A Lightning Rod for Great Ideas
At Maker Turtle, we believe people can build sustainable, scalable businesses that create real value – for customers, for employees, and for the community at large. Doing good while doing well may be an old idea, but it speaks to the world we want to live in.
Here’s how we think about it. Companies, nonprofits, and public-sector teams succeed by understanding three things: what they do, who they serve, and how they deliver. Ideas and information flow through those building blocks, and when you get the flow right, you build something bigger than the sum of the parts. The thread that connects all of it is the human element – the people whose lives are touched by your team’s work, every single day. It’s about connecting ideas with people.
That’s been the mission since the beginning. What’s changed is how the work shows up.
What We’re Building Now
Maker Turtle started as an advisory practice – strategic and tactical help for leaders navigating technology-driven change. That work continues. Over the last couple of years it’s grown three distinct legs, and each one feeds the others.
JazzAI – a seasoned advisor, on call
Every company is talking about AI. Most of the people inside those companies can already see the opportunities – they just don’t have a structured, credible way to pitch them to leadership. The gap isn’t knowledge – it’s packaging.
JazzAI closes that gap. It’s an always-on strategic advisor built on 40 years of real executive experience: a virtual CIO, a proprietary diagnostic that asks what does good look like?, and a library of scored, pitch-ready initiatives. It’s the perspective you’d want in the room, available the moment you need it. Not ideas – ammunition.
Talking Tree Ventures – where the proceeds go
This is the part that makes the rest worth doing. Talking Tree Ventures is the purpose project – investment and grant-making focused on forest restoration, forest economics, and fire management. The plan is simple and deliberate: half of Maker Turtle’s profits, including everything JazzAI earns, flows into TTV’s work.
The work we do is digital. The impact is physical, measurable, and lasting.
Advisory, writing, and speaking – the original thread
The consulting, the articles, the keynotes, the book – that’s where it all started, and it’s still going. We help organizations drive the objectives that actually matter, focused on three simple questions:
- What You Do – an honest look at your strategy, and how your tactics line up with the value you want to create.
- How You Do It – the 5 Components framework: customer connections, product and service innovation, internal operations, putting information to work, and developing your people.
- How You Get Better At It – deep experience with knowledge management: capturing ideas, communicating with impact, and changing how people take ownership of the work.
There’s also the thought leadership – 500+ articles of applied digital methods gathered over 15+ years, the Speaking page, and the latest book, Don’t Think So Much.
That’s an interesting name …
The name of the company? Well, it’s also an interesting story …
It was back in the 90’s, and the Internet was just breaking into the mainstream. Remember those AOL disks promising hours of free access to the wonders of the web? I remember the hefty stack of diskettes collected on my desk; not too sure about the offer, but mildly amused by their marketing style.
An interesting tactic – each disk came with a unique access code. Most of those random word pairs meant nothing to me. But one day, a disk came in with the password MAKER+TURTLE. Something about that phrase seemed poetic and inspired; their master plan had finally broken down my defenses. That was the day I first connected to the Internet – and my professional life took an amazing turn towards the future.
Fast forward to now. Every day, we are inundated by hundreds of messages in multiple formats, floating ideas that can be daring or daunting, innovative or oversold, promising or passe, transformative… or just another buzzword. It can be a challenge to see the path, but when the right message comes along – that simple idea or insight that opens up a world of opportunity – the universe is telling you something, and you have to be ready to dive in.
Let us help you on your journey, and open up the world of opportunity for the people that matter – your employees, your customers, and your community.
Let’s start the conversation!
We are always adding content and connections. Looking for something more? Let us know how we can connect to help you succeed!