Tugboat Institute® is dedicated to supporting Evergreen™ leaders, their teams, and their companies through recognition, a range of experiences, several publications and programs to bring forth inspiration, new ideas, proven best practices about business, family and life. To be clear, we do not profess to be experts, but instead we view our role as conveners and curators. We believe everything that needs to be known is within our Evergreen community and from Evergreen thought leaders. Our current offerings include:
Please explore our website to learn more about Tugboat Institute!
In 2005, Dave Whorton had a transformative conversation with an entrepreneur and friend that would deeply challenge his beliefs about business and launch a movement.
Having founded four companies in Silicon Valley and spending his early career as an investor at two of the top venture capital and private equity firms in the world, Dave’s conversation with Stella & Dot founder Jessica Herrin awakened him to an alternative path to business success. Jessica’s approach to building a business was novel in the Silicon Valley landscape: She dreamt of building a private company to last her lifetime and beyond, growing at a paced rate over time, and fueled by a deep purpose and a commitment to her employees.
The conversation became an idea that took over seven years to germinate. In 2013, Dave had dozens of conversations with leaders around the country who were ambitious to build a meaningful company but eschewed the VC and PE path to exit by sale or IPO. Combining sound business principles, extraordinary purpose and a desire to bring their employees along in their success, and without an expectation of an exit, these leaders were building growing, private, profitable companies for a lifetime, or longer.
In 2013, Dave coined the term “Evergreen” leaders and “Evergreen” companies to describe the people and businesses leading this movement. After a small gathering in Sun Valley, Idaho in October of that year, with the help of Chris Alden, he created Tugboat Institute to convene Evergreen CEOs to help one another through inspiration, new ideas, best practices, support, and encouragement.
(Read the full launch post here.)
We believe in the vital importance of humans coming together to create and grow enduring, private businesses that make a dent in the universe.
Our vision is two-fold. First, that Evergreen companies will go from being underappreciated to being broadly recognized for what they are—attractive employers, partners, suppliers, customers, and community members that aren’t going away because they are adaptable, well-run, share in their success, and are not for sale.
Second, that Tugboat Institute will be the unrivaled resource for Evergreen CEOs and their businesses, providing a value-aligned support network unlike any other and additional services that are highly valued by our members and the broader Evergreen community.
We have dedicated our careers to supporting great entrepreneurs, and we believe that supporting Evergreen leaders is our calling.
Dan oversees financial management and operations for Tugboat Institute and The Tugboat Group, including management of the Certified Evergreen program, development of new member services for Tugboat Institute, and process oversight and business analysis for Tugboat Evergreen and Tugboat Ventures. More
Michelle manages financial reporting and payroll for Tugboat Institute and contributes to a variety of operational and programming projects, including Certified Evergreen. More
Paige supports the CEO in a wide range of administrative tasks and projects across member relations, research, gatherings, and business development. More
Laura assists in the planning, preparation, and execution of Tugboat Institute events and provides administrative support across membership, sales, and operations. More
Maria is a second generation Californian, thanks to her German grandfather who bootstrapped a manufacturing company in the Bay Area. More
Diana leads content strategy, development, and distribution for Tugboat Institute, curating members’ and thought leaders’ wisdom and insight through online and print publications and virtual and in-person educational programming. More
In 2013, Dave founded Tugboat Institute to connect, support and inspire purpose-driven leaders of Evergreen businesses. Pri More
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Dan oversees financial management and operations for Tugboat Institute and The Tugboat Group, including management of the Certified Evergreen program, development of new member services for Tugboat Institute, and process oversight and business analysis for Tugboat Evergreen and Tugboat Ventures. Prior to joining Tugboat, Dan held financial roles supporting multiple business units at Fortune100, public, and venture-backed companies in the U.S. and Europe, including Intel, Affymetrix, and NuGEN Technologies. Dan holds a BS in Math and Operations Research from University of California, Los Angeles.
Michelle manages financial reporting and payroll for Tugboat Institute and contributes to a variety of operational and programming projects, including Certified Evergreen. She appreciates the opportunity to see Evergreen 7Ps principles at work in member companies and learning how those principles impact Evergreen employees and communities. Prior to joining Tugboat, Michelle served in corporate accounting roles in various industries, including insurance, retail, and senior living services. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from York College of Pennsylvania.
Paige supports the CEO in a wide range of administrative tasks and projects across member relations, research, gatherings, and business development. Prior to joining Tugboat Institute, Paige spent seven years working for RVK, one of the top ten institutional investment consulting firms in the U.S., where her work included performance reporting, investment policy development, asset allocation/structure analyses, investment manager evaluation, transition/rebalancing of client portfolios, and client education presentations. Paige holds a BS in Business Administration from Washington State University.
Laura assists in the planning, preparation, and execution of Tugboat Institute events and provides administrative support across membership, sales, and operations. She appreciates the opportunity to interact with and support members at events and throughout the year and loves learning about the Evergreen companies that make up the Tugboat community. Prior to joining Tugboat, Laura spent several years in the event planning industry in San Francisco. She holds a BA in Communications from Boise State University.
Maria is a second generation Californian, thanks to her German grandfather who bootstrapped a manufacturing company in the Bay Area. She loves building awareness for the Evergreen movement through growing the Tugboat membership. Maria spent ten years working with The Advisory Board Company doing marketing, business development, and sales management before making the shift to public education. She recently served her community for eight years as a Governing Board Member for the Menlo Park City School District.
Annie joins The Tugboat Group after four years of full time ski racing. Born and raised in the Mountain West, Annie returned to Idaho in 2016 to compete, and stayed for the community she found there. She graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Philosophy before completing the summer Bridge program at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.
Diana leads content strategy, development, and distribution for Tugboat Institute, curating members’ and thought leaders’ wisdom and insight through online and print publications and virtual and in-person educational programming. Diana is inspired by the stories of Evergreen companies and leaders she is able to share across Tugboat Institute content platforms and values the opportunity to celebrate Evergreen businesses. Prior to joining Tugboat, Diana served in editorial and communication leadership roles in healthcare publishing and education organizations. Diana holds a degree in English from University of Montana.
In 2013, Dave founded Tugboat Institute to connect, support and inspire purpose-driven leaders of Evergreen businesses. Prior, Dave co-founded four companies including drugstore.com and Good Technology. He also invested at TPG Ventures and KPCB—working closely with Amazon, Google, Successfactors, and others in their earliest days. His career began with HP and Bain. He loves to read, cycle, golf and hike with Lisa, Briggs (19) and Rylee (17).