About Dando

kirk-dando

I’ve been there

I spent years working as a C-level executive in a profitable company we grew to $1 billion. It was a fun ride, but I found truth in the old adage: “It’s lonely at the top.” I learned the road to heaven does go through hell…and it’s worth it.  The problem was no one ever told me the dirty little secret: SOME RESULTS THAT LOOK LIKE SUCCESS ultimately breed failure. 

No one normalized the journey for me and told me that on our way to profitable growth, we would pick up predictable – and therefore preventable - bad habits that would eventually create business train wrecks. Sure, I had countless consultants, coaches, board members, team members, books, seminars, white papers, C-level peer groups, etc. that were all willing to give me advice, but implementing that advice was like wrestling with a ghost…it’s hard.

I remember wishing I had someone with “real” experience who was objective and could help me normalize and predict the journey of how to build a business that could scale, and would teach me and my team how to become problem-predictors instead of problem-solvers. This would have saved me a lot of stressful, lonely car rides home, sleepless nights and mind-numbing conversations with myself that, come to find out, were not necessary. 

Once we sold that business, I became just such an advocate.  Now I work with visionary C-level executives and their teams to strategically build businesses that will scale. They no longer have to grow their business through trial and error.

It’s about “real” experience

Over the past 15 years, I’ve interviewed and coached thousands of business executives and their teams, studying the patterns and problems of scaling a business.  While most executives and their teams are subject matter experts, allowing them to operate well in their position and in their industry, they typically have little experience in scaling a business beyond a certain point. That leaves them to learn how to grow their business haphazardly. 

I strongly believe there is a distinct difference between growing a business haphazardly and building a business that can scale.  And in that difference lies the true definition of leadership.  In this chaotic business environment, leaders must be able to see around corners and predict the problems BEFORE they show up in the results.  Too many leaders are not doing this, which is why there are so many business train wrecks out there.

The fact of the matter is, we get what we set ourselves up for!

Who can you turn to?

When you realize that your business needs to stop growing through trial and error and instead strategically plan how to scale– to whom do you turn? My experience and 15 years of research into what it takes to build scalability into the fabric of any company, has given me what Jim Susman of STG Design calls “uncommon insight.”  Brett Hurt, CEO of Bazaarvoice, said “Kirk is like the Company Whisper, he definitely understands the challenges you will face as you scale.”

I can help you see your business through my eyes – to find and exploit the successes while predicting the problems you’ll face as your company navigates its way to become what you and your team believe it can be.

If the road to heaven does go through hell, I want to help you make sure it is a “day” trip and not a “daily” trip!

On-going Relationships that Work

“Kirk has had a tremendous, positive impact on every aspect of our company operations. We are a much better company because of his guidance.”

Rocky Turner
Founder and President, LPR Construction, Loveland, CO

“Dando’s advice helped us remain profitable despite a 50% sales decline in the last year. Dando’s broad and practical experience with evolving organizations adds tremendous value to our strategic planning process.”

Tim Self
President, Applied Mechanical, Austin, TX

Dando’s  12 Warning Signs of Success™

Are any of these common Warning Signs of Success™ holding your company back?

  1. Cultural Decay: The corporate culture is under attack. US vs. THEM becomes more prevelant.  What was once considered a non-negotiable way of operating starts to get compromised.
  2. Unqualified people in key positions.: These include friends, family members or long-term loyal employees who are not qualified to occupy key positions.
  3. Poor Communications: There is a lack of authentic and transparent communication that engenders trust. Senior managers lack direct contact with day-to-day operations and are losing control.  Problem solving meetings become awkward, time consuming and, at times, ineffective.
  4. Leadership Void: The leaders roles are not appropriately defined considering the company’s size and leadership needs. Leaders do not actively seek out opportunities to challenge and grow themselves along with the business.  The differences between a business owner and a business leader have become blurred.
  5. Careless growth: Diversifications into products or new businesses do not fit the company’s expertise and market experience. Sometimes acquisitions are made or new products are introduced before the company is properly structured to integrate them. This drains cash, time and focus.
  6. Management Deficiency: The executive leadership and management team spend far too much time “working in the business” versus “working on the business.’
  7. “Rake” Organization: Too many people reporting to the president and/or other senior staffers. Thus, the senior management team feels overwhelmed and really does not operate as an aligned team to guide, plan, lead and manage the company.
  8. Strategic Anemia: The company lacks a strategic plan that gets and keeps the proper focus and/or the plan never really gets implemented.
  9. Systems Outgrown or Obsolete: Accounting, financial performance reporting and control systems and processes are obsolete for the size and complexity of the company.
  10. Poor Financial Performance: Data needed to make critical decisions is not available, appropriately gathered, easily accessible or properly analyzed.  The data is not considered as important as an individual’s personal sense of what is right.
  11. Poor Rewards: The middle and senior management compensation process is not tied to accountability and results or the metrics do not drive the right behaviors.
  12. Imprecise Accountability: Clarity is lacking in management accountability and in designing and using the data needed for creating accountability.

The Results Speak for Themselves – Whatever the Industry

A representative list of clients:

Four Hands

  • Import/Wholesale in Austin, TX
  • $25 – $35 million in annual sales
  • “Fastest Growing Companies in the USA,” Inc. Magazine

LPR Construction

  • Industrial and Commercial Construction
  • Loveland, Colorado
  • $50 – $75 million in annual sales
  • “Largest Subcontractors,” ENR

TST, Inc.

  • Civil Engineering, Fort Collins, CO
  • $4-8 million in annual sales
  • Business Leader of the Year

Bazaarvoice

  • Social Commerce Technology, Austin, Texas
  • $15 – $25 million in annual sales

Bury + Partners

  • Civil Engineering in Austin, TX
  • $30 – $40 million in annual sales
  • “Top Largest Engineering Firms,” Engineering News Record (ENR)

Grande Communications

  • High Tech business in Austin, TX
  • $190 – $200 million in annual sales
  • “Largest Private Company in Austin,” Austin Business Journal

Central Market

  • Retail Grocer in Austin, TX
  • $250 – $300 million in annual sales
  • Considered by many as a “tourist attraction” in Texas

STG Architects

  • Professional Services in Austin, TX
  • $15 – $25 million in annual sales
  • “Largest Architectural Firm in Austin,” Austin Business Journal

White Construction

  • General Contractor in Austin, TX
  • $250 – $300 million in annual sales
  • “Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies in Austin,” Austin Business Journal
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