Meet Wendy › Interview With Wendy

What should every business know about Wendy Kennedy before they contact you for help?

That I don’t walk in with all the answers. That’s not my style. I ask probing questions to be sure the business has sufficient insight to build informed answers for their situation. The best answers come from having done the spadework – so I expect clients who engage with me be prepared to roll up their sleeves and get involved. It’s a process that takes commitment and hard work but the results are worth the effort.

Why is that important?

Part of my process is to give them a methodology and tools to work out the answers, today and in the future, as their business grows and changes. Unlike other service firms, my goal is to inject new capabilities in to the company versus solving only the immediate problems. The company can then use these skills ongoing as events and market conditions change.

Can you summarize your experience in two sentences?

I’ve spent more than 20 years working in and with high-growth, founder-driven companies, from three-person start ups to 250-person companies. I understand the operational stresses and business challenges that early stage companies face.

What other experience do have that contributes to your current work?

I think my previous career as a teaching professor provides some distinctive skills. I have extensive experience taking complex business models and turning them in to practical, real-world business tools. I’ve lead management development programs for corporate executive teams so I have special expertise in working with professionals who demand high value. So I am different from others because I have been a corporate executive plus I have a special ability to teach others.

Do you have particular market sector expertise?

High growth technology business is my expertise, broadly speaking. That includes sectors in North America and Europe such as telecommunications, software, biotech, multi-media and services.

You talk about your proven methodology for helping entrepreneurs to define their business value. What is that methodology?

It’s called So what? who cares? why you?, and I’ve used with more than 1,000 entrepreneurs in three continents. It’s a straight forward method for articulating the business opportunity that an entrepreneurial idea represents. It’s also a framework, which means that once a company has it, they can use it again and again. So what? who cares? why you? is a dynamic, living framework– not an academic model – that works to focus an entrepreneur or team on key business building pillars: customers, competitors, channels, and category.

O.K., Wendy … So what? who cares? why you?

Good question! I’ll give you the short answer first – my pitch:

“For entrepreneurs in high-growth industries who are experiencing growing pains and failing to fully capitalize on the business value of their idea, I offer a proven methodology for building a competitive edge into the business. I do that by providing a hands-on, dynamic set of tools to answer key growth questions. Unlike management consultants and “executives for hire,” I bridge the experience of having done it as an executive with a proven methodology so that it stays with the company long after I’m gone.”

Now, let me break that down for you in terms of the So what? who cares? why you? methodology.

“So what?” is the business problem you are solving. The problem I solve is bridging the gap between a great idea and a solid business proposition. Many companies fail to fully capitalize on the business value of an idea. My expertise is working with entrepreneurs to uncover that business value, then build that into a compelling business platform.

“who cares?” most about solving this problem? For me, entrepreneurs in high growth sectors like technology care most about solving that problem. They are looking for the support they need to build a viable business – that may be funding, partnerships, customers or all three. In doing so, they are regularly asked by investors, advisors, and others for the business due diligence for their idea.

“why you?” expresses what makes you different in a way that will win against competitors in your market. What makes me different is a unique combination of having done it and having the ability to teach it to others. I’ve been in the operational field of fire at the executive level of high-growth technology businesses and I’ve been a teaching professor. I’ve lived the pain my clients feel and I live this pain as I work with clients. That’s what makes the So what? who cares? why you? method and tools a unique, hands-on, working framework tailored to entrepreneurs.