Steve Horton Email & Phone Number

Westlake Village, CA, US

• Founding Principal of a specialty consulting firm focused on providing a wide range of services and expertise to help start-up and early stage companies accelerate business performance. Areas of consultation, guidance.
• Business plan and strategy development; Organization structure analysis and optimization
• Development of product, marketing and sales strategy and execution of plan
• Development of financial models and success metrics; Investor relations and funding assistance
• Interim management services and turnaround / transformation workRecent client engagements include the following:
• Provided strategy, financial and detailed project management services to a $50MM commercial real estate development project. Crafted business plans and assisted in securing investor funding.

Los Angeles, California, US

• Executive with P&L responsibility for the Company’s primary business unit. Led product, business and corporate development efforts for the Company. Accomplishments include:
• Negotiated and managed all significant advertiser and publisher relationships. Locked down strategic relationships with top tier clients on both sides of the business model.
• Built and maintained profitability in the Consumer Lending vertical, increasing market share by over 100%.
• Launched several new products to foster Company growth. Drove process and structural improvements resulting in staffing and other expense efficiencies. Assembled high performing sales and service team while reducing.
• Evaluated new product offerings, strategic alliances and acquisition opportunities. Successfully negotiated and implemented the roll up of a direct competitor.

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, US

• Co-Founded a company focused on Customer Interaction Marketing - leveraging customer interactions (call center, web, IVR, etc.) to generate leads and close sales of additional products and services to existing customers.
• Responsible for all Company sales, marketing and business development functions. Developed executive level relationships and negotiated deals with banks, insurance companies and others.
• Created a robust analytics and segmentation engine to selectively match products and customers.
• Created a platform to deliver personalized sales messages to the point of customer interaction and link relevant lead data (customer & product info) to appropriate sales / fulfillment centers.

• Executive involved in all aspects of this successful start-up. Daily management responsibility in leading Company from initial funding to profitability. Accomplishments include:
• Evaluate, negotiate and implement major relationships across all business verticals - Financial Services, Telecom, etc. Increased number of provider partnerships by over 300% and served as point of contact for all.
• Increased revenue run rate from $200K per year to roughly $100MM per year.
• Built and managed effective teams in the areas of Sales, Business Development, Product Management, Customer Service and Business Intelligence.
• Evaluated new business opportunities and ventures for the Company including product offerings, strategic alliances and acquisition opportunities.
• Built corporate, business and product strategic plans. Assisted in securing Company’s second round of funding.

• Responsible for the evaluation, establishment and maintenance of eCommerce partnerships and affiliations in the Financial Services marketplace. Selected duties include:
• Established executive level relationships in the target marketplace. Structured and negotiated all partnership deals and contracts.
• Launched the Customer Care Center and eAgency operation including site selection, hiring, training, budget development, tools evaluation and other tasks to get this unit operational.
• Participated in insurance carrier business development efforts including presentations and negotiations. Carrier partners in the Insweb marketplace increased by over 75%.

Bloomfield, CT, US

• Established and managed executive level relationships within the Financial Services marketplace. Represented the full range of CIGNA products and services (specialty insurance, direct response programs, software.
• Drove annual revenue from $40MM to $160MM in four years. Migrated Citibank, Countrywide and other large clients to CIGNA from a major competitor.
• Developed customer loyalty, retention and expansion programs to maximize annual growth.
• Led CIGNA's nationwide cross-sell initiative in the Financial Services channel.
• Participated on Executive Committee, Finance Committee and various other management forums with responsibility for establishing and implementing corporate strategic direction.

Baltimore, Maryland, US

• Responsible for the daily operations of a multi-site provider of specialty insurance products and services to Financial Institutions. Selected duties include:
• Managed a nationwide staff of over 500 employees providing customer service, insurance analysis, policy administration and client account management.
• Built industry's first outsourcing platform for hazard insurance servicing operations for Citicorp Mortgage. Performed detailed analysis of Financial Institution lending / servicing practices to deliver this platform..
• Achieved significant improvement in customer service and processing metrics while reducing departmental budget by over 20%. Developed and administered a departmental budget of over $10 million.
• Develop, monitor and refine operational policies and procedures relative to agency, call center and carrier operations. Built measurement tools to facilitate ongoing analysis and refinement.

New York, NY, US

• Responsible for the management of all aspects of an external audit examination, with heavy emphasis in the insurance and financial services industry. Selected duties are as follows:
• Audit engagement planning, including budget formulation and staffing requirements.
• Direct employees in the performance of financial and management audit procedures.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory and other standards including GAAP, GAAS and statutory requirements.
• Review, analyze and prepare financial statements and accompanying notes and schedules.
• Presentation of audit results and recommendations to Senior Management and Board of Directors.