"Your product --- concept to customer"

 

Take your idea through development to manufacturing to marketing to customer
--- on time, on spec and within cost.

Paul Schnitzler

Technology Executive

Highly experienced technology executive with a strong background in electron­ics hardware and soft­ware engineer­ing, for large as well as pre-public companies. Expertise includes leadership and motivation in bringing products through design to manufacturing, as well as developing new business opportunities. Creative problem solver, able to devel­op innovative solutions while turning groups of individuals into teams.

Key technologies include:

·         Telecommunications processing and transmission by fiber, wire, and satellite.

·         High- and extended-definition video and image processing in consumer, broadcasting, and medical electronics.

·         Electronic hardware and software systems – design through production

·         Analog as well as digital design – strong skills including wide-band, RF, and microwave.

·         Product development from customer needs to product delivery.

·         Business development including market assessment, communications development, and prospecting

·         Concurrent Development and organizational change.

Extensive experience in leading start-up operations, including product development management, strategic business planning, funding, and account development. Excellent listener and teacher, with the ability to explain, simply, new technology and complex technical ideas to diverse audiences, and to build, lead and motivate highly effective engineering teams. Skilled presenter with strong marketing abilities, has successfully developed networking busi­ness processes which, together with effective project proposals, have won substantial new busi­ness.

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Employment History

University of South Florida – Faculty                                                                                     8/2005 to Present

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering teaching courses in management, technology change, global economics, and entrepreneurship. Other activities include developing marketing programs for the educational and consulting services of the department.

Courses:

·         Principles of Engineering Management

·         WORK DESIGN AND PRODUCTIVITY (EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION)

·         Management of Technological Change

Paul Schnitzler & Associates, Inc. – President / Consulting                                                       2001-Present

Consultancy – Management consulting for hardware and software companies.

·         INTERIM VP Operations (current): Led development of specialty telecommunications system, a $100 million opportunity.

·         INTERIM CTO: Developed demos for bank fraud prevention startup, a $10 billion opportunity.

·         Interim CEO: Identified a $3 billion untapped market which urgently needed startup’s nanoparticle material

·         BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Identified and closed $2,000,000 OEM sale for video hardware design company.

·         BUSINESS PLANNING: Wrote Business Plan for a new startup in the wireless telecommunications field.

·         BUSINESS PLANNING: Wrote Business Plan for a reading literacy program; Plan has passed all hurdles and in the hands of the key investment decision-maker.

ZMedia, Inc. (Acquired by ValueClick in January, 2001) – Vice President, Operations                2000-2001

Web-based direct marketing list developer – To quote the CEO: “Paul is the glue that held the company together.” Managed day-to-day finance, HR, office administration, and IT administration. Pro-active in marketing, business development, and management and staff training. Key role during the acquisition of the company.

·         Due diligence: Under general guidance from the CFO, managed most of the due diligence activities during the recent corporate acquisition, these included finance, operations, contracts, employees, and insurance. The major report was delivered in just two and a half days with complements from the acquirer’s outside accountants.

·         strategic planning: Brought a marketing view to the company; developed a marketing plan; engaged a research firm to per­form a custom study. Recognized our business as a variant of traditional direct marketing; identified the values in this notion. Recognized values including monetizing the rapid acquisition of new names; and that “bricks and mortar” companies better understood these values than did the most active start-ups.

·         New business: Opened B2B lead generation. Expanded use of brokers and list managers as well as the resale of lists. Developed pipeline valued over $2,000,000.

·         COSTS. Introduced cross-checks in our billing system to correctly capture complex revenue data.

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Coastcom – Vice President, Engineering                                                                                         1999-2000

Manufacturer of digital multiplexers –Brought to manufacture and shipped new multiplexer by turning around program caught in slipped schedules. Reintroduced controls; strengthened ISO 9001 performance. Developed cooperative and exciting engineering department resulting in rapid problem solving by ad hoc teams. Key member for corporate strategic planning. Directed Sustaining Engineering group contributing to strong customer technical support.

·         Product development: Assumed leadership for development of a 2040 DS0, 0/1/3 grooming multiplexer project (going on 3 years); produced demonstration model in one month; shipped product in 4 months. By shipping 8 months earlier than expected, potentially gained $2,500,000 additional revenue. Motivated team to meet shortened schedule. Introduced Concurrent Development to three new products shortening schedules by 4‑1/2 months; planned for and completed shipment in April, 2000.

·         strategic planning: Championed joint marketing with a company that had a mature SONET offering and furthermore had a complementary need for our products–saved $250,000 development cost.

·         Staffing: Improved performance of 23 person engineering group. Planned for needed staff and hired 20% new pro­fessionals in six months. Coached to eliminate disruptive behaviors and improve morale resulting in personnel working longer hours by choice and cooperating to speed achievement of goals.

·         COSTS: Selected CVS version control over PVCS, for $20,000 cost savings and better value. Negotiated distributed payments for new expensive equipment to help control cash flow.

Paul Schnitzler & Associates, Inc. – President / Consulting                                                            1985-1999

Consultancy –Developed hardware and software systems for clients, completing a variety of design projects. Per­formed market research, analyzed business operations, provided recommendations, and wrote technology re­ports. Advised clients on technical issues regarding the performance and construction of their products.


·         PLASMA DISPLAY ELECTRONICS: Created and developed unique electronic hardware and software to operate a new type of plasma display panel (PDP). Designed and built all electronics from small (1” x 1”) displays for proof of concept to full VGA 11” display. Designed the circuitry to drive these dis­plays, the software for the I/O drivers to operate the hardware, and the GUI to permit develop­ers to control the displays on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Milestones were met in budget ($500,000); the satisfied investors opened a new product division for a $250,000,000 market. Led team of physicists and MEs.

·         HDTV COMPATIBLE TOLL TELEPHONE SYSTEM: Developed the HDTV-related system require­ments for a new telecommunications system to permit efficient use of real-time, high-definition video. System would in­crease in capacity with new compression technologies. Saved $5MM in capital expense.

·         MULTI-CLIENT MARKET STUDY: Interviewed over 40 high-level managers regarding their views on the billion dollar Information Super Highway. Identified core issues regarding connectivity and the con­vergence of television and computing. First to predict Video-on-Demand will be a non-starter.

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Cadence Design Systems, Inc. – Director, International Business Development, Europe
Multimedia, Analog Design                                                 1997-1998 (concurrent)

Leading EDA company – Directed design services business development in Europe and the US. Created new prospects via networking. Identified appro­priate design delivery organizations for particular prospects/projects and linked with sales teams. Planned a new design center focused on digital TV and multimedia. Recruited and trained staff, prepared budget plans; over­saw business development for the enterprise.

 

·         DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS PROSPECTS: Introduced networking business process – started with 40 per­sonal contacts, identified 17 qualified prospects, and resulted in ten proposals worth $5,000,000.

·         DIGITAL TV MARKET RESEARCH: Conducted market research analysis for digital TV. Developed a market picture of digital TV business resulting in a customer's commitment to $12,000,000 ASIC program.

 

·         START UP OF NEW DESIGN CENTER: Developed plan for a new multi­media design center includ­ing staff growth, capital investment, and budget. Two-year target: 50 engineers; $10,000,000 in revenue.

Princeton Health Care Services, Inc. – President, Technical Director                      1993-1997 (concurrent)

Medical history software company – Assumed leadership of this pre-public company. Completed development of Princeton Medical Index. Led company in planning, funding, business development, and product development.

 

·         PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: Completed C program which has patient enter own medical history; de­rives de­scrip­tion of the medical status; identifies possible syndromes. Created a unique naming tech­nique to permit over 1012 records. Built new prototype with expanded Windows capability, help, and tools.

Time Inc. Magazine Company – Director, Advanced Technology and Services      1989-1991  (concurrent)

Major publishing company – Introduced advanced techniques to the magazine publishing process including enterprise modeling, improved satellite page fax, and production monitoring

 

·         BINDERY-LINE MONITOR:. Designed, developed, manufactured and installed nine multi-camera monitor­ing systems to reduce advertising "make good" pay­ments that saved $3,000,000 per year. 15 systems were built for 60% less than the cost of commercial systems. Managed a group of out-source manufacturers to produce this system. System is still in use.

Creativity Software Company – President, Founder                                                                         1984-1985

Creativity software company – Evangelized for this unusual product through product presentations, business planning, and technical leadership. Directed development of unique software application which stimulates individual creativity. Developed busi­ness plan, including market research and financial plan. Led company to first release in 14 months. Followed up with demonstrations to customers and investors resulting in first sales and $100,000 funding.

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RCA Laboratories; RCA Corporation, Bell Laboratories                                                          Prior to -1984
Various management and technology development positions

Led early research for HDTV and digital broadcast television systems. Led team that won Television Emmy for broadcast TV camera. Di­rected communications satellite research.– Details can be provided.

 

·         Proposed, and brought to effect, that Bell Labs switch from analog to lightwave (fiber optic) repeaters and regen­era­tors for ad­vanced, high capacity undersea telephone systems. One of very few times a major program was ever canceled at Bell Labs.

·         Led development resulting in first undersea-type 274 Mb/s light­wave regenera­tor in only six months – direct antecedent of TAT-8. (Bell Labs)

·         Developed and brought to pro­duction new low-cost ceramic-inte­grated-cir­cuit 400 MHz mobile-radio ampli­fier in six months. (RCA)

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Teaching History

University of South Florida (See Employment History, above)                                                     8/05-Present

·         Instructor—See above

Fudan University (Shanghai, China) – School of American Studies                                            12/05 and 4/05

·         Visiting Professor: Venture Business And Entrepreneurship – A Two-day Seminar

Northwestern Polytechnic University (Fremont CA) –
School of Business & Information Technology                                          4/03-6/04

·   &nb