# Colton Heward-Mills > Venture Builder | Personal Growth Enthusiast | Nerd Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/coltonhewardmills Business leader with strong strategy, customer insights, finance, data analysis and solution innovation experience. Passionate about supporting products, services, and organizations that help individuals become their best selves, both professionally and personally. ## Work Experience ### Co-Founder @ Build IRL Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area ### Principal, Corporate Strategy @ Guild Education Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 Lead aspects of Guild’s annual strategy planning process including revising our 10-year vision, setting company objectives, and exploring potential innovation investments Lead strategic partnership initiatives including identifying partner opportunities and managing partner relationships ### Principal, Solution Design @ Guild Education Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco, California, United States Conduct pre-sale solutioning and strategy work with large F1000 enterprise customers, co-leading the close of several $3M+ deals ### Sr. Director, New Solutions @ Guild Education Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco, California, United States Guide the identification, exploration and evaluation of new potential business categories for Guild ### Venture Vice President @ Entangled Group (now Guild Education) Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area Design processes which catalyze the creation and validation of new venture ideas at Entangled. Develop a framework for the evaluation of new venture ideas unearthed by Entangled. Support Entangled executive team in determining which ideas warrant further investigation and investment of Entangled resources. Lead new ventures (specifically Adjacent Academies and Outset Careers); through various stages of early validation and operation, including deriving customer insights, solution prototyping, business modeling, initial pilot sales and raising seed capital. Support existing Entangled ventures with strategic and analytical needs. ### Co-Founder, Venture Lead @ Outset Careers (An Entangled Company) Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area Outset Careers is on a mission to help front line workers facing automation and displacement transition to high-opportunity middle skill jobs. Lead the venture through incubation within Entangled's Venture Studio. Key Responsibilities included: ideation, business modeling, founder sales, fundraising, product prototyping and launch with initial pilot customers. Facilitated transition of knowledge and assets to Guild Education after acquisition. ### Head of Business Operations and Strategy @ ReUp Education Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area · Conduct analyses to identify business performance strengths & weaknesses. Make recommendations to leadership team to improve overall performance · Prepare business analyses for ReUp board and internal/external stakeholders · Manage mission critical operations projects including the successful completion of a data security improvement plan and audit · Manage FP&A function and conduct Finance and Operating Review meetings for leadership team ### Director of Operations and Finance @ ReUp Education Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area · Conduct analyses to advise team on ways to improve operational efficiency including customer conversion and retention · Manage FP&A duties including Budget Management, Rev and Expense Forecast, ROI projections and adHoc Financial Modeling as needed to advise Board and Investors. Oversight over A/R, A/P and other financial operations processes · Lead key operational projects including, management of hiring processes, revamping team meetings, supporting offsite planning and logistics · Manage Special Projects including successful proposal for financing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, engagement with technology vendors to improve internal tools, and implementing a new company 401K benefit plan ### Consumer Insights (MBA Summer) @ Chegg Inc. Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 | Santa Clara, CA • Conducted quantitative and qualitative market research. Specific tasks included analysis of customer data and survey response data to define customer segments and to predict reaction to proposed product changes. • Developed insights to inform marketing and product strategy for several of Chegg’s business units including, Internships.com, Chegg Tutors, Chegg Test Prep and Chegg Flashcards+. ### Finance Associate @ KIPP: New Jersey Jan 2013 – Jan 2015 | Newark, NJ • Advised KIPP NJ’s ten schools on all aspects of financial operations including budget planning and budget variance analysis. Counseled schools on cutting expenses to avoid a projected $3M budget deficit due to State funding cuts. • Lead FY16 budget planning process for consolidated budget of approximately $80M. • Built and refined MS Excel tools designed to aid schools and central office with budget management decisions. Specific examples include a school budget planning tool and a dashboard for forecasting total public funding revenues based on student enrollment data. •Lead project to rebuild long-term financial model including updated ten-year revenue and expense projections. ### Project Analyst @ ML Strategies, LLC Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | Washington D.C. Metro Area • Analyzed legislation, regulation and news to develop solutions for clients seeking government affairs guidance. • Collaborated with colleagues to create government affairs strategies for clients, including a plan for outreach to over 20 key congressional and government agency officials. • Implemented outreach strategies and facilitated meetings between clients and key government officials. • Coordinated business development efforts including drafting correspondence with potential clients and participating in pitch meetings. • Drafted research briefs for attorneys and lobbyists in various practice areas including energy, antitrust, education and bankruptcy. ### Fulbright Research Fellow (Japan) @ Fulbright Association Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 | Okinawa, Japan • Completed research project on the concept of “national interests” in Japanese political discourse using data from the Japanese Parliament's national archives and prominent newspapers. • Interviewed Japanese political thinkers and academics to collect information and feedback. • Presented research findings to Fulbright colleagues and Japanese students at host university. ### Product Development Intern @ Namco Bandai Holdings Inc. Jan 2008 – Jan 2008 | Tokyo, Japan ## Education ### Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) Stanford University Graduate School of Business ### B.A. School of Public and International Affairs in Public Policy Analysis Princeton University ### High School Phillips Exeter Academy ### Visiting Fulbright Fellow in U.S. - Japan Relations University of the Ryukyus Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 ### Bachelor of Arts - BA Princeton University ### Bachelor's degree Princeton University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/colton-heward-mills-40592545 --- Source: https://flows.cv/coltonhewardmills JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/coltonhewardmills/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-25