Marketing Strategies for Early Stage Companies
Speakers Jon Scott and Leo Manson will share the lessons they have learned about marketing with both practical advice for guerrilla execution and some gems of wisdom learned from the school of hard knocks. Both speakers have successfully grown start-up companies which have been acquired and now they work for big corporations. They've seen what works well and what doesn't, and this is a valuable opportunity to learn from their experience.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
The four key areas they'll cover are Product (correctly identifying the market need and converting it to product specifications), Pricing (capturing the value the company creates), Promotion (creating large perceptions), and choosing the correct Distribution Channel. Prepare for an engaging discussion with valuable take-away lessons in each of these key marketing areas.
Speaker: Jonathan L. Scott, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Halifax Corp.
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Halifax's sales, marketing and business development efforts targeted at the commercial marketplace. Jon joined Halifax in September 2003 through their acquisition of Microserv Technology Services where he served as president and chief executive officer. Scott brings 25 years of experience in the high-tech industry. Prior to Microserv he was the founder of New Venture Associates, a firm providing strategic advisory services to early stage venture funded high-tech companies. In this role Scott advised company management and their boards of directors in corporate strategy, operations and in raising additional capital for expansion. Scott also served as president, chief operating officer and a director of Traveling Software, Inc., a leading PC communications software company. He holds a BA degree in business administration from San Francisco State University. Scott serves on board of directors of the Service Industry Association and served for several years on the Advisory Panel for the program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Washington. He also serves as an instructor in the University of Washington's program on software product management.
Speaker: Leo Manson, Senior Marketing Manager, Microsoft Business Solutions Group.
Leo Manson brings with him more than 20 years of experience in product management, marketing communications, sales management and finance in the high-tech industry. He just recently took on a role as a senior marketing manager at Microsoft in the Microsoft Business Solutions "start-up" that provides CRM, financial management and supply chain management software and services to businesses around the world. Prior to joining Microsoft, Leo spent the majority of his career in small to mid-sized, venture funded businesses. He was named vice president of marketing and sales at Microserv in 1997 and was part of the transition team upon Microserv's acquisition by Virginia-based Halifax Corporation in 2003. Leo served as director of marketing at Traveling Software, the producers of the well-known and widely-used LapLink, for nearly eight years. Prior to his tenure at Traveling Software, Leo began his marketing career as product manager for Computer Associates, a software developer for products such as AccPac, a line of general accounting software. Before establishing himself in the field of marketing, he held financial positions at Lam Research Corporation and Ernst & Young in the Bay Area. Leo is a CPA and has a BS degree in business administration/accounting from San Jose State University. He is an active board member and coach for various youth sport organizations.
