Brett
Battles

Brett Battles is a full-stack entrepreneurial leader, who is passionate about both designing/building breakthrough products as well as taking them to market and scaling revenue.

He has held leadership positions in product management, product marketing as well as CEO of EcoRebates – which he founded in 2009 and successfully guided to profitability and dominant industry leadership in the SaaS and big-data segment of the market in which they operate. He’s as comfortable:

• going toe to toe with the CTO over product features and architecture… as he is…
• creating compelling product positioning and metrics-based marketing campaigns…as he is…
• walking into a greenfield enterprise account and walking out with a 6-figure sales contract.

He has deep expertise in building, marketing and selling B2B SaaS and big data solutions. He fully embraces the Lean Start Up philosophy (including Inside Sales/Sales Development methodologies) and believes that leaders have to lead from the front lines, with sleeves rolled up and hands dirty (he’s assembled his share of Ikea furniture), yet still create a culture of empowerment for each team member. Proven results: He has launched multiple products, taking them from concept/blank page to multi-million dollar revenue streams.

Brett currently serves on the Boards of The Kilgoris Project and The Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula

Brett holds BS and MS degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was elected to the Council of Distinguished Young Alumni, and a PhD from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering where his research focused on laser-based spectroscopy and digital imaging).

How are you most helpful to early-stage founders?

As an early stage founder myself I understand the awesome burden faced by founders. In particular, I tend to focus on product-market fit and initial go-to-market efforts. I know what it’s like to not come from a sales background and have to get not just the 1st customer to believe in you and make a commitment to you, but the next 20-30 customers as well

What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re really proud of?

Seeing teammates and people in my organizations growing and being successful. As a leader, the ultimate measure of success is the team you build. My proudest professional moments have been when my teammates grow and prosper and go on to great things in their careers.

What’s the hardest professional decision you’ve made?

Starting my last company. It was 2008-2009, and I was quite comfortable leading product management teams for a large public tech infrastructure company, despite the global financial meltdown. However, I had lost all passion for the job and knew I could only find that by starting something myself. So I took the leap of faith despite my friends and family questioning my judgement, and never looked back.

When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

An Astronaut. As a child of the 60s and growing up near a NASA facility with my father and many friends and neighbors involved in the Space Program, I would dream about piloting a lunar lander one day

Who are your personal heroes?

Besides my parents, Winston Churchill. Like Lincoln, he was able to hold his country together when all hope seemed lost and led with a balance of both unshakeable commitment and optimism tempered by the harsh realities of the stormy present.