Entrepreneur In Residence at Mywire.com.
Greater New York City Area
- Current
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- Managing Partner at Information Media Partners, (Publishing and Media Strategy Consulting)
- Past
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- President at R. R. Bowker
- VP Production, Product Development at R. R. Bowker
- Principal Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Director at Berlitz International, Inc
- Deputy Managing Director at Berlitz International, Inc
- Director, Financial Planning & Analysis at Berlitz International, Inc
- Senior Financial Analyst at Macmillan, Inc.
- Education
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- Georgetown University - The McDonough School of Business
- Boston University
- Willamette University
- Recommended
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18 people have recommended Michael - Connections
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463
connections
- Industry
- Publishing
- Websites
Michael Cairns’s Summary
C-Level executive and business strategist with over 20 years experience in internet development, operations management, strategic development and content management. I am currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence at start-up company Mywire.com where my role is to establish and launch new businesses.
I have a proven ability to turnaround/grow content-based companies and leverage online products to create business opportunities, develop innovative solutions and increase net profit. The companies I have worked with include interactive advertising agencies, education, database, trade and information publishing companies, membership and industry standards organizations. Additionally, I have been a frequent speaker on business trends, the impact of technology and future challenges in the media and publishing segment.
At Information Media Partners, I consult with clients to identify and establish new business opportunities, implement product development initiatives and/or deal with challenging business situations. Additionally, I have supported clients dealing with crisis situations from the bankruptcy of a major customer to the fire sale(s) of operating units. We have also been asked to provide due diligence, research and background information for clients to support their business development or investment objectives.
My experience extends internationally having managed or worked in operations in UK/Europe, Australia, Canada and Asia. This experience also includes negotiating, implementing and managing content license and service agreements across 30+ international markets.
Please visit my blog for my views and perspectives on the media and publishing industry. (personanondata.blogspot.com). I am active in industry associations having been a board member of the Association of American Publishers, Book Industry Study Group, ONIX Steering Committee and Chairman, International ISBN Agency.
Email: michael.cairns@infomediapartners.com
Michael Cairns’s Specialties:
Strategy Consulting
Business Development
Publishing Knowledge
Turnarounds
Process Re-engineering
Electronic Publishing
Outsourcing
Operations
International Management
Mergers & Acquisitions
Sales/Marketing
Corporate Board Experience
Management Consulting
Content Management
Michael Cairns’s Experience
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Managing Partner
Information Media Partners, (Publishing and Media Strategy Consulting)
(Management Consulting industry)
January 2006 — Present (3 years 11 months)
Strategy consulting practice for content based businesses.
I am currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence at start-up Mywire.com where I have been retained to identify and launch new businesses.
My company helps clients build and implement revenue producing opportunities that extend the value of their content assets. Our clients have included traditional publishing companies, information providers and membership associations with revenues ranging from less than $10mm to over $1bill. Examples of the projects I have completed include the following:
• Market definition and product launch strategy supporting a multi-million dollar international business expansion focused on leveraging core intellectual and process assets.
• Project managed a reengineering effort leading to a 20% improvement in process times and 15% efficiency gain.
• Defined multi-million dollar business market entry strategy combining information assets and web service delivery for application into new markets. -
President
R. R. Bowker
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Publishing industry)
September 2001 — January 2006 (4 years 5 months)
Internet based provider of business information and services sold via subscription. Primary customers include publishers, booksellers, libraries, internet search and web-retail customers. The company's 200 personnel work in offices in NJ, UK,and Australia.
• Responsible to Board for all functional areas, financial performance and strategic direction
• Hired all key managers. Successfully established team environment contributing to business turn around from a break-even to profit producing
• Migrated all primary revenue streams to web delivery: Implemented new subscription pricing model
• Launched 8 web products achieving renewal rates over 90%
• Re-tooled entire organization from print based customer, sales, fulfillment orientation to web based delivery and support.
• Established major accounts program resulting in 5x increase in sales dollars under contract
• Completed 5 acquisitions within 5 years: Broadened revenue base away from growth challenged markets -
VP Production, Product Development
R. R. Bowker
(Public Company; 201-500 employees; Publishing industry)
May 1999 — September 2001 (2 years 5 months)
• Headed internal divestiture team in sale of Bowker by Reed Elsevier
• Managed editorial, production, business & product development departments and international offices, accounting for more than 75% of total employees
• Negotiated content license agreements and established new pricing guidelines for licensed content
• Implemented new electronic production, in-sourced layout and pre-press processes resulting in 75% decrease in expenses
• Reengineered editorial processes, implemented technology solutions and reduced editorial expenses by 30% while improving employee productivity
• Responsible for the successful 'bet the company' migration from print format to web delivery
• Initiated a new divisional mindset that encouraged greater communication with sales staff and external stakeholders -
Principal Consultant
PricewaterhouseCoopers
(Partnership; 10,001 or more employees; Management Consulting industry)
March 1995 — May 1999 (4 years 3 months)
Managed various projects for publishing companies such as Simon&Schuster, Pearson, Thompson, Ogilvy and InterPublic Group, billing between $200,000 and $2.5 million per project. Led 3-10 team members per project, establishing deliverables, scheduling, maintaining budget and giving assignments. Met with clients to deliver proposals, set objectives and organize projects.
Major Accomplishments:
• Led a $2.5 million data warehouse implementation at a major education publisher, coordinating all facets of the project
• Project managed $500,000 IT strategy project for international advertising agency that ultimately led to $2 million implementation proposal
• Acted as lead subject-matter expert for $10 million content management project for major educational publisher
• Became the in-house subject-matter expert for publishing clients, creating course material and training more than 120 consultants -
Director
Berlitz International, Inc
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; BTZ; Publishing industry)
June 1993 — March 1995 (1 year 10 months)
Managed direct mail and third party content licensing activities. Direct mail responsibilities included target marketing, creative design, testing and implementation, fulfillment and customer service. Licensing activities included brand and content licensing to third party content providers, repackagers and affiliates.
• Doubled direct mail revenues and grew profit from a loss to 35% margin in18 months
• Reducing operating expenses by eliminating 40% of the staff and generating an average profit per employee triple the corporate average
• Overhauled advertising approach to include a wider range of media, generating $500,000 in new revenue from 1 new program: Lead to significant expansion in activities
• Initiated telesales staff bonus plan, raising average revenue per customer more than 50%
• Doubled software license fees to more than $2 million annually by proposing/implementing consolidation of software segment with a third party -
Deputy Managing Director
Berlitz International, Inc
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Publishing industry)
November 1992 — June 1993 (8 months)
Re-located to UK office. Managed 40 person office. Implemented new fulfillment and distribution system and managed worldwide sales/distribution program for 70 international agents.
• Turned around 2-year decline to meet revenue and target goals within 1 year.
• Project managed $200,000 fulfillment software implementation on time and under budget.
• Shortened production cycles 50% and layout expenses 75% by implementing a new desktop publishing process.
• Led transition of Swiss office to the UK, handling real estate issues, process problems, product integration and new hiring. -
Director, Financial Planning & Analysis
Berlitz International, Inc
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; BTZ; Publishing industry)
September 1990 — November 1992 (2 years 3 months)
• Established financial management reporting formats for worldwide language translation and publishing operations.
• Conducted business reviews for all operations and supported senior management in business analysis and budgeting.
• Identified acquisition targets, conducted acquisition analyses, prepared valuation analyses and negotiated terms of sale for acquired companies. Extensive business travel in Europe. -
Senior Financial Analyst
Macmillan, Inc.
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Publishing industry)
March 1989 — September 1990 (1 year 7 months)
• Managed planning process for ten operating business units of a $2billion publishing company.
• Established reporting process for $40MM business unit.
• Conducted due diligence and conducted financial modeling for acquired companies.
