Dawn Umlah
STRATEGIC DECISION PARTNER
Dawn Umlah
STRATEGIC DECISION PARTNER
Dawn Umlah
STRATEGIC DECISION PARTNER
ABOUT / TRACK RECORD
I read a company as one connected system.
The presenting problem and the actual problem are rarely in the same place. You need someone who can see all of it at once.
Former CEO of npm, the largest repository of JavaScript code. I led the company through major organizational changes, grew ARR year over year through significant challenges, sold the company to GitHub, and led the post-acquisition integration into Microsoft. As COO of Spring Loaded Technology in hardware, I took the company from engineer-built prototype to in-market product and led an operational overhaul that cut order lead times from six months to five days. First non-founding employee at DHX Media (now WildBrain), central to taking the company public and to six acquisitions and post-acquisition integrations on the way to over $1B in market cap. At Innovacorp, I ran the IT venture fund and sat on the boards of a dozen IT and cleantech portfolio companies. At BlackBerry, I built a new partnership model that brought in leading mobile gaming companies and advised the COO on BlackBerry's first revenue-generating acquisition.
Across software, developer tools, hardware, deep tech, AI, climate, media, B2B, B2C, and open source.
The work I'm proudest of doesn't fit on a deal sheet. After burning out myself, I went deep into what actually shapes how we lead, operate, and break down. Years of studying the nervous system, psychology, and resilience changed how I approach company design and how I work with founders. Not just as leaders, but as people building something that asks everything of them.
ABOUT / TRACK RECORD
I read a company as one connected system.
The presenting problem and the actual problem are rarely in the same place. You need someone who can see all of it at once.
Former CEO of npm, the largest repository of JavaScript code. I led the company through major organizational changes, grew ARR year over year through significant challenges, sold the company to GitHub, and led the post-acquisition integration into Microsoft. As COO of Spring Loaded Technology in hardware, I took the company from engineer-built prototype to in-market product and led an operational overhaul that cut order lead times from six months to five days. First non-founding employee at DHX Media (now WildBrain), central to taking the company public and to six acquisitions and post-acquisition integrations on the way to over $1B in market cap. At Innovacorp, I ran the IT venture fund and sat on the boards of a dozen IT and cleantech portfolio companies. At BlackBerry, I built a new partnership model that brought in leading mobile gaming companies and advised the COO on BlackBerry's first revenue-generating acquisition.
Across software, developer tools, hardware, deep tech, AI, climate, media, B2B, B2C, and open source.
The work I'm proudest of doesn't fit on a deal sheet. After burning out myself, I went deep into what actually shapes how we lead, operate, and break down. Years of studying the nervous system, psychology, and resilience changed how I approach company design and how I work with founders. Not just as leaders, but as people building something that asks everything of them.
Trusted by:
Trusted by:
Founders I've worked with
Founders I've worked with
150+
150+
VCs I've worked with
VCs I've worked with
60+
60+
Corporate transactions
Corporate transactions
$1B +
$1B +
Board seats
Board seats
17
17
Founder exits navigated
Founder exits navigated
10+
10+
Founders fired
Founders fired
0
0
I see the whole system, not one function
Most advisors specialize in a function. Finance, product, go-to-market, operations. I've been a CEO and a COO, I've sat on 17 boards, and I oversaw an early-stage venture fund's IT investments. I read a company as one connected system. The founder, the leadership team, the board, the investors, the customers, the way the company actually operates day-to-day, and the dynamics nobody is naming. That's why I find the real issue fast. The presenting problem and the actual problem are rarely in the same place, and you need someone who can see all of it at once.
I start with the people.
Within the first real conversation with a founder and their team, I can usually form a strong hypothesis about where to dig. How the founder operates, how the company has organized itself around them, where trust is strong and where it isn't. This comes from twenty years of pattern recognition and from a real understanding of how people lead under pressure. Most advisors look at the structure. I look at the structure and the people inside it, and the people are usually where the unlock is.
I'm steady when it's hard.
This is the part that's hardest to put into words, and it might matter most. When something is breaking, a cofounder conflict, an executive who has to go, a board losing confidence, a turnaround, a shutdown, a transition the founder is afraid of, you need someone who can hold it steady and keep thinking clearly. Not someone managing their own anxiety or trying to look good for the board. I stay in it with you, I'm honest with you, and I've never had a founder come out of one of these situations fired. That's not luck.
I see the whole system, not one function
Most advisors specialize in a function. Finance, product, go-to-market, operations. I've been a CEO and a COO, I've sat on 17 boards, and I oversaw an early-stage venture fund's IT investments. I read a company as one connected system. The founder, the leadership team, the board, the investors, the customers, the way the company actually operates day-to-day, and the dynamics nobody is naming. That's why I find the real issue fast. The presenting problem and the actual problem are rarely in the same place, and you need someone who can see all of it at once.
I start with the people.
Within the first real conversation with a founder and their team, I can usually form a strong hypothesis about where to dig. How the founder operates, how the company has organized itself around them, where trust is strong and where it isn't. This comes from twenty years of pattern recognition and from a real understanding of how people lead under pressure. Most advisors look at the structure. I look at the structure and the people inside it, and the people are usually where the unlock is.
I'm steady when it's hard.
This is the part that's hardest to put into words, and it might matter most. When something is breaking, a cofounder conflict, an executive who has to go, a board losing confidence, a turnaround, a shutdown, a transition the founder is afraid of, you need someone who can hold it steady and keep thinking clearly. Not someone managing their own anxiety or trying to look good for the board. I stay in it with you, I'm honest with you, and I've never had a founder come out of one of these situations fired. That's not luck.