Sam Shar is the CEO of Trend-Setters Consulting, a family-built, minority-owned enterprise technology consultancy based in Los Angeles, and an entrepreneur and investor.
Sam Shar
Trend-Setters was founded in 1986 by Sam's father and is celebrating 40 years in business. It was built on personal service and long client relationships, including a relationship with a major bank and a more recent one with HP.
Today the firm supports major enterprise technology initiatives through embedded consulting and delivery teams, covering product management, project management, business analysis, enterprise technology operations, security and other specialized services.
Sam joined his father in running the firm and took over leadership following his passing. Since then he has led its move from a relationship-driven boutique to a scalable enterprise partner, while keeping it family-built and minority-owned.
His focus is business strategy, building relationships, identifying enterprise needs, assembling the right teams and growing the company, with Trend-Setters' engineers, product managers, project managers and specialists leading delivery.
Beyond Trend-Setters, Sam is launching the frozen treat brand Freezer Society with his wife, Krista, invests in real estate and short-term rental properties, and is drawn to building, investing in and acquiring businesses.
He writes the monthly newsletter The Delivery Gap on succession, leading a business a parent founded, building and scaling ventures, and what enterprises should expect from their technology partners.
His bylines have appeared in Fast Company, Accounting Today, Board Agenda, Unite.AI, Channel Dive and Consulting.us, and he has been interviewed by Diginomica and SecurityBrief.
He studied at California State University, Northridge.
Sam Shar is the CEO of Trend-Setters Consulting, a family-built, minority-owned enterprise technology consultancy based in Los Angeles, and an entrepreneur and investor. He took over leadership of the business his father founded in 1986 and has led its growth from a relationship-driven boutique into a scalable enterprise partner. His focus is strategy, building relationships, identifying enterprise needs and assembling the right teams. Outside Trend-Setters, he is launching the frozen treat brand Freezer Society with his wife, Krista, invests in real estate and short-term rentals, and is interested in building, investing in and acquiring businesses.
What does Trend-Setters Consulting do?
Trend-Setters supports major enterprise technology initiatives through embedded consulting and delivery teams. Its product managers, project managers, business analysts, security specialists and enterprise technology operations experts work inside client organizations, and it is far more than a staffing company. Founded in 1986, the firm is celebrating 40 years in business. It stays involved and tracks results, so the change sticks. Sam leads the company and its relationships, and the teams lead the delivery.
What does Sam Shar mean by 'modernization that makes sense'?
It means upgrading technology because the business needs it, not because it is possible. Big programs tend to fail when they start with the software instead of the problem, and Lidl's SAP project, which cost hundreds of millions before the company went back to its old system, is the example Sam points to. At Trend-Setters, he leads a firm whose teams help enterprises modernize in stages, with each step tied to a result the client can see. Sam's role is making sure the company builds the right partnerships and puts the right people on the work.
How did Sam Shar come to lead Trend-Setters Consulting?
Sam's father founded Trend-Setters in 1986 and built it on personal service and long client relationships. Sam joined him in running the firm and took over leadership following his father's passing. Since then he has kept the family-built, minority-owned character of the company while moving it from a boutique that depended on personal relationships to an enterprise partner that can scale. His experience of taking over a family business is also what he writes about on succession, leadership and building on a legacy.
What should I ask before hiring a technology consultancy?
Sam's view, as the CEO of a consultancy and as someone who has watched many buyers choose, comes down to three questions. Is the firm free to recommend whatever works, or does it earn more from one vendor? Who will actually do the work, and will senior people stay involved? And will the firm be accountable for the outcome, not just the advice? He also suggests asking for named results from similar projects rather than a polished deck, and bringing your consultant into vendor pitches so that your adviser sits on your side of the table.
