Mike Chudy

Mike Chudy (Vice President of Sales at Spalk)

Feb 08, 2019

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Welcome

Today's interview is with Mike Chudy - Vice President of Sales @ Spalk. Please feel free to leave feedback by filling out this survey - we would greatly appreciate your opinion on our first few releases!

Name: Mike Chudy
Current role: Vice President of Sales at Spalk
Prior Roles: John Henry Foster Company
Education (undergrad): Missouri State University
Education (Executive MBA): Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis

Brief Background and Educational Experience
I attended Missouri State University for undergrad and studied Marketing with an emphasis on sales and sales management. I worked for the John Henry Foster Company in St. Louis for almost 19 years in roles as an Industrial Outside Salesman, Product Manager, ERP Project Manager and Director of Sales. I eventually went back to school and received an Executive MBA at WashU in order to enhance my overall business knowledge and gain more of a leadership perspective.

Can you please discuss your role with Spalk and Spalk’s mission in general?
I recently joined Spalk as Vice President of Sales and the third executive of the company. Spalk is based in New Zealand, and I was able to connect with them through Stadia Ventures – an investment fund tied to sports technology and innovation startups. Stadia Ventures runs a startup accelerator program twice a year where I have been the Lead Sales Mentor. I had mentored the two co-founders during this program and we built a great relationship.

Spalk has created a new technology called a Virtual Sportscasting Studio. We give sports teams, leagues and sports property owners the ability to grow their audience and reduce production costs by adding alternate commentary when streaming live sports. We empower their fans to choose the commentator that speaks their language, team bias or personality. Spalk offers a patented technology that synchronizes multiple commentators who can call a game from their laptop anywhere in the world, thus the “virtual” studio. For example, a fan could choose an English, Spanish or French feed on an international soccer game or a different point of view (something as simple as a home team bias or an away team bias).

Can you discuss some of your previous roles and what you learned from those?
As mentioned earlier, I was in the industrial manufacturing industry for almost nineteen years. I sold everything from commodity parts to million-dollar value-added equipment solutions. Due to the range of products and solutions we sold I was able to see all different aspects of the sales process every day. I had to understand who my target audience was and how best to position myself and our products in order to provide the best solution. Looking back, it was a beautiful challenge where I made mistakes daily, but it afforded me the chance to learn multiple different sales strategies and eventually build a training program where I helped others.

Are there any industries that you think students should try to immerse themselves in?
All businesses are being disrupted by data. I would say if I were a student today, I would try to wedge myself into an internship learning either about artificial intelligence, machine learning, or computer analytics. No matter the industry there will always be a job for those that can effectively communicate and sell products and/or ideas.

What are the differences between the startup culture in the Midwest (primarily in St. Louis) and the rest of country?
I feel the difference is less about quality and more to do with quantity. I have mentored startups from all over the world through my involvement with Stadia Ventures in St. Louis and feel that in today’s world if you have a great idea, persistence to work through challenges, and can surround yourself with a team who complements the founder’s weaknesses it doesn’t matter where you live. The quality of the ecosystem in St. Louis is second-to-none, led by fantastic programs like Stadia. Austin & Silicon Valley have had the advantage of an engrained culture of entrepreneurship due to the technology companies that are based there. For now, I’m excited to get immersed in the Austin startup scene as we continue to grow Spalk’s presence.

Additional Advice?
Don’t just chase the highest income opportunity. If you can find a job or employer that will offer multiple challenges that interest you and have a career path to something you can strive for don’t be afraid to take it. Even if it is less money to start, positioning yourself for future development is very important.

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