CCHARRETTVE VENTUGRE GROUP

Your architecture firm is unique. Your challenges aren't.

We invest in small to mid-sized architecture firms.

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Filling the void.

Charrette Venture Group is one of the world’s only investment companies focusing on growing small-to-mid-sized architecture firms. Our mission is to help architecture firms become better businesses. We offer a unique, shared-risk partnership model that provides financial management, leadership development, marketing and business development, organizational design, ownership transition advisory services, recruitment, and other critical business infrastructure in exchange for a percentage of net operating revenue for a five-year period. If you don’t succeed, we don’t succeed. No equity stake is transferred.

There are other companies who do management consulting, but CVG goes beyond that—we are focused on being a long-term partner who takes a stake in both the risk and the reward of our partners’ success.

We have architectural roots with an entrepreneurial drive. Our founder, Matt Ostanik, AIA, founded two successful technology companies born from his experience working in architectural firms. He observed architects struggling with business priorities, noticing that they might be excellent at design, but have difficulty dedicating time to marketing, business development, and staff nurturing. When our clients want to strengthen their business acumen, CVG executes a plan for change and growth. Our impact is not only on the firm and its financial picture; but also on the lives of firm owners and employees.

How we work with you.

Each relationship begins with a holistic assessment report where we review your financial metrics, marketing and business development efforts, operations, and culture. From here we benchmark your firm against similar firms in the industry and offer related recommendations. Our goal in providing this assessment is to deliver valuable insights and actionable recommendations. It is also an opportunity to evaluate if we’re a good fit for a longer-term working relationship.

With an investment partnership, both CVG and our partners have a deeper commitment. CVG offers our available suite of services as required to help firms meet aggressive growth targets. In return for this effort, CVG is paid a percentage of quarterly revenue. Contact us to learn more at [email protected].

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THE CVG TEAM: CVG’s unique structure enables us to retain industry leaders from across the globe to work with our partners. Our carefully selected team includes entrepreneurs, MBAs, architects, marketers, leadership coaches, graphic designers, and administrative and accounting professionals who all have experience working with small architecture firms. We’ve assembled these experts in response to the needs of growing small and mid- sized firms that are too small to bring these services in house, but very much in need of industry-specific business knowledge and tactical resources.

Todd L. Reding President and CEO [email protected]

Todd runs CVG’s strategic operations while working directly with our partner firms. He has served in many roles in both the private sector and non-profit organizations. He earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and served as President and CEO of ASI Signage Innovations in 2008. Todd has been involved in multiple start-up businesses and taught as an Adjunct Lecturer on Entrepreneurialism at the University of Iowa. Todd is based in Grinnell, Iowa. LinkedIn

Rena M. Klein, FAIA VP of Investment Partnerships [email protected]

Rena M. Klein, FAIA is a nationally recognized expert in small firm practice, having served as executive editor of AIA’s The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice, 15th edition (Wiley 2013) and as past-chair of the national Advisory Group for the AIA Practice Management Knowledge Community. At CVG she advises partner firms on all aspects of financial management and operations. With 20 years of experience as the owner of a small architecture firm, and over 10 years as a consultant and educator, Rena brings a special understanding of design firms managed by entrepreneurial architects. She has served as an adjunct professor at various universities teaching professional practice, ethics, project management, and leadership to students of architecture. Rena received her Bachelors in Architecture from the University of Oregon and her Masters in Management and Organizational Development from Antioch University in Seattle. Rena is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. LinkedIn

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Matt Ostanik, AIA Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Account Manager

Matt is an architect, entrepreneur, and an experienced business leader. He previously founded and led a construction software company, Submittal Exchange. In a five year period, the company grew from two employees to more than 100 and more than 100,000 users of the product. Matt sold Submittal Exchange to Textura Corporation in 2011 and remained its president. He then served on the executive team at Textura when the company completed a successful IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2013. Matt sought to return to his entrepreneurial roots and formed Charrette Venture Group in 2014. Matt is based in Des Moines, Iowa. LinkedIn

Emily Hall VP of Marketing [email protected]

Emily brings over 18 years of architectural marketing experience to CVG, with a focus on communicating the unique value that small to mid-sized design firms have to offer. She directs marketing efforts for CVG and oversees the marketing programs of our partner firms. Emily served for over six years as Senior Associate and Director of Marketing and New Business Development at Union Studio Architecture & Community Design and for nine years at Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects, both small architectural firms in Providence, RI that have experienced significant growth. Emily received a Master in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island, a Master of Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design, and a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College. Emily is based in Detroit, Michigan. LinkedIn

Xylia Buros Director of Marketing [email protected]

Xylia directs the marketing programs of all CVG partner firms. She is a marketing and communications strategist with more than 10 years of experience in the architecture and design industry. For the past two years, she has run her own consulting business that helps innovative firms increase their revenue and visibility through effective communications strategy and media relations. Previously, she served as Marketing Manager at two prominent architecture firms in Portland, Oregon, and as Programs Director at the Portland chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Xylia graduated with a BA in English Literature from New York University (NYU). Xylia is location independent. LinkedIn WWW.CHARRETTEVG.COM CVGCHARRETTE VENTURE GROUP

Hope Trory Digital Marketing Expert

Hope leads the development of online content and social media campaigns for CVG’s partner firms. She founded hopeworks{design}, a marketing consultancy for built environment professionals based in NYC. Hope studied Architecture at Cornell University and has previously worked at Hamilton Anderson Associates, an architecture firm in Detroit, MI. From there, experience in marketing was gained from working as Graphic Designer at Spiralz Studio and Marketing Director at Cerebrus Environmental Services among other companies. Hope is based in Queens, New York. LinkedIn

Lisa Saldivar Creative Director

Lisa directs branding, website, and graphic design activities for CVG and our partner firms. Bringing over ten years of experience in designing for the online and print landscapes, Lisa has been involved in many aspects of creating a brand, including project planning, logo development, web design, and front-end development. She has also worked on global brands advertising in national newspapers and magazines across the world. Lisa graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently attending a masters program in Design Thinking in Mexico City. Lisa is based in Mexico City, Mexico. LinkedIn

Erin Poppe Marketing Assistant / CliftonStrengths Specialist

Erin is a utility player for the Charrette Venture Group team, with contributing roles in both marketing and leadership / strengths development for our Investment Partner firms. She uses her background in journalism and marketing to support projects related to administrative management, business development, digital media, and public relations. As a trained Gallup CliftonStrengths expert, Erin also helps design firm leaders invest in their team’s talents and develop strengths-based cultures. She utilizes the CliftonStrengths assessment to create coaching sessions, reports, and workshops that increase workplace efficiency and engagement. Erin holds a Masters in Public Administration from Kansas State University, and previously worked as a graduate research assistant in Kansas State University’s StrengthsQuest program and as the Marketing Coordinator for Kansas State University’s Career Center. Erin is based in Manhattan, Kansas and is the daughter of a small firm architect. LinkedIn WWW.CHARRETTEVG.COM CVGCHARRETTE VENTURE GROUP

Misty Levis Financial Manager

Misty applies her high level of organizational skills to overseeing all of CVG’s finances. She manages the billing of our investment partners and maintains all of our financial records. Misty spent many years honing her bookkeeping skills at Midwest Clothiers and then on to Wells Fargo Financial. While there, her communication skills and attention to detail led her to branch out from her financial background and accept a position as a Business Analyst. With the arrival of her first son, she started her own in-home daycare which she ran for several years until her second child entered preschool. Misty is based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Sarah Rowe Office Manager and Administrative Support

Sarah manages CVG’s virtual office by coordinating meetings across multiple time zones and communicating essential meeting information to all parties. She works with CVG’s partner firms to manage their mailing lists, perform lead prospecting, coordinate events, transcribe interviews, and assist with podcast production. Sarah is based in Denver, Colorado. LinkedIn

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AN INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP I’m working longer hours WITH CVG INCLUDES: and just hired another staff member. Shouldn’t I be making more money? FINANCIAL PLANNING CFO Advisory Services CVG takes a broad view of our partners’ financial goals as they relate to a firm’s organizational design, and together we develop a strategic path for growth. Profitability Analysis & Revenue Forecasting After an analysis of your firm’s financial statements and key performance indicators (KPIs), in combination with interviews and broad organizational understanding, we work with you to identify and reduce barriers to profitability. Revenue forecasting helps marry profitability strategies, quantifiable financial goals,and budgeting.

Bookkeeping & Project Management Software Advisory Services CVG has experience with dozens of firms that use a variety of bookkeeping, time-tracking, and project management software. We understand the pros and cons of many programs designed for architectural firms.

Financial Literacy Education for Staff Understanding how to read financial statements and interpret KPIs are critical skills for emerging leaders to develop. This knowledge empowers your key staff to participate in planning discussions and actively improve the overall financial health of your firm.

Ownership Transition Planning CVG works with principals to plan the financial and cultural framework for ownership transitions.

OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENT I feel like I train employees CEO Advisory Services and then they leave for CVG takes a broad view of our partners’ overall operations, competing firms. How can I infrastructure, and staffing, and works with CVG’s Advisory CFO avoid this? to develop a strategic path for growth.

StrengthsFinder Assessments and Leadership Coaching Our trained StrengthsFinder coaching expert administers the Gallup StrengthsFinder test to employees of partner firms, then meets with key employees to help them understand their unique talents. This information is discussed with firm leadership as a means of improving team dynamics and firm culture.

Strategic Planning Retreat Facilitation CVG helps develop the agenda and facilitate leadership and/or staff retreats. Last time we did a We focus on exercises and discussions specific to uncovering and solving retreat we came up the problems that growing architectural firms regularly face. with a lot of ideas, but WWW.CHARRETTEVG.COM nothing happened. CVGCHARRETTE VENTURE GROUP

Organizational Design The design of a firm’s organizational structure not only affects profitability and efficiency, it also creates pathways for emerging leaders to assume greater responsibility and can facilitate smoother ownership transitions. CVG has experience with many types of organizational structures and uses this knowledge to help guide firms toward their most effective internal structure.

Staffing Planning and Recruitment In conjunction with financial planning, CVG advises firms on when to consider hiring new employees. We perform national recruitment searches, vet prospects, and screen references prior to arranging a final interview with firm leadership. Additionally, we assist with salary and benefit negotiations.

MARKETING My clients don’t CMO Advisory Services want to pay for good CVG takes a broad view of our partners’ strategic marketing efforts and design. I’m tired of resources, assessing critical factors that influence the type, quality, and quantity competing on fee. of projects coming through the door.

Branding Some CVG partners benefit from a brand refresh or a full re-branding effort. Our marketing team works with firms considering branding work to determine the appropriate scope and goals for this process. Our graphic design expert collaborates with partner firms on all aspects of identity design, from initial concept to launch.

Messaging CVG conducts brand audits and messaging assessments to help We’re thinking about refine our partners’ mission, vision, and value proposition statements. renaming our firm, but We write firm profiles and develop language that can be used across what about the people who marketing collateral to describe our partner’s key differentiators, already know us? offerings, and culture. Throughout this process we focus on keeping all communications aligned towards building an authentic brand.

Website Design Our marketing team helps partners with all aspects of website design and maintenance, including creating new websites, updating existing sites, or converting an older site to the Squarespace platform for easier maintenance and functionality.

Marketing Planning A thoughtful marketing strategy requires a realistic tactical plan to be My staff wants us to successful. CVG builds individual marketing plans with all of our partners to identify opportunities and deadlines for awards, press, digital media, speaking be on social media, engagements, proposals, etc. This enables us to allocate resources effectively but I just can’t see and avoid the “fire drills” that come with surprise deadlines. the ROI.

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Social Media Many of our partners recognize the value of social media, but struggle with consistency and content when creating their own posts. Our digital content expert specializes in telling your story through compelling customized content, tagging relevant people/organizations to drive engagement, and delivering these posts using various platforms.

Targeted Eblasts We send eblasts to our mailing list, but nobody opens them. CVG’s digital content expert interviews our partners and uses that information to write informative blog posts and articles that can be distributed through email blasts. Using drip campaigns, CVG is able to segment our clients’ databases to reflect their interests and ensure that they receive valuable content on a regular basis. Each message includes a “call to action” to encourage further engagement.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Business Development Coaching Marketing efforts generate leads, and business development efforts convert leads to clients. CVG works with architectural firm leaders to develop a comprehensive business development strategy and put systems in place to facilitate its success.

Interview Preparation and Proposal Review The big firms get all CVG’s business development expert helps our partners prepare for the institutional clients. important interviews using various techniques including role playing. How can I even get a Additionally, we critically review important proposals to ensure clear foot in the door? messaging and alignment with the clients’ perceived needs.

Lead Prospecting Our marketing and administrative teams work with our partners to build lists of potential leads in specific markets. The prospecting exercise can be as simple as locating names and emails, or as thorough as researching opportunities within market sectors.

CRM Software Advisory Services CVG believes that using a CRM database is critical to developing I’m so busy, I don’t successful business development habits. We get firms up and running on have time for business CRM platforms such as Hubspot. development.

These are the types of questions that CVG answers every day. Architectural firms with 3 - 20 employees have much different challenges than larger firms or sole proprietors. Our goal is to guide you in the growth and improved health of your business.

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WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY:

“Although we have only been working with the CVG team for a few short months, their guidance has radically shifted the way we approach our work. By implementing systems, delegating administrative tasks and increasing communication we have quickly seen positive shifts in productivity, studio culture and are confident that we will soon be seeing noticeable increases in profitability. When new challenges or unexpected circumstances arise in our firm, there is now a new level of reassurance in knowing that we have a team of ten brilliant consultants who we can lean on for guidance.” THE UP STUDIO Jeffrey Ramirez, Principal Long Island City, NY A CVG Investment Partner

“The information that CVG provided for our firm through the business assessment process was extremely helpful, to say the least. The assessment contained a long list of encouragements of what we were doing well and helpful EQUIP STUDIO recommendations on how to get better. We actually knew Sims Key, Principal a lot of things that we were not doing well, but we were Greenville & Florence, SC unclear and overwhelmed on how to improve in those A Business Assessment Client deficiencies. During the process we were given practical and achievable steps that were the perfect segue to further growth for our firm. I would highly recommend CVG’s business assessment to any firm that wants to be the best version of themselves that they can be.”

“CVG was instrumental in helping High Plains Architects secure new work that we really wanted. In the past year we had a string of rejections for projects for which we were the most qualified candidate. CVG strategized with us on how to understand the owner’s interest and how to most effectively present our skills and interest. Consequently, we were able to confidently and effectively present at the HIGH PLAINS ARCHITECTS interview, even though it was a new project type for us. And we got the job!” Ed Gulick, Principal Billings, MT A CVG Investment Partner

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“It felt like the time was right to set out on my own, and I wanted to build something new. But running a business is very challenging. I knew from the start that I could not do it alone. CVG gives me a team dedicated to the success of my firm. It is a strategic advantage.”

BUILDINGWORK Matt Aalfs, Principal Seattle, WA A CVG Investment Partner

“We know we must constantly be improving out firm. That includes improving the way we’re running our business. The CVG partnership gives us a wide range of resources that would be difficult for us to secure in their independent categories.”

HKP ARCHITECTS Julie Blazek, Principal Mt. Vernon, WA A CVG Investment Partner

“CVG was the first deliberate step we took after deciding ZAGA DESIGN GROUP we were serious about company growth and achievement. Adrian Weatherby, Director of CVG helped us get out of our own way, as we proved to Business Strategy and Development be the single biggest impediment to our own success. We Denver, CO ultimately retained CVG as a partner to be a mirror of our A CVG Investment Partner company’s culture and pursuit of authenticity and truth.”

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The CVG team provides the services I need to run my firm. SPRINGHOUSE ARCHITECTS Finding all of these resources, and affording them, would be Sheri Scott, Principal impossible for me. They have helped me grow my business Dayton, OH in ways I could not achieve alone.” A CVG Investment Partner

“When we came across CVG, we were truly surprised to find a consulting group that covered all of the items on our to-do list. It was all the more surprising that their sole focus was small architecture firms like ours, with many architecturally trained people in their group. It seemed almost too good to be true. It felt like we found a unicorn. But no, they were real, and working with them so far has been excellent. They bring real and very specific expertise to the business, organization and marketing aspects of having a small architecture firm; something almost no architects have themselves. The initial evaluation exercise they did was really helpful and taught us a lot about our own business. And it showed us that bringing CVG on board for an ongoing relationship was the best way for our firm to WINDER GIBSON ARCHITECTS expand in a smart, sustainable, profitable way, staying true Geoff Gibson, Principal to our core and our vision.” San Francisco, CA A CVG Investment Partner

“Architecture is a tremendously difficult business to start! The CVG team offers us the versatility of 10+ experts who plug in and support us according to our instantaneous needs. Their marketing expertise alone has helped us hone and amplify our voice throughout all facets of our business. We are now receiving many new opportunities!”

PROPEL STUDIO Nick Mira, Principal Portland, OR A CVG Investment Partner

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