Mark Bressler
President & COO
Lafayette,CA
Summary
An innovative leader who has helped transform and grow companies in the following industries: apparel, clicks & mortar consumer services & retailing, consulting, consumer electronics, e-commerce, and educational services.
Looking for a hands-on position in a consumer, community, or cloud-based service company that embraces continuous improvement and encourages calculated experimentation. Excited to drive meaningful, positive changes to sales, operations, products, services, and user experience.
Overview
28
28
years of professional experience
7
7
years of post-secondary education
Work History
President & COO
Lafayette Academy Inc.
Lafayette, CA
10.2003 - Current
- Purchased one learning center and grew it into three profitable locations that helped 30,000 local students
- Managed day-to-day business operations
- Increased revenues 4X and profits 6X
- Innovated in numerous areas, including marketing, operations, curriculum, and program development. Won multiple "Best of the East Bay" awards.
- Combined data analyses and creativity to create new Test Prep programs, with an innovative curriculum and program structure.
- Lafayette Academy students' SAT score improvements matched the best test prep providers in the country.
- Initiated dozens of changes to tutoring and K-8 programs that led to consistent 1-2 "grade letter" improvements.
- Optimized operations using cloud-based services to increase operating margins by 500 basis points. Researched and managed most cloud services.
- Transitioned from 100% in-person to 100% online in 2 days when COVID shut down in-person learning.
- Today, we offer "click & mortar" services, with one physical location.
Managing Director
Tower Records
W. Sacramento, CA
01.1998 - 12.2002
- Hired to oversee IT, printing, and purchasing departments
- Recruited new CTO and turned around IT department in one year, including SAP installation
- Promoted to run TowerRecords.com six months later
- Oversaw complete website redesign and changed positioning strategy to better reflect what Tower was known for: "Find it all. Discover more."
- Increased revenues 5x in 18 months and Tower became first profitable online music retailer
- Pioneered new software products, including Pandora to "discover more"
- Became first "clicks and mortar" internet retailer when we integrated with store inventories to support "find it all.”
- Named Best Online Music Retailer by Forrester Research
President
Purchase Partners Inc.
Lafayette, CA
01.1994 - 01.1998
- Saved over $4 million annually for clients, including Tower Records, Raley's Supermarkets, Sharper Image, SaveMart Supermarkets, Il Fornaio Restaurants, and MacFrugal's Inc.
- Focused on operating supplies and miscellaneous services, including advertising, mailing, supplies, and cleaning,
- Consistently negotiated better services or products for clients while lowering costs.
- Closed sales with CFOs, researched cost savings opportunities, negotiated with clients' vendors, introduced new vendors, presented savings opportunities to management, and documented results.
- Left to join Tower Records
Education
MBA - General Management
Harvard Business School
Boston, MA 09.1984 - 06.1986
Bachelor of Science - Business Administration
University of California @ Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 09.1975 - 06.1980
Skills
RELEVANT SKILLS, EXPERTISE & INSIGHTS
Marketing & Sales
- Strategically planned and led successful turnarounds
- Repositioned products & services
- Digital Marketing
- SEO (highest rankings in local areas)
- PPC to Segmented Audiences
- Inside Sales & Management (#1 Apple Dealer)
- Devised breakthrough sales pitches (Apple III, LA, PT)
OPERATIONS & OPTIMIZATION
- Operations management (lower costs, better services)
- Optimizing / Improving Operations
- Cloud Services Selection & Configuration (17 verticals)
- Increased operating margins 500 basis points
LEADERSHIP & UNIQUE INSIGHTS
- Led 3 successful turnarounds (with innovative ideas)
- Creative, Positive Coaching
- Consulting (revenues grew eightfold in 4 years)
- Educational Services (profitable learning center for 18 years)
- Online Education
- Expert on Small Business Challenges & Needs
Affiliations
Below is a current list of Lafayette Academy's cloud service providers and online advertising platforms. We evaluated several companies in each segment, and changed some providers along the way. We understand what matters most to small businesses when selecting a cloud provider.
Cloud Services
Asana
Constant Contact
Dropbox
Fiverr
Formstack
Glassdoor
Google Suite
Indeed
Microsoft Suite
Mindbody Online
Rank Math Pro
Referrizer
Ring Central
Slack
Upwork
WordPress (and plug-ins)
Zoom
Advertising Platforms
Nextdoor
Yelp
Additional Information
Random and Relevant Additions
- A proud father of four accomplished daughters and husband to one wife, living in Lafayette, CA since 1986.
- Many interests (biking, reading, skiing, politics, GSW, Netflix, college friends, and extended family), but they take a backseat to time with my immediate family.
- One of the great joys in my life was coaching 20 seasons of soccer and basketball for my daughters.
- An ambivert, who is happy as the life of the party (possibly in a dream) or staying home and watching foreign films with my wife.
- Currently chomping at the bit to work on improvement initiatives for a growing company with positive, open-minded leadership.
- A no "spin" philosophy that drives continuous improvement. If a product or service needs spinning, it needs to be fixed, improved, or (possibly) dropped.
Early Experiences
- While in college, set up a distribution network for "Olfactory" incense in Western Europe.
- Spent two years at McCann-Erickson advertising in SF thanks to a unique "cover letter."
- Managed the #1 independent Apple Computer dealer in the U.S. when the Macintosh was introduced.
- Worked for 2 1/2 years at Hambrecht & Quist in San Francisco as a Security Analyst, before and after the 1987 stock market crash.
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Quote
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Socrates
Timeline
President & COO
Lafayette Academy Inc.
10.2003 - Current
Managing Director
Tower Records
01.1998 - 12.2002
President
Purchase Partners Inc.
01.1994 - 01.1998
MBA - General Management
Harvard Business School
09.1984 - 06.1986
Bachelor of Science - Business Administration
University of California @ Berkeley
09.1975 - 06.1980
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