Craig Mathews

Current

Chief Thinkologist at Big Think, Inc.
Board Member at Knowledge Well
International Speaker/Trainer at various venues

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Past

Managing Partner at Forrest Consulting Group
Interim President at Helical Sciences
Startup Business Coach at Council for Entrepreneurial Development

Startup Business Coach at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School
VP of Marketing at GolfSoftware.com
President and CEO at Blue Sahara Technologies
Board Member at Grace Church
Chief Technology Officer at McKim & Creed, PA
Author at "Absolute Beginner's Guide to Tablet PCs"
Technical Sales/Account Manager at ImageNet
IT Manager at Da Vinci Systems
Training Manager at ImageNet

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9 more...

Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Kenan-Flagler Business School
North Carolina State University

Recommended

16 people have recommended Craig

Connections

320 connections

Industry

Management Consulting

Websites

Craig Mathews’s Summary

Senior executive and serial entrepreneur with experience in IT, marketing, professional services, and general management. Passionate about helping people start and grow their businesses. Current contributions include business leadership and marketing, startup coaching/consulting, non-profit advisor, and speaker at various events. Enjoy using communication, leadership, innovation, and strategy skills to grow organizations and people.

Author of "Absolute Beginner's Guide to Tablet PCs". Frequent speaker internationally on topics as varied as water security, leadership, technology, and startups.

Known for connecting dots - people, organizations, and ideas.

Craig Mathews’s Specialties:

Connecting people, organizations, and ideas; entrepreneurship; business strategy; marketing; innovation; leadership and management; business/IT alignment. Have been involved in the technology/software industry, Internet marketing field, water industry, consulting, and helping people find and use their strengths for personal development.

Craig Mathews’s Experience

Chief Thinkologist

Big Think, Inc.

(Management Consulting industry)

June 2008 — Present (1 year 2 months)

Big Think helps businesses grow. We guarantee double-digit growth for our clients. We are a consulting firm that blends business strategy, marketing, and technology to deliver results.

If you want your business to grow, contact us for a free initial consultation and we can jointly decide if we can be a good fit for your company.

Contact us to learn more: craig@bigthinkideas.com.
Board Member

Knowledge Well

(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; International Trade and Development industry)

August 2005 — Present (4 years)

Knowledge Well identifies and fills needs for under-resourced areas throughtout the world by bringing in specialists who can work on short-term projects to improve the quality of life of the target area.
International Speaker/Trainer

various venues

(Professional Training & Coaching industry)

June 1991 — Present (18 years 2 months)

Have spoken nationally and internationally on topics as varied as personal effectiveness; leadership; management; strategic planning; selling; IT/Business alignment; water system security & terrorism response; crisis communications; Internet strategy; knowledge management; IT career management; marriage & family; spiritual growth; and others. Interested in helping people in all areas of life to achieve their dreams, both personally and professionally.
Managing Partner

Forrest Consulting Group

(Management Consulting industry)

April 2007 — March 2009 (2 years)

Forrest Consulting Group helps startups and small businesses succeed through coaching, support, and consulting. We assist clients in market assessment, competitive intelligence, pricing strategies, customer segmentation, operations planning, market entry strategies, and general business counsel. We also help create business, technology, financial, and marketing plans.
Interim President

Helical Sciences

(Biotechnology industry)

June 2008 — March 2009 (10 months)

Assisted the CEO of Helical Sciences with building out the business model and the business plan, and laying the foundation for making the company investor-ready. Helical has a tremendous opportunity in the market with a unique technology for rapid pathogen detection (pathogens are disease-causing bacteria like E.coli and Salmonella).

Helical can get results in 2-3 hours, which is more than 10 times faster than most competitors. The speed, reliability, and high throughput of Helical's process can enable companies in the food and beverage industry ship safe products quickly.

Helped Helical with:
* Market and competitor analysis
* Crafting the business model
* Building the financial model
* Writing the business plan
* Networking with potential clients, others in biotech, and potential partners
* Building a team that is investor-ready
Startup Business Coach

Council for Entrepreneurial Development

(Civic & Social Organization industry)

June 2008 — August 2008 (3 months)

Coached startups in CED's FastTrac Tech program. This is a 10-week program for developing a business concept into a viable business.
Startup Business Coach

UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School

(Management Consulting industry)

January 2008 — August 2008 (8 months)

Helped pre-launch startups refine their ideas and develop attainable launch plans, including management team make-up, marketing, operations, strategy, and financial considerations.
VP of Marketing

GolfSoftware.com

(Computer Software industry)

May 2007 — May 2008 (1 year 1 month)

Led marketing innovations, partnership development, creation of new lines of business, product development, and market re-positioning/re-branding. Re-designed company web site and optimized search engine marketing. Planned and implemented numerous marketing campaigns and helped grow company-client relationships through several new channels.

Helped with design and creation of new Website Builder product as well as new subscription-based pricing plan for all software. Also developed new corporate identity as well as graphic design and usability for a new product line.

GolfSoftware.com is the leading provider of software for golf group management such as leagues, tournaments, and clubs with over 13,000 customers world-wide.
President and CEO

Blue Sahara Technologies

(Computer Software industry)

May 2005 — December 2007 (2 years 8 months)

Founded Blue Sahara to develop software solutions for water utility management and optimization. Blue Sahara made high performance software for water and sewer modeling, water security, utility management, and utility operations.
Board Member

Grace Church

(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Religious Institutions industry)

October 2004 — December 2006 (2 years 3 months)

Served on the board of the church to help with oversight and execution of the church's long-range vision. In addition to serving on the board, also led the Children's Ministry, and have been a lead teacher in children and youth Sunday School classes.
Chief Technology Officer

McKim & Creed, PA

(Civil Engineering industry)

May 1995 — March 2006 (10 years 11 months)

Orchestrated company-wide strategic technology planning, implementation, and support for this fast-growth, top 200 engineering consultancy. Created the technology foundation that enabled rapid growth and coordination across 15 offices in four states for this 500-person, $50 million company.

Responsible for all information technology in the company including servers, workstations, connectivity, policies and procedures, purchasing standards, and primarily the use of technology to enhance business operations. Provided strategic direction for the company related to technology and how it supports business growth.

As part of the corporate management team, helped support and grow the business through innovation, cross-functional project management, team building, and business acumen.

Pioneered company-wide changes in the areas of training, marketing, production processes, IT, HR and employee orientation – reducing costs and improving operations and employee morale.
Author

"Absolute Beginner's Guide to Tablet PCs"

(Information Technology and Services industry)

March 2003 — December 2003 (10 months)

The second-best-selling book on Tablet PCs, this book is the most recent Tablet PC manual-type book on the market. The book focuses on the use of the Tablet PC, and how it is beneficial to business users.
Technical Sales/Account Manager

ImageNet

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Legal Services industry)

1992 — 1995 (3 years)

Engaged in business development, sales, and solution development for this technology reseller and services company. Planned marketing events and provided dazzling client care.

Provided complex network and systems integration solutions to clients. Helped lead marketing and grow revenues. Also helped with strategic planning and operations enhancement.
IT Manager

Da Vinci Systems

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry)

1991 — 1992 (1 year)

Responsible for planning, implementing, and managing computer technology that supported the operations of the company.
Training Manager

ImageNet

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

1989 — 1991 (2 years)

Led training development, sales and delivery. Built a new division of the company from scratch.

Craig Mathews’s Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Kenan-Flagler Business School

MBA , 2000 — 2001

Focus on strategy, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Achieved high class ranking in the Executive MBA program while working full time and taking an extra 50% more electives than required for graduation.

Have taken many more classes since graduation.

Activities and Societies:

Beta Gamma Sigma honors society (top 20%)
North Carolina State University

BA , Professional Communications , August 1985 — May 1990

Professional Communication is a degree I designed that combines journalism, speech-communication and visual design. It is part of the multi-disciplinary studies program.

Additional Information

Craig Mathews’s Websites:

Craig Mathews’s Interests:

Building businesses/entrepreneurship, speaking, writing, teaching/training, learning, playing drums, flying, cooking, hiking, art (creation and appreciation), and meeting new people. I love new adventures.

Craig Mathews’s Groups:

MENSA, Beta Gamma Sigma, CED, UNC, AWWA

UNC Kenan-Flagler
eOffice
Earlystage.com Entrepreneurs
On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs
TEN - Top Executives Net
Innovation People Expert Innovators Creative Network
! Sales Best Practices
eMarketing Association Network
Speakers and Panelists
Global Private Equity & Venture Capital
North Carolina State University Alumni Group
CXO (CEO, COO, CKO, CFO, CMO, CAO, CVO, CDO, CRO, CLO, CSO & CTO) Community
Triangle Technology Executives Council (TTEC)
UNC Alumni
Linking Raleigh, NC
Business Development Institute (BDI)
N.C. STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI
CEO/ CIO/COE/COO/CFO/Head/VP/ Director/President Level - Senior Leadership Group
Global Executive Exchange
Triangle Interactive Marketing Association (TIMA)
Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED)
Week 11
Beta Gamma Sigma - The International Honor Society Recognizing Business Excellence
BTM - Business Technology Management
IT Executive Roundtable
Top World Leaders
Ebooks, Ebook Readers, Digital Books and Digital Content Publishing
Masters of Customer Engagement
Band of Entrepreneurs
HorizonWatching
RTPconnected
Networking Nation
WEMBA 2001 - Kenan-Flagler MBAs
International Association of Facilitators (IAF)