Kurt Steckel

• From working with clients, I discovered that QuickBooks ERP required improvements with extracting and maintaining accurate data. I was determined to resolve this issue for the entire marketplace. Over three years, I decoded all necessary logic to fix data upon extraction and led a team to build a product that enabled daily functionality for hundreds of clients. We navigated issues with funding, offshoring, and vendor negotiation. This product contributed significantly to annual revenues and… Show more

• From working with clients, I discovered that QuickBooks ERP required improvements with extracting and maintaining accurate data. I was determined to resolve this issue for the entire marketplace. Over three years, I decoded all necessary logic to fix data upon extraction and led a team to build a product that enabled daily functionality for hundreds of clients. We navigated issues with funding, offshoring, and vendor negotiation. This product contributed significantly to annual revenues and was the catalyst for the company’s sale to Propeller. Show less

• The Director of Finance recruited me to foster greater cohesion between Verizon’s IT and Finance teams. First, I interviewed relevant personnel and discovered a communication disconnect between the departments, then I created tools to bridge this gap with Finance team requirements and met with IT to ensure work was completed promptly. This strengthened relationships between the BUs, reduced rework for a savings of 10 hours per week for four years (~$200K in value), increased reporting… Show more

• The Director of Finance recruited me to foster greater cohesion between Verizon’s IT and Finance teams. First, I interviewed relevant personnel and discovered a communication disconnect between the departments, then I created tools to bridge this gap with Finance team requirements and met with IT to ensure work was completed promptly. This strengthened relationships between the BUs, reduced rework for a savings of 10 hours per week for four years (~$200K in value), increased reporting accuracy, and nurtured better decision making. Show less

• Verizon required a shift of its B2B Customer Dimension from Type 1 to Type 2 across hundreds of attributes for historical reporting purposes. The Director of Finance charged me to lead the effort. I built a strategy to execute over two weeks. Then over 60 days, I utilized a hands-on approach to successfully deliver these tables in an expedited manner. This data was used to report B2B sales to Wall Street, has since become SOP, and still drives Verizon’s B2B reporting. This made Bison a… Show more

• Verizon required a shift of its B2B Customer Dimension from Type 1 to Type 2 across hundreds of attributes for historical reporting purposes. The Director of Finance charged me to lead the effort. I built a strategy to execute over two weeks. Then over 60 days, I utilized a hands-on approach to successfully deliver these tables in an expedited manner. This data was used to report B2B sales to Wall Street, has since become SOP, and still drives Verizon’s B2B reporting. This made Bison a critical contractor, which preserved a significant number of jobs. Show less

• Post-acquisition, the need arose to build interface products to digitize the business. The CEO tasked me to lead the charge. I created and led an engineering team to develop a collaborative workspace application and inject the digital portion of trade spend within it, which resulted in an immediate engineering lead at no additional cost. Within just one and a half years, this product became the flagship product of Propeller’s next phase of strategic expansion, which has enabled future product… Show more

• Post-acquisition, the need arose to build interface products to digitize the business. The CEO tasked me to lead the charge. I created and led an engineering team to develop a collaborative workspace application and inject the digital portion of trade spend within it, which resulted in an immediate engineering lead at no additional cost. Within just one and a half years, this product became the flagship product of Propeller’s next phase of strategic expansion, which has enabled future product deployment and maintained competitiveness in its sector. Show less

• I discovered that the current financial situation would hinder growth without raising more capital. Over several months, I gathered financials, created a strategy, developed investor decks, and met with investors. These efforts secured pre-seed funding, which enabled the organization to continue development and sustain operations.

• During the discovery process with a confidential firm, a warning concerning IP infringement from a competitor caused concern. The COO called upon me to investigate and provide a defense. The first 50 days, I gathered all relevant patents and prior art and developed extensive documentation on the company’s workaround. We consulted on this strategy to ensure accuracy and built a plan to execute defense by showing evidence that the Bison product does not infringe competitor patents’ independent… Show more

• During the discovery process with a confidential firm, a warning concerning IP infringement from a competitor caused concern. The COO called upon me to investigate and provide a defense. The first 50 days, I gathered all relevant patents and prior art and developed extensive documentation on the company’s workaround. We consulted on this strategy to ensure accuracy and built a plan to execute defense by showing evidence that the Bison product does not infringe competitor patents’ independent claims. This strategy successfully established a defense for the company, ultimately unblocked significant funding, and both organizations are protected from further correlated allegations. Show less

• Close-won rates were dropping, and investigation revealed that credibility was not established early enough in the sales process. Resolved to reverse this trend via enhanced communications. For the next 30 days, I established a presentation methodology, developed materials, and mentored sales reps on the system. These efforts became both SOP and Best Practice, doubled the company’s close-won rate, saved the business, and were a driving factor in its eventual sale to Propeller.

• The Senior Manager Corporate Business Informatics and Systems Development charged me to enhance efficiencies with the offshore team. I first planned a strategy for the first seven days and the next two weeks, traveled to India to meet with the offshore team and change management to reduce cycle times and enhance accuracy. I even expedited a critical section of the project that was the main bottleneck, allowing the $1.5M project to proceed on schedule. Because of this, I was asked to stay an… Show more

• The Senior Manager Corporate Business Informatics and Systems Development charged me to enhance efficiencies with the offshore team. I first planned a strategy for the first seven days and the next two weeks, traveled to India to meet with the offshore team and change management to reduce cycle times and enhance accuracy. I even expedited a critical section of the project that was the main bottleneck, allowing the $1.5M project to proceed on schedule. Because of this, I was asked to stay an extra month to foster further efficiencies. Show less

• No official strategy existed that aligned with the CEO’s digital transformation goals, so I presented and won approval from the CEO and COO to lead development and execution. Once completed, I spent the next 1.5 years building the products that encompassed the core of the strategy. This document exceeded leadership expectations, enabled more effective discussions with investors, and increased the company’s valuation. This was a major contributing factor that secured a substantial investment… Show more

• No official strategy existed that aligned with the CEO’s digital transformation goals, so I presented and won approval from the CEO and COO to lead development and execution. Once completed, I spent the next 1.5 years building the products that encompassed the core of the strategy. This document exceeded leadership expectations, enabled more effective discussions with investors, and increased the company’s valuation. This was a major contributing factor that secured a substantial investment from a PE firm. Show less

• The CEO called upon me to lead Propellor’s penetration into the Trade Spend Management services market. I abolished outdated methodologies, sourced an offshore development team, and built mockups, the prototype, and MVP. The team also overcame a switch of programming vendors mid-development. Today, this product is outside the core business. Propeller can now work with larger clients, and this model will be replicated in other company initiatives.

• Leadership charged me to spearhead efforts to increase enterprise account retention. I designed a retention process, built supporting analytics and reporting, and conducted big data analysis, which revealed the root cause was disconnected data sets with limited transparency. I also navigated change-resistant cross-functional teams to develop a process to reduce churn from 1.4% to 0.9%. This saved ~$200M per year for the $40B BU, and these tools are still used today at Verizon as best practice.

• The company partnered with four different offshore suppliers over 11 years, and each supplier transition could potentially thwart momentum. The CEO tasked me to guide a smooth transition with each new supplier and minimize business disruption. In each scenario, I sourced the vendor, negotiated terms, and led the transition of all work to the new team, which included replacing components due to varying requirements. During each transition, this strategy was repeated for all new suppliers and… Show more

• The company partnered with four different offshore suppliers over 11 years, and each supplier transition could potentially thwart momentum. The CEO tasked me to guide a smooth transition with each new supplier and minimize business disruption. In each scenario, I sourced the vendor, negotiated terms, and led the transition of all work to the new team, which included replacing components due to varying requirements. During each transition, this strategy was repeated for all new suppliers and delivered higher-quality teams aligned with strategic goals. Show less

• I identified and recruited a candidate from their occupation at a local cabinet manufacturer and mentored them on the principles of consulting, efficient communication, solutions delivery, and overall business growth. Despite having no previous experience, the candidate is now an application architect at a marquee firm with an above-average industry reputation. Similar career advancement outcomes resulted from mentoring other employees in my career, and my personal average rate of retention… Show more

• I identified and recruited a candidate from their occupation at a local cabinet manufacturer and mentored them on the principles of consulting, efficient communication, solutions delivery, and overall business growth. Despite having no previous experience, the candidate is now an application architect at a marquee firm with an above-average industry reputation. Similar career advancement outcomes resulted from mentoring other employees in my career, and my personal average rate of retention has been ~6 years, which outpaces tech industry benchmarks. Show less