Meet Sam Friedman.
Sam brings the strategy, the practical experience, and the relationships to help your company or organization reach its potential.
At a glance
The short version.
A founder's instinct for growth, and real fluency in how New York government works.
Operator first, advisor second.
Where it comes from
Sam Friedman founded Full Value Potential, a strategic development practice in New York. He has been in business since he was a kid selling lemonade in Rockaway Park. Since then he has started companies, scaled an ice cream brand to national retail, advised Wall Street banks and foreign governments, and built food relief and workforce programs for his city. The instinct behind all of it is the one he brings to clients now: look at what exists, find what could work better, and build the path to get there.
He grew up in a family of small business owners, working in their companies across specialty metals, produce distribution, HVAC, and property management. He studied entrepreneurship at SUNY Albany, and from 19 on he built companies and advised others at the same time. He started a trade exchange company, advised governments and exporters on international trade, consulted for Wall Street banks on sourcing and demand forecasting, and carried his ice cream brand from the Rockaway boardwalk to Whole Foods and Sprouts nationwide.
Showing up for the community
After Hurricane Sandy, Sam matched schools that had lost supplies with communities ready to donate them. During COVID, he built a food relief operation that distributed thousands of food boxes to New Yorkers in need. He has mentored hundreds of startup founders pro bono. He was doing public-interest work long before it had a title.
Strategy, development, and the public sector
Sam is the strategic development advisor at Urban Strategies, a civic-minded government affairs firm, where he works closely with the firm's principal, Mike Klein. The firm serves affordable housing developers, centuries-old institutions, and nonprofits alongside telecom, aviation, energy, real estate, and technology companies. That alliance is what lets Full Value Potential offer clients both the strategy that builds a fundable project and the government relationships that move it.
Relationships are the constant
A wide range of entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders have come to trust Sam over the years, in the private and public sectors alike. When a client needs the right introduction, Sam usually knows the person to call, and that person usually picks up.
Beyond the work
Sam is a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alum. He stays active in New York's civic life through the Association for a Better New York, the New York League of Conservation Voters, City & State NY, the Building Congress, and the Long Island Food Council. He lives in Rockaway Park, and his favorite role is being a devoted father.
