Our many years of experience in managing various business functions are what makes us an expert at meeting your company's needs.

Allen Bell

Partner @ Topside

Background: 

Allen has devoted most of his professional career to starting, managing or advising entrepreneurial organizations.  He has executive management experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors with a track record as an innovative leader and dynamic communicator.  He is skilled in transforming business concepts into viable models, building strong management teams and accelerating the development of new ventures.  He has a deep marketing portfolio, having created and managed complex marketing initiatives for national clients and brand building campaigns for numerous start-ups.  Allen has advised dozens of high growth entrepreneurs over the last decade as co-founder and President of The Idea Village, a nationally recognized economic development organization galvanizing the entrepreneurial community in New Orleans. 

Allen’s career began in account management with national advertising agencies Bozell & Jacobs and Benton & Bowles.  He was co-founder and President of Atlanta marketing agency, StrategyBase, serving a roster of high profile national clients including Time-Life Video & Television, SeaWorld/Busch Gardens, USA Networks, The Weather Channel and Tabasco.  Prior to The Idea Village, Allen was General Manager of NOLA.com, a pioneer in Internet publishing and subsidiary of international media company, Advance Publications.  In 2007 Allen received New Orleans City Business Magazine’s Innovator of the Year Award.

Allen was an adjunct faculty member of the nationally regarded Atlanta Portfolio Center.  He has guest lectured for Emory, Tulane and Loyola Universities’ MBA Programs and been a judge for the Tulane Business Plan Competition.

He was an original Board member of Trees Atlanta, today one of the most widely known and supported non-profits throughout metro-Atlanta.  Allen served as a board member for New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity from 1997 - 2003 and was Board President in 2001. A New Orleans native, Allen earned his BBA from Southern Methodist University’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business.

Areas of expertise



• Start-up Management
• Strategic Planning
• Strategic Partnerships
• Marketing Planning and Execution

Darin McAuliffe

Partner @ topside

Background: 

Darin has co-founded four highly successful technology companies and has worked as a Senior Executive with large corporations. 

As Co-founder and COO of Turobotrip.com, Darin designed and managed the team that built one of the first on-line hotel booking engines.   Turbotrip.com grew as a New Orleans based online retailer, to eventually transact business in 55 countries and over 360 destinations worldwide.  The company was purchased by hotels.com in 2002. 

Darin Co-founded and was the COO of neworleans.com, a destination advertising portal that catered to inbound travelers to New Orleans.  Founded in 1993, neworleans.com was a leading edge portal introducing new revenue and advertising models to the Internet.  The company was purchased by the Hammack-Jones Group in 2007.

Darin Co-founded and was the President of Internet Destinations, LLC, an Internet website development and hosting company.  Founded in 1994, at its peak, IDC had developed over 1300 websites and hosted over 500 companies web presence.  It was later folded into neworleans.com.

Darin also co-founded and was President of Hotel Booking Solutions, Inc., a demand management software suite utilized by over 15,000 hotels and hundreds of online distributors and tour operators. To accelerate growth McAuliffe was on the ownership team that engineered the purchase of software division HoboBox from a publically held Austrian company in Zell am See, Austria.  After relocating the world headquarters to the United States and receiving millions in Venture Capital investment, HBSi was sold to Trivandrum, India based I Believe Systems.

He later served as Vice-President of Distribution Solutions for Pegasus Solutions, the world’s largest travel technology provider.  In that capacity, Darin directed global sales for Pegasus’ distribution products.

Darin is a co-founding member of the LOA Group, later renamed Idea Village, a non-profit business accelerator in New Orleans and later acted as an “Entrepreneur in Residence” coaching and mentoring a wide range of start-up companies.  Darin has served on the board of the Louisiana Technology Council and served on the Tulane University Council of Entrepreneurs mentoring students interested in entrepreneurship.  Darin also sits on the Board of Advisors for Rebirth Financial, LLC and LifeCity LLC.

Darin is a frequent speaker at events on the topics of Entrepreneurism, E-Commerce, and Revenue Management, Electronic Distribution and Growth management.

Areas of expertise

• Investor Sourcing
• Crisis Management
• E-Distribution Systems and Management
• Growth Management

Sonja McAuliffe

Partner @ Topside

Background:

Sonja has over twenty years experience in the tourism industry and performs a wide range of services for the group.

Since 2000 she has been working as a key member of start-up teams in such areas as business development, new market entry, market research and program/system integration first in Europe and since 2003 in the USA. She has been called in as SME for dozens of projects over the last decade working with all major US and Middle Eastern carriers, international airports, major OTA’s and destinations.

As acting program manager for several companies she was responsible for Quality Control/Assurance and User Acceptance testing and creating the test plans/scripts. Setting the companies help desk and Quality Assurance (QA) Department up by training the staff in a successful manner.

Sonja has lead the Request for Proposal (RFP) process for a new tour system and RFP for large destinations to name a few, where the reservation systems/e-distribution were two of the most important pieces.

She has successfully opened a new General Sales Agent (GSA) airline office in Germany and a new market entry launch for an European low cost carrier Central Reservation System (CRS) in the US.

Sonja studied tourism management in the Netherlands and is based in Hoorn, NL and Atlanta.

Sonja speaks Dutch, English and German.

Areas of expertise

• E-Distribution
• Indepth Research

Dan Reid

Associate @ Topside

Background: 

As a financial advisor, Dan Reid has held management positions with some of the largest and most recognized financial institutions in the world including Grant Thornton, Duff and Phelps and Arthur Andersen.  He was also responsible for merger and acquisition services at San Francisco-based Fremont Group and Fremont Partners.

Dan advises clients and their portfolio companies on financial and tax matters including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, transitional and integration issues and restructurings.  He assists companies in the process of raising capital for significant corporate actions and serves as "interim CFO" or advisory CFO during times of transition for companies undergoing change.  He performs tax planning and structuring for numerous clients and portfolio companies.

Dan has been involved directly, or as an advisor, to the private equity industry and strategic buyers for over 25 years and has advised on, or led, hundreds of transactions, including international deals.  He has experience assisting clients during all phases of the acquisition including initial deal analysis, financial and tax due diligence, structuring, deal negotiation, analysis of valuation and identification of synergies and acquisition integration. He has also been extensively involved in post-acquisition processes such as the disposition process, including IPOs, sales to strategic buyers, sales to management and sales through an auction process.

Dan recently purchased two under-performing transportation companies.  He implemented new business plans, and following recapitalizations and  restructurings these companies are now operating profitably and providing positive cash flow.  Dan continues to maintain substantial ownership interests in both companies through Grove Advisors, LLC, a wholly owned consulting and management company.

Dan received his MBA from St. Mary’s College of California and a BS in Accounting from Santa Clara University.  He also holds a Master’s of Science in Taxation from Golden Gate University.

Areas of expertise

• Financial and Tax Planning
• Investment Analysis
• Raising Capital
• Interim Financial Management



Scott Janz

Associate @ Topside

Background:

Scott Janz has been in the Online Industry since its infancy starting in 1996. Scott began his career as a Wide Area Network specialist for EarthLink.  In that capacity, Scott rapidly saw the growth potential for online content. Capitalizing on his previous years of Sales and Marketing experience, Scott consulted with smaller Internet Service Providers helping them capture market share and build a large network of B2B connectivity. Following his entrepreneurial instincts, Scott has been a Partner in a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier, and has owned several online startup companies.

With over 23 years of technology sales and marketing experience, Scott stays on the cutting edge of online trends and technology. Scott has consulted companies to increase sales, lead generation, and manage their digital footprints. Currently Scott helps Topside clients with their web strategies.

Areas of expertise

• Search Engine Optimization
• Social Media
• Price Per Click Advertising





Rebecca McGoye

Associate @ Topside

Background:

Rebecca complements any project she is part of. She has been a consultant for the last 4 years assisting various consulting groups. Prior to that Rebecca was a core team member tasked with creating a road travel web site, as Vice President of Product Management for LeisureLogix, LLC, a travel technology company. The job began with product design and continued through every stage of development, including product launch. Rebecca spent four years at the Airlines Reporting Corporation, a settlement authority for the travel industry, as a Business Analyst representing travel agent users in the development of new products and services. She also supported the agent community through deployment of new systems, training and account management.

Rebecca’s varied business experience outside of the travel industry provides for comprehensive skills and talents that support her ability to successfully grasp the scope of the entire project and quickly see where attention is most needed. Rebecca is extremely organized and her attention to detail is what contributes to her projects’ success.

Her financial background began with Federal Government, tracking and providing spending authority of foreign funds for multi-billion dollar projects in the Middle East. She has held various travel accounting positions for smaller agencies and was responsible for project accounting for The Solutionz Group International. Rebecca also has experience providing technical support for AAA Auto Club South, assisting over 3000 employees, and performing security maintenance, product testing, and network troubleshooting.

Rebecca graduated from the Travel and Tourism Institute and has studied at Hillsborough Community College, Shepherd College and Pierce College.



Areas of expertise

• Travel Technology
• Foreign Currency
• Project Managment