Mark Rickmeier

Chief Executive Officer

As COO, I am responsible for managing our internal operations as well as our delivery services, from the sales process and project inception through delivery to launch and maintenance. I run the fulfillment side of the business and am responsible for the team of professionals working at Table XI, including engineers, designers, analysts, and testers.

Chief Operating Officer

Kermit Collective

The Kermit Collective is a small high-trust community made up of leaders of boutique software agencies who share a passion for doing great work for their clients while providing fulfilling careers for their employees.  This is a safe space where we connect with respect and openness. We recognize that we are competitors AND collaborators and seek to share best practices that will help all of us grow our businesses and create even better places for people to thrive.

Founder

Walkshop

Walkshop is a multi-day hiking + design thinking experience for leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs.  
It's a dedicated time to go off the grid with peers in your industry, push your limits while staying on your feet, recharge while being offline, develop new leadership skills, and grow deeply human connections.

Co-Founder

Forbes Chicago Business Council

Chair, Forbes Chicago Business Council

Fast Company Executive Board

Mark Rickmeier, Chief Executive Officer at TXI, ​​a digital strategy and product innovation firm, has been accepted into the Fast Company Executive Board, an invitation-only professional organization of leaders who share a commitment to shaping the future of business.

Mark was selected to join the organization based on his expertise and proven track record in technology. As a member, Mark joins industry-leading peers from the worlds of corporate leadership, design, media, entertainment, technology, social responsibility, marketing, advertising, social impact, and nonprofit.

Scott Gerber, founder of Fast Company Executive Board, said, "We are pleased to accept Mark Rickmeier into the Fast Company Executive Board. When leaders gather in curated, private settings, they can collaborate and create new business opportunities across a broad range of industries. Mark brings valuable professional insights and accomplishments to this group.”

Mark Rickmeier, CEO of TXI, said, "I am privileged to be joining the executive board of Fast Company and their community of progressive business leaders. Together, we will continue to lead with purpose, bringing greater change to the future of the business and the better of our communities. Fast Company offers TXI the opportunity to learn and expand the trajectory of our company. We look forward to what we can build together.”

Mark will get access to a dedicated online platform designed to foster connections and information sharing. Through lively discussions, virtual events, and online meetups, members will help one another solve business challenges and celebrate successes.

Executive Board Member, Fast Company

Orion3

Core Member

Ravinia Festival

The Ravinia Associates Board is a premier group of over 70 Chicagoland young professionals who share a passion for Ravinia and the musical arts. Their mission is to support the Ravinia Festival by promoting awareness of Ravinia and its musical programs, encouraging audience development, and contributing to Ravinia’s REACH*TEACH*PLAY education programs.

Associate Board Member

ThoughtWorks

As a client principal, I am responsible for sales and business development for my accounts, for providing consulting and advisory services to senior executives (CIO, CTO, COO), looking after the career growth and development opportunities of those on my accounts, and being the overall backstop for software delivery.

In 2010, I was responsible for launching the new ThoughtWorks offering and services in Germany. I opened a new office in January and started to build the book that would allow us to expand into the continent.

Client Principal

As a Program Manager, I was responsible for running several concurrent  agile projects, for introducing the project governance model for my clients, and for effectively managing their PMO. 

In addition to delivery work, I specialized in organizational transformation consulting, providing consulting services around project governance and the agile PMO.

Program Manager

As a project manager, I was primarily responsible for the delivery of some of ThoughtWorks's largest and most complex software projects (generally managing several 'sub-teams', each with 10-15 people and their own Iteration Managers). This included the management of senior executive and stakeholder expectations. As a PM, I was involved in each Steering Committee meeting to manage scope, budget, timelines, and overall delivery.

During this time, I ran one of ThoughtWorks largest teams (100+ people) distributed between the US and India. Spending time in Bangalore, Chicago, and Minneapolis, I brought proven Agile development methods to a complex, distributed project environment.

In 2006-07, I moved to Australia to lead the software delivery efforts of an industry leading insurance company in Melbourne.

Project Manager

As an iteration manager (a title similar to "Scrum Master"), I lead several teams - mostly on distributed development projects. Each team consisted of 6-8 developers, 2-3 testers, and 2-3 business analysts. As the team lead, I was responsible for delivering my part of the project on time, on budget, and within quality standards. As an Iteration Manager, I was responsible for managing the agile process within the team and communicating out to the client and Project Manager on risks, progress, and spend.

During this time, I lead delivery efforts in London for two years and Chicago, before stepping up to become a Project Manager.

Iteration Manager

As a business analyst, I met with our clients to understand their processes and requirements. I would author our "story narratives" and work with the development team to build the client's functionality.

Business Analyst

As a software tester, I created and designed our manual regression test suite, authored automated tests, and designed the program's key metrics and governance dashboard.

QA Analyst / Tester

Ten years ago, we ended a toxic relationship and made the impossible decision to leave our biggest client. Just like that, I had to replace 55% of our portfolio. It was more important to protect our people and culture than protect our revenue. So we got very intentional about how we wanted to work (and who we would work with).

Replacing this client meant rethinking the way we ran TXI. We saw the power in this: to establish values that really meant something. We took action to protect the culture we wanted to see flourish. TXI (which stands for Technology, Experience, Innovation) has since established strong company values that guide how we act and interact together. We have grown to over 70 strategists, designers, & developers across 3 countries, delivering award winner software because of the incredible dedication & skill of our team. Learn more: https://txidigital.com/

After that BIG decision, I wanted to meet with other leaders who knew a lot about building an organization that cared not just about the money - but heavily focused on their craft, their clients, & their culture. Rather than a general CEO peer group, I wanted a community of “Cooperatitiion”- where I could actively cooperate with our competitors to learn from and challenge each other.

I founded a community of competitors who all shared a passion for doing great work for their clients while providing fulfilling careers for their employees.  This community grew becoming the “Kermit Collective”  - a safe space where we could connect with respect & openness. We recognize that we can be direct competitors AND collaborators seeking to share best practices that will help all of us grow our businesses. Learn more: https://kermitcollective.com/

As I sought to connect with other inspirational leaders, I co-founded “Walkshop” as a multi-day hiking + thinking experience where these leaders go offline for a week to be out in nature, far away from Zoom. Rather than facilitating a "workshop", we get to go offline and build new connections as we hike across Tuscany, the black forest of Germany, highlands of Scotland, etc. Learn more: https://www.walkshop.io

On one of the Walkshops, we discussed ways that companies fail at innovation when a bad culture can crush a creative idea. So I created the Inclusion Meeting Card game, designed to make meetings more inclusive of the diverse opinions and communication styles in a room, so everyone has a voice. Challenge your company culture: https://www.meetingsdoneright.co

Challenge your culture, improve innovation, and get connected: https://markrickmeier.com

Walkshop is a multi-day hiking + design thinking experience for leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs.  
It's a dedicated time to go off the grid with peers in your industry, push your limits while staying on your feet, recharge while being offline, develop new leadership skills, and grow deeply human connections.


Every so often, I meet a founder who reminds me what leadership really looks like. At a recent event, I met Albert Lai, whose work reimagines how mobile apps are distributed — not through app stores and gatekeepers, but instantly through the web itself.

What inspired me wasn’t just the technology, but the mindset behind it. Albert isn’t chasing disruption for its own sake. He’s challenging an accepted inefficiency — the idea that friction and control are the cost of innovation — and showing that access can be instant, fair, and open.

I liked his approach - because it took me back to the original promise of the internet: freedom, simplicity, and connection. And his approach reflects what great leadership often requires — conviction to question the default and empathy for the people affected by the system.

As a fellow founder, I left that conversation reminded that real innovation doesn’t always mean adding more complexity. Sometimes, it means stripping things away until what’s left simply works — for everyone. Albert Lai is doing just that. And I think his work is a glimpse into what the next era of the web could be.

Thanks Gabe Dunlop and Ben Baldwin for inviting me to the Upteaming 
#FounderCity event and introducing me to leaders like Albert. It was a great day in Toronto!

CEO @ TXI | Build intelligent systems that unlock your data, reduce risk, and empower your teams

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