Please join us for our first networking event and fire side chat featuring Mr. Kevin H. Pollard

About the Speaker

In January 2015, Mr. Pollard founded C-Suite Services, LLC, which licensed and commercializes several ultra-high pressure, high-volume gas and liquid fluid flow control technology patents, developed by NASA for application in severe environments. Mr. Pollard is an Adjunct Professor at Tulane University and teaches New Venture Planning, Managing Innovation, and MBA Practicum at Tulane University's campuses in New Orleans, LA and Houston TX; he has also taught Entrepreneurship & New Ventures and Global Strategy for Emerging Markets in Panama, Guatemala and Mexico. Mr. Pollard is an experienced board director, with service to more than 30 organizations during a 40 year period. He also founded GlobalSolve Management Services (January 1, 2003 – December 31, 2015), a highly-specialized consultancy, which provided international business development and advisory strategies to a diverse, international client that base spanned more than 20 foreign countries, with a geographic focus on opportunities in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Prior to founding GlobalSolve, Mr. Pollard was Chief Executive Officer of Access Data Consulting Corporation (May 2001 – December 2002). During his tenure, he repositioned the Company’s business strategy for growth, despite a severe economic downturn in its major market, the telecommunications industry; he was recognized for those efforts with several industry awards, including the recognition as one of the top 100, fastest growing companies in its field. He sold his interest in the Company in December 2002. Mr. Pollard was a pioneer in the global managed storage services industry, founding market-leading Arsenal Digital Solutions Worldwide, Inc. in 1998; Arsenal provided primary and backup data storage, restore, and service solutions throughout the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia. As its Founder, Chairman, President and CEO, he guided the Company from his concept through its early years before transitioning management responsibilities. While serving as its CEO, the Company received Dun and Bradstreet / Entrepreneur’s Top 100 Companies; Ernst & Young’s Top Technology Company in North Carolina; and several other awards, which recognized the Company’s growth and management team. IBM Global Services purchased Arsenal in January 2008; it is now IBM’s Managed Continuity Services & Recovery Services. From November 1997 to December 1998, Mr. Pollard successfully guided Athena International LLC, a long-distance telecommunications reseller, from near-bankruptcy through a successful turn-around and subsequent sale, avoiding bankruptcy liquidation and returning 60% of investors’ funds after a sale to a strategic buyer. Mr. Pollard held several senior executive positions of increasing responsibility at FREEPORT-McMoRan, Inc. (January 1989 – December 1997), heading business development, strategic planning, finance and international business operations; his responsibilities included mergers, acquisitions, divestures, organization restructuring and general operations. In 1990, Mr. Pollard founded a $25 million Corporate Venture Fund for Freeport’s Indonesian affiliate in order to provide seed capital for Indonesian startup ventures that supplied goods and/or services to the Company. Indonesia  reeport Finance Company was the first venture capital company established in the Republic of Indonesia, requiring two years to draft, lobby and implement necessary laws and related regulations. During his 5-year posting in Indonesia as Executive Vice President of and Board Director for the Freeport Indonesia (Freeport’s largest affiliate), Mr. Pollard led a team that received international recognition for monetizing nearly US $1 billion of non-core assets that were subsequently reinvested for expanded operations, while concurrently outsourcing approximately 10,000 of the Company’s 18,000 employees. The outsourced model became the standard for global natural resource companies. Prior to his Freeport career, Mr. Pollard held staff and management positions in sales, marketing, and general management positions of increasing responsibility for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (March 1975 – January 1989). He began his business career as a Sales Representative for Procter & Gamble Distributing Company (March 1973 – March 1975). Mr. Pollard received a B.A. from DePaul University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1973, and a M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 1981. He is married (Mallory Eder Pollard) with two children and three grandchildren.

About SG / Chapter / Event

Welcome our first fireside chat event for the New Orleans chapter of Startup Grind!!

We hope that tonight you are inspired with new ideas. With your help, talent, and drive, our community is poised to become one of the global leaders in innovation for the 21st century. Startup Grind and its partnership with Google for Startups is the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting more than 1,500,000 entrepreneurs in over 600 chapters and over 131 countries. Startup Grind partners with Google for Startups and local organizations like NOLABA to nurture economic development ecosystems across the planet.

Our values are:

• We believe in making friends, not contacts.

• We believe in giving, not taking.

• We believe in helping others before helping yourself.