Tales from the trenches: New associate joins our team

Introducing Jeff Campbell

Jeff just can’t seem to get enough of us. He’s twice been a client. He’s long been one of our go-to guys whenever we needed a solid reference. And now, he likes our company so much he’s decided to join as an associate. And we’re delighted to have him.

Jeff is a serial CEO and entrepreneur with a lengthy record of achievement in securing investment, building international sales and business-development channels, and accelerating the commercialization of new technology. With more than 30 years spent in companies both large and small – from the Microsofts and EDS Systemhouses of the world to fast-growth startups like AssetMetrix and PerspecSys – Jeff has a thoroughly rounded perspective on exactly what it takes to bring technology to market.

Jeff will be making regular contributions to our blog, starting with today’s post, below. He will be writing about how to build effective sales and business-development capacity to drive revenue, as well as how to position for investment, strategic partnerships and acquisition. And he represents us in the Waterloo region that he calls home and is a valued team member addressing the sales and channel-development requirements of our strategy clients.

It is at once intimidating and encouraging to be invited to blog with Francis Moran and Associates. Intimidating because I hold Francis and the folks who work with him in such high esteem, particularly as writers, editors and communicators. Me? I write like I talk. That means a blatant disregard for grammar, structure and spellin’, and a propensity to over use superlative adjectives and adverbs. It is encouraging for this reason (high-quality editing) and because of the collaboration that will ensue. Francis and the band of associates are a team of accomplished individuals with whom I very much look forward to sharing ideas, experiences and learnings in the coming months.Why am I blogging here? What interesting things can I share? Well, with more than 30 years of experience, I have a lot of stories. There are stories just screaming to get told, stories that result from selling a company to Microsoft, stories about commercializing innovative products, stories about building a business with a business model very few people understood at the time, stories about fundraising and stories about building channels and the relationships that make them effective.

In telling these stories there are lessons that can be taken away. By making the lessons as clear as possible I hope to help readers avoid some pitfalls and/or amplify their success. At a minimum these learnings will help you form your own opinions and shape your plans.

With the editorial assistance I referred to above, I am very confident these stories will be engaging, coherent and effective. My goal is to make them memorable and compelling by sharing the emotions along with the facts and lessons. Let’s face it, business is intense most of the time, particularly when you are selling, growing, failing or otherwise attempting to best represent the interests of all stakeholders.

Some of the stories you can look forward to will be drawn from my experiences in the following events:

• Sale of AssetMetrix to Microsoft in 2006.
• Commercialization of a business with an innovative business model or a product that is ahead of the curve:
  • Developing channels for selling SaaS in 2003 when the industry was optimized for products and licenses.
  • Commercializing a cloud data security product in 2009, before the major players acknowledged that a security problem existed.
  • Taking a successful product in North America and expanding it in EMEA where the market definition and dynamics are completely different. Beyond the obvious language and cultural differences.
  • Developing a channel relationship with Salesforce.com to co-sell a product they really did not want to acknowledge was necessary.
  • Raising a $3M series A in 2005 from a Canadian VC with more than 70 investors from previous friends and family and Angel rounds.
  • Raising a $8M series A in 2011 with Intel Capital as a lead and Canadian VC with limited customer traction and a product category that is not yet proven.
  • Various other stories that may be drawn from product marketing experience at Microsoft and from working with brilliant entrepreneurs and founders.

Someone I worked with in the past loved to quote an old film noir line that I will use here. “There are a million stories in the naked city.” I will certainly produce stories for you and I hope you find them interesting, useful and memorable.

With more than 30 years spent in companies both large and small – from the Microsofts and EDS Systemhouses of the world to fast-growth startups – Jeff has a thoroughly rounded perspective on exactly what it takes to bring technology to market.