Hamza Shayk
Founder & Lead Advisor
My belief
Working with me should be the highest-return of investment a client makes in themselves or their organization.
25+
25+
Years building, operating, and advising
300+
300+
Senior executives advised
200+
200+
CEOs advised
25+
25+
Industries
98%
98%
Of clients have referred others
Background
I started my career in finance by building my own practice from scratch. The first year was mostly rejection, learning to sell, and figuring out how to build a business from nothing. Eventually, it started working.
As the practice grew, I began hiring financial advisors and building a team. That taught me a different set of lessons: finding good people is hard; managing talented people is harder. Standards have to be clear, and people must be held accountable. Eventually, your own effort stops being enough; you have to learn how to get results through other people.
After a decade of doing that, I moved into equity and debt financing, helping businesses fund growth, acquisitions, turnarounds, and ownership transitions. It quickly became clear that capital was only one part of the equation. Companies are constantly evolving, and the fundamentals have to evolve with them: leadership, operations, and decision-making. When those are strong, capital accelerates growth and increases the long-term value of the business. When they are not, more money simply makes the problems bigger.
I became increasingly involved in helping CEOs build stronger, more valuable companies and navigate periods of growth and transition. That meant helping shape how their organizations were structured and managed, how executives led, and how consequential decisions were made. I found those questions far more interesting than financing itself.
Since then, I’ve advised more than 300 CEOs on people, performance, strategy, succession, organizational change, and the realities of running a company. My clients have included Fortune 500 CEOs, private equity firms, family-owned companies, and CEOs of small- and mid-sized enterprises. Some have asked me to work inside their companies for extended periods, including interim C-suite roles lasting as long as a year.
Ninety-eight percent of my clients have chosen to recommend me to someone else. I take that as the clearest indication that my work made a difference.
Background
I started my career in finance by building my own practice from scratch. The first year was mostly rejection, learning to sell, and figuring out how to build a business from nothing. Eventually, it started working.
As the practice grew, I began hiring financial advisors and building a team. That taught me a different set of lessons: finding good people is hard; managing talented people is harder. Standards have to be clear, and people must be held accountable. Eventually, your own effort stops being enough; you have to learn how to get results through other people.
After a decade of doing that, I moved into equity and debt financing, helping businesses fund growth, acquisitions, turnarounds, and ownership transitions. It quickly became clear that capital was only one part of the equation. Companies are constantly evolving, and the fundamentals have to evolve with them: leadership, operations, and decision-making. When those are strong, capital accelerates growth and increases the long-term value of the business. When they are not, more money simply makes the problems bigger.
I became increasingly involved in helping CEOs build stronger, more valuable companies and navigate periods of growth and transition. That meant helping shape how their organizations were structured and managed, how executives led, and how consequential decisions were made. I found those questions far more interesting than financing itself.
Since then, I’ve advised more than 300 CEOs on people, performance, strategy, succession, organizational change, and the realities of running a company. My clients have included Fortune 500 CEOs, private equity firms, family-owned companies, and CEOs of small- and mid-sized enterprises. Some have asked me to work inside their companies for extended periods, including interim C-suite roles lasting as long as a year.
Ninety-eight percent of my clients have chosen to recommend me to someone else. I take that as the clearest indication that my work made a difference.
From Clients
“Working with Hamza has been a pivotal experience for our company's growth. He consistently went beyond standard leadership advice to meaningfully refine our core systems and processes, creating a level of clarity that we hadn't achieved before. His strategic insight helped me in practical terms to execute our vision, turning abstract goals into concrete and scalable workflows. I highly recommend Hamza to any leader looking to fortify their company's foundation.”
Mathe young Mosny
Founder & CEO, Kismet
I get the call when
01
Transition
The company has grown, changed, or contracted, and the way it is being run no longer fits what it is becoming.
02
Executive team
The executive team is not functioning as one. Silos, mistrust, and friction are starting to affect performance.
03
Capability gap
A strong executive is taking on greater responsibility and needs to strengthen the few capabilities the larger role now requires.
04
Investment judgment
An investor needs an independent sounding board to challenge the thesis and keep conviction, pressure, gains, or losses from clouding judgment.
05
Politics and power
A CEO or senior executive is operating in a more complex environment and needs objective counsel on relationships, expectations, influence, and power.
06
Too tactical
A senior executive still has their hands in too much, when the role now requires more delegation, strategic thinking, and leverage through others.
07
Valuable but difficult
A highly valuable executive is also creating problems around them, and the challenge is to correct the behavior without losing the value they bring.
08
Consequential decisions
A CEO, chair, or senior executive needs someone independent to challenge the thinking and work through second- and third-order consequences before making the call.
09
Executive presence
A strong executive is being held back by how they communicate, influence, navigate senior stakeholders, or present themselves at the next level.
10
Executive exhaustion
A senior executive is constantly behind, mentally overloaded, and carrying too much alone, and needs to regain control of time, energy, and attention.
I get the call when
01
Transition
The company has grown, changed, or contracted, and the way it is being run no longer fits what it is becoming.
02
Executive team
The executive team is not functioning as one. Silos, mistrust, and friction are starting to affect performance.
03
Capability gap
A strong executive is taking on greater responsibility and needs to strengthen the few capabilities the larger role now requires.
04
Investment judgment
An investor needs an independent sounding board to challenge the thesis and keep conviction, pressure, gains, or losses from clouding judgment.
05
Politics and power
A CEO or senior executive is operating in a more complex environment and needs objective counsel on relationships, expectations, influence, and power.
06
Too tactical
A senior executive still has their hands in too much, when the role now requires more delegation, strategic thinking, and leverage through others.
07
Valuable but difficult
A highly valuable executive is also creating problems around them, and the challenge is to correct the behavior without losing the value they bring.
08
Consequential decisions
A CEO, chair, or senior executive needs someone independent to challenge the thinking and work through second- and third-order consequences before making the call.
09
Executive presence
A strong executive is being held back by how they communicate, influence, navigate senior stakeholders, or present themselves at the next level.
10
Executive exhaustion
A senior executive is constantly behind, mentally overloaded, and carrying too much alone, and needs to regain control of time, energy, and attention.
Dear Leaders
The letter no one at work can write you
I write Dear Leaders, a letter about judgment, difficult people decisions, power dynamics, and everything else that comes with leading people or running money.
Read by more than 15,000 senior executives read it.