Greg Hurst

Current

• President/CEO, ActionCOACH of DFW at ActionCOACH Business Coaching

Past

• President at Viapointe Consulting
• President at Sasco
• Founder/President at Kids Health Magazine

• President/CEO at Viapointe, Inc.
• President at Freedom Communications, Inc.
• Interim CEO - Turnaround at myOC.com
• Vice President/CIO at Freedom Communications
• Director, Information Systems at Orange County Register Newspaper
• Advertising Operations Director at The Orange County Register
• Advertising Manager at The Orange County Register Newspaper
• Advertising Sales at The Orange County Register
• Customer Service/Dispatch/Supv at Orange County Register Newspaper
• Operations Director at VideoWarehouse

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Education

• Specialized Post-Graduate Executive Program
• Stanford University Graduate School of Business
• Chapman University

• University of Phoenix
• University of California, Irvine

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2 more...

Recommended

17 people have recommended Greg

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Professional Training & Coaching

Websites

• My Company
• My Blog
• My Newsletter

Greg Hurst’s Summary

● CORPORATE
o President of several firms between $500 mil and $1 bil in annual revenue
o Significant mergers & acquisition experience
o Turnarounds, Restructurings, Re-engineering.
o Substantial experience in negotiating real estate acquisitions and leases
o Excellent negotiator on contracts, business deals, funding, etc.
o Experienced in expansion and reduction of large workforce

● ENTREPRENEUR
o Started several successful businesses from scratch
o Built business from $50k revenue to nearly $10 mil in less than three years
o Expert in leadership, sales, marketing, technology, operations, production & distribution

● VENTURE CAPITAL
o Directly managed $50 mil fund
o Corporate Limited Partner in $500 mil fund
o Current or former Board Director on several dozen companies

● CONSULTING
o Consulted with businesses from startup to more than $1 bil in revenue
o Strong leader with ability to develop leadership abilities within individuals and organizations
o Worked with Owner/CEO and management team to align goals
o Worked with CEOs and CIOs to help bridge gap and align technology goals with CEO vision
o Expert at improving profits, cash flow, and balance sheet
o Consulted on myriad acquisitions, divestitures, and mergers
o Project management / Project turnarounds
o Company turnarounds

Greg Hurst’s Specialties:

● Preparing firms for venture capital and private equity funding
● Development of "Investment-grade" Business Plans
● Sophisticated financial modeling at all levels
● Due Diligence on M&A and Startups
● Developing Leadership Skills among C-Level Teams
● M&A & Post-merger Transitions
● Expert Negotiator
● Expertise in developing sales channels
● Expertise in Risk Management
● Expertise in protecting Intellectual Property
● Strong technology expertise

Greg Hurst’s Experience

• President/CEO, ActionCOACH of DFW

  ActionCOACH Business Coaching

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Professional Training & Coaching industry)

  August 2006 — Present (2 years 4 months)

  As an Executive Advisor and Business Coach, I bring out the potential in my clients, helping them achieve greater business success and a healthier life balance.
  
  As a business leader and entrepreneur, I have been president of two Fortune 500-size companies, launched a $50 million venture capital fund, and was a corporate limited partner of a $500 million fund comprised of a total of a dozen firms including such household names as American Express, Motorola, and GE.
  
  In addition to nearly two decades of corporate experience leading large companies, I have proven myself a savvy entrepreneur with several successful start-ups under my belt.
  
  I am the ideal Business Coach and Executive Advisor for driven professionals who are searching for an objective advisor and enthusiastic mentor.
  
  I credit my accomplishments in large part to my own business coach who was a sounding board, mentor, and leadership coach in both my corporate and entrepreneurial careers.

• President

  Viapointe Consulting

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Management Consulting industry)

  January 2006 — August 2006 (8 months)

  At Viapointe Consulting, I provided high-level consulting to executives and business owners in a variety of industries including magazines, contracting, Internet e-commerce, retail, and manufacturing.
  
  I brought my depth and breadth of experience to the table including turnarounds and restructuring, negotiating contracts and leases, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, insurance, growing revenue and profits, team building, and business development.
  
  In addition, my unique experience with both large corporations and smaller, entrepreneurial startups gave my clients an edge as I was able to negotiate successfully with larger companies as well as leverage former relationships.

• President

  Sasco

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Construction industry)

  July 2004 — December 2005 (1 year 6 months)

  Joined the firm to manage rapidly changing centralized headquarter operations. Played a key role in improving profitability through budget tightening and contract renegotiations. Led rapid completion of Oracle ERP implementation project that was eighteen months behind schedule and more than $2 million over budget. Slashed warehouse problems-per-delivery from 30% to less than 1% and restored credibility to function. Renegotiated risk management insurance, leases, communications, and myriad other contracts, contributing significant cash to the bottom line within the calendar year.

• Founder/President

  Kids Health Magazine

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Publishing industry)

  January 2004 — September 2004 (9 months)

  Kids Health magazine was a free distribution magazine and guide to general and family health and wellness providers. In addition to high-interest editorial content related to the health and wellness of children and family, the guide was particularly valuable as it used objective information compiled by a market research firm using a combination of subjective as well as tangible, measurable characteristics to rate physicians, so that families had a much better alternative to the phone book when seeking a medical provider.
  
  I developed an advertising base, securing a cornerstone advertiser within the first forty-five days of inception. The magazine was extremely well accepted in the marketplace by both consumers and advertisers.

• President/CEO

  Viapointe, Inc.

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Online Media industry)

  January 2001 — February 2003 (2 years 2 months)

  I launched this start-up enterprise in collaboration with partner, Freedom Communications. Under my leadership, sales climbed quickly to nearly $8 million.
  
  Background: despite niche successes in Internet business, media companies remained tentative in making capital-intensive and technology-intensive expenditures toward Internet business. In addition, traditional media sales forces were generally slow to sell interactive media.
  
  I built the company rapidly, developing portal software, and partnering to provide resalable consumer hosting products, email marketing, and other products in the portfolio. I actively formed channel sales partnerships through other media firms, as well as external partnerships to expand the product offering and leverage other firms’ brands and consumer relationships.
  
  Despite the difficult economy, Viapointe generated sustained month-over-month growth, breaking even ahead of plan. After several successful years of growth, I sold to a partners.

• President

  Freedom Communications, Inc.

  (Privately Held; 5001-10,000 employees; Publishing industry)

  January 1999 — December 2001 (3 years)

  Among many duties, I managed an investment fund of approximately $50 million basis, comprised of direct investments as well as funds under Media Technology Ventures (Allegis) in which I co-invested with a dozen Corporate Partners including companies such as Motorola, American Express, GE, Sun, Heart Corporation, and others.
  
  Direct investments included InfoSeek, eHow, Dr Drew, Element, Intraspect, and others.

• Interim CEO - Turnaround

  myOC.com

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Management Consulting industry)

  2000 — 2000 (less than a year)

  As Chairman of the Board, the Board of Directors and I made the decision to find a new Chief Executive Officer of this promising company. I stepped in at a critical juncture to run the company through some significant staffing changes, technology changes, and changes in strategic direction.

• Vice President/CIO

  Freedom Communications

  (Privately Held; 5001-10,000 employees; Publishing industry)

  May 1996 — January 1999 (2 years 9 months)

  Chief Information Officer for national diversified media company comprised of 8,000 employees, approximately 35 newspapers, 8 broadcast television stations, and magazines.

• Director, Information Systems

  Orange County Register Newspaper

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Newspapers industry)

  February 1994 — May 1996 (2 years 4 months)

  Among myriad aggressive initiatives including a network upgrade, CRM implementation, and replacement of an outdated mainframe, I was tasked with transforming the Information Services through downsizing, outsourcing, and refocusing on the company's strategic goals. I reduced the division's budget by 35% year-over-year while increasing measurable key indicators positively by more than 50%.

• Advertising Operations Director

  The Orange County Register

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Publishing industry)

  September 1992 — February 1994 (1 year 6 months)

• Advertising Manager

  The Orange County Register Newspaper

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Publishing industry)

  March 1990 — September 1992 (2 years 7 months)

• Advertising Sales

  The Orange County Register

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Publishing industry)

  July 1988 — March 1990 (1 year 9 months)

• Customer Service/Dispatch/Supv

  Orange County Register Newspaper

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Publishing industry)

  February 1987 — July 1988 (1 year 6 months)

  I worked in the Orange County Register newspaper's Consumer Marketing division providing customer service to clients and then dispatching district managers to areas of their district in which there was a problem. I also performed data entry and supervised teams.

• Operations Director

  VideoWarehouse

  (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Retail industry)

  March 1985 — February 1987 (2 years)

  In this position, I was Operations Director for a small chain of video stores with, at that time, 9 stores around Orange County, California.
  I worked out of the company's corporate headquarters in Huntington Beach, CA overseeing purchasing of equipment and rental stock as well as financing, where necessary, of floor stock. I also provided human resources support to store general managers, as well as directly hiring and terminating employees.
  I managed the company's accounts payable as well as key back-office issues.
  I took on numerous special projects including design and mailing of the company's newsletter, programming the company's information systems, etc.

Greg Hurst’s Education

• Specialized Post-Graduate Executive Program

  Post-Graduate Executive Program, Advanced Economics, 1999 — 1999

  Activities and Societies:

  This was a Customized Post-Graduate Executive course in Advanced Micro-Economics and Macro-Economics as well as Advanced Business Finance especially as it related to media and

• Stanford University Graduate School of Business

  Post-Graduate Executive Program, Advanced Marketing and Finance, 1997 — 1997

  I participated in an Customized Post-Graduate course in Advanced Marketing, Business Planning, and Financing.
  
  It was a custom curriculum designed for executives with at least an undergraduate Business Degree to augment their education with advanced Business topics including advanced Marketing and Financial Mastery.

• Chapman University

  Post-Graduate Executive Program, Organizational Development / HR, 1996 — 1996

  I completed intensive, customized coursework in Organizational Management, Strategic Human Resources Management, Risk Management, and Benefits and Compensation Management

• University of Phoenix

  Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, 1992 — 1995

  Activities and Societies:

  Summa Cum Laude
  GPA 4.00

• University of California, Irvine

  Graphic Design 1991 — 1993

  At University of California, Irvine, I studied fine art and graphic design. I worked with multiple media including oils, charcoal, pencils, air brush, inks, and many others. I developed a keen appreciation for the fine arts and hone my own artistic talents, both in fine arts and in graphic design. I studied traditional design as well as computer-aided design using PC and Machintosh software including Photoshop, Freehand, Illustrator, Pagemaker, Quark XPress, and others.

Additional Information

Greg Hurst’s Websites:

• My Company
• My Blog
• My Newsletter

Greg Hurst’s Interests:

Spending time with my wonderful family--my wife and two children, traveling, swimming, bicycling. Investing, public speaking, motivational seminars, leadership development. • Working one-on-one with key executives in large firms who have a strong desire to realize their full potential and the full potential of their team(s) • Working with companies considering (or have recently completed) mergers and acquisitions whether or not the company is seeking outside investment for an acquisition/merger. • Working with high-growth companies seeking to maximize profits and build a strong foundation for lasting growth. • Working with entrepreneurs building “market disruptive” businesses who have a desire and passion to take it to the next level and who may need outside investment to take that step.

Greg Hurst’s Groups:

Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce (GDC)
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
Center for Executive Leadership
Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
DFW Christian Chamber of Commerce
Southlake Chamber of Commerce
Colleyville Chamber of Commerce
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Chamber of Commerce
Keller Chamber of Commerce
BNI (Business Networking International)
Former YLO (Young Leadership Organization)
Former YPO (Young Presidents Organization)
JohnMcCain.com / McCain Aces
DallasBlue Executives

•    Blue: The DallasBlue Business Network (23,000+ members)
•    DFW Entrepreneur Network
•    Executive Suite
•    On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs
•    American Red Cross
•    Christian Professionals
•    LInked Business Strategists
•    LIONs "LI Open Networkers"
•    Pro Marketers - For Marketing Professionals
•    Serious business persons
•    Link to Your World™
•    Plaxo.com
•    NetworkingPros
•    ActionCOACH Business Coaching
•    Craigslist Group
•    THE GLOBAL SOURCING COUNCIL (GSC)
•    GroupLinked.com
•    CXO (CEO, COO, CKO, CFO, CMO, CAO, CVO, CDO, CRO, CLO, CSO & CTO) Community
•    CEO Crossing
•    BNI (Business Network International)
•    Invites Welcome! (Open Networkers)
•    SalesBlogcast.com
•    The Due Diligence Group (DDG)
•    Christianity in Business
•    DFW Venture Capital and Private Equity Investment Community

Greg Hurst’s Honors:

Master Executive Coach
Master Business Coach
Certified ChangeWorks™ Professional
Certified MasterStream™ Professional
Entrepreneur of the Year (2003)
Top 20 Media Executives (1994)
Other Honors for Community and Non-Profit Involvement including: Susan G. Komen Foundation's "Race for the Cure", LibertyRun, Children's Hospital, and others.

Greg Hurst’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch