The Whetstone Group, Inc. -- Larry Bildstein

CPA, President and CEO
319.447.6401
larry@thewhetstonegroup.com

Larry Bildstein is president and CEO
of The Whetstone Group, Inc. Whetstone's
mission is to help companies in the professional
services market find growth and hone their competitive edge. Whetstone provides clients with a variety of simple and effective tools for this purpose. When applied properly, these tools can restore a competitive edge to clients looking for new ways to compete and grow in the evolving professional services arena.

Whetstone's clients primarily include CPA firms, banks, architecture firms and business consulting firms nationwide. For these clients, Larry facilitates in-depth growth planning sessions and advises firm leadership on the implementation of those plans. Larry draws on his extensive experience in the industry to provide business owners and partners with valuable insights into effective strategies for growth, marketing and sales in a professional services firm. He also helps clients transition towards a more growth-oriented culture and offers one-on-one sales training for professionals at all levels.

Larry's passion for helping professional service firms grow and prosper led him to start Whetstone in 2000. Previous to starting Whetstone, Larry was the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications of RSM McGladrey, Inc. and Executive Partner of McGladrey & Pullen, LLP.

In his marketing role, Larry was responsible for setting up the infrastructure for a national marketing organization at McGladrey where he led the development of a direct marketing organization, including data management, telephone lead generation, and fulfillment of creative needs. He also led the development of a firm research department that focused on positioning, pricing, segmentation, new products and client satisfaction.

Prior to his marketing assignment with McGladrey, Larry was also the Regional Managing Partner of a $50 million annual revenue unit and a Client Service Coordinator where he provided business and advice consulting, growth consulting, mergers and acquisitions assistance in addition to tax and financial services and advice.

Larry has been published in Partner Advantage Advisor; Guide to Marketing: A Supplement to Accounting Today, Accounting Technology, and Practical Accountant; CPA Leadership Report; RSM McGladrey Network's NetWorks Newsletter; the Institute of Management and Administration, Inc.'s Partner's Report and on the Association for Accounting Marketing's Web site. In addition, Larry has been a speaker at numerous conferences and seminars including the Association for Accounting Marketing's Annual Summit; American Institute of Certified Public Accountant's Conference "Tax Strategies for High Net Worth Individuals"; RSM McGladrey Network's Annual Forum and The Alliance of Professional Associations' NSA Winter Conference.

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