That’s how it started.

The good news? My business partner and I had just secured a contract with the USPS, one that gave our small company, Imagitas, exclusive rights to commercialize and eventually digitize the Change of Address (COA) process.

Then we discovered something staggering: 42 million people move every year, picking up 84 million COA cards.

The opportunity was massive.

Our idea was simple: replace the COA form with a Mover’s Guide, a combination of helpful content, advertising, and the official change-of-address form.

The USPS said yes.

Then came the bad news

This was pre-internet.

The contract required us to print 84 million physical guides. We had zero experience in printing.

A chance encounter changed everything

That weekend, at a cocktail party, I mentioned the problem to someone I had just met—Dick Holliday.

It turns out, Dick had spent his career at Heidelberg Press, working with the largest printing companies in the world.
So, on the spot, I did something that would shape the rest of my career:

I told him I was forming an Advisory Board, and asked him to join.

He said yes.

That one decision unlocked everything.

From one advisor to a scalable advantage
Dick didn’t just help us solve a printing problem, he helped us think bigger, move faster, and avoid costly mistakes.
So we added more advisors. Each brought a different expertise we didn’t have internally.
Over time, that small group became a force multiplier.
Ten years later, we sold the company to a public firm.

What I learned over 30 years

I went on to spend:

• Two-thirds of my career as a venture-backed CEO
• The rest as an Operating Partner in Private Equity

Along the way, I’ve built 20+ Advisory Boards.

Why?

Because they solve one of the hardest problems CEOs face:

You don’t know what you don’t know, and hiring full-time expertise is expensive, slow, and often unnecessary.

Advisory Boards bridge that gap.

The hidden truth most CEOs miss

Here’s what I’ve seen again and again:

Many of the biggest challenges CEOs face already have solutions.

But those solutions don’t live inside their company.

They live in the experience of people who’ve already solved those problems before.

The issue isn’t capability, it’s awareness.

Most CEOs don’t realize that an Advisory Board is the solution they’re actually looking for.

So they:

• Struggle longer than necessary
• Make avoidable mistakes
• Delay critical decisions
• Or hire too early (and too expensively)

Why Advisory Boards work

Advisory Boards aren’t theoretical, they’re proven.

Research shows companies with Advisory Boards achieve:

• 3x higher growth rates
• 7x greater likelihood of scaling to $50M
• 12% higher market share
• 18% more operational efficiency
• 40% more innovation
• 25% better exit multiples

And the model is simple:

• A small group (typically ~5 advisors)
• Paid primarily in equity
• Contributing just a few hours per month
• Available when the CEO needs them

So why don’t more CEOs do this?

Because:

• It takes time (often ~200 hours to set up)
• It’s not urgent
• It feels like overhead

But that’s exactly why it’s a competitive advantage.

A Little About Me...

I am the CEO of The Advisory Bench and a former venture-backed CEO and Private Equity Operating Partner. Over my career, I have built and leveraged more than 20 Advisory Boards to accelerate growth, access specialized expertise, and scale companies more efficiently.

Today, through The Advisory Bench, I help:

• CEOs build high-performing Advisory Boards
• Subject matter experts connect with companies that need their insight
• Organizations unlock growth without adding full-time overhead

The bottom line

Advisory Boards are one of the lowest-cost, highest-impact tools available to a CEO.

But most leaders overlook them, not because they don’t work…

…but because they don’t realize they’re the answer.

A question to consider

What challenge are you currently facing that someone else has already solved?

And what would change if you had direct access to that experience?

If you want to learn more about The Advisory Bench and how we help companies grow and scale, then schedule a chat with me.