36 years. One obsession.
lateralworks was founded in Silicon Valley in 1988 with a single purpose: understand why some technology teams are dramatically faster than others — and make that repeatable.
In the early 1990s, we conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of fast-to-market product development ever undertaken. We interviewed 500+ people across dozens of Silicon Valley companies. We mapped what the fastest teams did differently. We turned those observations into a framework — Fast-Time-to-Market (FTTM) — and spent the next three decades proving it on 200+ engagements worldwide.
The methodology predated Agile. It has been applied to programs Agile cannot address — $7B semiconductor fabs, multi-company consumer electronics programs, enterprise IT transformations. It works because it was built from observation, not theory.
The team behind it is not boutique. It is a carefully assembled network of specialists — each with decades of domain credibility — who come together around client engagements that need them.
The people who built the methodology.
Neal has spent three decades studying and implementing fast-time-to-market practices on some of the most complex technology programs in the world. He co-founded lateralworks in 1988 after identifying a repeatable pattern behind Silicon Valley's fastest teams. He conducted the original FTTM best practice research in the early 1990s — interviewing 500+ people across dozens of companies — and has never stopped refining it. 200+ projects later, the methodology is sharper than ever.
Mark brings deep technical credibility to lateralworks engagements. With a Physics Ph.D. and two decades of directing large-scale advanced technology development programs, he has seen every way a complex program can succeed — and fail. His 50+ consulting projects span semiconductor, consumer electronics, and enterprise IT. He is the rare consultant who can sit with a process engineer and a CFO in the same hour and be credible with both.
Not boutique. A network of specialists assembled around what clients need.
Bob was there at the beginning of Silicon Valley as we know it — an early HP employee and co-founder of Seagate Technology. He led the second FTTM best practice research study and continues to work with executives on strategy development and leadership. An active speaker and writer, he brings institutional memory and hard-won wisdom that no MBA program can replicate.
Cheryl spent her career at the intersection of technology and market strategy — first as a marketing executive at Intel, then as a venture capital investor with over 40 portfolio companies across 11 years. She brings a rare combination of enterprise credibility and startup pattern recognition that is invaluable on programs where product-market fit and speed-to-market are both on the line.
Barbara has operated at every level of the technology ecosystem — as an IBM executive, a VC-backed startup CEO, and a venture capital investor. Her Ph.D. and multi-decade career give her an unusually complete view of what separates companies that scale from those that stall. She focuses on early-stage private companies with high-growth ambitions.
Jim brings military-grade program discipline to complex civilian technology engagements. As a retired U.S. Navy Commander with a Ph.D., he has operated in environments where schedule failure is not an option and resource constraints are absolute. His specialties are strategy development and executive coaching — bringing clarity and structure to organizations that have outgrown their planning processes.
Alan combines Stanford Business School rigor with deep FTTM expertise to help executive teams move faster and decide better. His focus is on Fast Operating Strategy — the organizational design and leadership practices that allow companies to translate strategic intent into rapid execution. He works at the C-suite level on both technology and operational transformation engagements.
The right specialist for your program.
Every engagement is staffed around what the client actually needs. Tell us about your program and we'll tell you who fits.