Leadership Team
Key Management
The following are brief biographies of SDD’s key management and advisors:
John E. Kavanagh, III – Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO
John has over 40 years of experience as an entrepreneur. He grew his former company Berry to $500M in annual revenues and has acted as an advisor to Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. He brings his vast business acumen and leadership to Sports Draft Daily as its CEO. John has both an undergraduate and Masters degree in engineering from Tufts University.
Scott Fleming – Co-Founder, Product Development
Scott has a background in prior start-ups and is an avid fantasy sports player in the high-stakes market. He is the software architect behind Sports Draft Daily’s games and will oversee game design and product development as the company looks to continue the expansion of game offerings in the ever-growing fantasy sports industry. Scott has a degree in mathematics from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Patrick Davenport – Chief Operating Officer
Patrick oversees business operations, site development, social media marketing and strategy. He has extensive prior leadership experience in senior roles in executive management both at companies and in venture capital in fundraising, business development and operations, creating strategic partnerships to accelerate growth, create value and facilitate successful exits. He was recently an early stage senior executive at Twinstrata (cloud storage software company) helping raise angel funding and venture capital and developing and executing on strategy for acquiring customers online and creating partnerships.
Patrick was the founder and Managing General Partner of a $120 million venture capital fund that invested in over 20 companies in the areas of software infrastructure, telecom, data storage and online commerce & digital media. He has served on the Board of Directors of over 17 companies assisting with strategic decision making and facilitating growth. Patrick is a graduate of Providence College, has an M.S. in Finance from Boston College where he is an adjunct professor of Strategy in the MBA program and has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Shawn Childs – Head of Content
Shawn is one of the most successful high stakes fantasy sports players in the industry. He is in the NFBC Hall of Fame for his accomplishments and career earnings. He has an extensive following for his annual “cheat sheets” and draft analysis for MLB and NFL, and also his in-season roster management commentary.
Tom Foley – Investor/CFO
Tom’s vast knowledge in the field of finance has led him to work as an Executive Consultant for corporate firms. His client base has included Invensys Corp., William A. Berry & Son, Inc., and Foxboro Inc. Mr. Foley held the position of Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer for the Intelligent Automation Group of Invensys and the Foxboro Company for eleven years. Under his leadership the business grew from $600M to $4.5B through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. He acquired and integrated 16 Industrial Manufacturing and Industrial Automation companies.
Mr. Foley worked in positions as Controller, Treasurer, and Vice President for BULL HN and Honeywell Information Systems. He negotiated credit lines, prepared strategy for capital structure with owners of NEC, Group BULL, and Honeywell. As Group Controller, Tom was the Financial Officer responsible for several divisions. In his earlier career, Tom was a Financial Analyst for Raytheon and Corning corporations. Tom has undergraduate and MBA degrees from Northeastern University.
John H. McArthur – Investor/Advisor
John H. McArthur was Dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, from 1980 through 1995. He was a member of the Harvard Business School faculty from 1962, where he taught courses in corporate finance and related fields in several School programs while also engaging in research and course development in Europe and North America. In 1973, McArthur was appointed the Sylvan C. Coleman Professor of Financial Management, and in 1980, the George F. Baker Professor of Business Administration.
In his career, he has held numerous corporate directorships, committee memberships, and consulting posts in business, government, education and health care organizations around the world. He has been a director of Glaxo Wellcome plc; GlaxoSmithKline plc; HCA Inc.; Multibank Financial Corporation; National Aviation and Technology Corporation; The Pennsylvania Corporation; Rohm and Haas Company; Teradyne Inc.; Springs Industries, Inc.; and Urban National Corporation. For many years, he served as chair of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Following the affiliation of Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospital, he was founding Co-chair of the Board of Trustees of Partners HealthCare System, Inc.
Currently, he is a director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (chair); the Development Gateway Foundation; Duke University Health System; e-Rewards, Inc.; Koç Holdings, A.S., Istanbul; Reuters Founders Share Trust Company Limited, London; and Telesat Canada. He has received numerous honorary doctorates; from Middlebury College, Queens University, Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Navarra in Spain. He was named as a Lifetime Trustee at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1996. In 1997, Harvard University established the John and Netilia McArthur University Professorship. In 1999, recognition of his outstanding contributions throughout his career at Harvard Business School, McArthur Hall was dedicated in his name.
Mr. McArthur holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Harvard University.
David Fellows – Investor/ Technical Advisor
Mr. Fellows served as a Director of Anadigics Incorporated since May 2007 and held a seat on the company’s Technical Advisory Board from April 2003 until May 2007. From 2003 to 2006, Fellows held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Comcast Cable. During that post, he was responsible for technology, engineering and technical operations. Preceding that position, he was Chief Technology Officer at AT&T Broadband from December 2001 until their acquisition by Comcast in 2003. In his career, Mr. Fellows has served in a number of industry-related roles.
He is chairman of the Data Standards Subcommittee for the Society of Cable Technical Engineers, and was previously a member of the Board of Directors for CableLabs in Louisville, CO. He has served on numerous Technical Advisory Boards throughout his career.
Mr. Fellows holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Applied Physics from Harvard University.
William Tinti – Investor/Legal Advisor
William “Bill” Tinti has been practicing general law with specializations in merger and acquisitions, banking law, real estate law, historic preservation law, affordable housing development, commercial and industrial real estate development, leasing, financing, administrative law, and municipal law. In 1988, he was the recipient of the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s 25th Anniversary Preservation Award. The New York Times featured Mr. Tinti as playing a key role in the redevelopment of downtown Salem, which was noted an award-winning project.
Mr. Tinti has been admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the Bar of the United States District Court and the United States Bankruptcy Court. In addition, he has been certified as a Land Court Title Examiner for Massachusetts and is listed as a Historical Preservation lawyer by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. His credentials include being listed in “Who’s Who in American Law”, “Who’s Who of Professionals” and the international “Who’s Who Directory”.
Mr. Tinti serves on the executive committee of the Salem Partnership a non-profit organization, which comprises of nearly one hundred members from business, industry, education, government and cultural institutions.
Mr. Tinti is heavily involved in the community, is Chairman of the North Shore Major Investment Study Steering Committee for Mass Transportation Improvements, which is overseeing the needs and future course of rapid transit and mass transit on the North Shore. In addition, Mr. Tinti was elected Chairman of the North Shore Workforce Investment Board. The board is accountable for the workforce development in the North Shore region administering three career centers in Salem, Gloucester, and Lynn.
Mr. Tinti is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and Boston College School of Law.
Joseph P. Campanelli – Investor/Advisor
Joseph P. Campanelli is the former President and CEO of Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. Mr. Campanelli served as Vice Chairman of Sovereign Bancorp and President and CEO of Sovereign Bank’s New England offices. Mr. Campanelli has worked within the financial world for 19 years, 11 of those with Sovereign. Recognized as an innovative leader, Mr. Campanelli has been instrumental in establishing key economic development programs with a variety of agencies and industry groups. In additions, Mr. Campanelli is a member of many groups and boards in the banking world. He has served as a member of Massachusetts Job Growth Task Force, Chairman of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Tufts-New England Medical Center, plays leadership roles with the United Ways of New England and Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Boston.
Mr. Campanelli holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Babson College.