Strategic Advisory

Strategic Council for the AI Era.

Mike works with boards. C-Suites, Senior leaders, and founders to help them make sense of the rapidly changing landscape in which they operate. He brings the unique combination of skills of a battle-hardened operator, as well as an award-winning professor and former McKinsey strategy consultant, along with an obsessive appetite to stay hyper-current on technology and business trends and business models for each and every engagement. 

Outcomes

Let's work together to define what success is. Then I'll make sure to deliver it.

Mid-cap, large-cap, or mega-cap — every advisory engagement starts with a specific, measurable outcome the work can be held accountable to. Pick the one that maps to where you actually are.  

Inspire my senior leadership on the possibility of business transformation with AI

Activate my senior leadership team on the strategic deployment of AI

Incorporate the right KPIs to motivate leadership to deploy AI effectively

Create our AI governance, risk, compliance and acceptable use policies

Educate my board of directors on why we need to invest in AI

Enable my teams to rethink their business processes and workflows

How do I generate 10X more product or solution concepts

How do I exponentially accelerate my market discovery and validation process

How do I use AI to radically compress the time from ideation to product-market fit

How do I turn my product managers into result-driven builders

How do I make my software developers 100x more productive

Automate the benchmarking of my competition on a continuous basis

Who I Work With

Three types of engagement. One standard of rigor.

AI Transformation Executives (CIO, CTO, CDO)

Corporations harnessing AI across operations
  • I have played a key C-Suite role building eight software companies from seed stage to acquisition. I know the startup journey from the inside.
  • I teach custom executive education programs at the world’s top universities. I stay connected to what leaders are thinking and what the frontier looks like.
  • I am deeply involved in each and every engagement.
  • No engagement without conviction. I only advise where I believe I can help you achieve your goal. If I am not the right fit, I will tell you.
  • Unbiased. I have no incentive to recommend a particular technology, platform, or vendor. My only incentive is your successful outcome.

Corporate Innovation Teams

Mid-cap and enterprise transformation leaders
  • I have scaled innovation across multiple organizations, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. I understand what works at every scale.
  • I design and lead 200+ hackathons, design sprints, and innovation initiatives worldwide. I bring proven methodologies that produce results.
  • I partner deeply with your teams throughout every phase of implementation and execution.
  • No engagement without alignment. I only work where there is genuine commitment to change. If we’re not aligned, I’ll tell you directly.
  • Strategic and independent. I have no vendor bias or platform allegiance. I recommend what serves the organization’s goals best.

Founders and Growth-Stage Teams

Series A through Series C companies scaling & growing
  • I have founded and scaled eight software companies to successful exits. I have walked the path from zero to acquisition multiple times over.
  • I mentor hundreds of founders and operators through accelerators and venture capital networks. I know what separates thriving from struggling.
  • I am hands-on and accessible, bringing clarity to your toughest decisions and strategic crossroads.
  • I only advise where I see potential and believe I can materially help. If the timing or situation isn’t right, I will be honest about it.
  • Pragmatic and unbiased. I have no stake in your technology choices or vendor relationships. My focus is your company’s success and growth.

How I Help

Four areas. All grounded in startup and innovation practice.

Disruptive Innovation Strategy

A structured process to identify where innovation opportunities exist in your market or organization. Includes competitive landscape analysis, emerging technology assessment, and a clear roadmap for what to build first.

Design Thinking and Product Development

End-to-end support for building customer-centric products and services. Covers discovery research, prototyping, testing with real customers, and moving quickly from concept to MVP.

Innovation Ecosystems and Partnerships

Building or strengthening your organization's connections to startups, accelerators, universities, and innovation partners. Includes venture capital strategy and how to structure partnerships with external innovators.

Innovation Leadership and Culture

Custom programs for boards, leadership teams, and faculty building innovation capability. Designed to create shared frameworks and decision-making structures. Not awareness. Action.

Engagement Models

Three ways to engage. All start with a conversation.

Senior Advisor

A standing advisory relationship. Mike is available for time-sensitive calls. Provides independent perspective on major innovation decisions and strategy questions.

Time commitment:

2 to 4 days per quarter

Best fit:

Organizations that need someone who knows the startup world deeply and can serve as a thinking partner year-round.

Project Sprint

An intensive 8 to 12-week engagement with a defined output. Could be innovation strategy, new product roadmap, ecosystem partnership plan, or curriculum design.

Time commitment:

8 to 12 weeks, structured

Best fit:

Organizations that need to move fast on a specific decision and want a deliverable they can act on immediately.

Executive Mentoring

An ongoing relationship for founders, CEOs, and innovation leaders. Typically two sessions per month. Strategic dialogue with no prescribed deliverables.

Time commitment:

Two 60-minute sessions per month

Best fit:

Founders and innovation leaders who want a trusted advisor with real operating experience who can help navigate complex decisions.

What Makes This Different

An operator who is still operating.

Most innovation advisors teach about innovation. Mike still does innovation. He builds companies. He teaches at major universities. He mentors startups. The advice comes from current practice.

  • I have built five software companies through seed stage to acquisition. I know the startup journey from the inside.
  • I teach at five universities. I stay connected to what emerging leaders are thinking and what the frontier looks like.
  • No junior team. Every engagement is Mike directly. You get the founder and entrepreneur, not a consultant referral.
  • No engagement without conviction. I only advise where I believe I can help you achieve your goal. If I am not the right fit, I will tell you.
  • Unbiased. I have no incentive to recommend a particular technology, platform, or vendor. My only incentive is your outcome.

Ways I Create Value

Beyond the strategy document.

Here are some of the ways I have created value for the organizations I advise:

  • Made intros to key customer prospects
  • Facilitated advisory board recruitment
  • Connected teams to university research programs
  • Introduced founders to venture capital firms and angel networks
  • Led design sprint sessions for product validation
  • Guided pivot decisions during early-stage uncertainty
  • Provided thought leadership to leadership teams on emerging trends
  • Presented at industry conferences and startup events
  • Hosted accountability sessions for founder peer groups
  • Helped navigate market competition and positioning

Ready to lead through AI disruption?

Bring Mike to your next event, or bring him to the table for your most consequential innovation and AI decisions.