Behind Every Great Outcome is a Great Operating System.
I build strategy that scales — not just through ideas, but through process and precision.
How I Work
Strategy without bloat. Execution without drag.
Strategy Intensives
Short-form, high-impact engagements designed to unlock clarity fast — used for positioning, narrative, and GTM modeling.
Ongoing Advisory
Weekly or biweekly cadence. Executive-level thought partnership, playbook reviews, and strategic navigation.
Embedded Fractional Roles
Interim product marketing or brand leadership — helping teams scale systems before they scale headcount.
Custom Strike Teams
Handpicked collaborators across research, design, comms, and operations — aligned to the stage, scope, and objective.
Experience that Compounds
Insight & Pattern Recognition Across Industries
Brands
Industries
Industries & Brands
From AI to Telecom, From Branding to Startup Advising,
From Series-A to Enterprise — I Have You Covered
- Poliverse
- Bank on California
- Bank on San Francisco
- United Way King County
- Civana
- Unifyre
- Capgemini
- Cognizant
- Diageo
- Pabst
- Peet’s Coffee & Tea
- Kyocera
- LG
- Firefly
- SolarCity
- TOMS Shoes
- Modern Amusement
- The Fresh Market
- Thermador
- Hill’s Pet Nutrition
- Panda Express
- Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- Global Payments
- Visa
- Intuit
- AIG
- Kemper
- Matrix Direct
- Unitrin
- Silicon Valley Bank
- Banner Health
- Clarify Medical
- POGO Glucose Meter
- Siemens-Danvers
- GE Industrial Systems
- One-Off Robotics
- McCann Worldgroup
- Brunswick Group
- CXO Communication
- QuinStreet
- Adzaar
- Utopia Experiences
- Riot Games
- E.W. Scripps Company
- BlueOcean AI
- SageTalk
- Alteryx
- Cloudera
- Fastly
- Google Meet
- Collibra
- 1Password
- Yellowbrick
- Oracle
- Sterling Commerce (AT&T)
- SAP
- Sophos
- Equinix
- PEER 1 Hosting
- ServerBeach
- Nutanix
- Thinfilm Electronics
- MobiTV
- Cisco
- F5
- Juniper
- Microsoft
- IronPort Systems
- Coverity
- NetApp
- Covad Communications
- MegaPath
- Nortel Networks
- T-Mobile
- Mooney Airplanes
- GenZe
About Nick McLain
Trusted by Founders, Growth Teams, and Global Brands
Nick McLain has spent the last 20 years helping organizations navigate inflection points — defining brand strategy, refining product positioning, and architecting go-to-market systems that align teams and drive momentum.
He’s worked across numerous industries and verticals — in roles spanning CEO & Founder, VP of Strategy, Brand Director, and Product Marketing Lead. Whether inside a venture-backed startup or advising an enterprise team, Nick brings a sharp lens to market clarity and cross-functional alignment.
His strategic and advisory experience includes work for Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 organizations, as well as dozens of SMBs and early-stage companies. He’s partnered with founders on messaging, funding narratives, MVP validation, and organizational clarity — as well as enterprise teams on brand repositioning, platform GTM, and marketing transformation.
Nick holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and has been invited to guest lecture at Stanford University on web analytics. His approach is grounded, framework-driven, and shaped by experience inside the room.
About McLain Associates
A Specialist Collective
McLain Associates is a modern talent collective — a hand-selected network of senior operators and subject-matter experts brought together to solve complex brand, product, and go-to-market challenges.
From brand identity and UX architecture to pricing research and sales enablement, our collaborators bring deep craft and category fluency to every engagement. I assemble lean, high-impact teams tailored to each client’s specific objectives.
We’re proudly location-agnostic. Based in the U.S., our team works across time zones and geographies — embedding where needed and scaling up or down based on phase, scope, and strategic fit.
Whether you need a solo operator or a cross-functional strike team, McLain Associates delivers calibrated talent without bloat.