Advisory and Board

For CEOs and Boards who want the diagnosis and the challenge without the seat: which investments to make and which to stop, how the organization should be built to deliver, and what to do about AI before the company decides by default.

Who it is for

• CEOs who want an operator's second opinion on the plan and the spend
• Boards adding digital, commerce or AI depth to their governance
• Founders of growth-stage companies facing the next operating model

What it covers

Investment and portfolio decisions: where to put capital, what to stop, and how to tell the difference before the money is spent rather than after. Operating-model design, meaning how durable teams, controllable metrics and real ownership replace the projects and steering committees that have been standing in for them. AI direction, which is what to build, what to buy, what to govern and what to leave alone, decided before the company decides by default. Commercial strategy, the assets the company already owns and how to turn them into revenue the current structure cannot reach.

How it runs

A standing cadence with the CEO, Board meetings where useful, and the phone in between, with the understanding that I treat the company's money as if it were my own and will say no to investments the room is excited about.

Where I have done it

Board of Directors at Munchkin, member of The Wall Street Journal Technology Council and the Google Direct-to-Consumer Advisory Council, and founder and board member at ShopIgniter.

Proof

• Munchkin: Customer LTV baseline uncovered, $48.28, 88% one-time buyers (26-month analysis in the April 2023 board deck: 37 weeks between orders, 4% of customers buying three or more times.)
• Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits: Identified first-year savings, $40MM+ (Projected savings from the portfolio audit and SAFe restructuring (~$21MM, ~$16MM and ~$4MM in three passes); $40MM was the shared CDO and CIO key result. Gross, before the cost of the new internal teams.)