Thad Langford is an Executive in Residence at OPENAIR Equity Partners in Kansas City, Missouri. Most recently, Thad served as the President & Chief Executive Officer of Zave Networks, an early stage technology venture dedicated to creating a service that closes the loop between online/mobile digital advertising and the sale of the product in brick and mortar retail stores. He redefined the go to market approach and grew the company to position Zave as the leading digital incentive platform provider. Prior to his position at Zave, Thad led several different businesses during his eight year tenure at Sprint in the areas of wireless data, wireless wholesale and local services. Among his accomplishments, he spearheaded the initiative to be able to download applications over the air to the phone and led business development efforts to forge partnerships in the wireless data space, all culminating in industry-leading products and services in music, imaging, multimedia, gaming, location and content. In addition, he managed Sprint’s Innovation program to identify and commercialize disruptive products/services and founded Sprint Nextel Ventures to invest in game changing start-up companies.
