Website best practices suggest this page should provide some background on myself and the work I do. If I have been successful it will also provide some unique insight to how I work as an advisor…
As a first generation American (both my parents are Danish) I grew up in an entrepreneurial family living the dream. I’ve traveled a lot in my life (including three years in a motorhome) which has fueled a healthy curiosity about the world and how it works. My wife and I are now “empty-nesters” and live in beautiful Sonoma Valley, California.
In my working life I’ve had many roles, including: a janitor, production worker, contractors “gopher”, structural engineer, President or GM of several companies, CMO (4 times!), investor, global head of growth, author, publisher, public speaker, head of product, head of sales, entrepreneur, salesman, storyteller, trainer, and even product evangelist.
If you are curious, here’s a link to my LinkedIn profile. A common theme to almost every one of these roles (except for the janitor one!) has been a focus on growing the business.
1CMO is my platform for developing and sharing content, for advertising my services and products, and advising/coaching/investing in interesting companies. Perhaps most importantly it is also a vehicle for starting a conversation with kindred business growers. If there is any way I can help you solve your most pressing GTM or strategy challenges let me know.
Working together
- You are a senior level leader, business owner, or entrepreneur seeking to grow your organization, and build a differentiated and disruptive brand that will help you dominate your market.
- Driven by market pressure, a lack of resources, desire for outside input, or some other expedient factor, you need immediate assistance to figure it out and help in getting it done.
- Me: I firmly believe in the business principles outlined here, and bring this disciplined thinking to every client engagement.
- I’m here to help. Here is an overview of the core services I provide to clients.
What I am, and what I’m not
- I am a truth teller. (Strategic planning 101 demands that we put everything on the table and deal with all the facts as we know them. The good. The bad. And, sometimes, the ugly.)
- To encourage strategic thinking, I often play the role of contrarian, or even provocateur.
- I am also a corporate strategist and marketing expert, with a laser focus on helping organizations grow.
- I am open to opportunities. As a consultant, a “fractional” executive, or full-time member of the leadership team if the fit is right. (Let’s talk!)
- I am not a marketing agency. (However, I’m always happy to partner with them.)
- I’m also not a VC, but occasionally I’ll invest in a company, or consider equity as compensation.
- If all of this sounds good…we should connect.
To get started
Send me an email (knorup <at> gmail <dot> com), or call me (mobile: 707-287-6371), with a quick overview of your business and market positioning (i.e. SaaS startup, fintech, pre-revenue. Or, 50 employees, mid-market, PE-backed, national professional services firm, $50M rev, $8M EBITDA. Etc.)
Also boil your challenge down to a paragraph, or even better a sentence. (Yes, this is a bit of a screening test!)
This will start a conversation, and we can then figure out together whether it makes sense to continue our collaboration, or bid each other adieu.
Important disclosures
- Life is short – I only work with people I like and companies that provide value to their customers. So, if you’re a jerk and/or your company is crap, please don’t call me.
- If it is not the right fit, or I think there is someone better suited to serve you, I will tell you.
- If you are not prepared to confront reality, or move quickly, then I cannot help you. (If we are being honest, I’m not sure anybody can…)
- At the end of the day, this is a for profit enterprise. While I am always happy to talk, and provide some level of free advice if you ask for my opinion, at some point you’ll need to pay if you want the really good stuff!
- Also, most of the resources highlighted on this website are free, some are for sale, and a few I might earn a small affiliate stipend for promoting (hopefully enough to pay for the monthly website hosting and cover a glass of wine now and then!) I will always be transparent as to which is which. You can rest assured that I only share what I own or use myself.