I worked with Kevin Renner for three years
until leaving FEI in 2008 as EVP of Worldwide Field Operations.
When I joined the company in 2004, FEI was like many other
scientific instruments companies—very technology focused, very
product focused, with little understanding of what real marketing
looked like or what drove our customers’ decision making.
The breakthrough came in 2005, when Kevin joined FEI. Kevin
conducted market research and presented results showing that many
of our potential customers did not even know us. And among those
who did, our leadership position was not always recognized or
understood. As a result of this data-driven approach, Kevin helped
get the company focused on a set of core marketing problems to
address, and then he guided the marketing team company wide in
focusing on those.
Kevin provided the important leadership needed to professionalize
marketing in a company that knew it needed something more, but for
the most part didn't know where or how to start. He put in place
the people, processes, planning systems, and measurement methods
that took our marketing to a whole new level. This helped FEI
develop a stronger market presence and helped position the company
more vividly as the leading provider in our category.
Robert Gregg
CEO, ID Experts
Portland, Oregon
I had the pleasure of
working with Kevin Renner at FEI Company, where I was General
Manager of the Fab Products Division and Kevin was responsible for
Strategic and Corporate Marketing for the Semiconductor and
Microelectronics Industries. Kevin was influential in bringing
marketing process discipline to FEI, a company which had a strong
staff of technical key contributors but little history of
marketing rigor or marketing-based business decisions.
Kevin was able to make great progress in both educating and
motivating a large number of technical marketing professionals in
a short time period. The cultural changes he enabled were dramatic
and were critical in allowing the installation of formal marketing
and product management processes in a multi-product and
multi-segment company with a complicated portfolio and development
engineering structure. Kevin’s accomplishments are particularly
impressive given that he arrived at FEI without much specific
domain knowledge in FEI’s key markets or technologies.
Kevin displays a rare combination of strategic marketing
perspective, marketing process understanding, and the ability to
bring together a team to understand and adapt to new processes.
Under his guidance, the organization was able to grow to a higher
level of professionalism in its marketing behavior and
perspective. In an industry of domineering personalities and
ever-present time pressure on deliverables, Kevin was able to
bring a calm rationality to discussions and keep the team focused
on those elements that were strategically most important.
Kevin P. Fahey, PhD
CEO, Metrosol, Inc.
Austin, Texas
As the President and
CEO of Electronic Scripting Products, Inc, I had the pleasure of
working with Austin since we first met in 2006. Austin would have
to be one of the few people that had the ability to understand
both the technical aspect of a complex system and business impact
of disruptive technologies such as ours. Austin was quickly able
to understand the unique optical system that we have developed,
determined the value proposition of the product, build a strategic
business case for our device, and become a strong internal
advocate for our technology. With his guidance we were able to
push our nascent technology to Wacom’s executive management team
to gain full product consideration.
I find Austin to be a strategic thinker from both a product
development and strategic business planning perspective. He is a
pleasure to work with and I look forward to working with him in
the future.
Marek Alboszta
President & CEO, Electronic Script Product Inc.
San Jose, California
Dan
conceived and led the Standard High Volume Server campaign when he
worked for me at Intel. That campaign was critical to the
successful launch of the Pentium Pro processor, and it helped
create a substantial new market for Intel. Dan's hard work and
creativity made that campaign happen. He's one of the best 'spin
doctors' I've ever worked with, and his character and enthusiasm
make him a great team player.
John McNulty
Chairman & CEO (retired)
Secure Computing
At Qsent Corporation,
a contact authentication tool venture start-up, we of course faced
many challenges in bringing our company to market, diversifying
into new industries, raising working capital and meeting our sales
and revenue goals. It helps the effort when you have excellent
professionals on your staff who are self-starters and highly
capable. David Eastman was one of those people. With our executive
management, he helped to grow our company, raise $12 M in funding,
and secure new business in the financial, government and medical
IT industries.
Simply put, David is the real deal. Self motivated, energetic,
smart and result driven. As creative asset, David really listens
first, then delivers the goods correctly early in the process.
David would be an asset to any organization, and I am happy to
give him my wholehearted endorsement.
Patrick M. Cox
CEO, Qsent/TransUnion
Beaverton, Oregon
Kevin Renner served
in a variety of marketing roles at Planar Systems from 2001 to
2005 during which time I was the Chairman, President & CEO of the
company.
My first interactions with Kevin were during his investigation of
the medical imaging market as a growth opportunity for the
company’s medical business. He played a key role in identifying
that market and subsequently in our acquisition and integration of
Dome Imaging Systems as an entry play into that market. The
company subsequently shifted its entire strategy for the medical
business around the growth opportunities in medical imaging.
Kevin’s thorough and methodical analysis of that market combined
with his willingness to expand the horizon of our thinking was key
to our shift in strategy.
Around 2002 we embarked on a company-wide branding effort for
which I personally recruited Kevin to drive the rollout across the
company. His commitment to marketing as a professional discipline,
his ability to earn the respect of and work with his colleagues in
different parts of the company and in different geographies made
him an ideal candidate for a role that required more persuasion
than command.
Balaji Krishnamurthy, PhD
President, LogiStyle
Portland, Oregon
In the
ten years that I have known and worked with Dan, I have found him
to be a valuable and insightful resource. The Standard High Volume
Server campaign that Dan led in the mid-90's became the
cornerstone of much of my business development work at Intel,
enabling my colleagues and me to offer a compelling value
proposition for data center products based on Intel Architecture.
This in turn helped us to develop strong relationships with
management at the top levels of Fortune 500 companies.
Dan's
technical knowledge, his ability to translate arcane technical
issues into common language, and his articulate manner were
invaluable to me in recent years as I developed training for
Intel's field sales force. I interviewed Dan for a "Radio Intel"
episode focused on server consolidation. Dan's responses to
questions ranging from competitive issues to the concerns of data
center managers were succinct, compelling, and truly of 'broadcast
quality.' The result was a 30 minute audio training program that
rivaled the best NPR interviews.
Dan knows his stuff. I highly
recommend him to anyone looking for an experienced marketing
professional to help them get their message out.
Don Colacino
Marketing Manager
Intel Corp.
Several years ago,
our company viewed itself as a small healthcare software company
with a top quality ambulatory suite of products. We were
out-marketed by competitors with fewer and inferior products.
Kevin Renner introduced us to the key concepts of marketing,
helped us hire staff, and encouraged us to select a local
advertising firm. Initially, we focused on understanding our
customers' needs, our product differentiators, and the strengths
of our corporation. With Kevin's help we took steps to create a
presence that not only positioned our products as being the best
available in their category, but equally important, positioned us
as the company of choice.
From this process, we were able to re-evaluate who we are, package
valuable new products, and much more powerfully position
appropriate messages. We have grown to be a significantly larger
and stronger company.
Judy Faulkner
President, Epic Systems Corp.
Madison, Wisconsin
Austin brings an
important fusion of business and technical skill to the business
development table. Austin has been able to work with key
stakeholders to find strategic opportunities which could be
developed under his leadership through highly complex coordination
(due to the global nature of these projects). In many cases we
encountered, Austin's technical background proved instrumental to
the effective selection and due diligence process. Austin is also
very effective at understanding the problem and working towards an
holistic solution. I would be very pleased for any opportunity to
work with Austin again in the future.
Scott Rawlings
V.P. Marketing, Wacom Technologies
Vancouver, Washington
I had the privilege
of working with Kevin as we developed the brand strategy and tools
for one of his companies. It was a true pleasure to work with
Kevin as he provided clear objectives, focused guidance,
company/industry expertise, constructive feedback and invaluable
input.
I particularly appreciated Kevin's understanding of what it would
take to ensure successful implementation within his organization.
Kevin did an outstanding job of managing this global project up
and down his organization with great success.
Sarah Van Dyck
Managing Director, Modo Group
Paris, France
Austin
Huang has a potent combination of advanced technical knowledge,
astute business sense, and adept communication skills. His
experience and skill in identifying, researching, and proposing
strategic opportunities contributed to efficient, fact-based
decision making and logical investment in a competitive market.
Working with Austin over the years has been very enjoyable as his
passion, drive, creativity, intelligence, integrity, and warmth
are inspiring and motivating. Key sales teams and their related
results were boosted by Austin’s insight and support.
Jim McCartney
Vice President Sales, Wacom Technology
Vancouver, Washington
Dan and I worked together
at Intel during the mid 1990's and again from 2004-2006 doing
strategic marketing, product marketing and outbound marketing.
During the earlier period we helped Intel develop the new
"Standard High Volume Server" market segment. More recently, we
helped establish industry support for the Intel® Active Management
Technology. I have been impressed with Dan's sharp intellect,
energy and creativity. He has developed a specific skill in
researching and documenting customer use models. Dan is a master
story teller and communicator. His people skills are exceptional,
enabling him to enlist and engage a wide range of people to
achieve exceptional results.
Les Walker
Sales Development Manager
Intel Corp.
Austin
Huang has a potent combination of advanced technical knowledge,
astute business sense, and adept communication skills. His
experience and skill in identifying, researching, and proposing
strategic opportunities contributed to efficient, fact-based
decision making and logical investment in a competitive market.
Working with Austin over the years has been very enjoyable as his
passion, drive, creativity, intelligence, integrity, and warmth
are inspiring and motivating. Key sales teams and their related
results were boosted by Austin’s insight and support.
Jim McCartney
Vice President Sales, Wacom Technology
Vancouver, Washington
Synergy USA is
focused on assisting small to mid-size companies maximize their
product offering and enhance their revenues by analyzing customer
needs and adjusting pricing, marketing and product strategies. In
creating programs for these companies and their executives, I had
the opportunity to work with David on marketing my business and
the special books I wrote to support executive management needs.
If you are looking for some significant creativity – new ideas for
your company’s marketing & business development efforts –
seriously consider David. I have worked with him on a few
projects: He has more innovative ways to tackle difficult problems
than most people you’ll run into. And he has experience (and
successes) in implementing his ideas. To top it all off, he’s very
easy to work with and has his clients’ best interests in mind."
Mark Paul
CEO/Principal, Synergy USA
Beaverton, Oregon
Dan is a great
marketing manager, with a good combination of strategic thinking
skills and practical experience and drive to get the job done.
I've seen him perform well in both startup and G100 level
companies where his relationship skills allow him to work both
through direct reports, and across organizations. Besides being
conscientious and highly competent, Dan has high integrity, and he
is a great person to work with.
Gene Forte
Marketing Manager
Intel Corp.
OminTech Pacific is
focused on assisting world class semiconductor companies, both
established and new venture companies, seamlessly enter the Asia
Pacific market place with their products, people and services, in
order to make them successful from day one. David assisted
OmniTech launch the company and set some of the initial marketing
strategy and communication approaches.
David is very imaginative marketing expert and helped me immensely
when I established OmniTech's headquarters in Tokyo. His expertise
in marketing, corporate communications, creative writing and
overall business knowledge is truly unsurpassed. David has many
business contacts and long-lasting relationships that truly
benefit when you need to accomplish almost any task.
Robert Stevens
CEO, OmniTech Pacific, LLC
Tokyo, Japan
Kevin has a very keen
sense for high-performance marketing. He has an elastic mind,
bringing both disciplined analytical skills and a conceptual
imagination.
Kevin is one of the best critical thinkers with whom I have ever
had the pleasure of working. He approaches branding with clear
intention, is purposeful with strategy, and diligent with
execution. Results follow. Kevin has guided some of the most
critical issues facing a global organization in a fierce market.
From product strategy and customer insights to communications and
channel management, he sees the big picture. I strongly recommend
Kevin Renner with great enthusiasm - knowing others will also
benefit from his experience.
Dave Miller
President, Stoke Strategy
Seattle Washington
As the Senior Public
Relations Manager for KVO Public Relations, I worked with David in
marketing both the IMS Virtual Test Solutions and Engineering
Systems products in the U.S., Asia and EU markets. Since virtual
test division partners were competitors of their sister division,
David managed and executed the systems public relations himself
with the same successful results as our full PR agency.
David is professional, knowledgeable and great to work with. He is
a smart, savvy, easygoing, energetic person--full of good
ideas-who also has an uncanny knack for public relations and the
business of communications.
Sonia Harrison
Director, Public Relations, Mentor Graphics
Wilsonville, Oregon
Dan and I worked
together at Micro Focus when it was a start-up. He headed outbound
marketing and I headed inside sales. Dan led the company's first
real advertising campaign, and it generated so many incoming calls
that we doubled our revenues from $6M in 1983 to $12M in 1984. Dan
is a smart and dedicated professional who knows how to get the job
done.
Mike McCandless
VP Marketing, Publisher, VP Sales
Micro Focus Inc.
Austin has a
fantastic blend of business and technical skills. He was able to
identify and bring several new business opportunities to the
company. Those opportunities had been screened by Austin to
precisely match the company's strengths while meeting the
corporate goals. His critical questioning from both a business and
technical aspect were key to proper due diligence in pursuing
these opportunities. I would be more than happy to work with
Austin in the future.
Dave Fleck
VP of Engineering , Wacom Technology Corp.
Vancouver, Washington
Working with Kevin
Renner is nothing short of pure delight. Kevin embodies the key
elements of a fantastic leader and senior executive: He is very
bright, he stays focused and thinks strategically, he executes
effectively, he is a great team player, and, as important, he is
simply a lot of fun to work with.
At MyHealthBank, Kevin provided industry insights that were
valuable to keeping the organization on track. He is steady in the
face of the difficulties and challenges that a start-up
organization inevitably faces. I have had the pleasure of watching
Kevin and working along side of him in senior positions where he
provides calm guidance and practical approaches to difficult
issues.
Charles Kilo, MD, MPH
CEO, Greenfield Health
Portland, Oregon
Dan is and has always
been one of the most knowledgeable marketing people I have had the
pleasure to work with. His depth of knowledge on many topics --
technologies, marketing strategies, customer insights and
motivations -- far exceeds most. He is an amazing presenter --
very articulate and speaks to the audience he is presenting to.
I've been with Intel over 12 years and have respected Dan with
regard to the quality of his work, his customer focus, his team
orientation. He is one of the best people I've had the pleasure to
work with.
Kim Miller
Marketing Manager
Intel Corp.
I had the pleasure of
working with Austin for 2 years when he worked with me as a member
of the Strategic Business Development Group. During that time
Planar Systems was exploring the possibility of expanding the
scope of the markets the company addressed outside of its
traditional focus on flat panel displays. In particular Austin
worked with our Liquid Crystal Display Development Group to
investigate potential applications of liquid crystal devices to
switch optical signals for the optical communication field. Austin
was able to leverage his technical expertise in optics with his
business connections in the field of fiber optic communications to
forge three significant partnerships for Planar with companies in
this field. The resulting joint development programs allowed
Planar to work with both large established companies and
innovative start ups. Austin’s focused efforts allowed Planar
Systems to quickly evaluate the potential business opportunities
for the company including an analysis of various possible business
models for Planar System’s entry into this market.
Chris King
Founder, Planar Systems (retired)
Hillsboro, Oregon
David and I
worked together at Qsent Corporation, a start-up that had $3.9 M
in revenues when David arrived as the Director of Marketing and
Communications, and $11 M in revenues 3 years later when the
company was acquired by TransUnion for $65 M. David was key to our
strategy of entering new financial markets with our IT-based
contact authentication tools, and developed highly original and
successful strategies and tactical programs. He also took a lead
role as the wireless industry media spokesperson, for companies
such as Alltell, T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless and Cingular, on issues
of wireless privacy.
David is a marketing Tsar. He can enter a situation and
immediately identify the larger picture, put all the pieces
together, and assemble a visionary marketing program that is on
target with its audience, creative, and effective. Having had the
opportunity to work for David was not only a pleasure, but also a
very inspiring experience. I highly recommend David as a person
who gets the job the done, and gets it done right.
Jim Kemp
Manager, Marketing, Qsent Corporation
Portland, Oregon
Dan introduced me to
the world of product marketing while I was managing an engineering
team. He has always been focused on communicating product benefits
that established the value of the product to the customer.
Mike Kruse
Software Engineering Manager
Graphic Software Systems, Inc.
Kevin Renner worked
for me in Planar's Medical Business Unit in a variety of Strategic
Marketing, Market Development, and Product Marketing roles. In all
of these roles, Kevin demonstrated a level of enthusiasm and
professionalism which clearly permitted our organization to
progress substantially.
As director of Business and Market Development, Kevin was critical
to the creation of a thorough analysis of the PACS and Digital
Radiology marketplace, which ultimately led to Planar's
acquisition of DOME Imaging Systems.
Upon integrating the DOME line of products into our business unit,
Kevin was pivotal in creating a revised strategy for the business,
taking us from a provider of point solutions to the
“one-stop-shop” for any and all display products within the
healthcare environment. This strategy proved very successful with
customers, employees, and investors alike.
I've found Kevin to be one of the best Marketing professionals I
have ever worked with, and certainly the best Healthcare Marketing
professional I have ever worked with.
Matthew Harris
Vice President and General Manager, Planar Systems
Beaverton Oregon
Austin and I have
worked together on 2 occasions; at Texas Instruments and Sharp
Laboratories of America. Austin sets aggressive goals with
expectations to make an impact in the technology and the business
areas. Austin builds expert capabilities in his areas of focus and
has shown creativity leading to results. He likes a challenge as
outlined by the team and insists that the results be highly
relevant to the needs of the organization and business. In a short
time Austin can make a notable impact in most any group.
Gary Feather
Vice President, Consumer Systems and Technology Sharp Laboratories
of America
Camas, Washington
Dan has a strong
understanding of Internet technologies and the business benefits -
that alone makes him a great working partner. On top of that he is
also very innovative in his approach to marketing and a good
people manager. I learned lot from him in the few months we worked
together, and had a lot of fun at the same time.
Andrew Bunting
Marketing Programs Manager, Solutions
Intel Corp.
As CEO of MedicaLogic,
I had the pleasure of working with Kevin Renner for nearly four
years, from early 1994 through 1997. During this period of rapid
growth for our company, Kevin was responsible for many of our
major marketing successes. He performed strategic analyses of our
market and our competition, trained both the internal sales force
and external channel partners, and spearheaded a
return-on-investment study and report that was crucial to our
selling efforts.
Mark K. Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer, MedicaLogic/Medscape
Hillsboro, Oregon
Austin has the very
rare quality of being expert in both the technology and business
of optics. While many at his educational level are primarily
technical people, Austin has a genuine marketing head and knack
for making money that extends beyond his technical expertise.
Norman Hairston
Business Development Mgr., AlliedSignal (now Honeywell)
San Jose, California
Austin is a highly
intelligent and qualified executive who has the unique ability to
mix his business and technical knowledge to achieve a great
result. As a distributor for Wacom Technologies in the US, Austin
helped me to design effective business and go-to-market strategies
for the US market, and was dedicated to generating business value
and success in the market. Austin is a pleasure to work with, and
he greatly contributed to our success as a partner. His drive to
produce high quality of work, and his dedication to our
initiatives contributed to the success of our sales team. I fully
endorse Austin.
Beth Selling, SCPM
Vice President, Communication Intelligence Corp.
Redwood, California
I met Kevin during a
consulting relationship I had formed with MedicaLogic in 1996. At
that time, he was helping direct the company’s strategy toward
larger groups and bigger deals. His strategy work was grounded in
real data, and so it convinced executive management and more
importantly, the sales team, to move away from small, in-hand
opportunities toward larger, more lucrative relationships.
This strategy culminated in a partnership and investment from VHA
that virtually launched the company into prime time. While most of
us know MedicaLogic, now Medscape, for its very avant garde look
and feel (Kevin had a big hand in that too), its real genius was
in its early strategy of claiming the leadership position in the
EMR space. I directly attribute its success in those days to
Kevin's insight and execution.
Since then I've worked with Kevin on several client engagements.
Kevin is the strongest senior marketing executive I've worked
with. His competence in strategy, program planning and execution
can be trusted. I look forward to working with him again.
Michael Lake
President, Circle Square Inc.
San Francisco, CA
Dan is a high-energy
person, something entrepreneurial companies need. Dan helped us
successfully drive national and international PR, numerous product
launches and other outbound marketing programs. A great asset.
Russ Sprunger
Co-Founder, VP
Graphic Software Systems, Inc.
In an effort to
expand and diversify its markets worldwide, Credence Corporation
developed a special "tiger team" of internal marketing
professionals tasked with developing business with the over 3000
global fabless semiconductor companies. David Eastman and I
designed a C-level consultative seminar program, marketed in 5
high tech regions, that drew over 256 companies and $16 M in new
revenue, over a 6-month period.
David is a creative and detail-oriented master at strategic
communications and marketing. His talents have bolstered the
credibility, business value and brand image of our company and the
countless ventures he has consulted for. Bringing creativity,
integrity and a strong focus to his projects, he has helped his
clients build their visibility, professionalism and bottom-line
results."
Robert H. Harrison
Director, Credence Business Development
Hillsboro, Oregon
I have very much
enjoyed working for Kevin. He has the ability to lead senior
people by giving them sufficient autonomy to express their full
potential, while still being available for support or questions
when help is needed.
Kevin’s objective feedback has been an invaluable resource for me
to improve some of my skills. Kevin is a mature and poised
professional who not only holds a wealth of marketing experience,
but also knows how to lead a team towards achieving a strategy.
Caroline van der Hart
European Corporate Marketing Director, FEI Co.
Eindhoven, The Netherlands |
