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 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.

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.