Earlier in his career, he served as National Sales Manager for HM Electronics, a specialty RF communications manufacturer located in San Diego, CA. He is a frequent speaker on the subject of using the five senses to create dynamic business environments.

David is a graduate of Ithaca College where he holds a BS in broadcast communications.

Louis Gates

Director of Software Engineering

Louis Gates is the director of software engineering at 10 Foot Wave where he currently oversees the development, infrastructure, and strategy of software products for the various lines of business. He also manages the resources and operation of the engineering department. Louis joined 10 Foot Wave in 2008 as the first employee and helped the co-founders establish and grow the company.

Prior to joining 10 Foot Wave, Louis worked as a Lead Architect on several products within IBM's Content Management Suite. Throughout his career Louis has held key technical positions at Venetica, iXL, and AMS.

Louis holds a BBA in computer information systems and finance from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.