Firepond's Board of Directors
Audrey Spangenberg
Board Chair
Audrey Spangenberg is the managing member of Acclaim Financial Group, LLC (a private investment firm), a position she has held since 1999, where she is primarily responsible for investment decisions. She is also the manager of FP Tech Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Acclaim Financial Group and the majority shareholder in the Company. Ms. Spangenberg has over twenty years experience in finance and accounting, including holding positions with various energy, pharmaceutical and real estate companies. Ms. Spangenberg served on the Board of Directors of the College of the Desert Foundation from 2005-2007. In addition to being active in the local community, Ms. Spangenberg is the Chairperson of the Spangenberg Family Foundation for the Benefit of Children’s Education and Healthcare to support charitable efforts in education and medical research. Ms. Spangenberg is a graduate of Mount Mercy College with a BS degree in accounting and business administration.Scott Kline
Director
Scott Kline is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., summa cum laude, 1985) and of Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1988). He is currently a founding member of Caprock International, LLC, an international financial company based in Dallas, Texas and London, England. Mr. Kline has twenty years experience as an executive officer and legal advisor to corporations throughout the United States. He also manages a significant law practice specializing in intellectual property and corporate transactions. He resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife and three children. Mr. Kline also serves as a Director of The Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth, Texas.Frank Knuettel
Director
Frank Knuettel II is a financial and operations executive with extensive experience in the capital markets. His experience includes serving as Chief Financial Officer of InfoSearch Media (ISHM), a publicly listed online search engine marketing firm located in Los Angeles. During his tenure at InfoSearch, Mr. Knuettel managed the acquisition of numerous private companies, multiple PIPE transactions and the filing of registration statements associated with the PIPE transactions and the initial reverse merger. Prior to InfoSearch, Mr. Knuettel served on the Board of Directors and held several positions, including Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Internet Machines Corporation, a semiconductor company located in Los Angeles. At Internet Machines, Mr. Knuettel raised almost $90 million in equity and debt and managed the sale of the business to IDT Corp. in 2004. Mr. Knuettel received his BA with honors in Economics from Tufts University and holds an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.Bill Santo
Chief Executive Officer and Board Member
Prior to joining Firepond as CEO, Mr. Santo was a Managing Director at Sanders Morris Harris, a publicly traded diversified financial services firm. Prior to joining SMH, he was a successful entrepreneur involved in numerous start-up opportunities, primarily in the software industry. Most recently, Mr. Santo co-founded Magnetic Alliance, an online marketplace, facilitating co-marketing and co-branding opportunities between consumer brands and entertainment content producers. Before that, Mr. Santo co-founded the Web acceleration firm, wwWhoosh, Inc., and served as its CEO from 2000 through 2001. Prior to wwWhoosh, he founded and was CEO of InfoCellular, a company that developed customer acquisition software for the wireless communications industry. Within 5 years of its inception InfoCell’s products had been deployed at 26 wireless carriers across the globe.