Aurora GPS™

achieve alpha™
Aurora GPS is an intelligence gathering, market analysis and consumer research consultancy with a global reach.

FirstLight®

magnify truth™

FirstLight Cloud-Based Intelligence Management Software is the easiest way to aggregate, analyze and distribute critical insights throughout your organization.

RECONVERGE®

forge belonging™

RECONVERGE is a social learning community for current and aspiring intelligence leaders seeking to elevate their careers, their organizations, and their colleagues.

Aurora WDC stands ready to help you break through.

Get started right now.

Send us a confidential email to inquiry (at symbol) aurorawdc (dot) com and we will arrange a private call to discuss your unique situation and requirements.

Running Into The Fog - podcast artwork

Arik and Derek Johnson will be talking with friends and industry leaders documenting their ‘running into the fog’ journeys, navigating the unknown and under-certainties they’ve had to cope with in their professional and personal lives. This podcast is for established business leaders and emerging entrepreneurs who are interested in developing strategies to adapt to competitive and market forces around them, enabling them to reposition consistently when conditions warrant. Getting comfortable with discomfort, the Johnson Brothers are here to champion your cause and help you see the path forward.

About Aurora WDC

 

Aurora WDC serves organizations worldwide in their efforts to win in the marketplace, deploy technology to amplify insights, and build a culture of intelligence. Its three offerings have been crafted intentionally to serve the needs of intelligence professionals and top executives.

Aurora GPS is committed to helping its regional, national and global clients achieve alpha™ in their marketplace through ethical intelligence gathering, incisive analysis and transformative skill-building.

FirstLight is the SaaS platform of choice for intelligence leaders and analysts. It gathers information from thousands of public and private sources, synthesizes them into a coherent picture, and delivers those insights into the hands of your stakeholders.

RECONVERGE is a social learning community on a mission to forge belonging™ among the best and brightest intelligence professionals in the business world so they can discover how much more there is to learn.

Aurora WDC: break through™

Aurora GPS is committed to helping its regional, national and global clients achieve alpha™ in their marketplace through ethical intelligence gathering, incisive analysis and transformative skill-building. Through our Global Professional Services (GPS) team, we show our clients how to exploit gaps in competitors’ strategies, attack profitable adjacent markets, repulse business threats, and plan for multiple possible futures. Get started tackling your toughest strategic question now.

Aurora WDC Global Primary Research / HUMINT

Global Primary Research (HUMINT) Human Intelligence

Patent & Intellectual Property Analysis

IP Analysis (Patent & Intellectual Property)

War Games, Competitive Simulations & Scenario Planning

War Games, Competitive Simulations & Scenario Planning

Sourcing & Supply Chain Intelligence

Sourcing & Supply Chain Intelligence

Aurora WDC Competitor & Executive Profiling

Competitor & Executive Profiling

Market Size & Competitive Landscaping

Market Sizing & Competitive Landscaping

Conference Intelligence & Tradeshow Coverage

Conference Intelligence & Tradeshow Coverage

Merger & Acquisition Intelligence

Merger & Acquisition Intelligence

Strategy & Business Model Validation

Strategy & Business Model Validation

Competitive Pricing Intelligence & Go-To-Market Strategy

Competitive Pricing Intelligence & Go-To-Market Strategy

Counterintelligence Investigations & Training

Counterintelligence Investigations & Training

Legislative-Regulatory Impact Analysis

Legislative-Regulatory Impact Analysis

Customer Insights & Engagement

Voice of Customer (VOC) Customer Insights & Engagement

Product Development & Product Management Analytics

Product Development & Product Management Analytics

Win-Loss Analysis & Sales Effectiveness

Win-Loss Analysis & Sales Effectiveness

Intelligence Program Development & Analytical Fitness

Intelligence Program Development & Analytical Fitness

Interactive FirstLight Demo

Click the interface below to take a self-guided tour of Aurora WDC’s FirstLight platform. You’ll get to choose which features are most important for you and then experience a recorded demo tailored to your needs.

Interactive FirstLight Demo

If you are using a mobile device, click the button below to launch your demo experience.

FirstLight is the SaaS platform of choice for intelligence leaders and analysts. It gathers information from thousands of public and private sources, synthesizes them into a coherent picture, and delivers those insights into the hands of your stakeholders. That’s how you magnify truth™ inside your organization.

FirstLight Enterprise Edition

Enterprise Edition
For those analysts committed to a full Intelligence Operating System™, FirstLight Enterprise Edition™ offers a complete bespoke intelligence backbone capable of serving any size organization.

FirstLight Team Edition

Team Edition
For those analyst teams who require a single source of truth, FirstLight Team Edition™ offers a centralized intelligence platform to coordinate team activities and impacts.

FirstLight Virtual Analyst

Virtual Analyst
If you are like most intelligence teams, your resources are stretched. There is no shortage of questions to be answered, reports to write, or executive needs to address. Managing a software platform sounds great, but you simply don’t have the extra time in your day.

RECONVERGE is a social learning community on a mission to forge belonging™ among the best and brightest intelligence professionals in the business world so they can discover how much more there is to learn. The RECONVERGE network offers multiple opportunities to connect, including IntelCollab™ webinars, local Insight Circles™, and the annual RECONVERGE:G2 Intelligence Leadership Symposium.

RECONVERGE:G2 Intelligence Symposium

G2 Annual Conference
RECONVERGE:G2 is the annual Intelligence Leadership Symposium hosted by Aurora WDC, and is planned for April 23-25, 2019.

RECONVERGE Insight Circles

Insight Circles
Insights Circles, facilitated by Aurora WDC, are small groups of Market Research, Strategy, Innovation, and Intelligence professionals that come together to accomplish a shared goal.

RECONVERGE IntelCollab Webinars

IntelCollab Webinars
Twice each month, the community comes together virtually through the IntelCollab™ webinar series, focusing on everything from intelligence tradecraft to technological and social trends.

Aurora WDC Leadership Team

Greg Ervin

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I am responsible for the oversight of all endeavors that couple technology and human analysis, including the FirstLight® Intelligence Platform. I take a hands-on development approach to the FirstLight technology roadmap and implementation of new features – both client-facing as well as foundational technology. I believe that a personal approach to addressing client needs leads to a more responsive, and ultimately higher-value, technology solution. When I’m not knee deep in code, I play the drums for a local Milwaukee band. If you’re in the area, come check us out!

Craig S. Fleisher, Ph.D.

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Having lived for decades in both Canada and the US as well as shorter periods in Australia and New Zealand, I am a researcher, author/editor (15 books, 200+ scholarly articles) and internationally recognized expert on analytics and intelligence. In my years of teaching at the University level in multiple countries and consulting in private practice, I’ve had the privilege of advising a “who’s who” of executives and organizations. I love learning and helping others learn about leading practices in the intelligence field. I am most proud of developing and mentoring scores of former students into becoming highly successful intelligence professionals.

Angela Forgues

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I love solving gnarly problems – breaking them down, tussling with teammates and clients, and unearthing unexpected connections, emergent patterns and leverage points. At Aurora WDC, my work sits in the space where technology and custom research come together to support actionable, data-informed insights. That means you might find me refining research scopes, building more incisive data collection systems, synthesizing qualitative and quantitative findings, telling stories through data visualizations, or mentoring staff members. I’m a compassionate listener and an intensely curious person. Part of that comes from my passion for partner dancing – if you don’t listen closely, you step on your partner’s feet! Off the dance floor, my research interests include health & wellness, life sciences, and technology.

Chad Hillman

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I am a technologist who leverages an extremely adaptable mindset and a jack of all trades skill set to explore and employ best practices and productivity gains. I focus on making work life easier for internal and external clients. Issue avoidance is key with development and execution of security protocols along with testing, troubleshooting, maintaining and debugging Aurora’s FirstLight Intelligence Platform. My years of practice and observation translate well to training and mentoring colleagues and clients alike. During my off time in recent years, I am often a DIY builder, fixer and maintainer, sometimes to my own detriment! I also used to dabble in seeing how long I could maintain a spinning wheelchair wheelie.

Derek Johnson, CFA

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I am fiercely protective of Aurora WDC staff, clients, partners, and brand. I always have been and always will be. In my time at the company beginning in 2003, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished. However, I’m driven by how our capabilities translate to the greater good of the professional and personal communities we serve. I am grateful for my graduate degree at UW Madison and undergrad experience at UW Eau Claire, as well as my financial understanding gained through the CFA program – all of which helped prepare me for my leadership role. However, it’s the nearly two decades of practical client and program experience that has made me the intelligence professional I am today. My wife and I have four beautiful children who represent the living legacy of what truly inspires me.

Daniel LaFontaine

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My background on both the “client” side and the “agency” side gives me a deep understanding of client needs and challenges – and how I can best support them using FirstLight’s Intelligence Platform. That means you’ll find me working with everyone to find the best answer: intelligence gatherers, analysts, technology platform developers, and client stakeholders. When I’m not working, I volunteer my time coaching youth basketball and lacrosse teams. I’m also a Canadian. That’s great, eh!?

Jack Michaletz

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As a software engineer at Aurora WDC, I strive to build software that helps to bring the best intelligence to your organization. I started coding at a young age – I’ve always loved being able to use math/logic in a creative way, and I’m glad that my position here brings new challenges every day that require me to think outside of the box. In my free time I do a lot of exploring in Milwaukee and enjoying the beautiful lakefront. When I feel like staying in, I like to draw pastel art of places I’ve traveled to.

Emily Pillar

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I specialize in systems and program design with a decade of combined experience in intelligence analysis, program management, healthcare administration, marketing, and sales. Driven by a passion for finding innovative solutions to complex intelligence needs, I manage analyst teams at Aurora WDC and provide advisory services to support clients’ ever-evolving information needs across various industries. I am particularly intrigued by healthcare trends and social factors that are continuing to make industry-agnostic impacts on the world of business. Outside of work, when I’m not juggling tasks as the care manager of an aging parent, I might be found perusing antique stores for unique items, enjoying the local beach, diving into a new art project, or trying to keep my plants alive.

Waleed Ragaey

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I am responsible for designing, implementing and operating OpenRECON Stakeholder Reconnaissance Communities project. As a Platform Architect, I work on enhancing our infrastructure and workflow with continuous optimization. I recently took lead becoming the Project Manager for ReconG2®, helping bring the product to market. I also Manage the Software Engineering team, overseeing their work on all products including OpenRECON®, FirstLight®, ReconG2® and others.

John Westberg

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I manage research projects from beginning to end: designing feasible scopes, ensuring timely execution and delivering actionable intelligence. My clients cross almost all verticals, but I have special expertise in retail, CPG and life sciences. I have extensive experience in reputation intelligence, which is using traditional intelligence best practices and tools to assess and mitigate reputation risk. I am an expert at identifying and monitoring early warning indicators for intelligence programs, and applying risk management principles to prepare, prevent and respond to critical issues. In my free time, I enjoy spending time outdoors hiking, kayaking, fishing, meditating, and camping. I am based in Minneapolis, but can often be found wandering around outside in Northern Minnesota.

Austin Fleisher

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I am passionate about the ability of technology to empower management systems to help people make better, faster decisions. I enjoy the problem solving process and learning how to apply those insights in a variety of different industries. One of the most interesting ways to do that is through the use of competitive simulations and different ways to present information to key stakeholders. I consider myself a Competitive Intelligence professional with a degree in Political Science and a Certificate in International Relations from the University of Florida. When I’m not at work, you’ll find me cheering on sports and e-sports from UF, Detroit, and TSM. Go Gators!

Elizabeth Frickelton

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My mission at Aurora WDC is to break down silos inside organizations to foster tighter collaboration through custom technology solutions. That mission looks different for every organization, and I love the chance to help clients discover what that system will look like and how it will evolve over time. For me, that means focusing on leading cross-functional efforts inside large organizations, finding ways that everyone can benefit from better and faster insights. Personally, I enjoy the process of getting to know the real people behind the “company names” and finding ways to help them achieve their goals.

Graham Goodwiler

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Graham Goodwiler is a Program Manager and Special Projects Lead at Aurora WDC, with expertise in both FirstLight software and services, as well as secondary research and reporting. He has a Master’s degree in Applied Intelligence and has employed his knowledge, skills and abilities through a myriad of industries and companies large and small. He is also involved in intelligence training and upskilling through efforts ranging from workshops, demos, publications, and conference presentations.

Arik Johnson

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I founded Aurora WDC in 1995 in the corner of my mother’s beauty salon. I believe it’s important to know where you came from, so that you know where you want to go. Speaking of that clarity, I stepped aside as CEO in late 2009 to hand the day-to-day operation of the company to my brother Derek so that I could focus on the development of competing hypothetical solutions to seemingly intractable intelligence problems. My passion is bringing the “open reconnaissance” approach to organizations, business, and governments to help them solve the most pressing challenges of our time.

Lauren Kenny

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My passion and expertise lies in conducting in-depth secondary research and developing high-impact deliverables that help clients understand the core of the issue, answer critical questions, and make better decisions. I’m a naturally curious person who enjoys tackling complex problems in a variety of fields, industries, and sectors with a balance of rigorous logic and design thinking. In my professional endeavors, I draw on my identity as a former student-athlete, incorporating lessons of grit, teamwork, discipline, and empathy. My academic achievements include an MBA with a Concentration in Healthcare Administration from Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL and a BA in Intelligence Studies from Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA.

Lacey MacLean

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I consider it a privilege to represent a team of technology and research professionals serving as liaisons and account managers for clients utilizing our proprietary intelligence software. I’m passionate about mentoring and seeking out the best professional opportunities for my capable and intuitive team members. Over several years, I’ve demonstrated my commitment to clients with both quality research and technology consulting by leveraging my market research and technical knowledge. I’m an information technology professional with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) focused in English Language and Literature from The College of St. Scholastica.
Sarah Nus

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I take an active role in developing, enhancing, and implementing the software tools and designs that comprise Aurora’s FirstLight Intelligence Platform. The process of building feature ideas into real, robust tools that enable clients to interact with their data in enlightening and intuitive ways is what gets me excited! My own motivation to understand how things work drives me to put myself in the client’s shoes when approaching a new project and dig deep with my questions at every stage. Outside of pursuing my technology interests, I enjoy participating in a variety of musical ensembles and exploring new hiking paths across the Midwest.

Eric Pool

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As a software engineer at Aurora, I specialize in turning ideas into realities. My primary focus is on bridging the gap between humans and software, both for my colleagues and clients. By leveraging the latest and greatest tech, I am committed to developing scalable and maintainable systems that optimize efficiency and meet the unique needs of our clients. I take pride in my ability to collaborate effectively with team members to overcome complex challenges. When I’m not programming, you can find me channeling my creative energy into various projects around the house or playing guitar. As a proud resident of St. Louis, Missouri, I enjoy spending time at the city’s crown jewel, Forest Park – arguably the best park in the United States!

John Thomson

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I joined Aurora WDC in early 2005 and have more than 20 years of experience in HUMINT, OSINT, investigations, and counterintelligence, conducting research in over 60 countries. I focus on managing the field intelligence collection efforts of our research teams with strong moral principles to ensure the legal and ethical collection/delivery of insights. I also oversee our field intelligence collection efforts and manage a global network of collection assets, analysts/SMEs, and intelligence partners. My academic achievements include a B.S. in Marketing from American University in Washington, D.C., MBA coursework at Monmouth University in Long Branch, NJ, and the Georgia Private Investigator program at Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, GA. I’m an artist by nature – outside of work, I am a working musician, songwriter, and producer, and I also dabble in sci-fi art.

Recent Blog Posts

 

In a Cashless Economy, Who Needs a Bank?

In a Cashless Economy, Who Needs a Bank?

Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome. ~ Charles T. Munger 1924-2023    Charlie Munger passed away late last year at 99 in Santa Barbara, California. Munger was best known as the Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett’s business...

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What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

Exactly 15 years ago executive leadership coach Dr. Marshall Goldsmith wrote a self-help book for already-successful people, subtitled with the same how-to advice many genre titles promise: how successful people become even more successful. And just like almost every...

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