In August 2009 Gearworks merged with Mountain View, California based Xora, Inc. and in doing so created the largest global provider of location-based mobile business applications with over 15,000 customers on three continents. The new company assumes the Xora name and will be based in California with a development center remaining in Eagan, Minnesota. Gearworks decision to merge was driven primarily by the difficult economy and capital markets which hampered its plans for continued expansion as a standalone company.

For three years I lead offsite strategic planning sessions for Gearwork’s senior management team and provided coaching services for Gearwork’s leaders. During that period Gearworks emerged as the fastest growing company in its space with 40% year over year growth. As the company evaluated the fund raising market in last 2008 it became clear that getting bigger and profitable was paramount to continued growth and be well-positioned to capitalized on post-recession opportunities.

Here is what Gearworks’ CEO Todd Krautkremer had to say about the merger: “The scarcity and cost of venture capital in the 2008-09 timeframe made it clear to me that the best way to secure the future for Gearworks was create a dominate company that not only is growing and profitable, but recognized as the safest and best positioned player in the market by wireless carrier partners like Verizon and Vodafone”

“George was an incredibly valuable asset to our company. As with many early stage companies, Gearworks was faced with a multitude of opportunities and a number of harrowing challenges. George provided the guidance and coaching that helped me and my team develop a compelling vision and focused execution plan and provided an effective sounding board that help us navigate some real challenges that threatened the business. He was also instrumental in helping my team assess their strengths and develop the alignment needed to execute against our objectives”. I would recommend George for any early stage or fast growing company looking for coaching and facilitation of their strategic planning process.”

For the past seven years I have been on the board of directors of Nystrom. Nystrom’s is a manufacturer and distributor of complementary building products for the commercial construction industry. In 2005 and again in 2010 I have helped Nystrom develop five year strategic plans. In the first plan we were well on our way to more than double income in the five year period, until the Great Recession. In our new five year plan,  we have addressed the path to navigate through the Great Recession and with this plan, we feel confident we will once again double the size of the company.

Here is what Scott Sustacek, CEO, says about our work together, “George’s process begins with creating a shared vision amongst the management team and then turning that vision into specific strategic objectives that need to be accomplished in each year of the plan.  This process has provided us great clarity and focus that is essential for success.”