Managed the Microsoft Alliance for KPMG's Financial Services clients across the US. Responsible for joint business development and selling of consulting services and engagements around Microsoft Technologies
Financial services
Manish Wardekar
Sales Strategy, Growth, Product Management, Consulting, Offshore Staffing, Incubation
Chicago, United States (-06:00 UTC)from Chicago, United States
Usually responds in 19 hours
Free
Price per hour
15 min30 min
Time Blocks Available
4.95
19 reviews / 24 sessions
Sat
14
Next availability
Bio
I have over 30 years of experience ranging from being part of startups, growing small companies that ultimately went public, to helping grow multiple $1B+ businesses at Microsoft. I began my career as a Partner in an innovative startup that developed a patented database technology. We made a lot of mistakes and learned many lessons that I would be happy to share with you so that you can avoid the same pitfalls. I next joined a small regional consulting firm as a member of the core management team where we grew from $5M to over $35M in revenue in 4 years (the company ultimately was acquired and taken public). I have been at the Microsoft Corporation for over 22 years in a variety of roles, all focused on growth, revenue generation and product strategy. You can talk to me about: - Sales Strategy and Execution - Product Management and multi-year roadmaps - Operational Excellence - Incubating new products and businesses (excluding VC related topics) - Growth management and strategy around staffing - When and how to utilize offshore resources effectively
Expertise
Building a team
I have built high performing sales, development and architecture teams, often from scratch which, in one instance, involved hiring over a dozen people in 18 months. You need to figure out which positions you need to fill when, and what are the key attributes you need for success.
Design / UX
If there is a way to break a User Interface or find the edge cases that stretch your product's capabilities beyond their design, I will find the flaws very quickly. If you need help evaluating a design or UX from different user perspectives, look no further.
Go to market strategy
Find your target audience and key buyer. Make sure you start with the "Why" of your product or solution and avoid overwhelming prospects with the "How" before they are ready
Idea validation
There are lots of great product and solution ideas out there. The key is to be very precise and honest in asking the hard questions about what problem you are trying to solve, and what is the real addressable market for a specific product, solution or even a small feature enhancement. You have to balance vision and creativity with ruthless realism.
Pricing strategy
There are many strategies when trying to price your product or solution. I can help discuss options such as "freemium" to paid conversion, subscription models vs. up-front purchase, fixed price vs. consumption based, early adopter discounting, and all of the other factors you will have to consider.
Product analytics
I have built out many data models around sales targeting, revenue analysis, internal performance metrics, and operational dashboards using visualization tools like Microsoft PowerBI to help run your business with real, objective data and facts instead of just gut feelings.
Product management
I have had to influence large and small Product Teams without direct control of the actual resources to help prioritize product features and change roadmap priorities. I can help you navigate the "triangle of tradeoffs" between prioritization of Product Features, Budgets and Ship Dates.
Sales
I have built and managed high performing sales teams which includes all aspects of sales such as KPI and Quota setting, operational tracking and excellence, customer targeting and customer targeting / pipeline management.
Venting frustration
If you just need an ear to bend about things that are not going well, I have certainly "been there done that" and can help you with an outlet for the frustrations that are part and parcel of growing a business.
Toolkit
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
12 years of experienceHave used and sold Dynamics CRM as part of other products and solutions both as a sales tool for pipeline management as well as a customer data record system to track customer engagement
Experience
Part of the Microsoft Consulting Services organization for 14 years and then responsible for seeding incubation products like PowerBI, Viva and Copilot eventually "mainstreaming" them into the broader field sales teams for 8 years