I got into SaaS in 2004, joining a startup as one of its early hires. We grew the business, and it was acquired — the first of many transitions I'd experience from the inside.
Within months, I was promoted to lead product across several new product lines and markets. At first, the unfamiliar territory was intimidating. But I quickly noticed something: even though the markets, products, and go-to-market motions were wildly different, the underlying challenges were remarkably similar. Each new assignment taught me something that applied to all the others — and that pattern recognition became the foundation of how I work today.
Over time, my role expanded. I built and developed a product organization from the ground up — turning heads-down R&D teams into real business leaders who could own strategy, not just execution. Eventually my responsibilities grew beyond product to include M&A, business operations, and customer success.
And throughout all of this, the company itself was transforming — repeatedly. I experienced it as a startup, as a private equity portfolio company, as a publicly traded company through an IPO, as a large PE-backed company again after going private, and finally as a subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company after its eventual sale. Along the way: more acquisitions, product launches, office consolidations, product migrations, sunsets, and divestments.
Few people get to see a company's entire lifecycle from the inside. I did — more than once, in different forms, across more than two decades.
8Squared has existed, informally, since 2020 — I've been advising companies on the side ever since stepping back from full-time corporate life. Now I'm ready to make it official.
Every engagement starts with a conversation — not a proposal. I want to understand what's actually going on before talking about scope, deliverables, or fees.
When you work with 8Squared, you work directly with me. No junior staff, no account managers, no layers between you and the person doing the thinking. That's by design — it's also why engagements stay focused and move quickly.
Engagements take different shapes depending on what's needed. Sometimes it's a focused project — an assessment, a business case review, a market analysis. Sometimes it's an ongoing advisory relationship — a fractional seat at the table as you work through a transformation. I shape the engagement around the problem, not the other way around.
My approach is direct. I'll tell you what I see, even when it's not what you expected to hear — but I'll always pair that with a path forward. My job is to help your organization succeed — even when that means challenging assumptions, including yours and mine.
The value I bring isn't about doing more work — it's about acting as a force multiplier. A relatively small amount of focused input, applied in the right place, can unlock significant value from the people, processes, and capabilities your organization already has. I'm not there to replace your team or do their jobs for them. I'm there to help everything that's already in motion move in a more productive direction.