Advisory Board

The Root Orange Advisory Board is composed of individuals from diverse professional backgrounds who are all familiar with running or working with small businesses. The Root Orange management team believes in gleaning best practices from our Advisors, and elsewhere, to help us better serve our customers.

Lynda Clarizio

Lynda Clarizio served as President of AOL’s Platform-A from 2008 to February 2009, leading the industry’s largest digital advertising platform.  From 2006 to 2008, Lynda served as President of Advertising.com, managing the industry’s largest third party online advertising network. Lynda held several other positions at AOL, which she joined in 1999.  Prior to joining AOL, Lynda was a partner for seven years in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Arnold & Porter, where she served as co-chair of the firm’s technology group and a member of the firm’s executive committee.

Lynda serves on the Board of Directors of Human Rights First.  She is a member of the Leadership Council of Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and of Princeton’s Women in Leadership Steering Committee.  She sits on the President’s Board of Visitors of University of Maryland - Baltimore County.

Lynda is a 1985 graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1982 graduate of Princeton University.  She is married, has two children and lives in Potomac, Maryland.

Josh Metnick

Josh has been active in the Internet and domain industry for sixteen years, having registered his first domain names in early 1994.  Josh currently serves as Chairman of Chicago.com, Inc., Chairman of Associated Cities, Inc. as well as Chair of the Governance Committee of Inuvo, Inc. (AMEX: INUV) and co-founder of Midwest Business, Inc. Josh has been recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as a “Top 100 Technology Player” as well as being one of the youngest individuals to achieve the publication’s “40 Under 40” distinction.  Josh, along with Mike Hakimi, Jared Polis, Andrew Doane and Daniel Marks, co-founded AIS.NET, one of the earliest Internet service providers in the Chicago area.  AIS.NET was acquired by Exodus Communications in January of 1999.

Josh holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Aviation, where he acquired his pilot’s license at the age of 19.

Cal Simmons

Cal is involved in several businesses including his primary activity managing an online travel agency he founded in 2005 called www.fivestaralliance.com. He has also been involved as a venture capitalist, long time investor, and business author. In 2001 he co-wrote Every Business Needs an Angel which was published by Random House.

He is co-founder and manager of the Dinner Clubs, early stage venture funds that leverage the capital, expertise, and relationships of angel investors in the Washington, D.C. area. Most recently, Cal founded Adcision, an online ad network focused on the luxury market. This network represents publishers with over 300 million page views and runs ads for premium brands such as Chanel, Exclusive Resorts, Armani, DVF, and Mercedes Benz. Cal is a past member and chapter chair of the Washington Metro Young Presidents Organization.

Cal lives with his wife and three children just outside Washington, D.C.