executive team
Jeffrey E. Grass | President and CEO
Jeff is an experienced entrepreneur with a successful track record in bringing ideas to market. He joined buySAFE as the second member of the company’s founding team and has been instrumental in shaping its direction. Today, as president and CEO, Jeff leads the company in executing against its strategic vision and oversees day-to-day operations of the business.
Prior to joining buySAFE, Jeff co-founded PayMyBills.com, an online bill management service. The company was an early success story in the dot com era, growing to more than 200 people and raising more than $35 million in venture capital prior to its sale. Before this, Jeff worked at Travelers Property Casualty Co., where he managed a $350 million book of surety guarantees and co-led the development of a new organization within Travelers Bond that wrote large surety guarantees for technology-based companies. His experience also includes serving as a strategy consultant with a focus on high tech companies at McKinsey & Company and as a visiting professor in managerial finance and business plan writing at James Madison University.
Jeff earned his Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Business Administration from James Madison University, where in 2002 he was the youngest person in the school’s history to win James Madison University’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.
Steven L. Woda | Founder, Chairman, & Senior Vice President for Strategy & Product
Steve fell victim to online auction fraud in 2000 when he purchased a PDA on eBay that never arrived. Recognizing the need for a better trust and safety model for online shoppers, Steve turned his frustration into inspiration by developing the concept and vision for buySAFE, marking the first time surety bonds would be successfully used for e-commerce. He further developed and refined the business plan and product prototypes for buySAFE while earning his MBA at the Wharton School, where the venture became a finalist in the School's prestigious business plan competition.
As founder, chairman and senior vice president for strategy and product, Steve has been a driving force behind the company's rapid ascent, and he is responsible for leading its business intelligence, strategic planning, and product management teams. He is a recognized expert in the area of online transaction risk management and information economics, and has given speeches on the topics of e-commerce, Internet safety and entrepreneurship to numerous industry groups and educational institutions, including The Wharton School, University of Maryland, Rutgers University, and Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, among others. Additionally, he was recently appointed to the Virginia Joint Commission on Science and Technology's Cybercrimes Advisory Committee.
Prior to founding buySAFE, Steve was both a vice president of Assurance Capital Corporation and a director of the Financial Risk Solutions practice within the Rutherfoord Companies, one of the largest privately-held insurance brokerage firms in the United States. At USF&G Insurance, he managed a $1.5 billion portfolio of surety bond guarantees and built the business from $3 million to more than $12 million annual revenue in two years. Steve began his career at Travelers Property & Casualty, and also worked at PayMyBills.com, an online bill management service and idealab! company.
Steve's Blog: buySAFE, eCommerce, Trust and Safety »
Robert T. Kodey | Vice President of Technology
Rob is a technology professional with more than 12 years of experience spanning software engineering, research and development, quality assurance and IT operations. He has a successful track record in developing and implementing technology programs at emerging companies. At buySAFE, he leads the technology development for all buySAFE services and oversees the company’s strategic technology initiatives.
Prior to joining buySAFE, Rob was vice president, technology, at Arlington, Va.-based Cyveillance. While there, he managed a technology operations team and focused on the rapid growth and evolution of the product portfolio, while maintaining its stability and scalability. Rob has held senior technology positions with two other emerging technology companies, Opion, Inc. and GivingCapital, Inc.
Rob began his career at UBS PaineWebber, Inc., where he was responsible for the design and development of the company’s Online Services. Rob is a graduate of the University at Albany, State University of New York with a combined Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and applied mathematics.
Hans Dreyer | Vice President of Operations
Hans brings to buySAFE more than 20 years of experience in operations, customer support and sales. He is considered an expert in building and managing operations departments for technology-based organizations. At buySAFE, he is responsible for all aspects of the company’s operations.
Hans was most recently director of operations, sales and customer support for Idealab’s Evolution Robotics, where he was responsible for running company operations (order fulfillment, inventory management including warehousing, purchasing, manufacturing and quality assurance), sales (Web, education and retail/distribution channels) and customer support (daily support and customer communications). Prior to that, Hans was vice president of customer service at XBEAMS, where he built the start-up company’s operations and customer support functions to help the company to grow. His experience also includes serving as the vice president of customer service at PayMyBills.com, where he led the development and creation of the company’s award-winning online customer service center, which he built from 1 to 80 employees. He also ran all aspects of the company’s customer contact operations, including 24/7-customer service, quality assurance, training, marketing fulfillment, outbound telemarketing and operations/processing.
Travis Brown | General Counsel and Vice President, International
Travis brings to buySAFE 18 years of experience in creating, negotiating and managing complex business ventures, both domestically and internationally. At buySAFE, Travis is responsible for all legal matters, including the company’s intellectual property portfolio and claims-related functions; in addition he leads buySAFE’s international expansion efforts.
Prior to joining buySAFE, Travis served in various senior-level positions at America Online Inc., including vice president, AOL International; vice president, business development and strategy; and executive director, international business affairs and development. While there, he managed business development and strategy for AOL International properties outside Europe, restructured several international properties and worked extensively in building AOL Canada.
Before AOL, Travis worked for more than ten years at MCI Telecommunications Corporation as both the senior director of alliance management and as managing attorney for an $8 billion division. Travis began his career with Shaw Pittman Potts & Trowbridge, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm.
Travis earned his J.D., with honors, from the University of Virginia and is a member of both the District of Columbia and Virginia Bars. He completed post-graduate work in Economics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and earned a B.A., with honors, from Harvard University.
Jon Aust | Vice President, Sales
Jon is responsible for leading and directing all sales efforts for the company, including corporate sales and outsourced telesales. In this position, he has enhanced and built the buySAFE sales team into a key driver of the company’s high growth rate.
Jon has had a long and successful career in sales and start-up leadership roles. Prior to joining buySAFE, Jon served as the managing partner and vice president of sales at Easy Pay Solutions Network, an IP-based electronic transaction software solutions service provider. Earlier in his career, Aust started and led Network Access Solutions (NAS), a telecom company that raised approximately $440 million in equity and debt financing before going public in an IPO on the NASDAQ. As Executive Vice President of Sales and CEO, he also built and managed the sales team at NAS into a high-performing group of more than 130 sales professionals.
Michael Beveridge | Vice President, Business Intelligence and Revenue Maximization
Michael is responsible for buySAFEs business analytics initiatives, including maximization of buySAFE’s impact on online transactions and evaluation of opportunities for new revenue streams. He brings deep expertise in mathematical modeling of multivariate online transactional systems.
Before joining buySAFE, Michael held senior level positions at Capital One Financial Services, where he led a variety of global operational and technological initiatives. He was a senior associate in the financial services group at Booz-Allen & Hamilton, a global strategy and consulting firm, as well as an analyst at Salomon Brothers, Inc. Michael holds an advanced degree in economics from the University of Chicago and a BS in Mathematics from Yale University.
