Pieces Blog

This month we are excited to introduce you to Peter Swanson, VP of Business Development at Pieces. We're proud to have his innovative spirit and expertise on our team at Pieces. Keep reading to learn more about Peter!

Describe your role at Pieces

My role at Pieces is to coordinate business development across the organization and help ensure our team has the resources and support to be successful in their role.

How long have you been with Pieces and what were you doing prior joining? 

I joined Pieces in December 2020 through the acquisition of 501ops/Bowtie. I was the founder and CEO of 501ops/Bowtie. At Bowtie I had the pleasure to work with a variety of nonprofit organizations (and some for profit) on connecting disparate data sources for the goal of producing dynamic and real-time business intelligence and analytics. Bowtie has since been rebranded as Data Bridge under the Pieces brand.

In 2013 I saw that data from the source was a big problem for utilizing technology like Salesforce, QuickBooks, and other systems, and many nonprofits couldn't afford consultants. I started 501ops/Bowtie with a manila folder showing up to a few nonprofit on Wednesdays to collect their paper files and review data in excel files. By Friday, every organization would have clean, accurate data in the systems they were using, and the reports were accurate. The next week I would exchange manila folders and repeat the process each week. Over the past 8 years we built technology to automate the manual processes, and the Data Bridge (formerly known as Bowtie) platform was created.   

 What’s your favorite part of your job?

Solving challenges in our community and improving the lives of those we work with. Specifically, working on complex data structures for the goal of using data to drive decisions.

What inspires you? 

The pursuit of knowledge and applying it to create value. I enjoy building things, and not just around technology. The process of identifying a problem, thinking about a solution, building the solution, and validating the solution.  

What’s an accomplishment you are most proud of?

Always finding a path forward. As a founder of an early-stage company there are many challenges to overcome. There are many projects that I am proud of, but always finding a way to overcome the barriers to achieve the outcome is what I am most proud of.

What’s the best career lesson you’ve learned so far?

Two points come to mind:

 1)  Don’t be afraid to ask. It may be for help, or to be part of an opportunity. Someone might say “no” to your request, but you can often be surprised by the result.

2) Know when to stop talking. Listening is a greater skill than speaking.

 What do you do in your free time? 

I enjoy the outdoors and spending time with my family.

What’s something most people don’t know about you? 

I am a pilot and have been flying since the age of 15.