Akava

Akava is a technology consultancy delivering delightful digital native cloud, web and mobile products that massively scale. We help F500 and start-ups ideate, architect, design and build bespoke solutions leveraging modern open-source tools and technologies. Our team is comprised of software artisans, design gurus and experience architects who are passionate about delivering next-gen outcomes while providing a white-glove customer experience.

Practice Areas:

Technology Consulting | Agile Project Scaling | Technology Acquisition Readiness Assessment 

To learn more, visit akava.io or drop me line at bd@akava.io
					
Overseeing growth, culture, strategy, product, marketing, sales and partnerships while building a world-class team.

Founder & CEO

Viabl Ventures

We are a venture production studio & innovation lab focused on building Micro-SaaS products.  

We are the makers of:

* Formsy (https://form.sy/) - embeddable forms made easy
* Mirato (https://mirato.app/) - light-weight product collaboration for software development
* Journl (https://journl.app/) - from idea to blog in minutes; effortless blogging

We partner with non-technical founders to help bring their ideas to life while creating revenue generating applications.  In some cases, we exchange sweat equity for company equity thus serving as a technical co-founder providing an ‘out-of-the-box’ product, design & engineering team for our portfolio companies.

Have a novel product/app idea?  Slide into my DMs :)

[Akava has vested interest in VV’s innovation lab]

Principal Managing Partner & Co-Founder

Picme Technology Inc

We are the world's first AI-native social & dating app!

[1] Patent Awarded
[1] Patent Pending

Launching soon, stayed tuned!

Co-Founder & COO

Lovable Technology (MustWin, LLC)

**Partnered with Founders to lead successful sale of $MM acquisition (acquihire)**

Lovable.Tech (fka: MustWin) is a boutique software engineering consultancy delivering innovative DevOps, Microservices, Containerization, IaaS/PaaS and cloud-native solutions for Fortune 1000 enterprises.

In true start-up fashion, my role as the Head of Business Development is multifaceted by nature.  I’m responsible for:

*  Relationship/Account Management:  Builds C-suite relationships while serving as lead contact. Provides exemplary customer experiences by embedding into client organizations to anticipate needs and mitigating challenges.

*  Enterprise Enrichment:  Grow overall account spend across Fortune 1000 clients in the Technology, Media, Transportation and Telco verticals.

*  Partnerships:  Establish channels by creating successful tech product and System Integrator service partnerships.  Partners include leading cloud and DevOps vendors as well as global consultancies and defense contractors.

*  New Client Acquisition: Prospect and acquire net new logo accounts through a multitude of prospecting strategies.  Negotiate terms and conditions, structure SOWs and deploy/manage resources.

*  Growth Strategy:  Identify new markets and verticals to penetrate by conducting deep analysis through need assessments, competitive benchmarking and mapping overall landscapes  to determine fit.

*  Strategic Initiatives/Projects:  Source, negotiate and implement new technologies to improve internal processes.  Build brand awareness by attending/sponsoring events, partners with engineers to deliver Proof-of-Concepts and secure contract schedules in the Federal, State and Local marketplaces.

Lovable.Tech is a team of 20+ web and mobile experts from companies like Yammer, Microsoft, YouTube, Apple, Amazon, HBO, CitiGroup, and NASA. We're a highly collaborative and product oriented team with a history of predictably high quality, on time, and on budget results.

VP/COO - Growth, Partnerships & Technical Alliances 

Forrester Research

Forrester is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We work with business and technology leaders to develop customer-obsessed strategies that drive growth.  Through proprietary research, data, custom consulting, exclusive executive peer groups, and events, the Forrester experience is about a singular and powerful purpose: to challenge the thinking of our clients to help them lead change in their organizations.

*  Act as the primary relationship manager, business developer and sales strategist for the Cisco account aligned to emerging technologies which include Cloud, Big Data, Analytics, IoT, Data Center and Services

*  Cultivate and nurture key relationships at the c-suite level in support of enterprise wide, global initiatives and growth of Cisco/Forrester partnership.

*  Architect creative consulting, data and research solutions to drive growth, provide guidance/thought leadership and help Cisco win market share in the ‘Age of the Customer’

*  Prospect, qualify and close new business/enrichment deals ranging $50K - $150K+ and ensuring 100%+ renewal rate of syndicated contract through diligent partnership building.

*  Effectively manage sales pipeline and opportunities in SFDC (salesforce.com) to hit monthly targets/ quarterly goals/ annual plan

2014 & 2015 Key Accomplishments:

*  President’s Club Award Winner, Top 10% in the sales organization
*  Finished the year at 129% & 102% of plan
*  Booked $2.3MM in business
*  C-Suite relationship development (meetings with 5/13 members of ELT)
*  Consistent high performer; sold multiple six-figure projects

Business Development & Client Management

PSI (Proteam Solutions Inc)

At PSI, our objective is always to deliver measurable return on investment (ROI) and positive business impact for our clients on every engagement. We evaluate opportunities and develop solutions that generate maximum effect with strong, sustainable gains in business performance, productivity, cost management, and customer satisfaction.

We look beyond the obvious… To tackle the tough issues. Drive growth. Manage change. Get stuff done.   It's our strategy. And it works.

Account Management

•	Acquire thorough and evolving knowledge of client environment, initiatives, and timelines to assist in bringing projects in 'on time' and 'under budget.'
•	Market PSI’s solutions in order to increase business within government and corporate accounts. 
•	Focus on improving the quality of service provided to clients to create a “customer-for-life.”

Business Development

•	Develop new business opportunities by prospecting, identifying, meeting with potential clients, and presenting a portfolio of IT solutions. 
•	Execute consultative selling strategies to inform CIOs, Project Managers, IT Managers and other decision makers about PSI’s value-added solutions: Enterprise Insight Management, Resource Augmentation and Managed Services.
•	Cultivate new relationships and maintain rapport with existing clients.  Book of business ranges from SMBs to Fortune 500 organizations within the Healthcare, Financial, Education, Insurance, and Government domains.    

Project Management

•	Architected strategy for Recruiting 2.0 (R2)—enabling internal business transformation and IT knowledge empowerment- change management, business optimization  
•	Provided oversight on the overall execution of the R2 project to ensure all milestones and deliverables were being met on time.
•	Conduct daily stand up meetings with Sales team and Recruiters to review priorities, goals and objectives.

Manager, Business Development

Innovative, energetic and solutions driven professional with multiple years of experience.  Relentless in the pursuit of success while positively impacting organizations and colleagues alike.   Thrives in fast-paced, high pressure situations while consistently delivering sound results.  Leads and facilitates open, collaborative and agile work environments to develop best practices and strategies among team members.  Contributor of the “Big Picture” and works diligently to help visions become realized.  Passionate about growth, improvement and acquiring more knowledge in the ever-evolving business ecosystem.   Areas of expertise includes:

Entrepreneurship | Strategic Consulting | Growth & Acquisition | Partnerships & Alliances | Business Development | Process Improvement | Business Strategy | Organizational Management | Fundraising

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