Sheldon Davis

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT SHELDON DAVIS

Business + R&D leader in glass, coatings, specialty chemicals & advanced materials. Lab → P&L with 9-figure impact. Developing business models, building teams, leading new product development, scaling and improving processes, and enabling data science in operations to deliver results faster. Recent impact — Crown Electrokinetics (President): Led a turnaround by resetting strategy and team structure, accelerating development to a commercial-ready product, and revalidating market potential across commercial, residential, and industrial building segments. Recruited key talent and tightened execution rhythms to move faster with more confidence.Selected results• Profit & Efficiency: Part of the C-suite team that moved net income from ~0 to ~$400M over eight years; introduced four process improvements saving ~$80M/yr.• Product Development: Managed portfolios that delivered 10–20 new products/year, shifting mix to higher-margin offerings (+$50–$150M after-tax).• Scale & Capability: Led 80–120 cross-functional experts; managed ~$30M R&D budget; added EU capability and a magnetron sputter coating pilot line to speed time-to-market.• Ventures & M&A: Incubated VIG LLC and a regional Insulating Glass business; improved an acquired unit’s EBITDA by ~10%; progressed outside-core opportunities by developing business models and products.• Analytics in Manufacturing: Stood up a data-science/advanced analytics function delivering $20M+ in annual cost reductions since 2021.• Industry Leadership & Expertise: Helped catalyze Glass Futures to decarbonize glass; lecturer in Integrated Product Development at Michigan Ross.How I work• Strategy to Execution: Make portfolio choices, run Stage-Gate execution, and allocate resources to reflect market pull and execution risk.• Talent and Team = success: Hire for character and strengths; coach to strengths; give responsibility and hold accountable; provide timely feedback; raise the team’s average each quarter; promote on outcomes.• Maximize Upside, Minimize Downside: Experiment and pilot early to de-risk by testing project killers and assumptions.• Listen to Understand, then act: Earn trust and understand what matters to internal and external customers by listening first.• Drive the Results Loop: Use data and observations to build situational awareness, frame sharply, decide well, execute with pace, measure results against KPIs, and iterate at business speed.• Executive Communication: Deliver clear, cogent verbal and written communication with a style fit for the moment.