David Meldrum-Taylor

David has more than 35 years of experience in high-tech electronics and telecommunications, and has held professional and management positions in systems engineering, sales, marketing, product and program management, business development and general management. David started his career with IBM in the United Kingdom in business systems design when mainframe technology was at its height.  He was also heavily involved in integrated network design and the emerging field of electronic switching systems, providing international support to IBM divisions across Europe. David subsequently moved into various staff positions and then into systems sales, again working across Europe and in the international support center in France.

After 13 years with IBM UK, David emigrated to Alberta, Canada and joined Xerox Canada to provide technical marketing support to that company’s systems division.  He was involved in the sale, design, implementation and ongoing support of the first Local Area Networks in North America, experiencing the introduction and infancy of a technology that was to revolutionize the network infrastructure.  Following his period at Xerox, David joined Mitel Corporation in Kanata, Ontario as Manager of Product Planning.  In this role he headed a team responsible for identifying and qualifying market opportunities for Mitel’s high end digital switch product line.  Those opportunities were subject to extensive business and financial analysis and corporate approvals before being translated into product specifications.  David progressed through increasingly demanding roles completing his time at Mitel as Director of Systems Applications.

After four years with Mitel, David had the opportunity to join a couple of start-up companies in the field of both local and wide area network systems.  He spent the following year learning a lot about the nature of start-ups while developing marketing plans and product strategy for these entities.  At that time, he was approached by Digital Sound Corporation to join their expanding team in southern California.  DSC was a mature start-up company developing state-of-the-art voice processing systems for the telecommunications industry using an advanced, and unique, architecture.  As Director of International Marketing, David was charged with developing the European market and over a four year period he had negotiated and closed contracts with several of the major European telecommunications manufacturers.  During that time he set up, and managed, the DSC European organization to support the sales activities with both sales and technical staff.

Following four years at Digital Sound, David and his wife incorporated their own business to purchase and run food franchises.  In addition, during this time, David provided consulting services to a number of companies in the telecommunications industry including the setting up of two overseas subsidiaries. 

In 1997, David joined Magnetic Data Technologies, LLC, a global provider of post-sales services to the communications, computer and electronic storage markets as a Program Manager responsible for several major international accounts with products that included hard disk drives, motherboards, wireless and communications products.  Subsequently David moved into the role of Director of Marketing Services for MDT, establishing marketing programs, developing collateral materials and sales tools and designing and managing the implementation of a corporate web site, including customer portals and intranet services that created a unique sales advantage over competition.  David was also responsible for the creation of compelling proposals and pricing that secured multi-million dollar accounts.  Additional duties included the assessment of several specialist companies for acquisition and market research into new business opportunities.

Following the acquisition of MDT by Solectron in 2002, David moved to Teleplan International (a Dutch based independent provider of Reverse Supply Chain Management services) as Director of Marketing Services for the Americas region.  His responsibilities here were broadly similar to those at MDT but with even greater emphasis on proposal generation and pricing.  He was also charged with interfacing with major account customers on proposals and contracts, developing marketing plans, identifying industry opportunities and selecting and managing trade shows and exhibits. 

David resigned from Teleplan in 2006 and joined Solectron Global Services as Director of Marketing Services for the Americas, responsible for the quotation process and tactical marketing.  He redesigned much of the quotation process, automating proposal generation where possible while maintaining strong value propositions and a tailored end product.  The process was also tied in closely with the very successful tollgate process governing the entire process of business acquisition through final operational implementation.  During his time with Solectron David managed the quote team, selected and managed trade shows and exhibits, supported the executive management team with presentations and other materials for customer, internal and public events and worked closely with the corporate marketing on collateral materials, press releases and articles.  Solectron’s acquisition by Flextronics has meant that David is available to offer his experience to organizations requiring his skill sets.

Personal:

David was born and educated in England and holds both British (EU) and Canadian citizenship.  He has three adult children, a son and two daughters, and lives in Santa Barbara, California with his wife Barbara.  David possesses a very British sense of humor, is a member of Mensa, and when not working enjoys cycling, music, cooking (and eating) and wine.