ABOUT

Launch Pad has been working with technology companies since 1994. We’re experienced in a wide variety of technologies and industries and with large and small budgets. We have both B2B experience, especially technical target buyers, and B2C.
Over the years we’ve provided marketing and market research services to nearly 200 start-up companies and dozens of large organizations with spectacular results: solid positioning…crystal clear differentiation…laser sharp targeting…attention-grabbing (not budget busting) launches…many culminating in an IPO or acquisition. We’ve also worked with numerous international organizations looking to expand into the North American marketplace.
If you’re looking for top-notch marketing assistance for a project or to outsource all your marketing activities, contact us today.
The Launch Pad Team
We are a group of experienced executives who have worked together on projects for a significant period of time.
Shelley Harrison
Shelley Harrison is the founder of San Francisco-based Launch Pad. Shelley, who began her high technology career with Hewlett-Packard in the 1980s, has been involved in numerous high-tech success stories. She has led marketing teams responsible for countless PR, advertising, product, and brand identity awards, and has been the driving marketing force behind many successful IPOs and acquisitions. Shelley has a reputation for getting results with small budgets and teams; she credits this to developing and adhering to a solid marketing foundation, tightly segmenting the market, closely matching tactics to targets, and establishing clear team goals.
At Launch Pad, Shelley has advised nearly 200 companies, many of whom have experienced successful IPOs and acquisitions. Past clients include Acceller (#54 on Inc. 500), Amplitude Software, Blue Coat Systems, British Telecom, Eye.Fi, IGN,com, IronPort, Karmasphere, LoudCloud, MarketTools, Mongo Music, OuterBay, Polycom, Postini, Quack.com, Qualys, The San Francisco Ballet, Signio, Socialtext, Sygate, TeleAtlas, Tenable Network Security, TriCipher, TriVida, Verity and Vermeer.
In addition to her success as a marketing consultant, Shelley served as senior vice president of sales, marketing and operations at Compressent Inc., a software company that went public in 1996. She was the fourth employee at now-public scanner manufacturer Visioneer, serving as the company’s vice president of marketing and customer service.
Prior to Visioneer, Shelley ran marketing for cc:Mail, one of Silicon Valley’s most successful start-ups, taking it from market laggard to market leader with more than 50 percent market share. Shelley helped oversee its subsequent acquisition by Lotus. After leaving Hewlett-Packard, she served as marketing manager for Amdek, a subsidiary of Wyse Technology. Shelley currently serves on the Marketing Advisory Board for Michigan State University and is a volunteer with the Taproot Foundation.
Greg Vogel
Greg Vogel has nearly 30 years of experience in brand development, marketing communications, name development and copywriting. He works with companies in technology, entertainment, consumer goods, and medicine. Greg excels in brand development, including leading brand positioning sessions, creating market value propositions and key messages, coining corporate and product names, and writing taglines and other materials for corporate communications.
Greg founded his own agency, Millennium Communications, for science and biotechnology clients including J&W Scientific, InterHealth and Sterogene Bioseparations. Previously, he worked as a PR account manager at Robert LaPointe & Company, San Francisco, and as an environmental policy consultant at Jellinek, Schwartz & Connolly, Washington, D.C.
Greg also worked in TV as a writer-researcher at Discovery Communications, where he handled projects for Discovery and TLC. In Los Angeles, he developed documentary projects at ABC, co-founded the production company FilmOasis, and worked in production and development for National Geographic Television, Fox, TLC and United Television, including the daily show “Strange Universe.”
Greg has master’s degrees in biology (College of William and Mary), journalism/public affairs (American University) and TV producing (UCLA).
Steve Abdalla
Steve Abdalla brings over twenty years of high tech and management consulting experience in marketing strategy and market research to his role at Launch Pad. Steve’s skills lie in a unique ability to blend his engineering background with analytical business experience gained at both start-up and larger organizations.
Steve has helped launch more than a dozen high-tech start-ups, developing targeted marketing strategies and programs that have generated significant results. For Launch Pad, Steve serves as a client engagement manager, overseeing strategy development and tactical execution.
Just prior to joining Launch Pad, Steve consulted for Quattro Consulting, a healthcare and high-tech consulting firm, and served as a senior associate at APM, Inc., a healthcare management consultancy. He was the product manager on the original cc:Mail for Windows software application. Steve began his career with Bain & Company, working for more than five years at the Boston-based management consulting concern.
Steve holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and earned a B.S. with High Honors in mechanical engineering from University of California at Berkeley.
Bob Fournier
Bob Fournier is responsible for Launch Pad’s market research and data analysis, bringing the consummate blend of experience in both market research and marketing for the high technology and financial services markets. He has used his team building, project management and strategic planning skills on behalf of a variety of market leaders.
Prior to Launch Pad, Bob ran Mayten Consulting for eight years, providing customer research and analysis to Netscape, 3COM, and Sun Microsystems, as well as a variety of start-ups.
As head of marketing for CareerCredit.com, a start-up offering online virtual work experience for college students, Bob redirected the focus of the product, establishing and executing branding strategy toward an international launch. He developed the original business plan for and formed AtariSoft, a semi-independent computer-games division that grossed more than $32 million. Bob revamped Bank of America’s VIP Program, improving retention of that customer segment by 30%.
Bob trained in survey methodology at the Institute for Social Research and holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan.
Michele Nachum
Michele Nachum has over 15 years of experience in public relations and writing. A versatile professional, Michele has worked with a diverse set of clients from Microsoft to Disney, to Intuit, NComputing, SonicWALL, Princess Cruises, and Mattel. She has a sound knowledge of the public relations needs in the technical, vertical and consumer spaces.
Michele has successfully placed her clients in trade, technical, vertical and consumer media such as the New York Times, CNET, BusinessWeek Small Business and PC Magazine. In her roles as a PR professional for Microsoft and Intuit, she created numerous online, traditional and thought leadership campaigns for security, licensing, and consumer products.
Michele spent nearly 10 years working for top PR agencies, including Waggener Edstrom in Seattle, Washington as well as Manning Selvage and Lee, and GolinHarris in Los Angeles, California. She is a prolific writer, and currently blogs for GetApp.com where she has reviewed over 30 online applications for small business. Her goal is to write articles that bring to light the amazing, affordable and accessible technologies that are available for small businesses today. In the past, she has also written for Examiner.com and MomCentral.com.
Andrea Fortino
Andrea Fortino has nearly 15 years of marketing communications experience. She has extensive experience managing marcom and lead generation programs that support strategic goals and adhere to a specified timeline and budget. Andrea is also adept at creating social media plans, launch plans, online marketing campaigns, and measuring results.
Andrea spent three years as a freelance marcom consultant in the Silicon Valley. Projects ranged from managing the creation of websites, overseeing content creation, devising social media plans and executing them, and managing webinars and driving attendance.
Prior to her days of freelancing, Andrea worked for eleven years at IBM, serving as a marketing communications specialist, graphic designer and, during her first two years with the organization, as a technical writer.

BACK TO TOP