Rob Schade
President, Strategyn Consulting
Locale: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Biography: Rob Schade runs Strategyn’s global consulting business, which includes offices in the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific. He is also a trusted advisor to senior leadership teams at a variety of companies representing the medical device, CPG, financial services, manufacturing and technology sectors.
Before joining Strategyn, Rob led sales and marketing activities for early stage technology start-ups. With an expertise in new product introduction, he helped companies catalyze the critical sales and marketing activities needed to ensure early stage success. He still serves on advisory boards for start-ups and is co-founder of Strategyn Ventures.
Rob started his career in public accounting and consulting at Touche Ross & Co, (now Deloitte & Touche), where he specialized in financial services. After several years, he joined the Emerging Growth Business Consulting Group and provided finance and strategy consulting to early stage companies.
Bitten by the entrepreneur’s bug, he left consulting and created a profitable entertainment business, paying back investors in less than two years. After selling the business, he joined an early stage technology hardware start-up. There, he led the sales efforts and produced 70 percent yearly compounded growth over five years. After the successful sale of the company, he worked in senior sales, marketing and business development positions for three technology companies that were either acquired or taken public and has consulted with many more.
Personal: I’m married with a young daughter. When I’m not reading business books, I find time to play guitar and hit the tennis ball. I’m also into cycling, swimming and running and looking for a few new triathlons to compete in.
Last Good Read: An article analyzing Peter Drucker’s thoughts on innovation, growth and the organization, and a book on behavioral economics.
Great Memory: On my first date with my wife, we went to the Greek Isles.
What Keeps Me Energized: Helping clients transform their company. Sharing ODI theory with great thinkers. Debating the future of innovation with others.