Lisa Reisman
Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder, Managing PartnerLisa Reisman is co-founder and executive editor of MetalMiner, the largest metals website by traffic, and CEO of parent company Azul Partners, which owns and operates multiple websites dedicated to the field of procurement. As one of the nation’s foremost metals experts, Lisa and her team have developed innovations in metal price forecasting, pricing and benchmarking. In addition to past roles at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte Consulting, she has also owned and operated her own aluminum trading company. Lisa earned her MPA from New York University along with a BA in political science and journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Pierre Mitchell
Chief Research Officer, Managing PartnerPierre has 25 years of experience in the procurement and supply chain industry, and is a recognized procurement expert specializing in supply processes, practices, metrics and enabling tools and services. He is a regular contributor to business publications, a frequent presenter at industry events around the world and counts himself fortunate to have served and interacted with so many CPOs and future CPOs.
Jason Busch
Founder, Managing Director, SolutionMap & Strategic AdvisoryJason is the founder of Azul Partners and co-founder of Spend Matters. He spends most of his time contributing to building Spend Matters SolutionMap. Prior to Azul Partners, Jason got his on-the-job education in procurement technology working at FreeMarkets. Before that, he started his career in consulting and merchant banking. Jason holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
Scott Slone
Chief Technology Officer, Managing DirectorIn addition to his near-decade at Ariba as corporate webmaster and senior manager of online marketing, Scott has worked with web properties at several tech companies including Hyperion Solutions, PGP Corp. and Accept Software. Scott also has been involved with network and systems management organizations, working with the burgeoning internet at Novell in the mid-nineties. Early in his career, Scott worked for the FBI as both an illustrator and exhibits specialist before giving up the East Coast’s drastic winters for the more moderately dense fogs of the West.
Sheena Smith
VP Client Services, Managing DirectorWith over 10 years in production, delivery, sales and client management experience, Sheena runs the commercial and client services team with a focus on innovative program design and delivering top quality results. Her client-first mindset leads to collaborative and engaging programming across the spectrum of Azul Partners sites. Sheena holds a BA in english literature and political science from the University of Washington and an MA in english literature from DePaul University.
Carina Kuhl
VP Marketing, Managing DirectorCarina has rich experience creating B2B events and high-impact integrated marketing programs. At Azul Partners, she leads marketing across all brands with a customer-first mentality. Previous positions include head of marketing, events and operations at IACCM and head of ProcureCon events at Worldwide Business Research. Carina is a Dutch native and holds a BS in economics and management from Stenden University.
Nick Heinzmann
Junior AnalystAs Junior Analyst, Nick supports senior analysts in research and project delivery for clients. He also covers emerging and niche vendors within the procurement technology sector. Prior to his role as an analyst, Nick ran production for Brand Studio engagements, as well as served as the site editor for Spend Matters, where he first cut his teeth in procurement writing and editing the latest news, research and thought leadership on the sector. A two-time graduate of Northwestern University, he holds an MSJ from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.
Brianna Tonner
Manager, Client ServicesBrianna serves as a liaison between the Azul Partners analysts and clients. Bringing five years of marketing and editorial experience, she helps shape creative strategies and programs with clients across the Azul Partners spectrum, including MetalMiner. She has been with the Azul Partners team since 2011 and is rewarded by the friendships and business partnerships she makes. Brianna holds a BA in english literature from the University of Northern Iowa and an MA in English literature from DePaul University.
Stuart Burns
Editor-at-Large, MetalMiner Co-FounderStuart has over 30 years of international metal supply experience, including 20 years running a metals distribution business with sales on five continents. He is considered an expert in global metals trading and sourcing. After a career as managing director of the international trading arm of a major British distribution and engineering group, Stuart set up and continues to run his own companies trading, stocking and distributing aluminum in Europe and Asia. Stuart holds an Honours degree in Applied Science from Kingston University. He is also a graduate of Ashridge Management College’s Strategic Business Management Program.
Andrew Karpie
Research Director, Services and Labor ProcurementAndrew has over 30 years experience working as an analyst, executive, and adviser at the business intersection of technology and services. His first brush with procurement came early in his career when he was a network planner for a Ford Aerospace telecom services subsidiary, responsible for leasing high speed digital bandwidth facilities from emerging suppliers. In his long career, he followed the thread of information and communications technology (ICT) across a number of different service industry verticals and small to large companies in a variety of analytical planning and management roles (both buy and sell side). In more recent years, beginning as a research analyst at Staffing Industry Analysts, he has become focused as an analyst, writer, and adviser researching the rapidly changing services and labor supply chains (especially the impact of technology). Andrew holds an MS in Policy Analysis from Carnegie Mellon University, where he first learned to code in FORTRAN and developed a deep appreciation for the value of data and statistics He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys time with his family and volunteering as a Pet Assisted Therapy dog handler.
Michael Lamoureux
Lead Analyst and FuturistMichael Lamoureux is one of the most prolific writers and experts in the procurement and supply chain areas. He is joining forces with Spend Matters to contribute to SolutionMap and related projects. He also continues to serve as “the doctor” of sourcing innovation, a leading resource for education on supply management best practices, technologies and trends. Michael’s path to procurement falls outside the box. After leaving academia upon completing his Ph.D. he worked for a few early e-commerce companies where he designed online databases and virtual shopping carts before most people even knew what the World Wide Web was. During these activities, he stumbled onto a startup that wanted to change procurement forever by bringing optimization to strategic sourcing. His job at this firm, as the first hire, quickly morphed from building the data model, to feed the optimization model, to building the sourcing model itself. After this, he worked on next generation online marketplaces, large-scale global supply and distribution models as well as next generation strategic sourcing decision optimization technology. In 2006, he started his own blog, and since then, has always enjoyed – well, almost always – the banter with Jason Busch and company at Spend Matters. Michael, Jason and the rest of the team are thrilled to be finally collaborating on a formal basis.
Xavier Olivera
Lead Analyst and EditorXavier has over15 years of professional experience in IT and Management Consulting Services for Supply Chain, Procurement Transformation and Strategic Sourcing (Accenture, Bearing Point and D&G); Procure 2 Pay SaaS & Analytics solutions (Coupa & Ariba), ERP solutions (SAP & Peoplesoft).
Arturo Rodriguez
Principal Procurement Data AnalystArturo landed in Chicago to complete his dual master’s degree in industrial engineering and operations. This Spaniard now serves as the principal procurement data analyst (aka “my two screens quant guy” by his boss) at MetalMiner and Spend Matters. He holds a BSc in Industrial engineer (concentration in Electronic and Automation engineer) from the Technical University of Madrid, though he also studied abroad in Denmark. Originally from the best city in the world (Madrid), Arturo spends now some fantastic years in the best summer city in the world (Chicago), where he has had the chance to fully integrate in the American culture. When not biking to the office, Arturo is either hanging out with his friends or working out.