From Zero to Sixty in Weeks: Susan Schramm on Asynchronous Strategy Workshops for Executives

Susan does not call her platform a "course" -- she calls it an "online collaboration platform." Her model alternates between asynchronous online modules and live workshops. In the online phase, team members work through modules that pose go-to-market concepts and ask them to apply each one to their own initiative. Discussion threads let them debate and build on each other's thinking. The key insight: because participants have to write their thoughts rather than just speak in a meeting, "they think through it a little better, they frame their wording more clearly. So it actually creates an even tighter collaboration." Abe highlighted in the debrief that this asynchronous-first model is not the "poor man's version" of in-person learning -- it encourages "a more deliberate and thoughtful style of work that also allows people even more space to focus."

Susan's most powerful selling point is compression. One CEO had been trying to align his board and leadership team on a new strategy for a year. Susan proposed doing it in four weeks. "He's like, what?" she recalls. "And I said, yep, we're gonna do this in four weeks." He later said she took them "from zero to 60 in weeks" when it had taken him a year on his own. The cadence works because each cycle builds on the previous one: asynchronous thinking and research, then a focused live workshop that builds on the work already done online. Between sessions, team members can go gather new inputs -- customer interviews, market research -- that make them "more informed and calmer sometimes about something." The compressed timeline also creates natural accountability: "The value proposition to the senior leaders is let's not drag this out."

Susan's business model is fundamentally different from most course creators: her customer is the company, not the individual. A typical engagement serves 8 to 10 people on a leadership team, though she has run workshops for 30 people across three continents. She charges $15,000 to $25,000 for a Strategy Jumpstart Workshop and always requests a "program partner" inside the company to handle internal logistics and systems. The platform is reusable but customized with the client's logo and content. For consultants looking to augment their practice with course components, the model offers a compelling template: use online learning to do the prep work that would otherwise consume expensive face-to-face time, then focus live sessions on alignment, gap analysis, and building consensus.