The Operator
One chair. Twenty years. Twenty $100M+ decisions.
I’m JJ Shay. I’ve sat on the operator side of corp dev, strategy, and M&A — across two decades — for Google, Fitbit, Intuit, Philips, Thermo Fisher, and Repligen — now pointed at the AI capital moment full-time.
The Record
The numbers that matter.
Where the reps came from
Built inside six operating companies.
Real P&L accountability. Real deal rooms. Real integrations. Not a pitch deck.
GoogleVia Fitbit acquisition integration — health data & wearables
FitbitCorp dev & strategic partnerships — closed Fitbit × Repligen dialogue
IntuitStrategy & GTM — financial SaaS portfolio
Philips HealthcareMedical device M&A and partnership work
Thermo Fisher ScientificLife sciences deal flow and integrationHow I Think
Three operating principles.
Clarity over optionality.
Most boards don’t need more options — they need a clean call. I’ll give you the honest recommendation and carry the disagreement.
Ship, don’t recommend.
Six production tools live. AI Radar ingests 600+ companies. If I can build it, I will — and the advice gets sharper because of it.
Capital is the scoreboard.
Not prestige. Not headcount. Not press. The question I’m always solving for: does this move return capital — in dollars, in optionality, or in time?