Sam Palazzolo
Managing Director at Tip of the Spear Ventures
New York, New York
Overview
Work Experience
Managing Director
2012 - Current
TIP is a Family Office (FO) created after leading my second technology startup (SaaS) to a private equity exit. If you are: -Founder Led -Based in the USA, Canada, UK, EU, or Australia -Generating at least $850,000 in EBITDA and hungry for more... You may be appropriate for our business scaling initiative.
Tip Of The Spear Ventures is a venture capital and business advisory firm.
Raised $893,974.00.
Managing Director
2025
Specializing in Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), with expertise in Pre-Merger Alignment and Post-Merger Integration (PMI). I leverage decades of experience, including my time at Deloitte, to help businesses navigate complex transactions and achieve transformative growth. As a business scaling expert, I partner with leaders to sharpen focus, eliminate blind spots, and drive measurable results.
Focused on offering middle market corporate clients a diverse array of advisory services.
Principal Officer
2017
The Javelin Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides Executive Education and Coaching to SMB to Fortune 500 business leaders. A portion of our proceeds annually benefit families who experience hardship (Hardship in the form of Death, Disease, Divorce or Drugs). Participate in our seminal course, "BEST Leader in 30 Days!" below...
Adjunct Professor
2018
Successful leaders are well-rounded, pairing strong financial and sector-specific expertise with the soft skills required to inspire change and flex under chaotic-conditions. Curriculum equips leaders through: • Developing knowledge of a variety of leadership theories and models. • Gain a greater understanding of personal identities (both self and others) and how those identities shape roles within an organization. • Examine intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of individuals and the impacts of those motivations on an organization. Tomorrow’s Leaders will be called upon to fulfill many “real-world” course topics, including: • Strategic Planning • Raising Capital • Financial Planning & Oversight • Staff Management (Hiring | Training | Retaining) • Technology Identification & Integration • Program Development, Execution & Evaluation • Board Facilitation • Marketing & Public Relations • Legal Compliance • Interagency Partnerships
Senior Managing Consultant | Strategy & Business Growth
2019 - 2022
- Helped shape and lead large-scale / high-value business and technology transformation programs - from Strategy to Operations - for some of the world’s most successful retailers and brands. - As a leader within Deloitte Consulting, provided transformational client program and account leadership - Developed and grew World-class Practices / Offerings - Served as a Retail & Consumer Products industry Subject Matter Expert, Innovator and Thought Leader for Deloitte Senior Partners and Program Leadership.
Deloitte Tax is an advisory firm that provides tax preparation and advisory services.
Associate Professor, Forbes School of Business
2008 - 2018
Instructed @ The Forbes School of Business. Consistently ranked in the “Top 2%” of Associate Professors. Courses Instructed: Accounting | Change in Organizations | Economics (Micro / Macro) | Finance | Human Resources Management | Leadership in Organizations | Marketing Management | Marketing Research | Organization Development | Strategic Marketing
Chief Operations Officer (COO) / Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
2011 - 2013
Connect was a Technology Software as a Service (Saas) Startup established to revolutionize the virtual meeting frontier. - Recruited to help lead new technology startup offering. - Successfully raised $8 Million in funding through successful Board of Directors venture pitch/presentation. - Lead onsite/virtual employee team activities from ideation, creation, and launch through customer traction / revenue generation. - Orchestrated successful exit via Private Equity (PE) acquisition (TowerBrook). - Assisted with post-merger integration with existing PE portfolio holding company prior to exiting.
CEO/President & Founding Partner
2005 - 2011
Founder of consultancy focused on Sales Training and Leadership Development/Executive Coaching. Conducted Business Development and Delivery efforts for twenty-one (21) person consultancy based on scientific research and results-oriented structured programs developed at Toyota to client organizations throughout the country. Client Industries represent Fortune 500 organizations, including Healthcare (US News & World Report Best Hospitals), Finance (Banking, Investments, and Insurance), and Technology (INC500).
Regional Manager, Retail Development | District Sales Manager
1999 - 2005
Recognized “High Potential” associate. Assisted in implementing change management philosophies within the Toyota franchise-dealer culture. • At distributor level: Led distributor team in identifying methodology for goal attainment (improved sales volume, sales gross profit increases and customer satisfaction/retention/advocacy). Oversaw research and service development team of five. Identified potential threats, and developed scenarios showing what could happen in the future if change did not occur (Communicated results to leadership). Developed model/methodology and rolled-out training to organizational staff for alignment. Created beta pilot structure, including rollout instructions (Communication plan, milestones, and intended results). Employed Toyota Quality Management (TQM) and “kaizen” philosophies (the idea of continuous improvement). • At retail level: Led distributor’s front-line district management team in implementing the methods and tools to realize $5M of annualized business value. Led key leaders on commitment for change initiative. Worked with team of key stakeholders building change structure. Determined the values that are central to the individual organizations/personnel requiring change therein through assessments/interviews/metric measurements. Developed follow-up communication to reflect change initiatives “status” and created “transparent” moments for organization. Revised the operating model for delivery through skills gap identification. Established measurement program with critical success factors for leadership review/future planning (Led leadership teams to revise change processes/procedures based on feedback received and organizational urgency).
CEO/President & Founder
1998 - 1999
President and Founder of Customer Retention Consulting business.
Education
Executive Education Certificate
2022 - 2024
Executive Education Certificate
2008 - 2009
Executive Education Certificate
2015 - 2015
Executive Education Certificate
2020 - 2020
Executive Education Certificate
2020 - 2020