A significant new round of funding often leads to a growing core team and an opportunity to expand the strategic vision.
I help leaders identify the most critical questions to answer and facilitate building trust and developing strategic direction.
Strategic decisions can include:
How is our mission and vision evolving?
What culture do we want to establish or strengthen?
Which markets will we prioritize?
What new opportunities can we now pursue?
How can we improve our operations?
How do we scale effectively?
How I help:
I work with the leader and his team to guide the conversations that shape a new strategic path. My approach ensures:
the leader owns the strategy,
the strategy provides clear and actionable direction,
the team buys-in to the plan, and
the strategy becomes embedded in day-to-day operations.
My approach also helps new teammates to know and trust each other.
How faith factors in:
In business, as in all of life, anything not done for the Lord and relying upon the Lord is vanity. Major changes in team or direction often includes times of uncertainty and fear and often involves making hard decisions. Look to God for help and assurance, knowing that He is sovereign and what He desires will happen (although we might be tested and sanctified along the way). Here are a few guiding principles:
Remember, God owns it all, we are just stewards.
All good gifts are from above. We should be grateful for the opportunities God provides through new funding.
God's greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind,
The second commandment is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself.
We should always go to Him in prayer, asking for help, wisdom, and grace.
We must spend time in His Word to know His will, His priorities, and His ways.
We should proceed with humility and flexibility and patience, working hard but seeking God's glory as He works in His way and in His timing.
My relevant experience:
God has blessed me with many opportunities to participate in raising funds and making strategic plans for their use. Through these experiences I have learned much about the strategic decisions that can lead to the greatest success. Here are a few highlights from my career:
As vice president of strategic development for Williams Communications I helped develop the pitch materials for the company's record setting IPO in 1999 and led the strategic planning process leading up to and following that funding event.
While I was Vice President and Chief Strategist for TeleChoice (2000 - 2002), venture capitalists would often require companies they had just funded to participate in strategy labs I led to answer critical strategic questions including in which markets, products, and capabilities to invest the new funds.
As Vice President of Corporate Strategy for Sprint, following the company's recapitalization in 2013, I led the strategic planning process to identify strategic initiatives for best applying the company's increased financial flexibility.
As Entrepreneur in Residence at Oklahoma Christian University, I coached business plan teams that won the statewide business plan competition in 2017 and 2018.
As CEO of VisuALS Technology Solutions, I raised the company's initial funding in 2017 and led the team in developing and implementing the strategic plans for use of those funds.
As an advisor, I have helped clients who have raised funding establish a strategic framework and make critical strategic decisions, as they build their teams, so that the team takes ownership of the direction forward. Read a case study.
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