Our Mission

We inspire People
to do New Things

Our Values

Our Values

We bring multi-disciplined experience to help you make strategic, data-informed decisions to grow your business and its brand with collaborative, agile approaches with clients and their consumers to help quickly identify significant gaps in the market, align resources and capitalize quickly on growth initiatives.
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Strategic

thinking through to the end

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Entrepreneurial

bias for action

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Collaborative

leveraging strengths

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Trust & Respect

foundation of how we treat one another

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Learning

always improving, no failure

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Humor & Fun

love what you do

About

We are a strategy consulting firm focused on growth strategy, innovation, and brand licensing. We specialize in developing critical, data-driven insight for areas of the business where the path to growth is not readily clear.

We are recognized for our agile approach to innovation that has been optimized for the corporate innovation environment. We have a practice dedicated to Strategic Brand Licensing that develops strategic, long-term deals about 15X the average corporate trademark licensing program. Many times executives know their growth vision but need a clear fact-based plan or roadmap for growth or innovation. We specialize in developing critical insight for areas of the business where the path to growth is not clear.

By bringing clarity to your future and where you are heading, we help you create top- and bottom- line growth and a sustainable, competitive organization. Because we are a learning organization that works on cutting edge issues, across many companies and categories, we can inspire you and your team to do new things.

 

Our History

Our History

We are a strategy consulting firm focused on growth strategy, innovation, and strategic partnerships.

Gus Valen was convinced that there is a better way to deliver the discipline and strategic insight of a McKinsey or Boston Consulting Group, by better linking strategy to execution, integrating disciplines, and offering superior value. He started a boutique strategy consulting firm in 2000 with a mission to inspire people to do new things. 

Valen loves spending time with clients and staff discussing principles of strategy, competitiveness and positioning. Early on he often found that the answer to the strategic question, “How do we grow?” was to innovate, or to acquire capabilities the client did not have through partnerships. Always focused on growth, and tuned into clients’ needs, the company evolved to offer innovation consulting as well as agile qualitative and custom quantitative insight in addition to the firm’s established strategy consulting capabilities. 

Next, Valen’s unique Strategic Brand Licensing methodology was developed from the firm’s Strategic Partnership approach honed on new ventures and transformational innovation projects.

Valen continues to lead and grow not only Valen Group but also other ventures through vision, entrepreneurship and grit.

Blue Ocean Facilities – a creative offsite meeting space in Cincinnati, Ohio can be rented by day by Valen or any business or service provider to solve strategic problems and inspire teams. Designed by Valen and translated to physical environment by his team, the Blue Ocean environment adheres to best practice team cultural traits for innovation.

Curator Video makes video research easy. The software firm spawned from the idea that Video in research is the next evolutionary tool, but needed a platform to make it easy, accessible and collaborative. Curator provides instant access to analyze video and text, easy clip making and presentation at the agility and speed of business today. 

 

Our Team

Connect with our team

Each member of the team at The Valen Group brings global perspective and experience, diversity in thought and culture, and multi-disciplinary thinking to their work. Driven by a desire to move markets, our people are creative problem solvers whose curiosity has them always learning. Our culture encourages them to tackle the hard issues through transparent communication, and to be aware of what they don’t know.
Managing Partner

Gus Valen

licensing

Jeff Dotson

Strategy

Molly Brockman

David Dillahunty
Licensing Sales

David Dillahunty

Innovation

Mike Donovan

Our Clients

Our Clients

Driving strategy, innovation & licensing for leading brands

Contact

10250 Alliance Road Ste 226 Cincinnati, OH 45242
MON-FRI 08:00 - 5:00 (eastern) SAT-SUN Closed