Business Development

Warren Buffett has famously said, "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked. "

So, if your sales are down and you don't have a clear idea of how you are going to turn around your business, you need help.

I help managers and companies with business development problems. People hire me because I bring a wide range of experience to your problems. You don't get a team of inexperienced MBAs. You get experience and knowledge.

Writing Services, Thought Leadership and Demand Creation

When you have a new or poorly understood product, you need to create demand by educating the customer. A general rule of thumb is that if you have spent time developing a product, you have likely lost sight of how the customer perceives the product. You need an outsider to regain the customer perspective. I follow a simple strategy: define the messaging strategy, develop material quickly, validate it with the team, and get it out quickly. Most managers don't focus their message and take too long to write demand creation materials such as white papers, sales briefs, cases and sales support material.

My recent clients have included Cisco, Linksys, AT Kearney, Deloitte Consulting and Cushman & Wakefield. Example topics include high tech retail strategy, fixed mobile convergence, telecom cases, pricing strategy, change management, green building strategies, downsizing lease portfolios and risk management.

Coaching

Managers often work in environments where perspective is hard to come by. An external advisor can often provide a useful sounding board - one is unbiased and without an axe to grind. Recent assignments have included working with one of the most competent manager I have ever met. He needed a sounding board because of the inadequacies of the management team in the firm he took over. And like most CEOs, he needs someone whose opinion he respected to discuss his ideas with.

Business Development and Business Model Innovation

In most high tech markets, technologies are initially general purpose and can be developed around different business models, different value chains, different distribution models and towards different segments. Practically every client I have ever had has been reluctant to constrain their marketing efforts. They forget that existence of many potential users of a product does not mean all will write checks. A good sales launch is about targeting the customers that will write checks quickly. I help companies with sales strategies and have acquired over 300 customers internationally in my own businesses.

Turnaround Management

Over the years, clients have hired me as a turnaround CEO, to turn around failed IT projects, to help redefine approaches to markets. In today's environment, a turnaround strategy can be critical because it is likely that when the recession ends, the next US economy is going to be quite different.

Strategy Facilitation

Over the years, I have designed and run many different planning and strategic management retreats as a facilitator. Unlike many facilitators who focus solely on process, I bring to the table knowledge about business, best practices, information technology, innovation, finance and multiple technologies so I can help the group by identifying hidden and often questionable assumptions.

Market Assessment

Back in the 1980s, I co-developed the first ever strategic expert system with over 3,000 rules about competitive strategy. Facilitation with the system and subsequent consulting work means that I have internalized many models that are useful to forecasting how markets will evolve.

Innovation and Product Management

My involvement with product management goes back a long way. Over the years, I have been involved in developing and commercializing over a dozen products internationally including first of breed products. I have developed tools for assessing new products and stage gate development processes.

Competitive Analysis

Competitive analysis is easy to do at a high level. Companies have also hired me to do in depth analysis of products. A recent client with products for the digital living room hired me to do an in-depth analysis of its product family vs. its competition and then help them with their Web 2.0 marketing.

My Background

My background includes CEO roles with several high tech startups, consulting with boutique and major international firms, experience in venture capital and incubation, financial services, software development, IT consulting, semiconductors, telecom solutions, media, and government. I have an MBA from Harvard, have taught strategy, IT best practices, international strategy and innovation at the executive and MBA level. I have authored three books on strategy and technology and in my spare time I am a contributing editor to Strategy and Leadership Magazine.