Dan Schaefer
St. Louis, Missouri, US
Dan's Skills
Programming
Technical
Product Management
Marketing
Background
Startup Experience
First time founder
About Dan
I'm a programmer and engineer with lots of experience in the technical as well as the marketing side of business. I've worked at several startups that "made it" to the top. Now I specialize in using JavaScript to implement Business Process Management solutions.
I've worn many hats over the years. I've been a hardware circuit board designer (including FPGAs), a micro-controller developer, a software developer (20+ languages), a sales engineering manager, a product manager, a trainer, and a product marketing manager. I've held a lot of posts and excelled at each. I've also published a number of articles in on-line and in-print trade magazines.
I'm a goal-driven believer in both realizing success and measuring success. Though I believe in luck, I don't believe in random luck. I believe you need to have a clearly defined goal, a means of getting there, a method of measuring it, and a way to communicate it. Then when luck visits you, you'll be ready for it.
I look forward to working with exciting startups.
Quote
Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. - Steve Jobs
Work Experience
Systems Management Software Engineer
Exegy, Inc
October 2014 - Today
Implementing Business Process Managment (BPM) solutions using ServiceNow. Coding most solutions in JavaScript. Using the API to allow outside apps to communicate with ServiceNow.
Sales Engineer Manager, Marketing Manager
Ixia
May 1999 - October 2013
Built and managed a team of Systems Engineers that worked with the Sales team to promote worldwide sales. Later moved into a worldwide training team, where training material was developed and delivered - live - worldwide. Finally, moved into a Marketing management position, coordinating worldwide marketing operations.
Field Applications Engineer
Lattice Semiconductor
September 1996 - May 1999
Directly engaged with hardware designers at various customer sites across Southern California. Helped them design with Lattice's programmable devices. Created and hosted several VHDL training seminars.
Engineer
Netcom Systems / Spirent
May 1994 - November 1995
As the third person in a startup, I designed and programmed Microsoft Windows programs written in C++. These programs allowed customers to use Netcom Systems' hardware to test their Ethernet-based products. Netcom Systems grew to a mid-size compan and was subsequently bought out by Spirent.
Engineer
Tekelec
May 1989 - May 1994
Designed circuit boards for use in a telecom test device. Learned FPGA design and incorporated some early Xilinx designs to offload software overhead. One of the designs was based on specifications from NTT (Japan), which resulted in several weeks time spent in Japan to help integrate the design into their test environment.
Education
University of Missouri - Columbia
BSEE
1979 - 1983
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