Culture
Welcome to HYFN
Everybody needs to be in lockstep for all this to work. Launching hundreds of projects a year, HYFN does not miss deadlines or misfire on deliverables. Priority one is making sure clients know without a doubt they could not be in better hands.
That means our producers sometimes calling you more than your mother does. A CEO who never unplugs for the day. Daily scrums to ensure our team not only gets it done, but gets it done in the best way.
HYFN8
A social media management system that leverages your paid, owned, and earned social media to provide you with actionable intelligence in an easy to use interface.
Inc 5000 Fastest
Growing Companies
Leadership
Navigating a world where the next great idea spawns before the current one launches takes bold vision.
Our Team
At our oceanside office, you might hear arguments about the practicality of responsive design, proper allocation of Greek yogurt in snack orders, implications of Facebook’s latest change to the Open Graph, or the best ping pong player who knows JavaScript. HYFN is a place where passion and talent intersect, and we take pride in it every day.
Morgan Harris Founder & CEO
Morgan Harris is the Founder and CEO for HYFN, an award-winning digital agency that has created mobile and social experiences for some of the most recognized brands in the world including Nike, Coca-Cola, Disney, Levi’s, Universal and more. HYFN’s work has been awarded by the IAC and received the Golden Tweet Award by Twitter for having the most retweeted post in 2011 and most recently won an OMMA award for their work on the Google HowToGomo.com initiative for best B2B project. HYFN is listed on 2012 Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the nation. Previously, Morgan was Founder and CEO of Audio Lunchbox, one of the first digital music destinations to offer legal MP3 downloads which was eventually acquired in December of 2007. Morgan graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Communications and Business. He and his family reside in Hermosa Beach, California.
Matt Fitz-Henry Executive Vice President / GM
For over ten years Matt has been immersed in the convergence of digital media and entertainment. Before joining HYFN, he was the head of new media for Disney Music Group where he was responsible for the digital business and content deals for Hollywood Records, Lyric Street Records and Walt Disney Records. The roster of these labels include such artists as: The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Rascal Flatts, Breaking Benjamin, Plain White T’s, and Selena Gomez, in addition to the franchise properties such as: Tron, High School Musical, Cars, The Chronicles of Narnia, Hannah Montana, Alice in Wonderland and many others. Prior to this, Matt was the head of digital and strategic marketing for Verve Music Group, a wholly owned label group subsidiary of Universal. In his current role Matt is responsible for overseeing business development, operations, and client services.
Ashley Heron VP Digital
For the past 10 years Ashley Heron has been a leader in social media, online and partnership marketing in Nashville's music industry, most recently Director, Strategic Marketing for the Big Machine Label Group. The music group is home to superstar recording artists such as Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Martina McBride and developing artists such as The Band Perry. While at Big Machine, he secured partnerships with Best Buy, Cabela’s, Ericsson, JetBlue, Sony, and others in addition to implementing creative and new media initiatives for the roster. Ashley has held various positions in marketing since 2002, including 7 years at Disney’s Lyric Street Records where he oversaw all new media, mobile marketing and sales initiates in addition to the creative elements of the roster. Currently VP of Digital he is responsible digital strategy and client services.
Scott Mallone VP Creative
With over 15 years experience in advertising, branding, art design and direction, illustration and Web development, Scott continues to spearhead the creative process from unique and integrated angles. As a creative director, Scott brought consistent innovation and a keen understanding of the marketplace for brands including Apple, AT&T, Spring and Ed Hardy. Now serving as VP of Creative for HYFN, he leads the team in developing user experiences and user interfaces for clients such as MTV, Toyota, Universal Music Group, Rihanna and Lyle Lovett. While overseeing the creative department, Scott works closely with the strategy and engineering teams to ensure a final product that meets the goals and vision of every project.
Daniel Leavitt VP Technology
Starting with surreal HyperCard games and meticulous cataloging systems for his hobbies, Daniel has been making things with computers for about as long as he has been able to manipulate a mouse. He was excited to discover during college that his interests could be put to productive ends (including contributions to articles in peer-reviewed journals) and doubly excited upon graduating to find that the largest brands in the world would pay him money to do what he loves. He holds a B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and as a web developer tries to bring humanistic sensibilities as well as technical expertise to his work.
Technology
Structure and freedom do not compete at HYFN. The challenges of our projects will always be our fuel, and they demand both meticulous best practices and creativity to experiment.
Keeping up with the pace of digital technology has nothing to do with languages or platforms. It's about having people who know a lot without thinking they know it all. These committed professionals never shy from taking the lead or asking for help, pushing into new territory, and forgetting about the clock when inspiration or necessity strikes.
With a long list of extraordinary projects already chalked up in the win column, HYFN's highly collaborative team is built across disciplines. And getting stronger by the minute.
Design
We love trendy buzzwords as any self-respecting digital agency does, but they never cloud the big picture. Our limitless creativity and passion for design are channeled into the simple goal of a superior user experience.
No matter the medium or industry vertical, HYFN's creative team never loses sight of this while maintaining a seamless connection with the development horses to ensure the best possible product.
This pursuit of an unmatched standard takes teamwork and mentoring. Our approach is to find great talent and bring it up the HYFN way.
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Concept
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UX/IA
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Design
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Result
Strategy
HYFN dug its roots as a production shop, and that's certainly not a bad background to have in this industry. We still have our partners who look to us purely as a development resource. And that's fine by us -- we'll take your approved designs and build exactly to spec any day of the week.
Over the years though, many of our partners have gravitated toward leaning on us as a strategic collaborator. We're launching so many of these things that you figure we've learned a thing or two along the way. Our belief is that separating ideation and concepts from technology becomes more of a liability every day in this innovative space.
There is something to be said for having the creative talent in the same room as the engineers. That room can be at your office with our teams holding hands, or we can take it from start to finish in our house if you prefer. It doesn't matter where we fit into your process. All we care about is working with great partners because ultimately that equals great work.