About
Dave
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Dave Haviland has spent 25 years in the rooms where private companies make their hardest decisions
Not observing from a distance.
Not delivering a framework and stepping back.
In the room - facilitating the conversations that are hard to have, pressure-testing the strategic bets, asking the questions that make leadership teams uncomfortable in useful ways.
He has facilitated more than 5,000 strategy meetings since founding Phimation in 2007. That's not meant as a credential - it's meant to show where he operates. The situations that feel unique to the people inside them rarely are. Dave has seen the version of your problem before, which means he knows where it usually goes and what actually moves it.
His clients are owners and leaders of private companies: family businesses, closely-held companies, founder-led firms where the work is personal and the stakes are real. Engagements typically run years, not months.
Who we are
A team of experts
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A team built on strategy, design, and clarity.
Experts who turn ideas into amazing brands.
Focused on craft, care, and impact. That's us.
Members
Mark Otto
Clara Voss
Theo Marlow
Leena Avari
Jules Renner
Malik Soren
Approach
Briefing
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Action
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Results
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Strategy, leadership, marketing, talent. One integrated practice.
Dave's practice spans the full growth stack of a private company. Strategy is the anchor: where the company is going, what trade offs that requires, and how to make decisions without perfect information. Strategy disconnected from leadership development stays on a whiteboard. Leadership unsupported by the right organizational structure runs out of steam.
He works across all of it because the problems rarely respect functional boundaries.
2025
Awwwards
Vale & Thorn
Site of the Day
2025
Webby Awards
Niveo Studio
Best Visual Design – Function
2024
CSS Design Awards
Orra Identity
Website of the Year – Nominee
2024
Awwwards
Kinform Journal
Honorable Mention
2022
CSS Design Awards
Lumen Path
Special Kudos
2021
Webby Awards
Vanta Supply Co.
People’s Voice Winner – Best Brand Website
2020
Awwwards
Ardyn Archives
Developer Award
2019
CSS Design Awards
Sonder Haus
UI Design – Winner
You get Dave's insight,
with 3 decades of experience,
and hands-on help if you want it
I'm a solo practitioner. When you work with Phimation, you work with me, in the room, on the phone, thinking through the problems with you.
The model is often multi-year, but doesn't have to be. If I'm doing my job well, I should always be thinking a year ahead of you, looking farther ahead, and seeing around corners, that you wish you had more time for.
The problems that matter to private company owners don't resolve in a quarter. Building a leadership team takes time. Executing a repositioning takes time. Getting an organization truly aligned on where it's going, not just nodding inthe strategy session, takes time.
To make sure our relationship doesn't get stale, I do a comprehensive strategic assessment at the end of each year. The work has value to you regardless of our engagement, giving my independent assessment of where your company and team are, what's working, and what still needs work. After looking at that assessment, we decide how and how much I can help. It's why I have clients I've been with for over 20 years, and many I've worked with for over 5 years.
My approach is "ROI with heart." The work is commercially rigorous and generates real outcomes. And it means I understand that private companies aren't just economic units. They're organizations built by people who care about them. The culture, the relationships, the values that shaped how the business was built: those aren't constraints to work around, they're part of the business' design and strength.
Developing the managers who'll
lead your next chapter
One consistent constraint in Second Stage companies is the leadership bench. The company has outgrown its founding team, but the next generation of managers isn't ready — not because they lack talent, but because no one has deliberately developed them for the next level.
Dave works directly with high-performing mid-managers through workshops, facilitated group sessions, and one-on-one development conversations built around the specific gaps in their company and role — the shift from individual contributor to leader.
The range shows in the work
Dave graduated from Yale with an American Studies degree, spent a year biking across the country, and landed in a teaching job in Louisville before making his way to Washington, DC. Capitol Hill led into a business career running operations, corporate development, and marketing at four telecom and media startups. He moved to Ann Arbor in 1998 and founded Phimation in 2007, after five years as a partner at another strategy consulting firm.
He has been advising private companies continuously since then, recognized by Crain's Detroit Business in 2010 and 2012. He speaks and runs workshops on strategy, leadership, and the Second Stage transition, and is a member of the Edward Lowe Foundation ecosystem.
His clients have included professional services firms, engineering companies, law practices, research consultancies, and technology businesses. The common thread isn't industry — it's stage and values: Second Stage companies, family businesses, and closely-held firms where the owner still shows up every day.
"I retained Dave Haviland to help get our firm beyond start-up and into a Second Stage stable business. Dave helped us create a systematic marketing approach, address staffing concerns, and build a solid partnership group at the top. 8 years later, our revenues have quadrupled and we have the strong business foundation I wanted. Dave has been a tremendous advisor to me and the firm."
"Dave has really helped our company tackle some tough issues that we knew we needed to face but did not have the time or energy to do so, including some issues that we did not know we had. Issues ranging from selling approaches, Partner to Analyst compensation, organizational structure, and Marketing budget priorities. His demeanor is perfect for our company; listening when it makes sense, being tough when that is required and overall, just getting us to take action and move the right things down the field. He's had a big impact on our firm!"
"Since working with Dave we've been able to gain a better focus on our growth plan. What is unique about his approach is the ratio of listening to talking and directing he does. Most coaches are eager to share their knowledge, where Dave is eager to listen. His value is in his ability to listen and hear beyond our words to extract the heart of our goals. At that point, he steps in and provides clarity and actionable ideas."
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