About SVPMA

About the Board

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About the Board of Directors

Mike Freier
As President of SVPMA, Mike is responsible for communicating with members about events, workshops, as well as maintaining the SVPMA membership list. Most recently, Mike was Director of Product Management at an early stage company focused on developing hardware/software products and equipment for companies in the electronics manufacturing space. Earlier in his career, Mr. Freier has held positions in mechanical design, applications engineering and sales management. Mike graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

Greg Cohen
Greg has filled many roles for the SVPMA, including Director of Communication and most recently President. Greg is responsible for administering the SVPMA LinkedIn Group, improving back office systems, and rolling out new services for the membership. Greg has over nine years of product management and marketing experience, including seven years in software and application services specifically with spend analysis, contract management, and e-commerce. Greg is skilled at leading product teams to deliver on time and within budget, with demonstrated expertise at uncovering market needs, analyzing user requirements, and defining product specifications. Greg is currently a product manager at Instill Corporation, bringing analytic and supply chain products to market for leading foodservice companies, such as Subway and Applebees. Prior to joining Instill, Greg worked in various product management and marketing roles for companies including Idealab, Pandesic, Chiron Diagnostics and Smith and Nephew. Greg holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with second major in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA with honors from Babson College

Jamie O’Halloran
As Director of Workshops for the SVPMA, Jamie is responsible for developing and managing SVPMA’s workshop series. Jamie is a Sr. Solutions Consultant at GXS, the worlds largest B2B e-commerce network provider. He previously helped managed B2B offerings at Cisco Systems and has 12 years of eCommerce and SCM experience. Prior to Cisco, he held various product management, marketing and operations management positions at QRS Corporation - helping to develop numerous collaborative commerce, product catalog and channel management solutions for the retail industry. Jamie Graduated Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a B.S. in Psychology

Ray Stendall
Ray is the SVPMA Director of Social Networking, and has been on the SVPMA Board since it started in May 2000. In this capacity, Ray is responsible for ensuring the organization operates within budget and that membership fees collected can successfully offset costs to operate. Previously Ray held the position of Director of Membership and transitioned into Finance in June 2002. Ray is a Product Manager with Lucent Technologies' Network Operations Software Division. Prior to joining Lucent, Ray worked in various Product Management roles for Compuware Corporation and 2 software startups in the Seattle area. Ray holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and a Masters of Science in Computers and Information Systems from the University of Phoenix.

David Grubman
David serves on the board in support of the SVPMA online services. David is currently a Senior Product Manager with Financial Engines in Palo Alto where he manages the online advice product line. David's products serve the 401k market and customers include all of the major leading retirement plan processing mutual fund companies. Prior to joining Financial Engines David served as the Vice President of Product Development for a start-up in Birmingham Alabama and Chicago Illinois. David holds his Masters of Science from Northern Illinois University in Computer Science and his Bachelors in the same.

John Armstrong
John Armstrong is the Director of Marketing for SVPMA. For the past 20 years, John has driven successful business strategies in categories as diverse as enterprise infrastructure, network security, mobile services, IPTV, VoIP, application acceleration, and unified communications. His background includes roles as VP of Market Strategy at metro Ethernet service provider Yipes Communications, and VP and Chief Analyst of the worldwide networking practice at Gartner Group / Dataquest. Since 2002, John has provided independent marketing consulting and interim management expertise to clients such as Cisco, NetScaler/Citrix, and Nokia, as well as numerous Silicon Valley-based start-ups. John has also held key product marketing and management positions at Madge/Lannet Networks (now Avaya), Bay Networks (now Nortel) and Ungermann-Bass (now Alcatel). He is currently Director of Product Marketing at Intelliden. John is a graduate of the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California, with a Masters degree in Communications Management. He also holds a B.A. from Ryerson University.

Board Member Emeritus

Brian Lawley
Brian Lawley was President of SVPMA during 2006 and 2007. He is the President and Founder of the 280 Group, a Product Management services firm that provides consulting, contractors, training and templates. During his twenty year career in Product Management he has defined, launched and marketed over fifty successful products for companies such as Apple, Symantec, Adobe, Palm, SAP, Nokia and dozens of startup and mid-sized companies. Mr. Lawley is the Author of the Book “Expert Product Management: Advanced Techniques, Tips & Strategies for Product Management & Product Marketing.” He was nominated for the Product Management Excellence Award for Thought Leadership by the Association of International Product Marketing & Management in 2006 and 2007. He is the editor of Product Management 2.0, a newsletter and Blog devoted to excellence in Product Management and routinely writes guest articles for a variety of other publications. He frequently speaks on the topic of Product Management, has delivered several keynote addresses at well-known conferences and has been featured on CNBC's World Business Review and the Silicon Valley Business Report. Mr. Lawley is a Certified Product Manager (CPM) and Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM). He earned an MBA with honors from San Jose State University and Bachelors Degree in Management Science from the University of California at San Diego with a Minor in Music Technology.

Anar Taori
Anar is the SVPMA Member Emeritus, helping with Membership. She is a Product Manager at Metreo. Prior to Metreo, Anar worked for several years in product development, management and marketing at industry leaders such as Intel, Compression Labs, Sprint, and American Express. Anar holds an MBA from The Wharton School with a MS in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from Purdue University and a BSEE from BITS Pilani.

Gautam Patil
Gautam's professional background is in Technology Product Management in Enterprise Software Products. He is a founding director of the Silicon Valley Product Management Association Inc and has worn many hats in its first 5 years. As an activist, Gautam founded Cshops, a recognized, low overhead non-profit ecommerce organization which helps to connect the rural artisans of Manav Sadhna (Gandhi Ashram) and Guria with global customers. As an avid mountaineer, Gautam has been invited to present motivational talks at various venues including Sierra Club, REI Company Stores, and Any Mountain Company. He has earned kudos for bravery in dealing with people and situations in extreme conditions including those involving death and dramatic rescue operations. Gautum is competing this year to be the first Indian to scale the seven summits. Check on his progress at www.isummitworld.com.

Neeta Mhatre (Godhwani)
Neeta has over 14 years of experience in product management, marketing & IT. She currently works with Siemens Medical Solutions as a Chief Information Officer within the Ultrasound Division. Prior to joining Siemens, she has worked with Genzyme Diagnostics, Hewlett Packard, Yodlee & geneticXchange. She has an MBA (Marketing & IT) from Santa Clara University & a BS in Biomedical Engineering from University of Bombay.

Sachin Gangupantula
Sachin served as Director of Business Development. He was in-charge of sponsor relationships and strategic marketing. Sachin is currently the Director-Professional Services at IGN/Gamespy Entertainment. He has amassed considerable experience during the past twelve years in software industry with evolving roles in software design and development, product marketing, professional services, strategic marketing and business development. Sachin holds an MS degree in computer science from University of Hawaii and a BSEE degree in Electrical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), India.

Previous Board Members

Sharon Grimshaw - Director of Volunteers

Sharon Rush - Director of Partnerships

Sarah Lynne Cooper - Director of Marketing

Jasmine de Gaia - Executive Director

Ivan Chalif - one of the early organizers of SVPMA

Simon Peel - An early SVPMA Board member.

Laura Lukitsch - A founding member of SVPMA.

Bill Kong - Founded the SVPMA in May, 2000.