Ron Clifton
Areas of Expertise
- Strategy
- Technology
Industry Focus
- Wireless Telecommunications
- Wireline Telecommunications
- Media
- Satellite
Education
- M.S., Applied Science in Electrical Engineering, University of Waterloo
- B.S., Applied Science in Electrical Engineering, University of Waterloo. Minor in Management Science
Ron Clifton
rclifton@SummitRidgeGroup.com
+1.613.852.8833
- Ron Clifton founded and is President of CliftonGroup International Limited, a management consulting company specializing in providing a broad range of C-level services to the international satellite, wireless, telecomm and media/entertainment industries – example recent projects include cloud computing, file-based workflow, OTT delivery of content (streaming and VOD) and mergers and acquisitions. Ron is a high energy hands-on CEO experienced at growing a number of privately owned and publicly traded high-tech companies spanning a variety of industries and markets. He combines his training as an electrical/systems engineer with a strong grasp of emerging technologies as well as expertise in sales, marketing, new business development, and operations.
- In addition to years as a CEO with extensive experience in operations and M&A transactions, he has served on a number of governance and strategic advisory Boards. His wide-ranging international experience includes running companies with multi-national, export-oriented operations. Prior to founding CliftonGroup, Ron served as President and CEO of International Datacasting Corporation (IDC), a publicly-traded company. He restructured the company to make it profitable and took it from a saturated satellite broadcast radio market into the newly emerging market for broadband multimedia distribution. Using the company’s core satellite datacasting technologies and strategic partnerships, he launched a number of new products and applications and added systems integration and services businesses, growing the company while expanding into new markets including broadcast television (HD and VOD), digital radio, IPTV, digital cinema (live 3D as well as file-based delivery), financial networks, digital signage, distance learning and more. This period of growth included a number of successful acquisitions.
- Before joining IDC, Ron was recruited by Daimler Benz Aerospace to be the President and CEO of their subsidiary Senstar Corporation, a struggling player in advanced security and surveillance sensors/systems for the government/military, VIP residential, airports and corrections markets. He executed a turnaround of the company and grew it successfully, including running operations in Germany, the UK, the US, and Mexico. The company was recognized as a world-class industry leader, was successfully sold to Magal Corporation, and merged with its global operations. Previously, Ron served as General Manager of Zenon Environmental Systems, a company specializing in custom-designed water treatment and recycling systems using advanced membrane separation and bioreactor technologies serving the military, pharmaceutical, automotive and municipal markets. He grew the company profitably, was part of the team that brought Exxon into the company as a strategic minority investor and assisted with the acquisition and integration of several companies across North America and Europe. After working with the senior management team on a successful IPO, Ron took on the role of Corporate VP responsible for new business development, Marketing and Communications.
- Ron began his career as a design engineer in the defense and aerospace sector with Computing Devices Company (CDC), now General Dynamics. He worked on hardware, software and systems design projects that were signal processing, display, and RF intensive—including the world’s first Landsat satellite digital earth station and an early GPS navigation product. From design engineer, he progressed to project management and inside sales support, served as a software department manager, and ultimately as Director and Business Unit leader with P&L responsibility for the company’s Surveillance Systems Division. He successfully won a number of major projects for the company, won a patent infringement case critical to the business, and eventually sold the Division to a venture capital-backed competitor.
- Ron graduated at the top of his class from the University of Waterloo with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Applied Science in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Management Science. He holds two patents for advanced VHF surveillance sensors and has received numerous industry awards. He is a frequent speaker at industry events around the world.