Advisor and venture builder to family offices and funds
Most operators know one side of the table.
I have worked all of them. Sixteen years inside a $1B multinational, a Vice Presidency at Ernst & Young advising founders and boards, and five ventures built from a blank page across the United States, Latin America and Europe.
Family offices and funds bring me in when they have capital and conviction and need an architect: someone who turns a thesis into an operating company, a portfolio position into growth, and a complicated organization into one that moves.
Track record
Selected value created
in transactions sourced, negotiated and closed across the United States, Latin America and Europe
in recurring annual EBITDA from a global operating model approved by the Chairman and Board, opening Uruguay, Puerto Rico and Spain
ventures founded and taken from concept to market, incorporated across three jurisdictions
people, and 12% market share, in 18 months, building a new country operation in Colombia from a standing start
acquisition driven from sourcing through close, out of a pipeline of 10 opportunities above $25M enterprise value
countries of operation managed inside a $1B group
Advisory
How I engage
Two ways to work together. Both start with a diagnostic conversation before anything is proposed.
Strategic Advisory
Growth strategy, M&A and capital readiness, international expansion, and operating-model redesign. I have sat on both sides of that table, as the advisor selling the recommendation and as the executive accountable for delivering it.
Venture Building
Thesis to market. Entity and cross-border structure, brand and positioning, go-to-market, the first commercial partnerships, the first paying customers, and the operating cadence that makes the second launch faster than the first. I have done this five times with my own capital and my own name on the door.
Every engagement begins with a 30-minute diagnostic call. No proposal until we both agree there is a fit.
Fodaxman · Brazil
Where the method came from
Mile 80, not mile 5
11
Years pro athlete
31
Races
50,000+
Kilometres trained and raced
1,000,000+
Metres climbed
Estimated, training and racing
A national-team athlete since my youth in baseball and soccer, and eleven years as a professional endurance and extreme-sports athlete: more than 50,000 kilometres trained and raced, 31 races and 28 finishes across ultra trail and extreme triathlon. Top 200 among men in every Ultra-Trail World Tour race I finished, and 138th among men at the 2018 Trail World Championship, captaining Guatemala's first national team in the country's history.
People treat that as a hobby. It is where the method came from.
Ultra racing decides its result long after the excitement wears off. Mile 80, not mile 5. The quarter where nothing works, not the quarter you launch. Most business failure is not a strategy problem, it is an execution horizon problem: people build for the launch and never for mile 80.
That is what I bring to a board seat or a build. The discipline to design for mile 80, and the patience to still be there when it arrives.
Built and advised with
Vertikal X covered by TechPoint and Sports Tech HQ
Testimonials
What people say
"Charlie served as a corporate executive for the businesses I lead for over five years, performing at his best capacity in the complex business projects he was assigned, executing with professionalism, discipline and integrity. He has also represented our sports brands as an athlete. We chose him for our athlete portfolio because of the impact he has on other people to dream big."
Governance
Board, advisory and governance
- 2017 to 2026
INCAE Business SchoolBoard Member, Guatemala National Committee - 2018 to 2024
PentaguaBoard Member - 2014 to 2017
Universidad Francisco MarroquínEntrepreneur in Residence - 2023 to 2026
Virtual Advisory BoardMember, invitation-only executive network - 2022 to 2024
Executive Council NetworkFounding Member
Nine years on a business school governing committee, six on an operating company board, and three years holding the Entrepreneur in Residence seat formally.
Ventures
What I have built
Vertikal X Founder and CEO
Through the VTXAthlete platform, matches endurance athletes with brands and awards sponsorship on verified performance data, scored by a proprietary algorithm, the VTX Index. Incorporated across Switzerland, Spain and the United States, with a US headquarters in Indianapolis.
Get the VTX Athlete app
Monte Sarmiento Founder
Two consumer brands built from concept: Fuego Maya Coffee, Guatemalan single-origin for the US market, and Monte Sarmiento Wines, produced at the Montesanco winery in Valencia, Spain.
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Vertikal Sports Capital Founder and General Partner
A venture platform that has designed, incubated and launched five sports and fitness companies from zero to market, including Vertikal Sports Performance, Pilates ProWorks Guatemala and Zero Sixty.
Process
How it works
Every engagement follows the same four stages, from first conversation to a result you can measure.
Diagnose the mandate
You share the business or performance challenge: growth, launch, stage or stamina, and the timeline you are working against.
Confirm fit + define scope
A short call to clarify outcomes, available energy and budget. If it is a match, we agree a scope, cadence and first milestone.
Build / deliver
Advisory sessions, venture sprints, keynote rehearsals or coaching blocks, executed with the same discipline as an ultra training plan.
Measure + next peak
We review the result against the agreed milestone, decide what to lock in and define the next elevation, whether that is another stage or a handoff.
Speaking
On stage and in print
Speaking
Keynotes and workshops in English and Spanish, on stage or virtual, on resilience, reinvention and executive performance.
- Resilience Is Trainable
- Reinvention by Design
- Building at Altitude
- Strategy, M&A and Expansion
The Book
The Real UltramanFrom Dreamer to Achiever
The true story of rewiring an ordinary mind into an extraordinary one, and the UltraM1ndset system behind it.
I also coach a small number of executives on physical performance as an EXOS certified coach. Mention it when you get in touch.
“For the last four years, Charlie through Vertikal Sports has helped us develop a niche of athletes who want to pursue their dream of becoming professional. They have supported us with the physical training these athletes need beyond what we do on the field, along with the psychological and nutritional components that are key to the process. The process takes time, but we have started to see the results. We know we are on the right path because we work with professionals like Charlie.”
“Charlie is a top-level trail runner and a passionate person in the sport. He is also influential in the business and athletic world. I was a guest athlete at his Vertikal Trail Running Camp in Guatemala, and he made sure it was run at top level, with a family-first mentality and real dedication to growing the sport.”
“Charlie is the most energetic and passionate ultra-trail runner I have ever met, and an extremely influential figure in the sports industry. Working with him on the Vertikality camp in Guatemala, I was amazed at how professional he was and at his ability to bring a team together. He is truly a great leader. He has made a career of overcoming his limits, and of translating the lessons he learns on the trails into a never-ending drive for entrepreneurial success.”
Contact
Start with a conversation
Every engagement begins with a 30-minute diagnostic call. We use it to work out whether there is a real fit. No proposal, no deck, no obligation on either side until we both think there is.