ABOUT US

John V. W. Buie, Founder & CEO

Email: john@painpowerfit.com | Phone: 415.370.1010

John Buie

John Buie

John Buie has been leading change in complex scenarios for nearly 30 years. He is a pioneering practitioner and thought leader in sensemaking, decision science, sales effectiveness, and business efficiency. A growth-oriented business operating expert, John possesses deep experience in software/internet/SaaS sales, marketing and services in human capital, business intelligence, and enterprise markets.

PAINPOWERFIT, John’s competency model for change agents, emerged from thousands of complex conceptual sales opportunities and is based on the latest research in behavioral economics and neuroscience. Mastering the three core competencies of decisionmaking, sensemaking and storytelling, change agents can dramatically improve their effectiveness and efficiency in any environment.

John conceived of and refined the PAINPOWERFIT process while working in the tech industry for the past 30 years. As the founding Vice President for EMEA at SuccessFactors, the leader in people performance software solutions (an SAP company), he drove regional start-up (and corporate IPO) from zero to eight figures; managed 80 customers and 50 employees across European and Middle Eastern markets; led marketing, sales, business development and customer service; and established a direct presence in Copenhagen, London, Paris, Munich, Zurich and Genova.

As Executive Vice President of Sales, Channels and Alliances at Synygy, Inc., an Inc. 500 Hall of Fame company, he engineered and executed a comprehensive restart of the high performing SaaS pioneer in the aftermath of the tech bubble. His approach, based on PAINPOWERFIT, drove 158% growth in new contract value in his first year. As VP of Business Intelligence Solutions at Oracle, John was the product line sales leader for 29 BI/DW products driving over $125M total revenue. He founded Oracle’s sales readiness function and served as a Partner for Product Marketing/Management and all sales channel management and development.

Prior to his sales and performance management career, John was a management consultant at Coopers & Lybrand (now IBM Global Services) and served as a U.S. Army personnel officer in Vicenza, Italy and in Washington, DC. He is a Distinguished Military Graduate of the University of Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Rhetoric and Communications Studies.

Syd Peterson, Creative Leadership Fellow

Email: syd@painpowerfit.com | Phone: 323.382.3941

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Syd Peterson

Syd Peterson is an advocacy communications expert and program development leader. He holds an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, where his studies focused on leadership, organization development, and strategy. During his time at Claremont, Syd consulted at the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr., Fund, interned at the Human Resources department at Advent Software, and curated four events with TEDxClaremontColleges, a independent and licensed TED organization.

Syd has been an advocate in the national LGBT civil rights movement for nineteen years. In New York, he worked at Lambda Legal, Renna Communications, the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, the ACLU’s National LGBT Rights Project, and volunteered for the Public Policy Committee at the NYC LGBT Center. In California, he worked on the Haas, Jr.-funded Breakthrough Conversations Project and volunteered for the No on 8 Campaign, Vote For Equality, Courage Campaign and LGBTPOV.com. Syd’s LGBT advocacy spans an array of fields, including quantitative and qualitative research, talent management and performance metrics, public relations and communications, grassroots organizing and training, public policy and cultural education, and support for legal assistance and impact litigation.