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William Rhys Dekle 🔜 PAX West
Owner/Partner at Strategic Alternatives, Investor, Strategic Advisor, Certified M&A Advisor
Professional Background
Rhys Dekle is a dynamic and accomplished Partner and co-owner at Strategic Alternatives, a leading Strategy Consulting and Acquisition Advisory firm that specializes in transforming the fortunes of select game studio clients. With a profound understanding of the intricacies involved in building great companies, Rhys has devoted his career to facilitating premium exits for many of his clients over the past nine years. His collaborative work with Chief Executive Officers and Founders has consistently resulted in enhanced enterprise value, making him a significant figure within the strategy consulting arena.
Before his current role at Strategic Alternatives, Rhys garnered extensive experience in the video game industry as a senior executive at Microsoft. Notably, he led the company's global content search for groundbreaking platforms such as the Xbox One, HoloLens, and Kinect. His strategic oversight extended to the Gears of War franchise, where he played an instrumental role as the Business Development lead. One of Rhys's most remarkable achievements at Microsoft was as the original architect of ID@Xbox, previously known as Project Rushmore. Under his leadership, this self-publishing platform has generated over $4 billion in royalties for independent game developers, showcasing his commitment to empowering creators and fostering innovation in gaming.
In addition to his executive roles at Microsoft, Rhys expertly managed the global business development team, effectively finding and negotiating game deals across diverse regions. His expertise in managing critical developer and Intellectual Property (IP) acquisitions, particularly the successful negotiation of the Gears of War IP acquisition from Epic Games in 2014, underscores his profound impact in the gaming sector. With extensive relationships within the global game community, Rhys is recognized for building partnerships that foster growth and innovation.
Before joining Microsoft, Rhys honed his leadership skills as the Director of Merchandising for Games at Hollywood Entertainment. In this capacity, he turned around a failing used game business, achieving double-digit growth and profitability. His pioneering approach to the rental industry's rev-share model reflected an agile mindset that drove topline revenue even amidst budgetary constraints. Rhys's robust management capabilities were further demonstrated when he oversaw a large team across 2000 stores, growing a remarkable $120 million profit and loss statement for a Fortune 500 entertainment company.
Furthermore, Rhys began his career as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, where he served a range of Fortune 500 clients in the media, entertainment, and high-tech sectors. By leading teams that tackled essential corporate challenges like growth, innovation, and cost control, Rhys developed a keen sense of business strategy and operational excellence that continues to inform his approach today.
Education and Achievements
Rhys Dekle's educational background reflects a strong foundation in both finance and anthropology. He holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, recognized as one of the premier business schools worldwide, offering him an edge in navigating complex financial landscapes. He also earned a B.A. in Anthropology from Yale University, adding a unique perspective to his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills. Rhys's educational journey began at Phillips Andover Academy, where he developed a passion for learning that propelled him towards a successful and diverse career.
With over 30 years of multifaceted experience operating in international markets, including Japan, Europe, and North America, Rhys's career is marked by versatility. From serving as an employee number 13 at a burgeoning start-up to holding prestigious roles at major investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Rhys has embraced a range of professional experiences. His journey includes varied roles such as a park ranger, coffee shop manager, and medical researcher under a MacArthur Foundation scientist, highlighting his diverse skill set and adaptability.
Key Achievements
Rhys has achieved notable milestones throughout his career, showcasing his expertise in the game industry and beyond. His role as a Partner at Strategic Alternatives has established him as a key player in the field of strategy consulting and acquisition advisory, successfully guiding game studios towards greater enterprise value and securing premium exits. His leadership at Microsoft significantly impacted the gaming world, particularly through the success of the ID@Xbox platform, which has revolutionized the way independent game developers interact with major players in the gaming ecosystem.
Strategically overseeing high-profile franchises like Gears of War and leading impactful negotiations has solidified Rhys’s reputation as a skilled negotiator and business developer. His tenure at Hollywood Entertainment also stands out, where he engineered a successful turnaround of a previously underperforming business, staying ahead of market challenges through innovative thinking and a results-driven approach.
Rhys's extensive relationships across the global game community further emphasize his commitment to building beneficial partnerships that foster a more vibrant gaming landscape. An adept mentor and coach, Rhys has shared his insights and experience with many aspiring leaders, contributing to industry growth and innovation.
In sum, Rhys Dekle is a remarkable professional whose diverse experiences, notable achievements, and relentless pursuit of excellence place him at the forefront of the strategy consulting and gaming industries. With a proven track record in business development, strategic partnerships, and leadership, Rhys is not just a consultant but a visionary who is set to continue making impactful contributions to the industry for years to come.
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Clay is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Clay centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.