Management

Stephen Marsh founded the hosted email archiving and compliance vendor Smarsh, Inc. in 2001, and the organization achieved operating profitability almost immediately with just a handful of clients.

Today, Marsh oversees the operation with 10,000 clients and 70 employees. The company is headquartered in Portland, Ore. with a second office in New York City.

The growth of Smarsh has been recognized at both the local and national level. In 2008 and 2009, the company was named to the Inc. 500, Inc. magazine’s annual analysis of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Smarsh was named to the 2009 Technology Fast 500, Deloitte LLP’s ranking of 500 of the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. The Portland Business Journal ranked Smarsh as the fastest-growing private company in the state of Oregon in 2009, one year after it earned the No. 2 spot in the same list.

Marsh himself was honored in April 2009 by the Portland Business Journal as one of Portland’s 40 under 40, young business leaders making a difference in business and in their community. He was also a finalist for the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Pacific Northwest. The eponymous founder and CEO is active in every facet of the operation at Smarsh, and is as comfortable providing technical support for clients as he is brokering massive business development. He provides long-term vision for the company combined with a dogged work ethic, technology and financial industry knowledge and business savvy.

Smarsh has developed into the premier hosted email archiving and compliance vendor by helping companies in the strictly-regulated financial services industry satisfy SEC and FINRA regulatory obligations. In 2009, the company introduced the smarshDLP content-filtering engine and smarshEncrypt email encryption solutions, designed to protect clients from outbound email security threats and help them meet secure email and file transmission obligations. With the shadow of increased regulation looming today, the peace of mind provided by Smarsh’s full-service suite of solutions is even more relevant.

 

At the same time, Marsh recognized that, at the system administration level and at the end-user level, technology could maximize efficiency and cost-effectiveness while minimizing regulatory (and legal) compliance risk. Smarsh proprietary technology could help companies essentially be more productive with fewer resources.

Virtually all Smarsh products and services are available via the software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model. Clients’ mission-critical data is hosted in the Smarsh state-of-the-art data centers, and securely accessible around the clock via the Internet. There are no upfront hardware and software costs, and the outsourced model offers relief from a replacement schedule, staffing expenditures (and man-hours) and additional large capital outlay. Smarsh enables clients to be more fiscally responsible, while it handles the day-to-day I.T. responsibilities that come with managing such volumes of data.

Prior to founding the company, Steve led product management and development efforts at CCBN, now a division of Thomson Financial, a market leader in investor relations communications services. He also gained experience working at both Fidelity Investments and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

Marsh is frequently featured in financial and technology publications and speaks regularly at industry conferences. He earned his undergraduate from Syracuse University and currently lives in Camas, Wash. with his wife and sons.

 

 

Steve Finnern joined Smarsh, Inc. as a principal in 2003, and leads the organization’s sales operation. He has built and trained sales teams in Portland, Ore. and New York that have driven a 316 percent growth in revenue over the past three years, and an 831% growth rate over the past four. Smarsh account executives take pride in the force’s exceptional reputation, earned from its knowledge of the regulatory environment and best practices in archiving and compliance as well as its commitment to providing an unparalleled customer experience.

Finnern plays a chief role in the recruitment of Smarsh’s growing client base, which includes 40 percent of the biggest broker/dealers nationwide. He has helped spearhead the company’s efforts to expand its presence in additional vertical markets and plays a key role in the development of the company’s strategic initiatives to market and sell new offerings within its growing suite of solutions.

Prior to joining Smarsh, Steve helped direct product development for vital business operations platforms at CCBN, now a division of Thomson Financial. His team implemented the central IR online platform for investor relations communications services, integrating internal business units with development and technology. He also has experience as a freelance technology consultant in the areas of web development and e-commerce.

Steve is actively involved with financial services industry organizations (such as FINRA, SIFMA, NAIBD and NRS, among others), regularly participating in conferences and speaking on industry panels. The University of Vermont graduate and his wife live in Hoboken, New Jersey.

 

 

Justin Parker has led Smarsh’s development efforts since 2004, and he assembled and manages the well-rounded team of talent committed to the company’s vision for perpetual innovation. He directs a nimble development agenda built on responsiveness to client feedback and requests.

 

Parker’s team is charged with the conception, integration, design, coding, testing, implementation and maintenance of all of the company’s proprietary applications. The team also aims to create efficiency for Smarsh’s users by automating the routine, and to make the user experience integrated, intuitive and easy.

 

Prior to joining Smarsh, Justin spent five years at Antares Technology Solutions as a software and Web developer. There, he designed and developed database systems for SQL Server, MS Access, and MySQL, designed entity relationship diagrams based on client business processes and wrote stored procedures, user-defined functions and triggers needed to support database driven applications.

 

The Louisiana State University graduate resides in Portland, Ore. with his wife and daughter.

 

 

Barbara Chiapuzio joined Smarsh in 2008 with a history of navigating start-ups to financial success and through aggressive growth. She brings 20 years of combined experience in public accounting and private industry to Smarsh and assumed leadership of the company’s finance, accounting and human resources operations.

 

Prior to Smarsh, Chiapuzio spent five years as the CFO of Network Elements, Inc. in Beaverton, Ore. She helped raise over $100 million in equity, debt and government contracts. She also directed all accounting, human resources and IT functions.

 

As the vice president of finance at Claremont Technology Group, she helped lead the company through its initial and secondary public offerings. She later helped identify a merger partner and ultimately close the merger with CBSI. With the newly-formed Convansys, she continued her role as the vice president of finance, served as a member of the mergers and acquisitions team and developed and implemented their European strategy.

 

Chiapuzio also gained experience with KPMG in Portland, Ore. providing tax and accounting services.

 

The Portland State University graduate stays active in her local community and serves on a number of civic and school district committees. Barbara, her husband and two children reside in Tigard, Ore.

 

 

Sam Kolbert-Hyle joined Smarsh in 2009 as its Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Initiatives. Sam is responsible for managing Smarsh's business development efforts including corporate development, strategy, and emerging businesses. In his role, Sam also leads Smarsh's merger and acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including alliances with service partners and independent software vendors.

 

Prior to joining Smarsh, Sam was an associate at Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors in Los Angeles, a private equity group which focuses on growth investments in profitable software and service businesses. There, Sam developed sector-specific expertise in Software-as-a-Service, enterprise software, IT services, technology products, online advertising, and other technology-enabled service businesses. Sam has also worked as an analyst at Citigroup and Cohen Bros & Company and was the co-founder and President of Campus Sportswear USA, Inc. from 2003 until 2007.

 

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School with a concentration in Finance and a minor in History, Sam grew up in Philadelphia and is an avid Philadelphia sports fan.

 

You can reach Sam directly at (971) 270-1163 or by email at .