What we place you into.
Six categories. They compound. A workshop leads to a panel, a panel leads to a byline, and two years of that is what a nominating committee is looking at when your name comes up for a board seat.
01
Advisory board seats
Corporate, startup, university and nonprofit boards. Compensation varies enormously. Many seats are unpaid, many startup seats are equity only, and a seat that pays well can still cost you more in hours than it returns in reputation.
A seat on any board we ourselves run or advise is not among the placements we sell. Where we have a stake in something we put in front of you, we say so first. How we handle conflicts.
The rest of this section is held. Advisory board placement is the line of work most likely to create a conflict with boards we already sit on or advise, so the service description is not published until counsel has reviewed it.
[Placeholder: HELD PENDING COUNSEL REVIEW. Advisory board placement service description: why the seat matters to an executive profile, what we specifically do, how we help evaluate whether a seat is worth taking, and a realistic timeline. Do not publish until legal review is confirmed.]
02
Speaking engagements
What it is
Industry conferences, corporate events, university programs, and internal leadership sessions. Keynotes, breakout sessions, fireside conversations, and moderated panels.
Why it matters
A stage is the fastest way to be seen by several hundred people who matter, and the recording works for years afterwards. Speaking is also what most board and committee introductions grow out of, because a chair wants to have watched you think before they invite you.
What we do
We develop two or three talks you can give properly rather than a list of topics you could theoretically cover. We build the one-sheet organizers ask for. We submit to calls for speakers, and where we know the program chair we go to them directly.
Where a fee is involved we negotiate it. Where there is no fee we help you decide whether the audience is worth the two days.
Realistic timeline
Conference programs are set six to twelve months ahead. Corporate and university sessions move faster, sometimes inside a month. Expect the first year to be mostly submissions and the second to be mostly invitations.
03
Writing and publishing
What it is
Bylined articles in trade and business publications, op-eds, contributed pieces for university and industry outlets, and longer work where you have something that needs the room.
Why it matters
Writing is the only one of these that a committee can read at their own pace, and it is what people find when they search your name before a meeting. It also forces the positioning to become specific, which makes every other placement easier to pitch.
What we do
We work out what you have to say that someone else could not say, shape it into pitches, and take those pitches to editors. You write. We edit, structure, and handle the placement.
If writing is not something you want to do, say so early. Ghostwritten work under an executive's name is a liability in front of people who will later hear you speak.
Realistic timeline
Publication is never guaranteed. Editors decline good pieces for reasons that have nothing to do with quality. A pitch to a decision usually runs two to eight weeks, and a piece that lands often took two that did not.
04
Workshops and executive education
What it is
Delivering teaching sessions inside university executive education programs and corporate learning programs. Half days, full days, or a recurring module across a full program intake.
Why it matters
Teaching senior people is the strongest credential in this list. It is harder than speaking, it is repeatable, and a university program that invites you back becomes a durable affiliation you can name.
What we do
This is where our network is strongest, so we will say it plainly. We have spent years working with university executive education programs, and those programs need practitioners who have actually run something.
We help you build a session that holds a room for three hours, place it with programs where the subject fits, and prepare you for the first delivery, which is always the hard one.
Realistic timeline
Academic calendars are set well in advance, so a first session often lands one to two terms out. Corporate programs move faster. Building the session itself takes longer than most people expect.
05
Judging panels and awards committees
What it is
Industry awards programs, startup competitions, accelerator selection committees, and academic capstone evaluation.
Why it matters
Judging says something the other placements cannot. You are not presenting your own view, you are being asked to assess other people's, which is a different kind of endorsement. The time commitment is usually modest and the association lasts.
What we do
We identify programs where your domain matches what is being judged, put your name forward, and prepare the short bio and statement these committees ask for. Where we run or advise a program ourselves, we say so before we put you near it.
Realistic timeline
Judging panels are assembled on annual cycles, so timing depends on when you arrive relative to the program year. Once you are on one panel, invitations to others tend to follow.
06
Podcasts, panels and media
What it is
Guest appearances on industry podcasts, moderated panels, and occasional press commentary where the subject is genuinely yours.
Why it matters
An hour of unscripted conversation shows how you think in a way a written bio cannot. It is also the lowest cost way to get repetitions in before a stage that matters.
What we do
We choose for audience rather than download count. A show with four hundred listeners who all run procurement is worth more to you than a general business show with forty thousand. We pitch, brief you on the host, and prepare the two or three things you want to land.
Realistic timeline
This is the fastest category. Bookings often happen inside four to six weeks, which makes it a useful place to start while slower placements work their way through.
Most clients work across four or five of these.
Which ones depends on what you want to be known for, and that is the first thing we work out together. It starts at step one.
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