Kneko Burney is a serial entrepreneur. She is one of the leading B2B experts for the telecom and high-tech industries, as well as an emerging figure in the intersection of digital technology and everyday life. As co-founder of Compass Intelligence (2005), founder of Eyesoda.com (2007), and founder of Compass Digital (2011), Ms. Burney leverages her skills to create and grow innovative, new businesses.
Compass Intelligence, a woman-owned strategy consulting firm, has grown quickly due to Ms. Burney’s ability to identify and quantify emerging market opportunities for her clients, and subsequently help them develop innovative go-to-market strategies. Compass Digital builds upon Ms. Burney’s deep industry connections, position as a thought leader in the area of customer engagement, and her experience in building web-based experiences, particularly Eyesoda.com, which launched in May of 2008. Eyesoda.com is the first site for independent film to offer for-pay, secure, high-definition online streaming. In addition to starting innovative businesses, Ms. Burney uses her skills to make the world better. Her latest special project is Change3 (2011), which focuses on innovative, small-scale business models that help create sustainable jobs for the under-employed in America.
A trained economist, Ms. Burney dissects market opportunities into relevant segments, such as constituency group, size of business, vertical industry or customer touch-point, which she has done for nearly two decades. This skill translates into a deep understanding of many markets and the individuals that comprise them. Feeding into this, Ms. Burney and her team of experts leverage on-going research (economic, secondary and primary) and analysis of key trends in both the business and consumer segments, in tandem with perspectives from leaders across the business and political spectrums to guide her own and her clients’ strategic decisions.
In addition to being a well-known expert on the telecom and high-tech industries, Ms. Burney's insights have been used by several government agencies for policy development and industry review. These agencies include the Department of Commerce, the Federal Communications Commission and the Small Business Administration. Ms. Burney has also been involved in key charities, such as Stop the Traffik in the UK and on the board of advisors for several high-tech ventures. She has been involved in well-known industry events in the U.S. including being keynote speaker. Ms. Burney was featured in Fortune Small Business Magazine, and is regularly quoted in key publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Baron's Investors Daily, USAToday, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, Wired, and Information Week.
Ms. Burney holds a dual B.A. in Economics and Mathematics, as well as an M.A. in Mathematical Economics from Boston University (1996). She also completed the prestigious American Economics Association Minority internship program for Quantitative Economics at Stanford University (1994). Personally, Ms. Business is a prolific world traveler, spending almost half of her time abroad. She resided for many years in Europe and speaks fluent Dutch, as well as some German and French. However, despite all of her world travels, Ms. Burney considers the desert in Scottsdale, Arizona to be her “home.”