Latin — “the way up.” The deliberate path of ascent: progress made on purpose, and never made alone.
In ancient Rome, the Clivus Capitolinus was the sacred road that wound up the Capitoline Hill — the path a victorious general and his legions walked in triumph toward the Temple of Jupiter at the summit. Not merely a road. The moment of arrival. The proof of what they had built.
And they did not make the climb alone. They ascended surrounded by those who had stood beside them — their circle.
The ascent was deliberate, every step taken among comrades who had shared the weight. It was not ceremony. It was covenant. That is Clivus: the long climb of building a great company, made alongside peers who have carried the same load. Via Ascensus — the way up.
Your team, your investors, your board — each comes to the table with an agenda. A true peer comes with none but your success: the rarest counsel a CEO has, and the hardest to find inside your own walls.
Bring your bet-the-company decisions to a room of CEOs who have faced them, and leave with conviction instead of doubt.
Pressure-test your strategy against operators who have scaled and exited — before the market tests it for you.
Trade the lonely view from the top for judgment that compounds, and a company built to outlive the effort that made it.
The climb was never only the company. Guard the family, the health, and the life the work is meant to serve.
A private conversation to see whether this is a climb we should make together.
Sit in as our guest. Feel the room and the caliber of the table before you ever commit.
Take your seat in the circle and lead with the counsel of peers beside you.
The table is small by design — capped, and filled by introduction. A seat goes to leaders who come to contribute as much as to gain, because the counsel is only ever as strong as the peers who give it. Not every CEO is a fit — and that is what protects the room for those who are.
Clivus is led by an operator who has made the climb. CPA to CFO to CEO: across three decades in technology, George founded a software company and grew it from startup to a NASDAQ IPO — past $100 million in revenue and more than 1,000 employees. He went on to build and sell additional software businesses at premium valuations, one acquired by a global financial institution.
He credits a single discipline above all: never making the most important decisions alone. The trusted advisors and peers around him — people who had carried the same weight and told him the truth — shaped the outcomes of his own companies. That conviction is the foundation of Clivus.
What I appreciated most was his judgment. George has the kind of operating experience that lets him cut through noise quickly, and he pairs it with a willingness to ask hard questions and sit with hard answers. He listens before he decides, and once he decides, he moves. If you are a tech CEO looking for someone who has actually been in the seat, navigated the decisions that come with scaling and selling a company, and genuinely cares about helping other operators do the same, George is the real deal.
During the ensuing decade, we worked with George as he managed and led the company through a number of challenges. Throughout that time, George not only exhibited strong management skills, but also excellent leadership. His dedication and commitment were second to none. Any current or aspiring business leader would be hard pressed to collaborate and learn from a better person than George.