See How Many Clients You're Missing Each Month

Simply enter your business email & Topline AI Agent will show you.

Bio

Generated by
Topline AI
Steven Kolak is a seasoned executive with 20+ years of experience in product marketing, product management, and strategic partnerships. He has held various roles at MathWorks, Cognex Corporation, Compuware, and Teradyne, driving customer adoption, product development, and business growth. He holds an MBA from Babson College and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Experience

  • MathWorks
    • Natick, MA
    • Corporate Development Manager
      • Jul 2015 - Present
      • Natick, MA

      Responsible for identifying and prioritizing strategic opportunities for MathWorks aimed at entering new markets or enhancing technological leadership with MATLAB and Simulink products. - Reach-out to organizations to establish senior-level relationships- Opportunity assessment and development/advocacy within the organization- Licensing arrangements, strategic partnerships, and other strategic options- Analyzing industries, business models, partnerships, and adjacent markets- Developing processes, tools, and best practices for the corporate development function- Ensuring relationship, partnership, or transaction effectiveness- Negotiation and execution of these related activities- Special projects for executive management team

    • Senior Product Marketing Manager
      • Sep 2014 - Jun 2015
      • Natick, MA

      Responsible for driving the customer introduction and enterprise adoption of Cognex Designer, Cognex’s software development environment for developing 2D and 3D machine vision applications, and associated vision hardware.- Owned the delivery of detailed product roadmaps and marketing requirement documents - Conducted sales and technical training to direct and partner channels on product positioning and differentiation, product capabilities, and pricing and selling strategies - Created and delivered lead Designer training course at Cognex’s annual Kickoff sales training- Introduced first Market Requirements Document at Cognex using Pragmatic Marketing principles - Executed permanent and temporary license security implementations for hardware and software- Developed multiple self-service SharePoint intranet tools to formalize delivery of sales, AE, and technical support content created including customer presentations, sell sheets, and FAQ documents - Performed additional marketing responsibilities for various PC-based and embedded products including industrial controllers and PC cards for OEMs and system integrators

    • United States
    • Software Development
    • 700 & Above Employee
    • Business Development and Partner Management
      • Jun 2007 - Sep 2014

      Responsible for identifying and prioritizing strategic partnering opportunities for the company in the Test & Measurement application area. Architected and negotiated the business terms for the creation of a sales channel where the $5B industry leader in the T&M industry markets and sells MathWorks software as a global value-added reseller (VAR). Led a multi-disciplinary team in the ownership and expansion of this channel. Created unique and compelling marketing campaigns to drive lead generation and new business. Remained a business area owner at MathWorks for T&M responsible for setting product direction, setting forecasts, and reporting on results to executive management.

    • Product Marketing Manager
      • Sep 2004 - Jun 2007

      Developed and implemented the product messaging and marketing strategy for company's Test & Measurement product line. Authored technical papers, demos, articles, web-based communications, and user stories. Performed competitive analysis including analyzing competitor pricing and positioning. Coordinated with engineering in creating the product roadmap and product requirements pertaining to data acquisition, image acquisition, and instrument control. Trained sales team on product strengths, capabilities, and benefits as well as competitive differentiators.

    • Product Specialist
      • 2003 - 2004

      Created and delivered presentations, product demonstrations, and proofs-of concepts to high level decision makers and end-users. Contributed to the creation and review of collateral material. Communicated customer concerns and sales roadblocks to engineering and upper management.

    • Product Manager
      • 2000 - 2002

      Crafted product messaging for decision makers (CIOs/CTOs) and end users, resulting in $100K+ deals. Determined quarterly product advertising and conceptualized product promotions. Generated product recognition by being cited as domain expert in Information Week, InfoWorld, SDTimes, and Software Magazine. Publicity created 20% increase in product purchases. Conducted business briefings with Gartner, IDC, etc. Authored product collateral such as press releases, product datasheets, white papers, competitive analysis documents, and price lists. Responded to RFIs and RFPs. Drove short-term and long-term product roadmaps by regularly performing research on enterprise software market. Provided continual feedback to engineering and upper management on needed product functionality and improvements. Lectured to audiences at industry organizations and on-line Webinars.

    • Pre-sales Applications Engineer and Software Engineer
      • 1995 - 2000

      Created and delivered presentations and proofs-of concepts to key customers and product demonstrations to prospects at international trade shows. Defended design proposals and concepts to management and engineering communities. Developed hardware and software solutions for semiconductor SOC microchip device testing on Catalyst/A5xx automated test equipment (ATE) systems. Created training material for new instrumentation and delivered to key customers. Provided technical support and consulting duties to customer base and other Teradyne divisions. Applied Total Quality Management (TQM) techniques to problem resolution and continuous improvement activities within ISO9001 organization.

Education

  • Babson College - Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business
    M.B.A.
  • Northeastern University
    M.S., Computer Systems Engineering
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
    B.S., Electrical Engineering

Suggested Services

This profile is unclaimed. These are suggested service rates with 0% commision upon successful connection

Industry Focus. “Computer Software”

Looking to Create a Custom Project?

Need a custom project? We'll create a solution designed specifically for your project.

Get Started

References

Social Profiles

Community

You need to have a working account to view this content. Click here to join now

Similar Profiles