Over the last 3+ decades I have focused my career specifically on filling these critical and urgent roles. Consequently, I have been hired as the CEO to rescue a public company in the wake of the dotcom bust. I was successful in quickly restructuring and selling that company. During my time there, I was featured as one of the top 100 Technology Executives in New York. <Silicon Alley Reporter Issue 40, “Silicon Alley 100” 2001>
Later, an integrated security services company that was on the cusp of rapid growth hired me as the CFO. Tremendously successful! We were featured in Entrepreneur Magazine as the #17 top fast-growth (and profitable) company in the USA. <Entrepreneur Magazine, August 2007>.
Another example of my success was when a private company held by a wealthy “old money” family retained me as the CEO. There was a dispute amongst the family members as to the disposition of the firm. My goal, as defined by the board, was to develop a solution and execute a sale of the company. I was successful in managing the strong board personalities and sold the company to the satisfaction of the board and owners by managing the myriad expected lawsuits and “predators”.
In the 1990’s, I was a senior executive during the emergence of wireless and internet technologies in the Cellular and Internet sectors. I had direct responsibility for hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of people as a Senior VP at Nextel. In such a large, fast growth, high stakes environment, organization design and process definition is critical. My leadership skills in these areas are well known and referenced.
Over the years I have been a key executive in dozens of company capitalizations, restructurings, growth acquisitions, and post-acquisition integrations. These experiences have given me an extensive set of skills in both buy side and sell side due diligence. In some cases, my help was requested in very unusual situations. For example, when a Hispanic media company (Hispanic Yellow Pages of Colorado) was forced to consider its future in an increasingly digital world, I and my colleague, helped the owner find a buyer and structure the deal.
In today’s private equity world, disciplined review and analysis of the target company is critical. My experience includes emergency fixes (to save the company or to prepare it for sale) as well as long-term controlled transformations.
Since 2007, Danny Stroud has been the Managing Director of Santana Partners LLC, a Denver-based investment banking firm with a strong track record of helping businesses obtain success by helping them refine their capital strategy requirements and pinpointing solutions.These solutions may include mergers & acquisitions, debt or equity financing, recapitalization, or other financial advisory services. Until June 2002, Danny E. Stroud was President and Chief Executive Officer of AppliedTheory Corporation which was sold to ClearBlue Technologies. (The company became Navisite via a name change shortly after that)
AppliedTheory, an internet services industry pioneer, combines unparalleled knowledge and experience with internet technology to build, manage and integrate increasingly complex Internet solutions that large enterprises and institutions must have to survive in an online environment. AppliedTheory developed many of the business concepts and products associated with outsourced Internet-based managed services. Mr. Stroud joined AppliedTheory in July 1999 to lead its mergers and acquisitions initiatives and to enhance its management team for future growth. In October 2000, he was appointed as President and CEO and soon after became a member of the Board of Directors. A telecommunications industry veteran, Mr. Stroud joined AppliedTheory from Veraz Ventures, Inc., a company he founded in 1998 to develop telecommunications opportunities in emerging markets. This venture focused on starting or growing wireless and Internet companies in Latin America in concert with local entrepreneurs. Previously, he was Vice President of Verio [formerly NASDAQ: VRIO], a company he helped start in 1996. Verio’s strategic objective was to become a national-level ISP through a classical consolidation strategy. Verio Mr. Stroud was the principal executive in charge of all asset purchase-type company acquisitions, completing 10 deals in a year, and he served as the interim president for five of the acquisitions until their integration. Mr. Stroud assisted in the evaluation and integration of additional Internet Service Provider (ISP) affiliates as they were acquired and assimilated. From June 1996, when Mr. Stroud joined Verio, until January 1997, he served as Vice President of Network Operations for Verio and was responsible for deploying Verio's national backbone telecommunications network. Mr. Stroud also served as the President of Global Enterprise Services, Inc., (a wholly owned subsidiary of Verio). This subsidiary was responsible for all east-coast operations from Philadelphia to Boston. Verio went public (IPO) in May of 1998 and was sold to NTT of Japan in September of 1998. From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Stroud was the VP of Network Deployment and Operations in the start-up of OneComm and oversaw the deployment and operations of the digital wireless network. The network covered 47 million people in 10 of the largest cities in the western United States. Upon OneComm's merger with Nextel in 1995, he became the Vice President of Network for Nextel Nextel [NASDAQ:NXTL] and was responsible for the deployment and operations of Nextel's national digital wireless communications network. Prior to joining OneComm, Mr. Stroud was Network Director at Bay Area Cellular Telephone Company in San Francisco (Cellular One) and General Manager of an independent business unit of Pacific Bell Yellow Pages. Before receiving his Master of Business Administration from St. Mary's College of California in 1986, Saint Mary's College of California MBA Mr. Stroud received his Bachelor of Science from West Point in 1975. West Point
He was commissioned Infantry, serving two tours with the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis. From 1976-1978 he was with the 3d Battalion, 47th Infantry (Foot Cavalry). From 1980-81 he was the Commanding Officer of the 9th Infantry Division Chemical Company. Mr. Stroud transferred to the Chemical Corp in 1978 and attended the Chemical Officer Advanced Course at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. He served one tour with the 2d Infantry Division in Korea (Camp Casey) as the Assistant Division Chemical Officer.
