About Linqia
We are the calm in the chaos of influencer marketing
Founded in 2012, Linqia is the leading independent influencer marketing agency in the US. While some influencer companies offer only project management software, and others operate as creative agencies, we leverage our proprietary AI-powered technology platform, Resonate, and an experienced strategic and creative team to create emotive, human-first campaigns for the brands that inspire and perform.
Linqia is trusted by more Fortune 500 brands than any other influencer marketing agency. We’ve partnered with 650+ clients, including Albertsons, Danone, Bayer, and Instacart, delivering scaled creator-led strategies that perform.
Meet Marco: our friendly neighborhood starfish.
Linqia Leadership Team
NADER ALIZADEH
Co-Founder & CEO
As CEO, Nader is responsible for setting and executing on Linqia’s strategic footprint. Prior to founding Linqia, Nader was Senior Vice President and Co-Founder at Lithium Technologies where he was responsible for driving and managing revenue growth for the business. Nader joined Lithium Technologies as Co-Founder when it was first incorporated, and carried broad responsibilities in both the sales and operations departments. With a proven track record identifying strategic partners and cultivating key business relationships, Nader has also held executive and management roles at Ofoto (now Kodak Gallery), Fuji, and Konica. He lives in San Francisco.
Maria Sipka
Co-Founder & EVP
The visionary behind the creation of Linqia, Maria now leads partnerships for some of our biggest clients. Prior to founding Linqia, Maria was founding Chief Operating Officer at XING, Europe’s leading business network, where she led the communities and premium group offerings, exiting shortly after its IPO. She also founded the content marketing agency Cherry Communications and grew the agency to be one of the most respected consultancies in Australia, with a client list of over 100 brands. Originally from Australia, Maria now lives in San Francisco with her family.
Daniel Schotland
Chief Operating Officer
Daniel is responsible for overseeing operations, executing against growth strategies, and maintaining Linqia’s leadership in leveraging AI to streamline and simplify influencer marketing. Prior to Linqia, Daniel served as Chief Client Officer at TubeMogul, where he led the company’s global ad operations, client services, and account management teams. He was also an instrumental member of the team that led the company through its IPO and subsequent acquisition by Adobe. Prior to TubeMogul, Daniel spent ten years at Experian CheetahMail, where he was VP, Business Development and VP, Client Services. Daniel started his career as a consultant for Deloitte Consulting and holds a BS in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. He lives in San Francisco with his family.
Ted Farrell
Chief Technology Officer
Ted is responsible for leading engineering and product development at Linqia. Prior to this, Ted was CTO at several startup companies where he helped create, rebuild and revamp products from early stage startup technology to enterprise-ready, scalable solutions. In between startups, Ted was SVP & Chief Architect for middleware & Fusion applications at Oracle, architecting and driving the development of the next-generation, cloud-based package applications. Ted brings more than 20 years of experience building technology, teams and products.
Keith Bendes
Chief Strategy Officer
Keith is a thought leader in influencer marketing and the creator economy. He works with Linqia’s clients to develop 360 degree influencer strategies that drive scalable and measurable business results. Keith is co-host of the Creator Economy Live podcast, a Top Voice on LinkedIn, and a frequent contributor to industry publications on the topic of influencer marketing. Keith previously worked at Unilever and Steiner Sports. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two daughters.
Eric Warddrip
VP, Brand Partnerships
Eric leads brand partnerships for some of Linqia’s biggest clients. Prior to joining Linqia, he was a founding member of the sales team at Placed, responsible for building and training the team, while driving adoption of its attribution platform, ultimately resulting in a successful acquisition by Snap Inc. Eric has also held leadership roles at legacy sports media companies including Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports, and Sporting News, in addition to leading national sales for sports blog start-up Yardbarker, which was acquired by FOX Sports. Eric lives between San Francisco and Sonoma with his wife and a revolving door of foster dogs.
Finola Austin
VP, Creative & Client Strategy
Finola leads Creative at Linqia, developing innovative creator-led strategies for our clients. Prior to joining Linqia, she spent four years at Meta on the Creative Shop team, delivering winning creative strategies for US financial services brands across Instagram, Facebook, and beyond. Previously, she was Brand Strategy Director at Refinery29, where she co-founded R29 Intelligence, the media company’s research and strategy practice focused on Millennial and Gen Z women. Finola started her career as a Fellow on the WPP Fellowship, the advertising conglomerate’s prestigious future leadership scheme, with stints at Ogilvy in New York and Hill & Knowlton Strategies in London. She has two degrees from the University of Oxford and is a published novelist. Finola lives in New York City with her cat, Arabella.
Melanie Archer
VP, Operations
Melanie oversees a broad portfolio of client-facing and operational functions, including Customer Success, Talent Partnerships, Paid Media and Measurement, Strategic Accounts, Program Management, and Production. With nearly a decade at Linqia, she has been instrumental in scaling its operations and capabilities, including building out the Paid Media and Measurement practice that has become a core part of Linqia’s offerings. Driven by a belief that operational excellence and creative performance go hand in hand, Melanie leads cross-functional teams with a singular focus: delivering exceptional client experiences and creator content that truly performs. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and two cats.
