Susan Steeb has developed a sharp eye for how startups can become bloated with inefficiencies, lack of direction, and mismanagement – and how they can be retooled into sleeker, smoother and more strategically focused organizations. She loves startups and entrepreneurial ventures, helping owners generate revenue and become profitable through solid financial management, creative and strategic operations and interpersonal development.
Today we wanted to share with you why Susan is such a valued Small Business Development Center (SBDC) consultant, tell you a little about her, and how she can help you move your business forward.
Susan has over 25 years of in Finance and Business Operations experience. She has worked in diversified industries such as entertainment, technology, mobile gaming and clean tech.
Susan has spent most of her career in the startup world. Her career began with a position in public accounting in the record industry as the controller for Capital Records. From there she began working at what she called “her first startup,” DIRECTV, which according to Susan, “ was a disruptive, breakthrough technology that just happened to have financial backing.”
After her time at DIRECTV, helping to build a subscriber base from zero to over 20 million, she moved on to work in the early stages of mobile gaming, sending her deep into the tech startup industry.
In 2008, after taking GLU Mobile public, Susan and her husband chose to take time off from their successful technology careers and embark on a sabbatical that would take them to 22 countries over 18 months.
This however, did not mark the beginning of retirement as they might have thought. Before they knew it Susan was the Director of Finance while her husband became Executive Director at Cleantech Open, an accelerator program that supports clean technology startups and helps get them to market.
After spending a lot of time in big cities and traveling, Susan and her husband chose to settle down in San Luis Obispo where they were introduced to Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).
“I was in awe over the program and how uniquely they tied the university to the city,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of the programs that were creating opportunities for talented and creative people to live and work in this beautiful place.”
Susan quickly became part of advisory boards for various companies within the CIE programming, both at the Hatchery, on campus, and at the HotHouse Incubator Program in downtown San Luis Obispo. From there wasn’t long before she took the role of consultant at the CIE SBDC.
Since February when this new journey began, the clients she supports have inspired Susan. “I love the diversity and talent that surrounds this community and the nurturing supportive environment of the SBDC,” she said. “I am honored to be able to support these companies in building their financial strategies and working with the mentors to provide a well rounded support system.”
All of us at the CIE SBDC are equally as honored to have Susan on our team. To learn more about how CIE SBDC consultants like Susan Steeb can help grow your business, contact us at (805)756-5180.
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