Pro Serv Blogs

Pro Serv Blogs

In Era 3, Scaling Is Easy. Solving the Right Problem Is Harder.

Lately, I’ve been revisiting some of the most basic fundamentals of professional services. Not because they’re broken, but because Era 3 is changing how fast firms can scale, and what gets exposed along the way. AI has made it possible to grow a firm faster than most founders ever imagined. Work that took weeks now takes days. Teams can do more with fewer people. Margins can expand quickly. On the surface, it feels like a new playbook.

Pro Serv Blogs

The Tables Are Turning: Why Professional Services Firms Are Raising the Bar Again

Remember 2022? Even 2024? When you’d tolerate almost anything to keep a warm body in a seat? That senior consultant who hadn’t read a client brief in months but was “essential to continuity.” That project manager who turned every 30-minute check-in into a 90-minute therapy session but “knew all the stakeholders.” That analyst whose work needed complete rework every time but “at least they showed up.”

Pro Serv Blogs

How Board Members Can Guide Nonprofits Through Crossroads Moments

At some point in our careers, many of us who’ve found success in business are asked to give back by serving on a nonprofit board.
Becoming a nonprofit board member is both an honor and a recognition of one’s standing in the community. For charitable organizations, adding business leaders to their boards provides invaluable access to those leaders’ brainpower, resources and connections.

Pro Serv Blogs

What 539 Executive Conversations Taught Me in 2025

Last year, I had 539 one-on-one calls with founders and executives of boutique professional services firms. From QBRs to onboardings to sales conversations and diagnostic readouts. After that many conversations, one lesson stands out above the rest: the firms that thrived in 2025 were bold, and the firms that struggled played it safe.