I am a go-to-market strategist for early- and second-stage companies. I focus on customer discovery, customer value, and early stage experiments and planning. I’m now consulting for the University of Florida on the sustainability of a biodiversity program past the end of its NSF Funding. It’s thrilling to combine my ecological training with my entrepreneurial experience.
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 the market opportunity and 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 work of go-to-market strategic planning.
Product Development Marketing Expertise
After my doctorate, I worked for a spatial and spatio-temporal epidemiological software company, BioMedware. At BioMedware, I was a technical writer, software interface designer, and project manager. I earned an SBIR grant on the spatial analysis of microscopy imagery for the company, wrote the software’s online help and user manuals, and co-authored a few scientific articles (ResearchGate profile, ORCID).
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.
I missed scientific and biological projects, so I sought opportunities in the University of Michigan startup ecosystem to combine my entrepreneurship and my science training. I’ve been happily immersed in this ecosystem for the last decade, including being on the leadership time for two social venture startups. Most recently, I have been 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 Matterhorn, helping tell the story, find new customers, and plan the roadmap for the online dispute resolution platform. Prior to that, I taught Entrepreneurial Marketing at the University of Michigan College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship.