ST. PAUL, Feb. 13, 2019: Shannon Susko is no ordinary business coach. By the time she was 43, she had already owned and sold two high-growth companies less than six years apart, which allowed her to retire early. She visits Minneapolis this spring to share her business growth story and strategy with local entrepreneurs.
In 1995, Susko founded Paradata Systems, Inc., a fintech company, and sold it for almost three times its top line in 2006. Then in 2008, she founded another fintech firm and sold it for 61 times its top line in 2011. Her ability to cash her two companies out at maximum value had nothing to do with market timing. Susko’s companies were sold during the beginning and latter parts of the Great Recession.
For personal enjoyment and because of the numerous requests she received from business owners, Susko turned her attention to CEO/leadership team coaching after retiring from the tech industry. Since then, her focus has been on maximizing the value of entrepreneurial organizations through the repeatable framework used for both of her companies. According to Susko, “Many people in business talk about the top line when they should be talking about how to leverage the value back to shareholders.” She has written two Amazon Best Selling books, “Metronome Effect: The Journey to Predictable Profit” and “3HAG WAY: The Strategic Execution System that Ensures Your Strategy is not a Wild-Ass-Guess!” These books document her success path and serve as a prescriptive guide for others to follow.
Susko said, “It breaks my heart to see great companies, 30 years and older, not being able to transition because they lack the traction needed to sell at a high value. Owners need to stop thinking of their companies in terms of the financials. Instead, they should consider the tracked predictability of their companies’ value in the future without them.”
Susko is a native of BC where she currently operates her CEO coaching firm, Metronome United, which supports 60 coaches worldwide by leveraging this high-value framework. She is the recipient of several business awards including “Top 40 Under 40 in Canada” (2000), “Dealmaker of the Year in Vancouver” (2011), and “Top Three Deals of the Year in Wall Street” (2012). Shannon was named in Canada’s 150 and Top 100 Women respectively in 2017 and 2018. She also serves on the Forbes Coaches Council, an invitation-only organization for leading business and career coaches.
Susko makes her debut to the Twin Cities business community April 24, 2019, at a workshop hosted by Cornerstone3 Inc. titled “The Power of 3: Excellence in Entrepreneurship.” Details of the event, which is designed for business owners and their leadership teams, are available at www.cornerstone3inc.com/events. For more information about Susko’s 3HAG Way executive training program, visit http://www.shannonsusko.com.
