David Liu
Cofounder, Chairman and CEO
David Liu is cofounder and CEO of The Knot Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT; www.theknot.com), a leading lifestage media company.
In 1996, Liu and his business partners (including wife Carley Roney) predicted that the emergence of Internet technology would become the perfect solution to the frustrating, antiquated process of planning a wedding. Their vision: to launch a bridal media brand with a single online destination that would reinvent the $70 billion wedding industry by appealing to modern couples and providing 24/7 access to stylish editorial content, modern advice, thousands of local professionals, and an online community. The Knot has become the nation’s #1 wedding resource and most trafficked online wedding destination with more than 100 million monthly page views and over 1.5 million registered members.
Through innovative, resilient business practices, Liu drove The Knot Inc. from an Internet start-up to a multimillion-dollar media leader in the wedding and lifestyle category with more than 500 employees. Under Liu’s leadership, the company’s portfolio of brands and services grew beyond weddings into newlywed and parenting spaces. Liu also lead the acquisition of the company’s closest competitor, WeddingChannel, Inc., uniting two leaders in the online bridal industry.
Liu has lead his team to extend each brand of The Knot Inc. to the offline world with a host of magazines, books, and television broadcasts, as well as a massive merchandising arm which includes a full-service gift registry and an Internet wedding supplies store. Liu has also been the guiding force in the company’s exploration of broadband technology, negotiating partnerships with Comcast on the video-on-demand front and launching one of the Internet’s first-ever 24/7 streaming video TV channel, The Knot TV.
Liu helped The Knot raise more than $35 million in its IPO in early December 1999, and over $70 million in financing from leaders such as Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, QVC, Inc., The May Department Stores Company, T. Rowe Price, and Capital Research. In 2003, The Knot announced its first profitability milestone. And, in April 2005, the company was officially relisted on the national NASDAQ market under the symbol “KNOT.” In 2008, Liu was named Ernst & Young’s Metro Area Entrepreneur of the Year.
Prior to founding The Knot, Liu built a nine-year career in digital production and management. In 1993, he founded RunTime Inc., a CD-ROM development firm producing award-winning titles for clients including the Smithsonian Institute, Intel, and AT&T. Liu received his BFA in film and television from New York University.
Carley Roney
Cofounder and Editor in Chief
Carley Roney is cofounder and editor in chief of The Knot Inc.
After the nightmare of planning her own wedding, she and husband David Liu, along with two friends, launched The Knot in 1996 to enhance the wedding planning process with the convenience of emerging Internet technology. The site offers stylish ideas, up-to-date advice, and much-needed relief to today's brides and grooms. Roney has successfully established The Knot as the #1 brand in weddings. To date, the company has helped millions of US couples with the numerous facets of wedding planning.
Building on her years of media experience in magazine publishing and new media, Roney has been an integral force in the extension of the brands and services of The Knot Inc. beyond the wedding day. She lead the launch of The Nest (www.thenest.com) for newlyweds, The Bump (www.thebump.com) for first-time parents, and she directed the integration of registry powerhouse WeddingChannel.com and other brands into the company’s multimedia portfolio.
As an expert on real-world weddings and young married life, Roney is invited to speak at many industry events and frequently appears on national television shows, including Oprah, ABC's The View, NBC's The TODAY Show, and CBS' The Early Show. She is also a regular contributor to leading publications, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, Glamour, Vogue, Elle, and Self. Her popular advice column "Ask Carley" is syndicated by the Scripps Howard News Service and appears in more than 70 newspapers nationwide.
Roney is also the author of several popular books, including The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World (Broadway Books, 1998), The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner (Broadway Books, 1999), The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions (Broadway Books, 2000), The Knot Book of Lists (Clarkson Potter, 2008), The Nest Newlywed Handbook (Clarkson Potter, 2007), and The Nest Home Design Handbook (Clarkson Potter, 2008).
In 2008, Roney was named one of Crain’s New York Forty Under 40 and is regularly recognized and consulted as a mentor for young female entrepreneurs.
Prior to founding The Knot, Roney was the President of RunTime Inc., where she produced award-winning media products for The Smithsonian and Sotheby's. Previous to RunTime, she was creative director and editor for clients such as the National Museum of American History, The McGraw-Hill Companies, and Simon & Schuster. Roney holds an MA in cultural studies from New York University and a BFA from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Institute of Film and Television.
Carol Koh Evans
Chief Operating Officer
Carol Koh Evans is the Chief Operating Officer of The Knot Inc. A former General Manager for Massive Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation and leading network for video game advertising, Evans returned to The Knot in May 2008 as Chief Operating Officer with unique, first-hand experience at the company. She previously worked at The Knot in corporate development under the direction of CFO Richard Szefc and CEO David Liu, where she was instrumental in the execution of the company's successful IPO in December 1999 and the acquisition of Weddingpages, Inc., in 2000. Evans left The Knot to pursue a Corporate Development position with Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, where she gained significant M&A and management experience.
As Chief Operating Officer of The Knot, Evans oversees the operations of the local and national advertising businesses, commerce warehouse, customer service departments, and the company’s registry business. She also handles M&A for The Knot Inc. and other corporate development initiatives.
Prior to joining Massive, following the acquisition by Microsoft, Evans spent five years with Microsoft in Corporate Development and Corporate Strategy, and MSN M&A where she primarily supported Microsoft’s consumer initiatives, including the Online Services and Entertainment and Devices divisions. In addition, she worked as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers in New York and Hong Kong and Robertson Stephens in San Francisco and participated in General Electric’s Financial Management Program. Evans received her MBA from Columbia Business School and her BS in Business Administration from the Walter Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
John Mueller
Chief Financial Officer
John Mueller, Chief Financial Officer of The Knot, oversees the company’s financial and accounting functions as well as investor relations. Mueller joined The Knot in September 2008 from Genius Products, Inc., where he was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President. In that role, he successfully managed the transition with the company’s new partner, The Weinstein Company, resulting in revenue growth from $22 million in 2005 to $474 million in 2007. In addition, he assisted in the expansion of 15 major content partners, completed the acquisition of a direct response marketing company and was responsible for implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
Mueller brings extensive prior experience in investment banking. He was Senior Vice President of Media Investment Banking for Jefferies & Company, Inc., where he provided strategic financial advisory services on mergers, acquisitions, and equity and debt offerings for entertainment and media clients. Mueller also worked in the media and entertainment investment banking groups at Credit Suisse First Boston and SG Cowen Securities. He began his career in finance working for Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods company Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
Mueller received his MBA from the Harvard Business School and his BS in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.
Nic Di Iorio
Executive VP & Managing Director, Technology Group
Nic Di Iorio is the Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Technology Group at The Knot Inc. A former CTO for one of the world’s largest advertising and communications companies, Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG), Di Iorio brings his extensive technology management experience to the executive management team at The Knot. At the company, Di Iorio manages the entire technology team in support of the company’s various business units. He also provides strategic insight to the allocation of technology resources to support the company’s long-term goals as it grows its properties and marketing services and invests in scalable technological platforms.
At IPG, Di Iorio was responsible for the development, deployment, and management of all shared applications, products, and services across the operating companies, including traditional and digital media research, analysis, planning, and buying; financial management, analysis, and consolidation; business intelligence and reporting; production and project management; knowledge management, access, and distribution; and digital global collaboration.
Prior to IPG, Di Iorio held the dual role of Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer of the McCann WorldGroup (a wholly owned subsidiary of IPG) and CEO of Marketing Communications Technologies (MCT) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the McCann WorldGroup. MCT was founded in 1998 and operated as an independent IT services provider to all the operating divisions of the McCann WorldGroup. Di Iorio joined McCann-Erickson Worldwide in 1995 as Senior Vice President, Director of Information Technology, with overall responsibilities for McCann-Erickson’s worldwide IT strategy and implementation.
Prior to joining McCann, Di Iorio spent four years at Young & Rubicam as Vice President, Director of Global Network Services, responsible for the worldwide strategy and implementation of its IT infrastructure. He also spent 10 years in Research and Development organizations at GTE and AT&T Bell Laboratories working on new technologies in the area of distributed systems, data networking, security, and telecommunications.
Di Iorio holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Computer Science, has published in both trade and professional publications, and has been a key speaker at trade and professional conferences. He has held various leadership roles in the ISO and CCITT international standards committees, where he authored two international standards and chaired two subcommittees. He also participated in the Internet’s IETF committee. He resides in New York City.
Jeremy Lechtzin
General Counsel
Jeremy Lechtzin has been our General Counsel since May 2007 and Secretary since October 2007. He has been a Senior Vice President since August 2008 and before that served as a Vice President. Before joining The Knot, he was in private practice representing The Knot and other public and private technology clients on securities, mergers, venture capital, intellectual property and general corporate matters with the law firms of Proskauer Rose LLP from February 2003 through May 2007 and Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP from September 1999 through February 2003.
Mr. Lechtzin received a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan and earned a J.D. from New York University School of Law.