Viryd Corporation: CEO                                                         2009-2010

            After Viryd was spun out of parent corporation Fallbrook Technologies, I took over as the first dedicated CEO from the former Chairman and CEO of Viryd who was also CEO of Fallbrook.  Developed improved business plan and investor presentation and raised $6M from previous investors and a Chinese manufacturing firm.  Hired operations manager and developed low cost supply chain in China. Developed and executed successful PR plan that resulted in appearances at major industry gatherings and a feature article in MIT Technology Review.  I led the project proposal effort that resulted in the company being a finalist in the DOE ARPA-E funding in 2010, and the completion of the Viryd wind turbine final design model which completed its one year endurance test at NREL in Colorado.

 

HelioVolt Corporation: VP Marketing                                  2002 -2008

            I was the first non-founder employee of a thin film photovoltaic module manufacturing startup, where the founders were PhD materials scientists.   Analyzed solar photovoltaic industry in depth, developed original business plan; developed and delivered over 40 VC presentations with the Inventor/CEO before initial $7M A round investment by New Enterprise Associates (I helped recruit and interview almost all of the first 20 hires, including key engineering, business development, financial, and manufacturing leads).  Developed overall commercialization strategy and business plan; led team through the process of a technological competitive assessment, choosing initial beachhead target market, defined multi-market product platform to aggregate economies of scale, and defined product roadmap and portfolio strategy, created market requirements document and phased key technical milestones for successive products and market entry; defined path from beach head market to mass market target and key success factors, alliances, and branding strategy for each market.   Developed and implemented web site messaging and sales lead processing.  Led day-to-day marketing, sales, community relations, and PR efforts (see http://bit.ly/Onepim for example interview) to achieve multiple award recognition and high press awareness and mention that facilitated B round fund raising.  Delivered public presentations to represent HelioVolt to the community including industry conferences, investment forums, and engineering and alumni organizations.  Developed and presented market analysis, platform strategy, branding strategy, alliance strategy and sales plan to investors and participated in all due diligence sessions for B round closings totaling $100M from multiple VC and private equity firms.   Developed and led new product introduction stage gate process to continuously refine, extend, and review product definition and manufacturability assessments.  Served on the IP Committee to review inventions and assess patent and trade secret assets and to align patent coverage with target market geographies and business plan.  Developed and helped to close relationships with key alliances (joint development agreements, supplier agreements, and customer MOUs).  Defined requirements and participated in vendor choice and implementation of key internal systems (Primavera Project Manager, Microsoft SharePoint, Eyelet MES, Oracle ERP, timekeeping, packaging and logistics).    I left when technical obstacles to manufacturing meant a long delay before commercial production, missing the market window I foresaw. The company went on to raise over $260M in private equity, but never shipped a commercial product, and was finally liquidated in 2015.

 

Tower Technology: CEO                                                                   2002

            I stepped in to replace the original CEO when the product launch of the Intel 64 bit Itanium MPU that was the company’s primary target market was delayed. The company refocused to target compiling Java stacks for Internet appliance makers.  When the expansion financing of several target customers was delayed and/or fell though after the September 11 attacks, sales prospects fell to zero, and the company was liquidated. 

 

Tower Technology: Intel Program Manager                                   2001

            Tower was a startup with a unique software compiler for the normally interpreted Java programming language that increased execution speed on communications intensive applications like web servers and application servers by a factor of 20 for 64 bit MPUs.  I was on the BOD during 1999 and 2000, and joined management in 2001 to manage its growing strategic relationship with Intel.  The company was in major part funded by Intel Capital. 

 

Nobell Corporation: CEO                                                                  1998

            Nobell was a startup wireless “last half mile” broadband internet service provider using OEM microwave hardware deployed in a then unique “smart cloud” mesh topology with adaptive antenna coverage patterns.  It was acquired by T-Speed Wireless.

 

Affiliated Computer Systems: President BPO Outsourcing Division            1995-1997

            Continued management during “earn-out” period after ACS acquisition of MediaNet; acquired competitive BPO firm and integrated it into ACS, exceeded all earn out sales and profit targets.

 

MediaNet, Inc: CEO                                                                 1986-1995

            MediaNet was a startup that pioneered early use of relational database systems (Oracle) and data warehousing for the development and administration of sales and channel marketing programs for major manufacturers including Compaq, Frito-Lay, HP, Motorola, IBM, Rubbermaid, and Intel.  We wrote the administration software for and was the administrator of the Southwest Airlines Company Club frequent flyer program, and was also the originator and administrator of the Intel Inside® program, which was primarily designed to manipulate Porter’s five forces to increase Intel’s bargaining power relative to its customers, and as a byproduct generated much improved end user awareness and demand (adding $2B in company value through differential margins according to Financial World magazine).  In 1989 and again in 1990, I was a finalist for the Inc. Magazine Austin Entrepreneur of the Year Award based primarily on rapid revenue growth.   I led the process of completing two NIST Malcolm Baldridge Award applications and creating interlocking quality teams throughout the company, resulting in 20% overall cost reduction and several new customer acquisitions.  After two initial angel investor funding rounds totaling $375K, MediaNet grew through retained earnings to more than 220 employees, and was acquired in 1995 by publicly held Affiliated Computer Systems (now part of Xerox), providing "A" round investors 150 times their original investment.

 

Texas Instruments: Product Marketing Engineer, Marketing Program Manager                                                                     1982-1986

            New product development and channel marketing: designed and managed new product introductions (personal computers, printers, and artificial intelligence software) including national advertising and merchandising, implemented new reseller market plan and complete contract revision for industrial distributors, VARs, and retailers.   Worked closely with key sales representatives and engineering staff to evaluate and develop launch plans for new products, including early speech recognition, DSP and AI products.

 

Education

 

BS       Electrical Engineering                                  UT Austin 1974

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            Graduate Student, Neurophysiology          UTMB Galveston 1975-76

Supervising Professor: Bill Willis; Conducted functional neuroanatomy studies of neurons in the primate spinothalamic tract, interneurons in Aplysia Californica, and conducted cardiac physiology labs for med students

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MBA   Management and Finance                           UT Austin 1982

            Supervising Professor: Tim Ruefli

            Report Topic: “Commercialization of Lower Earth Orbit”

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MS      Technology Commercialization                  UT Austin 2002

  

Continuing Education

 

1986        “Financial Goals and Strategic Planning” - American Management Association

1987        “How to Develop the Strategic Plan” – Amer. Management Assoc. Extension Institute

1988        “Pricing Strategies and Practices” - Amer. Management Assoc. Extension Institute

1989        “Strategic Planning” - Amer. Management Assoc. Center for Global Management

1989        “Niche Marketing” - Amer. Management Assoc. Extension Institute

1991        “A Financial Approach to Mergers and Acquisitions” - Amer. Management Assoc.

1992        “Measuring Customer Satisfaction” - Amer. Management Assoc. Extension Institute

1993        “Managing the Distribution Chain” - Cal Tech Industrial Relations Center

1994        “Simplified Strategic Planning” – Eli Broad School of Management, Michigan State

1994        “Supplier Management” - Cal Tech Industrial Relations Center

1994        Quality Consortium Program, University of Texas

1992-4     “Quest for Excellence Conference” – ASQC (NIST Malcolm Baldridge Award)

2006        “Photovoltaic Installation Course” - Solar Energy International (NABCEP I)

2006        “Taking Technology Products to Market” - Cal Tech Industrial Relations Center

2007        Primavera V6 Project Management course

2007        “Advanced Photovoltaics” - Solar Energy International (NABCEP II)

2007        “Investing in Solar” - Cleantech Group

2007        “Accelerating New Product Development” - Cal Tech Industrial Relations Center

2010        “Small Wind Installation Course” - Solar Energy International

2011        Market Validation, Texas Executive Education

2017        Completed UTeach Certification at UT Austin

 

Honors

 

1989        Finalist: Austin Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (Inc. Magazine)

1990        Finalist: Austin Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (Inc. Magazine)

2002        Kozmetsky Award for Academic Excellence (IC2 Institute, McCombs School of Business)

 

Member IEEE