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From New Hampshire to India: Inside York IE’s Acquisition of ACW Technologies

Posted on by Kalrav Parsana

It always gives me great pleasure to share my amazing journey with York IE so far. Although we have worked together for more than two years leading up to today’s acquisition of my firm, All Cloud Works (ACW) Technologies, I feel this exciting ride has just begun and plenty of fun elements are yet to come.

A couple of years ago, I had just quit as an engineer to work as a software development contractor full-time and challenge myself with varied projects. I got in touch with Mike Veilleux, CTO of York IE.

Mike had quite a problem to solve in the domain of cloud architecture and had posted about it on one of the top freelancing platforms. I guess I got intrigued by the kind of work Mike and his team were doing, and I decided to contribute to their development program. Mike hired me. Funnily enough, I couldn’t solve the whole problem but managed to solve a few chunks of it.

After that, Mike re-hired me for another project, and I asked, “Hey, I couldn’t solve your last problem fully. Why would you hire me again?”

He replied, “Well, you solved the parts my team couldn’t, and that’s why I believe you are the perfect fit for us in the long term.”

I had very little idea of where this engagement could go next, but retrospectively speaking, it was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Mike put a great deal of trust in me, and after the first couple of projects on as-needed basis, we started working together continuously and built a brilliant line of products for York IE and its portfolio companies.

Currently, my team of 10-plus engineers and I work with some of the most delightful clients at York IE, and we are poised to take this to the next level. As we are positioned to strive for more market disruption, our combined focus will be on:

  • always staying customer-centric and empathetic;
  • bringing the smartest pool of talent to our endeavors;
  • introducing superior products to the world to further our competitiveness;
  • constantly transforming and evolving ourselves to stay innovative; and
  • building resilience for sustainable growth so we can tackle any challenges that come our way.

Like our CEO Kyle York, I am also a strong believer in the philosophy that if you build stronger bonds with the people you work with, you’ll achieve great heights together. And that’s what gives me the pure joy of working at York IE. Despite the pandemic or time zone difference or any other operational challenges, our India and United States teams have built a strong working relationship that reflects greatly in the kind of wonderful work we are doing for our clients.

I would like to thank the leadership at York IE for giving me this amazing opportunity to change the way startups are built, scaled and monetized. I am thrilled to take this partnership to great levels ahead!

York IE Launches New Services to Help Companies Attract and Retain Top Talent

Posted on by York IE

Firm hires former PillPack and Amazon executive

(Manchester, N.H., Jan. 11) — York IE, a vertically integrated strategic growth and investment firm, today announced the launch of new advisory services to help companies attract and retain top talent, make their culture a strategic differentiator, and drive sustainable, profitable growth. The firm has hired former PillPack and Amazon executive Brittany Flanagan as vice president of talent to lead this effort.

“To attract and retain the best talent, you can’t be reactive. You need to have a comprehensive strategy that covers everything from your org chart to compensation plans and compliance,” said Kyle York, CEO, York IE. “A lot of companies, regardless of stage, don’t have that expertise. As a result, they’re losing their ability to compete in a competitive job market.”

The new advisory services will help companies attract and retain talent, build an authentic culture and implement workplace best practices. To do so, York IE will advise companies on a variety of issues, including:

  • Compensation planning and analysis
  • Benefits analysis
  • Training and onboarding
  • Workforce development and career pathing
  • Organizational structure and team architecture
  • Compliant employment practices
  • Employee lifecycle process development and implementation

York IE’s Talent and Culture services are available through hands-on engagements with the firm’s advisory services team and on-demand via its Fuel platform.

“This new offering is going to help companies access everything they need to transform into an employer of choice, and there is no better person to lead this practice than Brittany,” York said.

Meet Brittany Flanagan

In her new role, Flanagan will also be responsible for the strategy and execution of talent initiatives within York IE, including recruiting, training, diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives, compensation planning, benefits management and staff development.

Flanagan previously worked as a senior human resources manager at Amazon Pharmacy, which she joined through Amazon’s acquisition of PillPack, where she served as vice president, people operations. Prior to PillPack, Flanagan ran talent and culture at SilverTech. She started her career in human resources at Target.

“At the end of the day, companies are about people,” Flanagan said. “Attracting and retaining those people is the difference between having a good idea and a generational company. I’m thrilled to help startups build out these practices so they can grow and achieve their vision.”

York IE currently offers the below advisory services to help companies strategically grow, and the firm is always listening to the needs of entrepreneurs, investors and startup communities:

  • Market and Product
  • Financial Operations and Capital Strategy
  • Go-to-Market and Sales Scaling
  • Marketing and Communications

To learn more about York IE’s talent offering, visit york.ie/services.

ABOUT YORK IE

York IE is a vertically integrated strategic growth and investment firm helping reshape the way companies are built, scaled and monetized. Through Fuel, its SaaS platform, hands-on advisory services and selective early stage B2B SaaS investments, York IE supports ambitious entrepreneurs, operators and investors on their quest to scale startups and disrupt markets.

MEDIA CONTACT

Kate Campbell
VP, Advisory Services
kate@york.ie

Why You Need a Talent and Culture Strategy Now More than Ever

Posted on by Brittany Flanagan

There is no good company without good people.

Your ability to attract and retain those people can make the difference between having just a good idea and having a generational company. But these days, that’s harder than ever — especially in the tech industry. Just take a look at these headlines from the past few months:

“In a red-hot job market, tech workers are naming their price — and more”

“It’s the Hottest Job Market in 20 Years for Tech Workers”

“Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era”

As an employer, you can’t simply react to the current market. Trying to keep up with every new perk that every other company is offering just isn’t sustainable.

Instead, you need a comprehensive strategy that not only helps you attract and retain the best people — no matter the job market — but also sets your company up for future growth.

The Ups and Downs of the Job Market

Over the last 15 years as a human resources professional, I have watched countless talent and culture pendulum swings leave leadership teams scrambling to adapt to the latest and greatest.

I particularly remember my early days in 2008, when the jobs were scarce and the talent plentiful. Hundreds of thousands of new grads vying for the job, any job really, as their loan repayments loomed closer. Employers had their pick among dozens, even hundreds, of qualified applicants.

As the markets stabilized and the labor pool got smaller, companies had to pull out all the stops to attract a new generation of employees: millennials. Cold brew on tap, swanky open concept office spaces with big city views, endless snacks, beer and ping pong.  Whatever it took to get your reqs filled and keep your current staff happy.

Fast forward to today and we are in the throes of a global pandemic. As is the case with all other aspects of current life, our employment market is wildly confusing. Work from home options have become not only the norm but the expectation. Safety, job security, flexibility and high compensation packages are all on candidates’ must-have lists. And employees know that jumping ship from their current employer to another can yield big increases to their paycheck, thus entering us into the Great Resignation.

Despite these crazy times, you can still attract and retain the talent your company needs to survive and thrive.

What is Culture?

Throughout my career I have been involved in acquisitions, downsizing, re-orgs and periods of rapid growth. I have worked for the world’s largest retailers (Target and Amazon), a small private tech company, and a high-growth, venture capital-backed healthcare startup. (Fun fact: Not a single one of these companies has perfected team and culture.)

What I have learned is that industry, stage, size and revenue model matter little when it comes to building culture and attracting and retaining talent. At the core of culture and employee engagement is one simple word: trust.

Do your employees believe in the vision and mission and the people leading it? Do employees explicitly understand their role in the company’s success? Do managers have their employees’ best interests at heart? Are they willing to train them, develop them, provide feedback and recognize their efforts? Do you follow through on promises made around compensation and earning potential, benefits and growth opportunities? This is culture. Cold brew on tap is not culture (regardless of how delicious it is).

Make Talent Your Competitive Advantage

I’ve joined York IE to help companies tackle this huge challenge. And I’m excited to learn more about your company and lend a critical eye to all things talent and culture — what may or may not be working, offer tangible recommendations to intentionally build your culture, and provide counseling on every stage of the employee experience. We’ll work together to refine and adjust these recommendations as part of the natural ebbs and flows of your business growth.

With our new services, York IE will help you make talent and culture a strategic differentiator by focusing on these three areas:

Talent

  • Matchmaking, connections and screening
  • Candidate profile development
  • Job description review
  • Hiring process support
  • Interview preparation and coaching
  • Compensation planning and analysis
  • Benefits review and advising
  • Employer branding

Culture

  • Training and onboarding process development
  • Workforce development and career pathing
  • Organizational structure analysis
  • Performance management and coaching
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion strategy
  • Leadership development and executive support

Workplace best practices

  • Employee relations and people policies
  • Compliant employment practices
  • Employment lifecycle process
  • Employee roles and responsibilities review
  • People systems, tools, analytics and reporting

The talent landscape changes quickly. As a leader, you must adapt. External candidates are in the driver’s seat, and your current employees have the luxury of choice. How are you planning to hire and keep them happy? At the end of the day, good people are your competitive edge!

Gregg Nelson Joins York IE as Vice President of Sales

Posted on by York IE

(Manchester, N.H., Nov. 18) — York IE, a vertically integrated strategic growth and investment firm, announced today that sales and revenue executive Gregg Nelson has joined the company as vice president of sales.

gregg nelson
Gregg Nelson

Nelson will be responsible for selling York IE’s strategic growth platform, Fuel, and its Advisory Services offerings. He will also serve as a practice strategist for the firm’s Go-to-Market and Sales Scaling services.

“To scale a startup, you need to understand the market, the competition and the risks,” Nelson said. “I am excited to join the York IE team and to provide as much value as we can to startups as they bring their products to market.”

Meet Gregg Nelson

Nelson was most recently chief revenue officer at PT United, an online distribution marketplace for physical therapy equipment. In his previous role, he was a sales manager — account management at Oracle. Nelson has also held sales and sales leadership positions at Scribe Software, ServiceChannel and Dyn. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.

“Gregg Nelson was an integral part of Dyn’s scaling journey, and I’m thrilled he’s bringing his sales leadership to York IE,” said Kyle York, CEO, York IE. “We aren’t just building a sales team or a sales organization. We’re building a sales machine that is aligned with our entire operation and will accelerate our growth — and the growth of all our startups.”

Nelson will oversee York IE’s sales execution, demand generation, pipeline development and forecasting. In addition, he will provide guidance and support to York IE’s Advisory Services clients regarding their go-to-market strategies and practices.

“Working with startups can be highly rewarding as you see individuals and teams work tirelessly to have their goals become reality,” Nelson said.

Learn more about York IE’s GTM and sales scaling services.

York IE Launches Additional Advisory Services to Help Companies Grow

Posted on by York IE

Latest offerings focus on finance, capital, GTM and sales 

(Manchester, N.H., Sept. 14) — York IE™, a vertically integrated strategic growth and investment firm, today expanded its advisory services practice to help private B2B companies more efficiently and predictably grow their businesses.

In response to customer demand, York IE’s advisory services now cover financial operations, capital strategy, go-to-market (GTM) and sales scaling. The firm also offers market, product, marketing and communications services.

“The familiarity the York IE team has with the SaaS model and our stage was so salient, I felt they must have been a fly on the wall of our management team meetings,” said Michaela Goodwin, CFO, VETRO. “They helped us transform our business quickly, and the benefit of this work will be felt for years to come.”

York IE’s operational expertise is helpful both for early-stage companies that lack executive resources and for more mature companies that are dealing with rapid growth.

“Since launching York IE, we have been focused on one thing: helping private B2B companies grow,” said Kyle York, CEO, York IE. “A company’s financial operations, its approach to funding and how it scales revenue through sales are the things that truly help it reach its maximum potential.”

Financial Operations and Capital Strategy

Early-stage and hyper-growth companies often struggle with the complexity of back-office financial operations and an understanding of the many different ways to best invest in the business. York IE’s financial operations and capital strategy services promote aligned acceleration by supporting areas such as:

York IE CFO Janelle Gorman is leading the financial operations and capital strategy services practice.

Go-to-Market and Sales Scaling

The journey from proving product market fit to scaling a sales machine can be a challenge for companies of all sizes. York IE’s GTM and sales scaling services promote predictable scaling to achieve even the most ambitious revenue goals by supporting areas such as:

  • revenue modeling
  • pricing and packaging modeling
  • sales strategy development
  • sales process review
  • quota modeling
  • compensation structuring

Advisory Services Momentum

These new offerings demonstrate the continued growth of York IE’s hands-on, operator-focused advisory services practice, which has increased its client base by 5.5X and grown annual recurring revenue by nearly 7X over the past year.

“We act as an extension of our clients’ operating teams, and our approach is really resonating with companies of all sizes,” said Kate Campbell, vice president, advisory services, York IE. “Companies gain value when they utilize any one of our services offering, and where we see the biggest impact is when they have access to the entire York IE team across all of our advisory services. That is like hiring, for a reasonable price, a team of operators ready to help drive your growth.”

All of York IE’s advisory services are tech-enabled by Fuel, the firm’s proprietary strategic growth platform, which provides the data and insights needed to build successful, sustainable businesses.

Start growing your business at https://york.ie/advisory-services/.

ABOUT YORK IE

York IE™ is a vertically integrated strategic growth and investment firm helping reshape the way companies are built, scaled and monetized. Through Fuel™, its SaaS platform, hands-on advisory services and selective early stage B2B SaaS investments, York IE supports ambitious entrepreneurs, operators and investors on their quest to scale startups and disrupt markets. Play the long game at York.IE.

Introducing the York IE Summer Internship Class of 2021

Posted on by York IE

York IE is a fast-moving and ambitious company, and that means we have real, important work for our interns to do. That’s why we’re so excited to introduce the fast-moving and ambitious college students who make up our 2021 class of summer interns.

Alex Clark

Bentley University

At school I am studying finance and accounting, but with the investments team at York IE I continue to gain expertise on SaaS, how it relates to different markets and the early-stage investing process.

alex clarkThere certainly isn’t a manual for startup investing, but there is a process, and there are steps. Chief among them is learning, and the investments team always promotes the value of researching new fields and refreshing current understandings. This is where I will spend the bulk of my time this summer: ensuring our team is up to date and informed while looking at prospective investments.

Outside of York IE I enjoy all things outdoors. Hiking, fishing, hunting, boating or anything of the sort is when I am happiest, and I plan on spending plenty of time on (and in) Lake Sunapee, as I have done for my entire life.

Jack Hamlin

Northeastern University

I am currently pursuing my MBA at Northeastern University with concentrations in business analytics and corporate innovation and venturing. I’m excited to join York IE as a part of a six-month corporate residency. Through my past educational and work experiences, I have become passionate about growing brands in businesses with innovative go-to-market strategies and energized by the intersection of creative, strategic and analytical problem-solving.

jack hamlinI am a member of the advisory services team, working on expanding and developing our modules to support the next generation of entrepreneurs. What excites me the most about my position at York IE is having the opportunity to work with businesses in different stages of growth and help tackle challenges at each step of the business life-cycle timeline. I look forward to reinforcing our collective mission of becoming a strategic partner to our clients.

I am so excited to join a team of such talented and driven individuals and incredibly thankful for this opportunity. Outside of York IE, I am a huge Boston sports fan and avid skier and enjoy spending time on Cape Cod with friends and family.

Caroline Hoffer

Providence College

Having had a rewarding internship experience with York IE last summer, I am beyond excited to be back with the team again. As a rising senior at Providence College, my passion for marketing and content creation has only grown through various courses and projects I have completed. I have been able to utilize what I have learned in the classroom and apply it to my work at York IE.

caroline hofferThe opportunity to work alongside the advisory services team has provided me with an incredible experience at York IE, as I expand my knowledge of content strategy and all things related to startups and B2B companies. Within my first few weeks back, it’s already evident that this summer will be completely different than my previous year due to York IE’s ever-growing portfolio and team. There is always something new to learn and look forward to. I am excited to have the opportunity to improve my marketing skills and knowledge as well as grow professionally as a member of the York IE team!

Outside of my internship, I plan on enjoying some fun beach days this summer with family and friends. I’m also excited to cheer on the World Series-bound Boston Red Sox and hopefully catch a few games at Fenway!

Ben Warren

Louisiana State University

I’m a junior studying public relations, and what I’m most excited about at York IE this summer is to work on the content creation side of things, writing blog posts and press releases. I like to think of myself as a pretty good writer, so stay on the lookout! ben warrenAlthough I haven’t been at York IE for long, I have already learned a massive amount about being a PR professional, and I’ve loved every second of my time here.

Outside of York IE, I’m looking forward to a summer full of playing and watching golf. I’m down to an 8 handicap and have been playing the best golf of my life, so I don’t plan on wasting any of the summer weather. Besides golf, I’m excited to get back to Baton Rouge and get my junior year underway as life crawls back to normal.

Cole Wheeler

Wake Forest University

I’m a software engineering intern here at York IE. This summer I’m excited to learn what it takes to create and develop a competitive intelligence platform like Fuel that is really useful to gain a lot of information for businesses to help them thrive.

cole wheelerAfter being involved with the platform for only a few weeks, I can already see how Fuel is incredibly beneficial for all businesses. The team at York IE has developed a great roadmap for the platform to integrate instrumental components, and it’ll be great to see its progress. I’m just ready to take the knowledge I’ve gained from school and apply it to a professional setting rather than a school lab. The experience and hands-on learning I will gain from working here at York IE is invaluable.

Outside of work I’m looking forward to staying active and getting outside, whether it be playing some organized basketball, hiking or just going on the boat for the day.

To learn about future York IE internship opportunities, email us!

York IE Hires New Marketing Specialist: Mackenzie O’Brien

Posted on by Mackenzie O'Brien

Throughout the past two years I had witnessed from afar the momentum building behind a disruptive local company: York IE. Without much background knowledge on what the company even did, I was following them on Facebook. From the outside looking in, there was a clear drive behind their vision.

Fast forward to this spring: I had my first call with CEO Kyle York, which then led to a series of introductions to members across the team. Each call increased my interest more and more, but honestly, after hanging up from my first real Zoom meeting with Kate Campell, vice president of advisory services, I was sold!

One of York IE’s big draws for me is the constant element of change and growth. Much of my college experience had the same theme, which I grew to enjoy. Within two weeks of graduating from the University of Miami, I was home and eager to start. I am hitting the ground running and cannot wait to apply my fresh knowledge and the experience I have gained already to my work with this awesome team and its various clients.

After working as a graphic design assistant and junior account coordinator in a B2C agency setting prior to joining York IE, I was quick to find that working directly with clients had become a passion of mine. A large part of marketing that does not always get its moment in the spotlight is the essential component of truly understanding your client’s vision. It is an exciting and fulfilling role to help startups define and refine their story to help them stand out right from the jump!

After living all over, from New Jersey to Baltimore to Miami, nothing compares to my home state of New Hampshire. It is great to be back and have the opportunity to contribute to and grow with such an amazing group of professionals and thought leaders at York IE.