Board and Advisory Roles
I’ve spent three decades building, growing and selling businesses, from carrying an enterprise sales quota to founding and running eight companies of my own. Boards and leadership teams bring me in when the company’s next stage of growth depends on getting strategy, sales, marketing and operating rhythm working as one system.
What I bring to a board
- Growth and revenue strategy. As founder and CEO of StringCan Interactive since 2010, I help owner-led companies find where revenue is leaking, fix growth bottlenecks and build consistent pipeline. StringCan has done this work with more than 400 growth-minded companies.
- The owner's perspective. I've bought, built and sold businesses, including a franchise I took to break-even in seven months and a social commerce app whose majority stake we sold to an investor. I know what owners carry, because I've carried it.
- Sales and go-to-market leadership. Before founding companies I was a regional sales manager through the CompuServe, UUNet, WorldCom and MCI years, named Top Sales Executive in 2001 and 2002, and later led accounts for brands like Under Armour, Pulte Homes and The Irvine Company.
- Operating discipline. I've worked with EOS, Pinnacle, Scaling Up and Metronomics, and I help leadership teams build a planning and accountability rhythm that holds.
- Governance in peer organizations. Eight years in the Entrepreneurs' Organization, including a seat on the EO Arizona board.
Board and advisory experience
- Board Developer, Advisory Board Member, 2019 to 2022
- Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Arizona, Board Member and Communications Chair, 2013 to 2016 (member 2011 to 2018)
- intrakr, Advisory Board Member, 2013 to 2016
- ShopTab, Co-Founder, then advisory board after selling majority interest
- SEMPO Arizona, Vice President, 2009 to 2011
- Phoenix Business Journal Leadership Trust, Member and contributing writer, 2020 to 2021
Career
- StringCan Interactive, Founder and CEO, 2010 to present
- ShopTab, Co-Founder, 2009 to 2013. One of the first social commerce apps on Facebook, used by brands including Barneys New York, Coca-Cola, Coleman and Fiji Water
- Sitewire, Account Director, 2003 to 2010. Leadership team member; oversaw more than $2 million in annual media
- Amass Magazine, Co-Founder, 2004 to 2008
- Aussie Pet Mobile Scottsdale, Owner, 2002 to 2005
- Verizon Enterprise Solutions (via CompuServe, UUNet, WorldCom and MCI), Regional Sales Manager, 1999 to 2003
- MicroAge, Channel Marketing Manager, 1996 to 1998
- Education: B.S. in Marketing, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University
Author and speaker
I wrote Family 2.0 and, with my business partner Sarah Shepard, created Revenue Rewired, now both a book and a weekly podcast we co-host. My writing has been featured in Inc., The New York Times, MediaPost and the Phoenix Business Journal. More on speaking.
Considering me for your board?
Send a short note about the company, whether the role is a fiduciary or advisory board, and what you need most from the seat. I read every one personally.