Latest Musings

AI tipping point, re-skilling leveraging the AI opportunity

Joining Brent Leary and Paul Greenberg on the CRM Playaz episode of the PPN network discussing finer points on AI and its impact on organizations, talent, and society. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brentleary_gtm-martech-ai-activity-7166445090238877697-e1kT

Mar 1
Georgia Tech Scheller’s Marketing Innovation Conference

Getting back into the groove and helping my alma mater, I supported and co-organized an event with GT Scheller Business School and the MBA marketing club. It was a record-breaking event! Incredibly impressed with the My post about the event: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7153469112457859074

Mar 1
Tune Your Go-To-Market Strategies to Cope w/ Budgetary Headwinds

A retrospective review of recent GTM (go-to-market) strategies and tactics, which I helped jumpstart and save marketing from drastic cuts while still maintaining revenue and retention goals. How to tune your GTM strategies to cope with budgetary headwinds (martech.org)

Sep 26
The Decision Intelligence Handbook: Practical Steps for Evidence-Based Decisions in a Complex World

Dr. Lorien Pratt, & Dr. Nadine Malcolm have written an accompanying and stand-alone book to their other book Link, and on one of my focus topics, Decision Intelligence. Honored to have contributed some of our work in DI in our R&D and GTM/AI Apollo platform through IntelliPhi, which was a successful acquisition in 2018.

Aug 18
GTM Tactics that won’t work post-pandemic

In recalibrating go-to-market plans for what I call the “next normal,” I share strategies and tactics that were once popular in a well-funded environment but which are no longer sustainable or deliver reduced returns. https://martech.org/go-to-market-tactics-that-wont-work-in-a-post-pandemic-world/

Jul 15
The State of Data-Driven Marketing 2023 (LXA)

Provided some insights to a report of 400 CMOs on data-driven marketing. To the report….”The State of Data-Driven Marketing 2023 (lxahub.com)“

Jun 8
Intro to Decision Intelligence: An Operational Advantage

Wrote a nice intro piece on DI and the application throughout an agile and intelligence-oriented organization. How to use decision intelligence to tackle complex business challenges (martech.org)

Apr 28
CFO & CMO Collaboration

Wrote experiences with CFOs while aiding in various go-to-market matters. Noticed an opportunity for marketing leaders and shared them on CMSWire. With an expanded scope and more overlapping priorities, modern marketing leaders have an opportunity to build a strong rapport with CFOs.

Apr 20
ChronoMarker™ Launch

Built a small video productivity app…

Mar 19
Qualtrics $12B Offer | Techcrunch

Anand Thaker, a martech consultant who keeps close watch on the companies, says it’s a reasonable deal for both parties. “SAP needs cash and this seems like an excellent opportunity for them to return those funds to the coffers. Silver Lake is likely to come out healthy of funds from the pending

Mar 10
11 Takeaways from ‘The Most Important Thing’

A great read from Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital. Here are 11 key lessons from Howard Marks’ book “The Most Important Thing”: Understanding risk: Marks emphasizes the importance of understanding and managing risk, as well as being aware of the risks inherent in any investment.

Feb 13
Amazon Cark Link Generator

Special project: Chrome / Edge Extension. Catalog items on Amazon and create a link for someone to add all items to a cart Want to give your followers a link with MULTIPLE items to place into an Amazon cart? The Amazon Cart Link Generator (ACLG) extension helps you build a collection of items and generates a URL link of an Amazon cart with your items tha…

Feb 13
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Play

A few fun side projects... more to showcase soon.

Last Updated: 10/24/2020. Sources: Google, Interviews, Startup Genome, Startup Atlanta, SaaStr, Pitchbook, Crunchbase

Other Work

Martech 5000 Landscape

2016 - 2019, Separate DB On-going


Marketing Calculus: Measuring the New Business Assets

Applied in several AI and algorithmic platforms I developed to determine market influence and business valuations.


My New Business Value Framework Illustrations

Since 2006, I developed these to change how we evaluated investments in high-growth startups (including follow-on decisions and amounts) and transformational enterprise companies.


AI & Data

More releasing soon...

Give

Paying it forward - time, energy, and support to empower others to elevate themselves...

Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. CDL has designed a new approach to enterprising research and innovation, nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset through expert opinion, funding opportunities, research analysis, and business development support. Working with and supporting the local Atlanta chapter collaborating with Georgia Tech & the top ranked Scheller College of Business.

In collaboration with ATV, we re-imagined the program to focus on curated mentor/advisors, quality of relationships, and meaningful support.ATV has a coveted group of advisors and mentors available to Village startup Founders. They are a highly vetted community of people who have a wealth of experience, insight, and a pay it forward mentality.


Science for Georgia works to build a bridge between scientists and the public to advocate for the responsible use of science in public policy. Sci4Ga has wonderfully witty and informative newsletters, passionate and dedicated leadership, and a growing community of advocates and partners.


EnrichHER connects pre-qualified companies led by women and founders of color to capital, coaching, and community, Dr. Roshawnna Novellus’ mission leverages marketplace, tech, and her finance and capital markets experiences to develop an innovative platform.

Inspiredu inspires our communities’ digital champions as we strive to amplify digital inclusions and promote educational equity for all learners around metro Atlanta and throughout the state of Georgia. Through a collaborative community approach, we’ve expanded our digital literacy program to reach both adults and youth, and we’ve enhanced our support for the STEM career pipeline year-round.


Habitat delivers more than just homes. It enables others. I’m a builder, both in construction and digital, so Habitat delivers on an interesting intersection for me. The program provides recipients with skills, discipline, and encouragement to enable them to support themselves and their families. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that helps people in your community and around the world build or improve a place they can call home.


A huge believer being involved in the local political process. Ignorance and apathy threaten democracy. Engagement and awareness create resilient communities. So with that, I took my experiences in startups, marketing, and economic development to develop a missing ingredient in our overall city’s mission. After 3.5 years of work, the iHeart Johns Creek, the resolution passed on Feb. 26, 2018.It is a differentiated community and economic vision and strategic plan for Johns Creek to become a top city for Healthcare Innovation & Wellness.

Honored to serve as a mentor for this remarkable community, the mentor manifesto authored by Brad Field sets up the framework to accelerate through artificial ceilings as an entrepreneur.Building a startup takes more than funding. Nurture success by joining the startup accelerator, startup funding, and mentorship network at TechStars.


As IntelliPhi reached a significant milestone, we wanted to support fully an elephant (an inspiration for the logo) who was orphaned. ROI is whom we are fostering for the next decade, the time it takes for an elephant to be set up to be released naturally back into the wild. We worked with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.The trust operates the world’s most successful orphan-elephant rescue and rehabilitation program and is one of the pioneering conservation organizations for wildlife and habitat protection in East Africa.


Learned about this organization while we supported their efforts at Silverpop. An incredible model and demonstration of how digital can deliver greater meaning to the giving experience. Also, the mission of the organization recognizes the need to address the core problem, easy access to clean water, which can enable and elevate generations of impoverished communities. Will never take water for granted ever.A non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries. 100% of public donations go to water projects.

Bio

Anand is a 20-year industry leader, builder, and advisor in marketing technology and growth & resilience strategies. His cross-industry experience also spans marketing operations, complex sales, customer data and engagement, analytics, AI, and, more recently, behavioral economics and decision intelligence.Currently, he is a special advisor to select performance & GTM executives and growth & value investors. Bringing a multi-disciplinary background, Anand is also involved in R&D efforts around identity, motivation, intent, engagement/experiences, influence, and community in the role of decision intelligence.Regularly engaged in the industry, Anand has co-collaborated with Scott Brinker’s “Martech 5000” Landscape and delivered “state of the industry” updates. He is currently serving as a board advisor to the CDP Institute, a mentor to Creative Destruction Labs (CDL), and a core CRM “Playa-in-Residence” alongside notable CRM, CX industry experts, and analysts.While Anand rarely speaks at public conferences, he is sought after for private and limited attendance corporate events (over 125+) where audiences and sponsors appreciate his highly tailored content and where he enjoys the deeper and confidential engagement.Anand’s most recent venture, IntelliPhi enabled growth leaders to navigate complex go-to-market decisions. Privately acquired in 2018 by a top management consulting firm, it’s projected to deliver a 400M+ impact.He’s worked with growth teams and executives at Siemens, Silverpop/IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, McKinsey, Salesforce.com, Fidelity, Blackstone, Looker, Airbnb, GitLab, and others.Anand also serves as a liaison and SME for PE, VC, strategic investors, and analysts in MarTech and other tangential sectors and industries such as salestech, CX, data, AI, and GTM technologies. Anand has earned the moniker as the “Midas of Martech” among select groups, given his insights leading them to earn a collective milestone of over a billion in returns by 2018.Anand also has a knack for identifying and cultivating rising leadership and entrepreneurial talent. After graduating as a computer engineer from Georgia Tech, he consulted and developed solutions in the highly data-driven energy and finance industries.


Extended Bio

Anand is an industry leader, builder, and advisor, in marketing technology and executive growth strategies. His 18 years of experience span go-to-market strategies, operations, enterprise sales, customer data and experiences, analytics, digital transformations, and intelligent systems.Currently, he serves as a confidential special advisor to select performance leaders and growth investors. Bringing a multi-disciplinary background, Anand also engages in R&D efforts around identity, motivation, intent, engagement/experiences, influence, and community in the role of decision-making and decision intelligence.He feels that marketing technology represents a remarkable study of who we are, our influences, how we collaborate, and our decisions.Regularly engaged in the industry, Anand has been the co-collaborator behind Scott Brinker’s “Martech 5000” Landscape, along with delivering the state of the industry to thousands of marketing and revenue generation leaders. He also speaks at select marketing, CRM, sales, email, martech, and CX events. Anand is most sought after for private and limited attendance corporate events, over 125+, where he delivers unique content and enjoys deeper audience engagement.He is a board advisor to the CDP Institute, an organization focused on elevating the use of Customer Data Platforms. He’s serving as a mentor with Creative Destruction Labs (CDL). He is also an honored CRM “Playa-in-Residence” alongside notable CRM, and CX industry experts and analysts. Also, he was a former co-host of Ziff Davis’ Marketing Technology-themed podcast Talking Stack.Acquired in 2018, IntelliPhi was formed by Anand on a mission to elevate growth leaders by enabling them to navigate complex go-to-market decisions. This was done by leveraging customer and market intelligence, AI-enabled systems, and their own seasoned leadership. Apollo, the core IntelliPhi platform, was acquired in ’19 by a top management consulting firm creating a $400M+ impact.Anand also founded Analyze123, a spinoff from IntelliPhi, an intelligent Google analytics reporting solution acquired in a private deal with Anaplan, which then went on to IPO the following year.With several entrepreneurial wins and losses, Anand is a retained advisor to select growth executives and investors navigating remarkable returns. In addition to mentoring Creative Destruction Labs (CDL), TechStars, Consumer Technology Association (CTA), Ycombinator, ATDC (Georgia Tech) startups, Anand re-imagined the mentor and advisor program with the team at Atlanta Tech Village, the 4th largest tech hub in the US. It is now one of the most prestigious and sought-after programs of its kind in the Southeast.Anand founded NeoMarketing Solutions, a B2B marketing operations consulting firm. The firm mission was to transform and optimize marketing and sales performance by building strong alignment, learning decision intelligence, and creating an insightful predictable pipeline. NeoMarketing was absorbed in a private deal with a publicly-traded business tech consulting firm.During this time, Anand also co-founded B2B Camp, the first B2B Marketing and Sales Unconference focused on alignment between these teams to accelerate revenue growth. B2BCamp toured along the east coast, receiving many accolades.Anand worked on and built forecasting, optimization, and modeling solutions using intelligent systems for trading, investing, and strategic planning, including Nostradamus (acquired by Siemens) and Fat Kat II (acquired by Blackstone).He’s worked for growth teams and executives within enterprise companies such as Siemens, Silverpop/IBM, Microsoft, Blackstone, Cisco, McKinsey, Salesforce.com, Fidelity, Looker, Airbnb, Gitlab, Thoughtspot, and others.Anand has also worked with various agencies on resilience planning, threat assessments, and intent analysis.Anand also serves as a liaison and SME for PE, VC, strategic investors, and analysts in MarTech and other tangential sectors and industries. Anand has earned the moniker of the “Midas of Martech” among select groups, given his insights leading them to earn a collective milestone of over a billion in returns by 2018.Anand thrives where people, data, and money intersect, solving complex organizational and customer engagement challenges for executives and investors. He has formulated the right mix of market and customer data, cognitive-enabled solutions, and seasoned judgment for wildly successful leaders. All towards building resilient revenue over time.Anand also has an uncanny knack and reputation for identifying and cultivating rising leaders in sales, marketing, operations, and entrepreneurship.Once upon a time, he was a helluva engineer. As a 25-year resident of Atlanta, Anand earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA with a concentration in CIS from Georgia State University. Also, he’s a Seth Godin altMBA alum.He’s a proponent of engaging in the local political process. Anand has provided guidance on strategic visions, community engagement, and economic development across representatives, NGOs, and community leaders.His best ideas come from gaming, hiking, and woodworking. He’s rooted in the Atlanta ecosystem and enjoys immutable time with his better half while working on earning the “best dad ever” mug with his little startup at home.Currently, in Atlanta, Anand is a starving voice-over talent. Building things that inspire ideas. And he’s a lucky husband also working towards earning that world’s best dad mug.


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