CEO, Scaling Up Coaches, Founder, align5

John is currently the CEO of Scaling Up Coaches and founder of align5, a strategic consultancy and Coworking space in West Chester, PA. John is also Managing Director at STS Capital Partners.

In his role at Scaling Up Coaches, John leverages years of business experience and relationships with thought leaders to grow a dynamic community of coaches. The community of coaches collectively advise over 2500 companies worldwide.

With over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, CEO and investment banker, John co-founded align5 in 2013 (in partnership with STS Capital) to advise growth company entrepreneurs and family enterprises on a variety of strategic issues including sell-side and buy-side M&A. In January of 2021 John reengaged as a Managing Director with STS Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank specializing in middle market M&A.

John was also the founder and CEO of Appletree Answers, a telephone answering service company he started in 1995. He grew the company organically by implementing strategies from Rockefeller Habits 2.0 (the Scaling Up methodology) and through a series of acquisitions to 24 U.S. locations and 650 employees. John sold Appletree Answers to a strategic buyer in June 2012. John is passionate about strategy, company culture and employee engagement. It was that focus on culture that drove Appletree to record growth and profitability and ultimately drove a strategic valuation style exit. One key driver of that value was 18% turnover in an industry that averaged 150%

John is a member of the YPO Philadelphia chapter since 2007 and is a graduate of the Birthing of Giants class of 2008. He is active in Virgin Unite, a charitable foundation created by Sir Richard Branson. John lives in Wilmington, Delaware with his wife Lynne and their 3 children. When not working on strategy or M&A John is an avid pilot with well over 5000 hours in the air. He currently enjoys flying the company TBM850 Turboprop for both work and pleasure.