DC

Daniele Calabrese

Rende · Phuket

Commercial executive across AdTech, SaaS, AI, and telecoms. Twenty-five years in Europe, the United States, and Asia.

In short

Commercial executive who has built and scaled revenue in adtech, SaaS, AI, and telecoms. At Taboola he owned about 60% of APAC revenue. At Cloud4Wi he opened six countries. Two companies he founded were acquired. He began at the World Bank, on telecom and privatization reform with governments and regulators.

Italian (EU) citizen and US Green Card holder.

P&L and quota. Go-to-market and market entry. Enterprise sales, public sector, and partners. Adtech monetization, SaaS, and cloud. Computer vision, generative AI, and natural language. Telecoms, regulation, and multi-country teams.

Results

  • $60M

    About 60% of Taboola’s APAC revenue, 40%+ year on year, with 70 people and 100+ publishers across 8 markets.

  • 15%

    Of Cloud4Wi’s global revenue in 2018, from market entry in six countries. Clients included Prada, Armani, Telecom Italia, Huawei, and BMW.

  • Two exits

    Streamago, 2.3 million users, acquired by Docler in 2017. Soundtracker, 10 million users, acquired by Sundays Music in 2015.

  • USD 2M

    P&L ownership as managing director and CEO.

Experience

  1. 2026 —

    Strategy Manager · MirAI

    Rende

    Business development, partnerships, and go-to-market for computer vision, generative AI, and physical AI. The operating plan that turns the technology into revenue.

  2. 2023 —

    Founder and Managing Director · Marine Guru

    Phuket

    A hospitality and marine-leisure group: a dive centre, a yacht charter, two restaurants, a villa, and a beach club. Strategy, operations, and brand across every unit.

  3. 2019 — 2023

    Regional Director, APAC · Taboola

    Bangkok

    Revenue, partnerships, and publisher development across India, Korea, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. About $60 million a year, 60% of APAC revenue, 70 people, and 40%+ growth. More than 100 publishers, including Network 18, News Corp, Bangkok Post, and the leading publisher in Korea.

  4. 2017 — 2019

    Managing Director, APAC · Cloud4Wi

    Bangkok

    Opened the region for cloud public Wi-Fi and location analytics: Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Japan, and the Philippines. 15% of global revenue in 2018. Enterprise work with Prada, Armani, Telecom Italia, Huawei, and BMW.

  5. 2017

    Co-founder and CEO · Cloudnine.ai

    Washington and Bangkok

    A multilingual analytics startup for sentiment and engagement, built for agencies, public figures, and brands. Product, clients, and a team of ten across the United States and Europe.

  6. 2015 — 2017

    Co-founder and CEO · Streamago

    San Francisco and Cagliari

    A live-streaming app grown to 2.3 million users and 130,000 daily livestreams, top 10 in major app stores. Raised $2 million and led about 20 people. Acquired by Docler in 2017.

  7. 2009 — 2015

    Founder and CEO · Soundtracker

    Washington, San Francisco, Cagliari

    The first location- and proximity-based social music network, to more than 10 million users. Partnerships with Google, Facebook, Nokia, AT&T, Microsoft, and Amazon. Licensed 32 million tracks across mobile, web, connected TV, and automotive. Acquired by Sundays Music in 2015.

  8. 2000 — 2008

    Communication Officer · The World Bank

    Washington

    Communication with governments and regulators on telecom, power, water, and privatization in more than twelve countries, including Nigeria, Egypt, Bolivia, and Ukraine. An $8 million programme in Nigeria, and the $2 million World Congress on Communication for Development.

  9. 2000

    Senior Account Executive · Antea Communications

    Milan

    IPO communication for IT companies listing on the Milan exchange.

  10. 1999 — 2000

    Parliamentary Counselor · Chamber of Deputies

    Rome

    Legislative coordination for the EU and Finance committees.

  11. 1999

    Researcher · Hellerstein and Associates

    Washington

    Research on the DSL market.

Studies

  • 1999

    MA, International Affairs

    The George Washington University, Washington

  • 1998

    Graduate certificate, Public Diplomacy

    Italian Public Diplomacy Institute, Naples

  • 1997

    Laurea, Political Science, 110/110

    Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples

The Naples degree was on a full scholarship.

Languages

Italian, native. English and Spanish, fluent. French advanced, German intermediate, Arabic and Thai colloquial.