James A. Swanson
878 Hoffman
Terrace, Los Altos CA 94024
Office: 650-941-4500 Fax: 650-941-2104
email:
jswanson@alum.mit.edu
SUMMARY: Senior executive with 25 years of extensive business
experience. Excellent leadership,
problem-solving, team-building and communication skills. Co-founder of virtual incubator for
Internet-related companies. Co-founder,
CEO and CFO of software company. When
elected CEO of publicly traded high-tech company, successfully turned the
company around. Also has excellent sales
and partnering experience and a broad business law background. Graduate of M.I.T. and Stanford University.
Co-Author, along with
Mike
Baird,
of “Engineering Your Start-Up, a Guide
For the High-Tech Entrepreneur” (all new edition).
This book will be published in early 2003.
Los Altos Incubator
http://firstonline.com/
Los
Altos, CA 1998-present
Consulting Los Altos, CA 1997-1999
Consulting work and some community service. Consulting work was a mix of legal and
business work, mostly for Adecco, the world's largest staffing company with offices around the
world.
Los Altos Technologies, Inc. Cupertino, CA 1993-1996
Co-founder, President, CEO
and CFO of
software company that develops and markets computer security software solutions
for UNIX systems.
·
Worked
with co-founders to develop business plan, and successfully raised private
financing (both seed and first round) for this start-up company.
·
Transitioned
the company to professional status and built management team.
·
With
focus on quality and productivity, implemented excellent business systems and
productivity tools for software development.
·
Personally
managed sales and marketing activities for several months, spending 90% of time
on direct sales activities. Revenues
increased 40% from 1994 to 1995, and revenues per employee more than doubled. Focused the company on its most successful
product, disk declassification software.
Ramtek Corporation San Jose, CA 1982-1992
President and CEO, 1988-1992, of publicly
traded (OTC) graphics and image processing company (with markets in remote
sensing, reconnaissance and surveillance, defense command and control, weather
imaging, process control, and air traffic control). Quickly formulated and implemented survival plan and successfully
turned around the company. Major
accomplishments include the following:
·
Upon
election as CEO, immediately revitalized management team to solve problems of a
declining and very unprofitable business, large negative cash flow, litigious
creditors, threatening banks, severely eroded customer confidence, regulatory
problems, and a dispirited workforce.
Personally handled all critical communications and negotiations, which
provided time for management team to successfully implement the turnaround
strategy.
·
Consulted
with key Board members and other professionals to determine best strategy. Concluded that Chapter 11 filing was
appropriate course of action, and led the company successfully through Chapter
11 without external financing.
·
Within
four quarters after election as CEO, restored to profitability a company that
had lost a total of $50 million during the preceding five years. Paid off all bank debt and established a new
banking relationship.
·
Utilizing
new productivity tools and numerous process changes, dramatically boosted
productivity and product quality.
Annual revenues per employee doubled within three quarters.
·
Restructured
and improved all operations of the company, increasing gross profit margin from
25% to over 50% in six quarters.
Improved forecasting and implemented a build-to-order policy, which
resulted in a 50% reduction in inventory and a doubling of order backlog.
·
Implemented
new product development strategy, with result that 70% of the company’s product
sales were from products developed or completed since appointment at CEO.
·
Involved
all employees in discussion groups, problem-solving, and various employee
recognition programs. These actions
kept employees informed and focused on goals of the company. Turnover decreased and morale soared.
Vice President
and General Counsel. 1982-1988. Elected Vice President in 1983. Responsible
for all legal affairs of the company.
·
Reduced
outside legal expenses by 70%. Successfully implemented preventive law programs
to reduce litigation risk and improve the company’s position in commercial
transactions.
·
Favorably
settled two pre-existing major lawsuits that were a drain on company
resources. Eliminated onerous
restrictions on the company’s core technology by successfully renegotiating
pre-existing technology licenses.
·
Personally
and successfully handled complex, multi-party commercial transactions. As a result, the company obtained badly
needed financing, was relieved of $20 million in bank and other obligations,
and was better able to pursue its core business.
Syntex Corporation Palo Alto, CA 1979-1982
Business
Attorney in Law Department of Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company.
·
Handled
wide variety of business matters as counsel for several business units,
including principal sales and marketing organization. Responsibilities included contracts, commercial transactions,
pricing, distribution, real estate, international and personnel.
Crosby,
Heafey, Roach &
May Oakland, CA 1974-1979
Associate
Attorney in business section of large law firm.
·
Handled
wide variety of business matters for large and small clients. Areas of work included mergers and
reorganizations, contracts, commercial transactions, corporate law,
partnerships, banking, bankruptcy, taxation, and litigation advice.
United States
Peace Corps Beni-Mellal, Morocco 1968-1970.
Irrigation Engineer.
·
Surveyed
sites for irrigation canals. Drafted
plans and designed the canals.
Supervised construction of these high-quality masonry canals, which
involved from 25 to 150 workers, depending on the particular project. Taught English in the evening.
Stanford
University, M.B.A./J.D., 1974
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Civil Engineering, S.B., 1967