Hi, I'm Neil, an independent consultant assisting companies on their
path to success.
I work with founders seeking insight and experience that
helps them navigate the world of entrepreneurism,
technology, and investment.
Let's build your vision into reality
I co-founded an exit to Microsoft and have collaborated with numerous founders
to aggressively move their companies forward. I know what it's like to face the
world's challenges head on, and I can help you see what's lurking around corners.
I wrote the first lines of code for Pandora Radio. I know what it takes to build from
scratch and to build to scale. I've navigated the problem/solution process many
times and can help you iterate to a product that fits your resource constraints.
I've played the role of angel, VC, and IC. Having reviewed
thousands of decks and listened to hundreds of pitches, I can provide unique
insight into investor psychology. I'd like to help you frame and position for
an optimal round.
Case Studies
A startup client's product played "match-maker"
for consumers in an experience-oriented industry that was moving online
during the pandemic. The client found that customers were enthusiastic about
the concept but having trouble organizing and executing meetings.
Many of the
problems stemmed from the fact that customers were bouncing back and forth from
the company's platform to the social media platform where customers often
congregated. The client approached me about technical solutions that could
reduce friction between their product and the social media platform.
Upon
review it was clear that the social media platform was ill-suited to their
customers' needs and was treated as a "means to an end" rather than a core
aspect of the desired customer experience. I suggested that, with mildly
increase effort and cost, they could instead
create a replacement for the social media platform within their own product.
This new capability would be custom-designed for their customers' needs and
provide a dramatically improved user experience versus the social media
platform.
Following some iteration, customer feedback, and funding,
the company built a highly usable and desirable platform for their customers
to congregate, and it was growing rapidly. The client was later acquired by
the leading company in their industry.
A Fortune 500 company contracted a product design to solve
an industry-wide operational problem, and I was brought in to guide the
technical direction and architecture.
The problem solution involved three
core pillars, the most important of which was a match engine to identify
best-match service suppliers for corporate users of the desired product. The client
was considering an advance machine-learning implementation that would likely
prove costly and time-consuming.
After researching the problem I identified
that there wasn't enough data available for a machine-learning approach.
But, I also theorized that with some algorithmic data processing and a touch
of data science we should be able to build a simpler but equally viable
match engine.
I was able to build a proof-of-concept prototype in short order
that was subsequently incorporated into the final product. The product was
spun out into its own company, and the spinoff was later acquired by a Fortune 1000
company servicing the operational problem space.
I was approached by a prospective client offering the role of Fractional CTO,
seeking technical expertise to augment a team of junior engineers.
Upon discussion and review, I discovered two important details: 1) the team was technically
sufficient but lacking release management experience, and 2) the CEO had
excellent project management expertise. Although a Fractional CTO role provided
an increased revenue opportunity for my consultancy, I decided that would be
an unnecessary expenditure of the company's precious resources.
Rather than play a part-time leadership role in a company where engineers were in contact
with the CEO on a daily basis - thereby confusing reporting lines - I counter-offered a
more limited role as advisor to the CEO. We collaborated on several
engineering-related topics such as release management, the psychology of engineers,
and software development life-cycle
process.
With this assistance, the team settled into a regular and predictable
development cadence, shipping v1 of their product and acquiring numerous customers.
Shall we build together?
Thank you for your interest! I look forward to learning about you and your company.
Because I'm available for a wide variety of engagement types, it's best
that we meet to discuss your needs. I'm curious to hear your story and
understand your journey to this point.
You are welcome access my calendar directly below. Alternatively you
are also welcome to send an email - I have more availability than is
visible on my calendar. Whether or not we find a fit together,
I can assure you I'll enjoy our discussion.
Schedule a MeetingEmail Me
