David G. Thomson is a bestselling author, advisor, and speaker. He is the founder and Chairman of the Blueprint Growth Institute, a specialized management consulting firm focused on helping companies develop growth strategies and execute The 7 Essentials. His insights on the success pattern of America's highest growth companies—which he wrote about in his bestseller Blueprint to a Billion—have been embraced globally. Thomson has been studying and leading business growth for twenty years in general management and executive sales/marketing at Nortel Networks and Hewlett-Packard and as an associate principal during his five years at McKinsey & Company. He graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.