Strategic Advisory & Executive Coaching

You Have a Strategy. Let's Make Sure It Can Scale.

Most founders and CEOs know where they want to go. What they often need is an experienced outside perspective — someone who has operated inside the pressure, led teams through growth, raised capital, navigated acquisitions, and made decisions when the stakes were high. That is the perspective Upfront Clarity brings: practical, executive-level guidance grounded in real operating experience.

Schedule a Discovery Call

The Advisory Gap

Frameworks Are Easy to Find. Experienced Judgment Is Not.

There is no shortage of consultants who can deliver a framework, a presentation, or a set of recommendations. What is harder to find is an advisor who has actually sat in the seat — building companies, managing teams, raising capital, executing acquisitions, and leading through complexity across multiple industries.

Upfront Clarity's advisory work is built on 35 years of operating experience at the CEO, CFO, and COO level. When we engage on strategy, we are not theorizing. We are pressure-testing assumptions, connecting strategy to execution, and helping you see around corners before the market forces you to.

Where We Work Together

Four Areas Where Strategic Advisory Creates the Most Value

🧭

Business Development & Market Strategy

We help identify growth opportunities, evaluate competitive dynamics, and make informed decisions about expansion, partnerships, and new offerings. This is not generic market research — it is field-tested business development guidance from someone who has opened new markets and built 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 seven years. Provided business development and M&A advisory across multiple public and private companies.

📈

Revenue & Sales Strategy

Revenue growth requires more than demand — it requires a repeatable system. We advise on sales strategy, pipeline development, proposal structure, pricing, and revenue planning to improve consistency and predictability. If revenue is growing but financial visibility is weak, we begin with the financial foundation and build the revenue architecture around it.

Relevant experience:

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

🔍

Competitive Analysis & Market Positioning

Where do you actually stand in the market? We provide the outside analysis leadership teams often cannot do objectively for themselves — including competitive landscape mapping, pricing benchmarks, positioning strategy, and decisions about where to compete, differentiate, or 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 the executive level.

🤝

Executive Coaching & Leadership Advisory

For founders and owner-operators navigating major transitions — growth, succession, fundraising, acquisition, or leadership realignment — we provide executive coaching that integrates the financial, strategic, and personal realities of leading the business. In owner-led companies, those dimensions are rarely separate.

Relevant experience:

Executive coach to a retail grocer navigating generational succession. Coach and advisor to a software company scaling through $13M. Mentor of the Year, Clean Tech Open 2019. Adjunct Professor — Venture Capital Finance and 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 followed by a static report. We function as an extension of your leadership team — participating in relevant discussions, reviewing your numbers in context, and helping you think through decisions before they become urgent.

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 perspective across finance, operations, strategy, and growth
Full confidentiality and no conflict-of-interest engagements

The outcome:

You make sharper decisions faster — supported by financial clarity, market context, and experienced outside perspective that most CEOs do not access until the stakes are already high.

Built From Real Experience

Your Advisor Has Been Where You Are

35 Years Operating Experience

CEO, CFO, and COO across 10+ industries

Company Builder

Co-founded and scaled multiple ventures

Capital Raised

Raised $7M+ across personal ventures and guided dozens of client engagements

Exit Experience

Sold a company at a 10x EBIT multiple

M&A Execution

Participated in teams executing $40M and $1.2B+ acquisitions

MIT Sloan Executive MBA

Thesis focused on M&A success factors in biotech and pharma

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

Your Challenge	Our Direct Experience
Revenue is growing, but costs feel harder to control	Overhauled financial systems across multiple growth-stage engagements
You are considering an acquisition	Supported on-site M&A transition teams for $5M, $40M, and $900M+ deals
You need to build a sales system from scratch	Developed sales strategies across energy, technology, agriculture, and services
You are unsure how to position against competitors	Led corporate strategic planning and pricing strategy at the executive level
You are navigating a generational or ownership transition	Provided executive coaching through succession and ownership-shift engagements
You are preparing for a capital raise	Raised $7M+ personally and 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 do not 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 on where you are, what is at stake, and where you are trying to go.

Three paths forward:

Strategic Advisory Retainer

Ongoing monthly engagement 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 such as market entry, acquisition analysis, pricing strategy, competitive review, or capital raise preparation.

Executive Coaching

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

Pricing: Customized to scope and engagement length. Typically $2,000–$5,000 per 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