De-risk your business transition.
Rimrock's Lean Advisory Boards deliver the expertise entrepreneurs need to grow, exit or restructure— faster, more efficiently, and with a better night's sleep.
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The # 1 mistake made by owners in business transition: insufficient planning.
of Canadian entrepreneurs are looking to exit/retire within 10 years.
Yet most lack a clear plan how they're going to get there.
of assets are in play.
Source: CFIB
Any change related to a change in ownership, including:
Growth
When the shareholder group is expanded, through investment or employee share ownership programs (ESOPs).
Exit
Selling the company.
Succession
When the existing owner(s) step back, including transfers to family members.
Advisory Boards complement and maximize the value of existing expertise.
Management Teams
Often lack exit/transition experience.
Boards of Directors
Exist to approve, not recommend.
Existing Advisors
Typically focus on own domain.
Boards of directors represent shareholders. Advisory Boards are informal sounding boards for management.
Responsibilities
- Increase relevant expertise
- Structure, develop, & test ideas
- Expand connections & options
- Improve decision-making & governance
Structure
- 5 members
- Chair + 2 external + 2 internal
- Quarterly or bi-monthly
- In-person or virtual
Typical Cost
- $50-75K/year (not including set-up)
- Depending on frequency/travel
- Cash, equity or mix
Fact: most are set up by later stage companies—and get results quickly.
4 in 5 are set up after the startup stage.
Objectives range from growth to exit.
Impact is rapid, measurable, and consistent.
Standard set-up options are time consuming and costly.
Personal Networks
Personal networks are often limited in availability and expertise, and lack true independence.
Executive Search
An excellent route to top talent— though at $60-80K set-up before ongoing costs, prohibitive for most.
Lean is a powerful if widely misunderstood approach to turning ideas into results with less time and risk.
At root it's about testing assumptions efficiently before making substantial investments — like putting hundreds of thousands into an Advisory Board that doesn't deliver.
Lean does not mean "cheap".
It means "efficient".
By leveraging our proven expertise, extensive network and pay-as-you-go model to minimize costs and accelerate results.
30-Day Set Up
Our robust toolkit & experience enables needs assessment and launch in a month or less.
Rich Expertise
Our Chairs have decades of advisory/value creation experience.
Our Network draws in proven domain expertise from multiple sectors and functions.
Virtual Options
Not all meetings need to be in person. Our experience delivering remotely cuts down on travel - up to 40% of total expense - and allows us to serve clients anywhere.
Rapid Iteration
Our Lean Advisory Boards are designed to track their own impact and evolve as new information and needs come to light.
Family enterprises are our speciality.
We know "business transition" takes on another level of meaning when loved ones are involved..
Owners need to figure out not only what's right for the business, but what's right for the family.
Rimrock combines rich experience in family settings of all sizes and sectors with the highest professional and ethical standard out there, as designated Family Enterprise Advisors.
Rimrock has two types of Advisor.
- Our Chairs leverage deep executive and advisory experience to configure and run your Lean Advisory Board.
- Our growing network of Experts are specialists in areas from finance to HR, ready to rotate onto your Advisory Board to serve specific needs.
(If this sounds like you, and you'd like to explore joining us, please apply.)
Our Chairs
MARK BENNING, MBA
Edmonton
Mark is a 20-year veteran of Silicon Valley, where he founded and led four investor-backed technology companies. He has also worked as a consultant to several venture capital and private equity firms. Most recently, Mark was an Executive Advisor with the BDC, Canada’s bank for entrepreneurs, consulting to high-growth companies.
He enjoys executive coaching, growth strategy consulting, and facilitating leadership retreats for his management clients. He is a CTI and Roy Group trained executive coach and mentor.
Mark studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, received an Economics degree from Harvard University, and an MBA from Stanford University. He is also a former professional hockey player.
STEPHEN BUTLER, PhD
Calgary
Stephen began his career with The Boston Consulting Group, serving Fortune 500 and global equivalent firms before becoming Vice President of Corporate Development at TMX Group, then co-founder/CEO of an edtech startup.
He brings over 20 years' experience working with governing and advisory boards, public, private and non-profit, including serving as Board Chair of Discovery House Family Violence Prevention Society.
He is also founder of Framework, a consultancy for growth companies, as well as a professional speaker and co-author (with Karissa Price) of the forthcoming The War for WHY: How Companies Can Make Purpose Work (And Everyone Happier) For Real (2023).
Stephen holds a BA (Jt Honours) in Economics and Political Science from McGill, a PhD in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge, and Family Enterprise Canada's Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) designation. He has also taught at Harvard as a Visiting Fellow and, like his colleagues, loves dogs and mountains.
TANIA CORBETT, PhD
Calgary
Tania is a senior business strategist, executive coach and board advisor with 20+ years experience.
She started her career as an entrepreneur. At 23, she was a partner in a successful restaurant and dance club. Here, she developed a fascination with business and understanding business dynamics, which led her to pursue a PhD in Organizational Psychology at the University of Guelph..
She went on to lead the start-up and growth of several talent management and strategy advisory business units in both boutique firms as well as global consulting firms including Korn Ferry and Gallagher.
Today, Tania is a senior business strategist and advisor with a breadth of experience. She appreciates the complexity of every organization’s unique situation, particularly the challenges faced by family businesses. She quickly grasps the key people and business fundamentals, translates them into pragmatic strategies and works with leaders to implement and drive the business forward. Tania's straight forward and sensitive approach to solving business, people and family challenges enables her quickly connect with CEOs and senior leaders to build teams and implement solutions. She is most appreciated for providing thoughtful challenge and sound guidance.
She has served on several paid and volunteer boards including the David Aplin Group and the YMCA.
Areas of Expertise Include:
- Business Strategy and Planning
- Family Enterprise
- Executive Development
- Succession Planning
- Team Development and Alignment
In addition to her doctorate, Tania holds a BA (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario. When not working with clients, you will find her spending time with her family in the mountains and training for triathlons or at the dog park with her two crazy Bernedoodles.
LinkedIn
LISA HYDE, MBA
Toronto
Passionate about optimizing CEO performance, Lisa uses her C-Level executive and entrepreneurial experience to help CEOs of mid-sized, growth-oriented companies develop targeted strategies and leverage them into operational and financial success.
Lisa is a driver of strategy development and execution; aligning strategy and organizational structure. She is a builder of high-performing, collaborative teams that exceed key performance indicators. Lisa has broad industry exposure, diverse functional experience and a deep understanding of critical business drivers. She has C-Suite leadership experience in start-up, scale-up, high-growth, family enterprise, financial services, consulting and not-for-profit companies.
Following a career in commercial finance and business consulting leadership, Lisa co-founded several companies, including a global financial asset recovery firm with the world's largest searchable database of unclaimed financial assets and with partnerships in over 30 countries. Assetmine Global Inc. assists multi-national companies and off-shore governments to identify and maximize their recovery of unclaimed financial property.
Critically important to Lisa is leveraging her skills to support sustainable development and youth empowerment in the global community. As such, Lisa co-founded a Canadian registered charity to support community development and to assist at-risk youth in Central America and Canada.
Lisa holds a BA from the University of Toronto, an MBA from Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and is a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner.
MARK SAMPSON, MBA
Vancouver
Mark is an accomplished company builder and business development executive. Having successfully led several high-growth firms in North America to milestone success, he is passionate about guiding the growth and achievements of emerging, high-potential companies that are positioned ahead of the curve.
Mark has held senior executive and advisory positions at companies such as BDC, MegaPath, Telus, and AT&T. At BDC he advised several CEOs and business owners on how to elevate their game and realize record revenues. He was instrumental in the commercialization of the Internet in Canada and the establishment of a national ATM network for credit unions
He is known for attracting and retaining high-calibre human capital, developing and executing aggressive growth plans, securing investment, completing accretive M&As and strategic exits.
Mark is a graduate of The Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, and lives with his family in the Sea to Sky corridor where in his spare time, will be found playing in the mountains..
