Thomas Baker

Current

• Principal/Consultant at Open Field Partners
• Publisher at Commonweal Magazine

Past

• Senior VP Marketing at work.com
• VP General Manager, The Wall Street Journal Online (wsj.com) at The Wall Street Journal Online
• Senior Direct Marketing and Product Development Roles at The Wall Street Journal

• Marketing Manager at Carnegie Hall
• Reporter at Forbes Magazine
• Editor at Dover Publications

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Education

• Columbia University
• Princeton University

Recommended

3 people have recommended Thomas

Connections

190 connections

Industry

Online Media

Websites

• My Company
• My Blog

Thomas Baker’s Summary

More than 20 years' senior management responsibilities for premier online and offline media products, including significant consumer and business-to-business product launches.

Thomas Baker’s Specialties:

Market exploration and business plans for new and existing products, especially in media, publishing (print and online); product testing, refinement and launches; pricing and packaging decisions

Thomas Baker’s Experience

• Principal/Consultant

  Open Field Partners

  (Partnership; 1-10 employees; Publishing industry)

  March 2001 — Present (8 years 5 months)

  Long-term consulting assignments for a number of leading publishers and media companies, focusing on:
  
  • Complete business plans and P&L models for new products or relaunches/repackaging of existing products
  • Assessing the validity of existing business plans and the growth potential of existing products
  • Evaluating the market opportunity for new products, brand extensions, and expanded/relaunched products
  • Helping publishers assess print vs. online publishing models and understand print vs. online audiences, driving towards decisions that maximize the potential revenue from each medium
  • Overseeing customer research to establish baseline of demographics and product satisfaction, generate reactions to new products, prioritize development of potential new features, packaging and pricing
  • Working with internal product development and technology teams to evaluate plans for new products and features, prioritize decisions and investments

• Publisher

  Commonweal Magazine

  (Publishing industry)

  January 2000 — Present (9 years 7 months)

  Serve as part-time publisher to provide overall business oversight for 80-year-old biweekly journal of religion, politics, the arts and culture. www.commonwealmagazine.org

• Senior VP Marketing

  work.com

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Online Media industry)

  June 2000 — March 2001 (10 months)

• VP General Manager, The Wall Street Journal Online (wsj.com)

  The Wall Street Journal Online

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; DJ; Online Media industry)

  January 1992 — June 2000 (8 years 6 months)

  As one of two founding staff members, led the publishing effort and had P&L responsibility for the Web’s most successful paid subscription site.
  
  • Built paid circulation to more than 500,000, revenues to more than $60 million
  • Hired complete publishing team including heads of advertising sales, marketing, circulation, public relations, customer service, research, and business development
  • Personally oversaw negotiation of key strategic and distribution relationships
  • Created and arranged distribution for industry’s first prepaid subscription package
  • Served as a principal spokesperson with the press and the internet industry
  
  Before and during the launch of wsj.com, I also conceived, launched and hired management for other successful media products and brand extensions.

• Senior Direct Marketing and Product Development Roles

  The Wall Street Journal

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; DJ; Newspapers industry)

  December 1983 — January 1992 (8 years 2 months)

  For nine years I held increasingly responsible positions in circulation marketing, research, and product development for the print editions of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, including:
  
  • Managing all mail and phone-based circulation renewal and retention efforts
  • Supervising and defining needs for all reader research related to the editorial content of the paper
  • Defining and building Dow Jones’s first company-wide customer database
  • Leadership of the sales, marketing and publishing effort surrounding the Journal’s college circulation program
  • Leading the effort to create a new publication for high-school students, The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition

• Marketing Manager

  Carnegie Hall

  (Non-Profit; Performing Arts industry)

  September 1981 — December 1983 (2 years 4 months)

  Served as first marketing manager for major performing-arts institution. Supervised all subscription-ticket marketing from series conception to results analysis, including all direct mail, print and broadcast advertising, collateral pieces, and the overall institutional design program

• Reporter

  Forbes Magazine

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Writing and Editing industry)

  November 1979 — September 1981 (1 year 11 months)

  Reported and wrote more than 50 stories on topics ranging from municipal finance and cable television to FASB regulations and fraternal insurance. Regular writer of “The Numbers Game,” a recurring column on accounting issues and irregularities.

• Editor

  Dover Publications

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry)

  August 1976 — January 1978 (1 year 6 months)

  Prepared more than 40 manuscripts for publication, ranging from scholarly reprints to crafts titles and musical scores. Worked with authors on revisions, copy editing, proofreading, production, advertising copy, and presentations to sales force.

Thomas Baker’s Education

• Columbia University

  MBA , Marketing , January 1978 — May 1979

• Princeton University

  AB , Classics , September 1972 — June 1976

Additional Information

Thomas Baker’s Websites:

• My Company
• My Blog

Thomas Baker’s Groups:

Board member at Stockhouse, Inc. (OTCBB: STKH), a Vancouver-based provider of internet-based financial information and technologies (www.stockhouse.com). Also serve on the board of the Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Princeton, NJ (www.stuartschool.org).

•    Columbia Business School Alums
•    Marketing Executives Networking Group
•    Princeton University - Alumni Association

Thomas Baker’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• consulting offers
• new ventures
• expertise requests
• reference requests
• getting back in touch