Start-ups:
Segment
Segment is a growth-stage startup building a platform for collecting customer data. We provide a single API to track customer data across multiple devices and channels it to third-party tools, internal systems, or SQL databases with the flip of a switch. Segment eliminates the need to write code to integrate new tools, which saves times and removes dependencies across teams. In my first year, I exceeded my quota by 40% and was 140% to goal! Out of the many, many companies I've worked for I'd have to say I'm most grateful and humble to find myself here. I've never worked in a cultural that is so caring and conscious of the "tribe" and always has the greater body at heart while still driving for amazing results and extreme focus.
Braintree Payments
Braintree Payments is an online and mobile payments processor that works with some of the most innovative companies in the space including: LivingSocial, Uber, AirBnB, Fab.com, Hotel Tonight, Angry Birds, etc. As an Enterprise Sales Executive I am responsible for targeting and working with companies with large volume that require a reliable and scalable solution. Braintree's DNA is with startups and tech so as a veteran of the Silicon Valley this position was a natural fit. I work out of the San Francisco office and work predominately with companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Within the first six months, I successfully closed business equal to $30M in yearly payment volume.
WePay
WePay is an online payments platform that is leveling the playing field for small businesses by disrupting traditional payment models. WePay provides tools for small businesses to accept credit cards and - through its platform API - empowers marketplaces and apps serving small businesses to enable transactions on their platform. WePay’s payment tools for small businesses include online invoices, a mobile application, on-site checkout buttons and a virtual credit card terminal. WePay has processed transactions for over 250,000 merchants through these tools.
I spent a year and half working at WePay as a Sales and Business Development Executive. While there, I exceeded my first year's quota by 157% and landed one of the companies fastest growing accounts reaching close to $1M in payment flow in just 2 short months. I also held the record as the top grossing monthly revenue generator by my 10th month.
The culture at WePay is one typical of Silicon Valley and the startup world. It was by far one of the funnest jobs I ever held and the energy of this startup was contagious. It was a delight to show up to work every morning and the team was of the highest caliber.
I spent a year and half working at WePay as a Sales and Business Development Executive. While there, I exceeded my first year's quota by 157% and landed one of the companies fastest growing accounts reaching close to $1M in payment flow in just 2 short months. I also held the record as the top grossing monthly revenue generator by my 10th month.
The culture at WePay is one typical of Silicon Valley and the startup world. It was by far one of the funnest jobs I ever held and the energy of this startup was contagious. It was a delight to show up to work every morning and the team was of the highest caliber.
JustBumped
JustBumped is a fashion and apparel site I started with my wife and inspired by our son. JustBumped products have been designed for expecting mothers who want to show off their sexy bump with pride. Tell the world your amazing news in a fun and lighthearted way through our comfortable and sporty apparel. Your time as an expecting mother only lasts so long so get out there and Rock That Bump, ladies! It's a pleasure to run this business with my wife and allows us to work together on a regular basis.
PowerBeam
PowerBeam is one of the most technologically advanced companies I have ever had the pleasure of working with. The company has developed a way to transmit electricity without wires – yes, that’s correct, wireless electricity – and it is certainly the future to the consumer electronics industry. As the Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing, my main responsibilities are driving revenue through sales of Demo Kits or Customize Prototyping agreements and Marketing efforts both online and offline. However, one can imagine that in a start-up, one wears many hats and indeed I wear quit a few.
On the Sales side, I successfully sold Demo Kits to the largest Consumer Electronics, Battery, Telco, and Industrial companies in the world. Within the 1st quarter of our Demo Kit sales program, I achieved a revenue goal that was 2X of the expected goal of the company. Additionally, I sold several Customized Prototyping agreements at the CTO level to large, international corporations that sale multiple consumer electronics products worldwide.
On the Marketing side, my initial task was to conduct Market Research to discover the “beachhead” products. Since all things electronic require electricity, this process took up a huge amount of time. I began my Exploratory Research by contacting and discussing our technology with over 500 companies worldwide, created relationships with Fortune 100 companies that were targeted to be the first companies and led a team which wrote a comprehensive Exploratory Research Report valued at $20K. The resulting efforts determined three initial products which have driven our technology roadmap.
Concurrently, a major project was to create a website that communicated clearly, provided enough detail to understand a new and complicated technology, integrated SEO principals, Google Adwords, and competed well with our competitor’s websites and not to mention…all on a shoe string budget. In conjunction with our graphic designer and other team members, we created a website that was highly praised and was launched just in time for the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. We even created an animated video where I performed the voiceover. I wrote the entire content for the website. Please click here to visit the website.
Public Relations is vital to a start-up and can make or break a company in its early stages. With that in mind, I offered to do some free PR work for David, Founder and CEO of PowerBeam – just because I was really impressed with the technology. I was able to get Dean Takahashi from The Mercury News to write a cover story on PowerBeam and sure enough, it was printed on April 21st, 2007. The investor who led the Seed Round read the article; contacted David and they closed the round in early August of 2007. I joined the team as PowerBeam’s Marketing Specialist on August 20th, 2007.
I also ran the Public Relations campaign we launched prior to CES 2009 which led to a flurry of press both at the show and post CES. I was responsible for negotiating the contract with the PR Firm – Bob Gold and Associates – and creating and managing all the messages that were communicated. We were covered by such outlets as The Economist, CNBC, ABC, and even the Italian and Brazilian National TV networks. Please click here to see a complete list of press.
Other responsibilities included prospecting, qualifying , creating, and pitching sales presentations to high-level decision makers within these Fortune 100 companies, creating marketing collateral, engaging in public speaking opportunities and making strategic and vital decision which had affected the direction of the company.
On the Sales side, I successfully sold Demo Kits to the largest Consumer Electronics, Battery, Telco, and Industrial companies in the world. Within the 1st quarter of our Demo Kit sales program, I achieved a revenue goal that was 2X of the expected goal of the company. Additionally, I sold several Customized Prototyping agreements at the CTO level to large, international corporations that sale multiple consumer electronics products worldwide.
On the Marketing side, my initial task was to conduct Market Research to discover the “beachhead” products. Since all things electronic require electricity, this process took up a huge amount of time. I began my Exploratory Research by contacting and discussing our technology with over 500 companies worldwide, created relationships with Fortune 100 companies that were targeted to be the first companies and led a team which wrote a comprehensive Exploratory Research Report valued at $20K. The resulting efforts determined three initial products which have driven our technology roadmap.
Concurrently, a major project was to create a website that communicated clearly, provided enough detail to understand a new and complicated technology, integrated SEO principals, Google Adwords, and competed well with our competitor’s websites and not to mention…all on a shoe string budget. In conjunction with our graphic designer and other team members, we created a website that was highly praised and was launched just in time for the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. We even created an animated video where I performed the voiceover. I wrote the entire content for the website. Please click here to visit the website.
Public Relations is vital to a start-up and can make or break a company in its early stages. With that in mind, I offered to do some free PR work for David, Founder and CEO of PowerBeam – just because I was really impressed with the technology. I was able to get Dean Takahashi from The Mercury News to write a cover story on PowerBeam and sure enough, it was printed on April 21st, 2007. The investor who led the Seed Round read the article; contacted David and they closed the round in early August of 2007. I joined the team as PowerBeam’s Marketing Specialist on August 20th, 2007.
I also ran the Public Relations campaign we launched prior to CES 2009 which led to a flurry of press both at the show and post CES. I was responsible for negotiating the contract with the PR Firm – Bob Gold and Associates – and creating and managing all the messages that were communicated. We were covered by such outlets as The Economist, CNBC, ABC, and even the Italian and Brazilian National TV networks. Please click here to see a complete list of press.
Other responsibilities included prospecting, qualifying , creating, and pitching sales presentations to high-level decision makers within these Fortune 100 companies, creating marketing collateral, engaging in public speaking opportunities and making strategic and vital decision which had affected the direction of the company.
Global Educational Program (GEP)
As a student at San Jose State University (SJSU), I was very fortunate to be awarded a free trip to China in the summer of 2005 through a scholars program called the Global Technology Initiative which was sponsored by the College of Engineering at SJSU. The objective of the trip was to visit companies in Taiwan, Beijing, and Shanghai to learn about the international business environment. This was by far the best trip I have ever taken and I was inspired to seek international opportunities.
Shortly after I returned to the States, I realized how world renown the Silicon Valley was and thought there may be a business opportunity to bring foreign groups to the Bay Area for company tours. So, upon entering my senior year in college, I decided to form a team and write a business plan around the concept. After winning several awards that year, one being the SVCE-SJSU Business Plan Competition, we decided to launch the company in the summer of 2006.
As the co-founder and President, it was my responsibility to build the entire organization from the ground up. I was the major driver behind GEP and played a hand in every aspect of the business. I cold called and prospected potential clients, pitched these prospects, and closed our first trip within the first 3 months of operations. In addition to this, I was also responsible for all original marketing material, led the creation and development of the website, created a vast Rolodex of Silicon Valley contacts from large Fortune 500 companies to start-ups to government officials, established strategic and long-term partnership both locally and globally, managed all of the company’s finances and eventually hired contractors for trip management and operations while trips were in the Silicon Valley.
GEP is one of the most respected and well-known organizations for developing and managing professional study tours with an emphasis on business development in the Silicon Valley. GEP has a solid base of customers that return for annual and semi-annual trips, a network of approximately 3,000 contacts within Silicon Valley and beyond that support such trips and has seen growth for three consecutive years.
In March of 2010, GEP was successfully acquired by Explora International for approximately 3X its annual profit margin. We went from zero to exit in about 3 and a half years. This was an great achievement for both me and my business partner and we were quite happy with the acquisition.
Shortly after I returned to the States, I realized how world renown the Silicon Valley was and thought there may be a business opportunity to bring foreign groups to the Bay Area for company tours. So, upon entering my senior year in college, I decided to form a team and write a business plan around the concept. After winning several awards that year, one being the SVCE-SJSU Business Plan Competition, we decided to launch the company in the summer of 2006.
As the co-founder and President, it was my responsibility to build the entire organization from the ground up. I was the major driver behind GEP and played a hand in every aspect of the business. I cold called and prospected potential clients, pitched these prospects, and closed our first trip within the first 3 months of operations. In addition to this, I was also responsible for all original marketing material, led the creation and development of the website, created a vast Rolodex of Silicon Valley contacts from large Fortune 500 companies to start-ups to government officials, established strategic and long-term partnership both locally and globally, managed all of the company’s finances and eventually hired contractors for trip management and operations while trips were in the Silicon Valley.
GEP is one of the most respected and well-known organizations for developing and managing professional study tours with an emphasis on business development in the Silicon Valley. GEP has a solid base of customers that return for annual and semi-annual trips, a network of approximately 3,000 contacts within Silicon Valley and beyond that support such trips and has seen growth for three consecutive years.
In March of 2010, GEP was successfully acquired by Explora International for approximately 3X its annual profit margin. We went from zero to exit in about 3 and a half years. This was an great achievement for both me and my business partner and we were quite happy with the acquisition.
Phastcash.com
During the fall of 2001, I was eighteen years old when I had just started school at Bryant College in Rhode Island and had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Then, I got paid $50 to smoke a cigarette at Brown University as part of a clinical trial they were conducting and realized that recruiting for such studies is painfully hard for medical institutions.Since college students like easy money figured connecting the two would have some type of value and viola, the concept for phastcash.com was born.
I spent the second half of my freshman year writing the business plan with a group from my Business 101 course and launched the company in the fall of my sophomore year. We were able to get some great press coming out of the gate, and had the opportunity to appears on the cover of the Providence Business Journal. Wee even got our first client within 45 days of launching. With a serious approach, we continued to work hard on this business right from our dorm rooms. Even though the company was a success, at the end of the day, it became a side project and classes were our first priority. . However, even running it on a part-time base, we were able to acquire such customers as Brown University, C.N.S. Research and The Allergy and Asthma Center of Providence. We shut it down about a year after launching because two partners had graduated and I wanted to move to the Silicon Valley.
As the co-founder and President, it was my responsibility to oversee the entire organization. However, I did focus most of my efforts on Sales, Marketing, and Human Resources. I must say, the biggest lesson I learned from this company is how to be a leader. We had four partners and we ended up replacing one of them about half way through the life of the company and to this day I attribute his resignation as a result of poor leadership on my part. I spent a great deal of time reading books on leadership and good management principals but nothing can replace firsthand experience. Some other firsthand experiences are only obtainable through starting your own company which was prospecting, closing and managing clients, gorilla marketing tactics, marketing to the college niche and handling the finances of a small company.
I spent the second half of my freshman year writing the business plan with a group from my Business 101 course and launched the company in the fall of my sophomore year. We were able to get some great press coming out of the gate, and had the opportunity to appears on the cover of the Providence Business Journal. Wee even got our first client within 45 days of launching. With a serious approach, we continued to work hard on this business right from our dorm rooms. Even though the company was a success, at the end of the day, it became a side project and classes were our first priority. . However, even running it on a part-time base, we were able to acquire such customers as Brown University, C.N.S. Research and The Allergy and Asthma Center of Providence. We shut it down about a year after launching because two partners had graduated and I wanted to move to the Silicon Valley.
As the co-founder and President, it was my responsibility to oversee the entire organization. However, I did focus most of my efforts on Sales, Marketing, and Human Resources. I must say, the biggest lesson I learned from this company is how to be a leader. We had four partners and we ended up replacing one of them about half way through the life of the company and to this day I attribute his resignation as a result of poor leadership on my part. I spent a great deal of time reading books on leadership and good management principals but nothing can replace firsthand experience. Some other firsthand experiences are only obtainable through starting your own company which was prospecting, closing and managing clients, gorilla marketing tactics, marketing to the college niche and handling the finances of a small company.
Corporate:
Target Corporation
I spent a year and a half running the Guest Service and Softline departments at a store with annul volume of $22M. It was an amazing leadership experience and their leadership management program is by far the best I have seen in the industry. Target excels in many areas and their understanding of the retail environment in second to none.
While I was there, I was able to capitalize on my sales experience to turn our stores Guest Experience score from last in the district to #1 in the district within 3 months. By the end of the fiscal year, our store was ranked #4 in the entire country for Guest Experience; out of approximately 1,775 stores across the 50 United States. I learned that may best strengths are "driving for results" and "demonstrates courage" and my biggest opportunity is "collaborates;" typical traits for a true blooded entrepreneur.
In the summer of 2005, I participated in the Management Internship Program provided by Target Corporation. It was a 10 week program that allowed me to learn every aspect of running a large retail store. I was exposed to each department and even placed as Manager on Duty (MoD) on several occasions. It was a great experience that allowed me to learn about the retail world and also the world inside a large corporation. The best part of the experience was that each intern was asked to complete an independent project on anything they felt would improve the target shopping experience. I came up with an idea focused on finding products faster and more efficiently. It was a three prong approach that focused on training, testing ,and mapping. To view a video presentation on my final project, please click here.
While I was there, I was able to capitalize on my sales experience to turn our stores Guest Experience score from last in the district to #1 in the district within 3 months. By the end of the fiscal year, our store was ranked #4 in the entire country for Guest Experience; out of approximately 1,775 stores across the 50 United States. I learned that may best strengths are "driving for results" and "demonstrates courage" and my biggest opportunity is "collaborates;" typical traits for a true blooded entrepreneur.
In the summer of 2005, I participated in the Management Internship Program provided by Target Corporation. It was a 10 week program that allowed me to learn every aspect of running a large retail store. I was exposed to each department and even placed as Manager on Duty (MoD) on several occasions. It was a great experience that allowed me to learn about the retail world and also the world inside a large corporation. The best part of the experience was that each intern was asked to complete an independent project on anything they felt would improve the target shopping experience. I came up with an idea focused on finding products faster and more efficiently. It was a three prong approach that focused on training, testing ,and mapping. To view a video presentation on my final project, please click here.
The Cheesecake Factory
From the fall of 2003 to the summer of 2004, I worked as a server and designated trainer at The Cheesecake Factory at the Oakridge Mall in South San Jose while attending college. I was part of the opening team and was put through a rigorous training program which required one to pass a series of tests on the food, drinks and experience the Cheesecake Factory offers. There are over 200 food items, over 25 cheesecakes, hundreds of drinks and a standard experience script that every server must adhere too. This was a very challenging and very rewarding experience. It taught me a great deal about customer service, communication, process, standardization and all everything else one would expect to learn from a large, publicly traded corporation.
Non-Profits:
The Entrepreneurial Society
The ES is a professional student organization that promotes and fosters entrepreneurial activities at San Jose State. I joined in the spring semester of 2004 as the Vice President and was quickly awarded the title of President by the end of the semester.
As the General Manager of the club, it was my responsibility to oversee the operations of the club. When I first took over, the membership was approximately 8 students; this was an extremely low number at a university with over 30,000 students. So, my first task was to re-design the infrastructure and increase membership. Within one semester, we raised the membership number to over 50, an increase of 525%. This was a very vital and a very mission critical accomplishment.
The next mission critical task was to generate revenue. We first established in membership fee to join the club. Then, we created sponsor packages that could raise funds from local businesses. The most successful sponsorship acquisition was with Honda of Stevens Creek and the fantastic press coverage we received as a result. Finally, we developed revenue generating programs such as our Coupon/Restaurant Program in which the ES distributed coupons for local restaurants and for each coupon used, the ES received a percentage of sales; this was a very successful program. All in all, we generated an average of $4K per year in revenue.
Next, we needed to increase our event attendance numbers; this was very important because we hosted these events in partnership with the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship which was a faculty lead center and it gave us major visibility on campus. The ES officers conceived and implemented marketing strategies that increased event attendance an average of 43%. I was very pleased with this and with my team and awarded them properly.
I served as President until fall of 2005 and I must say that the leadership and public servant role I played was probably the most enjoyable position I have held to date. Running the team, serving the members and ensuring that everyone received an equal share of the benefits provided by the ES was so exciting and pleasurable that if a permanent position existed, I just might have applied for it.
As the General Manager of the club, it was my responsibility to oversee the operations of the club. When I first took over, the membership was approximately 8 students; this was an extremely low number at a university with over 30,000 students. So, my first task was to re-design the infrastructure and increase membership. Within one semester, we raised the membership number to over 50, an increase of 525%. This was a very vital and a very mission critical accomplishment.
The next mission critical task was to generate revenue. We first established in membership fee to join the club. Then, we created sponsor packages that could raise funds from local businesses. The most successful sponsorship acquisition was with Honda of Stevens Creek and the fantastic press coverage we received as a result. Finally, we developed revenue generating programs such as our Coupon/Restaurant Program in which the ES distributed coupons for local restaurants and for each coupon used, the ES received a percentage of sales; this was a very successful program. All in all, we generated an average of $4K per year in revenue.
Next, we needed to increase our event attendance numbers; this was very important because we hosted these events in partnership with the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship which was a faculty lead center and it gave us major visibility on campus. The ES officers conceived and implemented marketing strategies that increased event attendance an average of 43%. I was very pleased with this and with my team and awarded them properly.
I served as President until fall of 2005 and I must say that the leadership and public servant role I played was probably the most enjoyable position I have held to date. Running the team, serving the members and ensuring that everyone received an equal share of the benefits provided by the ES was so exciting and pleasurable that if a permanent position existed, I just might have applied for it.
The Silicon Valley Connections program
This program was started as a trial or Beta test to Global Educational Program, LLC. I got the idea my senior year in college after returning from the Global Technology Initiative in which a group of grant-sponsored SJSU students flew to Taiwan and China to visit large corporations within the region; I was fortunate enough to be one of those students. I realized that the headquarters of many of the companies we visited where located right in our own backyard –Silicon Valley.
After receiving funding from the College of Business Dean’s office, we launched the program in the fall semester of 2005. My team and I ran the program for free – as we were seeking to gain experience in the Professional Study Tour industry. The program was wildly popular and was based on first- come first- serve. We would open the online registration at 8am and by 9am all 25 open seats would be filled. We visited such companies as HP, Applied Materials, Hyperion, Sun Microsystems, NASA and National Semiconductor. At least one student received an internship at Applied Materials as a result of these trips.
After receiving funding from the College of Business Dean’s office, we launched the program in the fall semester of 2005. My team and I ran the program for free – as we were seeking to gain experience in the Professional Study Tour industry. The program was wildly popular and was based on first- come first- serve. We would open the online registration at 8am and by 9am all 25 open seats would be filled. We visited such companies as HP, Applied Materials, Hyperion, Sun Microsystems, NASA and National Semiconductor. At least one student received an internship at Applied Materials as a result of these trips.
Board Positions:
nMotion Technologies - Board of Directors
nMotion tech was founded on a clear, simple idea: Make advertising across multiple digital signage networks easy and effective. The creators of AdSemble, AdSemble is the first ever platform that lets you pick a certain screen at a certain location for a price you determine without any bottlenecks or middlemen, thus empowering you to be in full control. Easily place an ad across multiple video screen networks, such as GasPump TV, Cafe TV, Gym TV and much more. To learn more, please click here.
The Entrepreneurial Society - Board of Advisors
The ES vision is for students of all majors and backgrounds and interests to come check out ES, meet people, get their feet wet in the field of entrepreneurship, join or create a start-up team to enter an idea into the Neat Ideas Fair or enter a business plan into the Business Plan Competition, and ultimately launch a viably sustainable business with the funding, personnel, and resources it needs to succeed. We empower students using: general meetings with themes and topics, high profile events, networking sessions, workshops, partnerships, speakers, tools, interactive models, materials, community organizations, as well as guest mentors, consultants, and analysts to facilitate workshops and hold review sessions for our start-up groups. We have fun working on new ventures in social, professional, interactive, richly empowered environment. For more info, click here.