My Story

I’m James Sheppard; a 3X founder turned executive coach.

I built my first venture-backed business, Vetrazzo, in the greentech market of the 2000’s. We developed a patented technology to turn recycled glass into surfacing material used anywhere granite or marble were used. We got a lot of media attention for our innovative product and our contribution to the sustainability movement. In 2007, we built the first enterprise software application on Salesforce’s PaaS to manage production and distribution.  This inadvertently led to my becoming an early evangelist of cloud computing.

When the company was acquired, I was asked to join Salesforce to build a digital transformation program, advising CIOs from companies such as GE, Boeing, L’Oreal, Bank of America and Home Depot. I learned that transformation doesn’t happen through technology. It happens through people. The best customer experiences are delivered by the strongest company cultures.

I left Salesforce to build my next company, Centriq, in the home services space. We raised capital from institutions, HNWIs and strategics over multiple rounds. We had many ups and downs and spent a lot of time in the “messy middle” before finally finding true product-market fit. I’m pretty sure I felt every variation of founder experience possible on this journey (just ask my wife). We persevered and found our stride, leading to a successful exit via acquisition in 2021.

I found myself on an extended sabbatical in the middle of a global pandemic. With a successful exit recently behind me, I was face to face with the big questions about fulfillment and purpose (spoiler alert - a successful exit means way less to one’s contentment than you think it will). So, I got myself a great coach and set out to discover what was next for me.

It was on Kodiak Island, Alaska, on a workshop photographing bears, that I had a moment of clarity. I would help other founders accelerate the learning curve that took me 20 years to figure out. Why? Because I believe founders are critical to the future of humanity. Yes, that’s a mighty bold statement. But you don’t need me to tell you that we’re at a critical moment in time. Does tech pose an existential risk or will it solve our greatest challenges? It could still go either way. For it to go the right way, the world needs wise founders.

On a much lighter, personal note… I’m a father of two young daughters, a dual American-Canadian, and a dedicated hockey fan (Go Oilers!!). I like to think I’m a decent photographer and I recently decided to pick up the electric guitar. I love a good assassin or spy novel. And lately, Jack Reacher is my guilty pleasure. Ahh, to live in a black and white world of right vs. wrong…

Interested in working together?