Awake at 3 AM?
Let’s find and resolve those penetrating, nagging issues.

“David is unafraid to put important issues on the table and then facilitate a dialogue and decision-making process. None of the advisors that we have experienced had the skill or competence to cover the range of planning and family situations that David has.” – Colman K., client

David Cohn

My learning curve was steep and bumpy. I was constantly learning about myself, about others, about obstacles, and about mistakes and regrets. What others called failures I tried to re-frame into opportunities.

Furthermore, I was faced with what I thought was an unsolvable problem: My dad leaving and returning to the business. Because I did not have the skills or resources to help me, I ended up severing him from the business. He departed angrily and we did not speak for 6 months. (Fortunately, he eventually forgave me and we ended up having a great relationship for the
rest of his life.)

During that challenging time, I identified three things about every business consultant and advisor who wanted to help me:
1. They were all merely trying to sell me. No one sat down with me and asked, ‘How can I help?’

2. No one looked at my big picture—how everything was interdependent in the business. They didn’t (most likely couldn’t?) think in systems.

3. They had little knowledge or interest in the challenges I faced as a business owner. And, they never, ever asked the right questions. I realized that certainly other business owners must have similar experiences. In 1993, I sold the business to pursue a consulting career. I continue to advance my practice to address these and other prevailing issues that business owners are dealing with today.

MY CLIENTS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES

 

Colman K., Carpet Industry

My first meeting with David was to honor a request from a friend. I was quite confident it would be the typical meeting that I had had so many times previously with insurance salespeople or wealth advisors. Our meeting, however, proved to be one of the most worthwhile, informative, and educational meetings that I had ever experienced. That initial encounter began a 15-year relationship that Marcia and I have valued both personally and professionally. David traits of compassion, optimism, persistence, and unique capabilities have served our business and our family extremely well.

Jim Possehl, Denver, CO

We searched for more than two years for the “Right” person to help us deal with the complex and important family and business issues we had in front of us. After several tries we found David. He has a very unique set of talents. He has a very good business background and a wonderful approach to family and organizational challenges.

We all knew the structural issues we faced where important and difficult but that the personal, “soft issues” would ultimately determine the success of efforts. David is one of very few who can navigate those issues without alienating someone.

David knows his stuff. However, he also knows when to bring in a specialist in a given area to help provide the
very best outcome. He is well known in his field and knows the very best specialists too.

Helen Madden Weiss, Denver, CO

David was brought in by my husband’s mother to assist in a transition in ownership and leadership to the two of us. The result has been quite extraordinary. We now own the business, she has gracefully retired (she is still a wonderful resource to us and provides ongoing advice and direction), and we are working with David to develop our leadership skills and business acumen.

David has been gracious, patient, and a wonderful listener. He has an instinct to detect when someone is struggling a bit and coaches them along to help them stay engaged and continue.

He has introduced to other resources which have been either life-changing or filled in gaps that we were lacking in. This is a tribute to his unselfishness.

Rick Scruggs, Lynchburg, VA

I had the pleasure of working alongside David when I asked him to assist me with a long-term client of mine. The situation called for someone who could break open a logjam and get the partners and family members talking about things that were very challenging for them. He was able to help them resolve differences, move past them and start working as a united group. He left us all in a much better position.

David’s background, experience, and commitment to understanding the client’s vision, goals and objectives sets him apart in today’s advisory space. David is thorough, objective and relentless in his engagement follow through. If you want your “stuff” done, David will deliver. He is realistic in time frames and helps discover the ideal solutions and ultimate implementation.

Mark D. Allen, CPA, CO

It is my pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for David Cohn. He has been a pleasure and a huge asset for both me and my client.

Let me tell you about my interaction with David. One of my large clients engaged David to facilitate the transition from four owners to two and to help the remaining shareholders with the maturation from a
twenty-five-million-dollar company to a three hundred-million-dollar company. This hire, at first, was concerning to me. As the company’s tax CPA and trusted advisor, it appeared management was shifting away from my advice and expertise and looking for “new blood”. That may have been management’s idea but upon David’s engagement, he reached out to me and started asking all the right questions. He truly wanted to know what I thought would be a good approach to the needed changes as well as how I thought the company
should proceed.

David has a management approach that is all-inclusive. He made his assessment of what my client needed based on conversations with them and their existing professionals. He instigated an advisory team that meets regularly and attacks the company’s issues. He knows how to drive a process with management and their advisors without offending personalities and things are getting done at record pace. Make no mistake about it, David is driving my client to the decisions and personnel moves that will ultimately make his contributions less necessary and is working to eliminate their need for his services. This is the true test for a consultant.

I have learned from my time associated with David and I look forward to our advisory team meetings but recognizing this process is designed to eliminate or significantly reduce the need for all of us to advise. That may be the real value David brings to my client.

Paul E. Rumler, Business Attorney/Advisor

David and I have worked together professionally for more than ten years. In that time, we have worked together representing numerous successful businesses as well as the families who founded them as the founders have sought to create a path for their children and key employees to assume leadership positions and control in their companies. Along the way, I am happy to say that David and I have become good friends.

In the course of working together professionally with David, I know that he has been an invaluable resource for our clients guiding them through complex family, business, and estate planning issues. I know him to be bright, thoughtful, and articulate and an analytical and creative problem solver. He is skilled in understanding, explaining, and helping resolve complex personal and group dynamics and has a knack for implementing necessary change by listening attentively and asking challenging questions.

On a personal level, I have found David to be a man of exceptional values and integrity who has not once, through all of the ups and downs of life, discussed the possibility of “cutting a corner” as a solution to a business or personal problem. And I find great enjoyment In sharing my different perspectives on life with him. I trust David implicitly and have benefitted so much by sharing my life’s journey with him.

For these reasons I unequivocally and without reservation recommend my friend David to you. I know you will find it a joy to do business with him and get to know him personally.

Throughout my years of business consulting I have come to understand common threads in entrepreneurs and your barriers to success… and, how they undoubtedly create challenges for you, your leadership team, and your profitability.

If you are struggling to find the answers to why your business isn’t performing the way you want, let’s chat. I will personally contact you to simply have a conversation to find out more.

What problems are you facing?
And, how do others within your organization see those problems?

What needs to get done?
Is there unresolved conflict?

Are family members or partners contributing to or detracting from your business?

Has anyone confidentially interviewed all key stakeholders to reveal what’s really important to resolve?

Has anyone ever put everybody in the room and facilitated a meaningful conversation?

Does everyone agree on a vision for the future?

How can I help?
Through listening, gathering multiple perspectives, understanding your challenges, getting consensus (yes, it’s possible), and taking a whole system approach, I can support you and your employees in helping the business and the people in the business thrive.

This contact form is deactivated because you refused to accept Google reCaptcha service which is necessary to validate any messages sent by the form.

Let’s have a no-pressure conversation about how I can help.
Contact me today.

Schedule an Appointment

Office and Cell: 303.883.8260

Learn more or connect with David

Visit EPIKUS Leadership