| Gerard is a Seattle native and entrepreneur. His professional passions are centered around new products and innovative business models related to the Internet, mobile telephony, sustainability and social media.
Gerard started his career negotiating
international technology transfer
deals
while
studying at Seattle University.
He has lived and worked on three continents, and
traveled
to over 40 countries.
In the nineties, Gerard worked throughout Europe for Philip
Morris International as a corporate communications and government relations manager, an experience he describes as almost straight out of Chris Buckley's book, "Thank you for Smoking".
Gerard left the tobacco industry to start an eco-friendly wine cork company followed by another company,
one of Europe's first
Internet and web development firms with clients like Honda and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Between entrepreneurial ventures, Gerard helped lead Swisscom's international
expansion in India. In this capacity, he managed telecom
M&A activities and oversaw startup investments of US$250 million in Indian GSM businesses, which were eventually acquired
by Vodafone for US$19 billion in 2007.
More recently in Seattle, Gerard has worked for Mixpo, a Madrona Ventures Web Advertising company and Verdiem, a Kleiner Perkins Green Tech company.
Gerard has conducted MBA workshops at UW Foster School of Business and served
local organizations such as World Trade Club, OneWorld Now!, World Affairs
Council, TiE-Seattle, Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), CityClub of Seattle, Seattle Swiss Society, Puget Sound Chapter of the American Marketing Association, Seattle Direct Marketing Association, and Puget Sound Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. |
