Georgia Institute of Technology

I help companies launch and love their big ideas at Rocket Partners

Atlanta, Georgia

Rocket Partners is an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Consulting Partner based in Atlanta and Denver. We are passionate about solving complex technology challenges for our clients and harnessing the power of the cloud to accelerate creative solutions. We specialize in helping companies create amazing custom applications and efficiently deploy complex workloads in the cloud. We can help you collect, clean, and capitalize on your Big Data assets with Amazon Redshift EDW, or reduce your TCO and PCI compliance risks with Docker/ECS- and Lambda-based serverless deployments. If you are interested in moving your critical IT assets to the cloud for the first time or just want a fresh perspective on your architecture and spend, we would love to see how we can help. Rocket Partners cloud experts help companies launch and love big ideas.www.rocketpartners.io

Rocket Partners

CEO, Founder

Nine Labs

Enterprise Application Architect

The ATDC at Georgia Tech is a startup incubator that helps technology entrepreneurs in Georgia launch and grow successful companies. Forbes recently named the ATDC one of the "Top 12 Business Incubators Changing the World.” I successfully launched two startups out of the ATDC program, and I joined as an EIR to mentor first-time entrepreneurs and give back to the Atlanta technology community.● Personally mentor CEOs from the highest performing startups in the Southeast● Leverage my expertise and personal network in digital marketing and financial technology (FinTech) to help accelerate the growth of our member companies● Lead earlier-stage companies through entrepreneurship training curriculum

ATDC

Entrepreneur in Residence

In 2014, I took on product management responsibility for the largest digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising network in the United States. The Verifone network generates nearly $100M in advertising revenue each year from 60,000 screens installed in retail outlets, at gas pumps, and in taxicabs.● Served as P&L owner for the largest DOOH ad network in the United States; advertising clients included Visa, MasterCard, Ford, GM, and Google● Set the product vision for payment terminal advertising and couponing, paving the way for Verifone to deploy value-added services to 20 million payment devices around the world● Created a product roadmap to consolidate six legacy ad-serving systems into a single new platform and architecture capable of delivering complex campaigns across multiple diverse end points● Led technical due diligence and team integration for Verifone's acquisition of Outcast Media's 20,000 advertising screens

Verifone

Vice President - Global Media Product Management

I sold my startup, LIFT, to Verifone in 2012, and I continued running the business unit with management responsibility for product, R&D, and operations. I spent a little over two years in this position, leading the fastest digital advertising program rollout in the history of the industry.● Created the world's fastest-growing in-store digital couponing and advertising program, scaling from zero to over 2000 installed retail sites in under 24 months● Delivered high-ROI advertising campaign results for leading consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co., Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, M&M Mars, and Altria● Successfully led a challenging integration process merging LIFT's startup culture and technology with Verifone's established culture, publicly traded P&L discipline, and highly matrixed business processes● Secured advertising network rollout agreements from market-leading retailers, including Circle K, Sunoco, and Hess● Designed an ad-serving and Big Data analytics platform that captured line-item data on over 3 million brick and mortar retail transactions each day to target real-time offers and coupons to in-store consumers

Vice President & General Manager

I founded LIFT in 2009, and I led an amazing group of partners, investors, and employees through our successful acquisition by VeriFone Inc. in 2012. I was responsible for strategy, fundraising, product management, and R&D.● Created LIFT, the first on-counter digital couponing and suggestive advertising appliance● Raised multiple complex rounds of debt and equity venture funding● Built a world-class team of retail, technology, and advertising executives● Negotiated a successful acquisition by VeriFone Inc. in 2012, creating a profitable outcome for investors and employees● Led all sales efforts with top retail clients, including 7-Eleven, Pilot Travel Centers, and Speedway● Created merchandise affinity recommendation algorithms proven to grow same stores up to 5%● Invented proprietary point of sale (POS) integration techniques that enabled 95% POS compatibility in target markets

LIFT / Retail Marketing Technology

CEO, CTO, Founder

I founded Synthis in 1999, and I was responsible for strategy, product management, operations, and R&D. Synthis’ digital marketing and electronic contracting platform powered over $500M in monthly retail sales transactions before being acquired by a market leader in 2009.● Designed, implemented, and commercialized innovative tools for software developers, enterprise compliance and conformance initiatives, digital menuing, and electronic contracting● Created a sales and support network for over 400 customers in 30 countries ● Created the world's first digital menuing and electronic contracting solution for in-store retail automotive sales● Worked with market-leading retail partners to deploy mission-critical complex hardware/software shopper marketing and digital contracting solutions

Synthis Corporation

As an Enterprise Java consultant for IBM's Interactive Media group, I was given an amazing opportunity to work for numerous market leaders on some of the earliest scale eBusiness initiatives of the last 90's.  Select project work included <a href="http://Macys.com">Macys.com</a>, <a href="http://NationsBank.com">NationsBank.com</a>, <a href="http://WashingMutualBank.com">WashingMutualBank.com</a>, <a href="http://USOpen.com">USOpen.com</a>, <a href="http://Hertz.com">Hertz.com</a> and <a href="http://BordersBooks.com">BordersBooks.com</a>.  In 1998, I was recognized for architecting the fist integrated online inventory management system for <a href="http://Macys.com">Macys.com</a>.

Wells Burke

Wells Burke