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donald mcmichael

donald mcmichael

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Executive Summary

Finance and Strategy professional with experience in media/entertainment and technology industries. Strong ability to leverage expertise in finance, business development, and operations to create, build and re-engineer business models to drive profitable growth. Highly regarded for ability to challenge convention and collaborate with high-level stakeholders to achieve win-win solutions. MBA in Finance/ Duke University; BS Electrical Engineering / University of Virginia

Career Highlights:

Corporate Development (M&A)… sourced and evaluated acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic investment. Tasks included: discount cash flow (NPV) & equity method valuations, coordination of outside support, and negotiation.

  • Designed the 3-way $30 million capitalization structure that ensured creation of the Sundance Channel – a property that grew in value to $496 million (a 16-fold return) 12 years after launch.

Strategy… worked with Presidents/GMs, developed overall strategy for organization; management of strategic initiatives & projects; process and organizational structure & costs; transfer of best practices across the organization.

  • Extracted $54 million of value from an unprofitable, declining business. Recommended, structured, and assisted in negotiating the asset sale/marketing partnership locking in a contractually guaranteed 5-year revenue stream.

Business Development… Sourced incremental revenue and strategic alliance opportunities.

  • Within 1 year, designed and built out a scalable ‘fee-for-service’ business model that generated $1.5 million in fees, solidified strategic partnerships, and generated community support and interest.
  • Created investor marketing package (financial model, business use case, and marketing brief) for New Media Technology that showcased value and eased investor concerns contributing to the closing of their multi-million 2nd funding round.

Financial Management… budgets & long-range financial forecasts – developed detailed proformas and business plans for senior management and Board review.

  • Provided complete financial oversight for a $52 million retail sales unit.

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Donald McMichael
Insights for entrepreneurial leaders that help them answer two fundamental questions "Where should we play?" and "How do we win?".

Why am I passionate about this? Well here’s

My Backstory...

Recent Posts

  • Drowning in Data, Surviving with Smarts: Why AI Alone Isn’t the Answer
  • Finding the 10% That Matters: A CFO’s Guide to Strategic Data Use
  • Navigating the Ethical Landscape of AI-Driven Process Optimization
  • Boosting Efficiency: The Power of AI Process Optimization
  • Case Study: 30% Efficiency Gain Through AI Process-based Improvement

“Our problem isn't the volume of information; it's how we make sense of it all. Our biggest issue is how we make decisions in the workplace.”

Jay Acunzo

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When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. - Confucius

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