Chris Tacy
Chief Strategy Officer
Chris is a respected expert in business model disruption and corporate venture transformation, who has spent over 25 years sharpening his skills at the crossroads of business, innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship. He leads our Venture Strategy practice.
In 1994, Chris and his team proposed a business plan for an internet business and lifestyle website, a concept akin to the once-renowned Hotwire.com, for an internal contest. Despite the team’s submission making it to the final round, Chris’ company decided to go with a print publication about an online service instead. Unfazed and ever confident in the potential of the internet, Chris told the Board of his then-employer that the entire print publication business was at existential risk because of the web, then ultimately decided to leave and start his own business. Just a year later, Chris’ former company came to him and told him he had been right. That experience taught Chris a few things: trust his keen instincts, acknowledge his entrepreneurial vision, and appreciate his particular ability to see the future.
Since then, Chris has worked with many large companies, including Oracle, Google, Lockheed Martin, Sony, Viacom, and Nike. He's launched four successful startups; managed a $325M corporate venture fund; and participated in numerous profitable M&A deals and partnerships, amounting to over $2B in total contract value. As an investor, his bets have yielded over $100M in returns on less than $7.5M in invested capital. Chris has also imparted his substantive knowledge in corporate entrepreneurship and disruptive growth to investors, large corporations, and high-growth startups across various sectors.
After consulting on Incubate and Accelerate efforts for Mach49 in 2017, Chris rejoined the firm full-time in 2020 to help global businesses realize their goals of exponential growth and value creation. It’s at Mach49 that Chris has found a unique, multidimensional role that perfectly blends components of all his most meaningful experiences, and in which he can use his unparalleled entrepreneurial expertise to change the world.
Chris holds a BA in English from Wesleyan University. When work gets demanding, he finds balance in the calmness of caring for the fruit trees on the 2-acre farm in Hawaii where he lives with his partner of 31 years, Valerie, who is also part of the Mach49 team.
In 1994, Chris and his team proposed a business plan for an internet business and lifestyle website, a concept akin to the once-renowned Hotwire.com, for an internal contest. Despite the team’s submission making it to the final round, Chris’ company decided to go with a print publication about an online service instead. Unfazed and ever confident in the potential of the internet, Chris told the Board of his then-employer that the entire print publication business was at existential risk because of the web, then ultimately decided to leave and start his own business. Just a year later, Chris’ former company came to him and told him he had been right. That experience taught Chris a few things: trust his keen instincts, acknowledge his entrepreneurial vision, and appreciate his particular ability to see the future.
Since then, Chris has worked with many large companies, including Oracle, Google, Lockheed Martin, Sony, Viacom, and Nike. He's launched four successful startups; managed a $325M corporate venture fund; and participated in numerous profitable M&A deals and partnerships, amounting to over $2B in total contract value. As an investor, his bets have yielded over $100M in returns on less than $7.5M in invested capital. Chris has also imparted his substantive knowledge in corporate entrepreneurship and disruptive growth to investors, large corporations, and high-growth startups across various sectors.
After consulting on Incubate and Accelerate efforts for Mach49 in 2017, Chris rejoined the firm full-time in 2020 to help global businesses realize their goals of exponential growth and value creation. It’s at Mach49 that Chris has found a unique, multidimensional role that perfectly blends components of all his most meaningful experiences, and in which he can use his unparalleled entrepreneurial expertise to change the world.
Chris holds a BA in English from Wesleyan University. When work gets demanding, he finds balance in the calmness of caring for the fruit trees on the 2-acre farm in Hawaii where he lives with his partner of 31 years, Valerie, who is also part of the Mach49 team.
Chris Tacy
Chief Strategy Officer
Chris is a respected expert in business model disruption and corporate venture transformation, who has spent over 25 years sharpening his skills at the crossroads of business, innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship. He leads our Venture Strategy practice.
In 1994, Chris and his team proposed a business plan for an internet business and lifestyle website, a concept akin to the once-renowned Hotwire.com, for an internal contest. Despite the team’s submission making it to the final round, Chris’ company decided to go with a print publication about an online service instead. Unfazed and ever confident in the potential of the internet, Chris told the Board of his then-employer that the entire print publication business was at existential risk because of the web, then ultimately decided to leave and start his own business. Just a year later, Chris’ former company came to him and told him he had been right. That experience taught Chris a few things: trust his keen instincts, acknowledge his entrepreneurial vision, and appreciate his particular ability to see the future.
Since then, Chris has worked with many large companies, including Oracle, Google, Lockheed Martin, Sony, Viacom, and Nike. He's launched four successful startups; managed a $325M corporate venture fund; and participated in numerous profitable M&A deals and partnerships, amounting to over $2B in total contract value. As an investor, his bets have yielded over $100M in returns on less than $7.5M in invested capital. Chris has also imparted his substantive knowledge in corporate entrepreneurship and disruptive growth to investors, large corporations, and high-growth startups across various sectors.
After consulting on Incubate and Accelerate efforts for Mach49 in 2017, Chris rejoined the firm full-time in 2020 to help global businesses realize their goals of exponential growth and value creation. It’s at Mach49 that Chris has found a unique, multidimensional role that perfectly blends components of all his most meaningful experiences, and in which he can use his unparalleled entrepreneurial expertise to change the world.
Chris holds a BA in English from Wesleyan University. When work gets demanding, he finds balance in the calmness of caring for the fruit trees on the 2-acre farm in Hawaii where he lives with his partner of 31 years, Valerie, who is also part of the Mach49 team.
In 1994, Chris and his team proposed a business plan for an internet business and lifestyle website, a concept akin to the once-renowned Hotwire.com, for an internal contest. Despite the team’s submission making it to the final round, Chris’ company decided to go with a print publication about an online service instead. Unfazed and ever confident in the potential of the internet, Chris told the Board of his then-employer that the entire print publication business was at existential risk because of the web, then ultimately decided to leave and start his own business. Just a year later, Chris’ former company came to him and told him he had been right. That experience taught Chris a few things: trust his keen instincts, acknowledge his entrepreneurial vision, and appreciate his particular ability to see the future.
Since then, Chris has worked with many large companies, including Oracle, Google, Lockheed Martin, Sony, Viacom, and Nike. He's launched four successful startups; managed a $325M corporate venture fund; and participated in numerous profitable M&A deals and partnerships, amounting to over $2B in total contract value. As an investor, his bets have yielded over $100M in returns on less than $7.5M in invested capital. Chris has also imparted his substantive knowledge in corporate entrepreneurship and disruptive growth to investors, large corporations, and high-growth startups across various sectors.
After consulting on Incubate and Accelerate efforts for Mach49 in 2017, Chris rejoined the firm full-time in 2020 to help global businesses realize their goals of exponential growth and value creation. It’s at Mach49 that Chris has found a unique, multidimensional role that perfectly blends components of all his most meaningful experiences, and in which he can use his unparalleled entrepreneurial expertise to change the world.
Chris holds a BA in English from Wesleyan University. When work gets demanding, he finds balance in the calmness of caring for the fruit trees on the 2-acre farm in Hawaii where he lives with his partner of 31 years, Valerie, who is also part of the Mach49 team.
