15+ years in tech. Insatiable passion for building business

I’m known for my no-nonsense approach to brand development and marketing, with expertise in product marketing, brand management, communications and demand generation. I champion a very hands-on approach, and thrive in an environment where things need to move quickly and their impact is seen immediately, regardless of the company size or industry.

 

Employment experience

DataSift (acquired by Meltwater)
San Francisco
Big Data & social data software platform
SVP Marketing
July, 2014 - November, 2017

  • Member of DataSift’s leadership team, grew revenues from zero to $1M MRR within 12 months.

  • Strategic responsibility for all aspects of marketing globally: product marketing, inbound and outbound marketing, partner marketing, brand development, communications and creative services.

  • Delivered the company rebrand, rebuilt the global marketing team, and introduced account-based marketing.

  • Launched DataSift's flagship products: PYLON for Facebook Topic Data and PYLON for LinkedIn Engagement Insights via strategic partnerships with Facebook and LinkedIn.

  • Built and co-ordinated Facebook and LinkedIn partner marketing programs for DataSift’s ecosystem of 75+ social application developers, ad techs and advertising agencies.

  • Managed relationships with DataSift’s data providers: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, LexisNexis and NewsCred

  • DataSift’s customers include/d: WPP, Omnicom, Publicis, Dentsu, Netflix, Lionsgate, Warner Bros, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Dell and Lockheed Martin.

 

Huddle (acquired by Turn/River Capital)
London & San Francisco
Enterprise collaboration software
VP Marketing
February, 2008  - June, 2014

  • Employee #10, built a globally recognized collaboration and content management brand, with revenue growth 3x year on year. Consistently delivered above 90 percent of sales revenues from inbound marketing.

  • Member of Huddle’s leadership team through two rounds of funding – totaling $38.2 million.

  • Responsible for leading all aspects of the marketing mix: brand strategy, product marketing, sales enablement, communications and inbound and outbound marketing. Built a global, 15+ strong marketing team.

  • Guided Huddle through market shift from freemium to SMB/enterprise pricing. Developed Huddle’s key USP - Huddle’s Adoption Guarantee — as the first software adoption guarantee in the industry.

  • Huddle’s customers included the U.S. and U.K. governments: NASA, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense as well as enterprise organizations such as Kia Motors, Disney, Beats by Dre and Driscoll’s.

  • Launched massively popular, invitation-only networking event for the London startup community and Silicon Stilettos – a meetup for women in tech.

 

Custard (acquired by the Loewy Group)
London, UK
B2C digital & communications agency
Co-Founder and Director
January, 2006 - January 2008

  • Co-founded a B2C communications agency and delivered $1 million in revenues, achieving 40% growth quarter on quarter. Recognized as one of the hottest digital agencies in London in the first year of operations.

  • Built agency’s brand, online presence, sales and client service teams.

  • First London agency to recognize start-ups as a market sector, specialized in building brand stories for AdMob (acquired by Google), SNAPin (acquired by Nuance), and 7Digital (reverse takeover by UBC Media).

  • Focus on mobile, personal technology & lifestyle, and media & entertainment.

  • Custard's clients included Walt Disney, ICQ, Private Group, Garmin, Nokia and Toshiba.

  • Worked with Erasure, Moby, Roots Manuva, Five (UK TV station) and Band Aid 20 with Bono, Paul McCartney and George Michael.

 

Rainier Communications/Rainier Ltd (acquired by the Loewy Group)
London, UK
B2B communications & marketing agency
Director
October, 2000 - January, 2006

  • Employee #7, member of Rainier’s leadership team through a management buyout and acquisition. Responsible for marketing, new business and resource planning, and customer retention. Revenue growth 50%+ year on year.

  • Strategy development, campaign planning and delivery, client counsel for 50+ companies, contributed to a substantial and measurable increase in clients’ sales.

  • Specializing in software, hardware, mobile, telecommunications and networking, and engineering.

  • Rainier's clients included: AMD, Texas Instruments DLP, Hyundai ImageQuest, Plus Corporation, Wacom, Virgin Media, Fasthosts, Blue Coat Systems, PSINet, Logicalis, NextiraOne, Wacom, Wind River, Phoenix Systems, Mindjet, PatchLink (acquired by Lumension), Synad (acquired by STMicroelectronics), Eleksen (acquired by Peratech).

 

The Centre for European Studies
Cracow, Poland
Social research
Researcher
1997 - 1998

  • Developed and delivered a research project on Polish citizens’ attitude towards the European Union.

  • Publications: Interests, chances and threats, competence and approach against European integration in Poland and European integration (Interesy, szanse i zagrozenia, kompetencje a postawy wobec integracji europejskiej w.: Polska lokalna wobec integracji europejskiej), z: Pawel Kubicki, Zuzanna Pasierbinska, Ewa Turyk, (ed.) Mach, Niedzwiecki, Krakow 2000.


Silesian Institute & Silesian Institute Publishing
Opole, Poland
Social research & publishing
Research & internships
1994 - 1997

  • Supporting a variety of demographic and sociological research projects commissioned by the Polish Parliament.
     
  • Public relations for the publishing arm of the Silesian Institute.

 

Education

1999 - 2000: MSc in Public Relations, Stirling University; Monitoring and Measuring PR efforts on the Internet

1996 - 1997: Sociological research scholarship, University College Dublin, Ireland

1995 - 1999: MA in Sociology, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland; The Rise of German Minority in Opole Silesia
 

Languages

Bilingual proficiency: English and Polish. Basic proficiency: French, German, Spanish and Russian.

And since I'm based in LA - SPECIAL SKILLS

Billiards player. Boxing. Bowling. Can work with animals and children. Cycling (road biking, trails riding). Glider pilot. Martial arts (karate Kyokushin 8th Kyu, kick boxing). Horse riding (English and Western). Lacrosse. Kayaker. Multi-lingual (English, Polish, Russian, German, French, Spanish). Paddle boarding. Ping-pong. Rock climbing. Rollerblading. Roller skating. Running. Skateboard (longboard). Snorkeling. Speed skating. Surfing. Swimming (breast stroke). Valid driver’s license. Vocal range (alto, mezzo-soprano) Volleyball. Wakeboarding. Weightlifter.

Contact details

zuzannawilson@gmail.com

+ 1 415 425 8926

@fattypontoonski

References available on request or see LinkedIn.