Stephen Meade
The Business Architect
What I have determined in my personal and professional life is my mind never stops working. As a result, I have taken the time to create a summary of the many projects or offerings we are working on.
I have also learned there are a few things I have become very good at making connections and introductions. I am fortunate with the people I know and have met, and am always trying to help parties out by making target, specific and productive connections.
Looking at a current product/solution/offering and coming up with a simple, straightforward and unique way to accomplish something more efficiently.I tend to view myself more as a business architect. The ability to create the vision to know what something should look like at the end. Its almost like creating the building on paper, but in this case its a business, idea or solution.
From there, the connecting the dots and building the teams becomes an art as much as it is a science. Getting the right people in the right places can help ensure success on any project.
This has led me to create businesses and relationships in which pushing up people and making the world a better place are paramount.
• Built 11 companies
• Extensive contacts, board of advisors, and global relationships
• Ability to build substantial management teams
• Largest company went from $30MM to $950MM market cap
• Proven leader, speaker and builder of value
• Deep background in transaction processing
Mr. Meade is the Principal and Founder of BigBamboo, LLC., (www.bigbamboollc.com; www.BigBambooLLC.com), a holding company formed to help bring companies from visualization to creation.
Serving as Chairman and “Resident Rainmaker”, Mr. Meade is the visionary, creator, recruiter and team builder for the companies that make up the BigBamboo family.
Mr. Meade has been involved in the creation of companies such as the following:
Cenoplex – Wireless audio advertising platform and insertion engine
MonetaPro – web-based software application for global tradingRONAStar-an enterprise solution which empowers large corporation to save money
Community Commerce Networks – ComCom – which is a closed loop and private labeled transaction system for affinity groups
OrionNation- an anti-facebook site for the entertainment industry to control their own content
GreenMeansGreen.org – a Company with a revolutionary new product for the Green Industry, as it helps the environment, and saves Money. Green Means Green.
Isolation is Good Thing – an almost completed sales, psychology and networking book consumer data back up service.
Spoonmantics – a romantic gift line of jewelry, chocolates, and clothing And several othersMr. Meade is a life long entrepreneur, having created 11 successful companies. He has been involved in e-commerce for the past ten years, having launched several e-commerce ventures.
This involvement has provided for an extended base of knowledge in the transaction processing and payment facilitation space.
Known as an avid and exemplary connector, he has developed a network of influencers across the globe.
As a the current Chairman of BigBamboo, a holding company which creates organizations that fill a “deep gap” in existing industries, Mr. Meade has played an integral role in creating the various portfolio companies and in developing their strategies, advisory and management board, and go to market initiatives.
As the current Founder and Board Member of Cenoplex, the company is leading the global initiative to create the first ever audio ad insertion platform for the wireless industry.
While CEO of MonetaPro, Mr. Meade created the company, concept, business model, management team, systems, and strategy. Under his direction the company has created several product offerings based on the same core technology.
The “Community Commerce” aspect of the MonetaPro systems enables the company to provide a solution for members within an affinity group or specific community to buy and sell from each other.
RONAStar empowers a single large company to redeploy their own idle assets internally, and EAMS (emergency asset management system) is for disaster management and business continuity.
Mr. Meade has been involved in e-commerce for the past 11 years, having launched three other successful e-commerce ventures. This success has provided for an extended base of knowledge in the transaction processing and payment facilitation space.
In 1996, Mr. Meade founded VirtualSellers.com (OTC BB: VDOT), a provider of e-commerce transaction processing services for Internet-based e-tailers. Mr. Meade helped develop the transaction processing systems at VDOT.
VDOT was sold in 1999 to a public company that assumed the name Virtualsellers.com. At it’s height, VDOT had a market cap of $950 Million.
VDOT- the technology, service and concept- was an early precursor to what later became PayPal.
In 1999 SiteVisions.com (the name was created by Mariah Carey) was created to provide web site and database development. The company was sold in the spring of 2000.
The next venture was the creation of MonetaPro.com. This company created a unique software application that has provided multiple applications across global markets.
The current company ComCom Networks is a spin out technology acquisition, and falls squarely in the transaction processing space.
Mr. Meade has extensive background, contacts, and abilities in the transaction space. His relationships extend from the founder of Visa, the Head of Citigroup, former directors at First Data and Mastercard, as well as global financial contacts.
Prior to founding VDOT, Mr. Meade was a regional vice president with Travelers Group, a Fortune 500 financial services company. His responsibilities included hiring and training a sales force with full commission positions. He was licensed in the insurance and securities industries and held a Series 6 & 63 license as well as Series 26 Principle’s license.
Mr. Meade is a proven entrepreneur and leader, with a unique ability to network within high profile organizations.
Utilizing a background in sales and sales psychology, Mr. Meade brings a unique perspective to the world of online commerce and transaction processing. With the use of Neurolinguistics, logic flow, and site design, Mr. Meade has created successful, intuitive and forward thinking online business models.
Mr. Meade is a proven speaker and has been on panels, covered topics at industry events and given lectures at numerous universities including USC, UCLA, Northwestern University , University of Chicago, Loyola University, Peter Kiewit Institute, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Missouri at Kansas City, and the University of Nebraska.
Mr. Meade is a Founding Member of KnockNOW- a non-profit created to accelerate the opportunity for entrepreneurs- www.knocknow.com, and is an avid soccer and volleyball player.
Mr. Meade is on the advisory board of the following companies: International House of Blues Foundation- Chicago, (www.IHOBF.com, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Enterprise Forum (www.mitefchicago.org ), PC Guild, which provides a tour management solution for Bands and entertainment (www.pcguild.com), AgileCo.net, Lawson Talent Management, and several more.
Mr. Meade was a judge for the prestigious global business plan challenge from Thunderbird (www.innovationchallenge.com), and a finalist judge for Boats.com.