I Help Build Strong Brands, Business Models, and Boards.
I work with leaders and boards to: test, refine, and evolve visions; sharpen brand promises; enhance execution; identify and triage flawed ideas and ineffective operations; find, evaluate, and structure new opportunities. And - to evolve leadership teams; help with leader and founder transitions; strengthen boards and board culture; advise on and mediate board and shareholder conflicts; help plan refinancings, turnarounds, exits, and restructurings.
I've done so as an active public equity investor, early- and mid-stage private investor, board member, board leader, formal and informal adviser, venture partner, and interim CEO. I understand from personal experience the dynamics and pressures felt by each of the key parties to decision-making.
My perspective and approach reflect: (i) more than 25 years of involvement with creatively-driven, art-and-science businesses; (ii) experience as an active/activist investor; and (iii) my work - in academia and policy, and in practice - on the process of governance and value creation.
From art-and-science businesses: product- and design-driven brands succeed by balancing unique tensions between creative vision and discipline. Every day, every product needs to embody inspired design - but also, to address the tastes and expectatons of the customer; reinforce the underlying brand promise; and meet a quality standard and a price point. The resulting framework - nurturing creativity, whilst also enforcing rigor - can be applied broady, to sharpen visions, clarify value propositions, and better align business models.
Additionally, from art-and-science involvements: I bring a focus on HR. In creative businesses, understanding the nuance of how each person thinks and acts and contributes is critical. Success depends on intangibles - imagination, conviction, emotional wiring. Passionate creatives need to be coalesced into a culture. A single team member with a different viewpoint can quickly impair that culture. It's critical to understand people; support and reward teamwork and shared values; identify weaknesses; and confront needed change head-on.
From activist investing: my working assumption is that there are almost always unrealized value opportunities - and, risks. From the inside, leaders can't continually see every opportunity and weakness. Teams by their nature need to develop shared convictions and culture, but that also creates biases and blind spots. So, I support core visions, but help test assumptions, explore alternatives, refine ideas, recognize changes in the world, and stress-test and evolve plans.
On governance: from many involvements helping leaders navigate through conflicts and controversy, and from a decade of research, I know the process - mythologized to be rigorous and measured - is in fact behaviorally complex, often surprisingly superficial, and unpredictable, particularly in the face of pressure and the need for significant questioning and change. I leverage decades of experience to help leaders navigate - and, to help build a better, more engaged process.
After many fascinating involvements, I've accumulated a library of bumps and bruises (wisdom?) and a continued (deepened) passion to see conviction-driven leaders succeed.