Executive Team

Paul Klass held top level positions in HR, Marketing and Operations, specializing in Customer Experience, for various industries. Prior to founding Riptide, Paul was the SVP of Customer Experience at Madison Square Garden. There, Paul led the following functional areas; Operational Readiness, Process Engineering, Consumer Insights, Operations Strategy, and Voice of Customer across all MSG properties. Earlier, Paul was COO at Sperian Energy based in Las Vegas where he oversaw business operations including human resources, administration, and facilities.

As SVP of Customer Experience and Strategy at Cablevision. Paul and his team were instrumental in driving business performance across Cablevision through customer experience, setting the standard in the industry for customer service by driving change and leveraging NPS.

Paul was on the board of the NY Jr. Islanders and is involved in many charitable organizations. He lives in Oyster Bay, NY with his wife and son.

After a dynamic and successful career in executive positions within various sectors from energy to entertainment, Rob founded Riptide Partners with long-time associate, Paul Klass. Prior to this, Rob was Chief Operating Officer for The Madison Square Garden Company and oversaw operations across all venues, marketing, business insights and customer experience, driving bottom line results through a clear focus on guest and staff experience.

Earlier Rob served as CEO of Sperian Energy overseeing business activities and operations while preparing the company for expansion. He also held the role of EVP of Operations for Cablevision where he was responsible for end-to-end operations and the Company’s customer experience. At the start of his career, Rob spent nearly a decade at Direct Energy, an energy services provider, where he rose to SVP & GM of the Company’s U.S. residential energy business.

Rob is an avid boater and triathlete and lives with his wife and daughter in Lattingtown, NY.

As a senior executive with sales management experience in Sports & Entertainment including television, radio, digital/social and sponsorships, Neil has spent more than 30 years creating strong business partnerships. Prior to his joining Riptide Partners, he held the position of executive vice president at Pac-12 Networks/Conference overseeing everything from pricing, planning and strategic partnerships for regional and national networks, digital and social media sales and fifteen championship events.

Earlier Neil served as general sales manager of Fox Sports Florida/Sun Sports overseeing both local and national sales and was chief revenue officer at Brooklyn Sports + Entertainment. While at Brooklyn S+E, he oversaw advertising sales for the Barclays Center. All these achievements followed 20 years at Madison Square Garden where Neil earned a solid foundation for the business and rose to executive vice president of advertising sales for MSG Network and MSG properties.

Neil enjoys playing golf and lives with his wife in Hells Kitchen, NYC.

Ian MacNabb is a manager for Riptide partners who currently lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona. He oversees customer relationships with a primary focus on product development and support. 

Ian previously graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in Business Administration. In the following years, he held several diverse roles at customer centric companies including Sixt, Starbucks, and Hyatt. Most recently, he led guest experience initiatives at a Hyatt hotel by collecting and operationalizing customer data. 

When Ian is not in the office, he enjoys playing soccer on various leagues or exploring local eateries.

Jacque Holowaty is a co-founder and chief experience officer with over 15 years of experience in the sports and entertainment industry. She is a visionary and strategic leader who focuses on humanizing the workplace through organizational leadership, client experience, onboarding, talent development and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has a proven track record of building bold, revenue-generating partnerships and programs that optimize brand alignment and engagement for guests, clients and employees.

Jacque has spearheaded numerous initiatives that elevate operations through technology, such as a digital concierge service, an online employee rewards platform, a sensory inclusion training initiative and ticket insurance standards. She also served as the inaugural Executive Champion of Spectra Women’s Network, the first employee resource group at Spectra (now Oak View Group). She is passionate about creating a diverse and inclusive culture that empowers all humans in the company and industry.

Jacque is a member of Chief, a C-level private network that connects and supports women leaders. She was also recognized as an IAVM Foundation 30|UNDER|30 recipient in 2015. Jacque’s motto is “Work Hard, but Laugh Harder”, which reflects her integrity, influence and vision as a driver of positive change and innovation.

John Morello is an experienced leader with extensive skills in multiple disciplines. John spent 6 years building scalable technology solutions at Madison Square Garden. Focused on both the customer and employee journey he led the successful Venue Systems implementation at the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas including; computer aided facility management systems, facial recognition, business process modeling, digital playbook, financial systems, workforce management and point of sale systems. John has been able to help identify and drive improvements learned from both guest and employee insights, instilling a culture with greater focus on metrics and accountability.

John is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and has led multiple global initiatives over the course of his career at GE Capital, MasterCard, and Cablevision where he served as the Vice President of Quality. At Cablevision, John’s mission was to “define good” leveraging best in class signal capture solutions to operationalize change and improve NPS. He also led the Closed Loop Feedback team that exceled in customer recovery efforts.

Along with his Six Sigma certification, John spent several years in public accounting with PWC and holds an MBA in Finance and Information Systems. In his spare time, John serves on the board of the NYS Amateur Hockey Association as the Director of Discipline and enjoys riding his motorcycle. He lives in Thornwood, NY with his wife, son, and daughter.