ADVISOR

Let’s face it. Starting a company, making decisions on positioning, funding, marketing, generating revenues, personnel, and more, is extraordinarily challenging. This is true regardless of industry, size and geography.

Furthermore, the journey can be terribly lonely. The entrepreneur, the innovator, the local business owner and operator, the founder/CEO, is often making important strategic business decisions alone, outside of their core competencies and without the benefit of experienced trusted resources and counsel.

Most importantly are the essential relationships that can be the difference between success or failure in the business endeavor. This can be identifying the right strategic partners that can open new sources of revenues, implementing the correct balance of client acquisition strategies, access to the right funding sources or building an advisory board that provides the support throughout the journey.

I am often asked, “What do I do”?

Where possible, I help address each of these and other challenges. To provide guidance through the start-up and growth of the business, to be a trusted resource and second set of eyes on challenges or potential issues, and to be a catalyst to the relationships with industry partners, investors and influencers that can be the difference between winning and losing.

I share more under my Social Entrepreneur section below, but after twenty plus years as a technology, media and data founder, executive, investor and board member, I wanted the next several decades to mean something more.

Since 2014, I’ve dedicated my advisory practice, agency and assets towards supporting social enterprises, alternative funding sources and members of the Professional Athlete and Artists communities, in their pursuit of ideas, inspiration and innovation that will impact the world in a sustainable and positive way.

If you wish to talk please feel free to connect with me. And of course, bring a good story or two. I enjoy those!

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

-- Benjamin Franklin

AUTHOR

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing” is a Benjamin Franklin quote my father used to tell me frequently.

I would like to think I’ve done things worth writing since the first time my name and photo appeared following a sixth grade football game in a local Edina, Minnesota newspaper. A variety of high school athletics, followed by a collegiate football career at Kansas State University as a wide receiver, would produce numerous statistics, game recaps, highlights, featured articles and best players to watch across collegiate football magazines.

In the second chapter of my life through my entrepreneurial journey, both the failures and successes, would bring more press, interviews, additional features and written articles. In either case, someone felt it was worth writing.

Now I ask myself, can I write something worth reading?

I’ve decided to write a book about my journey and the lessons learned navigating my way through childhood and collegiate athletics, pursuing a career in sales and the decision to be an entrepreneur, all while being born with such a severe hearing loss my parents were faced with the choice to send me to the school for the deaf or endure real challenges in the education system.

The tentative title is Learning How to Listen from a Man Who Could Not Hear and will hopefully be able to share and inspire that sometimes our most severe disability can become our greatest asset.

I’m working hard to complete this book and if you would like to be notified as to the progress feel free to connect with me.

As Seen In

ADVOCATE

I have had the opportunity to speak in front of audiences of all sizes for nearly 35 years, and since before I could vote.

An auditorium of high school kids about the choices they make and how they treat one another. A stadium full of fans and school boosters on the value of their ongoing support and commitment.

Keynote speaking at global sales conferences, moderating panels as the featured presentation at association summits or briefings to rooms full of angel investors. I’ve done hundreds of these speaking engagements and I have enjoyed and learned something from each and every one of them.

For a shy kid with a speech impediment due to his severe hearing loss, years of speech therapy and a funny accent from years of traveling the global as a child, I was grateful to learn that people are much more interested in the content of the message, along with the authenticity and passion of the messenger, than how I might say them.

You can see more details and select images of the recent events and conferences that I’ve had the privilege to participate or connect with me for more details as to my upcoming speaking events or topics to share for yours.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

The wonderful thing about being an Advisor and Consultant is that I get to choose who I spend time supporting, coaching and guiding. I am inspired by people and businesses that direct their time, money and passion to solving social challenges through social enterprises. This is where I elect to spend my time.

I believe three things are essential to making a difference in a sustainable and significant way:

Innovation Capital are the ideas, inspirations and innovations that people create to solve one or multiple issues related to challenges facing our communities, people and the planet we live on.

Funding Capital that desire to make positive change in areas that are meaningful and aligned with their values, while making a positive investment return. I also call this “patient capital” that is often allocated by private interest, families, foundations, endowments and impact venture funds.

Influence Capital that can be active and former professional athletes, artists and celebrity brands that are authentically aligned with a cause and wish to accelerate impact and leave a legacy.

Bring these three together, and you can give the social enterprise the chance to deliver the impact that may very well change the world.

I’ve enjoyed the good fortune to bring these three together for projects dedicated to delivering solutions in Affordable Housing and Community Revitalization, health, wellness and medical technology, Opioids, Autism, Human Trafficking, Women Empowerment, STEM, childhood education and adult career development, fin-tech and AI/blockchain, Carribean Island Venture Fund, Africa partnerships, and more

If you believe I can be of help or would like to be an active part of solving these and other social issues with amazing Innovation, Funding and Influence Capital sources, feel free to connect with me.

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.

-- Stephen Covey

LISTENER

I am really good at listening. Probably better than most, as I’ve had little choice due to the severity of my hearing loss since birth.

Refusing to wear hearing aids and navigating early childhood, playing Division 1 College Football as a wide receiver, joining Hewlett-Packard as my first job and a career spent building rapport, deepening relationships, and building businesses with limited hearing, requires the development of some strong listening skills.

As mentioned in the section under Author, a book on this journey, the lessons learned and how they can be applied in Leadership, Sales, Negotiations, Relationships, Management and more is in progress.

Perhaps this is my greatest strength as an Advisor as I spend more time asking questions and listening. I would rather be impressed than attempt to be impressive.

Along the way, I’ve also enjoyed coaching and developing business owners, executives and professionals in learning and appreciate the remarkable power of true listening skills in life, love and business.