January 27, 2020 I Operations
Reverb Names David Mandelbrot CEO
Reverb, an online marketplace for buying and selling musical instruments, has named David Mandelbrot CEO effective Jan. 28, 2020. Mandelbrot has more than two decades of leadership experience within the technology, media and entertainment industries.
Under Mandelbrot, Reverb—which operates as a standalone business following its recent acquisition by Etsy—plans to continue the expansion of its teams in Chicago and Amsterdam.
Etsy’s CEO Josh Silverman commented on the appointment: “We are excited to have David take the helm at Reverb to guide its continued growth. His experience with successfully leading innovative companies across the technology and entertainment industries, and his passion for music, make him ideally suited for the role. We believe Reverb has a long runway for continued growth and I’m confident David is the right leader to maximize its position in the musical instruments space.”
“As a long-time guitar enthusiast, I’ve been an active Reverb user since shortly after it was founded,” Mandelbrot said. “I have sold several items and spent countless hours exploring the wonderful instruments uniquely available on Reverb. To join a company that combines my passion for music with my marketplace and technology experience is truly a dream come true. It is also thrilling to be part of Etsy, a company I’ve long admired for its mission-driven business model and successful performance track record.”
Most recently, Mandelbrot was CEO of Indiegogo, where he led the crowdfunding platform as it helped users raise more than $1 billion for hundreds of thousands of projects. Before joining Indiegogo, Mandelbrot spent more than a decade as a top executive across various tech companies, including two that he co-founded. Since 2017, Mandelbrot has been an advisor to atVenu, the world’s leading live entertainment commerce platform for managing tours, venues and festivals in every major market.
Mandelbrot will report to Etsy CEO Josh Silverman and succeeds Reverb’s founder and former CEO David Kalt as part of the previously announced transition plan that took place in 2019. The announcement comes just eight days after the site announced the closure of the company’s music selling platform Reverb LP, which is set to officially shut down on Feb. 28, 2020.
