The Team
Nicholas Alter
CEO & Founding Principal
A recovering CEO, Nick is the creator of the ThriveSide Framework and founder of this posse of experts. Over the years, he has worked with hundreds of brands and has either founded or helped found a plethora of organizations, some of his favorites of which include Alter Endeavors, Catch Engine, Tentmakers Network/Switchboard Global, Musician Treatment Foundation, Big Five Capital and SXSW Sunday Service.
Community obsessed, Nick loves God and he loves people, all people. A native Austinite, he married his high school sweetheart Jamie. They currently live in Southwest Austin with their two boys who can best be described as adorable chaos.
Daniel Perumal
COO & VP of Business Architecture
From the Air Force to Congress to one of the largest tech companies in the world and a number of side adventures in between all of those before choosing ThriveSide as his next mission, Daniel Perumal has a rather broad and well-rounded scope of experiences to draw from when it comes to both business and marketing.
Along the way Daniel has developed a strong expertise in coordinating and aligning client resources to execute effective marketing strategies. His ability to identify the unique needs and goals of each organization leads to developing tailored plans for massive growth.
Currently serving as COO & VP of Business Architecture for ThriveSide, Daniel brings his extensive knowledge and expertise to the forefront. In this role, he oversees the development and execution of the company’s marketing strategies, working closely with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and effectiveness. His ability to analyze market trends, identify opportunities, and leverage data-driven insights has been instrumental in guiding marketing initiatives.
Fred Wakefield
Operations Architect
As an experienced business leader, Fred Wakefield specializes in organizational structure alignment and growth strategy. He has developed a deep understanding of how to help organizations achieve their goals and maximize their potential.
Fred’s particular area of expertise help companies align their organizational structure with their strategic objectives. He works with businesses to analyze their current structure in order to identify any gaps and opportunities to then architect an optimization plan for significant growth and lasting success.
Before entering the business world, Fred played in the NFL, spending eight seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and Oakland Raiders. During his football career, Fred honed his leadership skills along with a commitment to excellence that he now leverages to achieve incredible results for his business clients
Fred is a sought-after speaker and thought leader, frequently sharing his insights and perspectives on growth strategy and organizational alignment. He obtained his bachelor’s degree and MBA from The University of Illinois.
Bill O’Grady
Process Maturity Expert
While in those roles, he specialized in helping his clients achieve process maturity in technology solutions including IT/OT convergence, simulation/digital twin, digital transition, IIoT cybersecurity and risk management, automation, reliability, IIoT enabled data science, and artificial intelligence. He has been an active contributor and chairman for several industry standards organizations, consortiums, and class societies in the oil & gas and semiconductor industries. Contributions include the development of offshore regulatory guidance as well as maritime class notations for integrated software control systems and simulation/digital twin test. He holds several patents for manufacturing systems process emulation, automation, optimization, and control methodologies.
Bill believes that achieving process maturity must be a collaborative team effort. He works to bring together cross functional stakeholders and develop the technical and business organizational relationships necessary to drive successful solutions.