The Team
Each Chasm Group member has served in senior sales, marketing, and management
positions in technology-based industries and categories.
Steve Kimball
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Steve Kimball is a Managing Director and joined the firm in 2007. He is a Silicon Valley veteran with 25 years of experience starting, reinventing, and advising fast-growth companies. His hands-on experience includes launching innovative business models, introducing new products, implementing successful sales and marketing strategies, and acquiring, integrating, and selling companies.
Prior to Chasm Group, he served in executive management positions at Aspect, TIBCO, and Interwoven Software. Prior to his operating roles, Steve consulted with both startups and Fortune 500 firms on sales, marketing, customer service, and information technology. He began his career with META Group, a strategy and technology advisory firm (now part of Gartner).
He holds a B.A. in American Studies and Business Administration from Stonehill College in Massachusetts. Steve also participated in University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Graduate School’s Executive Program.
Tom Kippola
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Tom Kippola is a co-founder and Managing Director. He helps executive teams with software innovations to rapidly build a strategic path for strong growth, sustainable competitive advantage, and attractive exit value.
Tom has advised the executive teams of numerous VC backed software companies, including: Rubric ($340M exit), Tealeaf (est. $500M exit), Servicesoft ($645M exit), nCircle ($210M exit), Tradex ($5.2B exit), Interwoven ($775M exit), ChargePoint ($2.4B SPAC exit), Elemental Technologies (est. $350M exit to AWS), and Zipwhip (pending $850M exit to Twilio). He is referred into his clients by various VC firms, including Silicon Valley Data Capital (SVDC), where he serves as a part time strategy venture partner.
Tom has also advised larger companies including Adobe (for Acrobat strategy in mid-90’s), HP, IBM, and Intel. He helped build the strategy enabling Nextel to post the 10th highest net margin among Fortune 500 cos., and to be acquired by Sprint for $35B.
Earlier he ran marketing for an AI startup, and sold networking solutions for a VAR. Tom graduated from the University of Michigan where he studied electrical engineering and business.
Tom is co-author of the top 10 business bestseller The Gorilla Game: Picking Winners in High Technology.
Philip Lay
SENIOR ADVISOR
Philip Lay joined the firm in 1994 as a managing director and is now a Senior Advisor. Based in London, Philip works with executive teams to help define, align, and execute breakout growth initiatives. He is also a visiting professor at IESE Business School in Barcelona where he teaches a graduate level high-technology marketing course. His popular blog can be found at chasmgroup.com or philiplay.com.
Previously, Philip was co-founder and CEO of TGR Software, a security software company. He began his career as an account manager with IBM UK in London, England.
Philip graduated Reading University in the UK with honors in French and History of Fine Arts, and holds a degree from l’Universite d’Aix-Marseille, in southern France. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Geoffrey A. Moore
CHAIRMAN EMERITUS
Geoffrey Moore is a best-selling author and Chairman Emeritus at Chasm Group. His now classic book, Crossing the Chasm, is in its third edition and features dozens of new examples of successes and failures, new strategies for marketing in the digital world, and Moore’s most current insights and findings.
Geoffrey divides his time between consulting on strategy and transformation challenges with senior executives and developing models to support this practice. Prior to founding the Chasm Group, Geoffrey was a partner and principal at Regis McKenna Inc., and a sales and marketing executive at Rand Information Systems, Enhansys, and Mitem.
He graduated Stanford University with honors in American literature and earned a doctorate from the University of Washington in English literature.
David Schneer
RESEARCH ADVISOR
David Schneer, Ph.D. is the firm’s Research Advisor bringing 30+ years of market research experience. He has worked with leading technology, medical and consumer electronics companies supporting such initiatives as new product development, strategic communications, and customer satisfaction and loyalty in B2B and B2C markets.
Peter van der Fluit
PRINCIPAL
Peter van der Fluit is a Principal and joined the firm in 2014. Based in Amsterdam, Peter is a former high-tech executive with 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and alliance leadership roles. He works with client executives primarily in Europe advising on disruptive innovation initiatives – from start-ups who must scale up – to large enterprises who must find sources of new growth.
Before Chasm Group, Peter served as an internal consultant on GE’s industrial internet and FastWorks initiatives. Prior, Peter was a vice president at HP where he was chief marketing officer of HP’s EMEA enterprise unit. He has also served as CSO for HP’s software unit. Peter has also held senior executive roles at Cordys, TomTom, Matchcode, and SAP.
Peter holds a BBA from Nijenrode University in the Netherlands and an MBA and MSc. in Marketing from Temple University in Philadelphia. He is fluent in Dutch, English, and German.
Paul Wiefels
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Paul Wiefels is a Managing Director and a founding partner. He provides counsel to companies and organizations in North America and Europe—from start-ups to the Fortune 500—on market development strategy and specializes in product marketing, positioning, and messaging. He is the author of The Chasm Companion: Implementing Effective Marketing Strategies for High Technology Companies (HarperCollins; Capstone International).
Paul’s client experience spans information technology, consumer technology, biotechnology, and medical devices, providing counsel to senior management teams globally. He began his career in advertising in consumer goods and financial services. He joined Apple in its early days serving in marketing management positions with Apple’s U.S. and international operations. Prior to co-founding Chasm Group, he served as consulting director for Landor, a global brand consultancy. Prior to Landor, he was worldwide director of product marketing for Ingres Corporation.
Paul holds a B.S. from the University of Southern California and earned an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business. He has lectured at Stanford’s Graduate School of Engineering and Graduate School of Business, Pepperdine University, and Santa Clara University.