About Us

Julie A. Karbo

Founder & CEO

With more than 30 years in the technology industry, Julie Karbo’s strategic marketing and communications experience originated with the birth of high tech marketing. She has provided counsel to executives in a wide array of technology areas, including enterprise software, the Internet of Things, Big Data, mobile, advertising tech, e-Commerce, marketing platform, storage, virtualization/cloud, security, social networking/media, Internet infrastructure, networking, Internet television, and consumer electronics. Karbo has directed positioning, planning and tactical efforts targeted to a wide variety of audiences, including consumers, enterprise executives, IT staff, service providers, engineers, agencies and developers. She has a strong track record in helping her clients achieve and maintain market leadership positions.

Karbo has provided strategic direction and ongoing counsel to a number of high profile technology companies including Apple, eBay, Internet of Things World, Nexenta, Oracle, Cisco, Digg, Townsquared, Vendavo, Composite Software, RTI, Recurly, Revision3, Equinix, Xerox, Peribit Networks, Citrix, and Paramount Pictures.

Prior to founding Karbo Communications, Karbo founded K/F Communications, which over a thirteen-year period became one of the most respected technology PR boutique agencies in the world. The firm was consistently ranked as one of the top tech PR agencies by O’Dwyer’s and The Holmes Report. Prior to K/F, Karbo was a partner at Stirling & Karbo, a tech public relations firm for nine years. Karbo also served as vice president/group account manager in Ketchum Public Relations’ technology practice and as a vice president at Stirling & Cohan PR.

As group account manager at historic marketing and PR agency, Regis McKenna, Inc. (RMI), she directed positioning and communications efforts for many of the technology industry’s pioneers. She began her technology marketing career in 1981 at Atari, Inc. where she managed the product marketing planning, sales promotion and marketing communications functions in the game and computer product divisions. Karbo started her career at SRI International in marketing research. She holds a M.B.A. degree in Marketing and a B.A. degree in Economics from San Francisco State University.

Kim Brosowsky

Senior Vice President

Kim Brosowsky has been integral in successful communications efforts for established brands launching multiple brands and early stage startups, including company messaging, PR strategy and program execution. She has also worked with established companies to heighten their profiles and even re-positioned companies. She has extensive experience in both B2B and consumer industries. From launching children’s mobile applications for National Geographic to supporting GoDaddy’s transition from a private to a public company, Kim has developed and executed successful PR programs that have helped her clients achieve their goals.

As a Senior Vice President at Karbo Communications, Kim plays a strategic role on the TDK and 8th Wall accounts. She develops and executes strong PR strategy, acquires top tier media and analyst coverage, and creates strategic corporate and product content, including bylined articles, customer case studies, press materials, social media content, and more. In her time at Karbo Communications, she helped position software company ABBYY as a player in the AI space.

Prior to joining Karbo Communications, Kim worked at multi-national PR firms Bite Global and SHIFT Communications. Her industry experience includes data automation/AI, adtech, consumer technology, fintech, enterprise IT management, cyber security, cleantech, mobile tech, semiconductors and more. Kim’s clients have included GoDaddy, Couchbase, Beyond Analysis, Appirio, Demandbase, Lithium, and NerdWallet. She has also spent time as a sports marketer for her alma mater, the University of California, Davis. She holds a BA in communication.

Sian Hernandez

Senior Vice President

Spending most of her career immersed in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area, Sian brings extensive technology experience to her role at Karbo Communications. She has provided strategic counsel to executives in a wide array of technology areas, including enterprise software, cloud, infrastructure, security, advertising technology, marketing platforms, streaming media, e-Commerce, Big Data, Business Intelligence and analytics, IoT, mobile and fin-tech. Hernandez has had the opportunity to counsel clients on market positioning, strategy, planning and tactical execution of campaigns, targeting a variety of audiences and decision makers including: C-Suite,  IT staff, Digital Transformation leaders, Line of Business and developers.

Her background reflects skill partnering with a range of companies from emerging tech startups to established enterprise players. She considers her “sweet spot” to be isolating unique market challenges and then designing strategic and integrated campaigns, grounded in research and paired with creative content, to achieve desired business objectives.

She has built trusted media relationships securing coverage in top publications such as: CNBC, Forbes, Fortune, and Wall Street Journal. Sian’s clients have included AppDynamics (now part of Cisco), Couchbase, Snowflake Computing, Dell Software, Neustar, Fujitsu America, Ooyala,  Sitecore and Wizeline.

At Karbo Com, Sian leads the Real Time Innovations (RTI), Penguin Computing, vFunction,  Worthix, Bubblehouse and Alpha Group (Subtext) accounts and plays an active role in new business.

Prior to joining Karbo Communications, Hernandez served as an Account Manager at Highwire PR specializing in enterprise technology communications. During this time, she led a communications team that helped to elevate the AppDynamics brand to an eventual $3.7 Billion acquisition by Cisco.  Hernandez began her public relations career at Eastwick Communications (now Hotwire PR).  She holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from California State University at Stanislaus.

Mark Elkins

Head of Human Resources and Operations

Mark brings over 16 years of Human Resources and Operations experience to the table as our Head of Human Resources and Operations.  With a diverse background working in both the tech industry and at creative client service agencies, Mark has built small startups in to well known mid-size companies.  Mark is well versed in many different areas from build out & growth strategies, recruiting, employee experience & relations, on\off boarding, to all other areas HR related.  Mark has built out companies from fewer than 14 to over 100 and scaled companies from 130 to over 260.

With a BA and Masters degree in communications, Mark has a high level of listening, evaluating, and communicating with our employees.  Having lived in San Francisco for the past 21 years he is also very in tune with labor in the Bay Area as well as having worked with global offices and employees around the world for a number of years.  Mark loves to take an employee-centric approach when it comes to all things human resources and is extremely excited to be working at Karbo Communications that follows that same philosophy.

Courtney Stack

Creative Director

As Karbo Communications’ creative director, Courtney Stack leverages the power of smart storytelling and thoughtful design to forge meaningful connections, drive action, and deliver results for tech industry startups and leaders.

A communications director, creative producer, and experienced writer, designer, photographer, and artist, Courtney ensures client success as both a high-level strategist and hands-on content creator. With experience working at renowned publications including Vanity Fair, Interview, and WIRED, Courtney knows great content. Over a career spanning the technology, media, education, apparel, healthcare, and travel industries, Courtney has developed clever content for early stage startups to giants like Airbnb, designed campaigns for a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit newsroom, pioneered game-changing partnerships with mega influencers and revered establishments like Rockefeller Center the Ace Hotel, and more.

At Karbo Communications, Courtney tailors her approach to meet client goals, delivering highly coordinated data-driven campaigns that are thoughtfully choreographed down to the last detail to ensure that every interaction with their brand is impactful.

Prior to joining Karbo Communications, Courtney served as head of marketing and communications at Beenest, a San Francisco-based tech startup innovating at the intersection of blockchain and the sharing economy.

She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from The New School University.

Margaret Menotti

Vice President

Margaret is a seasoned public relations professional with strong business acumen as shaped by over a decade of media relations experience in delivering unsurpassed coverage for startup clients to global brands. She is driven to tell technology stories that showcase how companies and organizations are changing how we live, work, and play. Her client roster has included cloud computing companies Wasabi Technologies, Virtana, and Embotics. Other notable clients include global industry leaders such as Veritone (artificial intelligence), Quectel (IoT), JumpStart (edtech), Purdue University Global and Bentley University (higher education), Polachi Access Search (executive recruiting), Spreadshirt (e-commerce) and Executive Pride (nonprofit).

As Vice President at Karbo Communications, Margaret directs strategy for Mapbox, Inseego and Jobsity for standout results. She is passionate about advising technology founders and mentoring the next generation of public relations professionals. Margaret ensures that clients view the Karbo team as a seamless and trusted extension of their marketing efforts with high value earned media placements and a steady cadence of coverage to elevate brand awareness with the audiences that matter and contribute to achieving business goals.

Prior to joining Karbo Communications, Margaret served as Vice President of Public Relations for Boston based Kel and Partners and as Executive Director of Media relations Berkeley North America. She holds a B.S. degree in Management from Boston College. Margaret recently relocated to sunny Florida after decades of living in Massachusetts. 

David Eckstein

Vice President

David Eckstein has more than 25 years of PR, marketing communications and journalism experience working with SaaS, fintech, crypto, HR tech, consumer tech and healthtech companies. In each case, he’s focused on identifying how communications can drive business goals while integrating with other marketing objectives. He’s helped bring companies to market, introduced products/services, guided messaging, including developing narratives for M&As, IPOs and VC roadshows, as well as led traditional and opportunistic media relations and marcom efforts. In the process, he’s secured leadership positions for his clients, including coverage in major national media outlets and key trade publications, speaking opportunities and industry awards.  

As a Vice President at Karbo Communications, David is responsible for the development and implementation of strategy, PR and content communications.

Prior to joining Karbo Communications, David worked as an independent consultant, in-house at both health tech and financial services firms and at multi-national PR firms.  His clients/employers have included TD Ameritrade, Casamba (healthcare tech), Morgan Stanley, Miner (environmentally conscious crypto token), Total Merchant Services (payment processor), Clovers.ai (HR tech) and Aztec Exchange (supply chain finance). He previously was a reporter covering Hollywood for Tribune Media and Uproxx as well as a freelancer for Sports Illustrated, Wired, ESPN, BuzzFeed and Daily Beast among others.

David is an Honors graduate from Northwestern University with a BA in U.S. History and Urban Studies.