Kuta, Mark 1960-

PERSONAL:

Born January 1, 1960, in Palistine, TX; son of Mark (an executive) and Theresa (a registered nurse) Kuta; married June 1, 1990; wife's name Flavia (a chemist); children: Daniela, Cristina. Ethnicity: "White." Education: University of Arizona, B.S., 1981; attended Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, 1986; University of Colorado, M.B.A., 1987. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, collecting art, hiking, fitness workouts.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Denver, CO. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

JIT Institute of Technology, Denver, CO, vice president for the Americas, 1994-2000; i2 Technologies, Dallas, TX, aerospace vice president, 2000-03; Servigistics, Atlanta, GA, regional vice president, 2003-06; Kinaxis, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, sales executive, 2006. Member of board of directors, Public Service Credit Union, Boulder Light Technologies, Venture 73 Landowners Association, and GBAN, University of Colorado.

WRITINGS:

Think Like a CEO, Flow Publishing (Boulder, CO), 2007.

Contributor to magazines, including Construction Management Journal, Expansion, and Roofer.

SIDELIGHTS:

Mark Kuta told CA: "I am a successful sales executive focused on complex, high-tech, and big-ticket items. I have successfully sold complex, multi-million-dollar technology solutions to Fortune 1000 companies for over fifteen years. The key to my success has been to analyze and quickly summarize the results of my prospects' profit strategies.

"I have personally analyzed the operations of over 275 companies throughout the world. Most of the names are recognizable, including General Motors, Nortel, Northrop Grumman, and Honeywell. If the company names aren't recognized, most of the products are—from railroad cars to telephone systems to everyday tools and computers.

"I grew up poor in Tucson, Arizona, and saw my family's life change after my father completed his master's degree. I was driven to get a master's degree in business administration, and a master's degree will be the level of education that my daughters will achieve. I don't care what subject they will study, but the bar—and the cost of their education—has been set by my wife and me.

"I started writing as a way to spread information about the Wall Street selling methodology. I had already trained my team and worked with my company's field sales team, and I thought that a book would be a great way to reach even more people. I write when I am travelling on business. That means airplanes, hotel rooms, and airports. I haven't read a best seller in over four years!

"Writing, like sales, is a ‘says easy … does hard’ job. Think Like a CEO is like my baby. I spent four years writing it, and I am confident that it will impact any company's revenues if they utilize it as a global sales strategy. I have set a goal to have Think Like a CEO drive one hundred million dollars of new sales by the year 2012. That's me. Bottom-line results."