David Jacobs is a life/career coach/mentor and thought leading business analyst/project leader. As director of MaxVal Consultancy Ltd in the UK, he is author of Business Value Maximisation Framework (BVMF®) which arose from his 30-year research and development programme into IT business value/success maximisation designed to raise return on investment (ROI) to levels substantially above the norm. On the back of this and a number of other successful entrepreneurial projects David is authoring, coaching and mentoring in life skills, career progression and effective business management. David has a polymathic 'cv' which includes a parallel background in contemporary performing arts. David's mission is to save others time in learning key lessons he has learnt, and, to entertain!
David Paul Jacobs, Life, Career and Business Coach/Mentor
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
Hello, I’m very pleased to meet you!
I’m David P Jacobs BSc, MBCS, BVMS (I’ll explain what BVMS is further down…)
I wear several hats. I’m a life/career coach/mentor with various professional tributaries, the main one being IT business analysis, project management and value/success/ROI (return on investment) maximisation. I have a parallel (semi-pro) career in contemporary/performing arts, mainly comedy and music. I’ve done 150 comedy performances including some radio, TV and compering work.
So, on tributary number one, I’m CEO/owner/director of MaxVal Consultancy Ltd., inventor of Business Value Maximisation Specialism (BVMS) as leader of a 30-year R&D programme into business IT value maximisation for optimum success levels. In addition to value/success maximisation, we at MaxVal offer business analysis, project and programme management and architecture.
Connected to my business value maximisation specialism (BVMS), I am author of Business Value Maximisation Framework (BVMF®) and associated articles on how to get more value/success/ROI from business/organisational IT. Recently I have become a helper/editor to other book authors, mainly in the business/management/IT field and increasingly, in the last few years, in the better life/career arena!
In this latter vein, I’m author of better ways of thinking, decision making and techniques for progressing one’s career detailing such models as The Croydon Facelift™ and The Archery Target™
In all, I suppose you could say I’m a coaching/mentoring, rock ‘n’ roll, comedic, business IT value maximising, societal campaigning CEO!
Personality wise I’m an ambivert. I was shy as a child and this continued through most of my life, sometimes leading to depression and social phobia. As I get older, I am increasingly less shy. In fact, in some ways, I have also always been ‘simultaneously’ extrovert, in a creative, innovative, visionary vein. In the last few years, I have experienced a significant uplift in confidence and now love to help other people. I, possibly immodestly, consider my ability to help others in life and career to be high quality. That’s much thanks to the hundreds of pairs of shoulders I have been able to stand on and still stand on today – many thanks all! I hope I can continue the good work in a proud, progressive, compassionate and generous way.
If you would like to read more about my journey in life, career and entrepreneurialism and see some useful conclusions on how to be persistent in achieving life and career goals why not take a look at my Riding The Storm articles published in Brainz Magazine in January and March of 2023 at https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/riding-the-storm-of-scepticism-and-apathy-for-innovators-entrepreneurs-and-pioneers and https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/riding-the-storm-of-scepticism-and-apathy-for-innovators-entrepreneurs-and-pioneers-part-ii … please do let me know what you think! Riding The Storm III will be out very soon in which I focus on managing your spirit when others poo-poo your great ideas (often/usually because they are jealous of your creativity or just plainly myopic).
My personal website and contact details are here.
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
My business name is MaxVal Consultancy Ltd. I also founded Do IT Better Consortium (DIBC) in 2014 which is a cooperative of like-minded consultancies who believe business/organisational IT can be done better. To that end I am training these consultants to use of my Business Value Maximisation Framework (BVMF®) although they are already all ‘a cut above’ in my view.
To read about MaxVal’s propagation of more value-full business IT, go here and DIBC’s site.
We help clients by providing:
Life/career coaching/mentoring
IT business analysis, project management and success, value and ROI maximisation
Consultancy, training and accreditation in Business Value Maximisation Framework (BVMF®)
I also teach contemporary performing arts, mainly songwriting, guitar playing, leading rock bands and writing and performing stand-up comedy.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
My business is targeted towards:
People who want to improve their lives and careers and those of others around them.
Organisations who need help with business IT, analysis and project success rate improvement/value maximisation.
People who want to be creative song/scriptwriters and performers.
What are your current goals for your business?
My goals are:
To help people to become better, more successful and happier in their lives and careers and to be better, more collaborative and ‘contributive’ citizens in their communities.
To roll out BVMF® UK-wise and globally.
To fulfil an ambitious project in the broadcasting field to spread encouragement and success more widely using my models and techniques supported by my contemporary performing arts skills.
What would you like to achieve for yourself and your business in the future?
I want to help people to enjoy more success in their lives and work and help them to help others to do the same!
I want to help global businesses and organisations to be MUCH more efficient and effective at using IT
I want to entertain people with fun, insight and ways to progress their lives and their societies
I want to be good at asking the right questions, whether or not I or anybody else has the answers!
I’d like the superb team of people I have working for and with me at MaxVal Consulatancy to flourish and grow along with the business according to their goals in life and career
Who inspires you to be the best that you can be?
I’m inspired to be the best I can be by anybody who is doing good things for society and anybody who selflessly goes out to progress the wellbeing of others.
My list of inspirers includes:
My daughter, my life partner/girlfriend, my siblings, friends, colleagues and anybody I am lucky enough to meet who has something uniquely valuable to give to others (that’s almost everybody!)
My team at MaxVal Consutancy Ltd
The many superb exponents of success and leadership I’ve read, experienced, met and/or watched like Dale Carnegie, Tony Robbins, Robert Greene, Brené Brown, Simon Sinek, Andy Harrington, Chase Hughes, Brendon Burchard, Dr Benjamin Hardy, Stephen Bartlett, David P Jacobs (whoa, maybe one day soon), etc… oh yes, and my excellent coaches Gale V and Penny P.
And, of course, those who’ve showed huge persistence, belief, resilience and insight; for example Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein… but most of all, Sir James Dyson. I read his autobiography and heard how poorly Hoover and Electrolux treated him when he devised a quantum leap better way for vacuum cleaners to work – possibly somewhat pompously, but I so know how he felt as I had many years of derogatory comments about my Business Value Maximisation Framework (BVMF®) which is now taking off I am proud to say.
As I’ve stated in my Riding The Storm articles, the stronger your idea for a new product or service the more virulent and harsh will be the comments people make about it. That’s one reason why most coaches/mentors suggest not telling people your ambitions unless you have to, and then to be careful with what you tell people. The inevitable highly vocal scepticism can be exceedingly demoralising and you don’t need that!
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
I’m proud of these achievements: Creation of various models and techniques for life and career improvement and seeing those models and techniques manifestly help my clients into successful new chapters of their lives and careers.
Having run an R&D programme to produce BVMF® (business value maximisation framework) for 30 years Having performed two successful gigs at London’s Comedy Store and 150 comedy gigs in all (when I even survived some occasional heckling, just about!) Writing more than 40 what I consider to be pretty good (at least very decent) rock/blues/pop songs Bringing my daughter into the world, such a little star that she is bringing so much joy to my partner (her mum) and I…
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?
I’d like to help the business IT industry to understand more exactly how value arises from IT within business organisations, what that value is made up of and how to optimise it – and that there ARE better ways to do it as yet un(der) utilised, you don’t need to follow the crowd, follow YOUR instincts and beliefs – and let me help you if you want me to …
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
Towards the end of 2020 I realised, after six decades of my life having passed, that my issue (my challenge) wasn’t ‘me not understanding them’ (the other 8 billion souls on this planet) but ‘them not understanding me’! That was my ah-ha moment. Now others live up to my expectations (in the nicest possible way, I hope).
Additional Information
Having had a varied life and eclectic career, I’m a bit of a polymath. I’ve been through some highly challenging life experiences shall we say!
I am a life/career coach/mentor, author, editor, rock band leader, stand-up comedian, actor/director, scriptwriter/songwriter, societal campaigner, writer of romantic and philosophical poetry, and a few other things…, oh yes, former county junior squash player, athlete and terrible golfer! And hopefully I’m not too much of a big ‘ead but not sure I can guarantee that! My singing voice is lousy by the way but I’m getting better, slowly.
Finally, here’s a tip for being inspired to achieve greater heights. If you want to soar in your life and career and like uplifting pacy renaissance rock music (like I do) I recommend listening to The Storm by Rainbow and/or Blackmore’s Night. The two articles I have so far written for Brainz readers are called Riding The Storm; Riding The Storm III will be out soon, towards the end of June 2023.
The lyrics to this excellent song of Ritchie Blackmore’s are somewhat cryptic and poetic in the sense that they inspire the imagination by being inconclusive – this is potentially a very good thing!
