Jace Thompson, Propeller’s VP of Finance & Operations, brings over two decades of experience in strategic finance, scaling operations, and creating clarity in complex, fast-moving environments. From helping launch technologies at Intel to leading growth-stage companies through high-impact transformation, Jace now plays a pivotal role in shaping Propeller’s long-term trajectory.
We sat down with him to discuss momentum, decision-making, and why operational leadership begins with trust, adaptability, and a bias toward progress.
# 1. You’ve spent your career guiding both large enterprises and growing companies through change. What drew you to Propeller at this point in your journey?
Propeller is now the third Portland-born, founder-led startup I’ve worked for in the second half of my career. I truly enjoy the challenge of identifying the pathways and strategies that drive growth and scale for entrepreneurial businesses, especially those with exceptional service and cultural foundations, like Propeller. Many of these organizations are at an inflection point: ready to stretch, and sometimes simply needing to believe they already have what it takes to cross the chasm to a higher scale.
# 2. What are you focused on right now in your role, and how are you thinking about what’s next?
The breadth of scope for “Finance and Operations” at a firm like Propeller covers a lot of disparate functions and lanes of operations that need to be well understood, aligned, and coordinated. During my ramp-up time so far this year, I’ve placed a high premium on ensuring that the team is clear on their individual missions and how they connect to our broader corporate strategy. Nothing is achieved without great people who are confident in their domain. Personally, I’ve also had a lot to learn about the professional services space, which has been an enjoyable challenge as I unpack the unique angle and competitive advantage we bring to market.
# 3. What’s your approach to operational leadership, especially in fast-moving environments?
The first thing is to demystify the changes and challenges that are inevitable. Business is constantly full of problems to solve, and the changes and pivots that come with those hurdles can often lead to new opportunities for growth and efficiency, opportunities that you wouldn’t have discovered without the roadblocks. So, I try to instill a flexible, ready stance within the team that helps to take some of the pressure off. Not everyone approaches risk in the same way, but that doesn’t change the fact that it exists. Together, we can work to overcome those challenges and emerge stronger because of them.
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4. Finance leaders don’t always get to shape culture, but you seem to approach your work differently. How do you think about the intersection of operations, leadership, and culture?
Collaborative, visionary, and transparent leadership, backed by the operational infrastructure needed to meet collective goals, is the garden bed upon which culture can take root and blossom, ideally in an organic fashion, much like the tomatoes I try to grow each season. Great culture (or tomatoes) can’t be forced, but it can be prepared for and nurtured by tending to the environmental and business factors that give people a sense of professional pride and personal achievement. If you’ve done all that well, then fostering further cultural growth requires much less care and feeding, because good culture tends to reinforce and reinvent itself.
# 5. You’ve worked in highly structured environments like Intel and more fluid startups. How have those experiences shaped how you operate today?
I could write volumes on this one, but to summarize, I think it’s as simple as this: business is business, whether you’re dealing in billions, millions, or thousands. The scales are equally relative from a decision-making perspective. Of course, there are a myriad of considerations in terms of capital access, investor expectations, sales models, operational capacity, competitive environments, and so on. But deep down, the primary objective is the same. Understand your model deeply, set your sights on crisp goals, and get to work delivering for your clients and your team.
# 6. What motivates you in your work, and how do you define progress?
There’s a fundamental business truth that I have experienced firsthand through the last two businesses I have supported, and that is simply that Growth itself, opens many doors. Growth opens doors for customers through increased breadth of service offerings, value for employees through increased scope and opportunities, and for investors and owners in increased enterprise value. When growth is “on”, options increase, and oddly enough, further growth in many ways becomes easier. Delivering growth to the firm is in and of itself a prime motivator for me because while still challenging to manage, it becomes much more fun!
# 7. You took some time off before joining Propeller—what did that chapter teach you about yourself and how you want to lead going forward?
I had the unique opportunity over the two years prior to joining Propeller (a period I called “Pre-tirement”) to test out how my time would naturally be spent in the absence of a day job, while supporting three sets of parents in my life who needed support at the same time. What I discovered is that I have a natural magnetism towards balancing my personal health pursuits with a mix of daily activities, and I tend to get recruited into volunteer projects where I can apply my skillset to better operations. By the end of my two-year cycle, I was almost too busy in my schedule to return to work! But it was a great opportunity to peer into my future retirement pursuits.
# 8. Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for Propeller’s next chapter?
I’m really excited to see our go-to-market strategy, centered on our growing centers of expertise, reach a broader national audience. It’s an opportunity to lead with our core strengths while also bringing along emerging service lines that expand the value we deliver to clients through long-term engagements. Ultimately, the goal is to open more doors for prospective clients to experience what we know to be our greatest strength: exceptional relationship management and client delivery. And in doing so, create more growth opportunities for the firm.
