Douglas E. Rodgers has seen FOCUS since its earliest days just after the turn of the millennium. Now serving as Chairman Emeritus, he was FOCUS’s CEO and Managing Partner from 2001-2018.When Doug joined FOCUS, the organization was a single-office operation based in Washington, DC. Under his leadership, FOCUS grew to become a nationwide leader in the M&A services industry. He has personally advised clients across several fields, including I.T., software, energy, security, and manufacturing. Now as Chairman Emeritus he manages relationships with strategic partners and clients.

Prior to joining FOCUS, Doug had worked with both commercial and government clients across a wide range of industries. He brought with him many years of C-level management experience and had most recently served as President and CEO of Corcentric, Inc, an e-commerce services provider spun off from Litton Enterprise Solutions.

As the first CEO of Corcentric, he oversaw an increase in transaction volume to $180 million, including deals struck with over 30 Fortune 1000 trading partners. In addition to Corcentric, he had also served as CEO of Global Software Corporation and Perfection Equipment Company, as founding director of a national bank, and as Vice President of business development for a major real estate developer.

Doug is also a jet qualified pilot, attended the U. S. Airforce Academy, and holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Kansas.

Can you tell us about your decision to join FOCUS in 2001?

I had been a CEO at four other companies by the time I came to FOCUS. I didn’t have what might be considered a classic financial services background, but I saw the potential here and wanted to grow it into a full-service M&A Advisory firm. More than 20 years later, I can say that I’m extremely proud of the organization FOCUS has evolved into.

In a highly competitive industry, what factors set FOCUS apart from other similar services?

The M&A field has a lot of people who are great at numbers and finance, but I think that listening and assessing a client’s needs are key. What does your client want? What do they need? Why are these things important to them? The FOCUS team is uniquely skilled in that regard.

What advice would you have for someone interested in joining the M&A field?

I would recommend they pick an industry, or a handful, that they’re truly interested in and that have a future. Then try to go deep in those fields. Don’t try to be too many things to too many people. At FOCUS, for example, you’ll find most people have become specialists in one industry or another.

Once you’re in the field, success comes through thoroughly understanding your clients as individuals. It’s important to gauge what’s motivating them in their next steps: after this transaction is completed and their business is sold, what do they plan to do next? You need to be able to prepare them too – sellers have to be prepared for an extensive due diligence process. That process can be surprising in terms of the number of questions they’ll need to answer and the data they’ll be asked to produce.

It can be an overwhelming process no matter how much you prepare them, so my advice is also to cultivate a patient, nurturing mindset to help your clients along.

Given your expertise, how do you approach mentorship and knowledge sharing with others in your field?

I like to help get them involved, get real hands-on experience. At FOCUS over the years I’ve helped some of the younger people by bringing them in on client engagements right away. You also learn from your mistakes, and whenever I can I’m happy to pass those experiences on to my colleagues as well.

It’s also my pleasure to have been a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) since 1988. In the 1990s I was president of the Oklahoma City Chapter, and have been a member of a member of the Washington-Baltimore YPO Gold chapter since 2000. This is a tremendous opportunity to engage with the next generation of leaders and share what I’ve learned.

Doug can be reached at [email protected].

If you are interested in learning more about the Senior Advisor role at FOCUS, please contact Kahla Cooper at [email protected].