George Spears Email & Phone Number

Washington, Dc, Us

PROBLEM: After participating in commodities markets for several years, I recognized opportunities to streamline the series of processes for both buyers and sellers of the larger cargo, container ships of agricultural grains. Typical quantities: 50,000to 100,000 metric tons.SOLUTION:Exporters, importers, trading companies, and food manufacturers are continually seeking to purchase bulk quantities of soft agricultural commodities, including soy, corn or sugar. To accelerate successful outcomes for both buyers and sellers, I launched GS Consulting and Trading with a team of experts who specialize in:— Banking & Compliance— Customs & Border Control— Contracts & Distribution— Importing & Exporting Commodities— Financial InstrumentsWhat we do for BUYERS:► Prepare them in Advance & Throughout the Transaction► Customize the Contract Payment Terms► Sequence Contract Procedures (from Letters of Intent to Issuing the Financial Instrument)► Confirming Requirements of their Bank’s Compliance Department What we do for SELLERS: ► Create a Sales Pipeline of Buyers ► Qualify potential buyers through our Multilingual Team ► Translate & Communicate Their Requirements to the Buyers► Prepare, Submit Modify and Manage All Contracts ► Confirm Delivery Schedule

Leesburg, Va, Us

From napkin sketches to capital raise, from MVP to a commercially viable product — Atero is now positioned for future growth. With the company in strong hands, I can spend more time at the Board level.

Leesburg, Va, Us

Minutes after I was inspired to launch Atero, I recognized that I: ► Was an accomplished sales leader but not a software product developer► Had P&L responsibility but had never raised outside capital► Had built sales teams but never recruited and managed development teamsSo…I joined a variety of networking groups to help me “know what I didn’t know”. As I shared my experiences with these groups, I discovered that almost everyone else in the room had the same problems. That’s when I identified a pattern that has been researched and studied in other disciplines, including human behavior and psychology. In a book titled “The Cycle of Performance,” I found the version that resonated with me. As I shared this method with other business leaders in my networking groups, several asked me to speak to larger groups or invited me to be a featured event speaker. Since then, I’ve been helping CEOs and other leaders discover how to chart their unique stages of personal, professional and/or company growth to remove the fear & uncertainty of change. It’s a sequence that brings order to chaos & enables entire teams to arrive at the desired outcome at the same time.

Leesburg, Va, Us

Atero is a SaaS platform custom designed to accelerate Online Reordering for manufacturers and distributors that are primarily receiving purchase orders by phone, email and/or fax. By using Atero to move a B2B book of business from offline to online, a manufacturer and/or distributor can supercharge its sales growth.I recognized a major pain point for two-step distribution industries when I was running a manufacturer’s rep firm. One afternoon a 30-page fax to purchase a $135 toaster came in from a major hotel chain. Unfortunately, it was 29 pages of boilerplate and just one page of purchase details specific to the toaster. And suddenly, I noticed it was not just one order, but dozens, and not just the first day but the rest of that week. I decided to develop a software solution that would provide an easy and efficient way for any business to reorder online. In my spare time I created a working demo, got feedback from potential customers, and then went for my first round of funding. Today we have a feature-rich platform that can scale, along with 800 manufacturers with their spec sheets and technical information.I‘m particularly proud of the following successes:► A database of over 680,000 products► Over 1,700 registered users across the U.S and Canada► Helping our customers save time, reduce costs & inefficiencies and accelerate revenue growth► Attracting companies across multiple industries: Hospitality, Food, Automotive and Medical Supplies

MindShare is a network of chief executive officers (CEOs) from the most promising emerging and high growth technology companies in the Washington, DC region. Over 1,000 CEO’s of highly innovative and dynamic technology companies have joined forces through the MindShare Alumni Network.► In 2016, I was nominated and selected to join MindShare based on the success of my emerging technology company. ► In 2018, I was nominated and selected to join MindShare’s Investment Committee. In this role I continue to assist brand new start-ups as they prepare to raise capital.

Equipment Solutions was a commercial kitchen equipment and furnishings firm initially founded to meet the needs of a handful of manufacturers in the mid-Atlantic. After my prior employer's partnership dismantled, I Iaunched Equipment Solutions to create outsourced sales teams for a group of manufacturers that were looking for representation. We provided added value to those manufacturers because we had great relationships with their customers across Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC. During those 15 years I provided outsourced sales teams for over 50 manufacturers. Internally, I also drove the planning, administration, and direction of all operations while effectively teaming with my two business partners. During this period I was particularly proud of the following successes:► Conceiving and implementing forward-looking strategies that fueled early company growth and enabled it to weather the worst economic crisis since the great depression.► Fueling early growth through both inorganic and organic means.► Promoting inorganic growth by merging with a competitor rep firm to enable a diversified line portfolio while increasing the distribution base, stabilizing cash flow, and setting the foundation for future growth.► Continually expanding product mix, reorganizing the internal support structure and effectively targeting specific marketing channels to expand the distributor base from 85 to 172 in less than six years.► Securing sales and marketing rights from hundreds of manufacturers.► Achieving record annual sales.► Developing several completely new businesses as well as a holding company to leverage synergies.

I created this standalone health care rep firm in tandem with Equipment Solutions, Inc. to generate additional revenue streams through non-food equipment manufacturers and expand beyond core food service business and address the needs of the healthcare market by targeting more than 400 hospitals and large nursing homes in the Mid- Atlantic region. In this role I successfully: ► Managed all aspects of the sales cycle from needs assessment to equipment installation and training while generating average individual unit sales of $100K or more.► Delivered reliable incremental revenues by aggressively promoting product maintenance contracts.► Fueled the firm’s growth by effectively refocusing its mission and objectives to better address changing market conditions while effectively meeting the needs of both customers and business stakeholders.► Transformed the company from a rep firm to a dealership by authoring a proposal that enabled the development of a $2M joint venture with Avendra, a company founded by executives from Marriott International, Hyatt, Holiday Inns, Fairmont Hotels, and Club Corporation.► Improved operational efficiency by merging Target Distributing Inc. into Facilities Services, Inc.► Developed a unique product line mix that met the unique storage needs of institutional pantries and pharmacies.

I achieved growth goal targets by diversifying the company's product mix, adding distributors, doubling the manufacturers represented, and aggressively developing large scale volume customers secured through contracts with chain stores, institutional food service management companies and the General Services Administration.

I launched this company as a vehicle to generate incremental revenue by offering installation and distribution services to Mid-Atlantic Marketing's manufacturers. In this role I directed client-facing operations including Marketing, Sales, and Client Services.

Bachelor’S Degree

Mba, Finance