Grade A Entrepreneurs

(also: Zeitgeist, great atypical people, books and misc.)

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Marylene Delbourg-Delphis

Twitter: @mddelphis

I am a serial entrepreneur and CEO with over 20 years of experience in consumer and enterprise software, online services, and social media. I was one of the first European women to start a high tech company in Silicon Valley (ACIUS/4th Dimension, co-founded with Guy Kawasaki), and bootstrapped revenues to over $45M in six years. I was also the CEO of Exemplary, a supply chain management software company (acquired by Persistent Systems) and of Brixlogic, an XML real-time transaction middleware software company (acquired by Diebold). As a CEO, shadow CEO, M&A facilitator, strategy consultant, strategy advisor, or board member (for about 30 technology companies so far, including Atomz, acquired by Omniture/Adobe and ObjectiveMarketer, acquired by EmailVision), I streamline the company’s story, re-energize teams, break down bottlenecks, restore cohesion and enthusiasm, and build a productive consensus between technical and sales & marketing teams.

I am currently the CEO of TalentCircles, an advisor for Manumatix, Yoono, RackUp, CitizenLogistics and Lyatiss and two additional companies in stealth mode.

I write technology strategy white papers for software and Internet companies. To help French-speaking entrepreneurs, I have translated and prefaced several books for a French publisher, Diateino, including:

Guy Kawasaki:

- Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions into French: L’art de l’enchantement: Influer sur les sentiments, les esprits et les actes

- Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition: La Réalité de l’Entrepreneuriat.

- The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything into French: L’Art de se lancer

Seth Godin:

- Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us; Tribus – Nous avons besoin de VOUS pour nous mener.

- French preface for Linchpin: Etes-vous indispensable?

Hugh MacLeod: Ignore Everybody; Ignorez-le tous

Additional information:

- I am involved in various music organizations and a member of the University Musical Society – UMS National Council – Ann Arbor, MI

- I also wrote several books on the history of fashion and fragrances and their cultural context in the 20th century. Published articles in Le Monde, Vogue and various trade publications. Books in French include:

  • Le Chic et le Look
  • Le Sillage des Elégantes
  • Jean-Paul Gaultier, La Mode pour la Vie
  • Masculin Singulier, Le Dandysme et son histoire
  • Humeur de Mode (with Patrick Mauriès)
  • Draft A. Première esquisse de l’essai philosophique concernant l’ entendement humain (Traduction, Introduction et Notes)

    • Background: Graduated from l’Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris, France); Doctorate in Philosophy (An introduction to John Locke’s early works).

    I live in Menlo Park and Pebble Beach, Ca. My daughter, Sophie Delphis, 24, recently graduated from the New England Conservatory (Boston, MA) and has started her master at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Various autobiographical details in my posts, a few personal notes on Tumblr and business summary on LinkedIn.

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