About Us
What we do
Odyl helps authors and publishers connect with readers on Facebook. Our audience growth platform let’s authors to tap directly into Facebook’s 900 million users, unleashing passionate readers to share their opinions and reaping the benefits of the Facebook sharing phenomenon.
Odyl’s proven technology grows authors’ audience platforms, and builds a basis for books sales. Our apps create deeper connections between readers and the authors who inspire them.
Odyl has been named to the elite and trusted Prefered Marketing Developer program by Facebook and currently supports all of the big six publishers (i.e. Simon & Schuster, Random House, HarperCollins, Penguin, Macmillan and Hachette Book Group) as well as many #1 New York Times Bestselling authors and independent presses.
Who we are
Neil Baptista
CEO, Co-founder
Neil defines Odyl’s vision, product and business model, aligning the company with the needs of readers, authors and publishers.
Neil began his career at enterprise software companies Powersoft, then Sybase, supporting Wall Street clients. He transitioned into consulting with Icon Solutions gaining invaluable experience developing custom software involving large teams and integration of enterprise technology in complex business environments (across publishing, healthcare, media and financial services).
In 1998, Neil joined hotJobs.com and matched his enterprise experience to web technologies to create a pioneer SaaS business model for hotJobs.com, delivering revenue and profits during the course of hotjobs.com’s IPO and later acquisition by Yahoo!
Following the dotcom era, Neil worked in Berlin and New York for iconmobile, a leader in mobile engagement with customers include global consumer brands and Europe’s largest telecoms. The focus was on technology and strategy for mobile campaigns and apps. He worked with world class user experience designers, gaining insights into user centric application design and measurement of consumer engagement.
Neil’s approach to technology and business is informed by experience and passion. He rants about all-nighters coding, the transition from mainframe to client server to web 2.0 to apps, Skytel timeport to iPhone, and Applelink to Facebook. He is an innovator who can deliver truly great products with solid business strategy that gets them to market and scale.
Neil has an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Alberta in Canada. Outside of Odyl, he has been known to photograph everything from temples in Cambodia to backstage antics at Paris fashion shows. He lives with his daughter, wife and cats R2D2 and Paco in the LES of New York.
John Corcoran
Chairman
John provides overall strategic direction and guidance for Odyl’s data and analytics work. Odyl leverages John’s extensive experience with his own company, Trinity Partners, in handling and transforming large data sets.
John is the founder and CEO of Trinity Partners, a leading life sciences consulting company, and its subsidiary, Trinity Pharma Solutions, a data management and software development company. John also co-founded biotech communications software company AkutaLabs, where he now serves on the board of directors. John was also a co-founder of Soteira, a venture-backed medical device company that has pioneered innovative solutions for treating vertebral compression fractures caused by osteoporosis, cancer, and traumatic injuries, and is a member of the company’s board of directors. Also active in the not-for-profit world, John is a member of the board of directors of the Sports Legacy Institute, which is studying the effects of concussions and other sports related brain injuries on athletes worldwide.
John graduated from Harvard College and has graduate degrees from the Kennedy School at Harvard and Northeastern. He lives on Boston’s north shore with his family and their three cats.
Josh Wolf
Co-Founder, Advisor
Josh advises Odyl on technology strategy.
After time spent at the Princeton Review, where he developed some of the earliest data-driven, personalized websites, and InterWorld, where he helped launch enterprise e-commerce products for companies like Toys ‘R’ Us and SoftBank, Josh took a senior role in product management at HotJobs.com, where he began his longtime relationship with Mike and Neil in developing scalable SaaS platforms for content and data management. Prior to Odyl, Josh was VP, director of software development at leading healthcare branding agency Cline Davis & Mann.
After graduating from Columbia with a degree in History, Josh converted into a devoted Brooklynite. He lives with two cats, his new baby boy and wife who doesn’t quite understand his obsession with playing obscure board games.
Michael Taylor
Co-Founder, Advisor
Mike brings more than a decade of early-stage technology experience to Odyl, including repeated award-winning innovation with content management systems delivered as SaaS. He played critical early roles at HotJobs.com building the company that would be acquired by Yahoo! in 2002 for $436 million.
At HotJobs, Mike’s roles included sales, product development, and investor relations. HotJobs developed a highly scalable SaaS platform for content management, publishing, and analytics in the recruiting space. As one of the few first-generation web companies to develop a lastingly successful business model, HotJobs reached over $100 million in revenue at 75 percent gross margin before its acquisition.
Mike also co-founded biotech software company AkutaLabs, which develops a highly scalable SaaS platform for field communications and analytics.
Mike graduated from Harvard College with a concentration in mind-body medicine. He lives in downtown New York with his wife and yoga master Tara Stiles. Mike teaches yoga and climbs a few mountains in his spare time.
