SCALING UP IT TO BIG DATA

2:45pm - Wednesday, March 9

It is well known that IT becomes more complex and the stakes get higher as a startup begins to scale.  With scale, big data becomes a real business opportunity. Are your systems ready to scale? This session will focus on what startups can and should do now to capture the data you can profit from in the future.

MIKE FISHER

Managing Partner, AKF Partners

Michael is a co-founder and managing partner of AKF Partners a boutique-consulting firm focused on helping companies scale. Prior to this Michael was the Chief Technology Officer of Quigo, an Internet advertising startup acquired by AOL in 2007.

 

Prior to Quigo, Michael served as Vice President, Engineering & Architecture for PayPal, Inc. an eBay company. Prior to joining PayPal, Michael spent seven years at General Electric helping to develop the company’s technology strategy and was a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Michael served six years as a Captain and pilot in the US Army.

 

Michael received a PhD and MBA from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, an MS in Information Systems from Hawaii-Pacific University, and a BS in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy (West Point). Michael is an Adjunct Professor in the Design & Innovation Department at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

 

Michael has co-authored multiple articles and papers as well as three books – The Art of Scalability (Addison-Wesley, 2nd edition 2015), Scalability Rules (Addison-Wesley, 2011), and The Power of Customer Misbehavior (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) that have sold over 25,000 copies and been translated to 5 languages. His issued and pending patents include video content association and the automated aesthetic optimization of content, products, and advertising.

MARTY ABBOTT

Managing Partner, AKF Partners

Marty founded AKF Partners with Mike Fisher and Tom Keeven in 2007. He was formerly the COO of Quigo, an advertising technology startup sold to AOL, and the SVP/CTO of eBay during its growth from start up to a Fortune 500 company. Prior to eBay, Marty held domestic and international engineering, management and executive positions at Gateway and Motorola. He spent a total of 12 years on active and reserve duty as an officer in the US Army.

 

Marty has a Doctor of Management from Case Western Reserve University, an MS in Computer Engineering from the University of Florida, a BS in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy (West Point) and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Executive Education Program (Program for Management Development).

 

Marty has served on the Board of Directors of a number of public and private companies including Bullhorn, a company sold to Vista Equity Partners in June of 2012. He is the co-author of two books with Mike Fisher (The Art of Scalability and Scalability Rules) translated to 5 languages including English and a third book (The Power of Customer Misbehavior) co-authored with Mike Fisher and Kalle Lyytinen.

 

Marty’s issued and pending patents range from authentication of electronic documents to the automated optimization of content, products and advertising based on aesthetic attributes. Marty is the recipient of the highest award given by the Director of the USSS to non Secret Service employees.