About DanLynch.net

Thanks for visiting! Whatever search terms or project may have led you to this site, I hope you find the content of these pages useful as a preliminary means to introduce you to the broad range of business experiences I have developed during my career. By leveraging cutting-edge digital marketing techniques, built on a solid foundation of proven marketing and business principles, you'll have all your bases covered.

Technology-based offerings are my passion and my strength. Over the last few decades, we have seen hardware, software, and networking products transform entire industries and reshape customer expectations in the process. The rapid acceptance of powerful multi-function mobile devices and proliferation of GPS location-based and other connected devices have also paved the way for a new generation of exciting applications previously unimaginable.

As exciting as this has been to experience, it has been sad to see former world-class brands rendered nearly obsolete because they failed to embrace change. The valuable lesson to be learned is that no company, no sector, no matter how seemingly 'untouchable' can afford to ignore changing market demands, technologies or media.

I was fortunate to begin my career in software product marketing at Cullinet Software in 1984, the first publicly traded computer software publisher in the world and the first with a billion-dollar valuation. After their acquisition by Computer Associates in 1989, I managed the Microsoft relationship for pioneering software reseller Corporate Software, Inc. The leading provider of software and services to the Fortune 500 in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the company quickly grew to become Microsoft's largest customer in the world and was instrumental in the development of most software licensing programs in existence today.

In 1992, with computer retail stores and catalog direct response making inroads into corporate purchasing departments and already dominating the small-to-medium business sector, I joined computer cataloger publisher Micro Warehouse, Inc. to direct its co-op advertising sales. Over time, I directed the merchandising efforts for all software products, as well as the profitable supplies and accessories categories. During my six years with MicroWarehouse, the company grew from a privately held business with annual revenues under $100 million (USD) to a $2.6 billion publicly traded reseller of technology products worldwide.

In 1998, I accepted an offer from Ancestry.com to serve as their first vice president of business development. Even though the company was a little-known, privately held, Utah-based book publisher relatively new to the Internet, my decision to transition from customer to employee was an easy one. I'd been researching my own family history for two decades by that point and could easily see the impact that technology and the Internet would have on genealogy as both a business opportunity, as well as a fast-growing hobby worldwide. In spite of quality products, innovation, and continued subscriber growth, the company struggled to secure additional funding after the dot-com bubble burst. Following a layoff in June 2001, I accepted a leadership role at the A&E Television Networks to direct their genealogy.com subsidiary (including the Family Tree Maker brand of products), as well as A&E's direct-to-consumer multi-channel marketing efforts for its popular home video and related product offerings.

As A&E began planning to exit the genealogy business in 2002, I established Mattatuck Consulting, LLC to provide technology marketing consulting to a range of clients, many of whom were, or would later become, leading providers in the worldwide genealogy market. In addition to earning a top spot as an Ancestry.com affiliate partner, I had consulting assignments with The Statute of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, FindMyPast (formerly Title Research, Ltd. and 1837Online), FamilySearch, as well as FamilyLink and WorldVitalRecords, both later acquired by MyHeritage Ltd.

For many years, a frequent speaker at local and International conferences on the topic of Internet search, I authored Google Your Family Tree in 2008. Shortly after publication, the book was awarded best genealogical reference and received high praise from many of the genealogy industries most notable writers. The book also caught the attention of Google product developers who later invited me to speak at their California world headquarters.

In 2012, I was honored to be selected as a national spokesperson for the release of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. As part of the long-awaited and historic release, a consortium of leading genealogy companies worked in concert with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), FamilySearch.org, and more than 163,000 volunteers to index the content preserved on digitized images originally recorded 72 years earlier by federal census enumerators. This effort was an exciting example of crowd-sourcing at its best.

Many in the genealogy community have since turned their attentions to the 1950 census, set for public release on Friday, April 1, 2022. There are some exciting things already in the planning stages and I'm pleased to be part of what will likely be another milestone event.