Brian Lawley

Current

CEO at 280 Group LLC

Past

Director of Product Marketing & Product Management at Whistle Communications
Director of Java/C++ Development Tools at Symantec
Senior Product Marketing Manager at Apple Computer

Product Marketing Specialist at Claris
Sales & Marketing Representative at Digidesign

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2 more...

Education

San Jose State University
University of California, San Diego

Recommended

7 people have recommended Brian

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Computer Software

Websites

Brian Lawley’s Summary

Brian Lawley is the CEO and Founder of the 280 Group, a Product Management services firm that provides consulting, contractors, training and templates. He is also President of the Silicon Valley Product Management Association. During his twenty year career in Product Management he has defined, launched and marketed over fifty successful products for companies such as Apple, Symantec, Adobe, Palm and dozens of startup and mid-sized companies.

Mr. Lawley is the Author of the Book “Expert Product Management: Advanced Techniques, Tips & Strategies for Product Management & Product Marketing.” He was nominated for the Product Management Excellence Award for Thought Leadership by the Association of International Product Marketing & Management in 2006 and 2007. He is the editor of Product Management 2.0, a newsletter and Blog devoted to excellence in Product Management and writes guest articles for many other publications.

He frequently speaks on the topic of Product Management and has been featured on CNBC's World Business Review and the Silicon Valley Business Report. Mr. Lawley is a Certified Product Manager (CPM) and Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM). He earned an MBA with honors from San Jose State University and Bachelors Degree in Management Science from the University of California at San Diego with a Music Technology minor.

His company, the 280 Group, provides consulting services and contractors. They also offers templates and on-demand training Toolkits (Product Manager's, Launch, Roadmap, Beta Program, Product Review Program, Developer Program) and the PM Office.

More info at www.280group.com.

Career:
280 Group LLC
Adobe, Intel, Nokia, Palm, TellMe, Netcom, Telocity, Quiver, Good, Omniva, dozens of others.

Whistle Communications 96-98
Symantec 95-96
Apple 91-95
Claris 88-91
Digidesign 87-88

Brian Lawley’s Specialties:

Product Marketing, Product Management, Marketing, Business Strategy, Market Research, Online Marketing, Market Validation, Product Roadmaps, Market Requirements, Product Launches

Brian Lawley’s Experience

CEO

280 Group LLC

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Computer Software industry)

June 1998 — Present (10 years 4 months)

I started the 280 Group because I have a passion for creating and marketing breakthrough products, and I wanted to share my skills and talent with a wide variety of clients.

Our clients range from small startups to Fortune 500 companies, including companies like Adobe Systems, PalmSource, Nokia, Good Technology, Netcom (acquired by Earthlink), Telocity, Omniva, Broadquest, Quiver, Remedy, Propel, SEMI and many others.

Full details about the 280 Group and my background are available at www.280group.com.
Director of Product Marketing & Product Management

Whistle Communications

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

June 1996 — June 1998 (2 years 1 month)

I built a team of Product Managers that brought a brand new product from concept to winner of the best new networking product of the year.

- Key executive team member that helped grow company valuation from $2M to $130M.

- Built a team of product managers that defined, launched and marketed worldwide server appliance product line.

- Established small business Internet appliance category with Whistle's product as clear leader.

- Managed press and PR activities: over 20 positive product reviews and 10 awards.

- Defined worldwide pricing strategy.

- Built key strategic relationships with third parties. Negotiated all software bundling deals.

- Determined positioning and created content for marketing collateral, web site, and training materials.

- Delivered sales tools.

- Gathered customer feedback &conducted market research.

- Worked closely with engineering to determine product strategy and roadmap.

- Delivered market requirements documents.
Director of Java/C++ Development Tools

Symantec

(Public Company; 501-1000 employees; smtc; Computer Software industry)

June 1995 — June 1996 (1 year 1 month)

- Profit and loss responsibility for multi-million dollar Java and C++ development tools business.

- Managed a team of 23 people, including product management/marketing, engineering and QA.

- Shipped multiple award-winning products, including C++ for Power Macintosh/68k and Symantec Cafe.

- Responsible for all pricing, positioning, packaging, and launch activities.
Senior Product Marketing Manager

Apple Computer

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; aapl; Computer Software industry)

May 1991 — June 1995 (4 years 2 months)

Senior Product Marketing Manager – User Interface

- Responsible for all user interface technologies and features for the Macintosh operating system.

- Built and managed a team of product managers.

- Duties included determining customer and market requirements, driving overall strategy, tracking competitive environment, writing marketing and launch plans, and developing and communicating the overall vision.

- Did presentations and demos to Apple executive staff, key customers, Apple field sales, VARS, and developers.

Product Manager – Agent Technologies
Marketing Manager – Graphics and Imaging
Product Manager – Fonts and Type
Product Marketing Specialist

Claris

(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry)

May 1988 — May 1991 (3 years 1 month)

Responsible for Product Marketing across the range of Claris products - MacWrite, FileMaker, MacDraw, MacProject and others.
Sales & Marketing Representative

Digidesign

(Public Company; 1-10 employees; Computer Software industry)

January 1987 — May 1988 (1 year 5 months)

Managed all channel activities through music can computer dealers. Helped launch multiple new versions of music software products.

Brian Lawley’s Education

San Jose State University

MBA, Marketing & Business, 1989 — 1991
University of California, San Diego

BA, Management Science, 1982 — 1987

Additional Information

Brian Lawley’s Websites:

Brian Lawley’s Interests:

Shaolin Kung Fu, Singing, Songwriting, Playing Guitar, Recording

Brian Lawley’s Groups:

- President, SVPMA (Silicon Valley Product Manager's Association) Board
- Board of Directors, California Coast Music Camp (CCMC)
- AIPMM (Association of International Product Marketing Management)
- SDForum
- NorCalBMA