| Website | linkedin.com/in/t... |
| @torsten_george | |
| Birthplace | Berlin, Germany |
| Freie Universitat Berlin, Ph.D. | |
| Economics | |
| Freie Universitat Berlin, MBA | |
| Business Administration |
Torsten George is a marketing leader with more than 16 years of global experience in promoting software and network equipment products.
Mr. George unmatched breadth and depth of knowledge across all marketing disciplines (product marketing, channel marketing, corporate marketing, social media, branding, public relations, investor relations, product management, demand generation, general management, and business development) has enabled him to drive turnaround and growth of companies by defining new markets, leapfrogging competition, defining innovative marketing programs, and providing strategic partners, system integrators, distributors, and resellers with the products, programs, and technical support they need to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
His ability to translate complex technology concepts into comprehensible business benefits has enabled him to work successfully in several high-tech sectors (high-tech consultancy, intelligent transportation systems, enterprise software, software-as-a-service, telecommunications / networking industry, and security software).
Currently, Mr. George serves as executive in residence at MktgVirtue, assisting entrepreneurs and startups to be more successful in the execution of their businesses and development of market strategies.
Up till June 2010, Mr. George was vice president of worldwide marketing at ActivIdentity (NASDAQ: ACTI), a provider of strong authentication and credential management solutions. He joined ActivIdentity in July 2007 to offer his expertise in software-as-a-service and build a new business unit from ground up. For the first eleven months of his tenure his primary responsibilities focused on defining, developing, and promoting the company’s future on-demand service offering.
At the same time, Mr. George was appointed as member of Cordys Holding’s industry advisory board to assist the company management as a sounding board for their new software-as-a-service product initiative. Cordys, a Dutch company, is a leader in business process management software.
Later, ActivIdentity appointed Mr. George to the vice president of worldwide marketing position, where he led the company’s public relations, investor relations, field marketing, corporate marketing, channel marketing, and solutions marketing teams. In his position, Mr. George was tasked with repositioning and rebranding the company, which encompassed the development of a mission and vision statement, elevator pitch, boilerplate content, style guide, collateral templates, and a new website. Beyond these tasks he was deeply involved in defining the future product and price strategy as well as defining and rolling out the company’s new channel partner program.
All these activities contributed to the turnaround of the company and made 2009 its first profitable fiscal year ever. However, these advances were most recently offset by acquisition and legal costs. Thus, ActivIdentity was forced to adjust its operating budget in an organization-wide restructuring. Mr. George lost most of his team members and his own position was made redundant.
Before joining ActivIdentity, Mr. George served nearly six years as chief marketing officer at Quick Eagle Networks (formerly known as Digital Link), a leading network communications equipment vendor. His responsibilities included development, implementation, and coordination of Quick Eagle’s worldwide market strategies and marketing plans, including PR, branding, positioning, advertising campaigns, the corporate website, trade shows and partner events, and sales communications materials. In addition to his corporate marketing function, he oversaw Quick Eagle’s product marketing, product management, business development (including OEM relationships), customer support, sales administration, and channel marketing efforts. Both his North American and international channel programs won the “Five Star Channel Award†by VARBusiness two years in a row, confirming his strong commitment to the channel community. His technology foresight and ability to rally an entire organization to share his vision were essential in turning the company profitable after several years of losses.
While working at Quick Eagle, Mr. George was appointed to the strategic advisory board of Solid Information Technology, a leading provider of fast, always-on and affordable database solutions. He assisted the company in fine-tuning its marketing and channel strategy. His engagement ended when IBM acquired Solid Information Technology in January 2008.
Prior to joining Quick Eagle, Mr. George worked at Everdream Corporation, a Hewlett-Packard funded software-as-a-service desktop management provider. As the senior director of marketing, he focused on evangelizing the organization’s technology, positioning the company as the market pioneer, and developing brand equity and channel awareness. His idea of using a neutral brand to resell Everdream’s services through the channel while avoiding channel conflict earned the company the “Technology Leader in Channel†award by CRN Magazine. During his tenure, he also led an impartial primary research program, which evaluated Everdream’s product offerings and pricing in the SMB market. Given the research results and recommendations, Everdream’s management team decided to change its target market and realign its product portfolio, which led to the dissolution of the marketing group. Nonetheless, his team’s recommendations were implemented ultimately and have helped Everdream establish itself as the leader in the emerging software-as-a-service market. As a result, Dell acquired Everdream in December 2007 to enhance its position in the services industry.
Before Everdream, Mr. George was director of international marketing and products for Distinct Corporation / SupportPlaza, a renowned software vendor. While in this role, he spearheaded the re-launch of the company from a core provider of programming tools for developers to enterprise CRM software. Among other things he was responsible for developing the worldwide channel, partly by leveraging his connections and experience in EMEA. Mr. George’s marketing campaigns, product launches, and business development efforts significantly increased brand awareness and led to the company’s acquisition by a major competitor.
Preceding Mr. George’s immigration to the United States in April 1999, he worked for an intelligent transportation systems (ITS) provider in Germany, building its product-marketing department from the ground up. Here Mr. George implemented an innovative, customer-driven product management process that helped transform the company from an engineering-driven to a marketing-driven organization. This change contributed to triple-digit revenue growth and secured the recruitment of additional customer accounts.
Mr. George started his career as a marketing consultant at c-quential, the high-tech business group of Arthur D. Little International. In retrospect, he credits the diversity of marketing assignments that he handled as a consultant as the foundation of his very broad marketing knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit. Mr. George has published a book and numerous articles in industry publications. Known for his dedication towards the channel, his innovative channel programs have won frequent awards. Throughout his career, Mr. George has assisted many start-up companies in determining their marketing, channel, and product strategy. He holds a Ph.D. in economics, an MBA in marketing and business strategy, as well as a law degree.
