Management Team

Daniel Blackman, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

Daniel Blackman has built a career working in new media development, including content distribution, advertising, and video production. Before Howcast, Daniel worked at Google building strategic content relationships for both the YouTube and Google Video teams. Prior to Google, Daniel was the General Manager, VP at Barnes&Noble.com, overseeing the merchandising, editorial, and production operations. Earlier at HarperCollins Publishers, Daniel created and ran its first Internet Development Group. Daniel also produced digital media for Lollapalooza and as commercial producer for advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson. Daniel holds a bachelor of fine arts in film production from New York University.

Sanjay Raman, Co-Founder & Vice President of Product Development

Prior to co-founding Howcast, Sanjay worked at Google as a Product Manager for Google Apps, driving product vision for Google's suite of communication and collaboration products. As one of the initial members of the Google Video Team, Sanjay helped launch the first user-generated video upload platform. Earlier in his career, Sanjay spent two years at Morgan Stanley as an analyst. While earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science at MIT, Sanjay co-founded and served as chief architect of an enterprise wireless software company that was acquired in 2001.

Alex Ellerson, Senior Vice President of Business Development & Legal Affairs

Prior to joining Howcast, Alex was the Head of Entertainment and Premium Content Partnerships for Google Video and YouTube. Before joining Google, Alex was the Senior Director of Business Development for Yahoo! Search. During his six-year tenure at Yahoo!, Alex also held positions as the General Manager of Yahoo! Health, and Director of Business Development for Yahoo!'s media group. Earlier, Alex was the COO & General Counsel for The CMJ Network, Inc. He was also an Associate at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and a law clerk to The Honorable Amalya L. Kearse (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit). Alex holds a JD from Columbia University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College. He also currently serves as a member of the Programming Committee of the NY Chapter of the U.S. Copyright Society.

Jeffrey Kaufman, Vice President of Programming and Content Development

Jeffrey is responsible for Howcast's programming vision, managing editorial strategy, and coordinating content and brand efforts across all platforms and areas of our business. Prior to joining Howcast, Kaufman spent 12 years with MTV eventually leading research and planning, after which he spent 2 years at NBC where he helped launch the new media businesses >nbbc and Hulu.

Darlene Liebman, Co-Founder & Vice President of Production

Darlene Liebman was born and raised in Manhattan and is a die-hard New Yorker. Beginning her production career working on independent feature films in New York City, she quickly learned how the film community functions, and the difference between a best boy and a key grip. Called by the sunny rays of California, she worked on "Nash Bridges" with Don Johnson and Cheech Mairin in San Franciso and then in L.A. with the William Morris Agency. After returning to New York, Darlene continued to work on feature films until she was asked to help launch "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." This was followed by the opportunity to explore short form animated content with the Nickelodeon On-Air Promos department and produce videos for "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "The Fairly OddParents."

While working at Nickelodeon, Darlene got a call from her twin brother asking her to help launch Howcast. She is currently the Vice President of Production responsible for running Howcast Studios and building a community for emerging directors. Her responsibilities include finding talented filmmakers who make the vision of cool how-tos a reality. Her work was recognized in 2009 when Fast Company named her one of the Most Influential Women in Technology.