Rick Coplin

Current

Venture Development Director at TechColumbus
MBA Mentor, Fisher College of Business Center for Entrepreneurship at The Ohio State University
Entreprenurial Consultant at City of Dublin, Ohio - Economic Development Department

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Past

Director of Operations at Armada Group, Inc.
Technology Program Director at Banc One Investment Management Group
Manager at Ernst & Young Consulting

Senior Consultant at KPMG Peat Marwick

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1 more...

Education

The Ohio State University - The Max M. Fisher College of Business
The Washington Campus
Denison University

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Recommended

14 people have recommended Rick

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Websites

Rick Coplin’s Summary

My interest is leveraging my background to assist entrepreneurial companies in cultivating strategies for success, developing a superior business foundation, preparing for financing rounds, and engaging appropriate mentors and capable leadership resources to achieve rapid growth and sustainable competitive market positions.

My background includes over 10 years of consulting leadership in manufacturing, supply chain, finance, business and technology, plus over five years leadership in a start up environment. The startup company developed leading edge law enforcement information sharing software and was acquired in 2007. I managed relationships with client, vendor and government representatives and was involved in user interface design and testing, industry competitive analysis, sales and directing grant dollar expenditures. Prior to this, I was with Banc One Investment Management Group as a Technology Program Director overseeing technology acquisition, development and implementation. Before Bank One, I had over eight years consulting experience with Ernst & Young and KPMG Peat Marwick. At Ernst & Young, I focused on emerging, entrepreneurial and high growth companies providing consulting expertise in technology transition, software design, selection and implementation, and business process reengineering. While with KPMG, I focused on technology implementation in warehousing, manufacturing, and supply chain management.

Rick Coplin’s Specialties:

Coaching and mentoring, opportunity assessment, value proposition articulation, process optimization , company formation, competitive positioning , strategy creation, business plan development, financial resource identification and preparation, and management assessment.

Rick Coplin’s Experience

Venture Development Director

TechColumbus

(Non-Profit; Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

February 2008 — Present (1 year 10 months)

I concentrate on finding and supporting entrepreneurial technology innovators and pioneering technology oriented companies in three key areas: Advanced Materials, Bioscience, and Information Technology. My priorities include coaching and mentoring entrepreneurial individuals and teams, connecting promising early stage companies to capital access opportunities, introducing individuals to industry experts and specialized management expertise, and business planning. The goal of these activities is to guide companies in establishing measurable business results through growth acceleration, market acceptance and successful investment.
MBA Mentor, Fisher College of Business Center for Entrepreneurship

The Ohio State University

(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

February 2008 — Present (1 year 10 months)
Entreprenurial Consultant

City of Dublin, Ohio - Economic Development Department

(Government Administration industry)

February 2008 — Present (1 year 10 months)
Director of Operations

Armada Group, Inc.

(Information Technology and Services industry)

September 2001 — April 2007 (5 years 8 months)

Influenced and implemented strategies and tactics in nearly all facets of the business and in the development of an innovative law enforcement information system. I was primarily responsible for client and vendor relations, industry and competitive analysis, training design and delivery, and system implementation. In addition I guided system development from concept to a fully functional, web-based law enforcement investigation and information sharing system resulting in one of the nation’s largest and most active law enforcement networks.
Technology Program Director

Banc One Investment Management Group

(Financial Services industry)

November 1998 — April 2001 (2 years 6 months)

Responsible for guiding technology direction and application in the Institutional Trust business unit and for the life cycle of technology business solutions from concept through implementation. In this capacity, I led regular strategy and design sessions with executives, management teams and sales teams to align business strategies and technology requirements and to plan appropriate business solutions to achieve measurable results.
Manager

Ernst & Young Consulting

(Management Consulting industry)

June 1996 — November 1998 (2 years 6 months)

Responsible for implementing best in class practices with emerging, entrepreneurial and high growth financial services industry clients. I concentrated on technology transition and process improvement, with extensive experience in information systems design and development, process evaluation and redesign and software selection and implementation to achieve significant bottom line results.

Sample engagement: Managed 25 developers and consultants during a 14 month systems implementation for a $7B insurance company. The project was completed on time and at budget. Results included streamlined rating, lower systems operations costs and Y2K compliance.
Senior Consultant

KPMG Peat Marwick

(Partnership; 10,001 or more employees; KPMG; Accounting industry)

September 1992 — June 1996 (3 years 10 months)

Responsible for technology implementation, business process reengineering, operations improvement, supply chain integration, and distribution strategy with manufacturing, supply chain management, and warehousing clients. I consistently achieved measurable and sustainable results for my clients across a variety of projects.

Sample project: Conducted a product profitability analysis for a $50 billion food and agricultural conglomerate, yielding a realignment of manufacturing operations across five plants and over $1 million annual improvement in profitability per plant.

Rick Coplin’s Education

The Ohio State University - The Max M. Fisher College of Business

MBA , Operations, Finance , 1989 — 1991
The Washington Campus

N/A , 1990 — 1990

The Washington Campus educates graduate business students and corporate executives on the decision-making processes of the U.S. government. The Washington Campus is an outstanding opportunity for graduate students to develop an appreciation for the intricacies of government- business relationships and to establish a foundation for expectations and success in any career that may involve government interaction.
Denison University

Bachelor of Arts , Economics , 1981 — 1985