Peter Darling is a consultant, entrepreneur and executive, specializing in working with professional services firms. He has consulted with dozens of companies in the United States, Singapore, Korea, Japan, the Czech Republic, France, India, the Netherlands and elsewhere.
Peter has over twenty years of experience in all facets of marketing, strategy and business development. He began his career as an advertising copywriter under the legendary Peter Arnell at Arnell/Bickford Associates. At A/B, Peter worked on numerous high-profile accounts, including Donna Karan, DKNY, Lifetime Television, and others. While working at A/B, Peter also took first place in the prestigious J. Walter Thompson copywriting competition, and studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Following A/B, Peter attended the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, Peter was an editor of the Journal of International Business Law, and also studied strategy, marketing and statistics at the Wharton School. He received his J.D. in 1993, and was a practicing attorney in Philadelphia for four years, specializing in commercial litigation.
In 1997, Peter helped found Flycast Communications, one of the world’s first online advertising networks. Flycast grew to over 350 employees, was successfully taken public, and was ultimately sold to CMGI in a transaction valued at $750 million. At Flycast, and CMGI, Peter specialized in business development and strategic services.
Peter launched his consulting practice in 2002, focusing on business development for professional-services firms. He has advised dozens of law, consulting and advertising firms all over the country on marketing, sales and business development, strategy and communications. His clientele has included AmLaw 100 firms such as Baker & McKenzie, Cozen O’Connor and Blank Rome, as well as advertising agencies such as AKQA and Razorfish, along with numerous smaller firms. He has also written and spoken extensively, including for the American Bar Association, the California Lawyers Association, and industry groups around the country.
In 2010, Peter joined the US Market Access Center as a member of the US MAC’s management team. In this role, he was an integral part of the team that completely overhauled that organization, switching its focus to delivering consulting and programs for companies and governments all over the world. Peter developed and refined training programs, developed the mentoring system, recruited mentors, negotiated corporate sponsorships and personally delivered numerous training seminars. He is also a certified Kauffman FastTrac trainer. As Senior Vice-President, in addition to his management role he was responsible for the firm’s Asian clientele, and business development in the Asia-Pacific region.
Peter also has worked directly as a business development and strategy consultant with numerous small and midsized companies from all over the world. This work has included firms from Singapore, Korea, France, Japan, India, China, Germany, and many other countries. His consulting focus is on revenue-generating activities: strategy, marketing, product/market fit analysis, and lead generation.
Peter has an undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College in English Literature (with honors). He lives in Santa Cruz, California, and has three daughters – Amelia, Grace and Laura.