Erik Bunaes, Principal
Erik founded Endorphin Advisors in 2005, along with a high-performance team of professionals with diverse industry backgrounds and expertise. He has more than two decades of experience in financial services and management consulting, and relies upon this experience in his day-to-day work serving clients of Endorphin Advisors.
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Erik began his business career at Guy Carpenter / Marsh & McLennan, as a reinsurance intermediary in their New York, London and Philadelphia offices. After completing the management training program, Erik was assigned to manage more than 25 client relationships in a wide-ranging territory including the northeast, the southeast and the mid-west regions of the U.S.
Five years after graduating college, he returned to school to pursue a masters degree. While in graduate school, Erik spearheaded several marketing projects at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. These included creating and executing a direct mail campaign targeting high net worth clients and developing and fielding a marketing research survey to measure client satisfaction. After graduating with an M.B.A., Erik moved to Silicon Valley to experience first-hand the dot-com boom (and bust). At InsWeb.com, he directed a marketing campaign developing a cutting-edge online marketplace where insurance agents advertised and sold their products. In this campaign, Erik created more than 60 new client relationships in less than six months.
Subsequently, Erik re-joined the reinsurance industry at Towers Perrin in San Francisco. He ultimately served a roster of clients generating more than $2 million in annual revenue and put together a number of innovative deals during his seven year tenure. These included building an online insurance marketplace to serve members of a professional services community, developing carrier relationships for a ground-breaking, point-of-sale auto insurance service, moving a $35 million auto warranty program to a new carrier, and helping launch more than seven different agent-driven programs. He traveled extensively throughout the western US region developing new business and managing existing client relationships.
Erik formed Endorphin Advisors in 2005, and then co-founded Your Marketing Lab, Inc. in 2007.
Erik is an active member of the San Rafael (CA) Chamber of Commerce, the San Francisco chapter of the American Marketing Association, and the California Association of Business Brokers. He has a B.A. in English from St. Lawrence University and an M.B.A. from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He studied French at the University of Grenoble in Grenoble, France, and has worked abroad in both London and Paris.
Complementing his business career, Erik is an avid and experienced cyclist and an accomplished, veteran alpine ski racer. Erik’s continuing love of alpine ski racing spans more than 25 years, racing on teams in Massachusetts, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Colorado and California. One of Erik’s personal goals is to again coach alpine ski racing.
Erik currently lives in Marin County, California, with his wife, son and yellow lab.
Michael Schwartz, Advisory Board, Chairman
Executive Consultant
Michael brings over 20 years business experience to Endorphin Advisors.
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Mike recently completed a two year post as C.O.O. for Neoporte Modern Door, a high-end stainless steel custom door company, located in Santa Monica. He was responsible for running the day to day operations and helping the company grow from less than $500,000 to over $2M in sales in 2006.
Prior to joining Neoporte, Mike was privately managing investments as well as providing management consulting for early stage and start up companies. He is also an investor trading coach and mentor, and has been teaching for over five years.
In 2000, he was a founding partner of Equity Pier, LLC specializing in providing capital and management expertise to emerging companies in the information technology and telecommunications arenas. Using the CXO model, Equity Pier would work with companies to provide targeted expertise across all functional areas, to help these companies through the first years of operation.
Prior to founding Equity Pier, Michael spent over 15 years with the top Telecommunication companies, including MCI, MFS and Worldcom in a variety of management roles. He was responsible for building and maintaining billing and revenue systems and migration programs due to acquisitions. Michael has spoken on industry panels discussing the implementation of revenue assurance procedures within the telecom industry.
Michael has a B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University.
Siobhan McCready, Advisory Board
American Academy of Ophthalmology, Vice President – Communications & Media
Siobhan McCready, a 20-year communications industry veteran, has provided award-winning communications direction and support to corporations and organizations large and small.
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Before joining the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the majority of her career has been spent working in communications and public relations agencies, including GMMB, Inc. (an Omnicom/Fleishman-Hillard company) and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, as well as with her own firm, Caper Communications.
At the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Siobhan manages all the internal and external communications for the academy, overseeing a team of 15 communications professionals.
Recently, she won the prestigious Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America for her work with DaimlerChrysler Corporation. She also led the communications for the first-ever White House Conference on Travel and Tourism that garnered national and international attention. Her experience areas include health/science, consumer safety, transportation, and entertainment.
Siobhan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology (Cum Laude) from the University of Vermont (Burlington, VT). She currently resides in Marin County, CA.
Robert Cantwell, Jr., Advisory Board
Microsoft Corporation, Project Portfolio Management Specialist
Bob has been with Microsoft since 1995 in a variety of business development and technical roles in the Malvern (Philadelphia) and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania offices.
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Since 2003, Bob has been a Project Portfolio Management Specialist, focused on Product Sales Management for Microsoft’s PPM Suite. He has managed Six Sigma Program implementations, developed Best Practices for IT Governance and Manufacturing R&D, and also won the President’s Award for Sales Excellence in 2003.
From 2001 to 2003, Bob was Managing Consultant, Enterprise Services and Healthcare for Microsoft’s Malvern, PA office. Bob helped secure 14 Volume Licensing Agreements, initiated 43 new services relationships in small business market impacting over 125,000 desktops and more than 2,000 servers.
Prior to 2001, Bob was Technology Solutions Manager where he managed an early adopter program teams for Windows 2000 and managed the local launches of Office 2000, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Exchange 2000. Bob began his Microsoft career as a Senior Systems Engineer in Pittsburgh, PA.
Prior to Microsoft, Bob was Technical Services Manager/Project Manager at Corporate Software Integration Services in Woodbridge, NJ, and before that was a Network Sales Consultant at US TeleCenters in Boston, MA. Bob began his professional career at Ernst & Young, in Boston, MA.
Bob holds a B.A. in English from St. Lawrence University, and currently lives in West Chester, PA.
Scott Gerber, Advisory Board
Jaqua Beauty, Inc., Vice President - Sales and Marketing
Scott has over 19 years of diverse business experience, having worked in the federal government as well as the technology, recreation and bath and body products industries.
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Scott began his career at the U.S. Department of Commerce, as an International Trade Specialist providing counsel to U.S. companies pursuing trade and investment opportunities in Eastern Europe and Russia. He was awarded the Bronze Medal for Outstanding Service and Innovation, the highest achievement awarded by Under Secretary for International Trade. After five years, he left the Department of Commerce to pursue an MBA at Northwestern University (Kellogg).
After graduating, he ventured to Silicon Valley, joining Oracle Corporation, first as a Partner Development Manager then as Senior Manager, Alliances Strategy. After Oracle, he moved to Niku, a start-up enterprise software company, which he helped grow through to its IPO. He launched two product lines, established over 50 business partnerships and created strategy and alliance program for small business web portal.
Following Niku, Scott joined Kent International, a bicycle and bicycle equipment manufacturing company, as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. There he launched a new skateboard division, created and managed the company’s first corporate web site, and oversaw product development, manufacturing, packaging and product quality.
In 2003, Scott, along with several partners, saw an opportunity to acquire an equity stake in Jaqua Beauty, Inc. This small, successful company designs, manufactures and distributes prestige bath and body products. He has helped grow sales by over 400% since joining the company.
Scott has a B.A. in Political Science from Bucknell University, and a Masters in Management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He currently lives in Santa Barbara, CA.
Stephanie Montgomery Nelson, Advisory Board
Independent Consultant
Stephanie has over 15 years of direct marketing experience driving and managing direct marketing strategy and programs including email, direct mail, seminars (online and field), and online affiliate and referral programs.
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Since 2003, Stephanie has worked for Macromedia and Adobe (after Adobe’s acquisition of Macromedia. As Director of Marketing, Demand Generation, she was responsible for driving all demand generation activities and resulting revenue across all product lines for Macromedia. Currently she is working with the company in a consultative role, developing a comprehensive go to market strategy and launch plan for a product under development.
Prior to Macromedia, Stephanie was Director of Marketing in Earthlink’s Wireless Division. She provided strategic direction for marketing department responsible for all customer acquisition, retention, product marketing, product launch and software upgrade efforts for Earthlink’s wireless email and Internet service for PDA’s, laptops and smartphones.
In 1998, Stephanie joined Excite@Home as Director of Marketing, Subscriber Acquisition where she was responsible for all subscriber acquisition efforts for @Home’s high-speed cable Internet service.
From 1997 to 1998, she was Marketing Manager, Online Channels at Bank of America’s Interactive Division. From 1995 to 1997 she was at Citibank, first as Marketing Manager in Business Banking Group, and then Product Manager in Online Banking Division. She began her career after college at EF institute for Cultural Exchange as Regional Marketing Manager recruiting US teachers and students for study abroad programs.
Stephanie holds a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an M.B.A. with focus on marketing and Latin America from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management, Glendale, Arizona. She currently lives in Marin County, California.
Garrett Plante, Advisory Board
Towers Perrin, Change Implementation Consultant
Garrett has over 16 years of business experience in the human resources and financial services industries.
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Currently, he is a Change Implementation consultant in the Human Resource Delivery Solutions practice in Towers Perrin’s San Francisco office. In his six years with the firm, he has worked with clients in the scientific research, financial services, banking, consumer services and aerospace industries. His background includes experience with PeopleSoft HRMS, Kadiri TotalComp, Authoria Employee Advisor, Authoria Performance Advisor, Authoria Compensation Advisor, HR process redesign, and HR service delivery strategy and implementation.
Before joining Towers Perrin, Garrett worked in the insurance industry for six years in the areas of property and casualty, accident, life and health, and employee benefits.
Garrett has a B.A. (cum laude) in Psychology from the State University of New York and an M.B.A., with a concentration in human resources and human resource information systems, from the University at Albany.
Edward Skokowski, Advisory Board
ACP Interative LLP, Director of Information Technology
Ed has over 25 years of experience working with computer programming, networks and data analysis.
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Currently at ACP (Automated Call Processing), Ed oversees the development of communications solutions to support multimedia promotions for Fortune 500 companies. He has literally put the “automate” in Automated Call Processing’s data flow and report generation for all types of market research. As the primary technical architect, Ed guides his staff in the creation of Interactive Voice Response applications. These telephone systems provide the computer with a “voice”, as well as “ears” by using speech recognition. His current responsibilities include the implementation and integration of Voice Over IP telephony solutions, as well as the conversion of Windows servers to the Linux operating system.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Ed enlisted in the U.S. Army specializing in Behavioral Science at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. This practical experience led to his research position at the Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute in Philadelphia. It is during this time that Ed “honed” his skills in statistical analysis through his involvement in numerous research studies for the National Institute of Mental Health.
Ed has a B.S. in Biology, with a minor in Psychology from Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. He continues to stay current with the advancements in technology and business management by attending classes at Drexel University, UC Berkeley Extension & San Francisco State University. Ed currently resides in Pacifica, California.
Peter Wilson, Advisory Board
Wilson Marketing Group, Principal
Peter, the Founder and Principal of Wilson Marketing Group, brings rich background and experience to all projects and organizations with whom he is working.
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Peter began his marketing career working for MasterCard International in the late 1990’s where he honed his skills spearheading and contributing to projects ranging from internal and corporate communications, to branding, product marketing and agency relationship management. In 2004, executive management presented Peter with an award for Excellence in Innovation for his work on the creation of MasterCard Workplace Solutions, a suite of prepaid products for mid to large organizations to manage and track project and employee-specific costs and spending. Additionally, Peter’s contributions to MasterCard Inc.’s own 2004 Annual Report resulted in two more marcom awards for content and creative.
After leaving MasterCard in 2005, Peter founded Wilson Marketing Group to focus on the marketing needs of small business owners and start-ups. With an understanding of the bandwidth and resource constraints small business owners experience, Wilson Marketing Group provides services including branding, creative and marketing materials and operations analysis. The results aim to deliver plug-and-play solutions to maximize growth with minimal effort on behalf of the business owner.
In 2006, the healthcare benefits company, Medco, tapped Peter’s skills to review and redesign a segment of their direct mail campaigns for their mail-order specialty pharmacy. His review and the execution of his recommendations resulted in broad improvements to the program including growth and optimization of their database, better targeted messaging and savings in production costs.
Currently, Peter is working with the non-profit humanitarian aid organization, AmeriCares, in Stamford, Connecticut to improve their online assets and optimize internal communications.
Prior to his work in Marketing and Communications, Peter enjoyed a busy and successful career in music, spanning from his late teens into his late twenties. Having played with many bands, artists and composers, Peter’s career culminated with a gold record for his contribution to the Dumb and Dumber movie soundtrack.
Peter resides in Tarrytown, N.Y. where he continues to be active in the local music scene and dabbles in lutherie (the building and repair of guitars) during his free time. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from New York University, an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University, and an MBA from Iona College.