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How Nerds Like Me Sparked a Collaboration Between CPG and AI Consultants

Three months ago, Daniel Entin walked into a Nerds Like Me meetup seeking to learn about AI tools to scale his existing CPG commercial strategy practice . While networking at the event, Entin met David Etlinger, a consultant who would help him clarify what was possible with AI and where to maximize its capabilities.

Today, Entin runs ACVstrategy, a consulting practice he founded a year ago that combines deep CPG expertise with AI-powered automation. Etlinger, whom Entin brought on as a consultant, provides guidance, coaching, and technical collaboration. They meet at Entin’s house twice a week for working sessions, building tools that translate commercial strategy into practical, client-ready workflows, representing the kind of deliberate operating-model redesign that typically takes months, set in motion at a weeknight meetup.

Why They Came

Entin came to NLM to learn about AI and automation tools, about how others were using them, and about the questions he hadn’t yet thought to ask. The introduction came through Jonathan Shertok, who runs the NLM community and met 1:1 to discuss the changes Entin was looking to make in his business. In that conversation, Shertok encouraged him to attend NLM meetups.

Etlinger had already been to a few NLM events. He keeps coming back for the same reason: NLM is, in his words, “an incredible community with a depth of insights, great networking and most importantly, tons of excitement and optimism.”

What Clicked

That night in Highwood, the two had a strong conversation about their respective experience and agreed to continue the discussion outside of NLM to explore a potential working relationship. What clicked for Etlinger was straightforward: Entin is, in his words, “clearly a builder who is ready to jump into hard problems, learn whatever tools are needed, and find a way to move forward.”

The Method

The collaboration is deliberate and disciplined. Sessions at Entin’s house, twice a week, focus on developing adaptable tools, processes for backing up work outside of AI reach and handling proprietary data, all while prioritizing a sound scalable infrastructure. NLM consistently sparks new creative ideas, and working with Etlinger helps bring them to life. Etlinger’s role is not simply to build what Entin asks for; he pushes back, asks thoughtful questions that sharpen direction and execution. Through these sessions, Entin has been able to drive a significant portion of the implementation directly. The technical problems they’ve solved have been substantive.

What They Built

In their first three months, the collaboration moved from early-stage exploration to a foundational operating system for the business:

• A new analytic foundation: Power BI with AI-assisted automation via MCP (Model Context Protocol), delivering faster, more comprehensive client reporting
• A “virtual executive team” framework that informs Entin’s client recommendations with structured input from multiple senior business perspectives, powered by AI skills and agents
• Deeper client analytics, made possible by efficiencies with the new foundation, including price elasticity studies, category trend forecasting, depletion and void analyses, and a client-specific customizable newsletter
• ACVstrategy.com, built and launched as the public face of the practice and its work with clients

The virtual executive team concept is particularly notable. Entin built it to recreate a discipline he relied on while leading teams: working hard problems through multiple perspectives before landing on a recommendation. As an independent consultant, he wanted to preserve that discipline, making sure decisions are thought through thoroughly. The model draws on a cross-functional team of leaders structured to report to a Chief Sales Officer, creating dialogue and workstreams from multiple perspectives to ensure that clients receive informed, well-rounded solutions rather than a single analyst’s interpretation. The virtual executive team is one expression of how Entin operates: bringing multi-perspective discipline to bear when the problem warrants it, rather than running clients through predefined templates. That same operating principle shapes everything ACVstrategy delivers: customized to each engagement, drawing on Entin’s career experience and AI capabilities together.

The Nerds Like Me Factor

Both Entin and Etlinger credit the Nerds Like Me community for enabling the connection and accelerating their progress. The meetup provided the environment where two people with complementary skills could find each other organically, without the overhead of a formal program or platform.

Etlinger will be speaking at the May 14th NLM event on “The Inner Workings of AI”, a fitting full-circle moment for a working relationship that started at a previous meetup.

What’s Next

ACVstrategy is where Entin is focused. The foundation has been built to adapt as the environment shifts, and as new advancements emerge, Entin and Etlinger are positioned to implement them quickly.

This is the first in a series of success stories from the Nerds Like Me community. If you’ve built something meaningful through connections made at NLM, we want to hear about it. Contact Jonathan Shertok to be featured.

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