More About the Author
Michael "Mike" L. Baird is an Internet Consultant with 30 years high-tech hands-on executive engineering and marketing management experience in Fortune 500 companies and successful venture capital-funded start-ups. Co-authors Baird and Swanson are associates in the Los Altos Incubator www.firstonline.com where readers of Engineering Your Start-up (available at http://eysu.org) and other aspiring entrepreneurs often seek further expert advice.
Baird was recently the vice president of engineering for Ask Jeeves' ask.com web site, a top five search site on the Internet today, and benefactor of one of the most successful IPOs in history. Under Baird's tenure, Ask Jeeves' market cap increased from $250 million to $7 billion over a five month period.
Prior to ask.com, Baird was the Chief Technology Officer for Snap-on Incorporated, a $2 billion Fortune 500 corporation. Snap-on acquired several Silicon Valley high-tech start-up companies where Baird was engaged in senior vice president-level management or consulting roles (including Computer Aided Service, Edge Diagnostic Systems, FMC's R&D center, and FMC's Automotive Service Equipment Division). Baird led Snap-on's industrial, government, International, and OEM Web-based B2B e-commerce Internet and Extranet initiatives, determined technical strategy worldwide, and gave direction to 370 engineers. He personally built Snap-on's first Intranet collaboration site, and managed a highly profitable Custom Solutions P&L center.
Previously, Baird was the vice president of marketing, and earlier the vice president of engineering, during the turnaround of the venture capital-backed Flexis Control, Inc., start-up in Hayward, CA. He was vice president of engineering of venture-funded Contrex, Inc., founder of Digital Vision, Inc., and Key Technologist for Schlumberger's Artificial Intelligence Lab in Palo Alto.
In other positions, Baird managed several premier computer science research and development laboratories, was product design manager for a Fortune 100 company, business consultant to 20 high-tech start-up companies, and due diligence consultant for various investors and underwriters. He has earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Information and Computer Science from Georgia Tech, an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from the GMI Engineering and Management Institute (now Kettering University), and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He has published several dozen papers, written commercial copy, and delivered more than 100 presentations and lectures to domestic and international scientific symposia and universities.
Baird authored the First Edition of Engineering your Start-up. More about Mike Baird can be found at www.mikebaird.com . Baird resides not far from Silicon Valley, in Central California's Morro Bay, where, when he is not working with start-ups, he is a docent volunteer for California State Parks, and owner-editor of the non-profit community service web site www.morro-bay.com
Michael "Mike" L. Baird has taken up photography in recent years (2000 - present) bairdphotos.com and flickr.bairdphotos.com host his portfolio...
his (mostly nature) photos have been used in 1000's of blogs, publications, kiosks, books, Wikipedia, and in commercial applications including a 2009 nationwide Toyota ad campaign.
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