Vidal's Site

Mailing address: 4970 El Camino Real, Suite 210 Los Altos, CA 94022-1441

"Vidal is one unique entrepreneur and CEO who is one of the few people that started a technology company with no capital and built that company to be top in its field. He excels at technology, leadership, vision, and the basic everyday running of a technology company.... " (read more...)

TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE AND ENTREPRENEUR

Technically sophisticated and business-savvy professional with a dynamic, pioneering career reflecting strong leadership qualifications coupled with hands-on, practical experience. Management qualifications in project management, business development, marketing, operations, staffing, finance, budgeting, cost control and process improvement in entrepreneurial and industry-leading organizations. Specific areas of expertise:

• Develop and commercialize cutting edge, next generation software and solutions for consumer and business market verticals. Excel in market feasibility analysis and customer buy-in for new concepts and products.
• Outline strategic plans, technology road maps, operating structures and funding sources. Build development practices to continuously improve efficiency, quality and value.
• Develop and lead diversified teams in software engineering, product management, quality assurance and customer support. Lead projects from conception to global release and ongoing maintenance.
• Develop and manage technology partnerships and marketing/distribution channels worldwide.
• MBA with 12 years engineering and product management experience in the mobile area. Expertise in the design, development and delivery of high-performance technology solutions that exceeded customer expectations.

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

PRESIDENT/CEO & FOUNDER – IAMBIC, INC., Sunnyvale, CA 1994­ to September 2005

Innovative developer and marketer of powerful, award-winning, user-friendly productivity-enhancing and entertainment software for handheld devices, smart phones and PCs; integral strategic partner/ supplier to Apple, Sony and Palm Converged technical acumen and market insights as the primary innovator in transforming a concept into market-leading niche solutions enterprise that has withstood industry, technology and market evolutions over 10+ years. Created and refined the technical methodologies, platforms, and market approach to grow revenue and enhance profit.

Operating Leadership

• Grew from start-up, without any outside investment, a multi-million dollar comprehensive portfolio of software solutions with strong presence in the US and international markets.
• Built strong technical development practices, high-performance teams, and technology innovation business culture that adhered to the highest quality standards and process discipline.
• Hired, trained and developed a multinational workforce, and led a 20+ person team involved in design engineering, product management, customer support, and quality assurance.
• Managed state of the art e-Commerce infrastructure to drive the company’s consumer direct philosophy, and processed 50K in annual transactions through a highly efficient, low-cost medium.

Technology Innovation & Lifecycle Management

• Anticipated technology and market evolutions in the convergence of mobile technology and software applications, particularly in productivity management and entertainment tools for the rapid growth PDA market.
• Designed and launched the most comprehensive, intuitive, compact, powerful and affordable applications that far exceeded end-user and industry expectations. Brought to market 3 top selling products.
• Introduced the company’s flagship time/expense management product after a record 4 months of development using commercially available design tools.
• Moved into “officeâ€? applications (contact/schedule management, spreadsheet/document readers, sales force automation) that were transferable to home to mobile environments, and offered superior value over the competition.
• Garnered first-hand customer insights that fueled next generation product releases and new features/functionality by maintaining an active presence at industry tradeshows, and establishing an end-user feedback hotline.
• Led ongoing market/competitive assessments of existing service offerings at various stages of their lifecycle. Substantiated investment/exit strategies, and resource realignment to high-value applications.

Strategic Partnerships & Marketing

• Dedicated considerable energy to developing and fostering strategic alliances with leading technology corporations. Sustained long-standing relationships through industry knowledge, development expertise and service commitment.
• Developed and negotiated strategic partnerships with Apple, Sony and Palm.
• Closed a lucrative deal to include iambic applications into the Apple Newton Enhancement Pack, which licensed 40K units in the first 12 months after its release.
• Conceived and delivered well thought-out, compelling naming, branding and marketing strategies centered on the ease of use and benefits offered through iambic’s applications, and that resonated with the media and the public.

COMMUNICATIONS / ENGINEERING OFFICER – US NAVAL RESERVE, San Diego, CA 1991 to 2004

Promoted through successive leadership positions to become Lieutenant Commander and Executive Officer of Naval Reserve Unit supporting 1 of 5 US technology development/support centers for the US Navy, Marines and Coast Guard.

• Demonstrated exceptional team building, training and resource management competencies while operating with limited people and financial resources.
• Led team to achieve a Meritorious Unit Commendation Award for coordinating the upgrade/installation of an inte­grated network for a 250-person Coast Guard facility.

TECHNICAL STAFF MEMBER – BELLCORE (now Tecordia Technologies), Piscataway, NJ 1988 to 1992

5000+ employee mobility, wireline, cable and network technology R&D organization formed by 7 “Baby Bells� in 1984; acquired by Science Applications International Corporation in 1997 and sold to private equity partners in 2005 Honed technical acumen in an advanced R&D environment recognized as the forerunner in the develop­ment of infrastructure technologies that fuel today’s telecommunications industry. Contributed to next generation mar­ket research, and participated in the design of high-speed communication and computer security applica­tions.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT & CONSULTING

CONSULTANT – THE VDG GROUP, Los Altos, CA, September 2005 to present

"When just being on the cutting edge is not good enough....� Confidential consulting to new and existing businesses in the areas of:

• New Product Creation – market needs & technology exploration
• Product Refinement – user understanding & UI analysis
• E-Commerce and E-Marketing – website, infrastructure, pricing

Assistance creating passionate communities of engaged customers. Provide customized service engagements that will directly contribute to the successful development and/or marketing of client products.

SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER – SOFTWARE TRANSFORMATION, San Jose, CA 1993 to 1994

Joined a held network management solutions development firm acquired by Novell in 1993. As a senior team member on a year-long development project, gained an in-depth understanding of Windows, Macintosh and UNIX plat­forms while developing a C++ cross-platform class library to port applications between these platforms.

SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER – FRAME TECHNOLOGY, San Jose, CA 1992 to 1993

First person hired into a newly formed 5-person special projects team of a fast-paced, publicly traded 500-employee soft­ware development firm acquired by Adobe Systems in 1995. Developed new features/functionality and API plug-ins using Verity text retrieval tools that integrated with FrameMaker to create a value-added, scalable document publish­ing solution.

EDUCATION, CREDENTIALS & AFFILIATIONS

• Master of Business Administration – Santa Clara University, 2004
• M.S., Computer Engineering – University of Southern California, 1989
• B.S., Electrical & Computer Engineering – Carnegie Mellon University, 1988
• Member – Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), 2001 to Present
• Member – Association for Computing Machinery
• Member – SDForum

SELECTED BUSINESS & TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Software Engineering and Engineering Management
• Experience in building commercial applications for global markets
• Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Red Hat Linux
• Mobile Operating Systems: Palm OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile (Windows CE, Pocket PC), J2ME, Symbian (Series 60, UIQ), and other obsolete mobile operating systems including Newton OS, Magic Cap, etc.
• Programming Languages: C/C++ (expert level), php
• Tools: Microsoft Visual Studio, Metrowerks Codewarrior, gcc, Dreamweaver
• User Interface Design
• Ability to design and program for resource constrained devices
• Object Oriented Design
• Wireless technologies (e.g. GPRS, CDMA, EDGE, EVDO, 2.5G, 3G, etc.)
• Handheld devices (Palm, Symbian, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, etc.)
• eCommerce and Internet Marketing
• Experience with Apache, HTTP, XML
• Knowledge of AJAX/JS, HTML, CSS, and other client side technologies
• Development experience on UNIX and Windows platforms
• Building online communities
• Public relations
• Recruiting
• Trademarks, branding and naming
• Bilingual English & Spanish; Conversational French
• And more…. Including new media (blogging, video blogging), Linux system administration, etc.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT VIDAL

“Vidal is one unique entrepreneur and CEO who is one of the few people that started a technology company with no capital and built that company to be top in its field. He excels at technology, leadership, vision, and the basic everyday running of a technology company. With his openness to communicate and common sense coupled with his CEO experience, he can tackle most tasks.”

Jeffery Stein, General Partner, Peyton Investments

“Vidal is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met. He is an experienced entrepreneur and businessman and is also very intelligent and passionate about life. He knows what he wants to accomplish and goes out and does it. Vidal would be a tremendous asset to what ever organization is fortunate enough to have him associated with it.”

John D. Waller, Owner, Mobile Connectivity

“Vidal is one of the most knowledgeable professionals I know regarding the mobile software and Web 2.0 spaces. He's smart, experienced, and a pleasure to work with.”

Morgan Slain, CEO, SplashData

“I've worked with Vidal for years and have been impressed with his ability to motivate and challenge people. He regularly challenges the assumptions that others accept without consideration, he's convinced there's alway room for improvement. He has a keen eye and appreciation for good design and ease of use and has made those distinguishing characteristics of the product development he's done.”

James Lopez, Quality Assurance Technician, iambic, Inc

“We worked with Vidal for the past few years, helping to expand iambic's products to new mobile platforms. For years before that, I was a dedicated user of iambic's Agendus application. Both as a customer of and consultant to Vidal, I've found it a pleasure to work with him at every stage.”

David Goldfarb, Founder and President, Degel Software Ltd.

“Vidal was a pioneer in the handheld industry, quickly seeing the potential offered by the Apple Newton and Palm Pilot in the early/mid-nineties. His vision for well-integrated software solutions was richly embodied in all the products his firm developed--much to my chagrin during the period I worked for a competing firm! He is a savvy businessman & leader who recognizes the talents of his staff.”

Michael (Mike) Compeau, COMPEAU-FAWKES, Inc.

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