Kevin Acker

Past

• Practice Manager/Senior Director, Product Development & Innovation at Corporate Executive Board
• President at Independent Consultancy
• Chief Financial Officer at USLaw.com

• Director, Corporate Development at Startec Global Communications
• Manager, Strategic and Financial Planning at ATX Communications
• Consultant at William Kent International

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Education

• University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School
• Dartmouth College

Connections

143 connections

Industry

Management Consulting

Websites

• Kevin Acker Wordpress

Kevin Acker’s Summary

Kevin Acker is an experienced international consultant, product development and corporate development professional.
• Broad skill set encompassing corporate development, finance, strategy and product development.
• Mix of high-level strategic thinking and project implementation abilities.
• Extensive industry experience, including information technology, telecommunications and Internet.
• International work experience in all major business regions, including Asia, Latin America, Europe and Oceania.
• Top-tier academic credentials.

Kevin Acker’s Specialties:

Mergers and acquisitions, budgeting, planning, product development

Kevin Acker’s Experience

• Practice Manager/Senior Director, Product Development & Innovation

  Corporate Executive Board

  (Public Company; EXBD; Management Consulting industry)

  2004 — 2009 (5 years )

  Led product development and quantitative research for the IT Practice of CEB, a management consulting firm with a client base of senior IT executives at more than 1,000 companies, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500.
  • Created a new function that introduced a suite of quantitative services with the greatest impact on client retention of all services offered by the practice.
  • Developed the IT Budget and Spending Benchmarking service, focused on key IT spending and productivity metrics. Introduced online platform allowing clients to directly access data and perform custom benchmarking cuts.
  • Conceived and rolled out the "Vendor Knowledge Exchange," an online service designed to collect and disseminate vendor ratings and facilitate vendor-related networking conversations among clients.
  • Conducted quantitative research, including gauging the most effective ways for the information security function to increase secure IT behavior through an original survey of more than 50,000 end-users. Research received highest client ratings in history of Information Security practice.

• President

  Independent Consultancy

  (Management Consulting industry)

  2001 — 2003 (2 years )

  Conducted strategy, finance and organizational consulting projects in a variety of industries.
  • Carried out comprehensive strategy review and financial restructuring of Australian operations of world's largest provider of electronic security and cash-in-transit services. Through combination of headcount reductions, productivity increases and price structure rationalization, reduced cost structure by more than 25 percent and restored company to profitability.
  • Formulated and implemented financial organizational and process framework for LA-based local exchange carrier. Selected accounting package. Redesigned organizational structure for finance and accounting staff.

• Chief Financial Officer

  USLaw.com

  (Management Consulting industry)

  2000 — 2001 (1 year )

  Managed all planning, finance and accounting functions for Internet's leading marketing partner for small law firms and source of legal information for consumers and small businesses.
  • Created and maintained company business plan, financial model and budgeting and planning process. Oversaw selection, implementation and integration of Peoplesoft Financials accounting system.
  • Navigated company through successful restructuring. Through reduction in headcount and renegotiation of major vendor contracts, transformed cost structure to bring company to break-even.
  • Prepared private placement memorandum for $15MM equity offering and memorandum for sale of company.

• Director, Corporate Development

  Startec Global Communications

  (Public Company; Telecommunications industry)

  1998 — 2000 (2 years )

  In director-level position reporting to CEO, responsible for a variety of strategic, financial, mergers & acquisitions and corporate development projects for NASDAQ-listed international long distance provider focused on marketing to ethnic residential customers.
  • Led company's business expansion efforts in East Asia. Through extensive in-region travel in countries such as Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan, developed strategy for company to offer Internet transport, VOIP and collocation services in region. Negotiated successful acquisition of Hong Kong-based telco, including valuation, deal structure, due diligence, preparation of transaction documents.
  • Took lead role in $160MM high-yield bond offering. Developed financial projections to model use of proceeds and gauge ability to service debt, prepared roadshow presentation and accompanied CEO and CFO on investor roadshow.

• Manager, Strategic and Financial Planning

  ATX Communications

  (Privately Held; Telecommunications industry)

  1997 — 1998 (1 year )

  As "right-hand" of company CEO, managed team of analysts working on a broad range of strategic and operational projects for $100 million provider of voice and data services to small-and-medium-sized businesses.
  • Led team to pursue joint venture with cable television company for the provision of Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) services. Using sophisticated mapping software and real estate databases, determined potential market by examining coverage of partner's network. Prepared projections for venture.
  • Created, implemented and managed strategic planning process designed to focus organization on company-wide and departmental goals. Introduced incentive-based compensation scheme for managers.

• Consultant

  William Kent International

  (Management Consulting industry)

  1995 — 1997 (2 years )

  Performed client casework and marketing projects for strategic management consulting firm specialized in optimizing international operations of Fortune 500 companies.
  • Conducted comprehensive business restructuring for $250 million division of abrasives manufacturer centering on redesign of product offerings, inventory management system and sales policies. Recommendations used as cornerstone of five-year strategic plan by client CEO.
  • Directed market-assessment study for $2 billion manufacturer of contact lenses, lens care and ophthalmic pharmaceutical products in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. Evaluated potential acquisitions. Gauged current and future market sizes and shares and crafted strategic recommendations to maximize market potential.

Kevin Acker’s Education

• University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

  Master , Business Administration , 1993 — 1995

  Summer Strategic Planning Associate, Den Norske Bank, Norway's largest bank.

  Activities and Societies:

  Director's honor list (Top 10% of class)
  Teaching Assistant, Accounting Department

• Dartmouth College

  BA , Government , 1987 — 1991

  Studied international relations at London School of Economics during Fall 1989 semester.

  Activities and Societies:

  Phi Beta Kappa, Rufus Choate Scholar 1990-1991 (Top 5% of class for the year)

Additional Information

Kevin Acker’s Websites:

• Kevin Acker Wordpress

Kevin Acker’s Interests:

Modern art and design, hiking, classical music and high-end audio equipment.

Kevin Acker’s Groups:

•    The Advisory Board Company alumni
•    Wharton School Alumni
•    Wharton MBA Alumni of Washington, DC
•    Corporate Executive Board Alumni

Kevin Acker’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• getting back in touch