Resume for Paul Davis, Watermark's principal consultant
Experience Watermark WRQ Express Microsoft Ovation IBM Education MIT
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Watermark Technology, Fast Track Team, and contemporary systems in Seattle
Principal Consultant, Partner, January 2000 – Present
Independently as Watermark and as part of Fast Track Team and contemporary systems, consultant assisting early-stage and emerging companies in the creation, validation, and presentation of their business strategies. Focus is on technology assessment, market research, and means to build and protect market share.
Clients include:
· Microsoft and Champ Car. Through contemporary systems, built an innovative touring vehicle to tour universities to promote .net technologies to an academic audience. Designed, spec’d, purchased, and installed a rolling technology demo including twelve computers, a racing simulator, and registration and information stations. Project was produced under budget in six weeks time from client commitment to first tour stop.
· Champs Karting, a location based entertainment company. Served as Technical Director for in-house software development for motor sports timing and scoring, including web access to race results. Also provided in-house IT planning and implementation.
· Mobliss, an innovative wireless media company. Revised financial projections, investor presentations, and business plan. Member of Board of Advisors.
· Startup Showcase, a web system for information exchange between investors and companies seeking financing. Spec’d and prototyped several sections of the product.
· ZUM, a boutique health club in Seattle’s trendy Belltown neighborhood. Designed and implemented a multimedia environment to soothe and energize clients. Member of Board of Directors.
· Fluency Group, a provider of a web-delivered test of English language skills. Served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
· HowZone, a business services company whose customers were consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers. Refined business strategy and revised business plan.
WRQ in Seattle
Product Line Manager, 1996 – December 1999
Joined WRQ through its acquisition of Express Systems in September, 1996. Responsible for global product marketing of Express’s product line at WRQ.
· Managed a group of three Product Managers
· Authored and delivered sales training materials
· Supported the sales force on critical customer calls
· Drove the strategic planning process, setting product direction
· In 1998, launched an opportunistic product for desktop Year 2000 compliance, based mostly on existing code
· Focus on Year 2000 yielded four successive quarters of doubling sales
· Grew revenue in 1998 by 150%
Express Systems in Seattle
Co-Founder, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, 1992 – 1996
Led sales and marketing activities, including product planning, positioning, pricing, sales process, competitive analysis, strategic relationships, advertising, direct mail, budgeting, and staffing.
Results:
· Increased annual sales by more than six times, from less than $500K to over $3M
· Company grew from seven employees to thirty
· Won InfoWorld Product of the Year, Best of LAN Times, and other awards
Strategy:
· Found niche in software market, license management, that is protected from Microsoft
· Redirected company from retail sales to direct mail and then to direct telephone sales
· Established strategic relationships with Microsoft development, marketing, and sales groups
Operations:
· Managed marketing cash flow to achieve outstanding growth with limited budget
· Started corporate Internet presence
· Managed response marketing, including offer, testing, copywriting, production, and list selection
· Built relationships with industry and business journalists, including InfoWorld, PC Week, LAN Times, and The New York Times
Microsoft in Redmond
Program Manager, 1987 – 1990
Responsible for specification and project management for versions 4 and 5 of Word for the Macintosh, the best-selling Macintosh application. Reduced support costs by substantially improving usability in version 4.
Windows Evangelist, 1984 – 1987
Recruited by Steve Ballmer to be the first and for two years the sole employee charged with building application support necessary to make Windows a success. Customers were both software publishers (Lotus, Ashton-Tate, WordPerfect, MultiMate, Micrografx, Borland, etc.) and corporate developers (Merrill Lynch, First Boston, United Air Lines, Pillsbury, Chevron, Arthur Andersen, etc.).
Invented and specified Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) protocol for Windows inter-application communications, the predecessor to OLE.
Ovation Technologies in Boston
Product Designer, 1983 – 1984
Among the first ten employees. Designed the product’s innovative compound document interface. Coded a version of the product for the Tandy 2000 in 8086 Assembly language.
IBM in Boston
Intern Systems Engineer and Sales Representative, Summers in College
As Systems Engineer, provided presale technical support for the original IBM PC. As sales intern at the IBM Product Center, increased PC sales month to month even as other locations’ sales declined.
Education
MIT, Cambridge
Computer Science and Engineering, Class of 1983
Broad computer science course work, including graphics courses at the Architecture Machine Group, which became the Media Lab
· Teaching assistant for Computation Structures course
· Three-dimensional false color turbine blade graphics project for Teledyne CAE
· Semester at Wellesley College
· Active in intramural sports and college radio