Summit Associates Personnel

Patty Burke

Areas of expertise
  • Interim marketing management
  • Positioning & Branding; Market segmentation and penetration plans, Product launch

Experience
  • Patty held VP-level positions for more than fifteen years with Silicon Valley companies, providing hands-on leadership in product marketing, sales and business development strategies, corporate positioning and branding As the first VP Marketing at start-up Ramp Networks in 1996, she was responsible for marketing and sales strategies, creating the small business Internet router category and positioning Ramp as the leading player and driving the strategy for Ramp's '99 IPO (Ramp was acquired by Nokia in 2000). Previously, Patty was VP Marketing for UK-based Madge Networks, a pioneer in LAN and ATM networking equipment, repositioning the company for its '93 IPO and managing a marketing team of more than 40 worldwide. Prior to that she was VP Marketing at security leader Symantec, managing all aspects of corporate, product, channel and promotional marketing. With Symantec, her first position was Director of Product Marketing where she led product marketing for the PC and Mac utilities, driving 5X growth in anti-virus category revenues. In the late '80s, Patty was VP of the Networking/Telecom practice at the technology marketing consulting firm, Regis McKenna Inc. Clients included PacBell, Motorola Cellular, ROLM, Novell and 3Com

Clients
  • Patty is a recognized expert in go-to-market strategies for both emerging and established companies. For example, Patty provides consulting services to the portfolio companies of leading venture capital firms Sevin Rosen Funds and El Dorado Ventures

Other Activities
  • Patty has served as a Marketing Mentor for the CalTech Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program and is on the advisory board of several privately-held companies

Education
  • B.A., University of Texas

Don Flanagan

Areas of expertise
  • Marketing Communications, especially for Networking, Information Security, Medical Technology, and Telecom companies

Experience
  • Don has twenty-five years experience in high-tech marketing and marketing communications, including seven years with Network Systems, where he was in charge of communications planning, PR, advertising, trade shows, and collateral. In addition, he represented Network Systems on the board of InfoTest, a consortium of leading technology companies, universities, and federal agencies. He was also VP of marketing for Bytex Corporation, a network security spinoff from StorageTek, and a copywriter at Periscope, a Minneapolis marketing agency. He began his career with Control Data

Clients
  • Clients have included ADC Telecommunications, Advanced Technologies Integration, Boston Scientific, Cox Business Services, Digi International, Great Plains Software, Qwest, Roche Diagnostics, and United Health

Other Activities
  • Don has taught writing courses for the University of St. Thomas MBA program, and he has conducted seminars on effective writing for both PRSA and IABC

Education
  • B.A., Georgetown University
  • Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Ralph Lieberman

Areas of expertise
  • Telecommunications, Technology Markets, Financial Services
  • Strategic Positioning, Marketing Strategy, Organizational Improvement & Executive Coaching

Experience
  • Fifteen years of technology marketing and strategy consulting, earlier with the Silicon Valley-based consulting firm The McKenna Group, and now with the premier European strategy consultants OC&C and as an independent consultant. Have worked with technology-based companies to develop and implement business strategies, build effective sales processes and approaches, assess new market opportunities, establish partner programs, position and launch new products and services, and enhance organizational capabilities
  • Earlier management consulting with CSC Index and Monitor Company. Prior to that, served in management positions at a technology subsidiary of Kemper Financial Services

Clients
  • Client work includes projects with telecommunications equipment vendors & service providers, telco software vendors, networking companies, computer hardware - as well as solution providers in financial services, healthcare, chemicals and nuclear industries. Also work with private equity firms performing due diligence and market assessments in support of transactions
  • Multinational clients include IBM, Xerox, Lucent, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, LogicaCMG, Akamai, and Areva. Also, regularly work with start-up companies to develop marketing and business strategies to propel growth

Other Activities
  • Frequent speaker at U.S. and international technology conferences
  • Publications on finance and marketing management

Education
  • Masters, Harvard University - Political Science
  • A.B., magna cum laude, Harvard College

Allen Long

Areas of expertise
  • Telecommunications, Information Technology, Internet, Consumer Financial Services
  • Marketing Strategy, Strategic Planning, Competitive Intelligence, Business Development

Experience
  • Over twenty years technology marketing experience, including 16 years strategic marketing consulting experience with a variety of Silicon Valley-based telecom and technology market consulting firms, including Regis McKenna Inc. Have worked with technology-based companies on customer needs and buy drivers, product requirements, competitive intelligence, market assessments, segmentation, positioning, pricing, and alliances
  • In mid-career, held management positions in strategic planning, competitive intelligence, and pricing strategy at SBC Communications. Earlier, served as a systems engineer at Sprint

Clients
  • Client work includes projects with telecommunications equipment vendors & service providers, networking companies, software companies, a major auto manufacturer, and financial institutions
  • Multinational clients include Cisco, Nokia, Nortel, NTT, Royal KPN, Sony, Verizon, Visa. Also, work with start-up companies on marketing, corporate, and business development strategies

Other Activities
  • Visiting telecom lecturer at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
  • Recently quoted about the telecom industry by the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal
  • Published several telecom articles in Phone+ and other business/industry publications
  • Quoted extensively by the press regarding enterprise and consumer VoIP
  • Lectured via The Conference Board, The Computer Marketing Association Group, and others

Education
  • Executive Marketing Program, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
  • B.A. and two Masters degrees from Virginia Tech, Hollins University and the University of Arizona

Bob Michelet

Areas of expertise

  • Networking, Internet Infrastructure and Applications, Telecommunications

  • Strategic Positioning, Marketing Strategy, New Market Assessment

Experience
  • Twenty-plus years in technology marketing, including 12 years with the Silicon Valley-based market consulting firm Regis McKenna Inc., where he was partner in charge of the Networking and Communications Practice, and seven years at Cisco Systems Inc.  At Cisco, he held both corporate and line-of-business marketing positions, including development of corporate and product positioning strategies, business-case development, market analysis, and training programs. As an independent consultant, he has evaluated new-market opportunities for companies and venture capital firms; helped companies bring new technology-based products and services to market; and trained company personnel in marketing skills
  • He began his professional career as a reporter and editor for a major regional newspaper

Clients
  • Consulting clients have included several national and global service providers; leading telecommunications equipment suppliers; major computer systems manufacturers; semiconductor and software suppliers; and early-stage companies in telecommunications, networking, components and application software

Other Activities
  • Bob is an experienced public speaker, seminar leader and trainer. He has been an advisor to the Entrepreneurial Fellows program at CalTech and a member of the Governor’s Computer Industry Task Force in Minnesota

Education
  • B.A., Stanford University

 

 

Doug Molitor

Areas of expertise
  • Software Applications, ICs, Disk & Tape Storage, Wireless Hardware & Software
  • Messaging & Branding, Product Launch, Executive Communications Strategy,
  • Articulation of product, brand or corporate vision

Experience
  • A senior level hand-on executive specializing in consulting to senior management to help them articulate their vision, create winning market positions and bring new products to market with impact. He is an accomplished communications professional with extensive experience spanning corporate issues and products. He brings creativity and a grasp of business issues to every engagement
  • Senior executive appreciate Molitor's broad understanding of business issues that enables him to bring together insight and marketing disciplines to help companies capture value lost along a changing value chain and to position their company in turbulent markets

Clients
  • Collaborated with Verifone CEO to present corporate vision, lead to Harvard Business Review case study. Created messaging for Agile Software and Verifone as preparation for for successful IPO. Lead IBM Storage in re-asserting its relationship with key industry analysts. Repositioned Verifone from standalone gray box to global network of services. Built Agiles initial positioning transforming supply-chain software market
  • Other clients include CitiCorp Ventures, HP, Intel, KPMG, StorageTek, Sun, Zilog...

Other Activities
  • Speaker at Industrial Wireless Applications Summit and other conferences
  • Frequent author on networking, trends in the semiconductor industry and factory issues

Education
  • B.S., University of Florida
  • Extensive continuing education in branding, creativity and business.

Ray Skowyra

Areas of expertise
  • Telecommunications, Storage & Storage Networking and Internet Infrastructure
  • Strategic Positioning, Marketing Strategy, New Market & Technology Assessment

Experience
  • Ray has twenty-five years of technology marketing experience, including 15 years of strategic marketing consulting experience with Silicon Valley-based market consulting firm Regis McKenna Inc. and as an independent consultant. He has worked with technology-based companies to develop and implement business strategies, assess new market opportunities and successfully position and launch new products and services
  • Prior to consulting, Ray held management positions in sales and marketing at ADC Telecommunications, Network Communications, and the General Electric Company

Clients
  • Ray's client work includes projects with telecommunications equipment vendors & service providers, storage networking vendors, networking companies, and medical device makers
  • Multinational clients include 3M, Alcatel Lucent, AT&T, Avaya, Cisco, Guidant, HP, IBM, NextPoint, NTT, Redback, Spirent, Sun/StorageTek and Verizon. Also, Ray regularly works with start-up companies to develop marketing and business strategies to propel growth

Other Activities
  • Ray is active with Minnesota High Tech Association, has served on the governing board of the National Communications Forum, and as an adjunct professor in the MBA program at the University of St. Thomas
  • He has worked extensively on small company business issues in Minnesota with the Small Business Development Center at the University of Saint Thomas, Minnesota Technology and LifeScience Alley

Education
  • M.B.A., Harvard Business School
  • B.S. Engineering, cum laude, Worcester Polytechnic Institute