15 years of internet and mobile product innovation, design and delivery.

Career highlights:

  • Started a successful mobile product company.
  • Designed core network products used by mobile operators worldwide.
  • Granted three patents for mobile technologies.
  • Designed and managed the delivery of a mobile network operator infrastructure.
  • Designed three award winning mobile applications.

Key skills:

  • Product management of mobile applications and services.
  • Project management of development teams and third party vendors.
  • Evangelizing product technology to customers and investors.
  • In-depth understanding of the mobile industry and where it is going.
  • Extensive international work experience in US, Europe, and Asia.

Present

Consultant, Ian Wood Technology Advisory (USA / UK) 2008 – Present

Currently consulting for early stage companies on mobile application projects for iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices. Managed the design and development of several mobile applications including two social networking based apps, a phonebook synchronization app, a GPS tracking app, and an advertising app.

Past

Technology Director, Disney Mobile, Walt Disney (Los Angeles) 2005 – 2007

Conceived, designed and evolved the mobile application suite and platform technologies core to Disney’s mobile network offering. Designed significant portions of the technology architecture and managed multiple vendor deliveries leading up to the June 2006 launch. Thereafter, developed concepts and managed the design and delivery of several new products:

  • A family prepaid mobile service.
  • A mid-tier multimedia handset.
  • A handset activation service.
  • Rich media entertainment applications.
  • An enhanced call control application.

Disney Mobile won the 2007 Andrew Seybold Choice Award for the Most Innovative New Service by a Wireless Operator or MVNO.

Consultant, Palace Ventures (London) 2003 – 2006
Worked as a consultant on four major projects:

  • The creation of mobile content marketing, discovery and delivery strategies for UK media and publishing companies.
  • The design, delivery, and business development for an interactive mobile video dating application launched by mobile operator “3” in the UK in 2005. The Dateline Mobile product won Best Lifestyle/Community Application Award at MIPCOM that year.
  • The design, delivery, and business development of a suite of mobile gambling games for YooMedia, plc. distributed under the PlayWizard brand by Carphone Warehouse in the UK.
  • The development of a mobile investment strategy for Palace Ventures, Ltd., an FSA (UK) regulated investment fund that focuses on early stage mobile technology companies which deliver industry specific vertically-oriented mobile solutions.

CTO & Founder, Empower Interactive Group (London) 1999 – 2003

Founded Empower Interactive, a mobile product company employing over 150 people and delivering messaging solutions to tier 1 mobile operator worldwide. Was the principal visionary behind the product strategy. Responsible for 3 patents (WO 03/069924, WO 03/027872, WO 03/001819). Conceived and architected sophisticated messaging solutions that are now in use by Orange, SMART, Wind, StarHub, Telkomsel and others. Created and designed the MDP (Message Delivery Platform) product which in its largest installation processes 6,000 SMS per second. Evangelized his product strategy to help raise over $20m in funding from private equity investors. Empower was ranked a UK Top 100 Technology Growth Company in The Sunday Times for three years (2003-2005) and a Tornado Insider Top 100 European Company in 2005. In 2006, Empower was bought by eServGlobal, a London Stock Exchange listed (symbol: ESG) provider of global carrier solutions.

Technical Director, IMG/TWI (London) 1997 – 2000

Worked with top sporting brands including Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Wimbledon, British Open, and the PGA European Tour to deliver industry leading immersive web experiences. Worked closely with TWI’s customers to architect, design and manage the delivery of solutions that bring the Internet as close as possible to the sporting action. Leveraged TWI’s media production capabilities to help break new ground in delivering broadcast content and multimedia to the Internet well before the advent of broadband content. Architected solutions to provide original content video feeds, real-time photo feeds, play by play event coverage, and real-time SMS alerts.

Education, etc.

New York University, Computer Science, 1992*
US & UK citizenship

External References

Andrew Seybold Choice Awards 2007
MIPCOM Mobile Awards 2005
New Media Age Effectiveness Awards 2004
Patent WO 03/069924
Patent WO 03/027872
Patent WO 03/001819
Sunday Times Tech Track 100

 

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