Startups Unplugged

Advisory

When organizations need to build innovation capability and not just talk about it, they bring me in.

I design incubators, accelerators, and innovation programs that help organizations move faster, test ideas earlier, and build new growth opportunities that don’t emerge through normal operating structures. The result is new ventures, stronger internal leaders, and partnerships that would not have existed otherwise.

Organizations might first bring me in for ideas or perspective. But they ultimately bring me in to build systems that produce results.

I typically work with universities, corporate innovation teams, government-supported entrepreneurship programs, and funded startups.

My client work includes:

  • Building incubators / accelerators.
  • Market timing strategy (the “Why Now” question).
  • Meaningful workshops and speaking engagements.

Contact here to discuss.

Who is this for?

This work is usually a strong fit for leaders responsible for building something new inside an existing organization, including:

  • Corporate innovation teams charged with building new growth engines and staying ahead of competitors.

  • Funded startup leadership teams who care about results and want objective perspective as they scale.

  • Government, university, and nonprofit leaders building entrepreneurship and innovation programs.

  • Organizations looking for an experienced speaker on entrepreneurship models, innovation execution, and growth systems.

Guidance makes a real difference in success rates. I bring experience from advising more than 200 companies and building accelerators and incubators across multiple industries and regions.

Highlights

  • I built and led startup accelerators and incubators on three continents. I was Founding Director of the first startup accelerator in Hong Kong (portfolio exits), Founding Director of USC’s startup incubator (portfolio exits), Program Director of the Laudato Si startup accelerator in Rome, and Founding Director of the community health incubator at Volunteers of America Futures Fund.
  • Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship (a practitioner who also teaches) at USC. Created and teaches startup launchpad and growth marketing.

Sample client projects

  • Built a community health incubator for an insurance company and large non-profit,
  • Led a product development initiative for the R&D and marketing groups of a large consumer products company. We shortened the concept-to-customer timeline from 24 months down to 3 months,
  • Improved customer lifetime value for a software company. Based on customer data we assessed their current state and enacted several changes that increased customer margins,
  • Reduced customer acquisition costs for a communications app. We calculated the customer acquisition costs of each acquisition channel and the corresponding lifetime values. This enabled our client to focus resources where they had the greatest impact,
  • Growth strategy for a transportation app. Helped grow an international transportation app to the point where a global competitor acquired them,
  • Improved customer upgrades to premium for a mobile app developer. Identified which free users of a mobile app with millions of downloads were most likely to upgrade. Our client then targeted these users selectively in order to increase revenue,
  • Growth and funding for a startup building machine learning for the fashion industry and focusing on popular fashion bloggers,
  • Customer conversions and funding for a virtual reality startup focused on medical training content.

Sample Workshops

WHY NOW: THE TIMING QUESTION THAT DETERMINES SUCCESS

Most founders and corporate innovators focus on the what and the how of innovation and investing. But the harder and more important question is often overlooked: Why now?

In this workshop, we dig into how timing shapes whether a product thrives, stalls, or fails. Drawing on research, I break down the timing signals that matter, the traps that mislead, and how to translate your timing advantage into investor pitches, team alignment, and market strategy.

Participants leave with practical methods to identify external forces (technological shifts, regulatory changes, social trends, and more) that make a moment uniquely suited for your business or product.

Format: Half-day or Full-day workshop

This program is perfect for:

  • Corporate teams evaluating where to allocate resources in uncertain markets

  • Funded startups preparing for growth or fundraising

  • Executives and strategists who need to articulate “why now” to boards, investors, or partners

The audience will leave with:

  • A framework to evaluate timing advantages and risks

  • Examples of how “why now” shaped success and failure across industries

  • A playbook for telling your timing story persuasively to stakeholders

ACCELERATING INNOVATION IN THE ENTERPRISE

When evaluating large companies in a changing environment, we often hear stories about how startups innovate. These stories can be misleading and unhelpful to larger companies. I have helped hundreds of startups grow across multiple accelerator and incubator programs around the world and in advising relationships. I also teach entrepreneurship at USC in Los Angeles. But I’ve also worked in Fortune 100 companies as an employee and as a consultant. Innovating in the enterprise is different.

In this workshop, we value the difference between established businesses and startups. I then take what we can learn from the startup world and show you how to apply this learning internally. You will leave the workshop with methods that will help you test product concepts quickly and reduce your product roll-out time.

Format: ​Full Day Workshop

This program is perfect for:

  • All levels of management at corporates and non-profits

The audience will leave with:

  • ​A playbook that they can tailor to their own needs

BUILDING COMPANIES WHILE RUNNING STARTUP ACCELERATORS ON THREE CONTINENTS

From Hong Kong, to Los Angeles, to Rome, to remote. How running four very different startup accelerators over eight years changed the way I think about entrepreneurship. Multiple program formats, 150+ companies, hundreds of millions in funding, lots of customers, and exits, all across three continents. The workshop focuses on:

  • Commonalities faced by growing companies across locations.
  • Getting results: How I try to “trick” people into learning.
  • Next steps in thinking about the future of company growth.

Format: ​half-day workshop

This program is perfect for:

  • Corporates and large non-profits that want to bring in more internal entrepreneurial thinking and activity
  • ​Municipalities that want to encourage more entrepreneurship and innovation in their location
  • Universities that want to help students, alumni, and faculty/staff to build businesses

The audience will leave with:

  • Detailed examples from my experience in very different entrepreneurial environments
  • A playbook that they can tailor for their own individual situation

Contact here to book.

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