Chip Royce, Flywheel Advisors
Time to read: 6-9 minutes
In 2014, when I started Flywheel Advisors, virtual CFO’s were the only ‘fractional’ service providers. The “fractional sales and marketing executive” was unique. It filled an unmet need for early and mid-stage technology ventures.
Fast forward to the end of 2022. Coming off a stint as full-time CEO for one of my clients, I saw businesses working in different ways.
- Companies no longer claim one city as their headquarters
- AI frees up employees from some soul-sucking tasks
- A flood of experienced professionals seeks a place in the ‘on-demand economy’.
I went to work to ‘re-boot’ Flywheel Advisors with the goal to:
- Fill the needs of high-growth technology firms
- Differentiate from the many ‘Fractional Sales’ or ‘Marketing’ executives flooding the market
- Develop a scalable service delivery model
As 2023 comes to a close, I’m happy to say that we’ve made tremendous progress towards our goals. This sets the stage for an even better 2024.
Our FOCUS
At the end of 2022, I believed that superior customer experiences would unlock growth for most firms. I set about to develop a set of services to help companies in this area.
While I still believe that to be the case, it became clear that a sole focus on customer experience was too “fuzzy” and “high-concept”.
As a result, I focused on developing high-impact, understandable services for clients. Customers understand the benefits of growth and financial stability. Customer experience (Cx) is still important. But, we look at Cx as a ‘tool in the toolbox’, not the primary goal.
In 2023, we refined and delivered two offerings to help companies grow through partnerships.
- Building Winning Indirect Sales Partnerships (end-to-end process to identify partner strategies, create ideal partner profiles, and drive execution through marketing & sales playbooks)
- The “Partner-Ready” Organization (scorecard of your company’s ability to partner, measured by your people, culture, and processes).
We also developed a technology commercialization framework to meet the needs of companies with multi-use technologies (hard tech / deep tech). This framework ensures companies focus on investment into new markets with a company structure for long-term success.
Also, Flywheel Advisors expanded beyond just a fractional executive services model. To ensure we can meet every budget and client need, we added advisory services and consulting capabilities.
Our CLIENTS
In the second half of 2023, these offerings gained traction with many clients. Clients included launch-stage ventures, mid-stage companies, and lower-middle market PE-backed companies.
Several of our clients are under NDA, so we’re unable to divulge. A few we can speak about:
- BlueBird Benefits: technology-enabled wellness benefits for SMBs, funded by Uncle Sam
- Xenspire: Recruitment for technical staff I/T and BioTech, optimized through behavioral data
COMMUNITY-BUILDING
Most of us found business relationships post-covid to be distant, if not neglected. Flywheel set out to build visibility in the Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle, across North Carolina, and with investors and operating executives across the USA.
Raleigh-Durham Community Events Calendar: We created an always-updated calendar of business and tech events. It helps others and keeps track of the 140+ organizations in the triangle. Traffic to the page continues to grow. We appreciate when people thank us for providing this resource.
LinkedIn: I’m approaching 5,000 followers on LinkedIn, sharing insights 4-5 times/week.
Community Efforts: I’ve met many incredible emerging FinTech companies as part of my volunteer efforts with RevTech Labs, a Fintech Accelerator out of Charlotte, NC. I’m also excited to be part of an invaluable resource to the Raleigh-Durham startup community through TechStars Startup Week.
Flywheel Advisors has built strong relationships with other fractionals, consultants, and other partners through these different activities. This bench allows our company to grow beyond my available hours. It also augments our capabilities with brilliant and successful leaders in operations, finance, marketing, and sales. We also have experts to recommend in the legal, financial services, HR, organizational development, and marketing agency space.
IN THE MEDIA
Back in March of 2023, I held a live event on Linkedin, “Why customers help some companies and hurt others.” This deep dive into the impacts of Customer Experience was well received.
From this, we garnered many podcast appearances related to fueling growth, managing risk, and delighting customers.
COMING IN 2024
Keep an eye out for more news in early 2024!
A few hints of what’s to come:
- New clients to announce
- Refine our offerings to help companies capture growth quickly through partnerships and technology commercialization
- Spin a few concepts out into new companies
- More exposure for our firm in media, and partnerships with the venture and private equity communities
THANK YOU!
We thank all of the friends, clients, and partnerships we’ve forged in 2023.
We look forward to working with you to achieve the promise that 2024 brings.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways we can help:
1) Schedule 25 minutes to chat about your businesses: new opportunities, current challenges, aspirations, pretty much anything!
2) Sign up (if you haven’t already) for this newsletter.
3) Read back issues for more insights into how to (re)ignite growth for your company.