Matt Hendrick

Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Financial Services industry

October 2009 – January 2012 (2 years 4 months) San Francisco, CA

I'm passionate about building great products, developing brand strategies and key messaging, and using a combination of SEO, SEM, and social media to acquire users and sustain long term, profitable growth. As such, the lines between product management, marketing, and the metrics analysis of both can become quite woven together, and my goal is to use every available resource to move the business forward.

- I <3 metrics and data. I live in Google Analytics, Marin Software, and our own proprietary metrics dashboard. I manage a massive Adwords and Microsoft AdCenter campaign with our SEM partner, and have delivered consistent, large scale growth over an extended period of time.

- Customer Acquisition. SEO. SEM. Social. Word of mouth. PR. This isn't just about "spray and pray" - it's about understanding who your customers are and how best to reach them. I love watching our customer base grow.

- Conversion. We're getting people to the site, but are we converting them into paying customers? Conversion funnels and rates, on-page copy, exit points, A/B tests, ROI, etc, etc, etc; I love them all, and live them daily.

- Retention. Customers don't disappear after they complete their first transaction - so how can we extend their lifetime value?

- Trust building. Every transaction at ChargeSmart requires a customer to "take out their wallet" to make a payment, and this takes trust. We're building trust with consumers by increasing our visibility on the major search engines and display networks, building brand awareness in the general marketplace, and pursuing ongoing public relations and media campaigns.

- And...what else? I love to write, have a deep understanding of social, and possess a passion for building and marketing awesomeness. ChargeSmart has been one heck of a ride thus far, and I truly believe we have a unique opportunity to be part of something big in the payments space. Keep an eye out for what we're up to next.

April 2008 – February 2009 (11 months)

An internet listings service for rental housing.

Although this company didn't succeed, it was an amazing experience and taught me an incredible amount about what it takes to build a company from scratch - from a legal perspective, to knowing your market, understanding your customers - and even how to build your team. A great lesson in "what not to do".

Privately Held; 5001-10,000 employees; Wine and Spirits industry

April 2004 – October 2008 (4 years 7 months)

I learned many things at Bacardi, chief amongst them was the ability to translate big picture business objectives into real world execution, resulting in highly effective sales and marketing programs. I was the point of contact for up to 60 distributor sales personnel and over 500 small business owners, and the experience of working with so many different personality types in a consumer-driven environment taught me how to overcome almost any objection - even if it meant spending 6 months gaining trust and working through the situation. The local marketing and sales experience I picked up at Bacardi has proved extremely valuable, and set the tone for instilling vision and direction in my own future ventures. My area of primary responsibility was managing the Bay Area on-premise sales and marketing presence for the Bacardi brand portfolio, including:

Bacardi Rums
Grey Goose Vodka
Cazadores Tequila
Bombay Sapphire Gin
Dewars Scotch
Corzo Tequila
42 Below Vodka

A highly competitive industry, and a great overall experience.

Public Company; 201-500 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry

August 2003 – March 2004 (8 months)

This was a great first job out of college, and it led me to where I am today. I was responsible for managing all of the promotional efforts for the Bacardi brand portfolio in SF, and had the chance to meet some great people while consistently delivering under pressure. I was with TEAM for a short 8 months - but only because I convinced the Regional Managers at Bacardi that I was ready to take on an even bigger challenge.

January 2001 – July 2003 (2 years 7 months)

Knights Catering paid the bills as I worked my way through college. I was able to take a full load of classes, and still put in roughly 35 hours/week - mostly because of the long nighttime and weekend event schedules. At my peak, I was in charge of floor operations for select high end events in and around San Francisco - corporate dinners, weddings, and parties at private homes. Although I didn't pursue a career in this industry, I cemented my work ethic in an environment where 110% was the only effort acceptable, and the experience of hundreds of individuals rested on my ability to execute efficiently. Knight's was a great learning experience that taught me how to manage difficult clients and high stress situations while still maintaining a calm, professional demeanor.