Member / Robert J Jordan

August 12, 2015

Robert J Jordan

Interim CEO, CMO

Learn More About InterimExecs RED Team of Top Interim and Fractional CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CIOs and CMOs or Call Us at (847) 849-2800 

Robert Jordan has launched companies and helped other owners and investors build their companies for 25+ years. After founding the first Internet-coverage magazine in the world, Online Access, landing on the Inc 500 list of fastest-growing companies, Jordan sold the magazine and began taking on interim CEO gigs. High multiple company sales and IPOs followed. Jordan then launched InterimExecs, matching owners and investors with powerful leadership on demand through InterimExecs RED Team and RED Ventures.

Jordan is author of Right Leader Right Time: Discover Your Leadership Style for a Winning Career and Company and How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America, and publishing partner for Start With No, Jim Camp’s bestselling book and audio on negotiation. In 2023 he and co-author Olivia Wagner launched FABS Leadership Assessment to help teams better understand their leadership styles. He is a lifelong Chicagoan, with a wife and two daughters plus two dogs.

SELECT INTERIM EXPERIENCE

Company Stage Focus: Startup, Early Stage, Late Stage, Venture Funded, IPO, Private, Family Owned

CEO, Online Access
CEO, interim CEO interim CFO worldwide network
CEO, Association of Interim Executives
Corporate Development Director, PV Powered, Inc.
Corporate Development Director, RPH On The Go, Inc.
Corporate Development Director, Nixle, Inc.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Created Online Access, first Internet magazine worldwide, achieved Inc. 500 status
• Corp Dev director for PV Powered, solar startup from $600k burn/month to sale for $90 million to public company AEIS. Orchestrated sale and all negotiations with investors and buyers.
• Partnership created Innerworkings (INWK), zero to $150 million revenue; IPO valuation $750 million
• Author, How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America
• Co-founder Association of Interim Executives

BOARD EXPERIENCE

• HighBeam Research
• Online Access
• TredFast
• EquityStation
• CommunityHealth

CREDENTIALS/EDUCATION

• BA, Economics, University of Michigan
• MBA, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management
• Series 7 General Securities License, FINRA
• Series 24 Principal’s License, FINRA
• Series 59 Investment Banking , FINRA

ARTICLES

• Temping at the Highest Levels: Meet the Interim Executive
• Why Company Owners Are Saying Goodbye to Consultants and Hello to Interims
• What’s Your Story? How a Mentor Led Me to an Interim Career

Years Executive Experience: (28)
Years as an Interim Exec: (17)
Company Size: ($100k-$500M)

SPECIALTIES:
• Board Advisory
• Building a management team
• Contract Negotiation
• Corporate Governance
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Fundraising
• B2B Marketing
• B2C Marketing
• Marketing Strategy
• Corporate Development
• Social Media Marketing

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
• Consumer Electronics
• Consumer Services
• Engineering
• Digital Media
• Financial Services
• Green Technology
• Internet
• Investment Banking/Mergers and Acquisitions
• Marketing/Interactive Marketing
• Private Equity and Venture Capital

Maximizing Operational Efficiency: Expert COOs Offer Tips for Improving Process and Productivity

April 19, 2024
Maximizing Operational Efficiency: Expert COOs Offer Tips for Improving Process and Productivity

Operational efficiency. It’s the holy grail of business success. Chief Operating Officers are charged with creating operations management systems that root out inefficient processes, lower operating expenses, reduce lead times, and increase profit margins.

Two expert COOs, Steve Raack and Mike Bartikoski, are interim executives with repeated successes at mega-million-dollar corporations. They shared what they learned along the way during a wide-ranging webinar and Q&A moderated by InterimExecs CEO Robert Jordan:

Here’s a recap:

Continue reading →

FAQs: Is an Interim or Fractional CEO a Good Fit for My Company?

March 25, 2024
FAQs: Is an Interim or Fractional CEO a Good Fit for My Company?

When we started matching companies in need with skilled interim executives 15 years ago, the main question people asked was: Why would an executive choose this career path? There’s absolutely no job stability. 

Fast forward 15 years. Now we’re in a gig economy. The idea that you can get specialized expertise for what you need right now is expected and common.

Despite that, questions remain. In this interactive webinar, InterimExecs CEO Robert Jordan and President Olivia Wagner go through the most frequently asked questions they hear from company owners, directors, investors, and managers. Or, if you prefer, scroll down for a written summary.

Continue reading →

When the CEO Quits: How to Prepare and Respond

March 24, 2024
When the CEO Quits: How to Prepare and Respond

A record 1,914 CEOs left their jobs in 2023, a whopping 55 percent increase from the previous year, according to a report conducted by Challenger, Gray, and Christmas. That figure far surpasses the previous record of 1,640 CEO exits in 2019. And the trend isn’t abating. In January 2024, another 194 CEOs said goodbye, up 73 percent from the number who left their posts in January 2023.

That means companies across the US are scrambling to fill a leadership void when a CEO leaves or unexpectedly resigns. And if the trend continues, it means that every company should be preparing for the sudden need to find a new chief executive.

Here, we outline the most important steps a company should take when the CEO quits.

Continue reading →

The Case for Hiring Part-Time or Fractional Executives

March 16, 2024
The Case for Hiring Part-Time or Fractional Executives

Every business owner dreams of gaining major traction in the marketplace. Fast-track growth, however, often comes at a cost. Things get taped together. There’s no process to speak of. Systems? Ha. Things go missing, including clients and team members. Lack of resources means that even the crown jewel – the company’s ability to out-innovate — may be put on hold just to keep up.

When a company grows faster than the capabilities of the leadership team, the company can hit the wall.

One of the hottest trends in business today is bringing part-time or fractional executives to provide C-suite leadership, mentorship, and the operational upgrades needed to help a company break through the ceiling to growth.

In this webinar, InterimExecs CEO Robert Jordan takes a deep dive into the question of when choosing a part-time or fractional executive is the best choice for a company:
Continue reading →

Succession Conflict in Family Business: Pain is Unavoidable. Suffering is Optional.

March 15, 2024
Succession Conflict in Family Business: Pain is Unavoidable. Suffering is Optional.

When it comes to family business succession, pain is unavoidable. Even in the happiest, most loving families, there will be moments of disagreement and dissension. It’s unavoidable. That’s because the goal of a family is a loving relationship. But in business, goals must always include results, even if hard-fought. 

So the acknowledgement implicit in family business is: there will be pain. But suffering is optional.

That is the key message InterimExecs CEO Robert Jordan sends in this lively 7-minute video about family business succession conflict:

Continue reading →

Family Business Succession Planning Checklist: 6 Important Questions to Ask

March 14, 2024
Family Business Succession Planning Checklist: 6 Important Questions to Ask

Nearly all (98%) US companies that responded to PwC’s 11th Global Family Business Survey say they have some form of governance policy in place. But, just what “governance policy” means varies widely. It could be anything from a shareholders agreement (75%) to conflict resolution mechanisms (22%).

In addition, the survey found that 78% of respondents say that protecting the business as the most important family asset is their top goal for the next five years and 72% want to ensure the business stays in the family. Despite that, in 2021, only 34% said they had a robust, documented, and communicated succession plan in place.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be all that surprising that so many family-owned businesses lack a formal plan. Creating a succession plan requires having difficult discussions around emotionally fraught family dynamics:

  • Should your son or daughter be groomed to take over the helm, or should it be a non-family member?
  • Should you just sell and split the proceeds?
  • What if the company you founded and devoted your life to building goes in a different direction once you retire?

Despite widely quoted statistics that say that only 30 percent of family businesses successfully transition to the second generation and only 13 percent survive through the third generation, a Harvard Business Review report says that is not true.

Continue reading →

Quality of Earnings Report: The Secret Weapon Buyers Won’t Tell Owners About

February 28, 2024
Quality of Earnings Report: The Secret Weapon Buyers Won’t Tell Owners About

Are you planning to sell your company in the next year or two? 

If so, think about commissioning your own Quality of Earnings report — BEFORE you go to market. Why? Because your buyer will commission one. And it could mean you’ll be leaving money on the table.

A QOE is the business valuation standard prospective buyers use to determine a final purchase price for target companies. If you haven’t commissioned your own, you’ll by necessity be relying on the one your acquirer commissions.

As InterimExecs CEO Robert Jordan said in a recent webinar (scroll down to watch the 8-minute video), consider a middle market business owner who has signed a letter of intent agreeing to sell the company to a private equity fund for 10 times earnings. He believes EBITDA to be $10 million and expects to close for $100 million.

Then the acquirer commissions a QOE to ensure this is a solid investment decision. The report comes back with an adjusted EBITDA of $9.5 million. BAM! The closing price just dropped by $5 million.

Continue reading →

2023 Year In Review

January 26, 2024
2023 Year In Review

Interims In Action

5 Trends To Look for in 2024

In 2023 we deployed InterimExecs RED Team into a wide range of companies both for-profit and non-profit, ranging from software to crypto, healthcare services, manufacturing, to med device.

Over the course of hundreds of conversations with owners, investors, and management teams, we saw recurring themes that we anticipate having a continued impact in 2024. Here are trends playing in the interim and fractional space:

Interims as SWAT Teams

When we formed InterimExecs RED Team almost 10 years ago, we set out to leverage the power of complementary skillsets that each executive brought to the table. That has translated to an increase in the number of team deployments, especially in high growth environments where a team needs to ramp up fast.

Look to our team deployment with AHIMA for a prime example of bringing in three unique specialties (CFO, CHRO, and Content Licensing) to lead the organization through an M&A process from diligence, acquisition, and integration:

I had a conversation with you and your colleagues, and within a day, you sent me RED Team members. And by day three, I talked to them, and by day four or five, they were engaged. And they have been fabulous. I can’t say enough good things…you’ll be my first call, always..

-Amy Mosser, CEO, AHIMA

More Owners are Prepping for Exit

We’ve seen a steady uptick of owners reaching out who were pursuing more freedom and flexibility.

Whether they wanted to build value in their companies to work toward an eventual sale, or they knew mentorship, people, and systems were needed to successfully handoff to the next generation, interim executives proved to be a strong resource to help get them to the finish line.

How do interims work with founder or family-owned businesses? Check out this webinar we hosted discussing the ins and outs:

Interim executives serve at the pleasure of the company. Especially in transition and integration work, we do all kinds of work pre-transaction in terms of getting ready — prepping for that exit — then going through negotiations and through diligence to make sure your deal finishes cleanly and on time. Then comes integration.

-Robert Jordan, CEO, InterimExecs

Interim and Fractional Continues to Go Mainstream

In 2023 we were featured in 50+ articles and podcasts ranging from talking to the Wall Street Journal about the rise of fractional leadership to speaking with HR managers about how to spot fakers: yes, interim and fractional may be the latest buzz words, but the true interims have incredible track records and the mindset to be change agents time after time.

Your Next Career Move: Part-Time Executive

Every Company Has a Mission Statement. But How Many Have an Actual Mission?

HR Directors: Learn to Tell the Difference Between Effective Fractional Executives and ‘Tourists’

Interims are in the business of radical change, and they are hooked on it. They enjoy problem-solving so much that they don’t enjoy the peace that comes after resolving an intractable difficulty. They just go looking for the next problem to solve.

The Street: HR Directors: Learn to Tell the Difference Between Effective Fractional Executives and ‘Tourists’

Spinoffs, Recaps, and Turnaround are Ramping Up

We have seen a select group of RED Team members who have a desire to invest in businesses or zero in on a performance component with more upside. This has led to more conversations around troubled or discarded assets.

Formed to assemble leadership teams and capital sources from like-minded PE funds and investors, RED Ventures has increasingly been a focus to identify opportunities to lead recap, spinoffs, and carve-outs.

Executives who think they have game should get in touch to see if they will be a good fit.

Where InterimExecs really shines is in capturing the entire toolbox of skills in concert with the personal essence of their RED Team leaders. This allows them to place these special talents into opportunities where their experiences and skills are highly relevant.”

-Steve Hummel, RED Team Interim CTO

RED Team Applications are on the Rise

As interim and fractional work become widespread, evermore executives apply to the RED Team. Our commitment remains consistent: create a team of rock star interims who take action and act with integrity.

If you know of a trusted CEO, CFO, CIO, COO or other C-suite interim/fractional exec who meets these demanding criteria feel free to send them our way. But no job seekers please.

See What It Takes to Join the RED Team

Genius is in the idea. Impact however comes from action.

-Simon Sinek

Explore the Benefits of Interim

  • Access to top executives wired for challenge
  • Skip the long executive search process
  • Backed by a team and wealth of knowledge
  • Fresh thinking and best practices
  • Action and results – not just advice!
  • Proven process to look at your unique needs
  • Flexible contracts
  • Mentorship and development for your team
Let's Talk - Learn More About InterimExecs

Jumpstart the Year With a Health Checkup on Your Business>

Top Signs You Need an Interim Executive>

Interim Executives Help Grow Private Equity Portfolio Companies>

Preparing Your Company for a Sale and How to Get the Help You Need

December 9, 2023
Preparing Your Company for a Sale and How to Get the Help You Need

So you’re looking for an exit strategy and the sale of your business seems like the best approach. But how do you get the most for the business you have built? Start right now preparing your company for a sale.

The good news for sellers: It’s a seller’s market. There are not enough assets in the world for the amount of investment banking cash that is sloshing around in the markets, as InterimExecs CEO Robert Jordan said in this recent webinar:

Continue reading →