Lou Gray

(Birch Canyon, LLC)

Business Mentor & Private Equity Investor

Lou Gray has over 25 years of successful entrepreneurial and operational leadership experience that he now applies to his work as a business mentor and private equity investor. For the past nine years, Lou has coached and often partnered with numerous local companies that attribute his strategies as critical to the scaling of their businesses. This has resulted in average net income growth of 5x for these companies. Lou’s involvement often requires reorienting these companies for growth with an emphasis on leadership behaviors, customer strategies, profit maximization, hiring processes, value pricing, operational efficiencies, and better team alignment with company goals.

As co-founder and CEO of DreamBox Learning, Lou (along with other local CEOs like Jeff Bezos) was named a “Top 25 Innovator” by Seattle Magazine. As an educational software company, DreamBox received over 20 top consumer awards. The company was acquired in April 2010 by a consortium led by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. Today, DreamBox continues to serve and educate millions of children worldwide.

Prior to that, Lou served as Board member and President of UIEvolution. In this role, he led this mobile middleware company from zero revenue to multi-million dollar contracts as it became the industry-leading mobile platform to deliver flagship data-driven applications used by Disney, ESPN, and other national brands. In addition, Lou cultivated and led the acquisition of the company by Square Enix for $58M cash in 2004, thereby providing a significant return for all shareholders.

Lou holds a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, a teaching fellow in Negotiations, and a certified mediator. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Economics and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from The Maxwell School and a B.S. from Emory University. He resides in Durham, NC with his wife and two children.

Interested in working with Lou?

Partner Testimonials

“After being in the medical field and working for large medical groups (Duke and UNC) for over 14 years, I decided to take the plunge and go into a medical practice of my own. Lou started by helping build my confidence to leave my previous situation. He then helped me organize my thoughts, to-do lists, and strategies to build a successful brand. His expertise in looking at the big picture and building a solid brand was integral building a successful practice. His no-nonsense mentality kept the train moving forward, not allowing me to over-focus on the reasons why I was leaving my old practice, but using that as the impetus for me to build my practice based on my own values. Lou enabled me to push forward, eliminating the accessory ‘noise’ that could derail some from accomplishing their goal. I appreciate Lou's candor, knowledge, and his generosity. I now have the confidence and tools to begin this new journey.”

Harriet

“Over the last several years of working with Lou, his advice has been spot on time and time again. We have redirected hiring campaigns, launched new verticals and task managements more times than I'm willing to admit. Lou just has that ‘something’ about him, with wisdom and how he delivers his message. It makes developing a plan with him a pleasure even if it's in a different direction than I was initially thinking. Lou is a wise, wise man, and I feel fortunate to know him on a business and personal level."

Marc

“Working with Lou has been one of the best decisions for our company. I am a generally cautious person and slow to give trust. Lou quickly earned that trust. He came in at a time when we were in a really tough financial bind and helped us turn around our sales and steady the ship. If you're looking for a feel-good guy who'll pat you on the back and say only nice things, keep looking. Lou is the personal trainer for your business that will get your ass in shape. It will be painful at times, but he knows what's good for the business and ultimately for you.”

Nathan

“Lou has made an extraordinary impact on our operation – and our bottom line! Lou has a keen understanding of the complexities of growing a business, and his intelligence, efficiency, deep sensitivity to our short and long-term financial goals, and emotional intelligence have helped to transform our ‘mom and pop’ venture to a mature, scalable industry leader. Lou helps you see the potential of your business and then helps you make that vision a reality.”

Alyse

“Lou’s exceptional and powerful influence in my personal and professional life is unparalleled. I am forever grateful to be mentored by someone as authentic, honest, and effective as Lou Gray. You will find no one better. Entrepreneurship is now not only an accomplishment for me but also a level of pride and self-identity.”

Jordan

“Lou Gray is, without question, and by far, the most intelligent, insightful, experienced, and committed business mentor I have met. He is almost completely responsible for helping my company move from moderate to explosive growth within the span of nine months. Lou has helped us do so in a focused, well-managed manner. His guidance has provided actionable, on-the-ground tactics to make real changes in almost every aspect of my business. He has helped my business with pricing, messaging, growth strategies, time management and work-life balance, hiring (and firing), accounting and budgeting, and employee satisfaction. There is really no aspect of a business with which Lou hasn’t had deep experience. It’s hard to put a number on how valuable Lou has been for my company and me. In terms of money earned, the ROI would be ridiculously high. But it’s more than that – Lou helped me achieve greater happiness as a person because he recognizes how interconnected one’s work life is to all the other aspects of oneself. That is truly priceless. In short, Lou is absolutely best-in-class. You simply will not find a more dedicated, caring, personally-invested, razor-sharp coach to help guide you and your business to long-term success.”

Shahar

“From our first meeting, I felt that Lou genuinely has a heart to give back and help others reach their successes.... and that IS the reason he’s doing what’s he’s doing. And with that heart of serving, I hired him! I was clear on what I was looking for in a coach – I and definitely found it. But what I didn’t know I needed, I found, too. Lou has asked me questions no one else had ever asked me. I love good questions that make me think! I didn’t know how valuable it was to have a coach who could listen and lead but also can hear and read what I wasn’t saying. I didn’t know how much I needed someone to meet me where I am and learn how I needed to be led. There’s an art to that. Lou is meeting me where I am, pushing me to see more, listening to what I’m saying and not saying. It’s invaluable.”

Lesley

Lou Gray

(Birch Canyon, LLC)

Business Mentor & Private Equity Investor

Interested in working with Lou?

Partner Testimonials

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