Waza is a consultancy and design studio focused on articulating and elevating brand stories for B2B technology companies. Drawing together experienced leadership from both the agency and corporate worlds, we combine expertise in brand strategy, messaging, and design with a frontline perspective on enabling sales and marketing teams and integrating the work into effective go-to-market strategies.➞ Raises & IPOs: Optimize your fundraising cycles with a clear and compelling vision rooted in market data.➞ Diligence: Expert assessments of marketing scale, brand and positioning and go-to-market strategies.➞ Mergers and acquisitions: Transcend “better together” messaging with Day One brand narratives that unite teams, accelerate sales, and drive growth.➞ Exits: Maximize ROI with a foundation of timely industry narrative, hard market data and high production values.➞ Establish your positioning: Create a lighthouse brand with a clear, resonant market narrative as the foundation.➞ Launch new products and lines of business: Maximize impact of a new product launch outcome-focused messaging and high-impact sales assets.➞ Rebrands, repositions and refreshes: Modernize and revitalize to improve competitive position and investment impact.➞ Scale for growth: Brand systems, sales enablement, and strategic guidance to support your business goals and growth

Brand strategy, design, and creative direction.

From start-ups to the largest brands in the world, Gus has created brands, experiences, and campaigns that have played key roles in building billions of dollars in market value. Prioritizing wit and impact in every project, the creative process is centered around openness, critical thinking, and joy, empowering both his team and clients to bring their best selves to the mission at hand.

As part of the senior leadership team, I helped lead the expansion of the hybrid brand strategy and design experience agency’s relationships in global technology verticals as well as expansions into emerging sectors in green energy and Web 3.0. ➞ Leads remote strategy, design, copy, digital and video teams distributed across New York and Chicago offices.➞ Serving as subject matter expert for the partnership team on the vision for the growth of the agency’s digital practice, as well as emerging technology.➞ Working with agency CMO on modernizing business development systems and processes.➞ Secured account of cybersecurity leader for brand repositioning and messaging campaign development.➞ Attained client for rebrand effort for rapidly growing company revolutionizing payments for gig workers, including proprietary research, messaging and positioning.➞ Created employee resource group for African-American employees and advises the company’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion committee.➞ Thought leadership for new trends in Web 3.0 and enterprise technology and its impact on brand positioning and marketing

Directed the in-house brand design team for the largest private colocation data center provider in the world, guiding brand experience for marketing campaigns, events, online, and facilities around the world. ➞ Spearheaded the seamless integration of the entire 70kft agency team and a team of raw designers in Bogotá, Colombia, to create a consolidated, multidisciplinary internal design, web development, digital marketing, strategy and operations team of 16, including advertising, event design, UI/UX design, and video production. ➞ Drove brand management efforts tied to the spin-off of the cybersecurity unit, creating a standalone AppGate brand and the rebrand of Cyxtera as a dedicated data center services business. ➞ Supported strategy, messaging, design, production, vendor management, logistics, and event team coordination for Cyxtera’s robust event efforts, including the RSA Conference, AWS re: invent, Gartner IT Xpo, and CyxteraCon, an annual customer conference achieving 1K+ attendees in the second year. ➞ Developed positioning, messaging, and marketing campaigns for multiple target audiences, creating a unified brand.

Spearheaded creative direction and operations for a brand strategy and marketing agency specializing in enterprise technology. Drove an experienced, multidisciplinary team of 50 to manage vital relationships with industry leaders, including UiPath, Dell Technologies, GE, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Stackpath, Verizon, VMware, and 451 Research. ➞ Achieved annual revenues of $4.5M+, garnering recognition on the Dallas 100 in 2014 and 2015 and on the Inc 5000 in 2015 and 2016 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the Dallas area and the US, respectively. ➞ Led multiple integrated service offerings in brand strategy, design, digital marketing, and web development. ➞ Played an instrumental role in branding initiatives leading to the $1.4B valuation and acquisition of Terremark by Verizon. ➞ Developed and nurtured a seven-year pro-bono relationship with the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.➞ Bridged the gap between B2B and B2C marketers and brand strategists, by crafting a best of both worlds approach, offering both strong creative initiatives and innovative, effective strategy.➞ Cultivated a unique mastery of enterprise technology, strategic thinking, and creative via partnerships with sought-after CMOs, driving a robust pipeline of referrals, including Fortune 500 companies and top Fortune 100 IT brands. ➞ Negotiated and achieved an acquisition of the team by the $2.8B start-up, Cyxtera, in 2018.