My typical client provides goods or services via the web or mobile platforms, and wants to leverage the data its users generate to create value for all parties involved. Passionate about innovation, I also enjoy working with great startups. My expertise has had substantial impact on products and business models. I help my clients ask the right questions, and provide a quantitative framework for subsequent success.

The greatest impact is often achieved in the early stages of a project.


: consulting :

My short-term consulting projects focus on a specific problem, initially proposed by the client. Examples include measuring and improving the effectiveness of a marketing campaigs, viral user acquisition, and ongoing user retention.

I coached Alibaba, the world's leading B2B e-commerce company, towards becoming a data-focused, metrics-driven organization, and consulted for MySpace on monetizing their social graph. In 2008, Lufthansa brought me on board for the redesign of their loyalty program, and Nokia called me in for a series of workshops across the organization.


: workshops :

A workshop is a two- to three-day event for a client seeking to solve a specific problem. Starting with the questions and expertise of the client's executives and decision makers, I contribute my knowledge, expertise, and additional privileged inputs to come up with genuinely new ideas that lead to innovative solutions. My methodology of co-creation ensures active engagement and the embracing of new perspectives, leading to the commitments needed for success.

At a recent workshop for a major international retailer, we focused on multichannel opportunities, recommendation systems, and social commerce. At another recent workshop for a large company in the travel space, we addressed data strategy, customer loyalty, and social media.


: boards and advisorships :

When I feel a strong alignment in beliefs and passion about creating value for their customers, I have joined companies as board member or advisor. I then actively work with the team on product and strategy, and am available for business development, for recruiting top talent, and for mentorship.

I am a limited partner in the San Francisco-based Founders Fund II, helping this venture capital firm with deal flow and investment decisions. I am also a business angel with an excellent track record of successful exits, including the acquisition of Agoda by Priceline in 2007, and of Cleverset by ATG in 2008.

I also was the lead investor in Xiaonei.com (校内网), China's most popular campus social networking site, acquired by Mop.com in 2006. I am now working with China’s Yobo (友播) on refining their music discovery engine, and with Singapore’s Hitchoo on creating an auction-based dating site.

I am fortunate to have worked with some of the most successful companies in China, including Alibaba, Baidu, Sina, Sohu, and Ctrip. In his speech at the company's fifth anniversary, the CEO of Alibaba declared: “Don't call me Jack Ma any more, call me Data Ma!”

My work with clients both in the US and abroad has contributed to my vision, which I share at my speaking engagements.

: clients :


current boards and advisorships

Discoverio / MrTweet (San Francisco)
eCommera (London)
Hitchoo / Apesnap (Singapore)
InsiderGroup /HolidayInsider (Munich)
mSpoke (Pittsburgh)
Peerius (London)
RocketFuel (Redwood Shores)
Skout.com (San Francisco)
Triphunter / Private Trips (Berlin)
Yobo (Beijing)


complete list of clients

Active Decisions (San Mateo, CA, acquired by Knova)
Acxiom (Little Rock, AR)
AdKnowledge (Kansas City, MO)
Agoda (Bangkok, Thailand, acquired by Priceline)
Alibaba Group (Hangzhou, China)
Amazon.com (Seattle, WA)
Arcandor (Duesseldorf/Essen, Germany, formerly KarstadtQuelle)
Attensa (Portland, OR)
ATTAP (New York)
Baihe (Beijing)
Bank of America (New York)
Bertelsmann (Guetersloh, Germany)
Booking.com (Amsterdam)
BV Capital (San Francisco and Hamburg)
Chicago Strategy Associates (Chicago)
CircleUp (Los Angeles, formerly QandA)
Cleverset (Corvallis, OR, acquired by ATG)
Cobalt Group (Seattle, WA)
Del.icio.us (New York, NY, acquired by Yahoo)
Diamond Cluster (Chicago. IL)
Dotomi (Boston, MA)
etang (Shanghai)
EventMonitor (Boston)
F-Secure (Helsinki)
Flock (Mountain View, CA)
Founders Fund II Entrepreneurs Fund (San Francisco)
Fruugo (Helsinki)
GoSeeTell (Portland, OR)
GameDuell (Berlin)
Giagabeat (Palo Alto, CA, acquired by Google)
Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo (Boston)
GDI (Zurich)
Henkel (Duesseldorf)
Hubert Burda Media (Munich)
HP (Corvallis, OR)
Imageloop (Cologne)
ImmobilienScout24 (Berlin)
Incordia (Helsingborg, Sweden)
Itella (Helsinki, Finland)
J.P. Morgan (New York)
Jambo Networks (Dallas, TX)
Kontagent (San Francisco)
Linktone (Shanghai)
Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
Loopt (Mountain View, CA)
Loopdy (Research Triangle Park, NC)
Macrovision (San Jose, CA)
Match.com (Richardson, TX)
Media Development Authority (MDA, Singapore)
Metro AG (Duesseldorf)
Monitor Talent (Cambridge)
Morgan Stanley (New York)
MusicStrands (Corvallis and Barcelona)
MySpace/FOX Interactive Media (Los Angeles)
Neckermann (Frankfurt)
Nikko Securities (Tokyo)
Nokia (Espoo, Finland) and Nokia Research Center (Palo Alto)
Nugg.ad (Berlin)
O'Reilly Media (Sebastopol, CA)
Otto Group (Hamburg)
Parship (Hamburg)
Peerius (London)
PlanetOut (San Francisco, CA)
Prediction Company (Santa Fe, NM)
RealAge (San Dieglo, CA, acquired by Hearst Magazines)
Rojo (San Francisco, acquired by Six Apart)
Root Networks (New York)
RTLinteractive (Cologne)
SAS Institute (Carey, NC)
SharedCopy (Singapore)
Shopflick (Los Angeles, acquired by Sugar Media)
Siemens (Munich)
SIME (Stockholm)
Socialight (New York)
Spock (Redwood City, CA)
Swiss International Air Lines (Zurich)
Tagged (San Francisco)
TellMeTwin (Reykjavik) (
The Conversation Group (San Francisco)
ThisNext (Los Angeles)
T-Online (Darmstadt)
Turn (San Mateo, CA)
UBS (Zurich)
uf98.com (Beijing)
Vividence (San Mateo, CA, acquired by Keynote Systems)
Volkswagen (Wolfsburg)
Vogel Burda CHIP (Munich)
Web.de (Karlsruhe)
World Economic Forum (Geneva/Davos)
Xiaonei (校内网) (Beijing, acquired by Oak Pacific Interactive(千橡集团))
Xing (Hamburg, formerly openBC)
XplusOne (New York, formerly Poindexter Systems)
Yahoo (Sunnyvale, CA)
Yodlee (Redwood Shores, CA)
Zazzle (Palo Alto, CA)


 

: Arcandor e.Campus :

: featured clients :
Alibaba | BestBuy | Booking.com | F-Secure | Fox Interactive Media, MySpace | Hubert Burda Media | HSM | Lufthansa, SWISS | Nokia | Yahoo

: featured advisorships :
Discoverio | eCommera | Hitchoo | mSpoke | Skout |Yobo