Management Team

"Follow your passion, not the paycheck. If you work hard at what you believe in - the money will come."

Mitch Free fervently believed in an idea that struck others as crazy, impossible or worse. Why would someone with no college education or funding try to create an online marketplace when all others were crashing and burning and why do it in an industry as slow to adopt and as fractured as manufacturing? The answer – passion, and as Mitch says “a little bit of ignorance.”

Mitch Free has built his career solving problems, eliminating inefficiency and not listening to conventional thinking. Mitch founded and now serves as the Chairman and CEO of MFG.com. Through his vision, creativity and persistence, Mitch has grown MFG.com to a global company that has become the platform by which the world's manufacturing economy does business. Mitch is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the company and overseeing the overall management of MFG.com. Under his leadership, the company has experienced tremendous growth and innovation in a market segment he is continuing to help define.

Prior to founding MFG.com, Mitch was Founder and CEO of 3DATUM, a provider of technology solutions for the manufacturing and engineering communities. Prior to founding 3Datum, Mitch held a variety of senior management positions with Northwest Airlines where he managed aircraft engineering, technical procurement and aircraft acquisition projects. Mitch began his career as a machinist and spent years working on the shop floor.

Mitch holds two U.S. patents (5,167,720 and 5,162,659) and is recognized among his peers for his insatiable curiosity, strategic vision, domain expertise and creative management style. INC. magazine named him an "Entrepreneur of the Year" finalist in 2005, he was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of Year regional winner in 2008 and under his leadership MFG.com has been consistently ranked as one of the top technology growth companies in the United.States. Mitch is an avid speaker at technology forums and conferences, including presentations to the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, Harvard Business School, Wharton and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Mitch is an active angel investor in disruptive Internet based technologies, online marketplaces and a co-founder of Shotput Ventures. He is a general aviation enthusiast, private pilot, a member of EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) and YPO (Young President’s Organization).

Read about Mitch in Inc. Magazine's - May 2008 Issue   Follow Mitch on Twitter

As Chief Technology Officer, Scott is responsible for overseeing the development, quality assurance, and operations of technology platforms at MFG.com.

Scott brings 20 years of broad technology and entrepreneurial experience to the MFG.com team. In his previous position as COO of StarPound Technologies, Scott lead the launch of the company's next-generation open-source BPM and IP telephony platforms, and secured the company's first global customer (DHL Logistics).

Prior to StarPound, Scott was the CEO of PlayMotion, a leading interactive media company. Under his leadership, the company achieved record revenues, providing technology to marquee customers such as Walt Disney, Cartoon Network, NASCAR, Bravo TV, Nike, Red Bull, and Sanofi Aventis.

An entrepreneur himself, Scott was founder and CTO of Incursio, Inc., an early-stage web incubator. After selling the company in 2005, he co-founded StartupLounge.com, a 501c6 non-profit organization aimed at promoting fast-growth, high-tech entrepreneurship in the Southeast. Prior to Incursio, Scott served as the Vice President of Technology & Development for MetalMaker, Inc., a venture-backed B2B exchange on the supply side of the steel industry.

Before joining the MetalMaker executive team, Scott held senior positions with iXL, Cambridge Technology Partners and CAP Gemini America. During his management consulting career, Scott focused on providing IT strategy & services to a portfolio of primarily Fortune clients, including Ford Motor Co, Honda, Goldman Sachs, Chase Manhattan, Citibank, GTE, Bellsouth, Zurich-Kemper, American Airlines, Franklin-Templeton, and IBM.

Further demonstrating his commitment to community service, Scott also co-founded VetLoop, a 501c3 non-profit organization with a focus on assisting transitioning military veterans back into the civilian workforce.

Scott is extremely active in the Atlanta technology and startup communities, and is a frequent speaker, panelist, mentor, and volunteer for programs at Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, Emory University, the Technology Association of Georgia, the Georgia Research Alliance, and the Advanced Technology Development Center.

Scott holds a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems from Thomas A. Edison State College, and is a veteran of the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division. Scott is an advisor to more early-stage companies than he cares to admit. He maintains a blog at scottburkett.com, where he writes very actively on technology, venture capital, early-stage entrepreneurship, and the Atlanta startup scene. Follow Scott on Twitter (@sburkett)

As President of MFG.com APAC, James is responsible for leading MFG.com's business growth in Asia Pacific including the day-to-day running of the Shanghai-based operations. James brings with him close to 20 years of successful international management experience in direct sales, strategic sourcing, and manufacturing operations.

Prior to joining MFG.com, James served as the Chief Representative for a major business segment of SPX Corporation in Shanghai. In this role he established the Asia Procurement Office in Shanghai to support multiple business segments within the company worldwide and pioneered reverse auctions in Asia utilizing an online marketplace platform. Prior to that, James was the General Manager for a SPX joint venture company in China. In this role he turned around the joint venture into profitability with significant sales growth through the restructuring of the organization, its work processes and operating metrics. James has also held international management positions at Bechtel, Tenneco, and Pechiney in both North America and Asia.

James holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from East China University in Shanghai and an International MBA from Thunderbird, AGSIM in Phoenix, Arizona. James is fluent in both Chinese and English.

As VP of Global Business Development, Roger is responsible for seeking growth opportunities for MFG.com either through partnerships and alliances or through the development of new functionality and feature sets.

Before joining MFG.com, Roger spent 10 years in various roles in the spend management software space with his most notable position being Vice President of Ariba/FreeMarkets where he spent seven years growing and managing their sourcing solutions. His areas of responsibilities included product management, product marketing, competitive analysis, customer satisfaction and adoption as well as customer renewals. He also played a key role in three different merger and acquisition activities with a focus on porting over product functionality and maintain the acquired companies customers. Roger also had leadership roles at GE Global Exchange Services as well as ValueAmerica.com.

Roger also has an extensive background in Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain both as a consultant with A.T. Kearny as well as a practitioner for over 10 years in industries ranging from Chemical Manufacturing and High Tech to Retail and Distribution. This extensive Sourcing and Supply background has made Roger a leading authority in spend management technology.

Roger received a B.S degree from the University of Maryland and is Six Sigma certified.

Heiko Binder is MFG.com’s Senior Vice President of Global Product Management.  Prior to joining MFG.com, Heiko served as Senior Strategist for frog design Europe where he was responsible for guiding multi-disciplinary teams through various projects as well as started the European Strategy practice at frog design, focusing on innovation, business and brand strategies.

 

Before joining frog design, Heiko co-founded and served as Managing Partner for an internet marketplace in Germany where he was responsible for product development and IT operations.