Executive Staff

David Mather

President

David Mather joined Hoover's as president in June 2007. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring the successful execution of the company's initiatives and for driving Hoover's overall strategy. Before joining Hoover's, David served as Vice President and General Manager of Global Business Operations for a $1.4 billion Global Systems and Technology division at Unisys.

David joined Unisys from Hewlett-Packard, where he was Vice President of Imaging Printing Group Worldwide Direct, which was responsible for developing the division's go-to-market model, as well as its global direct sales, Internet, and marketing strategies. Prior to this, David was HP's Vice President of Americas Sales Operations, after serving as a member of the acquisition team during the HP merger with Compaq Computer Corporation.

During his time at Compaq, David served as the company's Vice President of North America Operations. He also held a number of other executive management positions, including directing sales and marketing, worldwide services management, and customer services. In addition, he participated in several merger and acquisition teams including Compaq Innacom, Compaq Digital, and Compaq Tandem.

Prior to joining Compaq, David instituted and managed engineering and consulting services divisions at Unicom MicroAge. He also founded and privately sold several startup companies, including NSI Networking Solutions and Impact Software Systems. David holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Northeastern University and serves on the board of directors of MPTV Corporation, a company that designs clean energy solutions. He resides in Austin with his wife and son.

Jeff Guillot

Executive Vice President, Internet Product Development
Interim Vice President, Technology

Jeff Guillot joined Hoover's in November 2005 as Executive Vice President of Product and Technology. He currently serves as the EVP of Internet Product Development and Interim VP of Technology. In this role, he is responsible for implementing a broader product focus for global customer solutions within D&B's Small Business Marketing Group. Jeff is responsible for leading Hoover's product development group, which is focused on creating innovative, world class solutions. In addition, he oversees the overall technology strategy and leads the technology team to implement new leading edge products, plan for strategic growth, and manage IT operations. He also directs all architecture, infrastructure and enterprise applications.

Prior to joining Hoover's, Jeff served as Senior Director of Business Development - Customer Advocacy & Remote Operations Services, for Cisco Systems' Austin, Texas office. In this role, he led the global development of new partner enablement strategy as a mission-critical part of the integration of NetSolve into Cisco's first managed services business. Before joining Cisco, Jeff was Vice President of Product Development and Chief Information Officer for NetSolve, Inc., until its 2004 acquisition by Cisco.

Jeff brings to Hoover's 20 years of experience working with world-class companies such as Cisco, Dell, and Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) to deliver innovative technologies and products to market. Jeff has worked within a variety of industries, for well-established, as well as start-up companies, having held leadership positions with NetSolve, Trilogy, PurchasePooling Solutions, and Halgo Field Services. Jeff holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Russell Secker

Executive Vice President, Editorial and First Research

Russell Secker directs the editorial team at Hoover's and also leads the First Research division of Hoover's.

Russell joined Hoover's in June 2000 as its Chief Operating Officer for Europe, and subsequently relocated to the company's Austin headquarters, where he has held senior roles in Product, Marketing and Technology. He previously served as Marketing Director for Dun & Bradstreet Europe, coordinating key initiatives across Europe, with particular focus on report products delivered via the Internet. Russell joined D&B in the U.S. in 1986 as Development Manager, responsible for introducing PC technology to the data gathering and reporting function. He later held more senior technology positions, with responsibility for both collection and marketing systems.

Before repatriating to the U.K., Russell worked on projects designed to enhance the global position of D&B, most notably the design, development and implementation of the world's largest business database, WorldBase. Before moving to the U.S. to work for CIGNA Insurance, he held a variety of technology consulting assignments in the U.K. and started up his own consultancy. Russell holds a Master's degree from the University of Warwick Business School, England.

Jim Currie

Vice President, Sales and Operations

Jim Currie was appointed as Hoover's Vice President of Sales and Operations in March 2007. In this role, he is responsible for increasing sales in the SMB space and growing the company's base of loyal customers. Jim has been with Hoover's for ten years, serving in a number of different roles, including successful leadership of Hoover's customer training, customer service and loyalty marketing teams, as well as the company's account services and acquisition teams.

In the past five years, Jim's leadership on Hoover's account services team directly contributed to that team's consistent over-performance. He helped lead Hoover's subscription sales efforts from the time of Hoover's debut as a public company in 1999, through D&B's acquisition of Hoover's in 2003, to the present. He has helped grow Hoover's from $1.5 million/year in revenues, to more than $85 million/year in revenues.

Much of Jim's career has focused on serving small and midsized businesses, an important target market for Hoover's. Prior to joining Hoover's, he served as a field sales account executive for MCI Sales, and also held several call center sales leadership positions. Jim holds both a BA and MA in Economics from the University of Delaware.

Chris Warwick

Vice President, Product Development and Management

Chris Warwick was appointed as Hoover's Vice President of Product Development and Management in November 2007. In this role she is responsible for the delivery of new customer-focused products and executing product line strategies for specific market segments. Chris joined Hoover's in 2004 as Vice President of Acquisition Marketing and Site Development. She was responsible for driving the overall performance of Hoover's online and direct marketing efforts to drive qualified leads, unique visitor traffic and brand awareness.

Before joining Hoover's, Chris served as Director of Customer Development for Bath & Body Works, where she was responsible for the development and delivery of customer communications including direct mail, e-mail, in-store and alternative marketing channels. Prior to this, she was Vice President of Consumer Marketing and Merchandising for Travelocity, where she drove the company's CRM and database marketing initiatives, as well as all relationship and customer contact marketing and channel merchandising.

Chris's early career included roles within media mogul Meredith Corporation, including Associate Director of Database Marketing, Business Development Manager for Better Homes and Gardens Brand Licensing, and Promotion Manager for Ladies' Home Journal. She holds a B.A. in Media Arts, Radio and Television, from the University of Arizona.

Mike Clark

Vice President, Finance

Mike Clark joined the Hoover's finance team in January 2006 and assumed the role of Vice President in November 2007. He has oversight responsibility for the company's financial functions as well as Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance.

Prior to joining Hoover's, Mike held various management roles with HP, Compaq, and Tandem Computers. He has management experience in many functional areas, including finance, operations, product development, and program management. The early part of Mike's career was spent in the financial services industry, where he held portfolio accounting jobs with The Benham Group and Charles Schwab.

Mike holds a BBA in finance from Georgia State University, a Masters in Computer Information Systems from UOP, and is completing coursework for an MBA from Baylor University. Mike is married with two children and resides in Cedar Park, Texas.