Smart Starters - Management Team

Smart Starters has the skills and tools you need to turn your great idea into a fully funded and functioning e-business.

Neil Beaton
Mr Beaton brings a wealth of knowledge of the financial markets, company valuation and accounting as Chief Financial Officer of Smart Starters. He is principal in Brueggeman and Johnson (B&J), a consulting firm specializing in business valuation and litigation support. Mr. Beaton started with B&J after nine years with Dun & Bradstreet where he was responsible for analysis of large publicly traded companies. His breadth of knowledge includes expertise in electronic distribution, internet, software, intellectual property, mergers & acquisitions, and pre-IPO stock valuation.

Mr Beaton is a certified public accountant, a chartered financial analyst and accredited senior appraiser. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University and a Master in Business Administration from National University.

Alan. M. Davis
A seasoned executive manager, Alan Davis has provided over 20 years of dynamic and decisive leadership to emerging growth and Fortune 500 companies. As a member of Smart Starters Board of Directors, Mr. Davis brings strategic insight and a wealth of knowledge about sales, marketing, development, and operations capabilities. He built a software business operation at Intel in the 1980s and most recently served as the President and CEO of Advanced Interactive Systems, a provider of simulation and game development to commercial, military and law enforcement markets. As General Manager for Litton Industries, he was responsible for large scale, image based information systems and consulting.

Mr. Davis is also an experienced venture capitalist and consulting senior executive, serving as a partner for Zilkha Venture Partners/Potrero Management Partners, Menlo Park, California. There he provided venture funding, strategic direction and operating management for early stage companies. His vast knowledge of building executive management teams, establishing operations, focusing product and market direction will be invaluable to Smart Starters clients.

Michael A. Hendrickson
Mr. Hendrickson is currently a Principal and Member of Base Capital Securities and a Principal in Base Capital in Bellevue, Washington. Mr. Hendrickson retired as a vice president from Prudential Insurance Company in 1994 after holding agent, management, consultant, and officer positions. As an executive, his scope of responsibility included strategic planning, budgeting, marketing, and sales for thousands of people throughout the United States. As a consultant to the insurance industry he has held temporary senior officer positions with personnel responsibilities in excess of 2500.

As a Board member, he brings over 30 years of senior and executive experience in managing and growing organizations. His expertise in building management teams, sales, marketing and extensive local and national contacts in the financial community will prove invaluable to SmartStarters' clients.

Mr. Hendrickson has participated on numerous Boards and Advisory Boards including ORCA Technologies, Robodyne Inc., West Coast Management Production & Capital, Unilead Inc., Vermont Aviation Board, Sea-Pac Aviation, DocuTouch, and nAabelize. He is also owner of Hendrickson Mining & Exploration Co. in Alaska.

Elton Welke
Elton Welke's distinguished publishing career includes serving as Publisher of Microsoft Press from 1980 to 1988, executive editor of Better Homes and Gardens, and Sunset Magazine. In addition, he is the author and/or senior editor of 12 books. Prior to joining Microsoft, Welke was vice president of Livingston and Company Advertising, Seattle and San Francisco, where his clients included Chevron, First Interstate, Aldus, Microsoft and Pacific Northwest Bell.

Welke presently serves on the board of directors of Advanced Online Corporation and Chinese Worldwide Holdings, Inc. He is board chairman of Northwave Communications, Inc. Alaska and a member of the advisory board for Pacifica Bank. Mr. Welke brings extensive management experience and a wide array of business and industry contacts to SmartStarters clients.

Doug Woodward, Chairman, CEO, Board of Directors
As Chairman and CEO of Smart Starters, Mr. Woodward brings over 25 years experience building businesses, managing high growth organizations and developing winning business strategies. Prior to Smart Starters, Mr. Woodward was CEO and Chairman of Web3000, maker of an Internet accelerator, NetSonic, where he was instrumental in laying the foundation for what is today a multi-million dollar business.

Woodward was co-founder of Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) and he helped to build MCS into what is today a $400MM plus worldwide business. Mr. Woodward then spent two years re-engineering Microsoft's Sales Operations organization, which included Customer Service, Outbound Telesales, Field Marketing, Worldwide Sales and Technology Training, Worldwide Sales and Marketing Information Systems and the Sales force Automation Group. Mr. Woodward was a General Manager at Microsoft for a total of six years.

Before Microsoft, Mr. Woodward served as Regional Director for Oracle Professional Services in Boston, MA, which became the largest consultancy for Oracle. He also headed up Oracle's Eastern U.S. Customer Education function and helped to build Oracle's Education Group into what became the world's largest commercial education organization.