Rob Sweeney
In a career spanning over 30 years, Rob Sweeney has started several businesses and has held technology sales and senior management positions with companies like First Data, CyberCash, Hewlett-Packard, Sybase and Palm Computing. He has a proven track record of successfully starting and running businesses, while also selling software and technology-based applications from the conceptual development stage to deployment in industries that include online banking, wireless communications and e-Commerce.
Following sales and senior management positions with companies like American Express and ENVOY Corporation (precursor to WebMD), Rob entered the online world of Internet commerce and generated license revenue exceeding $20 million per year for leading companies like Financial Fusion, a subsidiary of Sybase, and VeriFone, a subsidiary at the time of Hewlett-Packard. His efforts have included the successful deployment of online banking solutions for financial institutions ranging in size from small community banks and credit unions to the largest banks in the United States, including Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, US Bank, Banco Popular, World Savings and National City Bank.
At Palm, Rob oversaw development of wireless enterprise solutions for the financial industry and worked with Sprint on the deployment of the Palm OS on the first Kyocera and Samsung smart phones to support retail banking and capital markets mobile applications. After leaving Palm, Rob conceived the idea of TextCaster, a wireless text-messaging platform that communicates with subscribers of any wireless carrier worldwide.
In 2003, Rob started TextCaster as a research and development project to meet emerging opportunities as text messaging grew in popularity. In 2007, Rob was issued U.S. Patent 7,197,324 entitled “permission-based text messaging” that supports the process TextCaster uses to authenticate wireless subscribers who opt-in via the Internet to receive content on their wireless devices. Today, the patented, multi-modal TextCaster communication platform operates as a “Software as a Service” serving over 1,000 clients across the United States in Media, Education, Government as well as businesses of all sizes.
In 2008, TextCaster received the Governor’s Award from the Missouri Department of Economic Development as Missouri’s 2008 Small Business of the Year. In 2009, the company was named to the Kansas City Small Business Magazine’s “25-Under-25” class as one of Kansas City’s top small business employers with less than 25 employees. Between 2007 and 2014, Rob chaired the Innovation Center Board at the University of Central Missouri, and currently represents western Missouri on the Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers Advisory Board at the University of Missouri.
Most recently, Rob began work inventing the MessageQube, a cellular wireless printer that is part of the emerging “Internet of Things” industry. The MessageQube prints text messages and other value-added content to improve safety communications in a variety of workplace and public settings.
Residing in Parkville, Missouri, Rob and his wife Candra Sweeney have five children ranging in age from 25 to 34 years old. Rob and Candra are actively involved in several not-for-profit organizations, including The Global Orphan Project that cares for orphaned children in Haiti and Africa, and The Harvest Ball that benefits hundreds of charities in the Kansas City Northland. And as often as they can pull away from their business activities, Rob & Candra enjoy spending time with their two grandchildren, ages 4 and 2.
Following sales and senior management positions with companies like American Express and ENVOY Corporation (precursor to WebMD), Rob entered the online world of Internet commerce and generated license revenue exceeding $20 million per year for leading companies like Financial Fusion, a subsidiary of Sybase, and VeriFone, a subsidiary at the time of Hewlett-Packard. His efforts have included the successful deployment of online banking solutions for financial institutions ranging in size from small community banks and credit unions to the largest banks in the United States, including Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, US Bank, Banco Popular, World Savings and National City Bank.
At Palm, Rob oversaw development of wireless enterprise solutions for the financial industry and worked with Sprint on the deployment of the Palm OS on the first Kyocera and Samsung smart phones to support retail banking and capital markets mobile applications. After leaving Palm, Rob conceived the idea of TextCaster, a wireless text-messaging platform that communicates with subscribers of any wireless carrier worldwide.
In 2003, Rob started TextCaster as a research and development project to meet emerging opportunities as text messaging grew in popularity. In 2007, Rob was issued U.S. Patent 7,197,324 entitled “permission-based text messaging” that supports the process TextCaster uses to authenticate wireless subscribers who opt-in via the Internet to receive content on their wireless devices. Today, the patented, multi-modal TextCaster communication platform operates as a “Software as a Service” serving over 1,000 clients across the United States in Media, Education, Government as well as businesses of all sizes.
In 2008, TextCaster received the Governor’s Award from the Missouri Department of Economic Development as Missouri’s 2008 Small Business of the Year. In 2009, the company was named to the Kansas City Small Business Magazine’s “25-Under-25” class as one of Kansas City’s top small business employers with less than 25 employees. Between 2007 and 2014, Rob chaired the Innovation Center Board at the University of Central Missouri, and currently represents western Missouri on the Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers Advisory Board at the University of Missouri.
Most recently, Rob began work inventing the MessageQube, a cellular wireless printer that is part of the emerging “Internet of Things” industry. The MessageQube prints text messages and other value-added content to improve safety communications in a variety of workplace and public settings.
Residing in Parkville, Missouri, Rob and his wife Candra Sweeney have five children ranging in age from 25 to 34 years old. Rob and Candra are actively involved in several not-for-profit organizations, including The Global Orphan Project that cares for orphaned children in Haiti and Africa, and The Harvest Ball that benefits hundreds of charities in the Kansas City Northland. And as often as they can pull away from their business activities, Rob & Candra enjoy spending time with their two grandchildren, ages 4 and 2.
