Why Founders of Boutique Professional Service Firms Should Join Both YPO and Collective 54
I am member of YPO. My wife, Brooke, and I are in the Jackson Hole chapter. This year I day chaired a golf tournament, and we hosted the Christmas party.
Some of the best years of my professional life were spent as a member of YPO—the Young Presidents’ Organization. After building my first firm and selling it, YPO gave me the community, resources, and friendships that helped me grow into the next phase of my career and life.
YPO is truly the gold standard for leadership peer groups. I owe much to it, and my experience there was part of the inspiration behind founding Collective 54.
Today, I get asked often: “If I’m already in YPO, is Collective 54 still relevant for me?”
The answer is absolutely yes.
In fact, many YPO members are already part of Collective 54. Here’s why joining both makes perfect sense.
Focus: YPO is broad. Collective 54 is specialized.
YPO is an incredible global community of CEOs, presidents, and business owners across all industries—manufacturing, tech, real estate, consumer goods, you name it. It’s about leadership at large, not industry specifics.
Collective 54, by contrast, is narrow by design. We focus solely on one industry: professional services. Our members run consulting firms, marketing agencies, executive search firms, law firms, accounting practices, design studios, and on and on.
The depth of relevance inside Collective 54 is unmatched. Every conversation, every resource, every workshop is tailor-made for boutique professional service firm founders.
Membership Type: Leaders vs. Founders
YPO brings together CEOs and presidents who might be founders—or might be executives hired into leadership roles. Either way, the community is about personal leadership excellence.
At Collective 54, everyone is an owner. We all share the ownership mindset. We all know what it’s like to start something from scratch, grow it through grit, and shoulder the risks and rewards.
That owner-to-owner dynamic creates a different kind of peer exchange—focused not just on leading teams, but on building equity value.
Firm Size: Mid-to-Large vs. Boutique
YPO caters to leaders of larger firms, often with hundreds of employees and $10M+ in annual revenue minimums. The scale is impressive, but the needs of these leaders can differ significantly from those of a boutique founder.
Collective 54 is built for firms typically generating $5 million to $50 million in revenue. We live in the world of small but mighty—lean teams, high margins, agile pivots, and the strategic choices that come with scaling up or selling.
We’re the “middle ground” for founders too big to be small, but too small to operate like an enterprise.
Learning Model: Leadership development vs. Business model scaling
YPO shines at leadership development. From global leadership summits to forum retreats to world-class speakers, it’s about making you a better leader and a better person.
Collective 54 focuses on building enterprise value—scaling revenues, increasing margins, reducing founder dependency, improving talent models, and preparing for an exit.
Where YPO helps you grow yourself, Collective 54 helps you grow your firm into a wealth-generating asset.
Engagement Format: Forums vs. Expert-Led Workshops
At YPO, the forum model is sacred: small, intimate groups that meet monthly under strict confidentiality. The value of the forum experience can’t be overstated.
Collective 54 complements this with expert-led workshops every week—focused on scaling boutique service firms. It’s a high-frequency, high-impact learning environment, built for people who want actionable insights now.
No need to wait a month to tackle your biggest challenge. Help is a Zoom call away every week.
Business Development Philosophy
YPO, like EO and Vistage, maintains a strict non-solicitation policy to protect personal and professional boundaries.
Collective 54 takes a different view: we believe members should help each other do business. We enable members to buy, sell, and refer within the community—always with transparency and trust as defined in our Code of Conduct.
It’s not about pitching. It’s about accelerating growth by leveraging the power of a highly curated network.
Technology: Traditional vs. Digital-First
YPO is a legacy organization with tremendous prestige but, like many older institutions, is still evolving its digital experience.
Collective 54 was born digital. Our private platform leverages AI feedback loops, data-driven peer matching, and smart dashboards to maximize member value without the friction of old-school systems.
Ownership Structure
YPO is a nonprofit 501(c), which shifts the organization’s incentive structure to focus on status rather than profit. The implication? A tendency toward elitism.
Collective 54 is founder-owned, aligning its incentives around creating real impact rather than status or profit. The implication? A sharp focus on serving its members.
Events: Inspirational vs. Tactical
YPO events are spectacular—global leadership conferences, university programs, bucket-list experiences. They focus on broad leadership, global citizenship, and personal transformation.
Collective 54’s workshops are small, tactical, and founder-focused—designed to help you price your services, improve your margins, hire your leadership team, or prepare for an exit, as an example.
Both are valuable. They just serve different purposes.
Real Members Doing Both
It’s common for Collective 54 members to also be part of YPO. They tell us:
- YPO makes them better leaders and global citizens.
- Collective 54 helps them scale their firm, increase its valuation, and exit successfully.
You don’t have to choose. You can (and should) have both.
What Collective 54 Members Say
Founders who join Collective 54 often say three things stand out:
- Focus: One industry (professional services), one segment (boutique firms), one member type (founder/owner).
- Value Creation: We teach members how to turn a cash-flow business into a wealth-generating asset.
- Results: Over 50 Collective 54 members have become deca-millionaires after successfully selling their firms.
In Closing: Consider Joining Both.
If you’re a founder of a boutique professional services firm, stay in YPO—and add Collective 54.
YPO will make you a better leader. Collective 54 will make you a richer founder.
If this article resonated with you, forward it to a fellow YPO member and say:
“Collective 54 is the perfect complement to YPO—you should check it out.”
You’ll be doing them a real favor.