Mike Ellsworth
Psychology graduate from Duke University with 24 years’ experience in Web software product, program, and project management, wireless networking and emerging technology strategy. Currently working as President of The WiMAX Guys, LLC.
| Headline: | Startup Member |
| Industries: | Computing, Financial, Information Technology, Internet, Mobile |
| Skills: | Business, Copy Writing, Design, Editing, Entrepreneurship, Fiction, Human-Computer Interaction, Leadership, Management, Public Relations, Public speaking, Web design, Writing |
| Interested in: | Consulting opportunities, Employment opportunities, Finding experts, Finding team mates, Meeting new people, Offering Expertise, Professional opportunities, Providing services to startups, Raising money, Recruiting for my startup, Starting a company |
| Tags: | ecommerce, payment systems, translation, wireless device |
| Schools: | Duke University |
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | CareerOneStop, State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, St. Paul, MN |
| Position: | Program Director |
| Time period: | June 2006 - Present |
| Description: | • Took over 9-year-old $8.5M/year Web site program, created a Project Management Office, and instituted best practice project management, content lifecycle, workflow management, and other program processes.
• CareerOneStop Website development program required a turnaround effort including: o Instituted best practices set by the State PMO; set up MS Enterprise Portfolio Manager (Project Server and SharePoint); initiated training for staff in business analysis, UML, project management, usability concepts, and Web writing o Wrote PM plans (risk management, configuration management, project management, and so on) o Created and instituted a new end-to-end work process including work request/change management system and a content management lifecycle o Planned and managed a multi-phase redesign and re-architecting of the Web site, including implementation of a content management system (Tridion), a site search engine (Endeca). o Obtained $1.1M in additional funding for the program o Implemented a User-Centered Design Program and trained staff o Managed a user experience architecture services engagement involving six consulting firms that provided: - Usability Testing and Recommendations - Information Architecture - User Interface Design - Search Engine Marketing - Section 508 Compliance - User Centered Design Training o Implemented Agile methodologies (Scrum) on appropriate projects • Managed relationships with program managers of grantor – US Dept. of Labor |
| Employer: | The WiMAX Guys, LLC, St. Louis Park, MN |
| Position: | President |
| Time period: | June 2003 - Present |
| Description: | • 2003 Identified market segments to attack, including hospitality industry, property management, home remodeling, and high end home builders.
• 2004 Installed Wi-Fi coverage in the Grand Hotel, a four star hotel in downtown Minneapolis and the Grand Rios Resort as well as several other properties. • 2005-2006 Consulted with other companies on wireless strategies, including municipal wireless. |
| Employer: | StratVantage Consulting, LLC, St. Louis Park, MN |
| Position: | Principal |
| Time period: | August 2000 - Present |
| Description: | • 8/04 – 2/06 Ran Web (.NET/SQL Server) development for IT market research startup Evalubase Research as their CTO.
o Took over existing project to develop a Web-based survey application; handled transition from third party project manager o Identified and led rewrite of several basic modules due to poor code construction o Established DEV, TEST, PROD and intranet (SharePoint) environments o Managed numerous point releases as well as doing requirements, design, and project management for a major release involving significant re-architecting using AJAX o Managed all content on the Website, including designing and implementing a major home page renovation • 2000-2001 Created the eMarketplace strategy framework for Sterling Commerce • 2000-2001 Recommendations led to establishment of wireless practice, two email newsletters, a white paper series, and the first digital marketing efforts at Geneer Corporation |
| Employer: | Strategic Planning, VirtualFund, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN |
| Position: | Vice President |
| Time period: | August 1999 - July 2000 |
| Description: | • Developed product plans, business plans, investor presentations, and strategy for business-to-business electronic commerce offerings, including writing a product plan for Palm VII and other wireless devices.
• Communicated strategy to analysts, investors, and employees. • Prepared investor briefings and presented at industry conferences. • Served as interim VP of Product Marketing and managed the development of business requirements for flagship software/Web site. |
| Employer: | ACNielsen Company, Minneapolis, MN |
| Position: | Various positions |
| Time period: | December 1984 - August 1999 |
| Description: | 11/96 - 9/99 Senior Project Manager - Internet Development, Systems Department, ACNielsen
• Responsible for charting ACNielsen's Internet strategy, developing new Internet products, and managing project teams from concept to launch. • Led a large cross-functional team (25 to 30 people) that developed Category Planner, a complex integrated application offering interactive database reporting over the Web. • Result: Released ACNielsen’s fastest growing Web product 7/95 - 11/96 Manager, Advanced Technology, Systems Department, ACNielsen • Conceived and led project team to develop an Internet report delivery service: NetDispatch. • Part of cross-functional team to create the ACNielsen Corporate site and served as Webmaster in addition to other duties for two years. • Result: Released first ACNielsen corporate Web site in April 1995 12/93 - 7/95 Product Manager, Platform and Delivery, Marketing Department, ACNielsen • Designed and architected Windows NT-based Nielsen Application Server Architecture product, integrating existing technology from two sister divisions: Sales Technologies' Communications Server, and D&B Software's SmartStream. • Designed and led project to deliver BrokerNET, the industry's first report and chart delivery service via the World Wide Web in 1995. • Served on D&B Electronic Commerce Special Interest group in 1994-1995 and helped shape D&B's electronic commerce strategy. • Result: Released CPG industry’s first Web application in February 1995 11/92-11/93 Project Leader, RDBMS Development, Marketing Department, ACNielsen • Established and managed project team to develop an ACNielsen integrated workstation and data warehouse product using RDBMS technology rights ACNielsen purchased (Time Machine). • Result: An integrated analysis workstation/data warehouse product that won a shootout against Red Brick and Teradata 2/89-1/91 Project Leader, Product Development Group, Information Delivery Department, ACNielsen • Lead implementation of Automated LAN Production System project and that replaced a mainframe reporting and charting system. • Result: ALPS System produced 6 million pages of customer report output a year and exhibited a twenty-nine-fold increase in productivity. |
EDUCATION
| University: | Duke University |
| Degree: | Psychology, BA |
PUBLICATIONS
| Books: | 11/96 Chapter Author, Platinum Edition Using HTML 3.2, Java 1.1, & CGI, Eric Ladd, Jim O'Donnell eds., Que Corporation, Indianapolis, IN, ISBN: 0-7897-0932-5.
5/96 Chapter Author, Special Edition: Using CGI, Dwight, Jeffry and Michael Erwin, eds., Que Corporation, Indianapolis, IN, ISBN 0-7897-0740-3. |
