Who do you work with?

I work with founders and leadership teams — typically at companies in the $7.5M to $25M range — who are navigating real inflection points. That usually means they're preparing for an exit, facing a major strategic decision, or trying to figure out how to operate in a world where AI is reshaping their market faster than their internal playbook can keep up.

What does working with you actually look like?

There are two main ways we work together. Assessment: a structured engagement where we look honestly at where value is compounding, where it's leaking, and which decisions matter most over the next 90 days. Advisory: ongoing support for teams that want a steady outside perspective focused on tighter follow-through on the decisions that move the needle. There's also Clarity in-market work — sharpening positioning and proof so your story holds up, both to people and to the AI systems increasingly mediating how you're discovered and evaluated.

What do you mean by responding to AI without hype?

Most of the AI conversation right now is noisy — either breathless excitement or vague fear. The real challenge isn't understanding AI in the abstract. It's figuring out which decisions it changes, where it creates genuine leverage inside your organization, and how it affects the way buyers and investors perceive you. The focus is on fewer variables, cleaner tradeoffs, and execution that holds.

Why enterprise value? What does that mean in practice?

Enterprise value is the shorthand for what actually compounds over time — versus what just creates motion. It includes financial performance, but it also includes organizational resilience, brand perception, operational efficiency, and how well your innovation story holds up under scrutiny. In practice, it means always asking: does this decision make the business more valuable, more defensible, or easier to sustain?

How is this different from a typical management consultant?

The work is hands-on, direct, and focused on the decisions in front of you right now — not a comprehensive audit of everything. There's a specific point of view: working at the intersection of strategy, marketing, and AI adoption, applying that lens to the variables that actually drive enterprise value.

What's the best first step to work with you?

Request an assessment. It's a structured conversation where we look at where you are, what's driving your priorities, and whether there's a clear fit. If there is, we'll know pretty quickly. If there isn't, you'll hear that too.

%

I help founders and leadership teams respond to AI without hype, by tightening decisions and execution where it accelerates enterprise value.

Dustin Engel in a light blue dress shirt standing outside in an urban environment with buildings and pedestrians in the background.

Dustin Engel in a black shirt sitting on a white chair, engaged in conversation, with a dark background and blue lighting.

A common theme in my work has been helping leadership teams make good decisions in unstable conditions, when yesterday’s playbook stops working. I anchor on enterprise value: what actually compounds over time, and what is just motion.

From there, the work is simple and demanding: fewer priorities, cleaner tradeoffs, and execution that holds.

What I do

Sensemaking: Translate complexity into the few variables that actually matter.

Decision clarity: Reduce noise into priorities, tradeoffs, and a decision sequence.

Execution discipline: Tighten follow-through so progress becomes visible.

How I work

Assessment: A structured look at where value is compounding, where it is leaking, and which decisions matter most over the next 90 days.

Advisory: Ongoing support when a team wants a steady outside perspective and tighter follow-through on the decisions that matter.

Clarity in-market: Sharper positioning and proof so the story holds up, both to people and to the systems mediating discovery.

Frequently Asked Questions

I work with founders and leadership teams — typically at companies in the $7.5M to $25M range — who are navigating real inflection points. That usually means they're preparing for an exit, facing a major strategic decision, or trying to figure out how to operate in a world where AI is reshaping their market faster than their internal playbook can keep up.
If you're looking for someone to tell you what you want to hear, I'm probably not the right fit. If you want a clear-eyed outside perspective and help executing on the decisions that actually matter, let's talk.
It depends on what you need. There are two main ways we work together:
Assessment — A structured engagement where we look honestly at where value is compounding, where it's leaking, and which decisions matter most over the next 90 days. Most clients leave with more clarity and fewer priorities than they arrived with.
Advisory — Ongoing support for teams that want a steady outside perspective. This isn't a retainer where you get monthly decks. It's a working relationship focused on tighter follow-through on the decisions that move the needle.
There's also Clarity in-market work — sharpening positioning and proof so your story holds up, both to people and to the AI systems increasingly mediating how you're discovered and evaluated.
Most of the AI conversation right now is noisy — either breathless excitement or vague fear. Neither is useful if you're trying to run a business.
What I've found, in speaking with founders and leadership teams, is that the real challenge isn't understanding AI in the abstract. It's figuring out which decisions it changes, where it creates genuine leverage inside your organization, and how it affects the way buyers and investors perceive you. That's where I focus: fewer variables, cleaner tradeoffs, and execution that holds.
Enterprise value is the shorthand I use for what actually compounds over time — versus what just creates motion. It includes financial performance, but it also includes things like organizational resilience, brand perception, operational efficiency, and how well your innovation story holds up under scrutiny.
In practice, it means I'm always asking: does this decision make the business more valuable, more defensible, or easier to sustain? If the answer is no, it probably deserves less of your attention.
A few ways. I'm not sending in a team of analysts to produce a 90-page report. The work is hands-on, direct, and focused on the decisions in front of you right now — not a comprehensive audit of everything.
I also bring a specific point of view. I've spent years working at the intersection of strategy, marketing, and AI adoption, and I apply that lens to the variables that actually drive enterprise value. That specificity is either useful to you or it isn't — and I'd rather know that early.
Request an assessment. It's a structured conversation where we look at where you are, what's driving your priorities, and whether there's a clear fit. If there is, we'll know pretty quickly. If there isn't, I'll tell you that too.
Request an assessment →