Nathan Ayer is a product manager and applications engineer with experience launching consumer products. He has over 10 years of experience developing products, building businesses, and exiting companies. Some of his responsibilities have included creating prototypes, performing engineering design reviews, developing financial models, and driving products to market through distribution channels. He also has experience managing projects, improving business performance, and establishing strategic plans.
Working with executive teams in companies in all industries worldwide, we often encounter the desire to make Innovation Investment Decisions relevant to their business strategy and goals. This requires the right information at the right time with context. Innovation Expert Bernd Becker discusses the 5 key aspects of Portfolio Management to maximize Portfolio value and ensure execution of the Innovation Strategy. View the recording at https://www.stage-gate.com/blog/portfolio_metrics-3/
The presentation covers innovation strategies that have been implemented by different companies in different industries to disrupt the market and become leaders in their industries.
Most organizations today have at least one, if not several, ‘digital transformation’ initiatives underway. What was considered leading edge 5 years ago is fast becoming an exercise in survival with recent polls indicating that 70%+ of US based companies plan to introduce a new digital technology platform, digitize their products (i.e. physical, software, and hybrid) and/or digitize their innovation management processes. As expected, some organizations are succeeding while many are struggling. What are the successful organizations doing differently? Stage-Gate International has been helping organizations digitize their innovations and their innovation management processes for 12+ years through an open software certification program launched in 2007 called Stage-Gate® Ready (digital technologies certified by innovation experts).
This article demystifies digital transformation and explores what a successful journey looks like when you use the Stage-Gate Framework, its Innovation Maturity Model and its culture change-enabling principles to manage the three most common types of digital initiatives.
SEAL offers in-depth expertise and a full spectrum of capabilities to help IT leaders tackle their toughest challenges - from strategies to ensure that their IT delivers real value, to new approaches for achieving meaningful IT transformation, while reducing total cost of ownership.
In this August 2014 talk for SVPMA, I parse out how product managers add value -- and intersect this with Lean and Agile. Takeaway: we should use the best tools/methods for the right problems (e.g. Lean for customer validation) but we still need product managers at non-startups to drive whole products and organizational alignment.
Working with executive teams in companies in all industries worldwide, we often encounter the desire to make Innovation Investment Decisions relevant to their business strategy and goals. This requires the right information at the right time with context. Innovation Expert Bernd Becker discusses the 5 key aspects of Portfolio Management to maximize Portfolio value and ensure execution of the Innovation Strategy. View the recording at https://www.stage-gate.com/blog/portfolio_metrics-3/
The presentation covers innovation strategies that have been implemented by different companies in different industries to disrupt the market and become leaders in their industries.
Most organizations today have at least one, if not several, ‘digital transformation’ initiatives underway. What was considered leading edge 5 years ago is fast becoming an exercise in survival with recent polls indicating that 70%+ of US based companies plan to introduce a new digital technology platform, digitize their products (i.e. physical, software, and hybrid) and/or digitize their innovation management processes. As expected, some organizations are succeeding while many are struggling. What are the successful organizations doing differently? Stage-Gate International has been helping organizations digitize their innovations and their innovation management processes for 12+ years through an open software certification program launched in 2007 called Stage-Gate® Ready (digital technologies certified by innovation experts).
This article demystifies digital transformation and explores what a successful journey looks like when you use the Stage-Gate Framework, its Innovation Maturity Model and its culture change-enabling principles to manage the three most common types of digital initiatives.
SEAL offers in-depth expertise and a full spectrum of capabilities to help IT leaders tackle their toughest challenges - from strategies to ensure that their IT delivers real value, to new approaches for achieving meaningful IT transformation, while reducing total cost of ownership.
In this August 2014 talk for SVPMA, I parse out how product managers add value -- and intersect this with Lean and Agile. Takeaway: we should use the best tools/methods for the right problems (e.g. Lean for customer validation) but we still need product managers at non-startups to drive whole products and organizational alignment.
We at Future Factory Global simply manufacture the future.
Providing digital product management, innovation consulting and technological delivery to our clients, we have only one aim - to help them in shaping their future.
We simply innovate, build and create digital products.
That is it.
A product roadmap is a critical and essential element of any startup's strategy. Vinod Muralidhar, MSx '15, Head of Product @ Nitrio, and over 15 years of product development experience, will explain what a product roadmap is, key elements of a successful roadmap, and cover the following difficult questions often faced by founders or product team members:
* How do I balance customer needs vs funding needs (products for investors) in building a product roadmap?
* How do I differentiate my product in a crowded market - Marketing white space vs Product white space?
* How much process is too much process during product development for a small team?
Vinod will also talk about his experiences and be available for Q&A on the product development process, or on product management as a career or function within a startup.
Bridging business analysis and business architecture - The Open Group webinarCraig Martin
To design business models of the future requires a comprehensive set of skills. The skills are diverse in nature and range from the typical business analysis delivery focused requirements management tools and techniques to the more business architect MBA style and business model innovation techniques.
But how can we leverage the two skillsets to create more cohesion in the industry?
Where is the overlap and is there a career path between the two?
What about the frameworks that support these two disciplines?
This presentation will deal with:
Shifts occurring in the market;
Where the business architect and the business analyst provide value individually;
Where the business architecture and the business analyst provide value together;
How are the disciplines merging; and what the future could look like.
Agile ProDUCT Management Essentials for ProJECT and ProGRAM ManagersRich Mironov
This September webinar for PMI’s Agile Community of Practice laid out the basics of tech product management, how it maps against project/program management, and how agile shifts these (traditional) roles.
Informal discussion about #prodmgmt role, challenges, overlap with product owner & project manager, promotional cycle, and getting into prodmgmt. Hosted by ProdmgmtTalk and Atlassian
PMI-SV: ProDUCT Mgmt Basics for ProJECT MgrsRich Mironov
Basics of proDUCT management, presented to PMI-SV for proJECT and proGRAM managers. How are these the same? different? #prodmgmt is responsible for commercial success, while project mgmt marshalls resources and schedules and staff
Elevation Insights ™ | Intellectual Property & Innovation
Intellectual Property & Innovation
IP land grab & Innovation Intensity
Internal Company Mandate Description:
To be successful in product development and portfolio planning, we need to have a sound understanding of which opportunities and white spaces are worth pursuing without being mired into expensive technology licensing and litigation battles. In particular, we need to know who are the most prolific innovators, what are they patenting within an industry space, and also insights into their current/future R&D and product development plans. It is also important to monitor the activities of global patent trolls and their IP land grab activities.
Develop an IP and innovation intensity monitoring system that provides us with sound strategic analysis and actionable recommendations to counteract our competitors (current & emerging) plans.
9-Step Sourcing Process lists down the preparatory, planning and, execution steps that have historically produced favourable results in the quest for a Buyer to run sourcing projects in order to achieve specific objectives.
This course shall list down the important steps and explain them in detail to bring out the essence and importance of each step while managing a Sourcing Project
Introduction to the roles of product managementJay Kruemcke
What is product management? Everybody is talking about product management but what do product managers actually do? How are product managers different from project managers? This session will discuss some of the roles of a product manager and why you might want to take on this challenging role.
What It Takes to Be a Great Product Leader - The Four PillarsJay Patel
Do you know what it takes to be a great Product Leader? In this presentation, you’ll learn about the 4 Pillars of Product Leadership, and discover key skills that can take your career from good to great.
"Where Does (Should) Strategy Live in Your Company?" from SDForum Marketing SIG, 4/12/10. Tackles key cross-functional inputs for a strategy, who needs to participate, and where (in a start-up or small company) this should be located/managed from. Highlights product management as typically missing in small Silicon Valley companies.
Agility in the context of banking doesn’t mean just speed in execution; it also means that the bank is nimble and flexible. Agility helps the bank to win a marathon, as opposed to a hundred meter dash.
We at Future Factory Global simply manufacture the future.
Providing digital product management, innovation consulting and technological delivery to our clients, we have only one aim - to help them in shaping their future.
We simply innovate, build and create digital products.
That is it.
A product roadmap is a critical and essential element of any startup's strategy. Vinod Muralidhar, MSx '15, Head of Product @ Nitrio, and over 15 years of product development experience, will explain what a product roadmap is, key elements of a successful roadmap, and cover the following difficult questions often faced by founders or product team members:
* How do I balance customer needs vs funding needs (products for investors) in building a product roadmap?
* How do I differentiate my product in a crowded market - Marketing white space vs Product white space?
* How much process is too much process during product development for a small team?
Vinod will also talk about his experiences and be available for Q&A on the product development process, or on product management as a career or function within a startup.
Bridging business analysis and business architecture - The Open Group webinarCraig Martin
To design business models of the future requires a comprehensive set of skills. The skills are diverse in nature and range from the typical business analysis delivery focused requirements management tools and techniques to the more business architect MBA style and business model innovation techniques.
But how can we leverage the two skillsets to create more cohesion in the industry?
Where is the overlap and is there a career path between the two?
What about the frameworks that support these two disciplines?
This presentation will deal with:
Shifts occurring in the market;
Where the business architect and the business analyst provide value individually;
Where the business architecture and the business analyst provide value together;
How are the disciplines merging; and what the future could look like.
Agile ProDUCT Management Essentials for ProJECT and ProGRAM ManagersRich Mironov
This September webinar for PMI’s Agile Community of Practice laid out the basics of tech product management, how it maps against project/program management, and how agile shifts these (traditional) roles.
Informal discussion about #prodmgmt role, challenges, overlap with product owner & project manager, promotional cycle, and getting into prodmgmt. Hosted by ProdmgmtTalk and Atlassian
PMI-SV: ProDUCT Mgmt Basics for ProJECT MgrsRich Mironov
Basics of proDUCT management, presented to PMI-SV for proJECT and proGRAM managers. How are these the same? different? #prodmgmt is responsible for commercial success, while project mgmt marshalls resources and schedules and staff
Elevation Insights ™ | Intellectual Property & Innovation
Intellectual Property & Innovation
IP land grab & Innovation Intensity
Internal Company Mandate Description:
To be successful in product development and portfolio planning, we need to have a sound understanding of which opportunities and white spaces are worth pursuing without being mired into expensive technology licensing and litigation battles. In particular, we need to know who are the most prolific innovators, what are they patenting within an industry space, and also insights into their current/future R&D and product development plans. It is also important to monitor the activities of global patent trolls and their IP land grab activities.
Develop an IP and innovation intensity monitoring system that provides us with sound strategic analysis and actionable recommendations to counteract our competitors (current & emerging) plans.
9-Step Sourcing Process lists down the preparatory, planning and, execution steps that have historically produced favourable results in the quest for a Buyer to run sourcing projects in order to achieve specific objectives.
This course shall list down the important steps and explain them in detail to bring out the essence and importance of each step while managing a Sourcing Project
Introduction to the roles of product managementJay Kruemcke
What is product management? Everybody is talking about product management but what do product managers actually do? How are product managers different from project managers? This session will discuss some of the roles of a product manager and why you might want to take on this challenging role.
What It Takes to Be a Great Product Leader - The Four PillarsJay Patel
Do you know what it takes to be a great Product Leader? In this presentation, you’ll learn about the 4 Pillars of Product Leadership, and discover key skills that can take your career from good to great.
"Where Does (Should) Strategy Live in Your Company?" from SDForum Marketing SIG, 4/12/10. Tackles key cross-functional inputs for a strategy, who needs to participate, and where (in a start-up or small company) this should be located/managed from. Highlights product management as typically missing in small Silicon Valley companies.
Agility in the context of banking doesn’t mean just speed in execution; it also means that the bank is nimble and flexible. Agility helps the bank to win a marathon, as opposed to a hundred meter dash.
People who have a large life content can create an interactive cv in a PDF file which allows a self contained document with easily searchable information
Business Analyst's Guide to Requirements Analysis, Lean UX Design and
Project Management at Lean Enterprises and Lean Startups
*Including Mobile Software Development Project Case Study
The collaboration between business and technology while building digital products is still not as close as it should be. This lack of close collaboration and common understanding that product and software design mutually impact each other leads to badly designed systems that can constrain business evolution.
In this talk, Codurance co-founder Sandro presents helpful techniques on how a more collaborative way of working can be achieved, in order to align product and software design.
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGsW9qFb-_M
The video was recorded at SCLConf 2019, an annual conference for software professionals that care about their craft. Learn more about SCLConf at https://sc-london.com/
https://twitter.com/SCLConf
I am innovative, a strategic thinker, driven, energetic Product Manager, Developer, plus Consultant able to think around corners to solve problems developed over 23 years.
My core skills are that:
• I understand the nexus between technology and business value because I have experience across the spectrum (support, analysis, development, implementation and operational improvement)
• I have deep technical expertise and knowledge
• I have extensive reference-able success stories from your work with customers, partners and a broad range of internal stakeholders
My key strengths include:
• Analytical
• Detailed focused
• Managing business partners
• Focal point between the business partner and company
• Understand customer problems
• Effectively communicate
• Suggest solutions that may not be related to enhancing the products
Over the last 11 years as a Product Manager, I have managed a number of products and components, including in-bound OEM offerings providing a reporting solution, web portals, moving a Data Center, moving business applications from one system to another, or feeding the discovered data into a CCMDB for change management. The offerings I manage support the operations space, enabling customers to discover their environment and the dependencies
I am the hub point between Sales, Customer, Development, and the Business, and I translate the market awareness and data to the business, providing the context and road-map for development to enhance and evolve the solutions.
As the focal point for the Business Partners, where the offering is either developed by the partner or is a sell-through, my job is to communicate the business and product requirements to the partner, engage the partner when needed to address customer needs or support opportunities.
Similar to Commercialization Expert / Applications Engineer / Product Manager (20)
1. Nathan Ayer, Product Manager
Phone: (415) 6246732 │Email: ayer.nathan@gmail.com
Linked In: http://linkd.in/131S1QO
****Work Product Evidence On Linked In Profile ****
Enterprise-wide Project Management
Durables/Consumable and Technologies
Enterprise-wide project manager of large, complex commercialization projects for durables/consumables: can create and
manage to a development timetable, interpret/translate design with engineering, interpolate/integrate financials strategically.
Application Engineering, Product Management professional with concrete expertise in
product salability-development and sales acceleration in consumer product and
technology sectors. A move-to-market-focused, driven, hands-on facilitator with a
tenacious commitment to excellence. Direct interaction with inventors/developers, venture
capital and shareholders in driving the products to the buyers. Process: Create a product,
building a business and exit.
Technical Excellence: Profit-making experience using Autocad, review in
Pro-Engineer, Solid Works to Rapid Prototype and perform Engineering Design
and Revision Reviews as both service & manufactured product. Hands-on
Engineering Technician.
Collaborative Engineering Product Management. Design &
Engineering Collaboration with Engineers/Group (Altitude Inc) (Daoust Design
Inc) (Skerpa Design): provided direct input and hands-on work using AutoCad
and Solid Works for Engineering Design and Review Teams. Success in the
identification and analysis of opportunities to establish products for markets
within Consumer and Technology Channels.
Finance: Solid evidence providing competitive analyses of products while
executing field visits/data on packaging and pricing. Coordinated market
research and discussed findings with marketing, research and development,
sales and lab personnel and organized and conducted strategy-planning
meetings. Drove brand with groups, sales, reps, and senior management.
Change Agent: Collaborated as part of a senior management team to
successfully built organizations and to lead organizations out of “Product
Obsolescence” situations and developed and implemented best practice
process changes. [Sled Product]
Global Operations: Experience in international business operations,
including North America and Asia.
Strategic Planning: Successful in establishing strategic direction and vision.
Working with senior operational leaders, I drive a shared organizational vision
for my products defining and communicating executable goals, tactics and
measures of success.
Financial Performance Improvement: Successful at working within the organization to create performance-
based cultures. Critical member/contributor of mgmt. team that increased value of NEOS/ULU with combined exits
Core Competencies
Technical
-Ideation
-Prototyping
-Product viability studies
-Financial modeling
-Life Cycle Calculations
-Concept-to-Launch
-Re-launching
Engineering Review
-Solid Works
-AutoCad
-Pro-Engineer
Management
-Recruiting/teambuilding--Staff
development
-Project management
-Best practices
-IT implementations
Performance Improvement
-P&L management
-Problem identification
-Corrective actions programs
-Cost improvement initiatives
Strategy
-Business planning
-Forecasting
-Innovation
-Informed Opportunism
-Crowdfunding
-Private Exchanges
2. of $9MM. NEOS sold to Norcross/Honeywell, ULU sold to Chaco/Wolverine World Wide. NEOS and ULU were
majority owned and run by Linckia. At ADK implemented a corporate rollout and associated best practices.
Packaging: Managed services of independent creative vendors in developing labels and merchandising pieces
and provided information regarding vendor performance or proposed new vendors. Created and modified existing
advertising brochures and other point of purchase marketing materials and labels for products. Collaborated with
packaging dept sourcing/design of packaging for new products.
3. Nathan Ayer, Product Manager
Page 2
Phone: (415) 6246732 │Email: ayer.nathan@gmail.com
Linked In: http://linkd.in/131S1QO
****Work Product Evidence On Linked In Profile ****
Professional Experience
Product Manager – Drive-to-market-channel distribution (http://www.adkpackworks.com) 2012 - Present
ADK Pack works is a consumer products manufacturer and market innovator in permanent adaptable totes and carry-along
product. ADK Packworks™ has created a semi-rigid, lightweight, internal frame that folds easy for storage and stays upright,
independent of load. A removable cooler can be purchased for greater shopping flexibility.
Applications Engineer – Product Engineer 2005 - Present
(Delivered 10 major products) (One medical device application)
Linckia LLC Venture Firm (http://linckia.com)
With Linckia, innovations need not stay dormant. We have established Linckia to be a concept-to-market
"venture development company" with technical, financial and managerial expertise. By applying our product
development system, the Linckia Process™, our experienced management team and network of providers will
turn ideas into actions and nurture innovations from concept to market giving innovators a rapid return.
Accomplished Application Engineer, Product Manager/Product Engineer within the Consumer Good/Consumer
Electronics Marketplace. Worked with a Venture Funded "Concept-to-Market" innovative engineering-driven
organization that can take an idea, create a functional prototype, drive it through either Foreign Manufacturing or US
and then deliver it to a Channel, Retailer, or Direct-to-Consumer.
Assisted with High-Tech Firms creating AutoCad or Solid Works platforms that were able to plug directly into a larger
ERP Manufacturing Program.
My role was to insert specific expertise within the Process-Step required to drive the creation of a "Sellable" Product.
Insertion point varied. Some inventors required a prototype, some required Engineering Diagrams or Part
Schematics, Inventory List, Manufacturing Resource Planning, or direct insertion into a Distribution Channel.
Presented powerful Financial Modeling Capabilities - able to cost each segment of the process and offer product
viability studies.
Created Evolving “Roadmap” tool-boxing a standard series of actions necessary to launch product and system.
Product Manager
Grate Ideas (http://www.grateideas.com) 2006 -2009
Applications Engineer, Product Manager
Professional Affiliations
Member of Project Management Institute (PMI)
4. Board of Directors, SMART Holdings USA, www.smartvt.org
Field Application Engineers Group
Of-Council board of directors – Economic Development Team SMARTVT.org
Education
Ithaca College, 2005
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics; Double Minor: Business, Theatre
Venture Capital Mentorship: Work Product Examples: http://slidesha.re/14nTC7D