"That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well." - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
"There is an old saying about the strength of the wolf is the pack, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it’s not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together." - Bill Belichick, Head Coach of New England Patriots (five time Super Bowl Champions)
THE PRIVILEGE TO SERVE TOGETHER
"I've been lucky enough to work side-by-side with Bob Olson on three separate occasions. Bob is a force of nature. Passionate. Inspirational. Unstoppable. He is a cross between Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Marcus Buckingham. Bob combines keen analytical thinking with energetic, emotional leadership. That is a unique mix that has a special power in forging productive and efficient teams.
Bob is never at rest. He will always look to enhance an operation or detect the early indicators of a potential problem and course correct before it can manifest itself. His spirit for business excellence is infectious and it is amazing to watch it adopted by the large teams I have seen him build.
Bob will always provide you with an honest, often brutal, but thoughtful assessment. Without that candor, he knows teams will not achieve all that they are capable of accomplishing. Many company leaders say that human capital is their most important asset and issue. Often, they don’t take actions in line with that belief. Bob not only knows who you hire and how you lead them is all that matters, he lives it! He creates belief, understanding and energy that makes good things happen wherever he is.” Warren Adelman, Board Member at Digital Ocean (NYSE: DOCN), SendGrid (NYSE: SEND), YotPo and Artlist, former CEO and President of GoDaddy.com (NYSE: GDDY) and CEO of NeoPlanet, Inc.
"I’ve been honored to have Bob in my corner through thick and thin for three years. The words “advisor”, “coach”, and “partner” hardly describe the passion and acumen Bob brings in scaling my organization from 20 to 200 people. While Bob excels in bringing clarity to vision and driving customer obsession, his ability to scale teams is the superpower that puts him in a league all his own.
I’ve learned time and again that organizations usually die of indigestion, not starvation. Simply put, Bob is the anecdote. Here’s why:
Most stakeholders go home at the end of the day and stop thinking about your problems. Bob doesn’t. He can’t. He cares with a rare intensity. When the challenges seem insurmountable, call Bob. Bob combines this intensity with an emotional intelligence that borders on telepathic.
Expect tough love from Bob. Like the best athletic coaches, he’s not one to mince words or spare punches. He hits you with the hard truths you need to hear. And it’s clear he’s lived all the hard truths a hundred time: The top performer who breaks with cultural norms. The toxic conflicts between personal ambition and corporate success. Breakdowns in camaraderie. It’s in Bob’s blood to unroot issues and support you as long as you have the will to be coached.
Along the way, Bob taught me near everything I know about how to hire the right people. He’s sourced multiple executive leaders for my team, vetted countless more strong additions, and steered us clear of subtle red flags. I trust him to scale the right people structure, because he knows organizations and he knows my people in and out and better than anyone else.
Sometimes Bob doesn’t seem human. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to compare Bob’s impact on organizations to the likes of the legendary Bill Campbell. Non-normal. When I run out of ceo days, whenever that may be, I can only aspire to have the degree of talent and the kindness of heart that Bob possesses, and to do a fraction of what he does for teams." Frank Mycroft, CEO and Co-founder Booster Fuels, Inc.
"When I was first introduced to Bob six years ago, the mutual connection who made the introduction told me at the time, "Bob is really one of kind. There's no one quite like him. He's a unique individual with a special ability to diagnose problems and change businesses overnight." I took that as hyperbole and assumed he was being overly generous. Turns out that description was spot on.
Since that introduction in 2013 Bob has helped me grow ChowNow from a tiny startup with a few employees to a company with 230 employees across multiple offices. Describing Bob as a special advisor or consultant wouldn't be fair or accurate. He's much more than that. When Bob gets involved with a company he goes all in. He spends time getting to know as many people on the team as possible, as quickly as possible. He builds relationships, almost always in-person regardless of the travel required, and then dedicates himself to growing those relationships into something meaningful. He must have logged 15,000+ miles over the years, all in order to build these meaningful relationships.
It's through these deep conversations that Bob is able to spot opportunities and potential issues before anyone else. I'm still not exactly sure how he does it, but I assume the pattern recognition comes from years of working with different companies and teams, and when it's paired with his innate ability to truly understand people, it produces special outcomes.
Bob's dedication to his craft and his ability to transform companies is unmatched, and anyone who has worked with him will tell you the same." Chris Webb, CEO and Co-founder ChowNow.
"We had the great pleasure of having Bob lead several sessions on coaching and leadership during our inaugural summit for Boeing HorizonX Ventures portfolio CEOs. Bob was one of the most genuine and engaging speakers and his thought-provoking messages resonated with a diverse audience. Bob’s ability to bring out a special vulnerability and openness was particularly impactful to all that attended and it created a more natural and honest conversation around lessons learned and best practices.
Bob was an invaluable piece of our summit and would be an incredible addition to any event where he can lend perspective to burgeoning leaders." Brian Schettler, Senior Managing Director, Boeing HorizonX Ventures.
“I hired Bob at Mobile Mini to help us build out a 100+ employee National Sales Center. Not only did he help us accomplish that, he transformed the company and me. He became my business partner and I now consider him my business mentor. It is very unusual to find someone who understands sales, service, organizational structure, human behavior, empathy, importance of questioning the status quo, coaching, goals, analytics and values profit over just revenue growth. We went from a pure activity KPI driven sales organization to a purpose, outcome and intent driven company. He is focused, driven and intense to continuous improvement and active coaching. He taught us how to hire for passion, teamwork and unique employee talents.
Bob turned our compensation plan upside down and lowered compensation per deal but overall compensation increased as a result of stronger performance. He drives change by changing the way you frame and solve problems, hire employees, and develop employees and management by raising expectations in a philosophy based model. Why wouldn’t you want a company where employees treat customers as if they were helping their mom make a purchase, a company where you would want your friend or family member to work, and a company where everyone is striving to reach their own potential by living outside their comfort zone. An environment where employees and management look inward for their own and their team’s opportunities to grow centered on a common purpose. It sounds easy to do but is the most difficult thing I have ever done. In the end, it is much more rewarding for employees, managers and owners. I do not give very many recommendations but I would have no reservation recommending Bob to anyone looking to transform their organization for scale and sustained growth. Bob is simply the best of the best!” Steve Bunger, CEO ProBox Storage and former Founder/CEO of Mobile Mini (Nasdaq: MINI)
"I have had the honor and pleasure of being in the trenches with Bob while building 2 fast-scaling companies in very different industries over a span of 7+ years. Bob has world-class business sense, people instinct, and customer orientation. As a company grows, there are hundreds of ways it can start to bend if not break. Bob has a uniquely voracious hunger to ensure that doesn't happen. His passion for improvement is like nothing I've ever seen. Bob will go to the end of the earth to help you build a strong foundation for an organization that stands the test of time. Partnering with him will catapult forward your clarity of vision, complete team alignment, and unwavering commitment to the customer. These are the principles often overlooked by executives or mentors that focus merely on the tactics of day-to-day operations. It's these very elements that have saved us numerous times over when difficult situations put the entire company to the test. Without Bob's foundational principles, we would simply not be where we are today." Matt Humphrey, Partner at Quiet Capital, Co-Founder/CEO of LendingHome and former Co-Founder HomeRun.com and Forbes Top 30 under 30
“Never before or since have I learned as much from one man. Bob Olson has an unmatched intensity and passion for building great teams. Working with Bob sometimes means uncomfortable conversations, long days, and questioning your own long held beliefs, but it also means learning, growth and results.” Alan Chambless, Vice President of Customer Success at Weebly (acquired by Square) and former Vice President of Customer Experience and Sales at Kabam and Reputation.com
"Part experience and pattern recognition, part human understanding, and part deep questioning, Bob guides you to elucidate your own path and become the best version of an individual, team, and organization that you were meant be. The journey is filled with passion and intensity, but the result is nothing short of transformative - both personally and professionally. The scoreboard is not simply quantitative, although our internal metrics universally improved, the ethos of the organization is better for having him involved." Josh Zacharias, Founder of HiThrive and Ailena Ventures and former Senior Director of Business Operations and Analytics at IO
“Bob Olson has the unique ability to diagnose the root causes of complex problems hindering a team from maximizing their potential. In working with him the past two years - Bob has proven that without strong convictions around one’s values and principles, success will not be realized and conflict and confusion will ensue. By identifying these root causes - he forces those around him to raise the bar on themselves, their teams, and their peer organizations on how they treat and solve for a customer - and how they treat and solve for one another.”
“Bob will demand everyone around him to be courageous in every action you must take to begin to grow and improve. In doing so, he makes you realize the maximum potential of yourself and your teams while solving the root problems, washing away the symptoms you thought plagued you from success. I personally have benefited immensely in my time working with Bob - it has made me a better leader, and a better person.” Austin Brizgys, Head of Sales at Stripe and former Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Booster Fuels and Head of North American Sales, SMB, at Google
“I have never seen one person make such a positive impact on an entire organization in such a short period of time - that’s Bob Olson. He has the innate ability to walk into a business and within days have people and teams changing the way they think and operate. Bob possesses a unique blend of truly understanding the human psyche and what it takes to successfully operate a profitable business. I have not met one CEO that Bob has worked with that has not said to me: “Bob changed the way I think and operate, and my team and company are in a better place because of Bob”. Often, they will share the impact that Bob has had on their personal life as well. When you have had the pleasure of working directly with Bob, you know precisely how they feel.” Rod Browning, Vice President Sales at Porch.com (NASDAQ: PRCH) and former Vice President Sales and Merchant Services at Rearden Commerce
"Bob is a true steward of developing talent from the C-Suite, Senior Level Executives, to individual contributors and front line teams. He builds – based on the person, not on the pedigree. He makes people uncomfortable for the right reasons with pure intent – for the betterment of the business, the team, and the shared and agreed upon values of the team. You can win across the board and feel amazing about doing it the right way without feeling lonely at the top! Bob teaches you how to deliver results through people. You must be ready to let your guard down, take your mask off, and believe that through people and a common set of beliefs that are shared and lived not just talked about you will find that uncommon results and impossible things are possible though the delivery of his techniques and leadership. If you are vulnerable enough to learn, he can and will transform any organization. You and your organization will come out on the other side with results you NEVER thought were possible – even in your wildest dreams. There was no better time in my 24-year career then the six years working with Bob both in personal fulfillment and the results we achieved for our customers and company." Tyler Wirtjes, Vice President of Player Support at PXG and former Vice President of Sales and Customer Service at Endurance International Group (NASDAQ: EIGI) and GoDaddy.com (NYSE: GDDY)
"Bob will stand there, and live in the moment of pain with you. The pain that we find ways to skirt around or not face as key leaders that create the deepest most systemic problems in our organizations. And together face the deepest challenges until an equilibrium is reached in a way teams of five operate like eight and are ten times happier doing it in less time than your next two product releases and sales kick offs" Michael Zippiroli, Vice President of Sales at NexHealth, former Vice President of Customer Experience (Consumer Mortgage Segment) at LendingHome and Chief Customer Officer at BrightBytes
"I've been lucky enough to work side-by-side with Bob Olson on three separate occasions. Bob is a force of nature. Passionate. Inspirational. Unstoppable. He is a cross between Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Marcus Buckingham. Bob combines keen analytical thinking with energetic, emotional leadership. That is a unique mix that has a special power in forging productive and efficient teams.
Bob is never at rest. He will always look to enhance an operation or detect the early indicators of a potential problem and course correct before it can manifest itself. His spirit for business excellence is infectious and it is amazing to watch it adopted by the large teams I have seen him build.
Bob will always provide you with an honest, often brutal, but thoughtful assessment. Without that candor, he knows teams will not achieve all that they are capable of accomplishing. Many company leaders say that human capital is their most important asset and issue. Often, they don’t take actions in line with that belief. Bob not only knows who you hire and how you lead them is all that matters, he lives it! He creates belief, understanding and energy that makes good things happen wherever he is.” Warren Adelman, Board Member at Digital Ocean (NYSE: DOCN), SendGrid (NYSE: SEND), YotPo and Artlist, former CEO and President of GoDaddy.com (NYSE: GDDY) and CEO of NeoPlanet, Inc.
"I’ve been honored to have Bob in my corner through thick and thin for three years. The words “advisor”, “coach”, and “partner” hardly describe the passion and acumen Bob brings in scaling my organization from 20 to 200 people. While Bob excels in bringing clarity to vision and driving customer obsession, his ability to scale teams is the superpower that puts him in a league all his own.
I’ve learned time and again that organizations usually die of indigestion, not starvation. Simply put, Bob is the anecdote. Here’s why:
Most stakeholders go home at the end of the day and stop thinking about your problems. Bob doesn’t. He can’t. He cares with a rare intensity. When the challenges seem insurmountable, call Bob. Bob combines this intensity with an emotional intelligence that borders on telepathic.
Expect tough love from Bob. Like the best athletic coaches, he’s not one to mince words or spare punches. He hits you with the hard truths you need to hear. And it’s clear he’s lived all the hard truths a hundred time: The top performer who breaks with cultural norms. The toxic conflicts between personal ambition and corporate success. Breakdowns in camaraderie. It’s in Bob’s blood to unroot issues and support you as long as you have the will to be coached.
Along the way, Bob taught me near everything I know about how to hire the right people. He’s sourced multiple executive leaders for my team, vetted countless more strong additions, and steered us clear of subtle red flags. I trust him to scale the right people structure, because he knows organizations and he knows my people in and out and better than anyone else.
Sometimes Bob doesn’t seem human. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to compare Bob’s impact on organizations to the likes of the legendary Bill Campbell. Non-normal. When I run out of ceo days, whenever that may be, I can only aspire to have the degree of talent and the kindness of heart that Bob possesses, and to do a fraction of what he does for teams." Frank Mycroft, CEO and Co-founder Booster Fuels, Inc.
"When I was first introduced to Bob six years ago, the mutual connection who made the introduction told me at the time, "Bob is really one of kind. There's no one quite like him. He's a unique individual with a special ability to diagnose problems and change businesses overnight." I took that as hyperbole and assumed he was being overly generous. Turns out that description was spot on.
Since that introduction in 2013 Bob has helped me grow ChowNow from a tiny startup with a few employees to a company with 230 employees across multiple offices. Describing Bob as a special advisor or consultant wouldn't be fair or accurate. He's much more than that. When Bob gets involved with a company he goes all in. He spends time getting to know as many people on the team as possible, as quickly as possible. He builds relationships, almost always in-person regardless of the travel required, and then dedicates himself to growing those relationships into something meaningful. He must have logged 15,000+ miles over the years, all in order to build these meaningful relationships.
It's through these deep conversations that Bob is able to spot opportunities and potential issues before anyone else. I'm still not exactly sure how he does it, but I assume the pattern recognition comes from years of working with different companies and teams, and when it's paired with his innate ability to truly understand people, it produces special outcomes.
Bob's dedication to his craft and his ability to transform companies is unmatched, and anyone who has worked with him will tell you the same." Chris Webb, CEO and Co-founder ChowNow.
"We had the great pleasure of having Bob lead several sessions on coaching and leadership during our inaugural summit for Boeing HorizonX Ventures portfolio CEOs. Bob was one of the most genuine and engaging speakers and his thought-provoking messages resonated with a diverse audience. Bob’s ability to bring out a special vulnerability and openness was particularly impactful to all that attended and it created a more natural and honest conversation around lessons learned and best practices.
Bob was an invaluable piece of our summit and would be an incredible addition to any event where he can lend perspective to burgeoning leaders." Brian Schettler, Senior Managing Director, Boeing HorizonX Ventures.
“I hired Bob at Mobile Mini to help us build out a 100+ employee National Sales Center. Not only did he help us accomplish that, he transformed the company and me. He became my business partner and I now consider him my business mentor. It is very unusual to find someone who understands sales, service, organizational structure, human behavior, empathy, importance of questioning the status quo, coaching, goals, analytics and values profit over just revenue growth. We went from a pure activity KPI driven sales organization to a purpose, outcome and intent driven company. He is focused, driven and intense to continuous improvement and active coaching. He taught us how to hire for passion, teamwork and unique employee talents.
Bob turned our compensation plan upside down and lowered compensation per deal but overall compensation increased as a result of stronger performance. He drives change by changing the way you frame and solve problems, hire employees, and develop employees and management by raising expectations in a philosophy based model. Why wouldn’t you want a company where employees treat customers as if they were helping their mom make a purchase, a company where you would want your friend or family member to work, and a company where everyone is striving to reach their own potential by living outside their comfort zone. An environment where employees and management look inward for their own and their team’s opportunities to grow centered on a common purpose. It sounds easy to do but is the most difficult thing I have ever done. In the end, it is much more rewarding for employees, managers and owners. I do not give very many recommendations but I would have no reservation recommending Bob to anyone looking to transform their organization for scale and sustained growth. Bob is simply the best of the best!” Steve Bunger, CEO ProBox Storage and former Founder/CEO of Mobile Mini (Nasdaq: MINI)
"I have had the honor and pleasure of being in the trenches with Bob while building 2 fast-scaling companies in very different industries over a span of 7+ years. Bob has world-class business sense, people instinct, and customer orientation. As a company grows, there are hundreds of ways it can start to bend if not break. Bob has a uniquely voracious hunger to ensure that doesn't happen. His passion for improvement is like nothing I've ever seen. Bob will go to the end of the earth to help you build a strong foundation for an organization that stands the test of time. Partnering with him will catapult forward your clarity of vision, complete team alignment, and unwavering commitment to the customer. These are the principles often overlooked by executives or mentors that focus merely on the tactics of day-to-day operations. It's these very elements that have saved us numerous times over when difficult situations put the entire company to the test. Without Bob's foundational principles, we would simply not be where we are today." Matt Humphrey, Partner at Quiet Capital, Co-Founder/CEO of LendingHome and former Co-Founder HomeRun.com and Forbes Top 30 under 30
“Never before or since have I learned as much from one man. Bob Olson has an unmatched intensity and passion for building great teams. Working with Bob sometimes means uncomfortable conversations, long days, and questioning your own long held beliefs, but it also means learning, growth and results.” Alan Chambless, Vice President of Customer Success at Weebly (acquired by Square) and former Vice President of Customer Experience and Sales at Kabam and Reputation.com
"Part experience and pattern recognition, part human understanding, and part deep questioning, Bob guides you to elucidate your own path and become the best version of an individual, team, and organization that you were meant be. The journey is filled with passion and intensity, but the result is nothing short of transformative - both personally and professionally. The scoreboard is not simply quantitative, although our internal metrics universally improved, the ethos of the organization is better for having him involved." Josh Zacharias, Founder of HiThrive and Ailena Ventures and former Senior Director of Business Operations and Analytics at IO
“Bob Olson has the unique ability to diagnose the root causes of complex problems hindering a team from maximizing their potential. In working with him the past two years - Bob has proven that without strong convictions around one’s values and principles, success will not be realized and conflict and confusion will ensue. By identifying these root causes - he forces those around him to raise the bar on themselves, their teams, and their peer organizations on how they treat and solve for a customer - and how they treat and solve for one another.”
“Bob will demand everyone around him to be courageous in every action you must take to begin to grow and improve. In doing so, he makes you realize the maximum potential of yourself and your teams while solving the root problems, washing away the symptoms you thought plagued you from success. I personally have benefited immensely in my time working with Bob - it has made me a better leader, and a better person.” Austin Brizgys, Head of Sales at Stripe and former Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Booster Fuels and Head of North American Sales, SMB, at Google
“I have never seen one person make such a positive impact on an entire organization in such a short period of time - that’s Bob Olson. He has the innate ability to walk into a business and within days have people and teams changing the way they think and operate. Bob possesses a unique blend of truly understanding the human psyche and what it takes to successfully operate a profitable business. I have not met one CEO that Bob has worked with that has not said to me: “Bob changed the way I think and operate, and my team and company are in a better place because of Bob”. Often, they will share the impact that Bob has had on their personal life as well. When you have had the pleasure of working directly with Bob, you know precisely how they feel.” Rod Browning, Vice President Sales at Porch.com (NASDAQ: PRCH) and former Vice President Sales and Merchant Services at Rearden Commerce
"Bob is a true steward of developing talent from the C-Suite, Senior Level Executives, to individual contributors and front line teams. He builds – based on the person, not on the pedigree. He makes people uncomfortable for the right reasons with pure intent – for the betterment of the business, the team, and the shared and agreed upon values of the team. You can win across the board and feel amazing about doing it the right way without feeling lonely at the top! Bob teaches you how to deliver results through people. You must be ready to let your guard down, take your mask off, and believe that through people and a common set of beliefs that are shared and lived not just talked about you will find that uncommon results and impossible things are possible though the delivery of his techniques and leadership. If you are vulnerable enough to learn, he can and will transform any organization. You and your organization will come out on the other side with results you NEVER thought were possible – even in your wildest dreams. There was no better time in my 24-year career then the six years working with Bob both in personal fulfillment and the results we achieved for our customers and company." Tyler Wirtjes, Vice President of Player Support at PXG and former Vice President of Sales and Customer Service at Endurance International Group (NASDAQ: EIGI) and GoDaddy.com (NYSE: GDDY)
"Bob will stand there, and live in the moment of pain with you. The pain that we find ways to skirt around or not face as key leaders that create the deepest most systemic problems in our organizations. And together face the deepest challenges until an equilibrium is reached in a way teams of five operate like eight and are ten times happier doing it in less time than your next two product releases and sales kick offs" Michael Zippiroli, Vice President of Sales at NexHealth, former Vice President of Customer Experience (Consumer Mortgage Segment) at LendingHome and Chief Customer Officer at BrightBytes