The Proven Chaos Story

Hi, I’m Jerry Macnamara and I’m the Founder and CEO of Proven Chaos. I wanted to share a little about the story of ProvenChaos and how we got here.

When I was twenty-five I helped run a company that exploded from $5 million to $15 million in 18 months and onto the Franchise 500 list – twice. It had taken the prior twenty years to get to $5MM.

Every day was like wrapping my lips around the fire hydrant that got turned on full blast. All I heard was, “don’t miss a drop.” 

Listen – It was super exciting, let’s be honest: the growth was confusing and painful. 

We were raising Venture Capital. Our store count had exploded. When I wasn’t traveling, I often slept on the couch outside my office. Sadly, 100 hour weeks became commonplace. I paid a heavy toll. And, on Valentine’s Day, I ended up on a hospital gurney with chest pain. I thought I was having a heart attack. My blood pressure was 195/96 and it was all stress-related.

As I laid there counting the dots on the ceiling tiles, thinking, “what have you done you stupid SOB,” I also thought, “There had to be a different way.”

I developed a formula that challenges the status quo, creates clarity inside the walls of a business (even if they’re virtual) and an electrifying environment for companies to outperform the marketplace.

The important piece here is that we create alignment of our vision, values and actions. The greatest ripoff in life is success without fulfillment. It’s awful.

You have to outstrategize. You have to outinvest. You have to outexecute.

I’ve successfully applied this formula to five businesses I’ve directly led to accelerate growth. It’s worked in B2B and B2C because it’s a framework and a process that is applied no matter the product or service. I’ve used it to grow the sales of a 40-year-old manufacturing company; the startup of an internet business to an exit of a sale, the growth of a construction company onto the Inc fastest-growing private companies – twice – and countless other companies I’ve consulted and served.

How do I know business is widgets and anyone can apply my principles to their business? I’ve never been the technical leader in any business I’ve run. Heck, the first time I walked into a manufacturing plant was when I was invited to lead, I didn’t know how to code when I started an internet company and I warned the owner of the construction company that the only thing I hammer is my keyboard.

This business formula works.

I love helping CEOs create calm from chaos in high-growth companies to relieve their anxiety and re-ignite their passion to explode performance.

The companies I’ve led and help are normally on the fastest-growing companies list – or are headed there. I help CEOs accelerate with fewer headaches. 

If I can help your company, please let me know.

8 Foundational Business Beliefs

Here are 8 Core Foundational Beliefs

1. Companies that outperform do 3 things better: outstrategize, outinvest and outexecute. Outperforming companies get the lion’s share of rewards.
2. The alignment of actions to your vision and values creates fulfillment. Positive fulfillment creates joy, which is the highest order of living.
3. Invest generously in learning, engaging, and renewal. You cannot solve today’s new challenges with yesterday’s old theories, by yourself while you are exhausted.
4. Attitude and approach is always a choice. Positivity, happiness, and optimism are choices that unlock incredible possibilities. Live in possible.
5. Have a strategic plan. Revisit it often and use it as the beacon to guide your business.
6. Intentionally cultivate world-class relationships. We don’t do business (or life) alone. God-complexes crush companies.
7. Commit to a healthy culture. Fit employees who are well-rested and eating properly will outexecute all day, every day.
8. Business is not only the economic engine of society, but it is the engine of cultural change. We need to embrace that responsibility very seriously.

Why “ProvenChaos?”

Proven Chaos was a simple way to explain the businesses I’ve worked with over my career and what I’ve seen under the hood of 100+ businesses. The company has proven there is a marketplace, but for some reason, they’re in chaos.

There are two core reasons:

1. The owner feels disillusioned and burned out so frustrated that sometimes they feel like giving up – despite the success
2. The systems, people or processes have not kept pace with the needs of the business or the marketplace.

By focusing on these two key areas, our goal is to stop the daily firefighting and create clarity, so calm can replace chaos. Calm ignites performance. This is when businesses win. This is when people win.