Are you at a B2B start-up and looking for a mentor? Then, you should consider John Thibault.
John is a very experienced and successful executive. He’s also a great guy. I was on one of his boards many years ago, and we have kept in touch. I’ve always admired John’s personal drive and his ability to get things done. He’s a person who has done very well financially and is very generous as well.
On the personal front, John had a very serious stroke a few years ago while in Paris. He was in a coma for a long time. The doctors didn’t think he would make it, and miraculously, John is now doing very well. By his own admission, the stroke and subsequent rehab have changed him. He’s now more mellow and even more highly motivated to help others.
Here are John’s areas of expertise:
- Raising venture funding
- Recruiting and organization skills
- Engineering management
- Product management
- Product roll out to customers
- Public relations
- Sales management
Here is what John is looking for:
- Stage: post-funding first round or at early-team development
- Location: Boston/128/495 area
- His commitment: willing to spend up to 10 to 15 hours a week
I think the world of John. He can only mentor one or two companies, and if you’d like to reach out to him, contact me via Twitter or LinkedIn, and I will give you his email.
His formal bio is here:
John C. Thibault has more than 30 successful years of industry experience in the Massachusetts Technology community as a senior executive and serial entrepreneur developing new businesses and creating jobs in the greater Merrimack Valley. In addition, Mr. Thibault and his family are community minded in terms of participating in community activities and philanthropy through the Thibault Family Foundation.
From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Thibault has served as chairman, president and CEO of Virtual Iron Software – a Lowell based emerging start up in the Server Virtualization Market. He previously was chairman and CEO of Convergent Networks, an emerging growth technology company focused on developing Next Generation Switching Solutions.
From 2099 to 2001 Mr. Thibault was senior vice president, Cisco Systems leading Cisco’s expansion into the New England area. Before joining Cisco, Mr. Thibault was president, CEO and Founder of GeoTel Communications Corp., which he led from a promising startup to an industry leader with hundreds of blue-chip customers and $2 billion in market capitalization. GeoTel was acquired by Cisco in June 1999.
Mr. Thibault’s extensive management experience also includes positions as president and CEO of Coral Network Corp., senior vice president Motorola’s Codex division, and president and CEO of PBX manufacturer Intecom, Inc. He was also the youngest vice president in the history of Wang Laboratories, where he served for more than 12 years.
In 1997, The Massachusetts Telecom Council named Mr. Thibault “CEO of the Year” for leading GeoTel to one of the most successful Initial Public offerings of 1996.
In 1999, Mr. Thibault, his wife Elaine and his daughters founded the Thibault Family Foundation which focuses its philanthropy and active participation in Merrimack Valley non-profit based organizations with a specific focus on the needs of children and families. The Thibault Foundation distributes over $100,000 annually to local organizations.