About Protocol Group

Two principals.
One process. No handoffs.

Bringing clarity to organizations that have outgrown their foundations.

Why Protocol

The same people who take the first call write the final deliverable.

Protocol is a Portland-based firm, and the Pacific Northwest is where we do our best work. The relationships here are long, the market is relational, and reputation travels fast. That's an environment we understand and operate well in. Our engagements extend nationally, but this is home.

Every engagement is run by our partners from the first session through the final deliverable. No associates, no handoffs, and no junior staff synthesizing what a senior person presents. The relationship that produces the work is the same relationship that delivers it, and we think that matters more than most firms are willing to admit.

Over 40 years of combined enterprise consulting experience sits behind every engagement we take on. That depth shapes how we ask questions, how we structure what we find, and what we're willing to put our names on.

Built close to home.

Our partners see organizations the way most people see people, as things with a distinct character, a particular set of strengths, and a gap between what they are and what they could be if the right conditions were in place. That outlook comes from decades of work across enterprise consulting, team leadership, and creative problem solving, and it shapes everything about how Protocol engages.

Spencer Hopkins
Spencer Hopkins
Founder & Principal

Spencer brings a background in client strategy and execution, specifically getting founders and business leaders to articulate things about their companies that have never quite made it onto paper. He has led strategy and operations engagements across the US and internationally, running discovery sessions, managing cross-functional teams, and serving as the translation layer between what a business knows about itself and what it needs to do next. His work has spanned engagements with clients including ESPN, Time Magazine, LG, and X Games. He is currently completing a joint MBA and Master of Science in Finance at Portland State University.

Kay Hopkins
Kay Hopkins
Partner & Principal

Kay brings over 35 years of global IT and strategic business consulting experience to every engagement. She began her career at Andersen Consulting, and her work since has spanned global ERP implementations, enterprise system upgrades, and large-scale organizational change initiatives at clients including Nike, Tektronix, and Intel. Her background in accounting gives her a financial fluency that shapes how she reads an organization, and a depth of pattern recognition that comes from decades of walking into complex businesses and figuring out what's actually going on.

Our Clients

Fund partners and founders
at genuine inflection points.

Protocol works with two kinds of clients, and they often come to us through the same door. These clients are fund partners who need clarity on whether a portfolio company is built for where they're taking it and founders and operators who have built something real and know the foundation needs work before the next phase can hold.

They come from different positions but they're asking the same question: "Are we ready?"

We work in the Pacific Northwest and take engagements nationally.

Engagement

Available through
introduction.

Protocol works primarily through peer introduction within the PE and VC fund partner network. If a colleague has already connected us, the next step is a conversation. If you found your way here on your own and the work sounds right for where you are, reach out directly.

Contact [email protected]

The engagement is principal-led. Spencer and Kay run every session, produce every deliverable, and own every conversation. There are no associates doing the work while a partner presents it.

The deliverable is written and board-ready. Not a presentation. Not a conversation. A document the leadership team can build from, hand to a new hire, or present at a board meeting without explanation.

The work is modular. Phase 1 standalone or through Phase 3, depending on where the diagnostic lands. You commission what the business actually needs, not a fixed scope.