John Faber
Technical Sales · Platform Strategy · Enterprise Architecture
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Summary
Technical sales strategist, digital platform architect, and internet pioneer with 25+ years of experience building, scaling, and selling transformative web solutions. From founding one of San Francisco's earliest ISPs to launching open-source frameworks like Next-Drupal, I've led companies, advised enterprise clients, and architected modern digital platforms across sectors including government, legal, education, and real estate. I bring a rare blend of technical fluency, sales acumen, and product strategy — guiding clients through complex decisions involving AI adoption, headless CMS ecosystems, and enterprise-scale architectures.
02
Top skills
Architecting modern web platforms (Headless CMS, API-first, decoupled systems)
Designing enterprise-scale solution architectures and system integrations
Leading pre-sales engineering and consultative sales cycles
Driving digital agency growth through sales strategy and execution
Negotiating enterprise client and vendor contracts
Advising on AI strategy, enterprise adoption, and implementation pathways
Educating teams on AI business models and platform capabilities
Defining product architecture and guiding platform design decisions
Building and managing partner/channel ecosystems for growth
Navigating complex, fast-changing sales and delivery environments
03
Certifications
Artificial Intelligence: Business Strategies and Applications — UC Berkeley
API Security on Google Cloud's Apigee API Platform
API Development on Google Cloud's Apigee API Platform (with Honors)
Developing APIs with Google Cloud's Apigee API Platform Specialization
API Design and Fundamentals of Google Cloud's Apigee API Platform (with Honors)
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Experience
Feb 2025–Present
Partner Technical Enablement Manager
Acquia
- Bridging the gap between Acquia's product platform and the agencies and integrators who build on it.
- Driving partner enablement, technical communication, and hands-on support across the partner ecosystem.
May 2011–Feb 2025
Head of Technical Sales & Platform Strategy
Chapter Three — San Francisco, CA
- Tasked by owners to operate, scale, and position Chapter Three as a high-performing digital agency serving enterprise, public sector, and mission-driven clients.
- Revenue & Growth: Driving $30M+ in revenue across net-new project work, recurring support, and enterprise consulting. Led all technical sales, pricing strategy, and client acquisition.
- Agency Operations: Managing day-to-day functions including HR, staffing, marketing, legal, vendor contracts, and financial oversight.
- Market Differentiation: Spearheaded the design and GTM strategy for Next-Drupal, a headless CMS framework leveraging Drupal and Vercel.
- Strategic Partnerships: Negotiating and closing enterprise licensing agreements and integrating modern CI/CD pipelines into client delivery.
- Enterprise Projects: Acting as strategic lead and solutions architect for the National Association of Realtors, Google Apigee, Apple, NVIDIA, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and others.
- Compliance & Security: Leading agency responses to procurement, security, and accessibility audits.
- AI & Workflow Innovation: Driving internal innovation by introducing AI-assisted tooling, GitHub Actions automation, and component library standardization.
Apr 2010–May 2011
Vice President of Sales & Partnerships
Commerce Guys
- Managed West Coast operations and sales, driving revenue growth.
- Deployed nationwide partnership and training programs for e-commerce solutions using Drupal.
- Generated leads through cold calling, networking, and referrals to expand the client base.
- Negotiated contracts with customers to establish mutually beneficial agreements.
Jan 2008–Apr 2010
Founding U.S. Team / Technical Sales & Delivery
af83inc — San Francisco
- Opened and scaled the San Francisco office of a Paris-based digital agency.
- Acted as pre-sales technical lead and trusted advisor for prospective clients.
- Collaborated with engineering teams in Paris and San Francisco on enterprise solution demos.
- Oversaw successful project delivery from proposal to deployment.
Jan 2002–Jan 2010
Founder / Technical Sales & Delivery Lead
Ridgeworks, Inc.
- Founded a Drupal consulting firm focused on the legal services industry.
- Led end-to-end sales engineering from demos and proposals through implementation and support.
- Developed secure, compliance-aware content management platforms for law firms.
- Built and managed a delivery team while staying hands-on with Drupal architecture.
Jan 2000–Feb 2003
Technical Director / Solutions Architect
Winstar Communications
- Designed innovative e-business solutions as Technical Architect for Winstar clients.
- Assessed needs and proposed strategies to Fortune 500 clients.
- Directed technical teams in implementing solutions aligned with the service portfolio.
Jun 1991–Feb 2000
Founder / Director of Technical Solutions
ISP Networks Inc
- Founded one of San Francisco's first business-focused ISPs, delivering T1, Frame Relay, DSL, ISDN, colocation, and web services to enterprise clients.
- Acted as chief solution architect and technical sales lead.
- Built a 24/7 support and network operations team while managing vendor relationships.
- Scaled the business to acquisition, negotiating the sale in 2000.
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Education
BA Sociology
Clark University, Worcester, MA
AI Business Strategies
UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA