John Lionberger

Visionary
DISC Type : Ds

Pinnacle Business Guide at Pinnacle Business Guides

Greater Houston, United States

Overview

John Lionberger is a Business and M&A Advisor with extensive experience leading and scaling complex organizations, including growing one company from $1M to over $350M. Educated at Bradley University and Harvard Business School Online, colleagues describe him as enthusiastic, supportive, dedicated, and generous. He is an expert in ESOPs, strategy, and capital formation.

Beyond his professional work, John is an active philanthropist. He serves on the board of Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas and on the College of Engineering Advisory Council at his alma mater, Bradley University. He has also funded an endowed scholarship and helped build a trade school in Burundi, Africa.

An accomplished race car driver, John is also committed to personal fitness and faith-based principles.

Personality Overview

Fast But Thoughtful

Objective Evaluator

Goal-Oriented

Reading between the lines and seeing beyond your words comes naturally to them.  They are very professional in their approach and can weigh multiple perspectives together. They exhibit a rare combination of being result-oriented but patient at the same time.

Topics They Care About

Middle-Market M&A
Advises middle-market companies on mergers, acquisitions, and capital formation, and frequently posts about topics like strategic versus financial buyers.
Business Scaling
Has firsthand experience growing a company from $1M to over $350M and now guides other leadership teams on scaling operations and maximizing enterprise value.
Youth Mentorship
Serves on the board of Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas and is frequently praised in recommendations for his role as a mentor to entrepreneurs.

Media Appearances

John has no verified media appearances

Work History

4-2026
Pinnacle Business Guide at Pinnacle Business Guides
1-2026
Director at NovaGuard Technologies, Inc.
1-2023 - 3-2026
Executive Director at DGP Capital
5-2019
CEO/Consultant at Lion Strategic Advisors
2018 - 2019
President and Board Member at Burrow Global, LLC - Houston, TX/Beaumont, TX

Education

1988 - 1991
Bachelor of Science from Bradley University
2020 - 2021
Executive Certificates (Strategy from Harvard Business School Online

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 30 Location : Greater Houston, United States Job Level : Mid-senior Designation : Pinnacle Business Guide at Pinnacle Business Guides
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Insights For Selling To John

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Focus on the results that your product produces, expect some strategic questions in return
  • Use phrases like 'your team deserves', 'best in class' etc.
  • Let them know of potential risks but suggest mitigation methods alongside

DONT's

  • Avoid putting conscious effort into relationship-building
  • Don't focus too much on mutual contacts or bother about other stakeholders, focus on them
  • Don't get into pricing discussions early on, steer conversation towards proven results

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with John is

  • Strong proof of impact and their conviction will matter the most, but they wouldn't want to act unilaterally either
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from John

  • They will say no if they are not convinced but you will have to prompt them.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will John move?

  • They will want to understand things well but can move fast once they have a clear picture.
  • Can John take some risk or not?

  • They have good risk tolerance but are likely to think it through once or twice.

You And John

Personality Compatibility


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