Summation

Susan Best

Susan MacTavish Best

If there is one tech grand dame of public relations, it is Susan Best. Even her last name is a PR coup!

Susan is CEO of Best Public Relations. Prior to starting Best Public Relations in 1998, Susan worked at Wilson McHenry Company, a marketing communications firm working with a number of technology companies. Previously, Susan worked at Shafer Advertising and Public Relations.

Susan is Director of Glasshouse/San Francisco, an educational non-profit for entrepreneurs and professionals across all industries and at all stages of their businesses.

Susan is founder of Posthoc: The Upfront Guide to San Francisco, an award-winning volunteer-driven online resource for the Bay Area. Here she has managed over 100 contributors and is responsible overall for the content creation, maintenance, business development, marketing and design of the site.

In addition, Susan serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Foundation for Technology and Science in San Francisco. She is also on the advisory board for AIR (Accessibility Internet Rally) San Francisco put on by Knowbility, Inc. Susan is also on the board of Plan C, a non-partisan public policy group dedicated to improving the quality of life in San Francisco. And she is a member of Lead21.

A single-malt and haggis fan, Susan grew up in St. Andrews, Scotland. She graduated from Hamilton College, and studied at St. Hilda's College, Oxford Univeristy where she was co-editor of the university magazine, ISIS, and the Oxford International Review. During off hours, Susan is usually found running or biking on Mount Tam.

Canning Spam: An Economic Solution to Unwanted Email

Sonia Arrison from the Pacific Research Institute writes another great report on spam. Sonia gives a great spam overview and proposes some cutting edge solutions.

This report is getting notice -- apparently even Bill Gates and Michael Powell have read Sonia's report.

FOA: Paul Meyer, CEO of Voxiva

Paul is based in Washington DC but he is rarely there. My guess is that he spends more time on a plane then anywhere else. Voxiva (www.voxiva.com) is a terrific company and was introduced to me through Peter Kellner who is an investor and board member. The company tracks disease in a given area so officials can see health trends -– much like COMSTAT does with crime.

Before founding Voxiva, Paul founded IPKO – the largest Internet provider in Kosovo. He has also had stints at the Markle Foundation and the International Rescue Committee. He was the COO of Endeavor (www.endeavor.org) and was a White House speechwriter under President Clinton. He graduated from Yale Law School and went to Oxford. He was recently named a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Funny story: in the early days of Voxiva, they only had the domain name of "voxiva.net" – some guy was cyber-squatting on the "voxiva.com" domain. Frustrated with always going to the wrong web page, I finally got fed up and contacted the domain squatter to buy the dot-com name myself. He wanted $20,000 but I was able to negotiate him down to $300 and immediately handed the "voxiva.com" name to its rightful owners.

Voxiva is an incredible company and I am looking forward to seeing great things from them and from Paul. See a good USA Today story at http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-03-08-high-low-solution_x.htm

Jobs: VP Investment banking at Rutberg & Co

forwarded to me by Justin Behar:

Rutberg & Company, LLC

Position: Investment banking Vice President (Corporate Finance/M&A)

Company description: Rutberg & Company, LLC is a research-centric investment bank focused exclusively on raising mid to late stage private equity capital and providing M&A services for industry leading emerging growth companies. By utilizing a research-based approach in evaluating private companies, we are able to maintain strict standards in selecting our clients, resulting in significant credibility with our institutional investor network and with strategic acquirers. The firm is committed to working only with the highest quality companies, venture capitalists and institutional investors, and is dedicated to ensuring it enjoys a reputation for excellence, selectivity, and the delivery of the highest quality investment banking services.

Role: The firm is currently seeking a Vice President. The individual will be responsible for leading transaction execution, the preparation of materials in connection with M&A and capital raising mandates, and for general business-related tasks. Candidates must have at least four years of technology investment banking experience and been employed by a leading emerging growth boutique or by a larger, nationally known investment banking firm with a top five technology practice. Significant transaction experience (corporate finance and M&A) in a senior execution role is a must. Specific technology sub-segment expertise (i.e. wireless, communications software/equipment, etc) would be helpful but is not required. The candidate must be a self-starter, highly motivated and top performer.

We expect successful candidates will be the highest quality individuals, aggressive, and entrepreneurial and will possess a keen desire to be extremely successful and have a highly developed work ethic.

Qualifications:
• Previous employment by top technology investment banking boutique or larger national firm with top five technology practice.
• Significant technology transaction expertise.
• Undergraduate degree from top-ten university. If the candidate possesses an MBA, the MBA should be from a top-ten business school.
• Minimum of five years investment banking experience.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Strong quantitative understanding.

Please submit resumes to: jbehar@rutbergco.com

Job: Marketing Manager at LiveOps

forwarded to me by Patrick McKenna -- Vice President, Business Development at LiveOps:

LiveOps, Inc.

Marketing Manager
LiveOps is searching for an experienced Marketing Manager to build and manage a rapidly growing line of consumer marketing business. The optimal candidate for this position will be a leader, and will have strong consumer marketing experience and excellent problem solving skills. A relevant post-graduate degree (Master’s in Marketing or MBA) is strongly desired.

About LiveOps
LiveOps, a fast-growing, profitable, pre-IPO tech company, is leading a revolution in the $35 billion outsourced teleservices industry by offering a business platform that integrates the most advanced internet and telephony technology with a state-of-the-art, home-based call center system. This enables LiveOps to provide the most sophisticated, scalable and reliable call center services available today. The tech platform is proprietary, facilitating faster and more effective innovation than competitors. LiveOps cutting-edge technology is constantly being shaped, developed, and customized by the best and brightest in the industry.

Position Description
The Marketing Manager is primarily responsible for implementation, management and analysis of the consumer marketing business. Overall responsibilities include analyzing program performance, communicating with clients and vendors, coordinating internal resources, developing plans to improve program performance, and recommending additional revenue enhancing programs. The Marketing Manager will be evaluated on program performance and improvement.

Responsibilities

- OWN THE SUCCESS OF MARKETING PROGRAMS: Implement marketing programs that reach thousands of customers every week. Analyze marketing programs across client products, offers and other variables; analyze agent performance; analyze training and incentive program effectiveness; and analyze program profitability.

- OWN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VENDOR RELATIONSHIPS: Be the hands-on point of contact with key partners. Collaborate closely with clients and partners to develop win-win solutions, set realistic expectations, and regularly communicate progress, trends, successes, and areas for improvement.

- Work with clients and LiveOps account managers and product teams to optimize programs and implement new and updated offers. Coordinate with agent management team for agent training and communication.

- Develop a deep understanding of the direct response industry: What is our customer’s most successful offer? Why? What are key drivers of success? What new business opportunities or new revenue streams are available?

- Proactively develop and implement plans for improving performance.

Qualifications

- BA/BS required, MBA or Master’s in Marketing strongly preferred.
- 3-5 yrs of deep consumer marketing experience: Experience in customer segmentation, targeting and positioning as well as strong understanding of branding and consumer experience.
- Strong Interpersonal and Communication skills: Exemplary written and oral communication skills.
- Analytical Ability: Able to use various internal tools, to generate performance reports, and to conduct analyses. Ability to recognize trends and key levers for improving program performance.
- Project management: Detail-oriented, organized, and able to quickly prioritize and manage requirements and feedback as well as manage multiple projects simultaneously.
- Insightful thinking: Ability to quickly assess key issues and to work with the right resources in the company to resolve them. Ability to identify opportunities to improve results and increase both client and LiveOps revenues.
- Cross-functional team management: Experience managing and marshalling resources across several internal groups across an organization.
- Knowledge of Telesales, Internet Commerce or Direct Marketing industry preferred.

Additional Information
LiveOps hires self-directed leaders and innovative thinkers who thrive in a fun, high growth, entrepreneurial, customer-centric technology and service company where accomplished, creative, dynamic, people work hard, work smart, wear many hats and manage to lead balanced lives.

LiveOps offers competitive salary commensurate with experience, stock options, health and dental benefits. For immediate consideration, email your resume (Word attachments preferred) and cover letter with salary history (a must) to sherri@liveops.com. LiveOps is an equal opportunity employer