Rearden Commerce

Corey Billington is a consulting associate professor at Stanford University's Engineering School. He teaches computer simulation, inventory theory, operations management, and supply chain management to MBA, MS and IE candidates, and industry executives. He also guest lectures at the business schools of Arizona State, MIT, Northwestern, and Santa Clara University.

Before joining the academic world, Corey Billington spent 15 years at Hewlett-Packard in strategic planning and supply chain management roles. As the Vice President of Supply Chain Services, he was responsible for HP's corporate procurement and the company's $2 billion e-supply chain activities. He and his team developed processes that allowed HP to vastly increase the efficiency and profitability of its printer and computer business lines. Also, Corey and his group pioneered methods, such as buy-sell programs, to safeguard HP's outsourced supply chains and to significantly reduce corporate tax rates. The innovation of these methodologies was noted by Purchasing Magazine, which awarded HP its Medal of Excellence.

Corey earned BS degrees from both Claremont McKenna College and Stanford University, and then went on to pursue an MS and PhD at Stanford in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management. He is the author or contributor to scores of strategic supply chain research papers and other publications as well as a frequent conference presenter.

Andrea (Andy) Cunningham was the Founder and CEO of CXO Communication, a privately held brand strategy and communication firm focused entirely on matters critical to corporate officers and their teams. Based in Palo Alto, California, CXO creates and executes branding and communication programs that advance corporate reputation, increase shareholder value and accelerate business growth. Andy was founder and CEO of Cunningham Communication, a public relations agency she founded in 1985 and sold to Huntsworth plc in 2000.

Andy sits on the following non-profit boards: The Aspen Institute, The Computer History Museum, and ZERO1: the Art and Technology Network, a contemporary arts organization she founded in 2000 that acts as a catalyst and platform for the development and presentation of innovative art. She is also a member of the advisory board of Specialized Bicycle Components.

Andy was named a 1998 Henry Crown Fellow and is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, Committee of 200 and the World Presidents Organization where she is an officer. She received a B.A. in English from Northwestern University and resides in Palo Alto, California with her husband, Rand Siegfried, and two children.

Michael Dearing has worked on courses such as Creating Infectious Action and Creating Mass Market Experiences. Michael's current research interests include process design for new product development, "productizing" emerging technologies, consumer marketing and retail technology, product strategy and pricing.

Before joining the d.school in 2006, Michael spent nearly seven years at eBay, serving most recently as Senior Vice President & General Merchandise Manager. In that role, he led category management, product marketing, seller development, eBay Stores, and direct-to-consumer marketing for eBay North America. Michael and his colleagues were also responsible for the launch and growth of many new merchandise categories and new businesses such as Buy-it-Now, eBay Stores, and ProStores. Prior to eBay, Michael held leadership positions at Bain & Company, Filene's Basement, The Walt Disney Company, and Industrial Shoe Warehouse.

Michael holds an AB in Economics from Brown University and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Economic History Association and the Business History Conference.

Ken Eaton was responsible for the direct sourcing of products globally for Wal-Mart's retail stores in the United States and around the world, including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Korea, and Japan (partial interest). He had 1200 associates in his organization, at 20 sourcing offices in 17 different countries, Their mission was to work directly with suppliers and factories to develop global buying plans for Wal-Mart retail stores. Eaton reported directly to Mr. Tom Coughlin, Vice Chairman of the Board of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Ken joined Wal-Mart in 1987, working in the beginning stages of HyperMart / Supercenters. He served Wal-Mart Stores as Vice President and Divisional Merchandise Manager, Accessories and Intimate Apparel; Vice President and Divisional Merchandise Manager, Men and Boys Apparel Mart Stores; and Vice President and General Merchandise Manager for Jewelry and Shoes Merchandising. In 2001, he became the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Wal-Mart Global Procurement.

John Hagel has over 25 years of experience as a management consultant with a focus on defining actionable business strategies to create business value, accelerating near-term performance improvement goals, and targeting longer-term growth options.

Prior to forming his own consulting practice, John served as Chief Strategy Officer for 12 Entrepreneuring, a San Francisco-based operating company building businesses in web services technology. While there he helped launch Grand Central and Oxygen Software. Prior to that he founded and led McKinsey's strategy and e-commerce practices, where he served a broad range of clients across the world. Earlier, he was Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning for Atari, Founder and CEO of the Sequoia Group, and a Consultant with BCG.

John has a BA from Wesleyan University, BPhil from Oxford University, and JD/MBA from Harvard University, and is the author of three successful business strategy books.

Paul Melchiorre, currently Vice President of Global Channels and Alliances for Ariba, brings more than 20 years of technology and management experience to the advisory board. Paul joined Ariba in 1998 as Vice President of Operations for the Americas. He built the sales, services, channels, and alliances organizations that took Ariba from zero revenue to $700 million in annual sales.

Previously, Paul was Senior Vice President for Global Accounts at SAP America, Inc., where he helped grow revenues six-fold and oversaw several strategic business units. Paul also served as Regional Vice President of MAI Basic 4 and held management positions at ADP.

Paul received a BS from Villanova University and an MBA from Drexel University.

Alex Mendez has been a General Partner of Storm Ventures since October 2000. Previously, he was an investor and CEO/Chairman of Sanera Systems (acquired by McData) and served on the McData Board of Directors until 2007. He was also an investor and board member of Airespace, which was acquired by Cisco. His investment focus is on wireless, computing and storage data centers and Web 2.0 and Enterprise software. Alex spent twenty-one years in high tech at ROLM, IBM, Stratacom, and Cisco, holding several executive positions, most recently as an SVP/GM at Cisco. He was part of the founding team of Stratacom, which Cisco acquired.

Alex holds a BSEE from Stanford University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Peter Sealy is the founder, CEO and majority shareholder of The Sausalito Group, Inc. and specializes in business and marketing strategy and expert witness testimony. His background includes over 20 years at The Coca-Cola Company where he held a variety of key positions, including CMO, and was responsible for the now-famous "Always Coca-Cola " advertising campaign. Peter was also President of Marketing and Distribution at Columbia Pictures where his releases included GhostBusters, La Bamba, Karate Kid, Stand By Me and Tootsie.

Peter served as Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Co-Director of the Center for Marketing and Technology at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2004, he joined the faculty of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, and in the summer of 2007, he assumed the position of Adjunct Professor of Marketing at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He is currently a board member and advisor at a number of technology companies.

Peter earned his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley.