NTN Buzztime hired Allen Wolff, 42, as chief financial officer effective Dec. 29, 2014.
Wolff will assume the principal accounting duties, among other duties, and report directly to CEO Ram Krishnan. Sandra Gurrola, who has served as the interim principal accounting officer since Sept. 8, 2014, will continue to serve as vice president of finance and report to Wolff.
"We are excited to have Allen join the team, as his deep financial acumen will complement the leadership bench we grew in 2014," says Buzztime CEO Ram Krishnan. "A seasoned financial executive, Allen has secured strategic capital financing and led various stage companies through expansion, demonstrating his ability to scale businesses.
"Additionally, he has distinctive experience having held various leadership positions in the wide array of industries, including Software-as-a-Service, e-payments, finance, and casual dining. We believe all of this will be instrumental for Buzztime as we continue to move forward in investing in our product portfolio to deliver a compelling entertainment experience.
"I'd also like to thank Sandra Gurrola for her leadership and command during this past quarter and look forward to her ongoing contributions."
"Buzztime's new BEOND platform is bringing cutting edge technology to bars and restaurants," Wolff says. "The new features are being well received, and the platform is configured to expand by offering more loyalty building games, a revenue generating arcade and cost saving point-of-service attributes.
"I have been impressed with the leadership team evolution and am attracted to Buzztime's growth opportunity. I look forward to helping scale the company and build its financial strength."
Most recently, Wolff served as the chief financial strategist of PlumDiggity, a financial and marketing strategy firm that he co-founded. Prior to PlumDiggity, Wolff served as a director of 365 Retail Markets, a self-checkout point-of-sale technology company, and ultimately joined the company as CFO in 2012.
From July 2011 to April 2013, simultaneous with his role at 365 Retail Markets, Wolff was an investor and had the leadership role of "game changer" at Crowdrise, an online fundraising platform co-founded by the actor Edward Norton. Wolff joined Crowdrise after incubating Retail Capital, a small business specialty finance company.
In January 2006, he co-founded PaySimple, a SaaS-based online payment solution that offers integrated invoicing and payment acceptance in one system. In addition to serving on PaySimple's board of directors, Wolff held various roles through January 2011 including CFO and president.
In addition, Wolff was a principal from 1998 to 2012 for a casual-dining restaurant where he structured a joint venture to open his business and subsequently converted the business to a franchise. Earlier in his career, Wolff worked at SpaceVest, a venture capital firm focused on expansion stage technology companies.
Wolff holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Maryland, R.H. Smith School of Business.
