Vince Thompson works passionately
to bring new ideas to life.

Sometimes he creates, sometimes he consults, sometimes he invests… Always, he tries to create extraordinary value while being a great partner and citizen.

about vince

Vince Thompson is a consultant, early-stage investor and author based in Los Angeles.

Through his consultancy, Middleshift, Vince has served as an interim CEO, a public company board member, and a consultant to over thirty clients including major internet companies, TV Networks, and Studios.

Currently Vince serves on the board of Steezy, the world’s leading platform for online dance education and First Star, a global non-profit that helps foster kids get into college. He is also an advisor to Outer, Field Day and USC Annenberg’s Center for ThirdSpace Thinking.

Earlier in his career, Vince worked in local television, led the advertising sales organization for AOL in the West and, for a short period of time in Facebook’s startup days, served as the company's head of National Sales.

Vince is the author of a bestselling book on management called Ignited. He has keynoted globally and hosted over 80 episodes of a business show for CNet’s business brand, BNet.

In 2010, Business Week credited Vince with changing the liquidity model in Silicon Valley after he led a private sale of Facebook stock on Wall Street.

Vince holds an undergraduate degree from USC’s Annenberg School of Communications and an MBA from Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business.

Books

Vince has recently completed his first work of fiction—a comedic tale of crime and greed set in Silicon Valley. Join here for previews and announcements.

Here’s what the experts had to say about Vince's Book, Ignited:

“With a real-worldview of what it's like to lead in limited space, Thompson shows middle managers how to access their true power and purpose to achieve the work life they've always dreamed of. This book really delivers on its promise to Ignite the magnificence of all.”

—Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Leading at a Higher Level

“Brilliant; this is the best management book of the year. Jammed with vital takeaway value for managers it should also be required reading and a sobering look-in-the-mirror for every business owner and CEO. This breakthrough work absolutely sparkles!”

—Jason Jennings, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Reinventors and 5 other titles, Top Business Speaker

“If you want to change the world, you've gotta take a stand. With Ignited Vince Thompson does just that showing managers how, in this time of reinvention and chaos, they can rise above the constraints to put the heart and soul back into business.”

—Erin Brockovich, Advocate, Author and Speaker

“Ignited is a breakthrough book that shows you how upper management and the workforce can plug into the same socket and convert 110 volts into a lightning bolt.”

—Jeffrey Gitomer, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Little Red Book of Selling and 12 other titles, Speaker and Trainer.

“As someone familiar with Ignition I can tell you that while the book Ignited may not get you on the moon, it will certainly get you on a higher plain of success.”

—Buzz Aldrin, Engineer, Astronaut, Author and Leader

Middleshift helps innovators create new revenue streams, gain competitive advantage through custom training, and scale their businesses.

Over the years, we’ve had the pleasure of providing counsel to some of the Internet’s most exciting companies and we're proud of the value we’ve created.

OUR SERVICES INCLUDE:

Sales Organization Audit – We have yet to see an organization where we can’t get 5-10% revenue growth with some simple adjustments.

Go to Market Strategy – We challenge our clients to imagine the greatest sales pitch ever and then we help them live up to and exceed the expectations set.

Building the Idea Machine – The degree to which a company creates value for its customers is directly correlated to how well the company understands its customers and bakes their needs into the manufacturing of its ideas and products. We help our client build this flywheel.

Training for Competitive Advantage – It’s impossible for a company to get competitive advantage by working with vendors who deliver the same training information to each of their customers. We create custom training designed to give sales and businesses development executives a competitive advantage.

Revenue Planning – We guide our clients in a narrative approach that covers goals in granular detail and leaves managers with an actionable roadmap.

Business Development – We jump in and do the work necessary to help Founders and C-Level execs advance their agendas in a hurry.

HERE’S WHAT MIDDLESHIFT CLIENTS SAY:

“I first met Vince through a strategic ad sales consulting engagement he did for TVGuide.com while I was CEO of the parent company, Gemstar-TV Guide. As this was a turnaround situation, Vince played a critical role in conceiving of our ad sales strategy, building the ad models and working closely with our ad sales force to create a cogent, unique value proposition for our advertiser clients. Later Vince advised on revenue strategies for my company Snakkle and introduced me to strategic acquirer. Vince has been extremely valuable to me over the years and I’m happy to recommend him.”

—Richard Battista, CEO Time Inc.

“Vince has been instrumental in GumGum's evolution from technology start-up to full-fledged media company. I would work with him again in a heartbeat.”

—Ophir Tanz, CEO GumGum

“Vince has been a valuable extension of our team. He's consulted us on digital business models, assisted our social strategies and helped us evaluate a variety of opportunities including a few that we partnered with him on. Most importantly, Vince has understood our brands and been a thoughtful and trusted advisor. We recommend him without hesitation.”

—Cindy Crawford, CEO Crawdaddy

“Vince is like a Swiss-army knife for early stage digital ventures— beyond just helping structure go to market plans and sales team structure, he is incredibly helpful when it comes to overall strategy, product, team and staffing, and strategic partnerships. He is a great sounding board and advisor!”

—Chris Gebhardt, EVP Digital and GM TakePart.com, Participant Media