Kevin Downing

Experience

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  Atlantic Jazz Festival

  May 2005 - Aug 2005

  Sponsor Liaison Coordinator

  Manager of all sponsorship relationships, events and signage during the Atlantic Jazz Festival.

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  Dalhousie University

  May 2005 - Aug 2005

  Research Associate

  Worked under Dr. Patrick Lee in Oncolysis (Cancer and Virology) research. Research project focused on the potential use of Reovirus as a therapy for mesothelioma

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  MaRS Discovery District

  Feb 2006 - Sept 2010

  Managed the Cleantech practice at MaRS, focusing on the needs of our emerging clients as well as the macro-level issues related to capital availability and public policy in the sector. Coordinate intake of new clients for Advisory Services, support the four sector practices (ICT, Life Sciences, Cleantech, Social Purpose), and generally make myself useful as best I can.

  • Manager, Cleantech Practice

    May 2010 - Sept 2010

  • Manager, Business Services

    Feb 2006 - May 2010
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  MMB Networks

  Sept 2010 - Dec 2015

  MMB is a ZigBee module developer/vendor and contract services provider who works primarily with OEMs to enable their new or existing products to speak ZigBee Home Automation or Smart Energy, through either stock or custom hardware and software solutions. As VP, Business Development I led the sales team in working with customers from household brands to start-ups, developed strategic partnerships with distributors and sales channels, and cultivated relationships with connected home platforms. • Responsible for all sales, sales strategy and team development:• Responsible for strategic partnerships:o Targeted and secured partnerships with multiple MSOs, home automation platforms and retail channels.• Responsible for all supply and contract and negotiations. • Supported marketing and product development as part of the senior leadership team.o Specified market requirements for current and future products.• Responsible for all sales forecasting and regular board reporting.• Supported a successful Series A. Show less As Director, Business Development I was part of the sales team in working with customers from household brands to start-ups, developed strategic partnerships with distributors and sales channels, and cultivated relationships with connected home platforms. • Responsible for all sales, sales strategy, pricing and team development:o Built and managed a team of sales associates, account managers and technical sales engineers.o Established consultative sales, educating engineering/ strategy teams on opportunities in Smart Grid/Home Automation while selling hardware, software and services. o Oversaw drafting statements of work for engineering services. • Supported a successful Angel round. Show less

  • VP, Business Development / Channel Operations

    Jan 2012 - Dec 2015

  • Director, Business Development

    Sept 2010 - Jan 2012
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  Zen Ecosystems

  Dec 2015 - Dec 2017

  Co-Founder / EVP, Business Development / Channel Operations

  Zen is a Smart Thermostat company that grew into an Energy Management as a Service and Demand Response Platform. • Responsible for corporate development: o Identified the opportunity and successfully creating a JV between MMB (below) and Planet Innovation, an Australian engineering services firm to start Zen Ecosystems. • Built the business plan, budget, forecasts and successful sales strategy, targeting growing home security and home automation platforms looking for a reliable thermostat and energy management platform• Coordinated all sales, customer validation, trials and contract negotiations, securing supply agreements with Comcast, Rogers and others. Zen was a success, doubling revenue every year• Leveraged successful hardware to develop a demand response as a service platform to generate recurring revenue from an underserved market – small and medium footprint commercial sites• Initiated and developed third party vendor relationships, channels and strategic partnerships that helped open new sales channels, • Responsible for and successfully negotiated supply agreements and contracts with Comcast, Cox, Rogers, Samsung and others• Oversaw customer support, installer training, designed tiered support workflows with channel partners, maintaining a high CSAT and NPS • Responsible for all direct and channel thermostat sales. • Responsible for all negotiations of contracts.o Successfully negotiated supply agreements and contracts with multiple MSOs and channel partners.• Responsible for all account management and customer success:o Led all upsell and renegotiation efforts. Show less

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  Mysa Smart Thermostats

  Jan 2018 - Jan 2019

  VP Business Development

  Mysa is the first truly smart wifi thermostat for electric baseboard heat. • Part of the leadership team, led sales (excluding DTC) and channel ops efforts and contributed to operational excellence• Launched a wholesale program with distributors, reps and contractors. Managed the development of a contractor portal and screened and onboarded hundreds of electricians o Managed all multi-family and commercial building sales.• Created a new utility business line, securing customer rebates, contracts with major utilities and utility marketplaces • Project managed successful trials, eg. 500 home trial with Puget Sound (sponsor), CLEAResult (energy efficiency testing), property management (site management) and electricians (installers) • Co-managed support, creating systems, metrics and resource planning, maintaining a high CSAT and NPS• Built and maintained the operational dashboard (Power BI), facilitating weekly progress meetingso Created the retail strategy. Led negotiations with major home improvement retailers. o Managed marketing resources to build content for resellers, channels and tradeshows.• Responsible for improving operational efficiency:o Created the business intelligence plan. Identified key performance metrics for sales, support, dev and ops. Created and updated a weekly company-wide dashboard. Show less

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  Zen Ecosystems

  Jul 2019 - Jul 2021

  Channel Sales Lead

  Zen is a smart thermostat and demand response platform that I co-founded, a spin-off of MMB Networks (below) and was acquired by Mysa (below) (IoT/Hardware/SaaS).• Asked to return to manage direct and channel thermostat sales opportunities (eg. Comcast, Cox and Rogers), consistently exceeding sales forecasts• Successfully deployed hundreds of thousands of connected smart thermostats, which will reduce household greenhouse gas emissions by tens of thousands of tons of CO2 annually

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  BiblioCommons

  Sept 2019 - Apr 2020

  Head of Partnership Development

  BiblioCommons has developed a platform that transforms the public library's essential online services from everyday transactions to exceptional experiences.At BiblioCommons I was part of the leadership team, responsible for: o All new sales, prospecting strategy and team management. o Managing and coaching a team of 5 SDRs, 2 BDRs and a sales ops manager.o Building a consistent, repeatable, scalable revenue machine. Creating and iterating on customer-centric sales processes, tools, data-driven strategies and playbooks. o Defining objectives, activities and desired outcomes at each stage in the sales funnel.o Territory realignment based on addressable market size, priority accounts and revenue potential. o Developing sales tools: proposal templates, pitch decks, discovery call scripts and launched Outreach sales engagement platform.o Designing algorithms for prospecting based on acquisition efficiency and for prioritizing opportunities needing attention.o Collaborating with Marketing on improving MQLs.o Coordinating with Product, Marketing and Engineering to achieve company objectives. Show less

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  Growth Partners Venture Services Ltd.

  May 2020 - Oct 2020

  Head of Growth

  Fractional CFO services for tech companies. We offer a finance team, minus the cost - by creating a fractional services model that ensures you only pay for what you need, when you need it.​Our tech-savvy approach ensures a streamlined and pain-free experience; coupled with a full-team of experts to help you with bookkeeping, accounting, payroll and CFO capabilities.

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  Seedwell Inc.

  Jun 2020 - Jan 2021

  Head of Sales and Business Development

  At Seedwell we empower organizations globally to improve employee financial wellness through personalized AI powered benefits and executable guidance in order to free employees from a need to become finance experts and improve corporate ecosystems where employees and organizations thrive.I lead the Sales and Marketing team, coordinating outbound and inbound strategies.

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  Erthos™

  Jan 2021 - Aug 2022

  Head Of Business Development / Partner Ops

  Erthos is a start-up manufacturer of compostable bioplastics, enabling major brands and their suppliers to transition to more circular supply chains. Single use plastics made with erthos' solutions are compostable, and compatible with existing plastic technology, making plant powered plastics the natural choice.At erthos I led the sales and partner operations, successfully managing and securing partnerships and managing trials with several of the world’s largest brands and manufacturers of beverages, food service, personal care, fashion, lawncare, packaging, caps, closures and lids.Highlights• Part of the leadership team, reported to the CEO to lead sales strategy, processes and secure first customers• Successfully secured pilot partnerships with several of the world’s largest brands and manufacturers of beverages, food service, personal care, fashion, lawn care, packaging, caps, closures and lids• Led all contract and legal negotiations, securing the company’s first POs• Built and implemented a full range of project management tools, including project tracking sheets, status reporting, comms guides, support workflows, sponsor approval and risk registers.• Led information sessions for product owners at major brands on circular economy strategy development, plastic waste streams, regulatory changes, recycling benefits and limitations and compostable alternatives• Represented the company at global and national sustainability meetings. Represented the company in Canadian Plastics Pact’s Partner Meetings and Recycled Content Working Group Show less

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  CLEAResult

  Nov 2023 - Nov 2024

  Senior Program Manager - Energy Transition

  At CLEAResult, we lead the transition to a sustainable, equitable, and carbon-neutral energy-efficient future for our communities and our planet.Part of the Canadian SLT, I led all Canadian demand response programs and managed several energy efficiency programs.My programs were recognized with high CSAT and NPS scores, along with receiving a utility partnership award.