We are The Lions Pride
BUILDING A BETTER WORLD,
ONE FOUNDER CEO AT A TIME.
Mission Accepted
To Powerfully and Positively Impact 10,000
Veteran Founder-CEOs & Small Business Owners by 2025.
Why small business owners are so damn important:
Small business owners are the true engine of the American economy. For every Founder CEO we support, we positively impact 150 people in impact radius—family members, employees, communities, industries, and the world at large.
Today, The Lions Pride pushes the top 1% of Veteran entrepreneurs and small business owners to the sharpest tip of the spear—the 0.01%.
We help unleash optimal performance, efficiency, and impact with battle-tested tools, world-class accountability and support, in-person quarterly events, and a connected network of badass business owners.
Our team of driven doers is on a mission to help high-impact Founder CEOs build exceptional businesses, legendary lives, and sharpened tip-of-the-spear humans—at the same time.
Because
When better businesses—and better leaders— succeed, we all do.
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ORIGIN STORY
The Lions Pride was born near the top of a mountain on the day Bill Watkins turned 59 years old, several months after he had sold his last business.
At that point in his life, he had checked all the boxes. He had created companies from scratch and sold them for millions. He married his West Point sweetheart. He maintained amazing relationships with his son and daughter. He was in the best physical, mental, and emotional health of his life.
A serious competitor, Bill had “won” at life by every definition, despite disastrous mistakes and the long, hard way around, and the ripple effects were palpable—his family was happy, his teams were confident and capable, and his companies were supporting the local economic ecosystems.
And, on that birthday hike in the Grand Tetons, three thoughts occurred to him:
What if more high-performing 1%-ers reached each peak at their peak exhilarated by the climb—instead of arriving too exhausted, malnourished, and burnt out to enjoy every view… or not summiting at all?
What if, instead of building their companies at the expense of everything else, Founder CEOs could celebrate and fuel stronger marriages, health, freedom, and finances alongside their business growth?
What would happen if more Founder CEOs fulfilled their true purpose and inhaled the rarified air that few can—the exhilarating breath of the 0.01%?
Not just a better world.
An exponentially better world—at a breathtaking pace.
About Bill Watkins
No stranger to the top—or the bottom—Bill Watkins (USMA ‘77) is committed to helping as many Founder CEOs as he can achieve massive impact without blowing up what is most important to them.
Find out why it’s so damn important to him.
“I have the guys in my mastermind group, the training and the ability to create my own team of A-players, and I have Bill, who has distilled the knowledge all of my entrepreneurial aspirations.”
Emmanuel Eleyae, Eleyae Systems, USMA ‘04
“Bill helped me develop a brand guarantee that set my company apart. I stood behind what my company could do— and came out 10x ahead.”
Trevor Shirk, Terrayn, USMA ‘08
“At TLP, we’re all high achievers, high performers, driver-type people. We’re asking ‘how can I be a spouse, a dad, a volunteer in my community—and do them well—while leading an organization?’ Bill has helped me do all of this and more.”
John Hamon, Fortimize
Our Unwavering Commitment to Military Veterans
MILITARY VETERANS + SMALL BUSINESSES = ULTIMATE POWERHOUSE
We all have driving forces that push us to impact the world around us. Here are ours.
Military Veterans.
Trained by our nation’s best, Veterans are our country's most powerful, capable and committed leaders. They are well-versed in how to rally and train troops, gain ground, and secure peace.
As a civilian business leader on the Homefront, I remain deeply grateful for today's veterans—for what they are willing to sacrifice and what they continue to offer after their service as our country as small business founders, CEOs, and owners.
To that end, we don’t just support Veteran-owned businesses and nonprofits. We help build them.
Small Businesses.
Small businesses employ more people than Corporate America—and they touch more lives in more meaningful ways. They are the most powerful engine for our country's economic impact, social innovation, and forward progress.
As my tiny startup grew into a big company, I personally witnessed how it changed the lives of my family, employees, customers, and vendors—and my industry and community. The connection and impact small business owners and leaders have on those within their blast radius is intimate, real and impactful—and worth expanding!
Veteran-Owned Small Businesses.
The combination of veterans and small business is the ultimate powerhouse. Veteran Founder CEOs are the tip of the spear—the high-performing, focused, and mission-driven business leaders every company, industry, and community needs. The only thing they lack is activated, experienced, world-class support.
And, therein, is the sole purpose for our company’s existence: to serve and accelerate that profound impact.
Prepare for impact
My training at West Point, my military service, my years in Corporate America, and the garage startup I sold after 20 years prepared me for this—for you.
You—and your journey from 1% badass performance to elite 0.01% tip-of-the-spear achievement—are my mission. Every day, my team and I leap out of bed to bring you the proven tools, the ninja-level experience, the Cohort camaraderie, accountability, family, and freedom you fought—and you still fight—so hard for.
Thank you for your service and your continuing impact.
Onward.
Bill & the team
Surround yourself with battle-tested tools, world-class support, and badass peers.
“Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself.
That’s the difference between people who are successful and those who are not. Those that I view as successful relentlessly invest in themselves. Those who are stuck, don’t. The difference is staggering and almost immediate—so if you’re on the fence, figure out a way to make it happen.”
Jackson Hole Tactical Advance, January 2018
There's no such thing as Work-LIFE balance.
Unless you also believe in unicorns, Bigfoot, and Santa Claus.
We have all been there. We’ve played catch-up at work and dropped the ball at home. We’ve committed to family and lost game-changing business opportunities. We’ve tried doing both simultaneously and watched both suffer—sometimes irreversibly.
I hate to break it to you, but work and life will never exist in separate-but-equal quantities. There is no balance, only the ebb and flow of what’s important at any given moment in your life. When the pieces of your life are well-managed, they move with the tide and the pull of gravity. When they are broken, missing, or too heavily weighted, everything will eventually grind to a painful halt.
I’m proof that you can be an exceptional spouse, an attentive parent, a groundbreaking entrepreneur, and vibrantly healthy all at the same time. It just takes walking the harder, smarter path toward a stronger business and a better life with the ones you love.