Jumpstart Automotive Group
Biographies
Nick Matarazzo
Chief Executive Officer
As Chief Executive Officer, Nick Matarazzo is responsible for establishing vision, setting priority, and building a high performance culture throughout the organization.
Previously, Matarazzo served as EVP, Group Publishing Director, Men's Enthusiast Group, Integrated Sales & Marketing, and served on the board of directors of Jumpstart Automotive Media. In June 2009, Matarazzo formed Rainmaker Media Solutions, a sales and marketing consulting firm, and his client list included American Media, TV Guide, Mobile Matters and Nelligan Sports Marketing.
He began his career at CBS Magazines in 1981 which would ultimately be acquired by HFM U.S. He worked at various sales, publishing and financial positions at the company and, in 1992, was named senior vice president, group publisher for the men's titles, corporate sales and marketing. In September 2004, he was promoted to Executive Vice President, Group Publishing Director, Men's Enthusiast Group, Integrated Sales and Marketing.
Philippe Perthuis
Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
As Chief Financial Officer, Philippe Perthuis is responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation, financial planning & reporting to the executive team and also serves on the board of directors. He was named Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer for HFM U.S. in December 2007.
Prior to joining the company in the U.S., Perthuis was the Deputy Director of Finance for HFM U.S.'s parent company Lagardère Active in Paris where he focused on the restructuring and centralization of the Finance and Administration systems in France following the merger of Lagardère Active and Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Prior to that, he served as General Manager for the company's Youth Channel which includes the cable television channels "Canal J", "TiJi", "Filles TV" and "Gulli".
Grant Whitmore
Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer, Grant Whitmore is responsible for the company's product strategy, working closely with the management team to ensure tight communication, coordination and teamwork.
Mr. Whitmore joins Jumpstart from BarNone, a division of First Advantage, where he was the business unit president in charge of the foremost finance lead generation company in the industry from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that, he was a client of Jumpstart's while serving as the vice president & general manager of Consumer Guide Automotive, now a division of HowStuffWorks.com and Discovery Communications. Mr. Whitmore began his career in automotive publishing at Edmunds.com as managing editor and director of new product development.
Rob Houghtlin
Chief Revenue Officer
As Chief Revenue Officer, Rob Houghtlin is responsible for all sales activities. He began his career as a sales manager for US News & World Report. After leaving US News, he became the Detroit Manager of Life Magazine in 1994 and then in 1997 he went to ESPN to help launch 'ESPN The Magazine'. After a successful launch and 4 great years at ESPN, he was recruited to Car and Driver to handle domestic automotive business, manage the corporate sales efforts at HFM and eventually took on the role of Associate Publisher and then Publisher of Car and Driver.
In 2009 he joined the sales team at Jumpstart Automotive Group and began the integration efforts for the Car and Driver and Road & Track sales team with the Jumpstart sales team.
Robert Ames
Chief Performance Officer
As Chief Performance Officer, Robert Ames is responsible for the revenue operations and systems development. Robert first joined Hachette in April 2002 and served as vice president and general manager for Hachette's Men's Enthusiast Network which included CARandDRIVER.com, ROADandTRACK.com and CycleWorld.com.
Prior to joining the Hachette, he served as vice president of marketing and merchandise for CarParts.com, an online retailer of automotive parts and accessories and as vice president of marketing for Auto Parts Club, a big box membership club retailer of automotive parts and accessories.
Recent Blog Posts
Jumpstart Numbers Prove Facebook was Highly Effective Outlet for Explorer Unveiling
Ford took its digital media prowess to another level when it unveiled the 2011 Explorer exclusively on Facebook, a first for a vehicle reveal, which traditionally occurs at auto shows or major industry events.