Bruce La Fetra
The game-changing powers of knowing one's customers came as a teen-age epiphany during my afternoon newspaper route. A circular neighborhood (Sand Hill Circle in Menlo Park) gave me opportunities to see and talk with my customers each day. These interactions generated a lot of tips and relationships that remain memorable decades later. Over the years, former customers have encountered my relatives and asked if they're related to "Bruce La Fetra, our old paperboy?" The most recent encounter was nearly 30 years after I left the newspaper delivery business.
Similar experiences with sales reps, channel partners, and engineers shaped a passion for driving growth by weaving company-customer partnerships into the marketing and sales process. My work creates more dynamic businesses with higher valuations that are better positioned for the next level of growth. I firmly believes any company can become greater.
Prior to becoming a consultant, I held key marketing, channel and business development roles for several technology and market leaders spanning software, hardware, service programs, and professional and financial services, including: Docent (now SumTotal), First Data, Cornerstone Imaging, and Raychem (now TE Connectivity). Before starting La Fetra Consulting, I served as Business Strategist for Rubicon Consulting for eight years. Trying different approaches and working in a variety of organizations eventually led to our successful process for architecting better marketing and sales.
I've shared my thinking in print articles in The Pricing Advisor, Pragmatic Marketing Magazine, and Soft-Letter, and online at Sandhill.com and Sales & Marketing Management—and, of course, in my blog Looking Up.You'll find lots of links under Articles.
My educational credentials include degrees from Claremont McKenna College (Economics, Cum Laude) and The Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College (MBA), and professional certifications in Essential Facilitation from Interaction Associates and as a Certified Document Imaging Architect (CDIA) from the Computer Technology Industry Association. Outside of my consulting work, I give back to our community by contributing time and expertise as a pro bono consultant for the Taproot Foundation, volunteering with Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley, and serving in leadership roles with the Northwest YMCA and St. Jude’s Episcopal Church where I currently manage the church’s 50-tree apricot orchard.
