We often forget what large swaths of New York used to be like. This was made clear to me recently during a fascinating session with Douglas Blonsky, President of the Central Park Conservancy and perhaps the single biggest reason the park appears the way it does today.

In order to better align incentive compensation and overall business priorities for project managers, a publicly traded $15B+ international engineering and construction firm sought assessment and planning expertise.

A $10B global vision care products provider was in search of support to create and execute a new strategic planning process for one of its key divisions.

Although PE-owned, mid-market pet supply products distributor believed there was an untapped market opportunity for private label hard goods in their retail channels, the distributor lacked expertise on market evaluation, go-to-market strategy, and execution.

Earlier this month, I spent some time hiking in the Canadian Rockies with my wife, and reflected on my last eight years at HPA and how much the business has changed over that time.

When I started at HPA in early 2009, we were in the throes of a major market correction and business slowdown that many had not experienced in our lifetimes. Today the concerns we most often hear from clients are how to best position themselves in a rapidly changing world.

A $10B private equity firm was contemplating an acquisition in a niche healthcare services space and sought a market assessment of the sector.

The portfolio company of a US-based, global private equity firm with $5B AUM was searching for a permanent replacement for their CFO, but sought an experienced professional to hold the interim position while the search was underway.

I have been giving this idea of “Change = Hope, but not necessarily Progress” a lot of thought recently. The litany of egregious missteps, cultural issues and backwards policies do not get solved just by changing out the CEO. 

After a period of rapid growth in both domestic and international markets, a $1B global fitness and health company sought assistance with the development of their strategic plan at the corporate and business unit level.

The full quote — “There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics” — has been attributed to Mark Twain, who himself attributed it to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who might never have said it in the first place. Regardless of the origin of the phrase, it is one that I hold near and dear. I’m a numbers geek. Love numbers and statistics. Always have, always will.