Began my career path in the music / entertainment business playing keyboards and recording two albums for Paramount Records in the early 70's.

Transitioned to the production side of the business first acting as the tour manager for Mother's Finest and then as a business manager for lighting company R.A. Roth, Inc. and a partner in Source Point Design (Michael Jackson, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Deep Purple and many others).

The advent of PC-based CAD (Computer Assisted Design) piqued my interest in computers and I created the first AutoCAD application for Lighting Design that was utilized by CBS, the Scorpions and many others.

I moved to the software business in 1987 and focused on licensing of core technologies to Industry Titans including Microsoft, IBM, Unisys, Intel, Novell, Borland and many others.

Key achivements over the past 25 years include:

- Equity Investments and major OEM deals with IBM for CaseWorks/KASEWorks

- Leading ISV (Independent Software Vendor) / OEM Sales at KnowledgeWare culminating in their acquisition by Sterling Software.

- Running a successful SAP products division for Deloitte Consulting

- Launching KnowledgeX, a precursor to today's social media applications that was acquired by IBM in 1998

- Transitioning Optio Software into an e-business, profitable company that had its IPO in 1999. Acquired by Bottomline Technologies in an all cash transaction in 2008.

- Built Lombardi Software through innovative partnerships and alliances in the early 2000's. Lombardi was acquired by IBM in 2009. (Yes, an unintended pattern is emerging.)

- Led the Sales and Marketing team at Datacap, Inc. beginning in 2008. We were selected by IBM to be their strategic platform for Enterprise Capture and acquired in 2010.

- I currently serve as the Worldwide Sales Leader at IBM for the Imaging Solutions / ECM Group.

- Independent consulting projects are facilitated through Hightower Lake Consulting Group, LLC.