Data Vet Wells Founds NuPont, On-Demand Product Management Advisory

Jeff Wells has left his role as vice president of product marketing at St. Louis, Mo.-based hardware ticker plant vendor Exegy and launched NuPont, an advisory firm that will create a network of product management and marketing experts to support go-to-market strategies for small and medium-sized technology vendors in the financial services industry.

As president and chief executive of NuPont, Wells will continue to work closely with his former employer -- though he is currently in discussions with other unnamed technology vendors, as well as with professionals in key financial markets across North America and Europe who will join NuPont's staff network over coming weeks to broaden its expertise -- since Exegy has signed up as the first client of NuPont, which will provide product marketing support.

NuPont's services include product and project management, marketing, and public relations to help technology companies enter and navigate the financial markets -- for example, by helping startup vendors to establish relationships with the appropriate contacts at exchanges faster than they could otherwise, saving wasted time and effort.

"Let's say you're writing software that deals with exchange data, and you don't have anyone on staff that knows who to speak to at the exchange or has an understanding of the exchange world. I've immediately got contacts and can provide context, globally," Wells says.

For example, companies new to the financial markets can use NuPont to help them grow to a point where the company is familiar enough with the marketplace -- and its own needs -- to bring on board full-time staff with the right expertise, without incurring the cost of hiring a full-time employee in the meantime. "Until they get to that point, NuPont essentially delivers experience on-demand," he adds.

NuPont can also help technology vendors validate their products by gathering feedback from the market, or can work in a more embedded manner with vendors -- or even banks and other financial institutions -- to provide mentoring and hands-on product and project management, including managing quality assurance, Wells says.

In addition to his most recent role at Exegy, Wells' background includes stints in senior product management roles at Bridge Information Systems, where he spent almost 11 years, and at Reuters, where he spent five years following the vendor's acquisition of parts of Bridge in 2001, and began his financial career as a trader on bonds, equities, commodities and derivatives desks. He will continue to serve as co-chair of the Financial Information Forum's market data capacity working group.