executive profiles
darik volpa
founder, ceo
After nine years in the medical device industry, Darik Volpa witnessed a huge
disconnect in communication between surgeons and patients. Most of the time doctors
were too busy or lacked the skill set to communicate well with patients, and
patients were usually confused with strange terminology or too nervous to ask the
right questions. These opportunities led Mr. Volpa to found Understand.com in 2003.
Today, Understand.com has over 2,000 physicians licensing content and has served
more than 5,000,000 patients in over 130 countries.
Mr. Volpa gained much of his experience at Stryker Corporation, a $5 billion medical
device company where he managed $50 million in products and was responsible for the
development and launch of over 50 medical devices. He earned numerous awards at Stryker
including Marketing Professional of the Year and the Rolex Award for Sales Performance.
In 2006, Mr. Volpa was awarded "Best of Show" at the Silver & Gold Venture Capital
Conference representing Understand.com. Mr. Volpa was named the 2007 Innovator of the
Year by The Business Report of Northern Nevada and received Senatorial recognition from
Nevada Senator John Ensign. In 2009 Mr. Volpa was a recipient of the Reno Gazette Journal
and Reno-Tahoe Young Professionals Network “20 Under 40” award and was selected as a 20/20
Business Visionary by Nevada Business Magazine.
Mr. Volpa resides in Reno, Nevada with his wife Tiffany and daughters Morgan and Tatum.
rob griffin
senior vp, business development
As one of the first members of Understand.com’s executive team, Rob Griffin was
responsible for launching the company’s plastic surgery, dermatology and hair
restoration divisions and now leads the company’s global corporate services. Mr.
Griffin brings to Understand.com over a decade of strategic sales and product
marketing experience from the medical, technology and Internet sectors. Mr.
Griffin built and managed Microflex Medical’s dental and medical divisions,
driving the company to number one market share in the U.S. and playing an
instrumental role in Microflex’s recognition as one of the fastest growing
companies in America three years running.
Mr. Griffin led global business development initiatives for iGo, a mobile technology
manufacturer, where he built one of the largest online affiliate networks and grew
iGo’s distribution network to over 5,000 retailers, also leading to iGo’s recognition
as one of America’s fastest growing companies. A veteran of start-up consumer
Internet companies, Mr. Griffin brings a proven track record of business
development success with the Fortune 500, fast-growth technology companies and
industry leaders in the medical sector. Mr. Griffin graduated from Yale with degrees
in economics and design.
eric zerrenner
vp, marketing
Eric Zerrenner’s vast professional network and twelve-year background in marketing, sales,
and business development have given him a unique understanding of the relationship between
brands and their target consumer. A veteran of marketing both B2B and B2C products, Mr.
Zerrenner brings expertise in recognizing business opportunity, analyzing current and future
trends, and strategic brand planning.
Prior to joining Understand.com, Mr. Zerrenner was a co-founding member of Keneisys Corp,
a security software company and patent holder of the Virtual StrongBox™ Security Platform.
As Chief Business Development Officer, Mr. Zerrenner was responsible for developing all
marketing and sales programs in support of sales, distribution channels, and business
development initiatives in addition to participating in fund raising efforts.
Before starting Keneisys, Mr. Zerrenner served as an Account Director for Washington DC
based RedPeg Marketing, an award winning Experiential Marketing Agency. While at RedPeg,
Mr. Zerrenner established himself as a leader in the Marketing and Event Production field
specializing in integrated marketing and advertising campaigns. During his tenure at RedPeg,
Mr. Zerrenner was responsible for the development of campaigns from concept and ideation
through strategy and implementation, increasing agency revenue 25% to over $20MM.
Mr. Zerrenner earned a bachelor’s degree from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan
State University.
ian berry-jewett
vp, technology
Ian Berry-Jewett is an IT industry veteran with over 15 years of experience creating and
supporting technology solutions. As an expert in the analysis and design of complex systems,
he has overseen the development of numerous projects, taking products from early concept to
mass deployment. Mr. Berry-Jewett has recruited and lead several teams of expert programmers
and administrators.
Prior to joining Understand.com, Mr. Berry-Jewett served as CTO for Keneisys Corporation, an
encryption based data security company. As CTO Mr. Berry-Jewett was responsible for building
the technology department and implementing the strategic plan for the development and support
of the company's product.
In 2002, Mr. Berry-Jewett served as a Senior Engineer at CISS, LTD, a logistics software
company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
In 1999, Mr. Berry-Jewett was recruited by V.N. Hermes to create a secure e-mail platform from
drawing board to production.
Mr. Berry-Jewett attended Lafayette College, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Computer
Science.