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Mark S. Bonchek
Chief Strategist

About Me
About My Company

Soundbridge is a global business media company.

Marketing to Executives
   Truman Company

Learning from Executives
   Fifty Lessons (Video)
   Insight Learning (China)

How to Reach Me

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    My Career

    A recruiter once told me "you either can't hold a job or there is something really interesting going on here."  Fortunately she decided the latter was the case, but you can form your own opinion).

    I like to think there was something interesting going on, and that my career has developed in phases.  In each phase I had an interest, found a position and organization in which I could explore that interest, and ultimately found myself with new skills, new exeriences, and new interests. On reflection, I can see how each phase built on those that came before, although I didn't always think so at the time.

    I've listed the phases as I see them below, along with some of reflections and artifacts of what I was doing and thinking at the time.

    Management Consulting, 1986 - 1989

    Oliver, Wyman & Company

    I was fresh out of Princeton, and Alex Oliver and Bill Wyman had just launched Oliver, Wyman a year earlier. I had the good fortune of being mentored by Alex Oliver in the craft of business strategy and Bill Wyman in client service, working with some exceptional people (John Borthwick at Betaworks, Tarun Khanna at HBS), and learning some valuable lessons on entrepreneurship in the context of management consulting.

    Political Economy, 1989 - 1992

    Harvard University

    I headed back to graduate school, looking for the next big thing. I thought it would be economic development in China, but Tiananmen Square had me rethink those plans. I plunged into political economy and became fascinated with economic approaches to politics. I worked with a great group of professors, particularly Ken Shepsle who graciously invited me to contribute case studies to his book Analyzing Politics and even listed me as a co-author.

    Internet and Politics, 1992 - 1997

    MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

    In 1992 I started using an online discussion board called The Well and became hooked on the power of computer networks to connect people in online communities. When I read an article about how the White House was starting to receive emails from citizens, I realized that the next big thing wasn't China, but the Internet. It turned out that a research project at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory led by researcher John Mallery was working with the White House on how to use the Internet to facilitate collaboration and access to information. In 1993 I became a research associate with the project, which gave me a broadband connection and a talented group of colleagues. A year later I created the Political Participation Project as a way to create an online presence and test some of my emerging ideas about the Internet. Some of the highlights from this period are:

    • Grassroots in Cyberspace - a 1995 paper about how the Internet dramatically lowers the cost of organizing and communicating, explaining why interest groups were adopting the Internet so quickly
    • It's About Community, Stupid! - a 1995 article on how television creates an audience, but the Internet creates community
    • Campaigning on the Internet - a 1996 memo to the Democratic National Committee (with Jock Gill) outlining a strategy for using the Internet to localize and mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts.

      Note:  This memo predicted the Obama campaign strategy.  Chris Hughes, the campaign's online organizing coordinator (and previous co-founder of Facebook) has said: “The web was just the vehicle to empower the activists out there to have face to face meetings, to make phone calls, and to raise money.”

    • MacNeil Lehrer Newshour - a 1996 online forum answering questions from viewers about campaigning on the Internet.
    • From Broadcast to Netcast - my 1997 doctoral thesis defining ten ways in which the Internet would change politics, most notably by disintermediating and democratizing political information.

    Strategy Innovation, 1997 - 1999

    Strategos Institute

    After picking up my diploma, I went to Chicago to launch the Strategos Institute with strategy gurus Gary Hamel and Peter Williamson, and master consultant Pierre Loewe. The idea was to create a new kind of think tank - a research community of executives, academics and consultants. We wanted to generate new insight into how to accelerate strategy innovation - not incremental product or process innovation, but changes to companies' market strategies and business models. Some highlights include

    • "Five Styles of Strategy Innovation" - an article on the theory of "innovation styles" developed with Robert Wood. (The styles had names like "The Cauldron" and "The Pac-Man")
    • Revolutionaries Conference - held at Meadowwood in 1998.  Thanks to John Patrick for a photo of me with Gary Hamel and John Seely Brown, and another with VC Steve Jurvetson and John Patrick
    • "Retail Revolution" - a 1998 paper with Pierre Loewe on how changes in consumer behavior and technology were creating an imperative for strategic innovation by retailers

    Internet Strategy, 2000 - 2002

    iXL and TomorrowLab@McKinsey & Company

    Returning to Boston, I combined two interests - the Internet and management consulting - first at iXL and then at McKinsey & Company.  iXL was helping established and startup companies ride the Internet wave.  I worked with some very innovative companies and learned some valuable lessons about the promise and peril of rapid growth.  At McKinsey, I applied what I knew about the Internet to traditional consulting, exploring a new service offering based on client collaboration and multimedia content delivery.

    Network Organization, 2002 - 2005

    Gennova Group and Tapestry Networks

    After the dot.com collapse,  my interest in computer networks, social networks, and consulting all came together in two ways.  First, in my launch of Gennova Group, a network of consultants in the Boston area interested in how network thinking would affect (1) the delivery of professional services, and (2) the operations of business.  Second, in my co-founding of Tapestry Networks as a way to put some of these ideas into practice.  Tapestry Networks proved that convening the right group of peers with the right purpose could have real impact.  It also revealed that there was a broader need for new approaches to executive engagement, beyond bringing people together for roundtable events.

    • "The Power to Convene" - a  chapter with Bob Howard in the book The Collaborative Community describing the influence of Avaya's Executive Advisory Council on its market strategy
    • "Innovation Imperative" - a Gennova Group white paper arguing that professional service firms make a lot of money helping companies innovate, but often fail to innovate themselves
    • "The Hollywood Model" - a Gennova Group white paper predicting that professional services will underway major change, echoing the shift from the Hollywood studio model to independent production

    Executive Engagement, 2006 - today

    Truman Company and Soundbridge

    Today I'm working on putting all the pieces together under the umbrella of Soundbridge, which I co-founded with Andy Hassoon and Adam Sodowick.  Our vision is to create the world's leading company specializing in executive engagement.  So far we have combined the executive-level marketing company I founded in 2006 (Truman Company), with the world's leading digital video business library (Fifty Lessons), and added a premier provider of training and online learning in China (Insight Learning).

    Some of the highlights to date include: