Andrew Van Valer
CEO at Zyzyrgy Group LLC.
| Headline: | Entrepreneur |
| Website: | http://www.zyzyrgy.com |
| Skills: | Business, Copy Writing, Design, Electrical Engineering, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, German, Industrial Engineering, Investment, Languages, Leadership, Management, Negotiation, Product design, Public Relations, Public speaking, Spanish, Writing |
| Location: | Santa Cruz. Ca |
| Groups: | Social Entrepreneurship and Education Consortium |
| Interested in: | Brainstorming, Finding business partners, Finding cofounders, Finding team mates, Meeting new people, Professional opportunities, Promoting my startups, Recruiting for my startup |
| Tags: | entrepreneur, silicon valley, start up, Venture Capital |
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | Zyzyrgy Group LLC |
| Position: | CEO |
| Time period: | December 2006 - Present |
| Description: | Personal Franchise Industry.
Zyzyrgy Group is the worldwide leader for solutions and services for the Personal Franchise industry. They have created the whole solution for the average person, a personal franchise angel investor and a company that has a disruptive technology wanting to get into the industry. Bridging all together. |
| Employer: | Verisign, Inc. |
| Position: | Program Manger / Director of Business Development, Purchasing & Operations |
| Time period: | December 2001 - November 2005 |
| Description: | LightSurf was successfully acquired by Verisign for $300+M. The company continued to expand to new cell phone carriers. I position was restructured to support the growth of the infrastructure need to expand quickly. My responsibilities included negotiating and purchasing networking equipment, negotiating and managing our collocation partners, building out a 10,000 square foot networking facility, production release of new software releases and managing relationships with our critical partners. |
| Employer: | LightSurf Technologies, Inc. |
| Position: | Program Manger / Director of Business Development, Purchasing & Operations |
| Time period: | December 1998 - November 2002 |
| Description: | As a member of the startup team, LightSurf became the worldwide leader for MMS solutions and picture sharing. The company was very exciting and went through many revisions to achieve their goal. I had opportunities to work with key customers such as Motorola, Kodak, Polaroid, Siemens and others to develop critical relationships. I took on positions in areas that required solutions, rapid change and results. Results in cost containment, partnerships, rapid IT deployments and solutions. |
| Employer: | Motorola, Inc. |
| Position: | Director of Operations |
| Time period: | December 1997 - November 2000 |
| Description: | Motorola successfully acquired Starfish for $250+M in 1998. My position was to integrate operations with the Motorola team, managing product launches, being a manufacturing liaison for personal organizers and clip on accessories for cell phones. Responsible for sourcing, negotiating and purchasing all electrical components. |
| Employer: | Starfish Software, Inc. |
| Position: | Director of Operations |
| Time period: | December 1993 - November 1998 |
| Description: | As a member of the startup team, the company's founding vision was: "Global synchronization and integration of wireless and wireline devices". My original position was to manage operations, purchasing and contract negotiations. As the company grew, I was moved into engineering, business development, component negotiations and development of relationships with key partners – Motorola, Franklin, Siemens and others. Very successful in building relationships, partnerships and massive cost savings. |
| Employer: | Pinnacle Manufacturing, Inc. |
| Position: | Director of Operations, Customer Services and Quality Control |
| Time period: | December 1992 - November 1994 |
| Description: | Pinnacle Manufacturing became one of the largest manufacturers supporting the software industry. I was able to manage and launch many software products for the major software developers in the industry. I managed other entities within the corporation for game development and audio books. Many lessons in extreme growth as well as retrenchment were learned. |
| Employer: | Borland (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; BORL) |
| Position: | Director of Operations – Europe |
| Time period: | December 1991 - November 1993 |
| Description: | Director of Operations located in Dublin Ireland.
Consolidated all operations from Italy, Spain, France, UK, and Germany to central location in Ireland. Operations included software manufacturing, direct marketing, order processing, translations, fulfillment and contract negotiations. Key successes: Successfully managed volume increase of 500% within three month's, manufacturing and shipping 10,000 products a month. Centralized European production and manufacturing of multi-lingual materials. Contracted and negotiated with government officials and organizations. |
| Employer: | Borland (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; BORL) |
| Position: | Director of Operations Borland GmbH |
| Time period: | December 1989 - November 1992 |
| Description: | Director of Operations located in Munich Germany.
Worked with the executive management team to determine weather to acquire licensee or start new business entity in Germany. Became responsible for restructuring and directing new subsidiary in Germany - direct marketing, purchasing, customer and technical support, facilities, manufacturing, quality control labor union negotiations and IT. Also supported operations in Italy and France. Moved office from Munich to Langen. |
| Employer: | Borland (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; BORL) |
| Position: | Director of Operations USA |
| Time period: | December 1982 - November 1990 |
| Description: | As the eight member of the startup team, Borland developed computer and software development tools. It successfully marketed itself against Microsoft.
Worked with the executive management team to build the company from startup to $500M/year run-rate and 3500+ employees. I managed hyper-growth in many areas while tightly controlling costs, contract negotiations, manufacturing capacities and planning, quality control, customer service and facilities. Recognized for leadership and management of rapidly changing business requirements. |
Andrew's Startups (3)
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Zyzyrgy
Zyzyrgy' re-engineers and demystifies the home based business industry by creating an eco system of solution based communities.
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Home Solutions Institute
A Not-For-Profit dedicated to serving others by teaching them entrepreneurship and leadership skills though a business utilizing their main asset - themselves and their home. Currently focused on veterans, senior citizens and the disabled.
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Your Cash Flow Mentor
A growing community of successful and driven mentors/coaches with a mindset of serve first and benefit later. The mentors and coaches are committed to assisting others through the use of proven business methodology to insure a strong business.
Andrew's Contacts (1)
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Dan Steketee
Entrepeneur with 13+ years of strategic and tactical consulting experience in the financial services, start-up and technology industries (BPM, Business Intelligence, KPI's,, Vendor Management, etc) .