A True Product Marketing Partner

Jeff Thompson has more than 25 years of experience as a leader in product marketing. His contributions extend across marketing strategy, operations, content, partnerships and revenue generation. Jeff has held senior marketing and management roles with established and early stage companies including IBM, Sprint, Oracle, NorthPoint Communications and Aventi Group. His expertise includes program, partnership, and product launches. He has helped many clients get more value and results from marketing investments and initiatives.

Jeff co-founded Aventi to provide companies with more flexible access to marketing services, and to empower marketing leaders by helping them create more dynamic organizations. Aventi has created a community and platform for independent marketing professionals, making it easy to assemble quickly deployable project teams that deliver fast relief and fast results to clients.

Jeff holds a BS in physics from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA. He is a former President of the Northern California Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC), the largest national professional organization for management consultants.

Sridhar Ramanathan has over 25 years of experience in technology companies from startups to blue chip firms. As the lead marketing executive for Hewlett-Packard’s Managed Services business, he was responsible for global marketing and services portfolio management for the $1.1B unit. He also held profit & loss responsibility for electronic messaging outsourcing and e-service business units.

Sridhar co-founded Aventi Group because he saw a big need for proven expertise in B2B product marketing and more rigorous go-to-market planning. He sees Aventi’s greatest value to clients is helping tech marketers boost their business impact.

Sridhar has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a BS in Engineering Physics from U.C. Berkeley. Sridhar is a published author with an IEEE books series on Critical Thinking for Engineers. He is active in non-profit work as Vice Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, an organization that provides stability for abused and neglected children. He is also an Executive Mentor for social entrepreneurs in Santa Clara University’s Miller Center.

With over 25 years of experience in high tech product marketing and product management, Michaela Gubbels Botha brings a relentless focus on execution to every consulting engagement. She does this by delivering top quality work on schedule – and working to have some fun along the way.

Michaela’s North Star is to design and produce extraordinary solutions that solve a real problem the customer or prospect is experiencing. Michaela started her career in high tech working in user experience for IBM, Apple, and HP. These positions solidified a foundation in what it takes to deliver exceptional customer experiences. From there, she moved into product marketing and product management with positions at SAP, Symantec, Calico Commerce, Sun, SalesLogix, Sage Software, and Apple.

Michaela spent 25 years in Silicon Valley – South Bay, Peninsula, and San Francisco proper. Originally from New Mexico, she received her undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and her Masters in Cognitive Psychology from New Mexico State University. Michaela recently relocated to the great state of Texas and lives in Austin with her husband, Buks, and her Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Zoe.

Eric Rasmussen’s 20+ years as an entrepreneurial B2B tech marketer started by launching a dial-up internet service when 9.6 Kbps was all the bandwidth anyone would need. His career followed the growth of data rates to include product management at a telecom start-up, a strategy consulting firm called TeleChoice, and marketing roles at AT&T and Qwest. Immediately before joining Aventi, Eric spent more than 10 years at Juniper Networks, most recently leading demand, awareness, and sales/partner enablement for Juniper’s Data Center products.

Eric joined Aventi Group because Aventi allows him to put more “life” in his family’s work-life balance. Eric enjoys working with clients on marketing strategy and executing it with content, campaigns, research, and enablement. Recently at Aventi, Eric is helping SaaS firms optimize their software “Free Trials.” After analyzing dozens of SaaS-based free trials, Eric and team have a methodology and knowledge base to help increase the effectiveness, efficiency, and ultimately revenue of client’s free trials.

Eric has a BS from University of Colorado and an MBA from Indiana University. Eric is a former board member of the Denver Art Museum’s CultureHaus group and has coached too many youth teams to count.

Dave Panek has nearly 30 years of experience in the tech sector as a marketing executive, product marketing leader, and solutions consultant. Since the early 2000s, Dave has taken particular interest in the advent of product marketing and its influence on developing product/market fit, go-to-market alignment, sales enablement acceleration, and the evolution of content marketing on the buying process.

His domain experience has led him to deep expertise in the MarTech and AdTech industries, including marketing management, marketing analytics, AI (predictive marketing), omnichannel marketing, digital media, and data platform management. As the Global VP of Product Marketing for Epsilon, he led go-to-market and portfolio marketing growth for their data, media, and marketing solutions. Previously, he was SVP of Marketing at Aprimo, where he led their rebirth as a platform with updated branding, go-to-market, and a new content and messaging strategy with the tagline of “Streamlining the Chaos of Marketing.” He has also held product marketing leadership roles at Teradata, IBM, and Oracle as well as high-growth tech startups.

Dave joined Aventi to use his product marketing and go-to-market experience to help enterprise and high-growth SaaS marketing leaders evolve or accelerate their growth.

Dave has a Bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Loyola University Chicago. He is proud of his 3 daughters, a big fan of all things outdoors, and has traveled to over 15 countries.

Nima Chadha is a results-driven marketing executive with over ten years of experience in marketing management, business development, and strategic partnerships. With a background in sales, marketing, and project management, Nima specializes in creating and executing strategies to drive growth and revenue for B2B tech companies across North America. She’s known for her nimble approach to problem-solving and her tendency to come up with new ideas, which her colleagues fondly call “Nimaventions.”

Nima started her career working with large brands such as Audi, Loblaw, and TELUS at a marketing agency before transitioning into leadership roles in the SaaS industry, including head of marketing for a software reseller of Netsuite, Sage, and Deltek. Nima later led the first and only marketing team for a bootstrapped business in the health and safety industry. Under her leadership, the team grew to 14 professionals, including BDRs, and successfully exited with UK-based business Alcumus.

Based in Canada, Nima recognized the need for a forum for like-minded leaders to come together. This inspired her to start the Toronto Marketing Leaders Slack community. Nima is also an active member of several marketing communities and is committed to staying up-to-date with industry trends and best practices.

Marie Melgaard has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry as a skilled marketing and communications expert. With a background in corporate communications, social media and integrated marketing, she has a proven track record in building high-performing, cross-functional teams committed to advancing business objectives, increasing brand affinity and customer loyalty.

Over the last 15 years, Marie has led a global Fortune 100, best in class social media program that represents some of the most successful product social channels in the industry. Marie is known for leading from the heart, described as being hardworking, genuine, and honest. She has a reputation as an inspiring, results oriented leader that positively impacts the business while empowering teams to achieve professional success.

Marie has a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University and is passionate about Hispanics in technology, women in technology and mentoring refugees and youth.

With over a decade of experience, Ajay Sharma is a skilled finance professional known for his strategic leadership and versatility, having worked with a variety of large corporations and start-ups. Throughout his career, Ajay has been able to help both Next Pathway Inc. and Green Standards Ltd. grow and succeed on an international scale as the Director of Finance. With a passion for analytics, Ajay finds fulfillment in solving complex business challenges by leveraging both technology and his knack for numbers.

Ajay holds a B.Comm in Management from Ryerson University along with the prestigious CPA, CMA designation. His expertise in financial management, combined with a collaborative and strategic approach, makes him a key contributor to Aventi Group’s financial health and overall success.

Residing in Toronto, Canada, Ajay is a passionate sports fan, proud father, and avid traveler. In his spare time, he can be found enjoying a game of basketball or a round of golf.

Dean Nadorozny is an accomplished operations executive with over 25 years of experience in enhancing business, financial, and revenue operations, as well as sales and marketing. His practical and result-focused approach has significantly improved processes and operational performance across several global revenue and SaaS environments, including such key roles as VP of Global Business and Revenue Operations at Vision Critical, Senior Director of Global Revenue Operations at Docebo, and Vice President of Business and Revenue Operations at TealBook.

Dean holds an MBA from Florida Metropolitan University, where he graduated with honors, and a BSc in Biology and Behavioral Neuroscience from Laurentian University. Known for his strategic insights and collaborative leadership style, Dean plays a vital role at Aventi Group, significantly contributing to its growth and operational excellence.

Based in Canada just north of Toronto, Dean is an avid hockey player and enjoys the outdoors with his wife and two children.