Management Team

Wes Shepherd

Chief Executive Officer

A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Shepherd has over 18 years of proven experience in starting hi-growth technology companies. Prior to establishing Channel IQ, Mr. Shepherd held executive positions as a founder at numerous technology companies, including, most recently Channel Velocity, a channel management solutions company serving brand name manufacturers which he co-founded in 2003. Additionally, prior companies included the first online home improvement e-commerce company, an automotive software firm, and an online comedy entertainment site.

 

Mr. Shepherd has been interviewed by national and regional publications and has been a featured speaker on the subjects of online channel management and marketing. Mr. Shepherd graduated "cum laude" from the University of Washington Business School with a focus in Finance and Entrepreneurship and minor in Geographic Information Systems. He is completing his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

 

Dan Czerwinski

Vice President of Engineering

Dan Czerwinski has over 20 years of database engineering and software development management. Prior to joining Channel IQ, Dan was the Director of Database Technologies at ShopLocal, a multi-channel marketing services company. Dan joined ShopLocal (SalesHound.com) when it was an internet startup, and built a team of database professionals. In this role, Dan was responsible for data systems and services that powered every area of the company including content entry/operations, as many as 70 retailer specific web sites and 250 aggregate web sites, along with a 6 terabyte data warehouse storing 2 billion rows of data. The data warehouse stored user behavior statistics, sale item impression statistics, data hubs, and content archives used for internal and external reporting, analytics, web site content optimization, search engine keyword management, and user behavioral targeting.

 

Prior to ShopLocal, Dan was a Senior Consultant at the Revere Group, a Chicago area consulting company, where he led the firm's database practice area. His engagements as a consultant included National Transportation Exchange (Project Manager); Webstreet Securities (Database Developer); Northwestern Mutual (Database Developer for Peoplesoft); CNA (Project Manager; Data Analyst); ABN Amro (Corporate Systems Database Administrator; Currency & Derivatives Trading Systems Database Administrator); and Marketing Innovators (Data Architect and Database Developer).

 

Dan has held numerous leadership and management positions in and around Chicago. His success is attributed to the experiences he obtained as a technical and management consultant.

 

Kevin Potrzeba

Vice President of Sales

Kevin Potrzeba brings over 28 years of software sales management experience to ChannelIQ. Prior to ChannelIQ, Kevin was VP of Sales at ISD Corporation, where his efforts secured the company's market leadership position within payment management software sector. Kevin led all sales, marketing and business development initiatives and continued on in that capacity after the company was acquired by ACI Worldwide. Previous to ISD, Kevin was VP of Worldwide Sales for Interface Software, a leading provider of enterprise CRM solutions where he rapidly grew sales worldwide during his tenure and continued in that role after Interface was acquired by Lexis Nexis. Prior to Interface Software, Kevin was the VP of North American Sales for Showcase Corporation, an analytics solutions company where he led annual sales growth of over 75% for 4 consecutive years. Showcase was acquired by analytics solutions leader SPSS, Inc. where Kevin served as VP of North American sales for 3 years. Kevin's background also includes 9 years of service at enterprise software pioneer Software AG and time spent with Computer Associates.

 

Jeff Messer

GM Brand Protection Services

For over 15 years, Jeff Messer has been an innovator in manufacturing and retail industries by creating, developing and managing complex sales and marketing channels. He continues this path as GM of Brand Protection Services at Channel IQ. Prior to his current role, Jeff was the Director of eBusiness and Digital Marketing for BTI, a manufacturer of computer peripherals and power accessories; where he strengthened their business position by developing and executing a comprehensive eCommerce sales and marketing strategy for direct to consumer, distribution partners, and key retailers in North America, and was responsible for all aspects of product information and customer relationship management architecture. His work at BTI was a natural evolution from his eight year tenure as the National Sales Director at Channel Intelligence, the industry-leading technology and marketing services company; where Jeff worked with numerous Fortune 500 brands in developing and managing crucial aspects of their online channel marketing programs. Jeff is a bit of an enigma in the manufacturing and service world; having applied his "The Road Less Travelled" business philosophy to create successes time and again.

 

Thomas Mersch

General Counsel

Tom Mersch brings a proven track record as corporate counsel, managing corporate growth, strategic relationships, litigation and operations with companies in the government sales, finance, travel and information technology industries. Hired as a legal consultant for a large Internet retailer who needed to restructure their business, Tom navigated their operation from near collapse to solid growth. Armed with the contacts and knowledge gained from that successful assignment, Tom leveraged that experience using his own capital and resources to launch an online asset recovery services firm that he sold in 2008.

Prior to that, Tom was hired by a group of angel investors to be the President of WeType4u.com an Internet based business services outsourcing company with over 300 Indian employees and a USA based customer service and development team of 15. Prior to this, Tom spent 10 years founding and managing a computer software company UCS, Inc. Tom held multiple positions while at UCS including Vice President, Business Development and as UCS's corporate counsel. UCS was named the fastest growing privately held company in South Florida in 1995. UCS grew from $600,000 in revenue to $16,000,000 in revenue and was eventually sold to Sungard Data Systems. Prior to UCS Tom negotiated and managed all third party contracts for the Delta Airlines Dream Vacation program.

 

Tom is a licensed Attorney in Florida and Mississippi. Tom earned his JD from the University of Mississippi and his BA from Southern Methodist University.

 

David Howell

Director of Global Brand Protection

David Howell has over 13 years of experience in the service, delivery and the development of Online Brand Protection, Gray Market, Anti-Counterfeit Sales, Global Domain Management and Reputation Management for Fortune 1000 companies. He has been a consultant to brands from Apple to Wal-Mart on enforcement strategies; and collaborated with their cross-functional legal and marketing teams to create innovative solutions. Now, at Channel IQ, David leads our brand protection efforts by consulting our clients in a variety of industries, including consumer electronics, apparel, entertainment, footwear, media, and industrial equipment.

 

Jonathan Laverentz

Director of Marketing

Jonathan Laverentz has over 15 years of experience in online marketing, branding and creative strategy and development. He has an extensive history in the manufacturing industry where he has, time and again, grown online channels. Most recently, before coming to Channel IQ, Jonathan developed and launched a successful program designed to nurture and grow online sales and manufacturer-retailer engagement for a major power tools manufacturer. Jonathan is an innovator who is passionate about partner and consumer acquisition; with proven successes in driving incremental brand visibility and sales growth in B2B and B2C markets.