FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

120VC helps people, leaders, and their teams Get Sh*t Done that matters. Fortune 500 call on 120VC to assist with the implementation or turn-around of their Global Enterprise Initiatives, Organizational Management Strategies, and Leadership Development to build single, unified, high-functioning Leadership Teams.

At 120VC, we specialize in transforming groups of high-potential individuals into single, unified, high-performing teams that accomplish exponentially more as a team than any one of them could individually. We are the market leader for transforming cost centers within Fortune 1000 companies and Start-Ups into profit centers that drive growth for their companies.

We achieve this by equipping teams with our proven practices so they can focus their efforts on driving outcomes that measurably improve customer satisfaction, team member satisfaction, and profitability.

Our approach starts with a fundamental shift in thinking. People must think differently before they can do differently. We shift them from thinking like an organization that takes work requests and manages their spending to an organization that is proactively identifying ways of working and initiatives that drive improvements to customer satisfaction, team member satisfaction, and profitability.

“Transformational Leaders aren’t reacting to the future; they are focused on creating the future” – J. Scott

For over two decades, we've transformed Fortune 500 business by enabling their teams to consistently deliver needed outcomes with a transformational leadership approach that combines consulting services, training, and coaching. Earning us the reputation as the Get Sh*t Done Company.

1 - Transformational Leadership Development

SHIFT in mindsets, skills, & behaviors to drive a performance. Adopt the proven practices and tools used by 120VC to create a culture of discipline, trust, transparency, and accountability.

2 - Project Turnaround Transformation

SHIFT a Global Enterprise Wide Project from failure to success mode. Deploy our team of Transformation Leaders as part of your team, leading transformation initiatives from within. Transform Cost Centesr to Epicenters of Growth.

3 - Organization Transformation

SHIFT from a high potential to high performing organization. Engage a comprehensive, “change movement” approach to help leaders align around a shared vision for the future, transformational leadership practices long-term success.

No. You can hire 120VC team.

The creation of a single SOW requires four 1-hour time blocks represented by at least one person from our team and the clients. The average salary of those attending each of these time blocks breaks down to $100 per hour. We have found that the creation, negotiation, and approval process for a single SOW takes a total of 8 hours and costs $800 split between both parties.

Creating SOWs for less than 12 months on work that is ongoing increases cost and takes focus away from critical activities to accomplish nothing more than wasted time.

Our SOWs are time and materials. If we do a bad job, or we run out of work, the SOW can be canceled. If we are doing a good job, it doesn’t serve anyone to have senior leadership spending time and money on a paper process.

120VC Partners with our clients to drive improvements in operations and mission-based work. To help transform groups of high-performing individuals into single unified high-functioning teams focused on improving customer satisfaction, team member satisfaction, and profitability. 

Understanding that your current team culture is optimized for the results you are getting, and the only way to get different results is for the people on your team to do their jobs differently. We have learned in over two and a half decades that people need to think differently before they will do differently. 

To make SHIFT happen, our team members integrate and work seamlessly with your team. So, it’s natural that our client might want to interview them first. The problem is that our team members already have a job at 120VC, and when our client attempts to interview them, it is both confusing and awkward. When people are confused and the situation feels awkward, they don’t usually show up as their best selves.

The second reason is that it is a fallacy that our team members need to be a cultural fit with your team to make SHIFT happen. If we were a mirror of your culture, we would likely drive the same results you are getting today. The advantage of bringing in outside consultants is a fresh perspective on and for your culture.

To that end, we understand people want to meet the team they will be working with for an extended period. If we have reached the point where our client is talking about interviewing our team members, they have already been working with a senior member of our team who will be leading that engagement, and the work is imminent. If you are excited to work with the 120VC Team Leader, then you will be excited to work with every other team member.

What we will do …  Schedule reference calls with existing customers so they can assure you that our approach has significantly elevated their outcomes. And, we are happy to facilitate a one-time meet and greet between our team members to alleviate any concerns.

Over the past 25 years, we’ve learned that while 120VC is incredibly cool, some of our clients are even cooler. If our team members believe they have a shot at getting hired by a client, their focus shifts from delivering outcomes to impressing the client—often at the expense of the work they were hired to do.

Here’s how this plays out, and why it’s bad for our clients:

1. Distraction from Delivering Outcomes – When an employee thinks they have a job opportunity, their priority becomes saying and doing whatever it takes to get hired instead of focusing on results.

2. Disregarding 120VC Training and Leadership – Employees looking to impress potential employers often abandon the training, structure, and leadership provided by 120VC, reducing our ability to ensure quality outcomes.

3. Risking Execution Quality – This dynamic shifts execution responsibility to junior team members while leaving 120VC leadership fully accountable for results—placing the client at risk.

We’ve also seen what happens when there’s no pathway for hiring our employees:

• Our team members remain 100% focused on their work.

• They take full advantage of our training, coaching, and leadership.

• Clients receive the high-quality outcomes they are paying for.

The Financial Reality

Hiring and maintaining a high-performing project manager at 120VC costs far more than just salary. Here’s the breakdown for a Project Manager earning a $135,000 annual salary:

Expense & Cost

Benefits (health, 401K, PTO, etc.) - $27,000

Workers’ comp & professional liability - $2,000

Training, oversight, & leadership - $17,500

Taxes (12%) - $16,200

Total Cost of Hiring a PM - $197,700

And that’s just for hiring. Running 120VC requires additional operating expenses per billable team member, including:

• Leadership & administrative staff

• Utilities, software licenses

• Sales & marketing, legal & accounting fees

• Extensive insurance coverage

Average Operating Expense per billable team member: $57,317.79

The Business Impact of Losing an Employee

Our total cost to provide project management services for a team member making $135K annually is $255,017.79 per year, while our bill rate is $145/hour, resulting in $278,400 annual revenue per employee.

This leaves $23,382.21 in pre-tax profit per team member in the first year, a 9% margin, far below the 20-25% needed to sustain and grow a consulting firm.

Now, let’s look at what it costs us to replace that employee:

Expense & Cost

Job postings - $2,000

Recruiting - $20,250

Interviewing, hiring manager time - $3,000

HR onboarding time - $3,000

Total Cost to Replace a PM - $28,250

With a first-year profit of only $23,382.21, losing and replacing an employee puts us $4,867.79 in the red.

Bottom line: If clients could hire our employees without financial consequences, 120VC would be in a perpetual cycle of losing money and rebuilding, making the model unsustainable.

How We Make It Cost Prohibitive

Our Master Services Agreement (MSA) contains the following un-waivable clause:

10. NON-SOLICITATION OF CONTRACTOR’S EMPLOYEES. For decades 120VC has been working with its clients to transform groups of high-potential employees into single, unified high-performing teams. Providing the outcomes we produce is costly, and that makes our team members priceless.

As such, Client agrees that any individual employed by 120VC shall not be directly employed, retained, or hired as an employee, subcontractor, or in any other capacity by Client. If, during the term of this Agreement or for 12 months after the expiration or cancellation of this agreement, Client directly hires or retains a 120VC Employee as an employee or independent contractor, a non-negotiable conversion fee equal to 120% of the employee’s annual base salary will be billed to Client, which is payable within 30 days.

This clause protects both 120VC and our clients by ensuring:

• Our team remains focused on delivering exceptional outcomes.

• We can continue to provide world-class consulting services without constant financial disruption.

• Clients who choose to hire our employees must compensate 120VC fairly for the cost of replacement.

This isn’t about restricting client choices, it’s about ensuring a sustainable model where we can continue to provide the expertise and outcomes our clients rely on. Hiring a 120VC employee isn’t prohibited, but it must come with a fair financial offset because the alternative is bad for our clients and destructive to our business.