Ric Franzi

As a Business Partner with Renaissance Executive Forums, we help Orange County's leading technology, healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and professional services executives align their vision, strategy, and execution through collective intelligence, just like we did for a recent member.
 
This business founder wanted to exit the business. However, he and his key executive did not have a management team capable of making decisions or running the business.
 
They recognized the company depended on them for all decision-making. They needed to know how to change that culture despite previous failed attempts.
 
Through insights and advice from the group, they came to realizations that led to significant breakthroughs, including:
 
・Enrolling the founder and his partner in separate peer groups
・Developing a strategic planning process
・Identifying manager interdependencies and leadership capabilities
・Developing models for hiring, marketing, finances, managing inventory, and developing employees
・Mapping out an effective exit plan with post-exit responsibilities
・Selling the business to the employees through an ESOP
・Creating a company board of directors
・Preparing the partner to become the president
・Recruiting two additional outside directors for the board
 
As a result, the founder could:
 
・Fully cash out six years after starting the sale process
・Give the new president a growth plan to double revenue within five years
・Leave behind a profitable and growing business capable of exploring new geographic markets
 
If you're ready to:
 
・Improve company profitability, sales, and productivity
・Develop more precise performance benchmarks, and
・Obtain new knowledge you can't get anywhere else
 
Let's talk and see if you're a good fit for our Executive Forum.
 
https://richardfranzi.as.me/ExecForumsintroductions

CASE STUDY: How To Execute A Successful Exit Strategy Despite A Pandemic

As a Business Partner with Renaissance Executive Forums, we help Orange County's leading technology, construction, manufacturing, and professional services executives align their vision, strategy, and execution through collective peer intelligence, as we did for our recent member.
 
As the founder of her growing company, she worked 16-hour days, 6-7 days a week, and became a slave to the business.
 
She rarely had time for her children, and the toll of responsibilities prevented her from growing further.
 
Through our group's insights, advice, and accountability, she came to realizations that led to significant breakthroughs, including:
 
・How her behavior contributed to the situation
・The need to fire her #2 employee
・Buffering herself from her operational business needs
・Identifying the qualities necessary for new direct reports
・Building a new management team
・Letting go of being the "firefighter"
・Setting concrete 3-5 year goals
・Mapping out the evolution to allow desired growth
・Financially modeling the financial requirements to support desired growth
 
By prioritizing her essential strategic goals, implementing those ideas, and setting deadlines, within less than two years, she was able to:
 
・Double her clients
・Limit her work days to 8 hours with free weekends
・Take a 2-week work-free vacation with her family for the first time
・Buy a vacation home and plan to spend regular family time there.
・Significantly lower her stress levels and improve her health.
 
If you're ready to:
 
・Improve company profitability, sales, and productivity
・Develop more precise performance benchmarks, and
・Obtain new knowledge you can't get anywhere else
 
Let's talk and see if you're a good fit for our Executive Forum.
 
https://richardfranzi.as.me/ExecForumsintroductions

CASE STUDY:  How To Go From 16-Hour Days To 2-Week Vacations 

Since 2007 I have dedicated my career to creating a safe place for business executives to work on their businesses. 

"Experience is the best teacher, but some business lessons are best learned vicariously through the experiences of your peer business owners."  

I am the Orange County Business Partner for Renaissance Executive Forums, an international CEO organization with over 2,500 members.

I know that it is lonely at the top, having served as President and for a global, 700-person engineering and manufacturing firm for five years.

For business owners and executives who are leading companies with 5 to 250 employees, I stimulate original thinking to support their critical decisions. I chair CEO Peer Groups for Orange County-based firms.

The peer groups I chair provide a safe place where members can learn from each other, share their experiences, and ultimately improve the performance of their firms over the long term.

My members create a unique environment where they trust each other to provide honest and unbiased feedback for their most pressing issues and opportunities. 

Many times the process simply ensures my members are moving in the right direction eliminating the trial and error approach so common in today's ever-changing business world.

The peer group helps to illuminate and magnify possible new ideas and approaches to the business challenges CEOs and business owners face every day.

Finally, over time membership in a Renaissance Executive Forums CEO Peer Group guides members to develop a deeper self-awareness enabling them to release the true potential of their firm and live impactful lives.

Business Partner-Orange County

I am the author of 3 books written for executives of small companies. My original book was the first ever written on the sustainable value of CEO Peer Groups®.  My second book explores the importance of a CEO's mindset. My latest book looks at how unintended consequences can damage a leader's effectiveness and a firm's performance.

Business Author

A nationally recognized keynote speaker and workshop facilitator.   

Here is what clients say about him:
"Richard was a keynote speaker at our industry's 2017 CEO Retreat. He also facilitated a peer-learning workshop for this group of 200+ CEOs. He fostered a safe environment for the participants to share their experiences and to learn from each other. Richard's keynote was his “Killing Cats Leads to Rats” presentation, based on his 3rd book. He was well-received, and the participants appreciated his humor and approach to facilitating peer learning."-David Jennings, Vice President of Education, Community Associations Institute.

I speak to audiences of CEOs and business executives who are leading middle market firms on concepts relating to peer learning for business executives.

I bring ideas and concepts to executive and management teams that will improve their performance.  I present my concepts in a fast-paced, fun manner to engage the audience to learn the concepts and retain them.

Keynote Speaker ∙ Workshop Facilitator

Critical Mass Business Talk Show

Critical Mass Business Talk Show has a deep and rich catalog of interviews in our archives. To listen to past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews, visit podcast.criticalmassforbusiness.com or youtube.com/richardfranzi

Business Talk Show Host

Dekra-Lite Industries, Inc.

Located in the heart of Orange County, Dekra-Lite has been a leader in commercial Christmas Decorating since 1987. Bringing a fresh and innovative approach to holiday decorating, we are the premier decorator for hundreds of commercial properties, amusement parks and cities across the country. As experts in commercial Christmas decorating, our staff is able to assist in every aspect of transforming your property for the holidays, from design to installation. In addition to carrying a wide array of dazzling products to choose from, we also fabricate custom decor pieces. This enables us to fulfill every one of our clients’ specific needs, making their vision come to life. Years of experience paired with extensive industry knowledge makes Dekra-Lite the ideal choice for your property, no matter how large or small.

Chairman Board Of Directors-ESOP

Cal Pac Sheet Metal, Inc.

OC Metals is committed to being a single source for specialty contractors and the building industry for Custom and Standard Architectural Metals, Metal Roofing, Rain Gutter Carrying, Waterproofing and products and accessories associated. We offer and stock a comprehensive line of products in addition to custom fabricating to project specifications. Tools, fasteners, and sealants are required for every job and we don't want our customers driving around spending time and money looking for these specific accessories. OC Metals has listened to what our customers consider the best manufacturers who deliver the best products and we stock our shelves with these accessory lines and pass the savings on to our customers. When it comes to custom fabrication we strive for accuracy with a quick turnaround. Our promise is Value and Service. We want to be part of your team, offering you that competitive advantage needed in today's market place.

Member Of The Board Of Advisors

The Value Builder System™

I lead CEO Peer Groups made up of business owners who are running companies with 5 to 250 employees who are focused on improving the value of their business by applying the concepts within the The Value Builder System.  

This system is a scientific methodology proven to increase the value of a business.

After analyzing over 40,000 businesses, the average Value Builder Score is 59 out of 100. If you look at the acquisition offers these businesses have received, the average offer is 3.5 times pretax profit.

The Value Builder users who have improved their score to 90 or greater-by following the system- are receiving offers of 7.1 times pretax profit on average.

Advisor

Forbes Coaches Council

As a former member of the council, I submitted thought leadership articles and short tips on industry related topics for publication on Forbes.com

My focus was on understanding how unintended consequences arise from strategic business decisions made by CEOs and executive teams.  I also be explored how best to avoid, reduce or mitigate the negative effects of unintended consequences on business performance and employee morale.

Columnist

Aptiv (Formerly Delphi Connection Systems)

Grew top line revenue by $20 million (40%) while implementing process improvements through Lean Initiative, Six Sigma on other tools, redesigned our business model by converting to a Business Line Profit and Loss Structure with 4 Business Units, led the creation, adoption and execution of a 5-year vision that drove our entry into new markets while expanding our global customer base and market penetration.
 
Each of these steps were required to unleash the firm's true potential for growth and financial performance. 

Full P&L responsibility.  Led a global team of 15 direct reports and 700 employees.

Top executive with oversight of all engineering, finance, manufacturing/operations, quality, sales, marketing, human resources and IT functions.

President

Hired to build new sales channels and revitalize the company's position in existing markets.  Expanded markets to encompass: medical devices, military, industrial controls, computer products and automotive interconnects.

Executive Vice President for Global Sales

Clearview Networks

Early stage, VC funded start-up internet video technology firm.  Senior Sales and Marketing Executive responsible for building the marketing and sales strategy for leading-edge Internet video/audio monitoring technology to attract clients, investors, media and prepare the firm for a future IPO.

Executive Vice President Sales Marketing

Lantronix, Inc.

Senior Sales Executive responsible for developing systems and procedures to enable this privately owned firm to conduct an IPO.  

Recruited to fill the position from existing employer specifically for my demonstrated skills in building professional sales teams and my experience working for publicly traded corporations.

Vice President of Global Sales

☎ TEXT Me: 949-887-4104 | ✉ rfranzi@ref.global | 🌐ricfranzi.com | Complete my Executive Empowerment Quiz and receive a FREE copy of my book "Critical Mass: The 10 Explosive Powers of CEO Peer Groups". The book shows you how to unlock your company's true potential and value, overcome common threats in today's business climate, and propel you and your organization to the next level! 🎁 

https://bit.ly/3NWGthw

ʜᴀʀɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴄᴏʟʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ ɪɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ -- ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴ ꜰᴏʀ ꜱᴜᴄᴄᴇꜱꜱꜰᴜʟ ᴄᴇᴏ’ꜱ, ᴘʀᴇꜱɪᴅᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴜꜱɪɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴏᴡɴᴇʀꜱ

You probably already know that your whole company is greater than the sum of its departments.

As your organization's leader, it's your job to ensure that every department performs as well as possible.

However, your organization will face challenging events and decisions as it develops and moves forward. You will need to know more regarding the following: 

⚠️ Emerging technologies,
⚠️ Rapidly evolving regulations and social responsibilities,
⚠️ Agile competitors continually test your adaptation ability.

Most of us must improve our ability to identify gaps in our knowledge and sometimes feel isolated or unsure regarding new tasks and challenges. 

My name is Ric Franzi. I'm a happy husband, father, international keynote speaker, Amazon best-selling author, and the host of Orange County's longest-running business talk show.

As the president of a global manufacturing firm, I know that being a CEO can be stressful, and there is a need to understand that the decisions you make are optimal. 

Nobody is an island. We all need others to help us with decision-making. 
I have found a group of people who understand that situation and help with valuable insights and advice when making informed decisions. They have enabled me to grow my company's revenue by 40%.  

In 2007 I left my corporate job to lead local private peer groups and help others use this compelling process.

I am now a nationally recognized thought leader on the power of collective intelligence and a Business Partner with Renaissance Executive Forums. I help OC business leaders discover their ability to make lasting positive changes in their lives and organizations.

Through this process, I want to help you and make you feel like a leader. 

👉 Please be my guest and discover how collective intelligence helps solve problems to keep your company ahead of the curve and allows you to get a good night's sleep.

BeddownLDR

Honored, excited... and a little bit intimidated... to launch this new leadership development business with an incredible group of Veterans and business experts! Our mission is to share the latest and greatest thinking from the Corporate world to help Military leaders to excel in highly ambiguous, fluid and increasingly chaotic situations.

We have learned so much and it's time to give back. Visit www.BeddownLDR.com to find out more.

Co-Founder

Shift Business Transformation LLC

I am Managing Partner at /shift and an expert in the large-scale, end-to-end Agile transformation of companies looking for their next level of performance. Through my experiences across telco, banking and retail, I have built up a wealth of strategic and operational knowledge around business agility and implementing Agile ways of working at scale - becoming an 'expert witness' with regard to how to make it successful, and make it stick. Key areas of expertise include:

- Business agility & scaled Agile               
- Organisational design                              
- Agile ways of working                              
- Strategic alignment, vision & purpose   
- Quarterly planning & QBR cadence       
- Value delivery & flow of work                 
- Executive Team performance
- Leadership development
- Mindset change
- Tribe Lead & CAL mentoring 
- Work visibility & accountability
- Culture of high performance

Please get in touch to understand how we can help you /shift your business to the next level.

Managing Partner

McKinsey & Company

Senior Advisor, Transformation for McKinsey clients who are considering or already implementing enterprise-level business agility, operating model and ways-of-working transformations. I work with clients in North America, LATAM, Europe, Asia and Australia/NZ.

Senior Advisor, Transformation

The Warehouse Group

•	Key advisor and partner in operating model design, involving 1000 roles across 15 Tribes and 14 Chapter Areas – transitioning $3.6bn of run-rate revenue into a new Agile operating model
•	Complete operating model transformation during COVID-I9 – achieving immediate 15% increase in work efficiency with no negative impact on trading performance despite pandemic
•	Leadership and operating model coach for ‘Frontrunner’ Tribes, successfully moving Apparel, Click&Collect and Enterprise Data groups as first-movers into the Agile model
•	Influential member of a Leadership Team that achieved FY21 NPAT increase of 164% with sales +7.6% and customer NPS +7.5pts
•	Implemented completely new ways of working that boosted head office eNPS by +17pts (to +44)
•	Designed and delivered 2-day “Agile Bootcamp” for 980 participants via Zoom – the largest virtual Agile event of its type ever created
•	Established TWG Agile Centre of Excellence, developing 27 Agile Coaches to achieve IC Agile accreditation
•	Lead the team to design and deliver complete training programme all key roles: Product Owners (90), Chapter Leads (95), Chapter Area Leads (14) and Tribe Leads (15)
•	Achieved Y1 ‘Agile 360 Maturity Assessment’ score of 6.3 – +7% above global benchmarks (McKinsey Clients)
•	Leadership coach for The Warehouse Executive Team - mentor and coach to all Tribe Leads (Former GMs)
•	Developed 3-yr Enterprise Agility Roadmap to accelerate innovation and value delivery

Agile COE Lead (CTO)

The future of retail is both challenging and exciting, and change is in the air at the Warehouse Group as they move to an Agile@Scale operating model in late 2020. I am working with the Warehouse Leadership Team and McKinsey on their transformation, with a key focus on coaching the new Tribe Leads in the 'Frontrunner Tribes':

1. Iteration of the Agile operating model design
2. Launch of so-called 'Frontrunner Tribes' to test, iterate and learn
3. Tribe Lead coaching and mentoring
4. Mindset, behavioural change and the culture of high performance
5. Purpose development and OKR setting
6. QBR process and outcome delivery

Agile Consultant and Tribe Lead Coach

ASB Bank

I'm excited to be working with the Leadership Team at ASB on their Customer Experience transformation. Called PACE, it's all about introducing new ways of working into the bank, designed to deliver "better, sooner and safer" for customers. The PACE transformation team are responsible for:

1. Designing a completely new operating model for the bank based on x-functional teams using Agile, Human Centered Design and Lean methodologies

2. Developing and implementing a Practice/Chapter model which aligns all capabilities and resources across the bank

3. Designing interaction models which govern how all divisions of the bank work 'in' or 'with' the new operating model

5. Developing the funding and governance frameworks that make the model work

5. Rolling out a comprehensive mindset and behavioural change programme that is so central to a successful transformation of this scale

6. Launching so-called 'Pioneer tribes' to test, iterate and learn as the new model takes shape

ASB continues to be a company that is extremely successful. PACE is a large scale transformation designed to ensure the company keeps-up with the increasing expectations of both its customer and its people.

Agile & CX Transformation

Spark New Zealand

Very proud to be leading the B2B teams at Spark NZ as we complete the largest Agile @ scale transformation in APAC region. After 7 months of organisational design, we set off from July 1st 2018 with all IT, data, product, marketing and CX teams working as cross functional, end-to-end Squads to improve our focus on the customer and our speed of delivery. 

Super-excited for our customers and our thousands of employees as we become the first Telco in the world to go 'all-in'!

•	Leads the $1.7bn Business customer Segment for New Zealand's largest Telco and IT company
•	Direct report to Chief Customer Officer and member of Business Leadership Squad
•	Part of a 20-person core team who successfully designed and implemented the Agile transformation of Spark – the only telco in the world to go ‘all-in’
•	Responsible for the Business Tribe, comprising fully Agile Squads with x-functional, end-to-end capabilities including marketing, products and propositions, customer experience (CX), digital enablement, data enablement, sales & marketing automation, research and insights
•	Go-to-market responsibility for all business telco and IT products, services and solutions
•	Responsible for Value Added Services and the experience of being a business customer
•	Channel support and stakeholder management including over 350 sales personnel
•	Leading cultural change through employee empowerment, lifting employee NPS from +25 to +72

Tribe Lead, Business

A passionate and dynamic brand marketer who proudly lead his colleagues at Spark NZ to realize their potential as a data-driven, digital marketing team. As the boundaries between b2b and b2c continue to blur, Spark continues to be a company knee-deep in transformation that is delivering impressive business improvement.

•	Led business marketing at New Zealand's largest ICT Telco and IT company
•	Member of leadership team responsible for $410m EDITDA on revenues of $1.3bn FY16
•	Unification of multiple brands in market to one brand, ‘Spark NZ’
•	Responsible for acquisition and loyalty programmes, reducing churn by over 40% FY16
•	Responsible for sales and marketing automation programme, including Salesforce, Apttus CPQ and Adobe platforms
•	Key sponsor of “Little Victories” cultural transformation programme across 5000 people that is underpinning Spark digital transformation and its return to growth after 10 years of decline
•	Member of business transformation team specifically focusing on reimagining the ICT SOHO and SME markets
•	Design Thinking advocate as Spark increasingly reorganizes its business around the customer

CMO, Business

OpenAmplify LLC

Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer of OpenAmplify, bringing ‘Actionable Social Data’ to the SaaS CRM market with awesome partners like Salesforce and Zendesk.

API platform with over 10k users. Brand and Agency customers including Unilever, Visible Measures, Shell, Hilton, Razorfish, Publicis.

From a base in San Francisco, led business development, sales and marketing. Responsible for strategic partnerships and closely involved in product strategy, focusing in 2014 on OpenAmplify’s exciting new TRIBES social CRM product.

Co-Founder & CRO

OpenAmplify Ltd

Making Sense of Social™

At the intersection of Big Data and Social Media, OpenAmplify is helping the largest companies on the web to better understand, manage and monetize their social data.

OpenAmplify’s multi-patented text analysis platform automatically turns the flood of social conversation into insightful, actionable data - enabling brands to embrace social media, create deeper customer relationships, and drive revenue from their social investments. 

Changing the world, a billion posts at a time.

Founder & CEO

Hapax Limited

Led buy-out of Swedish company. Secured ownership of all technical, human and IP assets. Managed investor relations during a very challenging transition. Rebuilt the company from ground up, executed internal and external comms programs, launching new products and structuring full-service social media agency capability for 600+ customers.

Hapax Information Systems

Founding team of Ai / ML / NLP technology company in Stockholm, Sweden - focused on NLP search engine technology. Managed internal and external comms. as company quickly accelerated to 60 people. Successfully launched the world’s first AI-search engine in B2B & B2C markets via thought leadership, marketing & PR programs.

Marketing Director

If you’re a CEO who feels like AI is moving faster than your ability to respond, you are exactly who I work with...

The AI era is moving faster than any change in business history. For founders and CEOs, the challenge isn’t just keeping up - it’s knowing where to start.

I work with leaders who feel the weight of uncertainty and the urgency of action. They know that doing nothing risks falling behind, but they’re also wary of making expensive moves without a clear strategy.

Over the last decade, I’ve worked at C-level with companies from fast-growth scale-ups to multi-billion-dollar enterprises, helping them:

- Design organisations that move with speed and agility
- Build high-performing teams that harness AI as a force-multiplier
- Lead confidently in the face of complexity and constant change

The result: we help organisations move 100x faster from data to decision, unlock 10x more value from their teams, and seize opportunities before competitors even see them coming.

Specialties:

> Organisational design & effectiveness
> High-performing teams & leadership development
> Business agility & scaled-agile ways of working
> AI-enabled decision-making & execution
> Executive team coaching & key role mentoring

If you’re feeling the weight of AI disruption and don’t know where to start, you’re not alone. I can help you cut through the noise, act with clarity, and lead your organisation into the future.

Book a FREE discovery call: 
https://calendly.com/mark-redgrave/intro-call

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Ric Franzi

Mark Redgrave

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