Evan Goodwin
This document serves as both a personal reference and as a resource for potential employers, partners, and investors to understand how I think and lead.
Core PrinciplesThe fundamental truth about business decisions: Most strategic choices are made with incomplete information. The skill isn't waiting for perfect data—it's knowing how to make qualified decisions with whatever information exists, and structuring those decisions to limit downside while preserving upside.
I've developed a systematic approach to evaluating major strategic opportunities and risks:
Define what you're actually deciding - Most strategic mistakes start with fuzzy problem definition. Are you deciding whether to enter a market, or whether to invest resources now versus in 6 months? Clarity on the actual decision point prevents scope creep.
Identify the decision criteria - What does success look like? What are the dealbreakers? This sounds obvious, but most people skip this step and end up moving the goalposts mid-process.
Determine the timeline - When does this decision need to be made? What's forcing the timeline? Can we buy more time to gather information?
Map what you know vs. what you need to know - Create an explicit gap analysis. Separate facts from assumptions. If a critical assumption is wrong, what's the impact?
Identify asymmetric risks - What risks have catastrophic downside? What opportunities have outsized upside? This shapes whether you need bulletproof data or can move on directional information.
Test critical assumptions with minimum investment - Before committing major resources, can you validate assumptions cheaply? This might mean mockups and ad campaigns, customer conversations, limited pilots, or financial modeling scenarios.
This is where most companies fail - They evaluate opportunities in isolation rather than as portfolio decisions. When you're running 10-20 major initiatives, saying yes to one thing means saying no to others.
The discipline:
Ruthless prioritization beats distributed mediocrity - I'd rather fully resource 3 initiatives and kill 2 others than spread resources across 5 half-funded projects.
Structure decisions to preserve optionality:
Know when to cut losses - I've learned to amputate fast when something isn't working. The sunk cost is already gone—the question is whether incremental investment generates sufficient return.
Operating Cadence & Organizational AlignmentOrganizational performance depends on cascading information and decisions across time horizons. I've built operating structures that create alignment from strategic planning down to daily execution.
Cascading information: Strategic decisions flow down, issues escalate up. Each level has clear inputs and outputs.
Consistent format: Same structure every time eliminates ambiguity and builds muscle memory.
Action orientation: Every meeting ends with clear owners and due dates. No meeting without decisions.
This creates organizational discipline: When you have the right people organized with clear operating rhythms and defined goals, alignment stays clear. People know what's expected and have autonomy to deliver.
Multi-Time Scale PlanningOperating rhythms handle execution cadence; planning processes handle strategic alignment. I've adapted a planning methodology to create coherence from annual strategy down to daily priorities.
Clear organizational alignment accelerates execution and improves decision-making at every level. It prevents strategic drift and enables proactive leadership instead of crisis reaction.
Project & Portfolio ManagementCompanies often have 10-20 major projects running simultaneously. Without governance discipline, they collide, compete for resources, and stall. I've built lightweight PMO structures that provide discipline without bureaucracy:
Light PMO vs. Heavy PMO: I favor light structures—standard templates, simple tracking, focus on communication. Heavy PMO creates dedicated PMs for everything and elaborate stage gates that become bureaucracy.
One of my primary tools for preventing ownership ambiguity on cross-functional initiatives is RACI—Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed. It sounds simple, but it's incredibly powerful when applied with discipline:
The golden rule: Exactly one person is Accountable per decision.
RACI breakdown:
Why this matters: Shared accountability doesn't work. Someone needs to own the outcome. When you have two people who think they're Accountable, you have conflict and slow decisions. RACI forces the conversation about ownership upfront.
I use RACI matrices for major initiatives—it clarifies scope boundaries, prevents ownership gaps, and speeds up decisions by limiting consulted parties. At Vector, implementing RACI discipline dramatically reduced finger-pointing and delays on cross-functional projects.
In manufacturing and product businesses, I've implemented Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) as the monthly rhythm that bridges commercial forecasts with operational capacity:
Week 1 - Data Gathering: Sales updates pipeline, Operations reports actual vs. plan, Finance updates constraints
Week 2 - Demand Review: Commercial presents updated forecast, identifies changes and new commitments
Week 3 - Supply Review: Operations presents capacity plan, identifies gaps, Materials/Procurement confirms supply
Week 4 - Executive S&OP: Leadership reviews demand vs. supply, decides on capacity/timing trade-offs, commits to plan
Key outputs: Rolling 12-18 month forecast, production plan for next 3 months, capacity gaps requiring action, financial impact analysis.
At Vector, I built this process from scratch—creating weekly production plans based on order pipeline while managing custom requirements and long lead-time components.
After 20+ years, I see projects as systematic steps with identifiable critical paths and risk points:
Many projects require coordination across organizational boundaries:
Team Building & Talent DevelopmentThe most important capability in any team member is creative problem-solving. This reveals itself in how people approach questions and challenges.
In interviews, strong problem-solvers connect their experiences—even from outside work—to demonstrate relevant capabilities. When someone shrugs and says "I don't know" without attempting to bridge their experience, that reveals narrow thinking.
CAD designers, engineers, specialists
Sales, marketing, management
It is the manager's job to give people the resources they need to be successful. It is the employee's job to execute.
Resources include:
I train people to recognize when they need to stop and learn versus reach out for external help. This judgment is critical for maintaining momentum.
I don't micromanage. I work with people to understand time and skills required, identify gaps, and ensure they have what they need to succeed.
Accountability through structure: When you have the right people organized across multiple time scales with defined goals and clear operating rhythms, alignment stays clear. People know what's expected through daily standups, weekly reviews, and regular one-on-ones. They have autonomy to deliver within that structure.
The right team is paramount. Slow to hire, fast to fire. It's uncomfortable, but having performers who fill and exceed their roles is critical to organizational success.
Leveraging AI & Technology as Force MultipliersI view AI tools the same way I viewed CAD in the 1990s and ERP systems in the 2000s—as infrastructure that fundamentally changes what's possible with limited resources. The question isn't "should we use AI?" but rather "what work should humans stop doing?"
Small teams with the right technology can now execute strategies that previously required departments.
Knowledge capture and documentation: I've built comprehensive knowledge bases that capture technical expertise, decision frameworks, and institutional knowledge. This prevents knowledge loss and accelerates onboarding.
Research and analysis: Competitive intelligence, market research, and technical literature reviews that used to take days now take hours. I use AI to synthesize information and identify patterns, then apply human judgment to make decisions.
Documentation and communication: First drafts of process maps, proposals, technical documentation, and training materials. The AI handles the grunt work; I provide the strategic direction and refinement.
Data analysis and modeling: Pattern recognition in operational data, scenario planning, and financial modeling. AI surfaces insights; I determine which ones matter.
AI amplifies judgment, it doesn't replace it - The human makes the decision; AI eliminates the tedious work that precedes decisions.
Start with high-volume, low-risk applications - Test on work where errors are easily caught and stakes are low.
Build systems, not one-offs - Create reusable frameworks and knowledge bases rather than treating each task as standalone.
Train the team - This isn't just a personal productivity tool. Everyone should understand how to leverage these capabilities.
Organizations that integrate AI effectively operate with fundamentally different economics. The leverage ratio—output per employee—can be 3-5x higher than competitors still doing everything manually.
This isn't about replacing people. It's about enabling small, high-performing teams to accomplish what previously required much larger organizations. The strategic advantage goes to whoever figures this out first in their market.
Sales & Client PhilosophyIn technical settings, sales means providing expertise first. In less technical settings, it means providing value through support—site visits, sharing ideas and vision.
The goal is not to push products. The goal is to solve problems and build relationships.
Pipeline management (present) - Stay on top of active opportunities, move deals systematically through stages
New opportunity identification (near-term) - Search out new markets and segments, test new approaches with minimal risk
Strategic positioning (long-term) - Build market presence that compounds, develop partnerships, create defensible advantages
It's critical to understand:
Building teams internally AND externally is important. Not every opportunity is a good fit. Saying no to the wrong opportunities protects your ability to say yes to the right ones.
The North Star: Put the client first and add value.
This takes many forms:
Let's ConnectInterested in discussing leadership, strategic partnerships, or business opportunities?
Ideal for: Technical B2B businesses with long sales cycles, complex projects requiring cross-functional coordination, manufacturing or operational businesses that need both strategic vision and execution discipline, or scale-up companies building operating infrastructure from scratch.