Darren is the CEO and founder of BlackPines Capital Partners, a firm that helps owners and leaders of private and public companies materially improve the outcomes of their businesses through deep engagement, strategic realignment and best practice implementation. Darren Huston has been Chairman of The Knot Worldwide since 2017. He is also currently Chairman of Allegro Group, Skyscanner, and Operto.
Previously, Darren was CEO of Booking.com and Group CEO of the Priceline Group. He has over 30 years of managerial and leadership experience holding various executive positions with Microsoft (including CEO of Microsoft Japan), Starbucks, and McKinsey & Company.
Darren holds an MBA from Harvard University and an MA in Economics from the University of British Columbia. He and his family live in Vancouver, BC.
Tim Chi is the Chief Executive Officer of The Knot Worldwide. After getting married in 2005, Tim set out to make wedding planning less stressful and frustrating. Together with his co-founders, Jeff, Lee, and Sonny, they threw four desks into his empty living room in Chevy Chase, Maryland and created WeddingWire, which became a leading global vendor marketplace serving the wedding industry, helping millions of engaged couples plan, execute and celebrate the most important day of their lives. WeddingWire grew to 1,000 employees worldwide and owned leading wedding brands in North America, Europe, South America and India. In 2019, Tim became CEO of The Knot Worldwide following the merger of XO Group Inc. (parent company of The Knot) and WeddingWire Inc.
Previously, Tim co-founded Blackboard Inc. in 1998. While at Blackboard, Tim pioneered many of Blackboard’s flagship products and strategic initiatives, bringing technology into the classrooms of colleges, universities and school districts across the world. During his tenure, the company raised over $100 million in capital and was taken public on the Nasdaq in 2004.
Tim holds a B.S. in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University and an M.S. in engineering management from Tufts University. He resides in Maryland with his family and is based out of The Knot Worldwide’s Chevy Chase headquarters.
David Erlong is a Partner at Permira, primarily focused on investment opportunities in the Internet & Digital Media segment. He has worked on a number of transactions including Allegro, Boats Group, CommentSold, Flixbus, Minted, The Knot Worldwide, and Zwift. David is currently a Non-Executive Director at Allegro, The Knot Worldwide, Boats Group and CommentSold.
Prior to joining Permira, David worked at Investcorp, focusing primarily on opportunities in the Technology sector.
David holds a Master’s degree in Finance from EM Lyon Business School, France.
Thomas R. Evans is currently the Founder and Executive Chairman of Torticity LLC, a Florida-based legal services business. Thomas also serves as a director of Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK) since 2012, Angi (NASDAQ: ANGI) since February 2016, SmartAsset since 2016 and The Knot Worldwide since 2018.
From 2004 through 2013, Thomas was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bankrate, Inc. (NYSE: RATE), an internet publisher of consumer financial content and rate information. Thomas served on Bankrate’s board of directors before retiring as Chief Executive Officer in 2013, and served as an advisor to the board of directors from 2014 to 2015. From 1999 to 2003, Thomas served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Official Payments Corp. (NASDAQ: OPAY), an internet company specializing in processing consumer payments for government taxes, fees, and fines online. From March 1998 to June 1999, Thomas was President and Chief Executive Officer of GeoCities Inc. (NASDAQ: GCTY), a community of personal websites on the internet.
Prior, Thomas was a 20-year veteran of the magazine industry serving as President and Publisher of U.S. News & World Report (1991 to 1998), President of The Atlantic Monthly (1996 to 1998) and President and Publisher of Fast Company (1995 to 1998).
Thomas received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Arizona State University. He resides with his family in Bronxville, New York.
Carolyn is a Senior Advisor at Permira, one of the world’s largest investment firms. Carolyn has over 28 years of experience in senior operating roles in consumer facing technology and media companies. She most recently was President of Instacart. Prior to Instacart, she was the Vice President, Global Business Group at Facebook (Meta) where she led a team of over 4,000 people in over 55 countries and was responsible for over $60B in revenue.
Prior to Facebook, Carolyn was the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Global Advertising Sales and Trade Marketing Teams. Carolyn also spent seven years at Viacom and her last role was Chief Operating Officer of MTVN Ad Sales. Prior to Viacom, Carolyn held roles at Primedia, Walt Disney Imagineering and Accenture Consulting.
She currently serves on the boards of The Coca Cola Company, The Walt Disney Company, Under Armour, Villanova University, the Humane Society of the United States, Columbia Medical School and The Knot Worldwide. Carolyn is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as a member of the 2017 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.
Carolyn has been named to AdWeek’s “AdWeek 50” since 2013. In 2015, she was named to the top of Business Insider’s list of the Most Powerful Women in Advertising. Carolyn was twice included on Fortune’s “40 Under 40.”
Carolyn holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and communications from Villanova University, from which she graduated Summa Cum Laude. She also obtained a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar. Carolyn also received an honorary doctorate from Mount Saint Mary’s University. Her twins are second year college students at Yale and Duke where Carolyn serves on the Yale Parents Leadership Council and the Duke Parent Council.
Dipan is Partner and Global Head of the Consumer team at Permira where he serves on the Executive Committee and the Investment Committee. Dipan worked in the Technology team in London from 2009-2012 and then Menlo Park from 2012-2018. He now focuses on opportunities in the Consumer sector, working previously on a number of software and consumer Internet investments including Ancestry, Axiom, Informatica, LegalZoom, Renaissance Learning and The Knot Worldwide. He is currently a Non-Executive Director at Axiom, Boats Group, Catawiki, LegalZoom and The Knot Worldwide.
Prior to joining Permira, Dipan worked for Gores Group, a special situations private equity fund and earlier at Lehman Brothers. Dipan holds a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, England.
Kathleen Philips is a retired tech leader and active board member. She spent her career in leadership roles in technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. Most recently, Katheen served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer at Zillow Group, where she previously had served as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. Kathleen also has served as General Counsel for a number of e-commerce companies including Hotwire, StubHub and FanSnap. She currently serves on the boards of Axiom Global, Accel Entertainment, Nerdy and The Knot Worldwide, and previously, at Apptio. Kathleen holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of Chicago. She resides in San Francisco, California.
Ben Spero joined Spectrum Equity in 2001 and is a Managing Director. His areas of investment focus include Internet-enabled software and information services. Prior to joining Spectrum, Ben worked at Bain & Company and co-founded TouchPak, Inc. He is Board Chair at Destination: Home, a public private partnership to end homelessness in Santa Clara County, and has served as a Board Director at The Knot Worldwide since 2018.
Ben received an AB, magna cum laude, from Duke University.