Key Biographies | Kinesis Survey Technologies

Leslie Townsend
President & Founder

Leslie has spent her career bridging the wireless and market research worlds. Formerly she served as Director, New Business Development for Codetoys, where she was responsible for international rollout of the company's wireless survey solution. Prior to Codetoys, she founded a market research firm for telecom companies, Marketfinders, which focused upon strategic planning and new product rollouts in the wireless arena, actively consulting with wireless applications developers. With a desire to marry the two worlds, she saw the need for a wireless survey solution in measuring mobile commerce, engaging teens, and capturing purchase and consumption behaviors for many types of consumer goods. Leslie’s spare time is devoted to yoga and cooking.  Leslie has a B.A. in Market Research from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, N.M.
 
Juha Vehnia
Chief Technical Officer & Founder
Juha hails from the land of cell phones – Finland , home to Nokia and the highest cell phone penetration in the world. Formerly VP of North America for Codetoys, a developer of wireless games, Juha managed accounts for Disney, Motorola, Sony, Nokia, Qualcomm, Verizon, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, and other major North American wireless and entertainment companies. He is fluent in Java, PHP, Perl, Linux, Oracle, IBM and mySQL environments. But his real passion is anything fast – racing cars, boats, and propelling his body downhill on a snowboard. Juha has a Bachelor of Computer Engineering from Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology, Espoo, Finland.

Michael Swimelar
Chief Financial Officer

Michael serves as CFO for Kinesis Survey Technologies. Mike previously served as CFO for Common Knowledge. While at Common Knowledge he has implemented a line of digital research products including ASP, virtual focus groups, Internet-based research, and other software and services. Prior to his experiences at Common Knowledge, he held a variety of senior-level positions with Citizens Communications, a conference call/web collaboration company and worked for both GTE Telephone Operations and Ernst & Young. An avid scuba diver and golfer, Mike also enjoys hanging with his wife and four kids. Mike has a B.A. from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Dallas and is a CPA.
 
Steve Lavine
Senior Advisor, Board member, and Founder
Steve is a Founder of Common Knowledge, a provider of leading-edge technology solutions and services to the market research industry. With 30 years' experience in market research, he has pioneered research techniques in the areas of creative evaluation and testing, web site development and usability, and new product development. Prior to founding Common Knowledge and while a principal in an advertising agency, Steve founded MetroPoll Research to help with the development of creative strategies and marketing plans for advertisers. He began his career by founding an advertising agency while working towards his M.S. at the University of Illinois.

© Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC 2008