
Howard Bates
President & Ceo at Work Here, Executive Chairman at SmarterHQ
Howard is currently serving as a board of director and advisor for several companies and supports several charitable organizations. He is also a board member of TechPoint, Indiana’s organization responsible for developing the tech community. He is actively engaged in raising capital for early-stage growth and new venture startups, as well as mentoring young entrepreneurs.
He has been recognized for outstanding business leadership on several occasions; included are Indiana Growth 100, Senator Richard Lugar Leadership Award, and an Indiana Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.
Two companies Howard was a co-founder of were awarded the prestigious Start-Up of the Year Award, by Indianan’s TechPoint Organization.
- Computer Software
- Millionaire Maker
- Entrepreneur
- Sales Development
- Revenue Growth
- 📍Indianapolis, IN
read more
Let's talk about
- Chatbots vs. Humans in the recruiting process
Impact of the recruiting process on a company’s brand and image - Optimization of recruitment advertising
Importance of speed in the recruitment process - Forms vs. conversations in the hiring process
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Howard brings more than 30 years of diverse entrepreneurial experience in high technology services and software businesses to his role with WorkHere, where he spends the majority of his time helping to grow WorkHere’s PivotCX SMS Based Candidate Recruitment Platform.
From 1980 to 1994, Howard held sales management, product marketing management, and consulting services management leadership positions in both the commercial and Federal industry segments at Digital Equipment Corporation (“Digital”). His career includes fifteen years of working directly with various commercial and governmental clients while at Digital.
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Howard earned a BA from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and later an MBA in Finance and Management Information Systems, from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Howard has completed courses with the Investment Banking Institute for advanced company valuation and leveraged buyout modeling.
Haverstick merged with Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, a publicly-traded company, in December of 2007. Howard went forward with the company remaining president of Haverstick. He soon became president of the combined publicly traded entity with full responsibility for all business operations of Kratos. Howard was responsible for organizing and managing this $300- million-dollar organization, with approximately 4,000 employees. During this period, Howard was also directly responsible for an additional $75-million-dollar acquisition and the subsequent successful integration of these businesses into the parent organization. Today Kratos is a company with a market capitalization of over $2-billion dollars.
In 2010, Howard made an angel investment and co-founded Indianapolis-based SmarterHQ, a leading marketing and predictive analytics platform serving the e-commerce industry. Howard led the growth of this business and raised over $6M from Indianapolis-based angel investors and an additional $25M from Boston-based Battery Ventures and New York-based Simon Ventures. Howard has been the company’s chairman, president, and CEO. Today he remains the executive chairman of the rapidly expanding SaaS-based marketing platform, for which he has raised over $35M of growth capital.
Howard is currently serving as a board of director and advisor for several companies and supports several charitable organizations. He is also a board member of TechPoint, Indiana’s organization responsible for developing the tech community. He is actively engaged in raising capital for early-stage growth and new venture startups, as well as mentoring young entrepreneurs. Throughout 2010, Howard assisted the Indiana Economic Development Corporation with several entrepreneurial endeavors. He helped found a nonprofit organization, Elevate Ventures, to provide professional investment services for the State of Indiana’s 21st Venture Fund and served for two years as the chairman of the organization. Howard has raised over $100M of venture and growth funds for Indiana-based companies.
Howard has been recognized for outstanding business leadership on several occasions; included are Indiana Growth 100, Senator Richard Lugar Leadership Award, and an Indiana Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Two companies Howard was a co-founder of were awarded the prestigious Start-Up of the Year Award, by Indianan’s TechPoint Organization. He has been married for forty years, has three children and five grandchildren.

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Howard Bates
President & Ceo at Work Here, Executive Chairman at SmarterHQ
- Computer Software
- Millionaire Maker
- Entrepreneur
- Sales Development
- Revenue Growth
- 📍Indianapolis, IN
Howard is currently serving as a board of director and advisor for several companies and supports several charitable organizations. He is also a board member of TechPoint, Indiana’s organization responsible for developing the tech community. He is actively engaged in raising capital for early-stage growth and new venture startups, as well as mentoring young entrepreneurs.
He has been recognized for outstanding business leadership on several occasions; included are Indiana Growth 100, Senator Richard Lugar Leadership Award, and an Indiana Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.
Two companies Howard was a co-founder of were awarded the prestigious Start-Up of the Year Award, by Indianan’s TechPoint Organization.
read more
Let's talk about
- Chatbots vs. Humans in the recruiting process
Impact of the recruiting process on a company’s brand and image - Optimization of recruitment advertising
Importance of speed in the recruitment process - Forms vs. conversations in the hiring process
__
Howard brings more than 30 years of diverse entrepreneurial experience in high technology services and software businesses to his role with WorkHere, where he spends the majority of his time helping to grow WorkHere’s PivotCX SMS Based Candidate Recruitment Platform.
From 1980 to 1994, Howard held sales management, product marketing management, and consulting services management leadership positions in both the commercial and Federal industry segments at Digital Equipment Corporation (“Digital”). His career includes fifteen years of working directly with various commercial and governmental clients while at Digital.
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Howard earned a BA from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and later an MBA in Finance and Management Information Systems, from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Howard has completed courses with the Investment Banking Institute for advanced company valuation and leveraged buyout modeling.
Haverstick merged with Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, a publicly-traded company, in December of 2007. Howard went forward with the company remaining president of Haverstick. He soon became president of the combined publicly traded entity with full responsibility for all business operations of Kratos. Howard was responsible for organizing and managing this $300- million-dollar organization, with approximately 4,000 employees. During this period, Howard was also directly responsible for an additional $75-million-dollar acquisition and the subsequent successful integration of these businesses into the parent organization. Today Kratos is a company with a market capitalization of over $2-billion dollars.
In 2010, Howard made an angel investment and co-founded Indianapolis-based SmarterHQ, a leading marketing and predictive analytics platform serving the e-commerce industry. Howard led the growth of this business and raised over $6M from Indianapolis-based angel investors and an additional $25M from Boston-based Battery Ventures and New York-based Simon Ventures. Howard has been the company’s chairman, president, and CEO. Today he remains the executive chairman of the rapidly expanding SaaS-based marketing platform, for which he has raised over $35M of growth capital.
Howard is currently serving as a board of director and advisor for several companies and supports several charitable organizations. He is also a board member of TechPoint, Indiana’s organization responsible for developing the tech community. He is actively engaged in raising capital for early-stage growth and new venture startups, as well as mentoring young entrepreneurs. Throughout 2010, Howard assisted the Indiana Economic Development Corporation with several entrepreneurial endeavors. He helped found a nonprofit organization, Elevate Ventures, to provide professional investment services for the State of Indiana’s 21st Venture Fund and served for two years as the chairman of the organization. Howard has raised over $100M of venture and growth funds for Indiana-based companies.
Howard has been recognized for outstanding business leadership on several occasions; included are Indiana Growth 100, Senator Richard Lugar Leadership Award, and an Indiana Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Two companies Howard was a co-founder of were awarded the prestigious Start-Up of the Year Award, by Indianan’s TechPoint Organization. He has been married for forty years, has three children and five grandchildren.
BOOK NOW FOR your podcast
Howard Bates
President & Ceo at Work Here, Executive Chairman at SmarterHQ
- 📍Indianapolis, IN
- Computer Software
- Millionaire Maker
- Sales Development
- Revenue Growth
Howard is currently serving as a board of director and advisor for several companies and supports several charitable organizations. He is also a board member of TechPoint, Indiana’s organization responsible for developing the tech community. He is actively engaged in raising capital for early-stage growth and new venture startups, as well as mentoring young entrepreneurs.
He has been recognized for outstanding business leadership on several occasions; included are Indiana Growth 100, Senator Richard Lugar Leadership Award, and an Indiana Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.
Two companies Howard was a co-founder of were awarded the prestigious Start-Up of the Year Award, by Indianan’s TechPoint Organization.
read more
Let's talk about
- Chatbots vs. Humans in the recruiting process
Impact of the recruiting process on a company’s brand and image - Optimization of recruitment advertising
Importance of speed in the recruitment process - Forms vs. conversations in the hiring process
__
Howard brings more than 30 years of diverse entrepreneurial experience in high technology services and software businesses to his role with WorkHere, where he spends the majority of his time helping to grow WorkHere’s PivotCX SMS Based Candidate Recruitment Platform.
From 1980 to 1994, Howard held sales management, product marketing management, and consulting services management leadership positions in both the commercial and Federal industry segments at Digital Equipment Corporation (“Digital”). His career includes fifteen years of working directly with various commercial and governmental clients while at Digital.
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Howard earned a BA from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and later an MBA in Finance and Management Information Systems, from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Howard has completed courses with the Investment Banking Institute for advanced company valuation and leveraged buyout modeling.
Haverstick merged with Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, a publicly-traded company, in December of 2007. Howard went forward with the company remaining president of Haverstick. He soon became president of the combined publicly traded entity with full responsibility for all business operations of Kratos. Howard was responsible for organizing and managing this $300- million-dollar organization, with approximately 4,000 employees. During this period, Howard was also directly responsible for an additional $75-million-dollar acquisition and the subsequent successful integration of these businesses into the parent organization. Today Kratos is a company with a market capitalization of over $2-billion dollars.
In 2010, Howard made an angel investment and co-founded Indianapolis-based SmarterHQ, a leading marketing and predictive analytics platform serving the e-commerce industry. Howard led the growth of this business and raised over $6M from Indianapolis-based angel investors and an additional $25M from Boston-based Battery Ventures and New York-based Simon Ventures. Howard has been the company’s chairman, president, and CEO. Today he remains the executive chairman of the rapidly expanding SaaS-based marketing platform, for which he has raised over $35M of growth capital.
Howard is currently serving as a board of director and advisor for several companies and supports several charitable organizations. He is also a board member of TechPoint, Indiana’s organization responsible for developing the tech community. He is actively engaged in raising capital for early-stage growth and new venture startups, as well as mentoring young entrepreneurs. Throughout 2010, Howard assisted the Indiana Economic Development Corporation with several entrepreneurial endeavors. He helped found a nonprofit organization, Elevate Ventures, to provide professional investment services for the State of Indiana’s 21st Venture Fund and served for two years as the chairman of the organization. Howard has raised over $100M of venture and growth funds for Indiana-based companies.
Howard has been recognized for outstanding business leadership on several occasions; included are Indiana Growth 100, Senator Richard Lugar Leadership Award, and an Indiana Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Two companies Howard was a co-founder of were awarded the prestigious Start-Up of the Year Award, by Indianan’s TechPoint Organization. He has been married for forty years, has three children and five grandchildren.
As seen on
Timeline
Jun 2015 – Present
WorkHere – President & CEO
Over the past 10 years human-to-human interaction has been driven out of the recruiting process. We’re putting people back in the people business with technology and services that enable rapid, effective human-to-human conversations.
Jan 2010 - Dec 2015
Solential Energy Solutions – Chairman
Solential Energy Solutions, LLC (Solential) is a smart energy company with the primary focus of providing proven financially justified energy solutions.
The added value of combining these two technologies, results in the economic benefit of effectively distributing green power throughout the 24 hour day.
2007 - 2010
Kratos Defense and Security Solutions – President
Kratos develops and fields transformative, affordable systems, platforms and products for national security and communications needs.
Ask me
How is SMS becoming more important than email and phone calls? |
Are humans or bots better at recruiting? |
How important is speed in the recruitment process? |
How do I improve my recruitment advertising effectiveness by 50% or more? |
How can I improve employee morale and candidate engagement with SMS initiatives? |