The Humans Behind
the Hardware

Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy — Chief Executive Officer, Plugable Technologies

Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy is CEO of Plugable Technologies and a technology industry executive with more than 35 years of experience leading businesses through growth and transformation. Prior to Plugable, she served as President and CEO of StarTech.com and as EVP of North America at Westcon-Comstor, where she led a $2.7 billion business. Her career spans the IT channel value chain, including technology vendors, distribution, managed services, and the end-customer perspective.

At Plugable, Lynn is leading the company's expansion into a diversified B2B omnichannel business while driving innovation in workplace technology and local AI. She has been recognized throughout her career by leading North American technology and channel publications for her leadership and industry impact, most recently as a 2026 finalist for CRN's Women of the Year CEO of the Year award. She also serves on boards and in advisory roles focused on growth, governance, AI adoption, and transformation.

Bernie Thompson — Founder and Chief Technical Officer, Plugable Technologies

Before founding Plugable, Bernie Thompson was a device-driver whisperer for IBM, Microsoft, and Linux, writing for Linux Journal's 1994 premiere issue. As Microsoft's USB lead, he notoriously bribed managers with doughnuts to squeeze crucial USB upgrades into Windows XP SP2.

In 2009, the former DisplayLink exec launched Plugable from his garage to turn one PC into many re-using cheap USB docks. That first product flopped spectacularly, but Bernie's fanaticism for open standards, transparent engineering, and actual human support turned the startup into a growing powerhouse. Plugable has become the technology leader in laptop docking stations, holding back the tide of Chinese electronics brands.

Today, as founder and CTO, Bernie splits his time between low-level hardware, high-level AI, and ensuring your laptop talks to your monitors without requiring a sacrificial ritual. He's rarely off the road — his Plugable USB-C portable monitor, which doubles as a dock, has traveled with him to more than 20 countries.

Matt Dargis — Chief Revenue Officer, Plugable Technologies

Matt Dargis is the Chief Revenue Officer at Plugable Technologies, where he leads global revenue generation, field sales operations, and go-to-market strategies across enterprise, public-sector, and channel networks. With more than two decades of executive leadership in the technology industry, Matt specializes in scaling sales organizations, expanding multi-channel distribution, and driving growth for market-leading IT hardware and connectivity brands across new channels and global geographies.

Nico Fedrigo — VP, Finance, Treasurer & Secretary, Plugable Technologies

Nico Fedrigo is Vice President of Finance at Plugable Technologies, where he oversees financial planning and analysis, accounting, and the economics of a catalog spanning several hundred hardware SKUs. As Treasurer and Secretary of the company, he also holds broader responsibility for corporate governance matters, payroll, and logistics.

Nico leads forecasting, pricing, and margin strategy, partnering closely with operations on inventory planning, landed cost, and supply chain decisions in a category where component availability and tariffs can move quickly. He builds the models behind product investment decisions, helping the leadership team weigh which docks, hubs, and adapters to develop and how to price them for both consumer and enterprise channels.

Beyond finance, Nico's remit spans the company's logistics operations and payroll function, giving him end-to-end visibility from supply chain through to people operations. As Treasurer and Secretary, he also oversees corporate governance, statutory filings, and formal recordkeeping.

He also oversees the reporting and controls that support Plugable's growth and its relationships with investors and partners.

Katie Eckstrom — VP, Marketing, Plugable Technologies

Katie Eckstrom is Vice President of Marketing at Plugable Technologies, where she leads ecommerce go-to-market strategy across Amazon, channel, and direct-to-consumer marketplaces worldwide. She joined Plugable in 2017 and has built the company's in-house marketing organization from the ground up, now a team of more than 20 spanning Marketplace, Channel, Creative, and Content. Under her leadership, Plugable has launched more than 50 products globally, including the PS-10CC 10-port USB-C charger named Best Charger of CES by Tom's Guide and a portable monitor that earned Editor's Choice honors from Laptop Mag, ZDNET, and Macworld.

Katie also leads Plugable's expansion into B2B channel marketing, recognized in 2024 when CRN named her to its Women of the Channel list. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing, from the University of Washington's Michael G. Foster School of Business, and has completed Management Essentials at Harvard Business School Online and the Prof G Certified Strategist program.

Gary Zeller — VP, Product, Plugable Technologies

Gary Zeller is Vice President of Product at Plugable Technologies, where he leads the company's core product strategy and roadmap at the intersection of emerging connectivity standards and real-world compatibility.

Gary leads products from concept through launch, working closely with chipset, engineering, and manufacturing partners to turn emerging technologies into reliable products customers can depend on. His north star is compatibility: how Plugable products perform across the Windows, Mac, and Chrome systems customers actually use. The result is products customers rely on, and recognition from the industry's most trusted reviewers, including Wired, Wirecutter, ZDNET, Tom's Guide, and Macworld.

He also leads Plugable's support organization, cultivating the unique model behind its Lifetime North American Technical Support and building one of the most highly regarded support teams in the industry. That team works directly with customers to solve complex problems, translates compatibility details into clear guidance so customers can choose with confidence, and brings that real-world experience back into product decisions.

Gary joined Plugable in 2014 after years in IT and managing technical and service teams, where he learned firsthand how hard it can be to find products and support worth trusting.

Nikki Clarke — Head of HR, Plugable Technologies

Nikki Clarke is the Head of Human Resources at Plugable Technologies, leading people operations for the company's Redmond headquarters and its remote and international teams.

Recognized for her strategic focus, Nikki enjoys partnering with management to engage in forward-thinking action that aligns with company initiatives. Developing others is her passion and she uses her coaching, communication and influence skills to help people grow. Nikki contributes to driving a strong company culture and effective people infrastructure that helps keep employees happy and productive. She achieves this through transparency and relationship-building, proactive employee relations, ensuring a competitive benefits package, robust onboarding, performance development, and policies/programs that hold a distributed hardware company together. She has focused on scaling the company thoughtfully as Plugable has grown from a small ecommerce operation into a multi-channel business with engineering, support, marketing, and operations functions.

Nikki has a Masters in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC). Her work centers on keeping the company a place where technical people can do focused work, with an emphasis on clear expectations, individual growth, and the culture of direct customer contact that has defined Plugable since its earliest years.