Board of Directors

Tyler Newton, Catalyst Investors

Prior to joining Catalyst as an Associate in 2000, Mr. Newton served as a Vice President in Toronto Dominion's Media, Telecom & Technology Group where he focused on providing a variety of financial, advisory and capital markets services to both established and emerging companies in the media, telecommunications, cable and Internet industries. He earned a BA, with honors, in economics from Middlebury College and is also a CFA Charterholder. Mr. Newton currently serves on the boards of Catalyst portfolio companies, APLUS Holdings, Inc. (as Chairman), Oneida Broadband, and Catalyst Repository Systems, Inc. Mr. Newton previously served on the boards of TCP Communications and Nine Systems Corporation.

Gabriel Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer

Gabriel Murphy became Aplus.Net's President and CEO in July, 2006, bringing to the company almost a decade of leadership experience in the tech and hosting industries.

Before joining Aplus.Net, Mr. Murphy enjoyed success as co-founder of several SME start-up firms. He was a co-founder of Kansas City-based web hosting firm CommuniTech.Net, leading that company's growth from a $1,800 investment to more than $8 million in revenues. At the time of its acquisition in 2002, CommuniTech.Net was regarded as one of the most profitable hosting firms with 16 consecutive quarters of revenue growth and profitability, as well as $1.8 million in EBITDA (exceeding 35 percent in margins).

CommuniTech.Net was selected by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce as the 2001 Small Business of the Year and "Mr. K" award winner. That same year, Mr. Murphy was named one of the "40 Under 40" Business Leaders of Kansas City and Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. Mr. Murphy has also served as Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions of Interland. He graduated with honors from Cornell University in 1999, where he obtained his BS in Business Management and Marketing.

Brian Rich, Catalyst Investors

Prior to co-founding Catalyst in 2000, Mr. Rich founded and headed TD Capital, the entity that made TD's U.S.-based investments in communications-related industries, from 1995 to 1999. As group head, he oversaw almost 40 investments totaling more than $500 million in equity, mezzanine and limited partnership investments. Before founding TD Capital, he was a Managing Director in the bank's Media, Telecom & Technology Group. Prior to joining TD in 1990, Mr. Rich held positions at The Bank of New York and Intel Corporation. Mr. Rich earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from SUNY at Buffalo and an MBA from Columbia University. He currently serves on the boards of Catalyst portfolio companies Aplus Holdings and Las Vegas TV Partners.

Chris Shipman, Catalyst Investors

From 1995 until co-founding Catalyst in 2000, Mr. Shipman was a Vice President and Director at TD Capital. He served on the boards of many of TD's investments including General Communication, Inc., Wireless One Networks, Nassau Broadcasting Partners, Prime Communications and Worldly Information Network, Inc. He was also on the Advisory Committees of Spectrum Equity Investors and Intermedia Capital Partners IV. Prior to joining TD, Mr. Shipman served as an economist at Banker's Trust Company. He received an MA and a BA in economics from Boston University, and MBA from UCLA. Mr. Shipman currently holds a board seat on Catalyst portfolio company Aplus.net and Oneida Broadband and served on the board of Nine Systems, Security Broadband, and TCP Communications.

Management Team

Gabriel Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer

Gabriel Murphy became Aplus.Net's President and CEO in July, 2006, bringing to the company almost a decade of leadership experience in the tech and hosting industries.

Before joining Aplus.Net, Mr. Murphy enjoyed success as co-founder of several SME start-up firms. He was a co-founder of Kansas City-based web hosting firm CommuniTech.Net, leading that company's growth from a $1,800 investment to more than $8 million in revenues. At the time of its acquisition in 2002, CommuniTech.Net was regarded as one of the most profitable hosting firms with 16 consecutive quarters of revenue growth and profitability, as well as $1.8 million in EBITDA (exceeding 35 percent in margins).

CommuniTech.Net was selected by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce as the 2001 Small Business of the Year and "Mr. K" award winner. That same year, Mr. Murphy was named one of the "40 Under 40" Business Leaders of Kansas City and Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. Mr. Murphy has also served as Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions of Interland. He graduated with honors from Cornell University in 1999, where he obtained his BS in Business Management and Marketing.

Ryan Elledge, Chief Operations Officer

Ryan Elledge joined Aplus.Net as Chief Operating Officer in July 2006, bringing more than eight years of experience in web hosting-related industries. Prior to joining Aplus.Net, Mr. Elledge served as Director of Operations of CommuniTech.Net from July 1999 through January 2003, where he had direct oversight of the company's management and day-to-day operations. Following the acquisition of CommuniTech.Net by Web.com (formerly Interland), Mr. Elledge coordinated and directed the successful technology migrations of multiple acquired web hosting firms into the CommuniTech.Net facilities in Kansas City, Missouri.

Following his tenure with CommuniTech.Net, Mr. Elledge was appointed the President and CEO of iNET Interactive in May 2003. iNET Interactive owned and maintained industry-leading web portals in technology-related verticals including hosting, software development, and computer hardware. Under his leadership, iNET Interactive grew from its status as a start-up to more than $2 million in annualized revenue in less than two years, before being acquired by a private equity firm in November of 2005.

Michael Howard, Chief Financial Officer

Michael Howard brings to Aplus.Net a vast range of professional experience in accounting and corporate finance, having held related positions at Mitchell International, KLM Automotive Publishing, Continental Engineering Services, Allbrite Technologies, VST International, and Abacus America. Internationally, his experience ranges from Canada, China, the Caribbean, and Europe to the United States Army Security Agency's Communications Intelligence. He has also served as President of National Auto Glass Specifications, a subsidiary of Mitchell International.

In addition to his role at Aplus.Net, Mr. Howard also provides accounting and corporate finance consulting services and teaches accounting and finance at the University of California San Diego School of Extended Studies. Mr. Howard holds an MBA in Accounting & Finance and a BS in Chemistry from San Diego State University.

Clarke Caines, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales

Clarke Caines joined Aplus.Net in May 2006 and is responsible for guiding the strategic and operational direction of its worldwide sales organization.

Prior to joining Aplus.Net, Mr. Caines led sales for three years at CrystalVoice Communications, an Internet software company. Mr. Caines' previous experience also includes several leadership roles over a nine-year period at XO Communications (including Vice President of National Accounts, Vice President General Manager, and Vice President of Marketing); leadership positions for two years at Bay Area Teleport; and six years at Genigraphics. Mr. Caines holds an MBA from the University of California at Irvine and a BA from San Diego State University. 

Alexander Yevelev, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Alexander Yevelev joined Aplus.Net in early 2008 as Senior Vice President of Marketing. An accomplished sales and marketing expert specializing at maximizing revenue and productivity while also reducing internal costs, Mr. Yevelev brings to Aplus.net two decades of high-level experience. He has held prominent positions with industry leaders in managed hosting, exchange hosting, eCommerce, international trading, and more.

Mr. Yevelev has served as Director of Sales and Director of Marketing Programs at San Antonio-based Rackspace Managed Hosting and Director of Operations at Concentric (XO Communications). Most recently, Mr. Yevelev had spent the last several years as Director of Direct Sales and Marketing for Intermedia.Net and Vice President of Sales and Web Marketing for Apptix, helping to lead those companies to the top of the exchange hosting industry. 

Russell Gilman, Senior Vice President, Customer Care

Russell Gilman, previously general manager of Aplus.Net's support department, has been named the Senior Vice President of Customer Care. As Senior Vice President of Customer Care, Russell Gilman is responsible for a large portion of Aplus.Net's day-to-day operations.

Mr. Gilman brings to Aplus.Net more than 20 years of experience in the IT and computer industries, as well as an extensive background in Customer Support, Operations, Manufacturing, and Engineering. Mr. Gilman previously spent more than 15 years at NCR Corporation, serving most recently as Director of Applications and Network Services for NCR's Global Support Center. His previous positions include Regional Manager Technical Services, Group Manager System Services, Controlled Deployment Manager, and District Manager Technical Services. Mr. Gilman holds a degree in Electronics Engineering from American Technical University, Los Angeles. Mr. Gilman joined Aplus.Net in April 2005.

Nicholas Gaugler, Vice President, Development

As Vice President of Development, Nicholas Gaugler brings a comprehensive level of expertise to his role as leader of Aplus.Net’s efforts in programming, systems administration, database design, hardware testing, virtual web hosting, and much more. Having begun his career with Pennsylvania’s Vanguard Group in 1999, Mr. Gaugler joined Gabriel Murphy’s CommuniTech.Net that same year and has been a key component of Mr. Murphy’s business enterprises ever since, helping shepherd CommuniTech in its evolution from a start-up to a company of $8 million in revenues as well as heading up Aplus.Net’s current technological initiatives.

Ralph Munyan, Vice President and General Counsel

Ralph F. Munyan joined Aplus.Net in early 2007, bringing with him several decades of legal and business experience in a variety of settings. A member of the Kansas Bar Association, Mr. Munyan holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, as well as an MBA and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, Lawrence. He has significant experience as corporate counsel, and in merger and acquisition transactions, internet law, corporate formations and dissolutions, and contract law.

Mr. Munyan’s previous employers include Spherion Corporation, PharmaPayments, Inc., Nations Media Partners, and Commerce Bank of Kansas City; he has also headed his own independent law office. In addition, he currently serves as Vice Chairman of the board of directors for Heartland Financial Concepts, Inc., a not-for-profit ministry specializing in providing personal financial management education.