Jacob Parks
President and Partner
About Jacob Parks
Jacob Parks is the President and a Partner of PIE, having led strategy, growth, and operations in the company for 20 years. Jacob headed the research team on How Clients Buy, interviewing more than 100 rainmakers at professional services companies, including consultants at Accenture, McKinsey, Baker Tilly, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, and KPMG. He is also the co-author of Never Say Sell. Jacob has taught as an adjunct professor of business at the Jake Jabs School of Entrepreneurship at Montana State University where he completed his undergraduate work. He also has an MBA from Gonzaga School of Business. Jacob has published research in academic journals on the topic of driving successful innovation in large corporations.
MY FAVORITE PART ABOUT WORKING AT PIE
I’ve been doing this work for over 20 years, and I still learn something new about business every day. It’s fascinating, fun, and challenging to help firms figure out how to grow.
A PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT I’M PROUD OF
I have my Masters of Business Administration from Gonzaga University, and I’ve had the opportunity to teach as an adjunct professor at Montana State University’s College of Business. One recent accomplishment I’m most proud of is co-authoring our recent book Never Say Sell, and being able to see how well the message has resonated across our client conversations.
HOW I LIVE A FULL LIFE
I always enjoy a little friendly competition. I’m currently working to improve my handicap so I can win our PIE golf scramble next year (I’m happy to have a reason to ‘need’ to keep practicing). I can also be found each summer competing in Spokane’s Hoopfest basketball tournament with my wife’s family. There’s no better feeling than raising that trophy—let’s hope we can do it again next year!
MY BOOK RECOMMENDATION
I’ve recommended Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis to every new employee who has started at PIE over the last 20 years. It’s a great story, and you can’t help but come away from it smarter about how our global financial institutions operate.
ONE OF MY FAVORITES
If I’m drinking wine, I will always go for a good Chianti Classico.
Articles Authored by Jacob
Services Firms: Stop Chasing New Clients
Originally published in Chief Executive The pandemic has generated many roadblocks for the professional services industry, causing many firms to run idle. Tried and trusted BD growth techniques have gone out the window; however, there are opportunities to be found if...
Thoughts While Working from Home – Fear & Loathing in My Basement
Author's note: I wrote this article in 2018 and filed it away for another day. And yet as we enter into month eight of working from home (and a long cold winter ahead for those of us living in the northern latitudes) the reflections from my basement seem more timely...
As Conferences and In-person Meetings are Canceled, This is How Smart Companies are Doing Business
Originally published in MarketWatch The cancellation of the world’s largest mobile-phone trade fair in February and dozens of other events since has brought home the reality that the coronavirus will be a major disruption to business as usual. Since the Mobile World...