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
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. In his spare times he runs California
Jeep Authority, an online retailers, with his wife. 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.
Rich
Mirnov
Rich Mironov is CMO of Enthiosys Inc, a product management consulting
company, and the author of "The Art of Product Management".
In addition to teaching and writing, he works with software companies
on product strategy, pricing and business models, technology roadmaps
and Agile adoption. His long-running newsletter on product management
is called "Product Bytes."
Helene
Eichler
As Director of Communications Helene is responsible for developing
and implementing Communications Strategies for SVPMA. An accomplished
project/program manager, she currently runs HRE Technical Marketing
focused on CRM and Partner Marketing Consulting. Recently she was
Sr. Channel Marketing Manager at Narus, an IP Traffic Management
Security company. Ms. Eichler has also held both Channel and Product
Marketing roles at telecom networking equipment companies like Ditech
Networks; and the semiconductor space for LSI Logic. Earlier in
his career, Ms. Eichler has held positions as Marketing Communications
Manager at Fairchild and Product Marketing Manager for a division
of HP. Helene has an M.B.A. in Marketing from Santa Clara University
as well as Network Engineering Certificate from U.C.S.C.-Extension.
Shyla
Klinder
As Director of Network events, Shyla is responsible for managing
SVPMA’s social networking events. Shyla is a product management
professional with over 16 years of experience in enterprise software
technology, product management, consulting, and development. As
Product Manager at SAP labs, she was responsible for product definition,
product planning for SAP’s first ever internet offering and
marketplace exchanges. Shyla currently provides her expertise in
strategic consulting, managing software products from concept to
launch for early stage startups, and non-profits. Shyla holds a
Master’s degree in Computer Science from Central Michigan
University and a Master’s degree in Mathematics from Bangalore
University, India.
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.
Ray Stendall
Ray was 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.
Jasmine de
Gaia
Jasmine de Gaia was President of SVPMA from 2002 to 2004 and has
been actively involved in the organization since its inception in
2000. As President, she was responsible for leading and managing
all aspects of the organization and under her leadership, the association
officially obtained its non-profit, 501c status. She was instrumental
in the growth of the SVPMA and increased membership by 50% during
her tenure. Prior to serving as President, Jasmine managed a variety
of functions within the SVPMA, including planning and coordinating
monthly events, recruiting speakers, moderating panel discussions
and coordinating membership.
Jasmine is currently a Global Product Manager at OCLC, a world-wide,
non-profit library cooperative. Prior to joining OCLC, Jasmine led
the product management of a portfolio of web-based software products
at Lucent Technologies and various Silicon Valley startups. She
holds a Master’s degree in Management & Engineering from
Stanford University
Previous
Board Members
Sharon Grimshaw
- Director of Volunteers
Sharon Rush
- Director of
Partnerships
Sarah Lynne
Cooper - Director of Marketing
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.
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