Luke Russell

Luke Russell

Super Genius

Since the inception of Resolv in September 2001, founder and owner Luke Russell has been an advocate for making day-to-day system usability as intuitive as possible for Resolv’s customers. He works with customers to understand what they need out of a solution and is responsible for project design and project management to achieve those objectives. Once the project is complete, Luke reviews the project from a user’s perspective ensuring workflow is streamlined and all of the customer’s objectives are met. 

In addition to helping customers, Luke spends time thinking about the business and working with his co-owner, Angela Talano, on strategic planning. “Angela and I balance each other really well,” said Luke. “She is able to run the day-to-day parts of the business and look a few months out. I think more about long-term strategy such as exploring new products, technologies and niche markets as well as considering major operational changes.”  

One such operational change was the move away from hourly billings. To accommodate this, Luke built a section in Resolv’s own CRM system to manage projects without having to track time. “We spent too much time tracking time, which was ineffective and didn’t help us with anything.” said Luke. “Our customers are billed either fixed fee or based on value. They like knowing exactly what they are paying up front. We also have changed our service plans so they don’t rely on hours. Customers have the flexibility of selecting a service plan that meets both their needs and their budget.” Additionally, Resolv’s employees love no longer tracking every minute of their day. 

“We have made a commitment to work on our business, to be effective in all that we do both internally and externally with our customers,” said Luke. “It is rewarding when we work together with our customers to solve a nagging problem. I like seeing how excited people get when something we create makes their whole job easier.” 

Luke attributes his past work experiences for giving him good business insight. Before founding Resolv he worked as a CRM developer, ran an ad agency and was a product marketing specialist at Marshall & Ilsley. He also managed a newspaper in Nicaragua. He has a host of SalesLogix, SugarCRM and Microsoft application certifications. 

Luke is a member the Information Technology Alliance (ITA) and Sage Leadership Academy Association (SLAA). These organizations are dedicated to continued education for professional knowledge firms. He also enjoys travel and riding his motorcycle, which he rides between 5,000-8,000 miles during the summer. He is a cigar aficionado and is engaged.