BILLION DOLLAR RETURNS

“While working with John, we built out our entire C-Suite team, more than
doubled the company in size, and ultimately sold for Billions.”

Why CEOs Call Us:

  1. Serve as a confidential sounding board to discuss / review various approaches and options for the most challenging business, strategic and performance problems
  2. Help develop leadership and communication skills of promising executives, especially those with scientific, medical or engineering backgrounds
  3. Concerns about team dysfunction or when the interpersonal skills of an otherwise strong executive are disrupting the effectiveness of the C-Suite
  4. Targets and milestones are repeatedly missed, unacceptable surprises are occurring more frequently and explanations sound more and more like excuses
  5. Growing tension with the Board and Investors or to help establish effective controls, boundaries and decision rights between the Board, CEO and C-Suite
  6. Assist with succession planning, including the leadership development of a high- potential successor
  7. To instill process and management practices with a newly-formed management team or to help build and enhance C-Suite results
  8. Improve the personal confidence, respect, Boardroom gravitas and leadership impact of newer CEOs or high potential executives
  9. To improve the flow and impact of Board and investor presentations
  10. For an outside expert to unravel and effectively address messy, unproductive team dynamics such as turf wars, selfish behaviors and poor performance

Why Investors Call Us:

  1. The leader is an accomplished scientist with a great idea, but needs to develop additional skills to lead a venture-backed company.
  2. Recent Board meeting performance suggests that the CEO may lack the experience and discernment to read a room for nuance, to adjust based on cues, to listen and act upon direction or suggestions of the Board.
  3. Cracks are beginning to surface: poor follow through, dropping the ball, missing critical milestones, or unacceptable budget misses.
  4. Weakness on the team is getting more evident and the CEO is not moving quickly enough to address performance; avoids tough conversations.
  5. A troubling pattern is emerging with surprises, delays, missed targets, finger pointing and explanations that sound more and more like excuses.
  6. The Board questions whether the CEO has the gravitas to inspire confidence with the markets and potential investors to maximize value in the next capital raise or IPO.
  7. Eroding trust in the CEO due to excessive hyperbole, lack of transparency, abrupt shifts/changes or catching the Board off guard with unexpected setbacks and bad news.
  8. Ego and a big personality is causing friction and tension in the relationship with the Board, investors, and/or the team.

What We Do:

Investors rely on us to improve their returns by enhancing the leadership skills and impact of newer CEOs with an academic, science, technology, or medical background.

We incorporate a bundled package of advisory and executive coaching services consistent with the philosophy and leadership practices highlighted in my book, “The Billion Dollar CEO” and the management principles in our proprietary, “Framework for High Performance.”

Our work begins with an assessment phase that will identify specific areas of potential focus.

Together, we will review the major themes, establish objectives and discuss how progress will be measured. Then, much of our ongoing work will be a combination of conversations, meeting observations, video conferencing, and unlimited impromptu outreach via phone, email and text.

While the client always influences the agenda based on current issues, in nearly every exchange there is a discussion about progress toward critical milestones, Horizon Issues, leadership impact, the evolving relational dynamics of the Board and performance of the executive team.

Testimonials:

quote Given that our firm manages a portfolio of venture capital and equity investments, I find occasion to engage John to support our portfolio company CEOs and management teams.

John is not afraid to confront the most difficult conversations or situation. He intensely listens, carefully observes, and unforgivingly shares insights and searing perspectives that enhance the performance of our leaders and their teams.

John is a partner as I prepare for Board meetings, a counselor as I consider key hires and team issues and is usually the first call I make when I need a second opinion or to talk through thorny strategic issues.

I use John with my C-Suite to pull-out the unspoken challenges with people and process. His non-threatening style serves him well, and me too. He listens and then brings incredible insights forward that were not obvious or evident to others.

John is a trusted advisor not only for me, but for our C-Suite.

John meaningfully elevated my effectiveness as a CEO and the tools and processes he developed for me have now cascaded down throughout our company.

Sample Clients:

Cambia
Affinivax
Exelixis
Mbrace
Myovant
Regence
Echo
Horizon
US Bank
Verus
Chase
Univest
Aitia
Elara Caring
Healthsparq
Omaha

The Book

As a confidential advisor to Billion Dollar CEOs for more than two decades, I’ve had a front row seat to the leadership corridors of many of the world’s largest, most respected, and successful private and public companies, from venture-backed start-ups to unicorn IPOs through trillion-dollar multinationals.

The Billion Dollar CEO includes stories, ideas, and approaches that my CEO clients have used to build and enhance many multibillion-dollar companies on my watch. These clients span many industries, but what they have in common is the unique ability to separate signal from noise, vital from urgent, and strategic from mundane. They excel at directing limited resources toward the greatest opportunities, they understand the power of leverage and the incredible advantage of crisp execution around a narrow set of objectives, while minimizing surprises and wasted effort.

A pre-release edition of The Billion Dollar CEO has been produced for our clients, their Boards, and investors; the book is not currently available for commercial distribution or purchase. If you were directed to us by one of our clients and would like to be considered for a complimentary copy, please contact us.

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About the Author

Mr. Callos brings decades of insights from his insider’s access observing and advising the world’s most successful CEOs and their C-Suite teams, notably in the biopharma, life sciences, high tech and financial services industries.

A graduate from USC’s combined Marshall School of Business and its Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Callos enjoyed a distinguished career in banking prior to developing his CEO advisory practice.

Callos attained considerable recognition in the ultra-endurance community as a sponsored athlete in the 320-mile Ultraman Triathlon World Championships in Hawaii and the 155-mile Marathon Des Sables in Morocco’s Sahara Desert, recognized as the “toughest footrace on earth.”

Now retired from ultra-endurance, Callos spends his private moments as a fledgling vintner and olive oil producer in the Santa Barbara wine country, which is the perfect location to engage in one of his passions... driving his mercurial, vintage Porsches through the vineyards and winding backcountry roads.

Framework :

Contact Us:

If you’d like to learn more about our approach and philosophy, please
contact us for a pre-release copy of our book, The Billion Dollar CEO.

Phone: 800.986.1230