MEET THE CORE TEAM
Core Strategies has been built by technology industry veterans who have a combined track record of over 100 years of success! We have all been industry executives with experience in Sales, Marketing, Channel Development and Supply-chain management.
As colleagues in our exciting industry, we had developed strong relationships, both professional and personal. And, after working companies from start-ups to Fortune 500's for many years, in 1996 we decided to join together to create the Core Team and have been helping technology and telecommunications companies "Move-the meter" ever since.
Although our headquarters is in Irvine, California, we have offices in San Jose and San Francisco, Greenwich, CT, Chicago, IL and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
MARSHALL TOPLANSKY – CHAIRMAN AND CEO
Marshall founded Core Strategies in 1996, building on his accomplishments and leadership role as one of the most creative marketers in the information technology field. In his 30+ years of business experience, Marshall has led organizations to finding new ways of thinking and operating that have resulted in unprecedented growth and success. His experiences include growing businesses in the personal computer, data communications devices, telecommunications services and software development areas. Marshall comes out of the corporate world, but has founded his own businesses and worked in myriad entrepreneurial and mid-size corporate environments.
While building Core Strategies, Marshall has directed a wide variety of successful consulting engagements for clients such as Cellular One, Gateway, Lenovo and Toshiba. As head of marketing at US Robotics, Marshall developed and delivered an influencer-centric marketing strategy that fueled its hyper-growth in the modem business through the mid-1990's. Working with software company Open Environment, Marshall developed the sales and marketing strategy necessary for their successful IPO.
Marshall lives with his family in Irvine, California. He is serving his second term as Managing Director of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Orange County. A past board member of the Computing Technologies Industry Association, Marshall serves on the national advisory board of the Market Research Association of America, and is on the national steering committee of the political organization Small Business Majority. Marshall is also a member of Tech Coast Angels, one of the country's largest and oldest angel investing organizations. Marshall earned an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School and his B.A. degree in Political Science/Chinese from the State University of New York - Albany.
SHAWN SAUCIER – VP OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & SENIOR PARTNER
Shawn Saucier is a senior partner and VP of Business Development at Core Strategies. Over the last 18 years have held various management positions in the following technology companies: – Gateway - Managed Quantitative Research and Customer Satisfaction. – Intel - New Product Development for the Network Equipment Division. – Merck- CN Biosciences - Director managing six divisions. – Iomega - Manager for Zip and Clik! product lines. – Intuit - Manager for Turbo-Tax product line. – Hughes – Network Equipment Division & Direct TV.
Shawn holds a Bachelors degree in Finance from University of Wyoming.
JOE FORMICHELLI – SENIOR PARTNER
Joe Formichelli has over thirty years of experience in the computer industry that cuts across all general management responsibilities. In his time at IBM, he progressed to Vice President of World Wide Operations and ended his career there as Vice President/General Manager of the successful ThinkPad line of notebook computers.
After retiring from IBM, he was CEO/President of Hayes Modems, President of ClearCube, an Austin, TX start-up and most recently was Executive Vice President of Toshiba's Computer Systems Group responsible for General Management of Toshiba's computer business in the US, Latin America and South America.
His general management experience includes Profit and Loss ownership, Product development, Marketing and Sales, Finance and Operations. He has a broad background in Strategy, Technology Alliances and Partnerships, Field Service and Solutions and Product launches. In his most recent assignment, he successfully converted Toshiba's computer business from a technology driven, indirect sales organization to one of E-Business, Customer Relations Management, Direct Sales, (both corporate direct and "Shop Toshiba"), and revamped their manufacturing operations into a US configuration center to add flexibility and supply chain time reductions.
Mr. Formichelli holds a Masters in Management Science (MBA) from MIT's Sloan School of Management. He lives in Laguna Niguel ,CA.
MARK BUTJE - VICE PRESIDENT
With over twenty years of experience, Mark is a seasoned marketing executive with positions in development, product marketing, strategic marketing and marketing research in various technology companies. He has extensive experience developing marketing strategies in Europe, Asia and the United States.
After a career as Product Marketing manager at companies like Wang and Apple, Mark was Vice President of Corporate Marketing at RING!, a Dutch software company specializing in Computer Telephony and Call Centre Software. As Senior Consultant and Marketing Director at Brodeur Marketing Europe, Mark successfully helped start-ups to develop their go-to-market strategy and worked with a team to prepare and guide the sell of the worldwide IT department of ABN AMRO to EDS. After moving to California in 2003, Mark led International Marketing for Gateway and Design Science, extending their business in Europe and Asia.
Mark speaks four languages: English, French, German and Dutch. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
In 2005, Elsevier Science published Mark's first book: "Product Marketing for Technology Companies" (ISBN 0 7506 5994 7).
JAGDISH JOSHI – Chief Technology Officer
His specialty is technology and large scale information systems. He created the architecture for the web infrastructure of Disney's online properties. of Disney's online properties. He directed new business development activities at New Century Financial.
Jagdish received a Master's degree and Doctorate from Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Master's degree from University of Notre Dame, and is a graduate of India's elite Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.
JAMES CAREY – CONSULTING PARTNER
Jim Carey brings eighteen years of experience in database marketing and integrated communications. His specialty is developing practical marketing applications for leading edge technologies.
Jim believes that the goal of direct marketing is to build individual relationships with customers. To accomplish this, he integrates the long-term branding ideas of advertising, the short-term calls to action of direct response, and the most advanced technologies of database marketing.
He has helped build clients' businesses in the retail, financial services, high tech, mail order, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, industrial, and consumer marketing fields.
Assignments have included strategic planning, designing and managing marketing databases, predictive modeling, corporate positioning, product introductions, traffic building, inquiry generation, systems design and loyalty marketing.
Jim's retail experience included assignments with Sears, Aaron's Office Furniture, Computer City, Sears Business Systems, BJ's Wholesale Club, TJ Maxx, Neiman Marcus and others.
He brings considerable experience in identifying high potential market niches, generating traffic and building customer loyalty programs.
Prior to becoming a database marketing consultant, Jim held leadership positions in direct marketing agencies in New York and Boston, and finally as Director of Client Services at Ogilvy & Mather Direct in Chicago.
He has won several Direct Marketing Association Gold Echo's, as well as other local, national, and international awards.In 1999, Jim was named President of the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing. He is a trustee of the CADM Educational Foundation.
Jim is active in the database marketing community as a speaker, teacher and author. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Integrated Marketing Program at Northwestern University. Jim leads DMA Education Foundation's Professor's Institute course on lifetime value and predictive modeling, and teaches the CADM's "Introduction to Database Marketing" basic course module.
Jim lives with his wife and two occasionally adorable children in Glencoe, Illinois.
RONDA PINKERMAN - SENIOR ANALYST
Ronda Pinkerman is a Senior Analyst at Core Strategies. With over 15 years of measurable achievements in marketing and management, Ronda has had the unique opportunity to develop and implement market strategies for businesses from Fortune 100 companies to small, privately-owned firms.
While her most recent expertise and role is in research, she also has broad-based experience in the following fields and business environments:
| ● Product marketing and sales management | ● Quantitative and qualitative studies |
| ● Project and program management |
● Primary and secondary research |
| ● Data analysis, reporting, and presentation | ● Market segmentation strategies |
| ● Customer interaction and communication | ● Vertical market initiatives |
| ● International business and consumer research | ● Integrated target marketing programs |
Analysis specialties include significance testing (nonparametric tests, repeated measures, means comparisons), cluster analysis, regression/conjoint/factor analysis, frequency/means/deviations, and cross tabulation. Also, variable & dataset manipulation -including file splits, recoding variables, dataset mergers and computations. Her creativity, organization skills, and communication/writing ability enhances the Core Strategies data presentations and relationships with clients.
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Ronda earned an MBA degree from the University of South Dakota and a BBA degree in Marketing and Accounting from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. After moving many times across the country, she now lives in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota with her husband, three daughters, and poodle puppy.