About me
A lifelong student of consumer feedback, brand promise, and technology, Pete is uniquely positioned to help companies navigate this change now underway. Most recently, Pete served as CEO of Cintrifuse, a Cincinnati-based startup catalyst and venture fund supported by major corporations such as P&G, Kroger, Scripps, and Western & Southern. In this capacity, Pete and his team served hundreds of startups.
Pete leads with two core beliefs: “Trust your inner consumer” and “Understand how startups work — how they think, design, exploit data, and iterate — and then apply that understanding to everything you do.” These beliefs have been cornerstones of his career.
Before Cintrifuse, Pete served for eight years as Global Head of Digital for Nestlé, S.A. in Switzerland, partnering with hundreds of brands including Nescafé, KitKat, Purina, Nespresso, San Pellegrino. He created the industry-recognized Digital Acceleration Team (DAT), Silicon Valley Innovation Outpost (SVIO), and Open Innovation Platform.
Earlier, Pete held the title of CMO at NM Incite, a collaborative venture between Nielsen and McKinsey. His career trajectory began at Procter & Gamble, where he co-founded the first "Interactive Marketing" team and shortly thereafter, was recognized as "Interactive Marketer of the Year" by Ad Age. Following his tenure at P&G, Pete launched PlanetFeedback.com, a pioneering consumer feedback portal, which eventually became a part of Nielsen after several mergers.
Pete is the author of Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000, published by Random House, and is a frequent contributor to Ad Age. His contributions to the field have been acknowledged with numerous awards, including induction into the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Hall of Fame, MediaPost's “Online All Star,” and the Advertising Research Foundation's “Great Minds” Award. He has also served as a juror for the Cannes Innovation Lions twice.
Driven by his commitment to fostering trust, Pete has served as National Chairman of the National Council of Better Business Bureaus and as a member of the National Advertising Review Board. At Nestlé, he championed the creation of the industry’s inaugural "Consumer Engagement Principles," aligning top brands and retailers around shared values.
Pete holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with his family.
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