Barry Pollack

Barry has been a key player in the startup, turnaround, and operations of a variety of companies in the media, technology, financial services, not-for-profit, and e-commerce worlds for more than thirty years.  His focus on quantitative analysis provides a foundation for financial, marketing, research and operational activities in all of his projects.

Since 2005, Barry has been a Principal of The Maia Group, a New York-based management consultancy, working with senior executives in data, media and entertainment, consumer product and healthcare clients in the development and execution of strategic, operating and business development initiatives. 

Barry’s activities have included the following areas of focus:

• Financial management: Serving as CFO in startup and turnaround situations, including managing accounting, planning, and administrative functions (examples: Onboard LLC, Dering Hall Inc., CarePlanners, New York Botanical Garden)
• Marketing planning: Using quantitative discipline to bring greater clarity to marketing decisions, including media planning and sales operations (example: MasterCard International)
• Operational management: Developing back-end processes for payment, product fulfillment, and customer support (example: OpenSky)
• Business planning: Creating numerous business plans and financial models in support of company financing, strategic planning, and turnarounds; a special emphasis on research to help quantify and operationalize business plans.

Earlier in his career, Barry held financial positions in the media world:

• At Prodigy Services Company, the pioneer online services provider, Barry headed business planning, during its initial funding (by IBM and Sears), its initial product launch, and through its growth to more than a million subscribers.  In this role, he also created the first online advertising and e-commerce rate cards.
• At CBS Television Network, Barry developed analytical models for the network television ad marketplace and developed the decision-support tools for major programming investments, such as sport contracts.
• At a predecessor to Time Warner Cable, Barry was responsible for the long-range financial forecasting that was integral to cable TV franchising applications.

Barry holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Rochester, and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.