WHO WE ARE

The best advice comes from experience.

Our perspective is shaped by decades of experience building, scaling, and transforming services businesses, and a deep understanding of the operating models behind their success.

About us.

Form & Function is an operator-led advisory firm that helps professional services businesses improve performance, scale effectively, and increase enterprise value.

We work with founders, leadership teams, and investors to address the strategic and operational challenges that emerge as services businesses grow, evolve, or prepare for a transaction. Our work spans commercial strategy, operating model and performance, financial management, technology and AI enablement, and transaction readiness.

Our perspective is grounded in operating experience. We bring the pattern recognition of leaders who have built, scaled, transformed, acquired, and exited services businesses - combined with the outside perspective, data, and technology to help our clients see their businesses differently and make better decisions.

What we believe.

Better businesses create greater enterprise value.

Building for valuation and building a better business aren't competing priorities. The characteristics that create enduring enterprise value are largely the same ones that create a healthier, more resilient business.

The best solutions work in practice, not just on paper.

Strategy only creates value when an organization can execute it. We believe recommendations should reflect how the business actually operates and what leadership can realistically put into action.

Technology should amplify good operating models.

Technology and AI can dramatically improve how a business operates, but they can't compensate for unclear processes, disconnected data, or weak management discipline. Start with the business, then determine what technology should enable.

“We understand the pressures modern services firms face. We bring hands-on experience to help leaders move forward with confidence.”

Dave Valliere

Founder & CEO, Form & Function Consulting

F&FC in the news.

AI is putting strain on the old model of charging clients by the hour. Form & Function considers the benefits of outcomes-based pricing. Read the full article.

Form & Function Partner, Adam Ribaudo explores why a Context Layer is the Key to Reliable Enterprise AI in this article for The AI Journal. Read the full article.

Our CEO & Founder, Dave Valliere, recently sat down with MarTech360 to discuss the hidden operational constraints that hold growing firms back.‍ ‍Read the full article.

In a new on-demand episode of Kantata's Pursuit Power Half Hour, our CEO Dave Valliere joins Brent Trimble to discuss what it takes for professional services firms to become truly AI-enabled. ‍See the episode.

Dave Valliere spoke with Authority Magazineto explore the underlying mechanics of operational scalability. He shared insights into how AI-powered insights are changing the way leadership teams make strategic decisions.‍ ‍Read the full article.

Leadership Team

  • Dave Valliere is an accomplished executive and board leader with a proven track record of driving growth, building aligned leadership teams, and designing high-performance organizations.

    He served as CEO of Velir Studios, a 250-person digital experience consultancy, for more than a decade. During his tenure, Dave led the firm’s strategic evolution from a technology implementer to a full-service digital agency, drove sustained organic growth, oversaw its 2020 sale to Stella Point Capital, and led the 2023 acquisition of Brooklyn Data Company.

    The combined firm serves 150+ global clients - from Fortune 500 companies to leading nonprofits - helping organizations harness data to accelerate digital transformation, deepen audience engagement, and deliver AI-enabled experiences.

    Previously, as Chief Operating Officer, Dave designed the operational and financial infrastructure that enabled Velir to scale - building disciplined delivery systems, actionable performance insights, and a go-to-market model aligned to profitable growth. He also served on the Board of Directors, contributing to governance, company performance oversight, and long-term growth strategy.

    In addition to founding Form & Function, Dave serves as an Operating Partner at Tonka Bay Equity Partners, sits on the Board of Directors for CAMP Digital, and is a Trustee at MelroseWakefield Hospital, part of the Tufts Medicine health system.

  • Charles Spellman is an experienced management, operations, and digital transformation consultant, with nearly 20 years of experience assisting leaders in driving lasting change. Combining backgrounds in technology and data with strong collaboration and change management skillset, Charles delivers a unified theory of change to organizations struggling with operational bottlenecks that are hindering growth and profitability.

    Charles played multiple roles at the executive level for Velir for the past 15 years, including leading and growing the technical analyst team, managing a portfolio of clients in the Client Services team, and playing a critical role as lead strategist in the Strategy team. Throughout this time, Charles worked with leaders across Velir to build and grow the core operational processes that set the foundation for growth - including revenue recognition and forecasting, to resourcing, development workflow, estimation, project management, and more.

    Prior to Velir, Charles was a management consultant with Sapient.

  • Adam Ribaudo is a data and analytics leader with 15 years of experience transforming customer data into actionable insights and strategic outcomes. He has guided product and marketing teams in deploying effective tools and processes that drive measurable performance.

    Prior to Form & Function, Adam was a Vice President at Velir where he built the firm's data practice from the ground up, nurturing it into a key revenue-contributing division. Leading as both VP of Data Activation and later VP of Behavioral Analytics, he guided the strategy and implementation of advanced analytics solutions—including CDPs and cloud data warehouses—to help clients activate their data for measurable growth.

    Prior to Velir, Adam founded and ran for over 5 years, the consultancy Noise to Signal. As principal, he specialized in rapidly integrating into diverse client environments, working with executive leadership to rationalize complex data ecosystems and design bespoke systems that accelerated marketing and product efforts.

  • Keith Hopper has over 25 years of experience in Strategy, Product and Consulting and has been a part of growing five professional services organizations, including the Digital Services team at NPR, where we built the Product, Editorial and Design functions. Leveraging his deep expertise in human-centered strategy and learning system design, Keith has taught Product Innovation at Harvard Business School, Olin College of Engineering, and on LinkedIn Learning, where more than 100,000 people have taken his course. He's also won awards for his innovative learning systems and was voted Boston's best Mentor by local startup founders.

THE IDEA BEHIND THE NAME

“Form Follows Function”

The phrase “form follows function” was coined by architect Louis Sullivan, meaning design should always serve purpose. At Form + Function Consulting, we apply this principle to business: solutions must drive outcomes, not just look good on paper.