Jim Thomsen

Experience

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  3Com - a global leader in consumer, small business and enterprise networking solutions

  Sept 1998 - May 2001

  Senior Product Manager / Product Manager

  Managed release of 3Com’s first Internet Appliance Audrey™ and line of Sportster™ 56k modems. Responsibilities included roadmap creation, leading cross functional team, defining product value proposition, sales training, managing partnerships, support/RMA logistics strategy and PR spokesperson. Products managed generated over $100M in revenues. Accomplishments- Worked directly with Oprah Production team to feature product, show aired 4 times in 6 months driving millions of impressions and several millions dollars in advertising value. - Helped establish partnerships with AT&T WorldNet, Mindspring, Earthlink and Prodigy ensuring support for all top tier U.S. Internet Service Providers. - Managed globally acclaimed Sportster line of 56k modems, including launching 7 new products in CY’99. These products helped contribute to over $100 million in revenues.- Managed modem upgrade program which yielded $2.5 million in revenues in CY’99.- Selected to liaise with Advanced Development to help prioritize, define and productize emerging technology standards. Show less

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  USRobotics - A global leader in 56k modems, Wi-Fi and broadband access products.

  Jun 2001 - Jun 2006

  Senior Product Manager

  Responsible for SOHO WiFi and DSL product lines. Responsibilities included P&L ownership of $40M product lines, business case development, leading cross functional team, roadmap creation, product definition, vendor selection, strategic partnerships, product branding and sales presentations/training. Accomplishments- Defined and managed launch of global MAXg™ WiFi product line – largest WiFi product launch consisting of 22 SKUs. Release yielded 3 Editors Choice awards (Laptop Magazine, PC Home UK, Windows Magazine Middle East) and was featured on NBC5’s Weekend Web. - Created and executed 3rd party independent performance test plan delivering an “up to 56% faster” competitive claim used in marketing and advertising claims.- Managed launch of 71 DSL SKU’s, 5 within first 6 months and first retail shipments into Western Europe. This helped grow DSL revenues from $500,000 in 2001 to $ 14.5 million in 2005.- Formed strategic partnerships with chipset vendors Analog Devices and Broadcom to co-develop and market products, achieving 6 month time to market exclusivity rights on two product designs. Show less

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  Westell - A leading supplier of broadband products and outside plant solutions products.

  Jun 2006 - Jun 2009

  Senior Product Line Manager

  Managed advanced Broadband networking products. Responsibilities included P&L ownership of $50M product line, leading cross functional teams, roadmap creation, product definition, training/presentations, developing product value proposition, tradeshow participation and RFP responses.Accomplishments- Led team in a new channel initiative to expand sales into cable segment resulting in three trials within 6 months and being selected by a Tier 1 provider to help define their next generation product.- Helped Broadband P&L exceed FY’08 financial plan (103% of target).- Defined and managed release of Westell’s first product sold into Verizon Wireless resulting in $2 million in revenues.- Managed release of new DSL Router product line resulting in a 15% cost reduction and $20 million in revenues in the first 8 months of shipping. Show less

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  UScellular

  Jun 2009 - now

  Managed a team of three tenured Associates responsible for managing our Messaging Monetization strategy, Google services, Affinity Programs, Lifeline/Affordable Connectivity Programs and the network experience of our Postpaid, Prepaid and Home Internet price plans. Accomplishments- Team is responsible for managing products which generate over $40M in annual revenue.- Developed a plan and launched enhancements to Network Experience management platform which resulted in $20M over 3 years. - Team is responsible for supporting well over 300 network experience changes annually in support of new plans or changes to existing plans. - Assisted Engineering in rolling out a plan to repurpose 3G spectrum for LTE which improved customers speeds 25-50%. - Assisted team in growing our Affordability Connected Program subscribers by 8X which added over 5K new lines in the last 20 months. Show less Managed the launch of postpaid price plans and key lifecycle initiatives. Responsibilities included being the business lead for key technology enablement projects, roadmap creation, product definition, creating frontline readiness materials, developing a lifecycle strategy and forming strategic lifecycle partnerships.Accomplishments- Led a large enterprise project which had a 3 year NPV of $100M and delivered key technology enablement needed to launch our tiered Unlimited product suite and maintain competitive parity. - Helped bring to market 4 iterations of postpaid pricing structures including Unlimited with Payback, Unlimited Evolved and New Unlimited which set a company time to market record of 10 days. - Operational lead for our Military and Partner Employee programs and owner of our Refer-a-Friend program. - Launched our first nationwide customer appreciation events which led to year over year increases of store traffic by 45%, device activations by 44% and winshare by 57%. - Launched a mobile prizewheel and online sweepstakes resulting in 85k and 286k impressions respectively Show less Manage a team of six tenured Marketing & Launch Managers responsible for launching and managing Go-To-Market activities for all Smartphones, Feature Phones, Tablets and Connected devices. These devices annually represented over 500 SKU’s and $1B in spend. Accomplishments- Launched 23 devices in 2014 and 25 devices in 2015, also managed certification of 13 Machine to Machine (M2M) devices in 2014 and 25 in 2015. Reduced total time to market by 21% from 2014 to 2015.- Improved operational efficiencies with creation of real time project dashboards, automation of sales reporting and weekly operational review meetings. - Team led initiative for Apple & Samsung store within a store rollouts which enhancing our store merchandising and is projected to increase smartphone sales by 3-5%. - Enhanced presale capabilities for Samsung and Apple products delivering 3X to 5X increase in sales. - Team implemented new device training which drove a 10X increase in Associate completion rates and is expected to lower returns and deliver higher customer satisfaction. Show less Managed and launched Smartphones, Tablets and Connected Devices. Responsibilities included product launch, marketing plan creation, Associate Readiness and managing annual forecast / budgeting for device data revenues which were in excess of $700M. Accomplishments- Managed the launch of all HTC and Blackberry smartphones and tablets which drove over $130M in data and access revenues. - Business Lead for Ultimate Device Flexibility project which provided the foundation for device financing which now represents over 80% of USCC’s device transactions.- Managed Smartphone & Connected Device forecasting, regularly achieving 95%+ forecast accuracy. - Developed requirements and business case for new category “Smart Messaging” device which drove $15 higher ARPU per customer. Show less Managed Video and Music products. Responsibilities included P&L responsible for over $15M in revenues, product launch, roadmap creation, business case development, product definition, marketing plan creation and annual forecast / budgeting. Accomplishments- Managed forecasting/budgeting process for team, consistently delivering 90-95% revenue accuracy. - Managed launch of U.S. Cellular’s first white labeled video clip service for Smartphones providing video access to nearly 100,000 high tier customers.- Helped grow our Mobile TV revenue by 10X through launch of smartphone mobile application, Associate education and in-store demo. - Managed U.S. Cellular’s ringtone / ringback music storefront, delivering $12M in revenue in 2010 and $10M in 2011. Show less

  • Senior Manager, Product Managment

    Jan 2021 - now

  • Senior Product Manager, Pricing & Promotions / Lifecycle Management

    Oct 2016 - Jan 2021

  • Senior Manager, Device Marketing & Management

    Apr 2013 - Oct 2016

  • Senior Device Marketing Manager

    Dec 2011 - Apr 2013

  • Senior Product Manager

    Jun 2009 - Dec 2011