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jack speranza
founder & managing director
primary expertise: business operations, technology & risk management
As a founder or co-founder of 4 businesses and 1 non-profit advocacy organization, Jack is especially skilled
with helping to build new operations.
Jack began building businesses at a young age. Shortly after he got his first bicycle (and once his mom
allowed him to ride it beyond their front yard), Jack started selling personalized Christmas cards to families
throughout his home town. By the age of 12, he had organized a group of friends to pick & distribute seasonal
berries to local businesses (his negotiating skills with local business owners were sharpened at a young
age!) He took a break from building this wholesaling empire around the time he entered junior high school,
having become captivated by the new technology available through "personal" computing. He learned to program,
and "just for fun" developed a simple "video" game in his free time.
After law school, it only took Jack a matter of weeks to begin identifying a variety of technology-driven
opportunities that would dramatically improve the operations and profitability of his new firm. Never shy about
speaking out, he soon began spending more time directing technology efforts than he was practicing law. After 5
years of wearing 2 professional hats, he dove head-first into software development and joined a technology
start-up as an engineer, quickly demonstrating his talents and leading engineering teams in the architecture
and development of large-scale, high-availability, high-performance applications on the web.
Working with a start-up re-ignited Jack's entrepreneurial roots. He soon saw the potential to increase the
likelihood of success for new business operations by bringing enterprise-class skills and professional
expertise to the small business arena. Whether working with companies large or small, however, Jack
brings the same approach to bear, and is consistently adding value by helping organizations better manage
risk while maximizing opportunity. The kind of projects he's tackled have ranged from the development of
eCommerce and social media platforms to internally-focused IT solutions.
In addition to overseeing the business operations for Main Street Ventures and its related companies, Jack
serves on the Board of Directors for several local non-profit organizations. In his free time, he loves
playing tennis (not as much as he'd like), experimenting with social media (especially seeing how mini-apps like
Mafia Wars engage their audience), and watching his wife drink coffee. Some of his more recent engagements
include:
- Angel Funded New Media & Entertainment Start-up [more]
angel funded start-up
Jack worked within the framework of the founder's original concept to develop a strategic business plan
incorporating multiple revenue drivers. He properly positioned the company to financially manage extreme
ranges of anticipated growth by architecting an integrated web application and communications platform. This
system automated the management of critical resources and connected key service delivery functions. Because
exemplary relationship management was critical to the success of this business model, special attention was paid
to assuring this system did not automate key aspects of customer and resource relations.
Despite a 60% reduction in funding, Jack was able to complete the development of a fully-functional
prototype platform within 6 months. He also managed to incorporate a high degree of scalability into the
final product by creatively utilizing a combination of proprietary and open source technologies, and
selectively using both local and off-shore software engineering teams to complete development. In addition to
leading this major technology initiative, Jack oversaw the design and installation of the company's complete IT
infrastructure, and assisted the founder with a variety of critical business functions (including the
development of key strategic business partnerships, the recruitment of an initial leadership team, and
management of day to day business operations).
- International Law Firm - Mergers & Acquisitions Group [more]
international law firm
Jack undertook a limited engagement with one of the nation's leading law firms in the LBO / Private Equity arena,
assisting their IT department with architecting a proprietary Knowledge Management system. By effectively
marrying his extensive experience in business, law and technology, Jack was able to rapidly wrap his head around
the key knowlege points. More importantly, he intuitively understood the information nuance critical to the end
users, allowing him to incorporate data and system design recommendations that anticipated future needs and enhancements.
With a staged implementation planned, the initial phase was slated to provide the firm with a key competetive
advantage it currently lacked -- the ability to strategically leverage the time-sensitive nature of the firm's
extensive institutional knowledge and expertise across geographically diverse operations. More significantly,
the system was also projected to immediately serve as an additional revenue generating tool, more than paying
for the costs associated with its development and maintenance.
- Privately-held Specialty Food Manufacturer [more]
specialty food manufacturer
Jack worked with the owners of this 10-year old family business to help them shift efforts from the "running"
of daily operations to an active management of their business. With the owners intent on soliciting outside funding
to finance a major expansion, Jack began by evaluating the factors critical to outside investors. Identifying
several areas of weakness, Jack prepared a prioritized plan of improvement across a number of operational
processes, including better use and integration of the company's installed technology base.
Jack's development of a revised product pricing calculator captured gaps in the the company's previous
calculations for fixed and variable costs, immediately delivering the the potential to improve operating margins
by 2-4%. Jack also prepared a preliminary blueprint for and completed the preliminary stages of transitioning the
company's existing customer ordering, invoicing, inventory control, and manufacturing operations
from separate manual processes to an integrated and semi-automated system.
- Charitable Foundation [more]
charitable foundation
As one of eight Board members for a local community endowment, Jack has worked with his fellow Directors
to re-vitalize a 10-year old organization. In four years, the organization has instituted more formalized
management and controls, hired its first Executive Director in June 2008, and more than tripled invested
assets. Now in the throes of implementing a major 5-year campaign, Jack looks forward to putting
the finishing touches on creating a solid foundation for others to build upon in future years.
- Privately Held Real Estate Development Company [more]
real estate development company
During the course of working with CEO of this development firm to assess and evaluate the key business and
legal risks associated with one of their major business partners, Jack identified a number of operational
vulnerabilities. He outlined a strategic roadmap that would provide the firm with greater control and
flexibility across its related business entities, better positioning it for the market changes that
were on the horizon.
Connect with Jack on-line:
meg speranza
principal & senior consultant
primary expertise: program / project management & marketing
As a high-tech executive & entrepreneur, Meg brings over 20 years of experience in the areas of business
strategy, marketing programs and process analysis.
After spending 15 years working in high-tech (primarily in Product & Program Management with Oracle and
EMC), Meg partnered with her husband to develop several small businesses that were intended to provide a welcome
change of professional pace. Her work in the areas of market analysis, brand development, and business modeling
led to the successful creation of 2 local businesses that generated over half a million dollars in revenues during
their first 12 months of operation.
Having helped to positioned their first business for rapid sale, Meg began working with a variety of other small
groups (ranging from non-profit organizations to retail and restaurant establishments). Applying the same business
skills and principles she successfully used as a high-tech executive, Meg has helped these organizations meet
business objectives through market changes.
Meg is our resident expert on business and product lifecycles. She intuitively understands the importance of
consistently analyzing processes and programs, as well as what needs to be done to fine tune or re-tool an
organization's approach to conducting business that will assure business goals are met.
Meg graduated with honors from Babson College with a degree in business management. She lives in Hopkinton,
MA with her family, likes running and especially drinking good coffee.
Main Street Ventures maintains working relationships with an extensive network of specialists, ranging from experts
in marketing and sales program development to venture capitalists and technology gurus. By leveraging our work with
multiple clients across these relationships, you get the right amount of expertise you need without having to pay
for full-time access.