Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> June 4, 2004
PAULA TOMPKINS is founder and CEO of ChannelNet pioneer in using
technology to facilitate multichannel sales and service. In the last 25
years, she has helped hundreds of the world's leading companies use
technology to sell their products and build customer relationships.
Paula began her career working in sales and marketing at 3M, General
Electric, and several technology start-ups. Among other achievements,
she was instrumental in the design and marketing of early personal
computers, including the Actrix and Grid, the first true portable
computers. She also invented Skytray, an interactive electronic
advertising medium targeted to airline passengers, for Altus
Corporation. Paula's early foray into interactive selling fueled her
belief that the personal computer was a persuasive communication
platform for selling and buying. Since founding ChannelNet (formerly The
SoftAd Group) in 1985, she has led the company to create multichannel
marketplace solutions based on the best available technologies - from
early iterations of multimedia, through CD-ROM and client/server
technology, and on to the Internet. As an expert in using technology to
improve sales and service processes, Paula is a much sought-after
resource for journalists and authors, and as a conference panelist and
keynote speaker. She has appeared on television in Tom Peters' "Thriving
on Chaos" and PBS' "The Nightly Business Report," as well as on National
Public Radio's "Money Talks." Tompkins has lectured at Columbia
University's School of Business, the University of California at
Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and Stanford University. Profile
Ms. Tompkins: I founded the company in 1985, because I believed that the
personal computer revolution wasn't as much about
