John P. Walsh
Commercial Executive
Available for hire or consulting
I'm a commercial executive who
transforms underdogs
into heroes.
Every company needs something to go from 'meets expectations' to 'rock star'.
Whether it's allying sales and marketing teams, reshaping product development, refining corporate positioning for greater investment appeal, elevating your market presence, or you don't know what you need, you've come to the right place.
This is what I do. I do it well.
And I love it.
Most recently, I’ve been in the Life Sciences tools space. This includes applications of single cell RNA sequencing, DNA sequencing (NGS), and forensic DNA genomics. I’ve also been in biotech and pharma, working in every stage of drug discovery (target identification to IND) and drug development (Phase I, II, and III of clinical programs).
Yes! It would be more accurate to say I LOVE them. That is my actual dog, Spidey, in the section above. He’s more handsome than me so he gets the cover shot.
I asked this of not only those that worked for me but also colleagues and managers as part of a reflected best self exercise a few years back. Here are the qualities they described: collaborative, empowering, creative, analytical, and emotionally intelligent.
I live in San Diego so it’s required to have a favorite taco shop. And to thumb my nose at every other US city’s tacos (especially LA). I feel for those that don’t live here and don’t have ready access to amazing tacos every day. I like my fish tacos grilled, not fried, and on a corn tortilla. I’ve also become recently excited about birria tacos.
If you’re happy with your current growth projections or are only interested in defending your current market presence – you don’t. If growth is the goal or you need someone to fix a big problem, we should talk.
Experience counts.
available for:
- VP & CXO Positions
- Agency-Scale Projects
- Consulting
what I'll do for you
Build the business
Ignite revenue growth
Driving market adoption and customer retention isn't magic, but demands talented leaders. It means customer-centricity and deep collaboration between sales and marketing. Whether it's changing the trajectory of an existing product, launching new products, or revamping the commercial culture - experience and results matter.
Proof Point
Created a holistic, full-funnel marketing approach resulting in 10-fold revenue growth in 8 quarters.
Commercial Strategy
Develop the right product
Planning for the future requires deep analysis of customers, markets, and internal strengths. Product roadmaps require an understanding of not what will make the mark today, but how to drive the future market.
Proof Point
Strategically identified applications and drove solutions for blue ocean market capture.
Team Leadership
Forge cohesive teams
Great accomplishments are the product of collaborative teams, not solitary efforts. Your team deserves a leader that's been shaped by the intentional development, experiences, access to mentors, and empathy true leadership demands.
Proof Point
Reshaped the product development culture, breaking down barriers between marketing, hardware, software, bioinformatics, operations, chemistry, and biology teams and centering on a strong product vision.
Brand Awareness
Be known
A powerful brand is more than just a logo or tagline - it’s the essence of an organization. It can be a source of trust and a path to inspiring your audiences. Effective brand development combines creativity, strategic thinking, and a deep connection with the audience.
Proof Point
Grew brand awareness from <10% to over 40% in 18 months, establishing market position as top alternative to dominant market incumbent.
Skills
From Vision to Execution
- Growth Strategy
- Team Leadership
- Product management
- Market Analysis
- Branding
- Demand Generation
- Market Development
- Product Roadmapping
where I've been
Vice President of Marketing
Parse Biosciences
(2021 - 2024)
Life sciences technology company focused on single cell genomics.
Grew revenue 10-fold
Grew market share in 24 months to become leading alternative to market-dominant solution in scRNA-Seq market
Launched 20 products, 3 new product lines
Drove multi-channel outreach through GTM planning, campaign development, collateral generation, advertising, and earned media coverage
Built the marketing team
Recruited the team and set the strategic direction with priorities on market uptake, product education, and brand awareness
Director of Technical Marketing
Singular Genomics
(2019 - 2021)
Next generation sequencing and spatial genomics instrument developer.
Defined the GTM strategy
Defined the commercial business plan to include customer segments, market opportunities, value prop communication, and strategy
Drove product management
Developed the market opportunity and ideal product fit for new products, including single cell and spatial genomics offerings.
Established focus on customer experience
Ideated and modeled product innovations with engineering for improved customer adoption and user experience
Head of Technical Marketing
Verogen (Acquired by Qiagen)
(2017 - 2019)
Forensic genomics solutions company applying DNA sequencing to human identity.
Managed full product portfolio
Designed commercial plan for global product launches, including segmentation, positioning, pricing, promotional strategies, sales training, and collateral development - growing revenue 200% in 2 years
Drove market development
Identified and managed 20+ collaborations for commercial partnerships, KOL development, and new product initiatives to increase application evidence or enhance product-market fit
Created strategic initiatives
Ideated and developed commercial plans for new opportunities leveraging core company technology to enable blue ocean segments
Senior Technical Marketing Manager
Illumina
(2009 - 2017)
Industry leader in next generation sequencing technology.
Product owner
Product leadership coordinating software, biology, manufacturing, and hardware teams for customer-centric solutions. This included solutions for researchers, automation integration, bioinformatics, internal manufacturing systems, and cloud software applications.
Multi-disciplinary team leadership
Managed a team with a large diversity of technical backgrounds - including system analysts, systems engineers, bioinformaticians, and UX designers.
Science communicator
Developed customer education and market development campaigns on next generation sequencing (NGS) for forensic criminalists
let's talk about you
Ready to grow?
- [email protected]
- San Diego, CA