Ted Rheingold Top Cat		Top Cat Ted Rheingold founded Dogster & Catster as a way for people to unite around their common passions. At Dogster, Inc., Ted sets the company's strategic direction and growth, though he's still a coder at heart. Prior to founding Dogster, Ted's entrepreneurial and leadership skills were honed running the web services company One Match Fire, which he founded in 2002. Ted began building web applications in 1996, and held senior engineering and design positions at global companies such as Preview Travel (now Travelocity.com) and Voquette, Inc. (now Semagix). As an authority and leader in developing "passion-centric" online communities, Ted has spoken at numerous technology conferences and companies including CommunityNext, Web2.0 Expo, South by Southwest, Google Campus, The Future of Web Apps Summit and Webzine. Ted graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 with a B.A. in International Relations and believes his diplomatic skills are being put to great use bringing an end to the ancient canine/feline conflict. Previously, Ted was Administrative Director of the California Council For International Trade. He also spent a year in Bangladesh as a Fellow with the International Development Exchange supporting community and women's initiatives. [Photo of Ted by Eddie Codel.]
John Vars Chief Product Officer		Co-founder and Chief Product Officer John oversees company strategy, community, and the development and implementation of new products and technology at Dogster, Inc. John is constantly sniffing out opportunities to introduce new products and technologies to the Dogster and Catster communities. He also manages the company's engineering and community teams as they build those products and keep the sites up and purring. John earned his chops as a software engineer, web producer, and product manager working for global travel company Preview Travel, which merged with Travelocity in 2000. In 2002, he combined his love of travel and coding by becoming the Sydney, Australia-based manager and lead software engineer for Travelocity's international partnerships and joint ventures in the Asia-Pacific and Europe. Growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, Vars' pets included dogs, cats, hamsters, bunnies, and fish--he kept eight aquariums in his room as a kid. His mother, who worked as a part-time zoo curator, also cared for exotic animals at home, including monkeys, lion cubs, and kodamundis.
Steven Reading Chief Business Officer		Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, Steven oversees partnerships, business development, sales, marketing and legal matters. Born and raised in London he has made San Francisco his home since 1994. Steven holds a law degree from the University of London and a master's degree in tax law from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He has spent the last ten years in finance, sales and business development. As a partner at Random Group he helped design and implement the Adobe Atmosphere Developers' Community, an early foray into online sociality and has most recently worked for Citigroup.

Dogster, Inc. September 2007 Top: Yuko, Jesse, Barce, Leef, Craig, Greg, Laurie
Middle: Paul, John, Ted, Steven, Russell, Angela
Front: Ellen, Patty
(Employees not pictured: Lori, Ellen G, John W, David, Betsey, Walter)
Doggies! Anoki, Logan, Moxie, Rummel, Sherpa, Marcel, Sheba

Business Advisory Board
Jeff Clavier, CEO, SoftTech VC
Scott Rafer, CEO Lookery, ex-CEO Feedster, MyBlogLog

Community Advisors
Eric Barchus, DVM, Catster's resident veterinarian

Catster Contributors
Tim Barkow, Thinkcorps - Graphic Design
Arin Fiskin, O2 Collective - Graphic Design

Original Catster Friends
Matthew Klein, CEO Verdant Power - Strategy Advisor
Gary Vars, Former President Insignia Systems - Strategy Advisor
Moss Gross - Software Engineer
Alex Hart - Systems Administration
Patrick McKeever - Systems Administration
Rosemary Pepper - Original Voice and Copy
Lynn Yako Graham - Development Advisor
JB Steadman - Technical Advisor