Praetorian Digital CEO Alex Ford Named 2015 FOLIO: 100 Award Honoree

Jon Hughes

Vice President, Content

As Vice President of Content, Jon Hughes, oversees all website content for Praetorian Digital’s network of websites, spanning both editorial and custom/advertorial. As leader atop Editorial, he manages an award-winning team of 10 experienced editors and more than 100 subject matter experts, who have been recognized in recent years with industry awards ranging from FOLIO Eddies to more than 15 Western Publishing Association Maggie Awards. With average website traffic north of 4.5 million unique visitors and 14 million page views, he manages the most visited network of websites for first responders – with a collective traffic growth of 90% in 2014.

In addition to management of all Editorial content, Jon also manages Praetorian’s growing Custom Solutions division, which provides custom content, social media and a broad range of advertising solutions for companies in the public safety market. He also led the creation of Praetorian’s social media strategy and currently oversees its social presence, which includes an industry-best collective Facebook presence surpassing 2.5 million fans. Additionally, he manages all companywide public relations and external communications efforts.

Prior to the Praetorian Group, Jon worked in public relations, managing the accounts of several leading global brands in industries spanning technology, oil and business consulting, including Hewlett Packard, ChevronTexaco, Philips Semiconductor and Landor Associates.

Jon graduated with degree in Journalism from California Polytechnic State University, and when he’s not copy editing everything from feature articles to restaurant menus, he has been known to throw a football farther than anyone attending the company picnic seven years in a row.

Ker Thao

Vice President, Operations & Finance

Ms. Thao oversees Praetorian Digital’s finance, human resources, legal affairs, office management, and customer service functions. A nine year veteran of the company, Ker began her career at Praetorian Digital and has been a fast rising star since day one. Her financial responsibilities for the business include managing key alliances with Silicon Valley Bank along with companywide budget, financial reporting, and due diligence on business development initiatives.

Ker received her degree in Business Economics and Communications with an emphasis in Accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She grew up in southern California and is a devoted San Diego Chargers fan.

Bob Bradley

Senior Vice President – Learning

As Senior Vice President of Learning, Bob Bradley oversees the day-to-day operations of the Praetorian Digital Learning division, including: full P&L responsibilities, division strategy, product direction, customer success, content development, sales and marketing.

Prior to joining Praetorian Digital, Bob served as VP of Sales for Netsertive, a SaaS marketing technology company. In that role, Bob led revenue growth at an astounding rate of 3350% in 6 years to well over $50 million. Before his time at Netsertive, Bob spent 6 years in the Public Safety space leading sales and marketing efforts for mobile video technology providers ICOP Digital and Integrian.

Bob holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University and a Master’s degree from the Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business.

Michael Herning

Chairman

Mike Herning has been the principle owner of several businesses across the private and public sectors, covering industries from consumer retail to electrical construction and public safety. Together, his companies total more than $120 million in revenue. He was the first investor in The Praetorian Group, joining the Schwab Family fund as the lead early stage investors in the business in 1999 and later in re-capitalizing the company in 2003. Mike is passionate about the safety and security market and – as Chairman of Praetorian Group – works closely with the Executive team in the areas of finance and operations. He brings more than 30 years of experience helping companies to scale and expand, and his extensive knowledge in management, investing, corporate development and operations has helped his portfolio of businesses succeed.

Mike is a graduate of Stanford University, where he played football and was a member of the coaching staff.

Alex Ford

Chief Executive Officer

Alex Ford is CEO of Praetorian Digital, the leading digital media company in public safety and local government. Alex successfully built the company from the ground up, co-founding the company in 1999 and becoming its CEO in 2001. He has led the company through recapitalization and two market downturns to a clear market leadership position, driving 10 years of continuous profitability and growth.

Under his direction, Praetorian has launched more than 25 websites, including PoliceOne.com, FireRescue1.com, EMS1.com and CorrectionsOne.com – all either the #1 or #2 media properties in their respective markets – and multiple SaaS products from online learning to grant management. He has led Praetorian to a growth rate of more than 20 percent per year in each of the last three years.

During his tenure, Alex has achieved success by developing an innovative digital media business model that delivers incredible value to first responders, local government officials and industry suppliers alike. He’s continuing to aggressively grow the business through acquisitions and the development of new products and expansion into related verticals. His vision and ability to leverage technology and stay nimble has established Praetorian as a demonstrated thought leader in B2B digital media.

Praetorian Digital was named the winner of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2013 Small Business of the Year Award and has received numerous online publishing accolades, including multiple FOLIO ‘Eddie and Ozzie’ Awards, Association of Business Media ‘Neal’ Awards and Western Publishing Association ‘Maggies’ recognizing the best media companies in the Western U.S.

Alex’s background spans online publishing, SaaS, lead generation, content marketing and social media. Consistently named to FOLIO’s annual list of the top 100 thought leaders in media, he is widely recognized as an innovator in monetizing online content in B2B publishing. Prior to founding Praetorian, he served as a business strategy consultant and assisted multiple Fortune 100 companies in evaluating online opportunities, including GM, IBM and Harley-Davidson.

Nick Bruckner

VICE PRESIDENT, MEDIA DIVISION

As Vice President of Media, Nick Bruckner oversees the day-to-day operations of the Praetorian Digital Media division, including: full P&L responsibilities, division strategy, product development, customer success, sales and marketing.

Prior to joining Praetorian Digital, Nick served as Senior Director of Sales for Hip Digital. In this roles, Nick led revenue growth and secured some of the largest agreements on record with brands to the like of Verizon and GP. Before his time at Hip Digital, Nick spent 2 years in the Cost per Click advertising space leading sales for the largest recruitment advertising company in that US, Indeed.com. During his tenure at this company, he was able to increase revenues by 468% in two years.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder. In his free time, he volunteers his time as a wrestling coach at the local and national levels. He currently serves at the President of the California Olympic Regional Training Center (@ Stanford University) and of the Cardinal Wrestling Club.

Sarah Wilson

Vice President, Grants Division

Since 2009 Sarah has worked tirelessly to grow our Grants Division from a small sponsored website to a $2.5MM revenue business. She has built an impressive team and worked hard to support Praetorian’s mission of helping public safety and local government better serve and protect our communities. The $100MM in grant funding milestone the Grant team achieved in 2016 is the perfect testament to those efforts.

The Grants Division offers SaaS, data and workflow tools to municipalities, departments and vendors as well as grant writing services.. Sarah is focused on growing SaaS recurring revenue and expanding the division across local government verticals.

Sarah joined Praetorian in 2007 to manage business operations for the company. Partnering with the CEO Alex Ford, they were able to create a new division focused on grants and funding in 2009. Over the past several years, Sarah has scaled the division and become a leading expert not only on public safety grants, but also local government as well. She and her team have helped fund much-needed equipment and personnel in the markets we serve, while providing incredible value to advertisers.

Prior to Praetorian Digital, Sarah held various marketing and organizational management positions within financial services. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Davis. A west coaster her entire life, Sarah was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, raised in Southern California and currently calls San Francisco home.