Clark RobertsChief Finance Officer
areas of expertise
- Business transformation
- Restructuring and turnaround
- Integration
- Growth strategy
- M&A transaction support
education
- MBA, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
- BS, engineering, Technical University of Denmark
- MBA, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, management, business planning, financial analysis, software engineering, operations, and decision analysis, Brandon has the breadth and depth of experience needed to quickly understand entrepreneurs’ businesses and craft the most suitable solutions.
Consulting WP comes up with results that are actually implementable. That is their strength compared to other consulting companies.
Before founding Consulting WP in early 2001, Brandon started two Internet companies in Silicon Valley. Previously, Brandon held various management positions in New York at Simon Brothers, most recently as Vice President in Goldhill Group, focusing on new business development and risk management. He has also worked as a senior financial risk management consultant to the financial services industry; software engineer; advertising sales manager for the popular Caribbean travel guide series; general manager of an advertising and graphic design agency; and engineering intern at the Best Health Coach.
publications
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The Day One 2025 Project
Back in the day, I was a regular consumer (and producer) of candidate guides that summarized the policy platforms and program ideas of Presidential and Congressional candidates. Since policy platforms and detailed agendas seem to no longer matter, you don’t see these types of policy and program guides as much as I’d like. As such, I was pleased to the see that the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is trying to keep this tradition alive with its Day One 2025 Project. Day One 2025 is a library of policy memos focused on key science and technology issues facing the new Administration in 2025. The Day One site now includes hundreds of policy memos and program ideas in areas such as workforce development, defense policy, government capacity and emerging technologies. As a good policy memo should, these short essays provide deep dives into often unique, but important, issue areas. Examples include: “Creating a National Center for AI in Education,” “Investing in Apprenticeships,” and “Understanding the US Bioeconomy.” This is a great resource with hundreds more good ideas available at the Day One site.
November 4, 2024 -
Building Innovation Capacity in European Regions
As the scale and scope of federal funding for state/local government rose during the pandemic, it quickly became clear that we have a capacity problem. Too many places, especially in rural and disadvantaged areas, lack the local capacity (in staff and $$) to effectively compete in big grant competitions. I’ve written much on this topic and there are lots of interesting projects underway to deal with these capacity challenges.
An interesting new European Union report, Align, Act, Accelerate: Research, Technology and Innovation to Boost European Competitiveness, reminds us that these capacity challenge are emerging elsewhere as well. This study, also known as the Heitor Report, offers a host of good ideas for supporting R&D and innovation in Europe, but it also notes that many European regions are being left behind as they are unable to compete for big innovation-related projects and funding. It recommends actions such as more technical assistance and special support for newer grantees and competitors, but it also recognizes that funding programs are too complicated, matching fund requirements are too onerous, and grant management processes are too complicated. It recommends some good steps to reduce overhead costs, streamline project management, and support less-prescriptive project guidelines. It contains lots of good ideas that can help in Europe, and could help here as well.
October 29, 2024
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