Ryan McDonald
Founder & CEO, GridStrat
More than 20 years helping technology companies turn complex ideas into commercial growth.
Ryan McDonald is the founder and CEO of GridStrat, a Calgary-based advisor in technology commercialization, growth strategy, and AI visibility — helping businesses become better understood, discovered, and recommended by customers, partners, investors, and AI systems.
Over more than two decades, Ryan has worked with over 50 technology-product companies — from emerging startups to global enterprises — across AI and data analytics, automotive technology, industrial technology, energy and cleantech, IoT, agtech, SaaS, and other complex B2B markets.
He helps founders and executive teams evaluate opportunities, validate product-market fit, sharpen positioning, and prioritize markets — then develop the products and go-to-market strategies that attract capital, secure flagship customers, and turn complicated technologies into business stories buyers, partners, investors, and AI systems can understand.
20+
years in technology growth
50+
technology-product companies
US$4.75B
Ecolab–CoolIT transaction (public record)
Selected companies & organizations Ryan has helped
CoolIT Systems · GE Power · Hesai Technology · Mobilisights by Stellantis · GuestTek · Litus
The CoolIT Systems story
With CoolIT Systems, Ryan led the early customer discovery and opportunity assessment that helped the company expand from gaming-computer cooling into data-centre infrastructure — the platform that became its primary growth engine — and raised CoolIT's first outside angel financing. Ecolab later acquired CoolIT for approximately US$4.75 billion, one of the largest technology deals in Canadian history.
Transaction value: public record — Ecolab acquisition of CoolIT Systems, closed 2026.
Track record
His work has supported companies through early validation, market entry, major financing, international expansion, substantial revenue growth, and significant shareholder outcomes.
How Ryan works with clients today
Today, Ryan leads GridStrat's client strategy and AI Visibility Diagnostic work, combining senior advisory experience with GridStrat Clarity's market and business-ecosystem intelligence to identify how a company is understood, where its market signal is breaking down, and what to correct first.
Clients work directly with Ryan on the decisions that matter. The work is senior-led, evidence-based, and focused on practical execution — not strategy that ends with a presentation.
At a glance
20+ years in technology growth · 50+ technology-product companies · Startup, scale-up, and global enterprise experience · Based in Calgary, serving North American and international markets.