Betting on People: How PROJXON Turned Necessity into Innovation
- Nov 18
- 4 min read
Inside the consulting firm rewriting the rules of talent, trust, and iteration.
By Varenya Subramanian
A Risk-First Beginning
When Mark W. Phelan founded PROJXON in 2023, there was no master plan or carefully crafted strategy. What existed was necessity, and the determination to create something different.
Starting from scratch with limited resources meant survival would depend on thinking differently. Out of that pressure came a decision that many considered risky: to build the company around people first.
“I’ve spent my career in three worlds, the military, consulting, and entrepreneurship, each with different priorities: mission, systems, and customers. Yet in all those roles, I never found a company where people truly came first. PROJXON was built to change that, a place where people matter, clients feel like part of your team, and work becomes a space of service and growth. Early on is the best time to take bold swings. We don’t take risks for the sake of it; we experiment and test new methods for creating success. When your goals are big and your vision is sharp, it’s not a risk, it’s a process” says Phelan, Founder and CEO of PROJXON.
Instead of launching a conventional consulting firm and later adding an internship program, PROJXON inverted the model. It became an accelerator-style ecosystem where graduate students and early-career professionals worked directly with live clients from day one. While most organizations kept interns behind the curtain, PROJXON invited them to the table to ideate, collaborate, and deliver.
The Accidental Experiment
The model was not a meticulously planned strategy; it emerged from constraint. In the beginning, PROJXON faced more client demand than its small core team could handle. Bringing in graduate students to help seemed like a practical fix, but it quickly evolved into something transformative.
It was not without challenges. Recruiting and onboarding exposed cracks in the system. Some participants were not fully prepared for client-facing work, and some businesses hesitated to entrust real projects to students.
Instead of seeing these moments as failures, the team treated them as lessons. Each challenge became data, each misstep a chance to refine the process. The company began to evaluate participants based on live performance rather than résumés, prioritizing creativity, adaptability, and teamwork over credentials.
This mindset reflected the philosophy of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who once said, “The best companies are almost always a series of quick iterations. The faster you can test, the faster you can learn, and the faster you can win.”
That idea became part of PROJXON’s identity. Experimentation and iteration replaced traditional hierarchy, creating a culture that valued curiosity and improvement over perfection.
From Stopgap to System
What began as a short-term solution grew into the company’s defining strength. PROJXON formalized its approach into what would become the Momentum Internship Program, a fully integrated accelerator connecting participants to real businesses.
One early participant, a graduate student from Thunderbird School of Global Management, recalled walking into her first client meeting feeling nervous. By the end of the hour, the client was asking for her input on their pricing model. “I wasn’t just an intern,” she later said. “I was part of the team.”
That shift, from observer to contributor, became the heart of PROJXON’s success. In just one year, more than 250 participants from universities across the country joined the program. Over 70 percent went on to secure full-time roles, and 90 percent of clients returned for additional projects.
Startups and established businesses gained fresh ideas and perspectives, while participants left with résumé-defining experience. PROJXON evolved from a consulting firm into a community built on collaboration, creativity, and growth.
Redefining Innovation
Looking back, Phelan believes that PROJXON’s greatest risk was not giving students client access but trusting people before the systems were perfect.
“We didn’t wait to get everything right before starting,” Phelan reflects. “We started, we learned, and we kept evolving. That rhythm of iteration is what innovation really looks like.”
At PROJXON, innovation does not begin with technology or tools. It begins with trust. When people are empowered to lead, they think differently. They test ideas, learn from challenges, and turn obstacles into opportunities.
By treating participants as contributors rather than assistants, PROJXON redefined what it means to build a modern consulting firm. Ideas flow upward, ownership is shared, and success is a collective process.
The Takeaway
For founders navigating uncertainty, Phelan’s advice is simple: do not wait for the perfect plan. The boldest innovation often begins in chaos. Every risk carries a lesson, every challenge shapes the path forward, and every person you choose to trust becomes part of that journey.
“When you bet on people,” Phelan says, “you’re not just taking a risk, you’re building the foundation for everything that follows.”
For PROJXON, betting on people was not just the boldest risk, it became the best decision they ever made.
About PROJXON
Founded in 2023, PROJXON is a veteran-owned business optimization and consulting firm redefining how strategy and execution intersect. Through its flagship Momentum Internship Program, the company has empowered more than 250 emerging professionals nationwide to gain hands-on consulting experience while delivering measurable results for clients across industries.
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