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Softletter's SaaS University: Marketing, Selling, Infrastructure and Financing Conferences, 2008(Check back for speakers updates and additions)Atlanta, GA, January 30/31 Boston, MA, June 18/19 San Francisco, CA
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Merrill R. (Rick) ChapmanSeminar Chairman
Rick Chapman is the managing editor and publisher of Softletter, the industry's premier business publication. Rick has worked in the software industry for over 24 years with such firms as MicroPro and Ashton-Tate. He is the author of The Product Marketing Handbook for Software (Aegis Resources) and In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High Tech Marketing Disasters.
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Keynote PresenterJohn KeagyCEO, GoGridJohn Keagy is CEO and Co-Founder of ServePath, a Managed Hosting provider based in San Francisco that has just launched its new GoGrid cloud computing service. Keagy is an Internet infrastructure pioneer, having built and sold several successful Internet service providers since 1991. John Keagy’s entrepreneurial skills and strategic vision have led Servepath’s rapid growth. The company was recently named to Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 in recognition of its growth (#11 in Silicon Valley and #77 in North America).
In 2006, Keagy saw the impending shift to the cloud as ServePath’s second growth opportunity. Much as the shift from in-house or colocated servers to outsourced dedicated and managed hosting had driven ServePath’s first half decade of growth, the shift to server virtualization will drive the next five years. Keagy’s vision became a two year development investment, now GoGrid, the hosting service launched in March 2008 that enables customers to deploy, scale and manage load balanced servers in the cloud in just minutes through a web-based control panel. Prior to ServePath, John founded InReach Internet in 1994 and grew it to become the largest profitable Internet Service Provider headquartered in California. John was also a staff consultant for Andersen Consulting, served as sales team leader for IBM for two years, held an IS position with MCI, and was an IS project manager with Cookson PLC in London. John received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from UC Berkeley where he earned the Kennedy Award in Business Administration. He is also an alumnus of the Stanford Business School Executive Program. John lives with his wife, two children and dog in San Francisco and is an avid instrument-rated multi-engine pilot. |
Keynote PresenterPeter CoffeeDirector of Platform Intelligence, salesforce.comPeter Coffee is director of Platform Intelligence at salesforce.com. He was formerly the Technology Editor at eWEEK, a national multimedia center of expertise in enterprise infrastructure technology and practice. He has 23 years' experience in advancing and evaluating information technologies and practices as a developer, manager, consultant, educator, and internationally published author and industry analyst.
Based near Los Angeles, Coffee has written product reviews, technical analyses and opinion columns concerning disruptive forces in IT tools and practices; he has appeared on CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, and PBS newscasts addressing Internet security, the Microsoft antitrust case, wireless telecom policies, and other business issues. His two books to date are the Ziff Davis Press tutorial "How to Program Java" in 1996 and "Peter Coffee Teaches PCs."
Coffee holds an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Pepperdine University, and has taught in the department of computer science at UCLA and at Pepperdine's Graziadio School of Business and Management and the Chapman College School of Business.
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Keynote PresenterJeff KaplanManaging Director,
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Jan AlemanCEO, Servoy, B.V.Jan Aleman is the CEO of Servoy, B.V. - an application development and deployment software that specializes in assisting ISVs move their products to SaaS while maintaining their on-premises clients. Prior to helping found Servoy, Mr. Aleman was an owner of Professional Data Management (PDM) -- an IT company specializing in building data-oriented solutions. Besides custom solutions, PDM developed a number of innovative products for Internet and Database solutions, like plug-ins. More than 20,000 users are currently employing these products worldwide in companies such as: Apple, Sony, Genentech, Endemol, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Time, USA today and others. Mr. Aleman is a sought after speaker about SaaS and Rich Internet Applications (RIA) presents at seminars and conferences across Europe, South America and the USA. His keynote sessions at ServoyWorld are always highly anticipated.
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Tom AppletonVice President of Customer
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Rene BelleiCEO, Ryma (FeaturePlan)René has more than 15 years of experience in the high-tech industry. He is a co-founder and former CEO of Invidex Inc., a provider of enterprise software solutions to the broadcast industry. Before Invidex, René held a senior sales position at ABL Canada Inc., a provider of hardware and software solutions to the telecom industry. Earlier in his career, he held software and hardware engineering positions at Bombardier and other Montreal companies.
René is a Fellow at McGill's Dobson Center for Entrepreneurial Studies where he regularly lectures. He holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Sherbrooke University.
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Rob BernshteynVice President of Global Product Marketing & Management, SuccessFactorsRob Bernshteyn brings 15 years of experience in marketing and information technology to his position as Vice President of Global Product Marketing & Management at SuccessFactors. Prior to his current role, Rob directed product management and marketing activities at Siebel Systems where he was a founding member of the Siebel Employee Relationship Management line of business. Rob has also worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and an SAP Implementation Project Manager at Accenture.
His qualifications include a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Systems from the State University of New York at Albany and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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Frank BrunoManager of Intellectual Property,
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Kevin BuryPresident and Chief Executive Officer of QuickArrow, Inc.Kevin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of QuickArrow. A seasoned executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience in fast growth companies. Kevin oversees all of QuickArrow's operations, including its strategic direction, product vision and development, and corporate development. Prior to QuickArrow, as a Partner at Meritage Technologies (acquired by Perficient) and in multiple roles with Vanstar, Kevin cultivated a deep understanding of business process automation in the consulting services, software application, and hardware industries. He has a proven track record in developing and implementing successful long-term client relationships and strategic alliances. Kevin holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of Toledo.
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Rebecca BuckmanSenior editor at Forbes magazineRebecca Buckman is a senior editor at Forbes magazine in Burlingame, where she covers technology and Silicon Valley. Previously she worked for 10 years at the Wall Street Journal in San Francisco, Hong Kong and New York. In those positions she wrote about topics including online-stock fraud, Microsoft’s antitrust troubles, venture capital and international economics. Ms. Buckman has also written for the Dow Jones Newswires, USA Today and the Indianapolis Star. She lives in San Francisco.
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Roshen ChandranCTO, PaladionRoshen Chandran is co-author of "Know Your Enemy 2nd ed". He is the co-founder of Paladion Networks, a security consulting firm with offices worldwide. Roshen advises clients on their software security strategy. He is founder editor of Palisade, the executive newsletter on application security. Roshen's work has been presented at leading security conferences, including the RSA Conference, Cansecwest and SDWest.
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Bob ConlinVP of Marketing, CentiveAs VP of Marketing, Bob led the transformation of Centive from their roots as a traditional enterprise software vendor to a model that is focused 100% on delivering on-demand, Software-as-a-Service solutions for optimizing sales performance. Because Centive provides sales and executive compensation systems for a wide variety of firms, including many software and SaaS-based firms, Bob is in a unique position to discuss best practices when discussing sales compensation programs for your company.
Prior to joining Centive, Bob held senior level sales and marketing positions at Infinium Software. Bob is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been published in numerous business journals including: Benefits and Compensation Solutions, Workspan, CRM Magazine, HR.com, Compensation and Benefits Review and Technology for Finance. Bob received a bachelor's degree in resource management from Oregon State University. He is accredited as a Professional in Human Resources by the Society for Human Resource Management.
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Chuck DeVitaPresident, Growth
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Michael van DijkenLead Marketing Manager, Hosting Solutions, Communications Sector
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Richard DymChief Marketing Officer,
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Siamak FarahCEO, InfoStreetSiamak Farah is the founder and CEO of InfoStreet, a leading provider of IT & Productivity Software as a Service (SaaS). Active in its day-to-day management, Siamak has assembled and leads a seasoned team of industry professionals at InfoStreet. By employing a business philosophy that focuses first on solving business problems and second on applying appropriate technologies to those solutions, he has enabled flourishing businesses for both InfoStreet and its clients. Siamak is an advocate of developing a strong SaaS reseller channel for InfoStreet and has helped spearhead this effort at InfoStreet.
Prior to founding InfoStreet in 1994, Siamak worked at NeXT Computer side-by-side industry visionaries the likes of Steve Jobs. Having been in the industry for more than 20 years Siamak has striven to include a cutting edge technological vision in his work. A member of the Society of Industry Leaders, Siamak is a frequent speaker at conferences that focus on the Internet and SaaS such as ISPCON, INBOX: The Messaging Industry Event, the Layered Technologies Pact conference and more.
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Patrick Fetterman Vice President of Marketing,
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Lluis FontCEO, NTRglobalLluis Font's vision for making IT simpler with NTRglobal's portfolio of enterprise-grade SaaS for remote support and remote systems management, is driving momentum for the software-as-a-service industry around the globe. Under his leadership and focus on meeting customer needs with a choice of SaaS and SaaS hybrid models, he has doubled revenue year-over-year since 2002. More than 12,000 businesses in 60 countries subscribe to NTRglobal on-demand solutions for remote support with NTRsupport™ and remote administration and IT task automation with NTRadmin™. Prior to leading NTRglobal, Mr. Font held numerous executive positions with top consulting companies, including Price Waterhouse, and was CEO of AGM, The Global Company, one of Spain's biggest internet consulting firms, at which he grew revenue from 3 million Euros to 15 million Euros in one year.
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Todd Gardner,CEO, SaaS Capital
Todd has spent his entire professional career in the finance and software industries. As an outgrowth of his venture work with software companies and ASP providers such as US Internetworking, Todd came to recognize the benefits of the SaaS model and its financial and cash-flow implications. Finding no good financing solutions for his SaaS portfolio companies, Todd pulled together a team of software finance and SaaS technology veterans to launch SaaS Capital in 2006.
For the 10 years prior to launching SaaS Capital, Todd was a partner at Blue Chip Venture Company where he focused on investing in early stage software companies. While at Blue Chip Todd directly lead new investments in many different companies including financing rounds ranging from $500,000 to $25 million. During his tenure in the venture capital business, Todd maintained a 100% success rate in software investing even during challenging investment cycles following the technology bubble of 2000. |
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Jim GeismanPresident, Software PricingJim has helped emerging and established software companies solve some of their thorniest pricing problems including how to transition to the on-demand (SaaS) pricing model. He has written extensively on software pricing and is widely quoted in the trade press. He is a frequent speaker at seminars and trade conferences and has consulted internationally on issues of software pricing and deal structuring. Jim has been a co-founder, director, advisor or mentor to early stage companies. He sits on the Board of the Professional Pricing Society and is an advisor to the Entreprenuerial Leadership Program at Tufts University.
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John GirardFounder & CEO, ClickabilityJim has helped emerging and established software companies solve some of their thorniest pricing problems including how to transition to the on-demand (SaaS) pricing model. He has written extensively on software pricing and is widely quoted in the trade press. He is a frequent speaker at seminars and trade conferences and has consulted internationally on issues of software pricing and deal structuring. Jim has been a co-founder, director, advisor or mentor to early stage companies. He sits on the Board of the Professional Pricing Society and is an advisor to the Entreprenuerial Leadership Program at Tufts University.
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Jeff HaginsPartner/CTO, Mural Ventures CorporationJeff Hagins has more than 27 years of experience in the software industry in positions as Chief Technology Officer, Senior Vice President of Product Management, Chief Architect, Vice President of Engineering, and Board Member for companies such as Lockheed Martin, J.D. Edwards, TeleComputing, Apptix, Dynix, SMBLive, and now Mural Consulting. Jeff provides a unique perspective on the SaaS Industry, having worked as CTO for SaaS ISVs such as SMBLive, as a CTO for pure-play Application Hosters such as TeleComputing and Apptix, and even as the CIO for Dynix, a mid-market company purchasing SaaS offerings. Hagins is a recognized leader in the SaaS industry having worked with hundreds of SaaS businesses of all shapes and sizes, from small traditional ISVs and SaaS startups to market leaders such as Microsoft, Amazon, and SAP.
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Michael Ray HopkinRyma (FeaturePlan)Michael is an internationally recognized thought leader in the area of leadership and product management. He has published several articles and has co-hosted a number of podcast episodes with other prominent leaders in the industry. He is a product management thought leader with more than 15 years of experience working as a software engineer and a product manager for companies ranging from startups to major corporations. Michael currently works as Product Management Consultant for Ryma Technology Solutions and is responsible for the driving sound product management and leadership principles for the company. Michael is a proven communicator who has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to gain the trust and commitment of large, cross-divisional work groups and is a successful author and speaker. He holds a BS degree in Accounting and a Master of Information Systems Management, both from Brigham Young University. In his spare time he enjoys running marathons and camping with his family.
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Gene LandyChair, Technology Group
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Billy MarshallCEO and co-founder of rPathBilly Marshall is the CEO and co-founder of rPath. Billy is the industry’s leading voice in driving adoption of virtualization and virtual appliances to accomplish rPath’s mission - simplify the delivery and consumption of software innovation. Under Billy’s leadership, rPath was the first company to offer products for the creation, distribution, and maintenance of applications as virtual appliances. The company has been awarded numerous industry accolades, including being named to American Venture Magazine’s list of “2008’s Most Promising Start-ups,” Linux Magazine’s “Top 20 Companies to Watch in 2008,” AlwaysOn “AO 100 Top Private Companies for 2007” and “Most Innovative Software Idea” by SoftwareCEO/CompTIA. |
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Tae Hea NahmGeneral Partner, Storm VenturesPrior to becoming a general partner of Storm Ventures, Tae Hea was a co-founding partner of Venture Law Group, a law firm focused in representing technology startups, and a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He also served on VLG's investment committee. Since his first client (incorporating StrataCom in 1985), Tae Hea has advised over 200 technology startups through their growth, from incorporation through venture capital financings, corporate partnerships, IPO, and mergers and acquisitions. Representative companies included Access360, AtRoad, Cadant, ESS Technology, IC Works/Cypress, Inkra Networks, JetCell/Cisco, Landec, Marvell Technology, Netro, Optimight, Polaris Networks, Ramp Networks, Rapid5 Networks, Sina.com, StrataCom/Cisco, Telera, Transmedia/Cisco, and Xylan/Alcatel.
Tae Hea cofounded Ultraband Fiber Optics, a dynamic optical networking company, with Prof. Byoung Yoon Kim (KAIST) and Prof. H. John Shaw (Stanford), and serves on its board of directors. He has also cofounded Grassroots.com, an online political action network, and MedChannel, a medical supply chain company. He holds an AB in Applied Mathematics (magna cum laude and phi beta kappa) from Harvard College and a JD from University of Chicago Law School. Tae Hea was born in Seoul, Korea. . |
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Rajiv ParikhCEO, Position2Rajiv is CEO of Position2, a leading search engine marketing firm, with over 20 years of sales, marketing and entrepreneurial experience. He is Co-Founder and Board Member of Apieron Inc., a VC-backed company. He grew the AltaVista Business Solutions Group to $40 million in revenues. Prior experience includes leading Marketing and Business Development groups at Sun Microsystems, NCR, and AT&T. Rajiv has a MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Electrical Engineering from UNH.
Position2 clients include Johnson & Johnson, Northwestern Mutual, Coverity, Convergys and Reliance. Rajiv is a frequent speaker in industry forums on search and social media marketing.
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Javier RojasManaging Director of Kennet PartnersJavier is a managing director of Kennet Partners and leads its US investment activities.He is currently on the board of eProject, Adviva, VoEx, NetPro Computing, MedeFinance, and Kapow Technologies. Prior to joining Kennet, he was a managing director of Broadview International and lead their West Coast Software and Services practice.Javier specialised in advising high growth, early-stage companies on how to capitalise on emerging technology markets and partnering opportunities.He invested and/or advised on a number of successful companies and high value exits including Etek, Webex, Looksmart, Blue Mountain Arts, When.com and Rightworks.Previously, Javier was with Morgan Stanley. Earlier, he founded a software firm that developed products for capital markets interest rate and currency swap traders.He holds an MBA degree from The Harvard Business School and a BAS degree from Georgetown University. |
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Jeffrey SalingVice President of Callidus On-DemandJeffrey Saling has more than 20 years experience in starting, building, and operating successful businesses in the technology arena. In his current role, Jeff is responsible for the Callidus On-Demand line of business, since its start-up in 2006.
Prior to leading Callidus On-Demand, Jeff managed one of the company’s successful professional services lines of business. Before joining Callidus Software, Jeff worked for Chordiant Software, where he served as Americas Vice President of Field Operations, leading professional services, sales engineering, and sales operations activities in the Americas. Before Chordiant, Jeff held senior management positions with Accenture, and served as Vice President, and Director of Operations for call center and Internet-based start-ups Vehicle Information Network and Consumer’s Car Club. He also held various sales, IT management, and operations management positions between 1983 and 1991.
Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Production & Operations Management, from California State University, Hayward (East Bay).
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Erik SeifertCEO, caSaaS™Erik Seifert is the CEO and co-founder of caSaaS™, the innovative vendor of Web Content Management SaaS. By providing commercial convenience at open-source prices, caSaaS web CMS makes big websites possible for small companies. Seifert's unique academic background combined with extensive sales and management experience render him a leading international authority on the topic of SaaS. After sales and product management at IBM, as an entrepreneur Seifert brought Navision Financials (now Microsoft Dynamics/NAV) into the US market. Later as Chairman & CEO Seifert created the product's identity and marketing strategy, and engineered its VAR-only international distribution channel. Microsoft acquired Navision for $1.3 billion in 2002. Seifert also created trademarks such as C/SIDER and SIFT, still used by Microsoft today.
In SaaS since 2002, Seifert engineered a turnaround at a European web CMS vendor as it emerged from bankruptcy. Seifert's solution simplified the product structure from complex terms into easy-to-buy SaaS products. With that company enjoying solid growth and profits, Seifert returned to the US to found caSaaS in 2008. |
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Kevin SpainPrincipal at
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Larry SteeleVice President of SaaS for SAVVIS Inc.Larry Steele brings more than 18 years of experience in technology to his role as vice president of SaaS for SAVVIS Inc. Mr. Steele leads the overall global strategy in delivering innovative SaaS solutions to meet client needs. Prior to joining SAVVIS, he was the CTO for Edward Jones, a leader in the financial services industry, where he was instrumental in the development and execution of several key corporate technology initiates. He holds an MBA from Washington University, St. Louis. He is also a frequent participant in CTO advisory boards and industry speaking events.
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Ed SullivanCEO, Aria SystemsEd Sullivan is the CEO and Founder of Aria Systems. As CEO, Ed brings leadership, vision, and valuable insight to the needs of the marketplace to bear on Aria’s strategic direction. His entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ideas have led him to build several successful companies. Prior to Aria, Ed was the Founder and President of LaserLink.net, the World's first and largest Virtual Internet Service Provider. LaserLink provided billing and Internet services to over one million end users and operated the Internet Services for several ISP's including American Express, Compaq, Gateway, Amway and IBM. LaserLink was acquired by Covad Communications in March 2000.
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Tien TzuoFounder and CEO, Zuora, Inc.Tien Tzuo joined Zuora after 9 years at salesforce.com. Tien was one of the "original forces" at salesforce.com, which he joined in 1999 as the 11th employee, when the company was still operating out of a house on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. In his 9 years at salesforce.com, Tien built salesforce.com's original billing system and held a variety of executive roles in salesforce.com's technology, marketing, and strategy organizations, including building out the product management & marketing organization, serving as Chief Marketing Officer for two years, and most recently as Chief Strategy Officer. Tien personally oversaw the vision, direction, and design of the first 17 releases of salesforce.com's award winning product line, including overseeing the launch of salesforce.com and the AppExchange. In 2004, Tien was named CMO of the Year Finalist by the CMO Council and BusinessWeek Magazine. Tien is also widely recognized as one of the thought leaders in the software-as-a-service industry. His podcast on the Secrets of Salesforce is widely cited and has been downloaded over 250,000 times since it was first published. Prior to salesforce.com, Tien was at CrossWorlds Software, where he launched CrossWorlds' Telecommunications business unit focused on integration with billing systems such as Portal, Kenan, Amdocs, and MetaSolv, and at Oracle Corporation where he managed several of Oracle's largest Telecommunications accounts, including MCI, NYNEX, Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), and AT&T. Tien holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and a master's in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. . |
Brian ZanghiPresident and CEO of KadientBrian Zanghi is President and CEO of Kadient. Brian brings more than 20 years of sales and executive leadership in the high technology industry to Kadient. Since joining the company in 2004, he has led the transformation of Kadient from an RFP automation software company to the leading provider of on-demand sales knowledge applications.
Brian is a frequent speaker and writer on the topics of sales and marketing effectiveness and the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model. He is author of The Role of Venture Capital in Transforming Your Business, published by Aspatore in the book Inside the Minds: Software Venture Capital Best Practices. His article Ten Lessons from a SaaS Transformation was featured on Sandhill.com. He has spoken at the MIT Sloan Sales Conference, the MIT Venture Capital Conference, Software 2008, the IDC Sales & Marketing Effectiveness Summit, and Softletter’s Marketing & Selling SaaS Seminar.
Prior to joining Kadient, he was the Chief Operating Officer of SPSS, Inc., a $200 million publicly traded software business well known in the predictive analytics and statistical analysis market. He was formerly Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations at eRoom Technology (acquired by Documentum), which was an early leader in web-based collaboration and hosted document management software. He was also President of PC Docs, where he was instrumental in that company’s high-growth phase from $8 million to $80 million and beyond. Earlier in his career, Brian was with Interleaf, a provider of integrated hardware and document creation technology that was, at the time, the leading provider of advanced document generation systems. |
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The Product Marketing Handbook for Software In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters, 2nd Edition |