Strategic Advisory & Executive Coaching

You Have a Strategy. Let's Make Sure It's the Right One.

Most founders and CEOs have a direction in mind. What they often lack is an outside perspective grounded in real operating experience — someone who has run companies, managed teams, raised capital, and made the hard calls. That's what Upfront Clarity brings to the table.

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The Advisory Gap

Strategy Advice Is Easy to Get. Experienced Strategy Is Not.

There's no shortage of consultants willing to hand you a framework and a slide deck. What's harder to find is someone who has actually sat in your seat — who has built a company from $900K to $7.5M, led a team through an acquisition, managed a capital raise under pressure, and then done it again across a dozen industries.

Upfront Clarity's strategic advisory work is built on 35 years of operating experience at the CEO, CFO, and COO level. When we engage with you on strategy, we're not theorizing. We're drawing on direct, earned experience — and we'll challenge your assumptions before the market does.

Where We Work Together

Four Areas Where Strategic Advisory Makes the Biggest Impact

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Business Development & Market Strategy

We help you identify growth opportunities, assess competitive dynamics, and make informed decisions about expansion, partnerships, and new offerings. This isn't generic market research — it's field-tested business development thinking from someone who has opened new markets and signed partnerships across biotech, technology, energy, agriculture, and services.

Relevant experience:

Signed 40% of refined petroleum capacity in the U.S. as CEO/Co-Founder. Grew a SaaS-based facilities analytics firm 700% over 7 years. Business Development and M&A advisory across multiple public and private companies.

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Revenue & Sales Strategy

Revenue growth requires more than a good product — it requires a repeatable system. We advise on sales strategy, pipeline development, proposal structure, and pricing to improve consistency and predictability. If your revenue is there but you don't know where the money is going, we start with the financial foundation. Then we build the revenue architecture around it.

Relevant experience:

Executive coaching and revenue strategy for marketing agencies, software companies, retail grocers, and service firms from $2M–$13M in revenue.

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Competitive Analysis & Market Positioning

Where do you actually stand? We provide the rigorous outside analysis that leadership teams often can't do for themselves — competitive landscape mapping, pricing benchmarking, and positioning strategy that tells you where to compete and where to step back.

Relevant experience:

Strategic planning and acquisition analysis for Tosco Corporation during $900M and $1.2B acquisitions. Corporate pricing strategy and capital budget review at executive level.

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Executive Coaching & Leadership Advisory

For founders and owner-operators navigating significant transitions — growth, succession, fundraising, acquisition — we provide ongoing executive coaching that is integrated with your financial and strategic picture. We don't separate the personal from the professional, because in owner-led businesses, they never are.

Relevant experience:

Executive Coach to retail grocer navigating generational succession. Coach and advisor to software company scaling through $13M. Mentor of the Year, Clean Tech Open 2019. Adjunct Professor — Venture Capital Finance, Entrepreneurship.

How We Work

We Don't Just Advise — We Work Alongside You

Strategic advisory at Upfront Clarity is not a monthly check-in call with a summarized report. We function as an extension of your leadership team — attending relevant meetings, reviewing your numbers in real time, and helping you think through decisions before they become crises.

How we deliver:

  • Regular working sessions structured around your priorities
  • Direct access between sessions for urgent questions and decisions
  • Practical execution support, not just recommendations
  • Integrated view across your financial, operational, and strategic picture
  • Full confidentiality and no conflict-of-interest engagements

The outcome:

By the end of our engagement, you will make sharper decisions faster — because you'll have the financial clarity, market context, and outside perspective that most CEOs don't have access to until it's too late.

Built From Real Experience

Your Advisor Has Been Where You Are

35 Years Operating Experience

CEO, CFO, COO across 10+ industries

Company Builder

Co-founded and scaled multiple ventures

Capital Raised

$7M+ across personal ventures; guided dozens of clients

Exit Experience

Sold company at 10x EBIT multiple

M&A Execution

Part of teams executing $40M and $1.2B+ acquisitions

MIT Sloan Executive MBA

Thesis: M&A success factors in biotech/pharma

The Challenges You're Facing. The Experience Behind Our Answers.

Your ChallengeOur Direct Experience
Revenue growing but losing control of costsOverhauled full financial systems across multiple engagements
Considering an acquisitionOn-site M&A transition teams at $5M, $40M, and $900M+ deals
Building a sales system from scratchDeveloped sales strategies across energy, tech, ag, and services sectors
Unsure how to position against competitionCorporate strategic planning and pricing strategy at executive level
Navigating a generational or ownership transitionExecutive coaching through succession and ownership shift engagements
Preparing for a capital raiseRaised $7M+ personally; prepared investor materials across multiple client engagements

“John's M&A experience was invaluable. He identified risks in our target that our own team missed and saved us from a costly mistake. When we found the right deal, he guided us through every step.”

— CEO, Mid-Market Manufacturing Company

Getting Started

Every Engagement Begins With Clarity

We don't start with a contract. We start with a conversation. Our discovery process is designed to understand your situation before recommending anything — because the right engagement structure depends entirely on where you are and where you're trying to go.

Three paths forward:

Strategic Advisory Retainer

Ongoing monthly engagement. Best for founders and CEOs who want a consistent outside perspective integrated into their decision-making rhythm.

Project-Based Advisory

Defined scope for a specific initiative: market entry, acquisition analysis, pricing strategy, competitive review, or capital raise preparation.

Executive Coaching

One-on-one coaching cadence for owner-operators navigating leadership transitions, growth inflection points, or personal/professional realignment.

Pricing: Customized to scope and engagement length. Typically $2,000–$5,000/month for ongoing retainer work.

Ready for a Conversation That Challenges You?

The first call is free. The clarity it provides is not.

Schedule Your Free Discovery Call