Avalara Executives
Marshal Kushniruk
Executive Vice President of Strategic Accounts and Customer Experience, Avalara
Marshal Kushniruk brings more than 20 years experience in sales and marketing efforts of accounting, financial and ERP software solutions to his role with Avalara. Vertical markets he’s specialized in include business to consumer, business to business, enterprise resource planning (ERP), application service provider outsourcing (ASP), telecommunication outsourcing applications, accounting, material management, process engineering, legal, travel and medical billing.
Prior to joining Avalara, Marshal was Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Sulcs & Associates, which provided a full suite of business applications to the mid-to-high end ERP marketplace. Marshal has also held positions as Canadian Sales Manager for Great Plains Software, Vice President, Abacus Accounting Systems Inc. and President, Group 21 Consulting Inc.
Marshal’s diverse industry experience includes the creation and management of value added channels with value-added resellers (VARs) and 50,000 clients. His experience ranges from multiple start-up companies, mergers and acquisition of competitors and subsequent client bases, to being instrumental in growing several companies to international scope and presence.
His experience enhances Avalara’s overall design of the customer experience and strategic worldwide alliances. Those responsibilities include oversight of software development with a focus on usability, customer care systems as they relate to the technical support of the customers, and management of major strategic ERP accounts (accounting manufactures) and independent software vendors.
Michael Gardner
Vice President of Compliance, Avalara
Michael Gardner joined Avalara in 2007 as a result of his experience as a professional service partner. Prior to joining Avalara, Michael was the partner in charge of the tax technology solutions practice at The SC&H Group, co-founder of Taxconnect, a successful tax technology services firm and a regional practice leader and SALT strategies professional with KPMG. In each of these roles, Michael has focused on technology, compliance and operational issues associated with the emerging services area of finance technology. With nearly 15 years experience, Michael has assisted hundreds of companies of all sizes in North America and Western Europe to successfully use technology to improve transaction and consumption tax processes.
Michael earned a J.D. from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, a B.A. in history and economics from George Mason University and numerous executive certificates related to project management and use, implementation and training on specialized software applications. Michael is admitted to the State Bar of California and an active member of tax and financial associations. A frequent industry presenter on tax technology issues, Michael has authored published articles on transaction tax reform, global tax automation trends and best practices for using rate content in multi-tiered systems environments. Michael is a professed local government policy wonk and enjoys working with community-based campaigns on education, development, tax and transportation reform initiatives.
Ranjit Mulgaonkar
Vice President, Business Development, Avalara and Managing Director, Avalara India.
Ranjit Mulgaonkar is responsible for Avalara's Strategic Business Development and Avalara India operations. He brings to Avalara more than 25 years of product marketing, business development and operations experience in the Internet, e-commerce, payment processing, desktop publishing and digital imaging industries. Prior to joining Avalara, Ranjit was the Senior Vice President with Network Commerce, where he built the e-business services divisions from ground up to more than $20 million in revenues and participated in a successful IPO, raising more than $300 Million. Ranjit was the General Manager of Products at iCat Corporation, a pioneer in the e-commerce software which was bought by Intel Corporation in 1999. At iCat Ranjit was responsible for creating and launching e-commerce products and services for small and mid-sized businesses that wanted to sell products and services online. Ranjit was the Vice President and General Manager for Moore Corporation (Moore-Donnelley), where he launched the Interactive Marketing Solutions Division to provide one-to-one marketing solutions using on-demand printing technologies. Ranjit also managed all of Moore's corporate software development efforts as the Vice President of Research. Prior to joining Moore, Ranjit was the Product Marketing Manager at Xerox Corporation and was responsible for forming a worldwide alliance among Fuji, Scitex, Rank Xerox, leading to the introduction of DocuColor40 that generated more than $700 Million in revenues for Xerox. At Aldus (now Adobe) Ranjit was responsible for forming the Aldus Prepress Division that introduced five revolutionary software products for the printing and publishing industry in early 1990.
Ranjit holds a Master's Degree in computer science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, an undergraduate degree in electronics and telecommunications, and executive management training from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He has published many papers and articles and spoken at numerous conferences worldwide.
Patrick Falle
Vice President of Sales, Avalara
Patrick Falle joined Avalara in August 2004 as Director of Central Region Sales. In 2007 he was promoted to the Vice President of Sales and Partner Development. He is currently responsible for the overall sales strategy and field engagement within Avalara and its partner channel.
Prior to joining Avalara he was the Director of Global Managed Service Providers (MSP) Sales at Check Point Software, a leader in Internet security, which he joined in 1998 as the first channel sales manager in the U.S. In 1998 he also became the first member hired on the company’s Global Sales Team. In 1999 he was named Director of Check Point Software’s Global MSP team. With a focus on the company’s telco managed services channel, he oversaw a national sales team that generated more than $80 million in revenue.
Patrick holds a degree in language and international trade. He learned to speak Japanese while studying at a private university in Japan. He is an avid woodworker and loves to travel, mountain bike and spend time with his family.
Mark Withers
Vice President of Development, Avalara
Mark Withers joined Avalara in December 2003 to help the company bring its vision to fruition drawing on his more than 20 years of experience, which powers his enthusiasm to build cutting edge technology solutions to solve complex business problems. At Avalara he leads a global development organization committed to delivering the best sales tax solution in the industry. His professional history includes working at a computer startup in 1987 doing accounting systems sales, support and development projects to working for the Boeing Company in 1990. A certified PowerBuilder Developer, he joined a consulting firm in Seattle in 1996 and worked in a number of business domains; accounting, telecommunications, collections, marketing and shipping for both large and small firms in the area. Prior to joining Avalara, he was the Customer Experience Lead with Airborne Express/DHL, where he worked on the company’s Web-based shipping platform, which processed nearly a half million shipments per month using Microsoft ASP, COM and Oracle Database technologies.
Mark graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1986 with a degree in management information systems and also earned an Army Reserve commission. A citizen soldier, Mark served in leadership positions in the Army Reserve and Washington National Guard through 1998.
Jason Warren
Vice President, Strategic Accounts, Avalara
Jason Warren joined Avalara in July 2004. When Mr. Warren joined Avalara his focus was on building the Avalara partner channel in the Southwest Region of the United States. In 2005, Jason was given responsibility for building the Technical Support Department with a focus on email, Web and telephone support. In his current role at Avalara, he is responsible for leveraging original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partnerships with software giants such as Sage Software and Epicor.
Jason grew up in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. He has spent the last 10 yrs in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting software industries, where he has focused on sales at both the channel partner and software publisher levels.
Joan Judge
Director of Finance, Avalara
Joan Judge brings more than 25 years of experience in both public and private accounting to Avalara. She has proven strong analytical skills coupled with a commitment to excellence and the ability to drive efficiency and financial performance improvements. During her career she has established accounting departments by hiring key personnel to efficiently handle financial workflow, implementing accounting software systems to meet operational needs and setting up quality control accounting procedures and policies.
Joan has worked with both publicly and privately held companies to identify and establish new entities. Prior to joining Avalara, she spent five years working for large Bay Area CPA firm, Frank, Rimerman & Co. LLP, providing CFO services for a wide range of clients, with an emphasis on the technology, biotech, medical and real estate industries. She worked more than seven years in income and sales tax preparation, having honed both corporate and private expertise.
Joan earned her degree in accounting at San Francisco State University, where she was originally a marine biology major but changed tack when she was offered a role as an accountant if she switched majors. In her own words: “So much for fish, the rest is history…or should I say numbers.”
Andrea Anderson
Director of Marketing, Avalara
Bringing her passion for marketing in a fast paced, dynamic environment, Andrea Anderson joined Avalara in 2007 to lead the marketing efforts. For three years prior to joining Avalara, Andrea grew her career from Marketing Manager to Chief Knowledge Officer with a rapidly growing marketing automation company. Prior to that she spent seven years formulating marketing strategies for the Microsoft Business Solutions division of Microsoft. While at Microsoft—learning from industry leading technology marketers—Andrea developed expertise in direct marketing, relationship marketing and industry marketing with an emphasis on increasing the loyalty and lifetime value of customers.
Andrea has extensive marketing experience in a variety of arenas. She is one of the inventors of a patent-pending, rules-based marketing engine, has authored many e-marketing best practice white papers and has been published in marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) trade publications. She has developed knowledge capital and class curriculum on interactive marketing that are used today in MBA and undergraduate programs and instructed courses for the Notre Dame MBA program. She has served in interim leadership positions in professional services, sales and marketing, managed the implementation of many strategic accounts, including Global Fortune 500 companies, and has been a key player in driving business growth from start-up to the point of acquisition.
Andrea holds an MBA from North Dakota State University. When she has spare time she enjoys travelling and is an avid fan of the arts, enjoying both visiting museums around the world and doing her own water colors.
Kent Chadwick
Director of Compliance, Avalara
Kent Chadwick joined Avalara in November 2006 to help develop the company’s AvaTax Managed Returns Service. He has worked as a project manager, requirements specialist and communications director in the software industry for 12 years. His specialty is clarifying, enhancing, and communicating the value of a company’s products and services.
Kent is a published poet. His CD Still through you was produced in 2002. His poetry has appeared in the World Haiku Review, Exhibition, the chapbooks The Jack Straw Writers Program 1999 and Fishtrap Anthology V, and the anthology Deep Down Things: Poems of the Inland Pacific Northwest, among others. He was selected for the Jack Straw Writer's Program in 1999 and received a Jack Straw Artist Assistance Grant in 2002. He has a B.A. in international relations and philosophy from the University of California at Davis.
