I am a product marketing strategist for early- and second-stage companies. I focus on customer discovery, customer value, and lead generation marketing. I am VP of Marketing at water analytics company Blue Conduit. Prior to that, I was chief product officer at the University of Michigan Law School startup Court Innovations, helping tell the story, find new customers, and plan the roadmap for the online dispute resolution software Matterhorn.
Scientific Training
I have a doctorate in plant ecology from the University of Michigan. I performed field experiments at the E.S. George Reserve (near Pinckney, Michigan) and greenhouse experiments at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. My research focused on competitive interactions between plants and whether and how insect herbivores affected plant competition. I focused on invasive species: whether introduced plants had an advantage through escaping insect pests.
My scientific training may feel tangential to the daily work of tech startups. It’s true, the domain is different. Now, I attend to data about content and website/product use rather than plants and bugs. The mindset is similar. I carry an analytical and hypothesis-testing approach from my academic training to the daily work of marketing management.
The systems thinking I learned so well in ecology applies to
- the interconnections between pages on a website and screens in an application,
- ecosystems or landscapes of websites and products competing for the attention of prospects, and
- the interactions among people and roles on a team.
Internet Marketing Expertise
After my doctorate, I worked for a scientific software company, BioMedware. At BioMedware, I was a technical writer, software interface designer, and project manager. I earned an SBIR grant for the company, wrote the software’s online help and user manuals, and co-authored a few scientific articles there.
I continued in software project management through a stint as a subcontractor at Menlo Innovations, where I was an early project manager on its software project for Accuri Cytometers. I left Menlo to focus on websites and internet marketing full-time, first as an Operations Director for a local website design and development firm, and then as a Relationship Manager at Pure Visibility. I was at Pure Visibility for seven years, rising to be its Chief Operating Officer. At Pure Visibility, I co-wrote an Internet Marketing Book.
Prior to joining Court Innovations, I was an independent consultant and lecturer in Marketing at the University of Michigan College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship.
