Show Notes:

Scott Markman, founder of MonogramGroup, discusses his journey as an entrepreneur and the challenges he faces in the private equity sector. Scott kicks off the conversation with a quick introduction to his podcast, "Beer Stories for Private Equity," which focuses on issues related to the firms, companies they own, and consultants. 

About the Agency

Scott founded the agency, MonogramGroup, in 1990. The agency has evolved from a design firm to a full-fledged agency, with a focus on brand expertise and deliverables. Services include research, insights, positioning strategy, ideation around who or what is a brand today versus tomorrow, building out content, and creating a reservoir of assets. They also address the complexity of audiences, competitors, and going to market. For example, Starbucks has a single brand but must address specific needs for consumers, employees, coffee growers, Wall Street, and social media audiences. Scott talks about the agency’s work and how they serve their market. 

Defining Brand

Scott defines brand as two things: the DNA of an organization, which is connected to the ‘why’ of an organization, relating to Simon Sinek’s definition of a company’s mission, which should connect to all aspects of the brand. The second is that the brand is the everything and Scott explains how this ties to all aspects of the company. This approach has been successful for them serving large global brands for about 20 years, including Life Fitness, Mintel and Sensata, the world's largest maker of sensors for vehicles.

A Focus on Private Equity and a New Brand

The agency’s focus turned to private equity firms when Scott was introduced to the sector in 1996. They created a brand called Antares Capital, which is the largest provider of credit to PE middle market deals. The success of this brand earned recognition across the private equity sector in North America. The practice has since grown to include 90 clients, and over this period, they have interviewed investment bankers, representatives, institutional capital, pension funds, foundations, insurance companies, hired CEOs, founders, and sellers of businesses to private equity, which has given them in-depth knowledge in this field. Among agencies, there is typically a competitive conflict issue where working for two competitive companies is not allowed. 

The Role of Branding in Private Equity Firms

The conversation turns to the role of branding in private equity firms (PE firms) and their portfolio companies. Scott explains that the business model is to get gigs with PE firms or lenders, but now it is secondary to engagements with portfolio companies. The primary goal is to create relationships with PE firms, building trust and proving themselves. He also discusses the concept of differentiating between PE firms and portfolio companies. Private equity firms are pattern recognizers, template driven, and risk-averse, making them more likely to follow similar practices unlike venture capital. Scott talks about developing distinctive messaging and differentiation for private equity firms when there is a proliferation of thousands of firms following the same patterns in branding. Private equity firms can be categorized into three levels: top, middle, and lower middle market. Scott offers examples of each level and where his agency has served clients and why they focus on serving the lower-middle market.

The Diagnostic Guide to Branding

Scott talks about Umbrex's diagnostic guide to branding, which is a comprehensive document on the subject matter. He talks about categories within the framework which are a great way to rate a brand on sub-topic factors such as brand strategy, communication, marketing, and customer experience. Scott suggests that this framework could be applied to look at levels A, B, C, and D of complexity and rigor, and then compress and streamline it into a degree of detail and actionability commensurate with the company's size and future goals. For example, if a consultant or small consulting firm is asked to analyze a 30-page deck of data points, they could apply this framework to their clients and present it in a more concise and actionable manner. The major categories of brand strategy in the diagnostic guide include overall, communication, marketing, customer experience, and corporate responsibility. Each sub area has 28 slides with a maturity model to rate it from nascent to optimized. This resource is designed to allow users to draw from relevant slides for various aspects of a company's branding, such as communication function and/or brand positioning.

A Discussion on Brand Architecture

Scott shares information from a document developed in response to a PE firm client who wanted to build a master brand from four foundational companies, and one from a company that had a foundational brand with several add-ons and needed a unified brand. Scott’s agency developed their own four buckets: brand architecture factors, assets and sophistication of the brands, business factors, and PE firm factors. Scott states that private equity firms have a daily focus on priority and responsibility, which can make it difficult for them to prioritize the brand over other aspects. He explains that the firm's branding diagnostic involves two main processes: an in-person information gathering and whiteboarding session with all the leaders, and a detailed set of Zoom interviews. They look for interaction, behavior, responses to questions, and the physical environment of the room. This qualitative approach is important for understanding the design of a space and identifying what other people want. The firm also conducts detailed Zoom interviews with external audiences, customers, channel partners, and suppliers. In summary, MonogramGroup offers a comprehensive branding assessment process that includes in-person meetings, detailed interviews, and external research. Their approach is based on observation, creativity, and a thorough understanding of the organization's brand.

Timestamps:

04:01: MonogramGroup's Services and Evolution

09:13: Clientele and Focus on Private Equity 

20:30: Challenges and Opportunities in Branding Private Equity Firms 

28:16: Feedback on Umbrex Diagnostic Guide to Branding

37:20: MonogramGroup's Branding Framework

44:34: Due Diligence and Research Process 

Links:

Brand Guide: https://umbrex.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Brand-Factors-Guide-for-Portcos_MonogramGroup.pdf

MonogramGroup website:   https://www.monogramgroup.com/

The Umbrex Diagnostic Guide to Branding: https://umbrex.com/resources/branding-diagnostic/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Matthew Hunt talks about Demandii, a firm that helps busy B2B executives create snackable content for LinkedIn from a single monthly interview. Matthew explains that most clients struggle with time, and they don't know how to create content or want to do it. Demandii offers a structured approach where they interview executives privately, turn their one-hour interview into 40 hours of content in a variety of formats. They then work on it until they are satisfied, and syndicate it across social media, focusing on LinkedIn.

Demandii Customers 

The types of customers for Demandii include CEOs, founders, SAS owners, consultants, and small businesses selling high-ticket items. They help them create various formats of content, such as videos, audio grams, text pieces, and graphic or image pieces. The most impactful content for clients is usually video-based, as people can consume the whole view, see, hear, and feel the content, attracting their tribe. Demandii's primary channel is LinkedIn, as most B2B executives want to be known and seen.

The ACES Method for Content Creation

Matthew discusses the ACES method for creating content for an audience. The ACES method consists of three core pillars: Authority, Content, Connect, and Engagement. Authority refers to the knowledge and expertise of an expert in a specific field, such as marketing, SEO, or digital PR. Content should be engaging, heartfelt, and relatable to the audience. Engagement is achieved through asking probing questions or starting conversations on social media. S stands for Show and covers showing content, which includes behind-the-scenes stories and achievements, is also important. 

The 100-foot View Explained

The 100-foot view involves creating content that is interesting, compelling, helpful, and that the author will be proud of. The best content creators are good coaches and teachers, and to engage your audience, Matt suggests thinking about a problem the audience has and leading with that. He then states that the content should also agitate the customer by discussing the negative consequences of not solving the problem. This helps the audience recognize that the problem is not their fault and encourages them to resolve it. Matt shares the formula for the above content tactic. The formula for creating content is P, A, S. The formula stands for people plus problem, A is agitate plus absolve, and S is sell with a story or show how you solve the problem. This approach will create content that is helpful and that the author is proud of.

The B2B LinkedIn Demand Generation Course

In this discussion, Matthew Hunt discusses his B2B LinkedIn course and offers three options for clients: do-it-yourself, done-with-you, and done-for-you. The do-it-yourself course is free and can be completed by busy individuals or those with a team. Done-for-you involves marketing, creating lead magnets, and conducting LinkedIn events to generate inbound interest. The cost of these programs varies depending on the budget. Additional services and content in courses offered by Matthew include creating lead magnets and creating LinkedIn ads. He also offers marketing collateral that makes ideal customers instantly better or more awesome in 10 minutes or less. He talks about targeting large B2B businesses, such as CMOs at manufacturing companies with revenues of 10 million to 100 million, through LinkedIn. The goal is not to sell them, but to push them to long-form content, where they build demand and trust with people. He can create LinkedIn events that resemble interviews or webinars, aiming to position the host as a strategic advisor.

The Importance of LinkedIn Events

Matthew discusses the importance of LinkedIn events and their effectiveness. He recommends running at least one event every two months, with a minimum of four weeks for promotion. The length of an event depends on who you're selling to, with C suite individuals typically having a 15-minute event. For lower-level executives, events should be 30-to-an hour long. To ensure success, it's important to follow up with attendees via the LinkedIn DMS, as decision makers often watch replays. The best time for events is Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, with Tuesday being the preferred day. When people are winning the week, they are more likely to attend the event, while when they're not, they may choose something else.

Team Building Events

Matthew also recommends using events for team-building, such as panel discussions or interviews with team members. Panels can be structured and can be used to create short content for company pages and showcase long-form content. If you sell a tool, it's essential to show your tool. If you don't have a team, it's best to focus on yourself. For customer interviews, you can use eco-bake works. The order of doing events depends on the complexity and difficulty of the process. You can control your time and message more easily, but it's difficult to control your team's and clients' time. Matt explains that LinkedIn events are a valuable tool for businesses to engage with their audience and drive business growth. It's essential to promote events effectively, maintain a consistent schedule, and focus on personal growth to maximize the impact of these events.

Updating LinkedIn Profiles

Matthew discusses the importance of updating LinkedIn profiles for clients. He explains that less than two or 3% of people who view content will return to the profile page, but it's crucial to have an optimized page. To optimize the profile, Hunt suggests having a great profile photo, a headline that accurately represents your brand and how you help, and a header image that quickly articulates your help and brand feeling. The bio should be written in first person, as it allows you to sell results you've driven for others. The featured section should be used with intention to get more clicks back to your work. The career section should include case studies and testimonials, and recommendations should be given from the current year. Regular practice is recommended to get regular recommendations, as it's social proof when other people can see that you have helped people like them. Matthew also emphasizes the importance of having a strong LinkedIn presence, as less than two or 3% of people will return to the profile page once they're considering doing business with you. He mentions tools that can be used to test the impact of your profile photograph.

The Impact of Recommendations

Matthew discusses the impact of recommendations on the buying cycle and their impact on job opportunities. He suggests that recommendations can make it easier for people to confirm their skills and qualifications. He encourages everyone to do this, even employees, as it makes it easier to get hired. He believes that coaching and teaching can lead to more interesting and compelling work, rather than just selling or showing off. He also mentions that anyone can sign up for his do-it-yourself course or explore his services on DemandingDotcom, which offers a variety of resources and resources. The focus is on providing value and making the hiring process more enjoyable.

Timestamps:

00:02: Introduction to Demandii and Its Services

03:32: Types of Content Created and Their Impact 

10:13: Course Offerings and Pricing 

11:34: Lead Magnets and LinkedIn Events 

18:38: Optimizing LinkedIn Profiles 

24:08: Final Thoughts and Contact Information 

Links:

Website: https://img.newoldstamp.com/r/607910/w

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

River Tompkins, a 17-year-old high school senior, started his own consulting practice in Austin, Texas, with five different clients. He provides services in the experimental education space, helping school owners implement systems and train teachers. His first clients were a group of schools in Florida, where he worked on implementing student government and learner-driven accountability. He has been at Ackman Academy for 10 years, a learner-driven off-the-beaten-path education, and now he is going to other younger schools to share his experience.

Finding Clients as a New Consultant

To find clients, River emailed schools in Florida to see what they were doing and potentially get a teaching job. They eventually invited him to visit for a couple of days to consult. He now seeks out clients with the primary goal of consulting. He targets schools in the Acton Academy domain, as his experience at Acton Academy is not applicable to the general masses. River discusses the unique approach to education that he has developed. He explains that the Acton Academy is a learner-driven model where teachers guide students through their learning process, allowing them to see progress and make decisions. River shares more about the Acton Academy approach and how he sets pricing and payment for his consulting services.

Educational Consulting Services Explained

River discusses more about the Acton Academy approach and his plans for expanding his practice and mentions giving a guaranteed parent speech to every school he visits, which is his journey, how the Acton approach works and why, followed by a Q&A session. River mentions that the Acton Academy is open to different school types, age groups, and staff levels.

The Acton Academy Education in Action

The conversation turns to potential education and structure models that work in the Acton Academy by breaking it down into a range of dimensions. River explains that Acton Academy has small class sizes, with elementary students ranging from 20 to 40 kids, middle school students from sixth to eighth grade, and sixth to eighth graders in the same classroom. Acton Academy runs in person classes with online courses through programs like Khan Academy Newsela, allowing students to work on core curriculars like math and reading in the same space while working at their own pace with their own computer. The first half of the day focuses on individual studies, such as math and reading, while the second half is more project-based electives, such as science engineering or real-world skills. Teachers are known as guides while students take a proactive approach to learning. The older kids are encouraged to tutor and mentor the younger ones, focusing on leadership skills. Extracurricular activities are often outside of the school, as they are often independent of the school. 

Developing a Diagnostic Guide

Will Bachman talks about mentoring in education, which can be divided into four dimensions: student-to-student mentoring, academic progression, and open-ended research programs. He suggests that these dimensions should be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive, covering all aspects of the educational process. He also mentions the importance of parent involvement and homework and suggests that schools should be assessed based on their maturity model, which includes the maturity of the program, the novice stage, and the developing stage. He mentions that a diagnostic guide could be developed to help identify problems or opportunities. He suggests offering productized offerings, such as a student government module, which can be tailored to the specific needs of the school.

Timestamps:

01:07: Consulting Services and Client Engagement 

02:54: Finding Clients and Initial Projects 

05:07: Contract Negotiation and Pricing 

06:03: Future Plans and Service Offerings 

08:35: Developing Productized Services 

10:24: Acton Academy School Structure and Operations 

16:20: Potential for Productized Services and Diagnostics 

18:43: Conclusion and Contact Information 

Links:

Email: [email protected]. 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Jenelle Sheridan, a former VP and GM at Athleta, discusses how to analyze a retail company. Jenelle has 15 years of experience in retail and e-commerce, working as a consultant and operating executive. She has experience in pre-revenue startups and larger enterprise businesses, and recently launched her consulting and advisory practice, Far View Partners, which focuses on helping consumer and retail companies unlock growth. Jenelle served on the leadership team at Athleta for almost 10 years, leading strategic growth from a $200 million business to over a billion dollars. She has also held functional roles in marketing, strategy, and business development. 

Metrics to Measure for Success

Jenelle emphasizes the importance of metrics in understanding success and how to look at performance in retail companies. She talks about the importance of evaluating company performance and effectiveness across various stages of maturity. Jenelle emphasizes that success depends on growth metrics like brand awareness, customer acquisition, and revenue growth, while profitability is less critical at emerging retailers. For established retailers, operational efficiencies like inventory turns and return on gross margin are critical.

The Big Three Metrics for Investors

Jenelle states that, regardless of stage of maturity, the big three metrics for investors are same-store sales growth, sales costs, and sales comps. Same-store sales growth measures the change in revenue for stores that have been open for at least a year, helping to isolate organic growth. A strong sales comp metric indicates increasing consumer demand or successful product strategies, while a low or negative rate may signal challenges or market saturation. She explains that best in class sales comps are in the five to seven percent range, the industry average, and discusses the potential consequences of flatlining or decelerating sales comps, such as increased foot traffic, conversion, and basket sizes. Jenelle believes that delivering zero growth is not acceptable for mature brands, as it may not be enough to meet the needs of shareholders and leadership teams. However, if a brand is experiencing flatlining or decelerating sales comps, it is essential to see growth to keep pace with accelerating costs. By focusing on these metrics, retailers can better understand their performance and make informed decisions about their strategies.

Underlying Sales Drivers

The conversation turns to sales and the underlying drivers such as traffic, conversion rate, and transactions. Stores typically have a lower traffic number, but when traffic decreases, the conversion rate increases due to more intentional buyers. The overall basket size is typically the same, but slightly upticks in the basket size are observed. Jenelle explains that public companies typically report store sales growth on traffic and conversion rate, but some brands and retailers report lower-level metrics, such as average customer spending per year. These metrics are often tied more to the customer rather than the transaction level metric.

Gross Margin Metric

Gross margin is another key metric in the big three, reflecting the efficiency with which a retailer manages its costs relative to its sales. High-performing companies use pricing power or efficient supply chains to achieve top-tier margins. She offers a few examples from well-known brands. For example, luxury brands can have margins of 60% and above. Jenelle moves on to break down gross margin, average sales per square foot, and how this usually speaks to efficiency. She explains the key factors in achieving this type of sales efficiency, including turning inventory quickly and pricing correctly. 

A Focus on Inventory Turns

Jenelle explains why retailers need to consider inventory turns, which are the frequency of selling and replacing inventory over a period of time. High turnover indicates well-aligned supply and demand management, while low turnover can indicate inefficiencies or excess inventory. For example, Zara has fast-moving inventory. This is industry-specific and category-dependent. For apparel retailers, performing inventory turn analysis by category helps identify fast-moving versus slower-moving items, allowing for more precise management and buying. Fast-moving categories include basics, while slower-turning categories like luxury and formal wear are typically slower-turning. This helps optimize inventory and capital dollars.

Customer Metrics and Segmentation

Customer metrics are increasingly common for retailers to look at, as they provide an omnichannel view and allow for segmentation based on various customer personas. They can look at new versus existing customers, spend per customer, frequency of purchase, and average price of items within transactions. Jenelle talks about the benefit of looking at the data over a 12-month period and mentions that the goal is to increase spend per customer over time by building the customer's basket based on the breadth of the offering, driving additional visits through frequent product drops or promotions, and pulling levers in a customer-centric way. She mentions that segmenting customers by product category or type of customer can also help drive spending per customer. She offers examples of segmentation and how it can increase customer spend. By looking at data this way, retailers can create tactics to drive spending per customer and improve overall brand health. She explains how Athleta, a women's and girls yoga active brand, uses customer data to understand the percentage of women with girls under 18 in their household. By segmenting data, the brand can identify potential customers who are buying girl products and those who are not yet. By targeting these customers, the brand can develop targeted marketing tactics to encourage them to buy in different divisions or categories. The data can also be used to identify customers who only buy one category and target them in other categories. This data can be used to tailor marketing strategies to specific customers and increase sales.

Marketing and Messaging

Jenelle talks about the importance of maintaining a balance of communication in marketing efforts. She emphasizes the need for testing and optimizing messaging to ensure it is effective and not cluttering the background and offers a few examples. Jenelle adds that businesses should avoid sending discounts too often, as it can teach customers to wait for discounts. By balancing promotions with overall brand health, businesses can improve profitability and brand reputation. She explains the Net Promoter Score (NPS), how it works, and how it can be used as a measure of customer loyalty and brand advocacy, which is typically gathered through surveys. NPS is calculated by taking the percentage of promoters and detractors, dividing them by the percentage of detractors. This helps track brand health and overall sentiment, helping businesses understand how people perceive their brand and its offerings in the marketplace. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balance between optimizing for budget, achieving desired sales, and maintaining brand health.

Brand Health Metrics

Jenelle explains the importance of brand health metrics, such as discounting addiction and customer feedback. She uses social listening, third-party research, and bespoke consumer research to understand keywords associated with a brand and how they change over time. She also highlights the value of conducting impromptu focus groups with customers to observe and learn from them. Jenelle mentions the practice of going to stores as leaders for new hires to show support and learn from the volume of customers during key moments, and the importance of staying focused on customer metrics, such as brand awareness and customer acquisition, especially for newer brands or entering new markets. She emphasizes the importance of tracking aided and unaided brand awareness over time and by customer segment to gain a better understanding of the overall brand health. 

Timestamps:

01:10: 15 plus years of experience working in retail and e-commerce

02:56: The big three growth metrics to monitor

06:42: Growth, inflation, and accelerating costs

08:40: Tracking underlying drivers

11:35: Managing cost relative to sales

14:55: Sales per square foot

23:01: Customer segmentation

32:12: Monitoring brand health

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenelle-sheridan/

Website: https://www.farvuepartners.com/

Email: [email protected]

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Gerd Schenkel discusses his experience in creating new telco businesses and how to analyze a telecommunications company. Gerd has spent over 10 years as a consultant and 15 years as an executive in banking and telco. He aims to make a differentiation in consulting work by bringing together both worlds. Developing a Telco Company Gerd spent six years at Telstra, Australia's incumbent telco, and three years as the CEO. He talks about his experience there and moves on to his first experience at creating a business which was for National Australia Bank, where he launched a digital bank called EuBank. He later worked as the CEO of a digital team and was tasked with building a telco division. Gerd discusses the creation, development and success of a telco project. He talks about launching a project, what it requires, and what he learned through the process, including accepting and meeting a 10-week launch deadline. He talks about key learnings from his time there, managing the team, product pricing,  and making the process of developing and delivering a product simple and effective. A Telstra Broadband Brand Success Telstra's internet broadband product was competing with its parent company's product, but the difference was not in speed or quality. The brand and marketing strategy was more about the connection to the local exchange, where the availability of ports was crucial for competitive dynamics. A former Telstra employee and artist was hired to help develop the brand. The team knew they would need to market locally, and in some areas, they would spend more money. However, they turned this limitation into a positive, creating a brand story called "Belong." The name "Belong" was about belonging to the local neighborhood, and the advertising would be with local shops. The brand was launched with white lists, indicating that the product was only available in certain areas. The name "Belong" was part of the "local connection" concept, and the bank "Eubank" was launched to create a national brand story. Challenges Faced by Telco Startup Gerd discusses the challenges faced by a startup telco, Telstra, in complying with specialist regulations. The telco license had provisions for  executing government and police directions, which were not widely known and not widely discussed. Our team was unaware of these requirements until a dedicated Telstra person contacted us about it. The team found a solution by flying a UK-based technician to install the necessary technology in exchanges. Gerd explains that, in terms of regulation, startups can do all their work upfront, but there are always unknowns and unexpected issues that need to be addressed. Flexibility and agility are essential in finding creative solutions, as demonstrated by Telstra's experience. Customer Service, Operations, and Billing Gerd shares an example of changes made to billing, and communication at Telstra. He explains that pro rata was a major cause for complaints due to the high cost of first bills. He talks about costs involved in rolling out a new billing system and how they chose a low-cost platform and how this solution cost them nothing and was immediate, meaning no complaints or phone calls. Gerd emphasizes that the mindset should be on the customer side, focusing on providing the best possible service and experience for customers. Gerd also mentions that Telstra had to configure routers with customers' accounts, which was impossible. They found a solution that was cheaper and more efficient, saving them $3 each. This resulted in no phone calls or track roles, and customers were happy. On the Moving Home Process The conversation turns to the redesign of the moving home process for Telstra, which had a negative NPS of perhaps minus 50 and a churn rate of 85%. The process was outsourced for decades and was a nightmare for customers with multiple products and separate tech stacks. Gerd suggested that they started with a small percentage and then rolled it out to everyone. They used their control of channels to impose a better process, routing website orders wherever they wanted. They then convinced call centers to enter orders on the website instead of the internal system, resulting in a reversal where the website became the internal interface for employees. This principle was also applied to mobile phone ordering, resulting in faster and easier ordering for all employees. Gerd explains that importing these mindsets into Telstra was harder due to the bigger scale, complexity, and politics involved. However, the benefits were 100 times bigger in terms of cost, with savings of 40 minutes per mobile order. He now works for a telco in North America, applying similar mindsets to their operations. The Business Model of Telecommunications Companies Gerd discusses the business model of telecommunications companies, particularly telcos. Telcos spend billions of dollars on infrastructure and technology, which is then used to make monthly subscriber payments. This complex system results in an average return on capital of 8% over the long term. However, telcos are less customer-centric than banks due to their network businesses where customers are not even a customer, but rather a subscriber. Gerd offers how telcos could reduce churn and increase revenue by being more customer centric. He suggests offering free basic services, such as data and advertising and shares a few working examples=. Analyzing a Telco’s Monetization Base Gerd suggests analyzing a telco's monetization base by separating out non-network access revenue per customer. He suggests that if network access is the only revenue source, it will go towards a marginal return on capital (ROC). Telcos have unique access to populations and good brands, which can lead to increased revenue. Gerd also discusses the concept of local office apps, where users can opt in to receive local offers based on their location. This approach has been successful, but it has faced political debates over ownership of the PLC. He states that telcos can potentially generate 1,000,002 million in a country with 20 million people if done properly. Secondarily, telcos typically report the split between network access revenue and non-network revenue. However, Gerd suggests measuring this separately. To evaluate the non-network revenue, he suggests using incentives, reporting, and management tools. A consulting firm can help with this process, although it may require hiring a consultant. By valuing the non-network revenue dollar, telcos can better manage their costs and maximize their revenue.

Timestamps:

02:42: Creating a New Telco Business at Telstra 

05:08: Implementing the New Telco

15:25: Branding and Market Strategy

20:21: Regulatory Challenges and Solutions

24:08: Customer Service and Operations Improvements

29:10: Impact on the Parent Company

32:51: Analyzing a Telecommunications Company

40:23: Monetizing the Customer Base 

47:45: Final Thoughts and Contact Information 

Links:

Website:https://www.gerdschenkel.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerdschenkel/

Resource: https://umbrex.com/resources/how-to-analyze-a-telecommunications-company/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Dan Bauer, a Harvard Business School graduate and independent consultant, talks about the  NSLC “Business & Entrepreneurship” program , sponsored by Inc Magazine. The program offers a nine-day immersion in entrepreneurship for high school students aged 14 to 18 from around the world. The students are vetted on their GPAs, and the program takes place on six prestigious college campuses, including Yale, Columbia, Duke, Michigan, Cal-Berkeley, and UCLA.

The NSLC Origins Story

The origin story for the program began with Dan’s business, the MBA Exchange, which focused on career and education consulting. After selling the business in 2016, he decided to find another outlet for teen entrepreneurship education and found that there was room for a better resource with the pedigree of top colleges and a platform for engagement with real-world entrepreneurs from various industries. Dan chose to aggregate best-in-class offerings, such as curriculum, camp teachers, and sponsors, and worked with them to create a successful partnership.

Unpacking the NSLC “Business & Entrepreneurship” Program

The National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) provides campus housing, administration, supervision, academic adjacent components, social aspects, leadership training, field trips, and dorm life for high school students. It also offers a business simulation where students make real-time decisions that impact the share price of a fictitious public company. The competition is augmented by a pitch competition where students form small teams and work together to formulate a business idea using lessons learned about business and entrepreneurship. There are four sets of partners: individual colleges providing dorm space and classroom space, the National Student Leadership Conference providing administration, adult supervision, and teachers from the National Federation of Teaching Entrepreneurship. Inc. Magazine promotes the program and participates in the curriculum and structure. Teachers also participate in the judging panel and presentations for the group going to Columbia. Dan explains what his experience brings to the table and experiences gained through recruitment and outreach to CEOs who want to pay it forward and share their experience and knowledge. 

The NSLC Model

Dan explains the structure of the business, which is a joint venture between a group of partners, with the NSLC being the core strength. They have a solid foundation in hands-on interaction with students and parents, with full-time staff. Dan handles interaction with entrepreneurs, speakers, and judges, while NFTE handles teacher selection training and placement. Inc. provides promotional support and weighs in on content topics and speaker selection. The conversation turns to building long-term, intensive relationships with schools, which involve multiple administrators on both ends.  Dan explains that the typical profile of students attending is diverse, from introverts to Alpha students who demonstrate leadership and charisma. The teams are built accordingly, balancing EQ and IQ strengths. The diversity of the group, geographically, racial, racially, gender, and interest wise, is a plus for the experience. 

The Curriculum and Learning Outcomes

The curriculum for the program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of marketing, operations, finance, and leadership. It is an interactive program that includes topics like break even ratios, valuations, partnerships, and strategic alliances. One of the highlights was the introduction of AI in business models, which inspired students to explore new ideas and Dan shares the range of impressive innovative ideas the students developed.  The program fits well with traditional business education programs like Junior Achievement, which has an academic bias and advisors. The program mixes students from various backgrounds into the same classroom, allowing them to learn from each other, teachers, mentors, and pitch judges. This exposes students to meaningful, actionable concepts and practices every day. 

 The Experience that Led to the Program

Dan talks about how his experience led to establishing the program and making it work. From a Bootstrap startup to his business growth and sale journey, he believes that having a Inc. 5000 badge gave him credibility and familiarity with the pool of entrepreneurs he would tap as speakers. He believes that trust, openness, willingness to take risks, and willingness to help before asking for help are the core of the language he speaks. Dan explains how his background integrated with the program and opened doors to partners and contributors. 

Volunteering at NSLC

To become involved with the program, Dan suggests starting at NSLC leaders.org. The speakers and mentors and pitch judges include Inc. 5000, EO Entrepreneurs Organization; Shark Tank CEOs, and Harvard alumni. The entrepreneurial community is a caring, open, and Pay It Forward group, and Dan encourages connecting with others and helping in return.

Timestamps:

02:11: Components and Structure of the NSLC Program 

04:21: Origin and Evolution of the NSLC Program 

08:00: Partnerships and Coordination 

18:03: Student Profiles and Curriculum 

23:06: Examples of Student Pitches and Program Impact 

25:46: Comparison with Other Business Education Programs 

29:03: Dan Bauer's Background and Credibility 

33:14: Connecting with the NSLC Program 

Links:

Dan’s website: Bauer-inc.com.

NSLC website: NSLCleaders.org

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Jonathan Schwartz discusses how to analyze a manufacturing company. Jonathan's background includes working in operations improvement, starting with manufacturing and then transitioning to banking and non-manufacturing roles. He has worked with private equity firms and has been a lean champion at a private equity firm.

Sales and Operations Planning Process

One of the first types of analysis Jonathan talks about is the sales and operations planning process (SOP), which involves integrating what is being told to the sales team with what is being produced. This alignment and match is based on the equipment and production capabilities of the company. The main idea is to align what is going to make the plant the most money with how it is incentivizing the sales team.The main idea is to align what is being sold with what is being produced, and to charge more based on the value added services provided by the company. This aligns with the company's goals and equipment to make the most money.

Production Scheduling Process

Jonathan explains that the production scheduling process in a company can be complex, with different tools used for larger plants and more complex situations. For example, a simple company might schedule production in batches, depending on the flexibility of their equipment and the economic batch size. This helps avoid having a large amount of inventory sitting in inventory when orders are placed for other parts. In some cases, private label products may not be suitable for production, while others may require make to stock or make to order processes. Delays in customization can affect the capacity to build up inventory. To assess the quality of a factory's production scheduling, it is important to consider the number of changes in the schedule over time and overall on-time delivery. An assessment of inventory levels can help identify bottlenecks, quality problems, equipment downtime, or matching schedules from pre-production steps to middle production steps. Visualizing the inventory levels and identifying visible metrics or schedules can help identify areas for improvement. Jonathan shares a couple of war stories as examples.

New Process Implementation and Change Management

The conversation turns to implementing a new process. In manufacturing, while some change management communications can be done ahead of time, training should be done right before the team starts using the new process, rather than a week or two weeks ahead of time. As soon as you implement something that makes their jobs easier, employees become a fountain of ideas and improvements, which can lead to quick changes in morale and overall productivity. Jonathan states that a clear production schedule is crucial for ensuring everyone knows what's up next for their line and is prepared for any changes. By implementing a two-bin system and addressing stockouts, organizations can improve on-time delivery numbers and predictability. He suggests that steady usage can help determine the appropriate amount of inventory to hold, while unpredictable demand can lead to overstocking. He explains how to avoid stock outs and also emphasizes the importance of supplier quality evaluation, which involves ensuring parts are qualified for new products before they are released to production.  Jonathan shares an example from a Motorola plant in Atlanta.

Supplier Quality Management

Jonathan discusses the importance of supplier quality management in a manufacturing plant. He emphasizes the need for a sophisticated system to identify and address problems in parts and suppliers. This system involves intake department workers, who need to know whether a part goes into income inspection or goes straight to stock. Inspectors need to be trained to identify and address issues,  as it is costly to inspect parts and impossible to inspect 100% of everything. When assessing a manufacturing plant's supplier quality management program, Jonathan talks about the metrics in place and how they are used. These metrics include the percentage of bad parts and good parts when present. He stresses that the system should be communication-intensive, with production line personnel communicating with materials managers when a part is bad or a whole set of parts is bad. Incoming receiving clerks should know which parts from which suppliers are  flagged for inspection. Inspectors should track the issues and communicate them back to the supplier.

Efficiency in Manufacturing ERP Systems

Jonathan explains that this involves implementing Kanban and minimizing touches on work-in-process inventory. The conversation turns to the plant layout, including the dock, incoming warehouse, and presentation of parts to the line. Jonathan explains that traditional cost accounting practices can lead to mismeasurements. He provides an example where a plant manager was measured on absorption, which is the amount of overhead he could absorb based on the accounting cost per unit; this led to a lack of inventory quality and poor on-time delivery and productivity. He mentions that traditional measures may not be relevant to workers on the factory floor.

Lean Improvements in a Production Line

Jonathan shares an example of implementing lean improvements in a production line with 180 employees. He emphasizes the importance of minimizing the WIP (work-in-process inventory), ensuring that people only work as much as needed, not as much as possible, thus minimizing inventory levels and the amount of rework when a problem arises. This approach improved quality and throughput, as it reduced the number of reworked items and improved throughput. He also highlights the importance of using fixtures that ensured that tasks were done correctly, even if it took more time. This approach also improved visibility and communication throughout the line. By minimizing the WIP, rebalancing the line, and ensuring that tasks were done correctly, the company achieved significant improvements in quality and output metrics.

Timestamps:

02:23: Overview of Production Scheduling and Sales and Operations Planning 

04:47: Complexities of Production Scheduling 

07:32: Assessing Production Scheduling Effectiveness 

12:44: Implementing Lean Improvements and Supplier Quality Management 

12:59: Evaluating Supplier Quality Management Programs 

27:05: Material Handling and Internal Logistics Efficiency 

33:27: Celebrating Victories and Improving Morale 

Links:

Resource: https://umbrex.com/resources/how-to-analyze-a-manufacturing-company/

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jonathandschwartz

Email: [email protected]

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Sanjay Iyer, a consultant for 25 years, discusses the evolution of telecommunications companies, focusing on network, infrastructure, quality, and coverage analysis. He explains that coverage is the first aspect of a network, determining the reach and number of homes it can deliver service to. The structure of networks has evolved over the years, with different types of networks for broadband, such as fiber to the home, hybrid fiber coax, and fixed wireless axis.

Assessing the Infrastructure Quality

Sanjay explains the process of assessing the infrastructure quality of a telecommunications company, which involves evaluating speeds, latency, and other factors such as the density of homes in the neighborhood. Speeds are rated at megabits per second, but factors like the number of people using television, density of homes, and latency can affect the speed of upstream and downstream packets. Latency is another factor that covers systemic network design quality. Sanjay also mentions that there are temporary issues in a coax network, such as fluctuation noise and overhead versus underground cables. To understand the total quality of a network, it is essential to separate temporary issues from systemic problems. He suggests measuring the quality at a home level, rather than at the broad network level.

Network Assessment Factors

Sanjay explains the importance of assessing network outcomes such as latency and speed when buying a provider and explains why companies should focus on outcome metrics and infrastructure quality. He talks about the first and second metric, capital expenditure efficiency and network upgrades. Sanjya explains why getworks have been continuously groomed and expanded to deliver more bandwidth over the years, and understanding how they have done it historically and what it will take to achieve the gold standard of one gigabits per second downstream to every home is crucial and what it would cost. 

Challenges Faced when Analyzing Networks

The conversation turns to the  challenges companies face in analyzing their own networks, as there is no single source of truth for determining their network coverage. One challenge is the cost of bandwidth, which can be expensive and unpredictable. To get the bandwidth right, companies must calculate the capex efficiency model, which assumes an average number of households per node and exploits it to the entire country. This model is often incorrect, leading to unpredictable network costs. Another challenge is fiber optic and broadband penetration analysis. The Federal Communications Commission has created a national database that tracks every household's speed and coverage from service providers. This information is publicly available and can be used to analyze homes and serviceable locations. The FCC has also created a service coverage map at a national scale, which can be used to allocate government capital to underserved areas and subsidize network bills.

Analyzing Market Share

Sanjay  discusses the process of analyzing market share in a given market. He uses the FCC database to measure network footprint, focusing on census block group levels to determine customer penetration. Machine learning is particularly interesting as it provides insights into customer profiles, economic or household level information, which can help predict underperformance, overperformance, and areas for improvement. Iyer is currently working on building tools to predict the ROI of broadband investments, analyzing existing footprints and adjacent locations, and predicting expansion paths. He is also involved in generative AI, which is popular but not widely adopted due to issues with LLM tech adoption. Iyer is developing a governance model that looks at all aspects of Gen AI, from use cases to production and costs, and is building products with an AI-first approach, using tools like chat and GPT to develop software products based on specific requirements.

Timestamps:

04:30: Assessing Infrastructure Quality and Network Economics

08:37: Capital Expenditure Efficiency and Network Upgrades 

13:27: Challenges in Network Data Availability 

17:52: Fiber Optic and Broadband Penetration Analysis 

21:21: Customer Churn Rate and Retention Strategy

25:45: Subscriber-Based Growth and Market Share Analysis 

27:32: Sanjay Iyer's Current Practice and AI Focus 

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjay-iyer/

Website: https://www.combinatree.com/

Resource: https://umbrex.com/resources/how-to-analyze-a-telecommunications-company/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Matt Sobieski discusses the process of helping a manufacturing plant improve its performance by understanding the problem statement and 47 different analyzes. He suggests talking to the plant manager or head of operations to understand the biggest challenges, cost buckets, operational constraints, and capacity constraints.

Diving into One of 47 Analyzes

Matt explains more about the 47 analyzes, one of which is the cost of goods sold, breakdown, and margin analysis, which helps in understanding the cost structure of the plant. This includes examining production, backlogs, inventory levels, and other factors. In the case of an agricultural manufacturing company during the pandemic, the focus was on streamlining their ordering process to increase productivity. Matt also discusses the importance of understanding the big cost buckets, such as labor, materials, waste, and inventory management. He shares a case where a client had issues with their cost per unit, where they could not get their arms around their cost per unit. The data provided by the client was not high-quality, and it was difficult to differentiate between different lines. Matt shares a few ways to address this issue. 

Dealing with an Inflationary Environment

In the current inflationary environment in the US, costs have been increasing, particularly labor costs. Consultants can help plants by asking questions and providing a fresh perspective to understand why material costs and overtime costs are high. This can lead to better scheduling and equipment utilization, which can help reduce costs and improve productivity. One example of this is an agricultural manufacturing plant where the plant manager was unaware of the importance of morning production meetings. By asking open-ended questions and being curious about how things run, consultants can identify areas for improvement.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness

Operations professionals should always have a plan for the day and recover from deviations when necessary. Asking open-ended questions and understanding the fundamentals of operations can help identify areas for improvement. One analysis that consultants like to use is the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which is a measure of overall equipment effectiveness. OEE is calculated by comparing the performance of different pieces of equipment and identifying areas for improvement.  Matt goes on to explain how the analysis of OEE is defined and quality calculated. He stresses that it is crucial to calculate the correct OEE and quality first time, as not all units are produced correctly. It is important to ensure that the correct approach is taken when analyzing OEE data.

Identifying Waste in Manufacturing Plants

Matt discusses the concept of identifying waste in manufacturing plants, including the classic seven or eight types of waste. They highlight the importance of removing waste to improve efficiency and productivity. One such type is intellect, which involves people using their brain power inefficiently. To identify waste, they suggest using GEMBA (Go where the work is happening) to observe people and their actions. One example is an automotive plant that had a production cell with two operators, causing a lot of motion. To address this, they moved parts from one end of the line to the middle, reorganizing the path for forklift drivers. This resulted in faster unloading times for parts coming in and out of the area. Matt emphasizes the impact of simple things like moving parts to central locations and reducing the time spent on unloading parts and shares an example that helped eliminate waste and improve efficiency and productivity.

The Importance of Fresh Perspectives when Addressing Issues in Supply Chains

Matt shares an example of a company that had to print labels for products and then wait for them to be printed. To address this, they developed a Kanban system where labels were printed ahead of time for all SKUs, eliminating the need for waiting for labels. This solution was cost-effective and efficient, as it saved labor costs. He also discusses the importance of managing risk in supply chains, particularly during the pandemic. He highlights the importance of understanding the risk associated with individual suppliers, which can help in making informed decisions about ordering buffer stock, onboarding another supplier, or building capability in-house. Matt explains the importance of eliminating single sources of failure in manufacturing. He cites examples of poor performing plants and underinvestment in automation and offers suggestions on factors that need to be analyzed and used to understand what drives failures.

Asset Management Analyzes

The discussion moves on to asset management analyzes, such as make versus buy, capex, effectiveness, equipment and technology, and life cycle management, which are crucial for businesses to understand their costs and make the right capital investments. Capex is important in determining the cost of repairing a machine versus replacing it, especially in a constrained environment like manufacturing. Assessment utilization is also important, as it helps businesses optimize their equipment usage and preventive maintenance. For example, an aluminum manufacturing plant faced a bottleneck in its cold mill, which was fixed by running longer strands of the same material. This allowed the plant to maintain a lower OEE while maximizing asset utilization.

About Matt Sobiesky

As an independent consultant at McKinsey, Matt focuses on operations and capability building. He has experience working with clients struggling with cost reduction, capacity increase, or growth readiness. He has worked with a colleague who is known for his expertise in Lean methodology and has a network of manufacturing professionals eager to help them solve their biggest problems. Matt’s passion for operations stems from his background in operations and his passion for helping clients improve their operations. He has worked with clients who are aspirational and want to be the best of the best, and he is eager to help them achieve their goals.

Timestamps:

02:00: Understanding Cost Structures and Early Analysis

05:25: Challenges in Cost Bucket Analysis

07:05: Insights from Cost Bucket Analysis 

10:06: Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Analysis

16:35: Identifying and Eliminating Waste 

18:55: Supply Chain and Procurement Analyzes 

25:34: Technology and Automation in Manufacturing 

29:08: Asset Management and Capex Effectiveness 

33:12: Matt Sobieski's Current Practice and Contact Information 

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewsobieski/

 https://umbrex.com/resources/how-to-analyze-a-manufacturing-company/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Paul Millerd, author of The Pathless Path and Good Work talks about his books.  He explains the behind-the-scenes process of writing about work and the relationship to it. He explains the origin story of The Pathless Path, and how falling love with a woman and with writing led to a complete change in his professional direction.  Paul, who had worked in strategy consulting for many years, left his full-time job and became a freelancer. He talks about this experience and how he felt like he was wasting his talent and needed a new story to make sense of how he felt and identify the possibilities that were emerging. The book is not a how-to book, but a friendly companion or guide for people already on similar paths. The book offers mental models, frameworks, and inspirational stories to help them venture into their own work. The conversation turns to money earned and why Paul chose to make less as a freelancer than he had in an employed position.  He also talks about the impact of the money script and how societal views on taking a less-trodden path. 

A Discussion on Good Work

Paul explains that 'good work' is defined as connecting with oneself and the work, which can be done in various forms. He believes that good work is time well spent, things one cares about, and that it will be interesting to see if people will connect with it. Paul shares his experience of writing for seven and a half years, where he has earned less than 30 grand a year due to some sales in his first book. He and his wife are aligned on the trade-offs and sacrifices they make, such as not owning a house or moving abroad for lower costs. Paul believes that good work is not for everyone, but rather for those who find it fulfilling and want to point their life in this direction. He has met hundreds of people from around the world who have material circumstances, but generally, they are not elite, educated, or high-wage workers. He doesn't recommend it for high achievers with expensive lives, as it is difficult to break out of the identity around status and continued achievement.

Examples of Good Work

Paul also shares examples of people doing what they consider good work, which is not necessarily creative pursuits. For example, someone taking care of a sick relative can shift work during their career, while a singer in Greece shares his music and feels good when he does so. He believes that good work is about prioritizing something of value in one's life and not just making money from it. Over the last year, Paul has been doing nothing but write and take care of his daughter, spending more than he has brought in, and seeing his income decline dramatically over the past six months. However, he believes that if he can get five to 10 experiences of writing a book or doing similar things, he will be happier with how he spends his life.

Exploring the Concept of Leaving Money on the Table

In the chapter Leave Money on the Table, Paul explains the importance of leaving money on the table and the challenges faced by those on unconventional or creative paths. He shares his experience of taking a pay cut to get a job at McKinsey from GE, leaving before receiving bonuses one month before. After quitting his final job, he watched his savings dwindle, but as he slowly started to make money, he found he was enjoying life more.  He talks about getting paid in different ways, in experiences, time, and fun.  He started to attract good people into his life and values these experiences. The conversation turns to how this concept applies to independent consultants. They should consider factors such as learning something, liking the people, having a decent lifestyle, making decent money, and potentially leading to future work. Paul believes that independent freelancers must leave money on the table to sustain their journey. He advises asking questions like how much would be paid for a project, how excited he is, and what he would do with the money he gets from each project. This approach helped him start his first book.

Thoughts on Status

Paul talks about losing his previous status due to the loss of an impressive job and career trajectory. However, while he still craves appreciation, respect, and admiration from others, he values status for aspects that are not necessarily measurable by money or standing on the top of the corporate ladder. Paul mentions that having a community of thinkers and being plugged into that community is more enjoyable than being anonymous. He believes that the internet has made it possible to build an intellectual life without going to academia or being in a PhD program.

Reclaiming Ambition

Paul explains that he associated ambition with working in the corporate arena and making as much money as possible. He had no one in his life who was an entrepreneur or working independently, so he had to find those people. Through conversation with a friend, he realized that he was ambitious about living a big life and being an active and present father. Paul also discusses the scripts that made him turn away from the idea of ambition. He emphasizes the importance of understanding and reclaiming ambition in one's life. 

Side Projects that Fund Good Work

Paul discusses the importance of side projects. He emphasizes that product market fit and person interest fit are crucial for optimizing one's interests and finding fulfilling activities. He shares his enjoyment in creating content and helping people find opportunities. He believes that it is important to take side projects seriously and consider how they can fit into one's life. Paul created a course to make money without selling his time continuously. He also started running workshops, which eventually made money. He plans to use these workshops as a funding vehicle to pursue his goal of publishing 10 books. He has experimented with different types of projects, such as consulting skills and workshops, to find a balance between making money and maintaining a fulfilling life. Paul advises everyone who wants to change their life to rewrite their script.

Paul's podcast and website are available for people to follow his work. 

Links:

The Podcast: https://pathlesspath.com/podcast/

The Website: https://pmillerd.com/

The Pathless Path Book: https://pathlesspath.com/

Good Work Book: https://pmillerd.com/goodwork/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmillerd/

Timestamps:

03:34: The Concept of the Pathless Path 

06:18: Challenges and Rewards of Independent Work 

07:01: Defining Good Work 

11:18: Accessibility of Good Work 

15:05: Examples of Good Work Beyond Writing 

18:24: Challenges of Leaving Money on the Table 

25:21: Reclaiming Ambition 

38:19: Side Projects and Person Interest Fit 

45:21: Rewriting Work Scripts 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Christian Hyatt, Founder of Risk3Sixty, discusses the top three or four things that chief information security officers at sub-enterprise firms are most worried about right now.  He explains that these concerns include the business environment, threat actors, cybersecurity regulation, nation-state actors like Russia and China, and phishing campaigns. He also highlights the unique bridge between cybersecurity and information technology coming to a head with the recent CrowdStrike incident.

Advice to Clients on Cybersecurity 

Christian suggests that independent consultants should ask clients questions or warning signs to raise their concerns and consider consulting a cybersecurity expert. He suggests that clients are looking for someone who is a good listener and not operating off fear, uncertainty, and doubt. By listening to clients' needs and concerns, consultants can offer advice on implementing best practices on their existing toolset and spreading security awareness. Christian emphasizes that many big enterprise tools, such as Office 365 and Google Suite, have built-in security, covering many bases. Independent consultants should listen for how well implemented their tools are, listen for business problems they have, and offer security assurance. Offering advice on implementing best practices and spreading security awareness can help firms understand how security is impacting their business and make informed decisions about investing in security measures.

Cybersecurity Due Diligence

In the context of due diligence, Christian states that it is important to consider the company's internal infrastructure, including its cloud-based and on-premises systems. This can help identify potential red flags and ensure the company's sustainability and scalability. For example, if a product company is being acquired, it is crucial to ask about its application security, product security, and scalability. Additionally, understanding the company's mastery of its own product and its ability to scale without the team is essential. Another key factor to consider is the company's internal infrastructure, whether it is cloud-based or on-premises. Integrating with the acquiring firm can impact the cost of the process.

Cybersecurity for Independent Consultants and Boutique Firms 

Independent consultants and boutique firms with a few employees should also take cybersecurity precautions. Some good tools for small businesses include G Suite or Office 365, which have built-in tools for file share sharing, email security, and internal messaging. These tools help protect against cybersecurity attacks that originate from email. Installing antivirus tools like CrowdStrike and Sentinel can help prevent attacks at the endpoint level. Blocking and tackling security processes, such as using file sharing platforms like OneDrive or Dropbox. It’s also important to identify areas where money changes hands and take protective measures. Creating an offline backup of key files once a month can help protect against ransomware attacks. Office 365 or G Suite can also be used to store files in the cloud, with tools like spanning for Office 365 creating backup copies of cloud storage. Exploring the full suite of options available to small business owners can help them get coverage for their biggest risks.

Employee Training on Cybersecurity

The conversation turns to the importance of raising employees' awareness of phishing dangers. He recommends using tools that periodically send white hat phishing messages to test employees' skills. Christian suggests that small businesses should focus on creating a culture of awareness and vigilance, letting candidates know about potential scams and asking questions if they feel uncomfortable. There are several tools available for security awareness training, including Curricula. Additionally, he suggests using YouTube videos as part of training, as they can be more effective than expected. By implementing these tools, businesses can create a culture of vigilance and prevent employees from clicking on suspicious links.

The Origins and Growth of Risk 3 Sixty

Christian started his firm as an independent consultant eight years ago, with a trajectory of impressive growth. He initially had one client, a $30,000 one-off engagement, but from there eventually grew the business to 60 clients. Christian shares a few of the tactics behind the growth, including his shift towards cybersecurity.  He focused on a few cybersecurity services that had great demand and packaged them as multi-year deals, and recurring revenue. He also learned that organizations have huge compliance requirements. They built a SaaS platform to help them manage the information. They invested in the SaaS platform and started selling it as a subscription. Today, their services are tech-enabled services, where companies often outsource their entire programs to them due to the need for human labor. Christian made strategic decisions early on, scaling the business around recurring revenue streams, over-delivering, and building a good culture. He centered around those activities that felt risky at the time, saying no to big contracts that didn't fit within his revenue stream. He also explains how a book by Gino Wickman, Traction, and The Entrepreneur Operating System, helped him shift the responsibility for business development off of his shoulders to other members of the firm. 

Recruiting Talent for Risk3Sixty

Christian hired a West Point graduate to become an ops manager. He believed that hiring great people was a risky move but ultimately helped build a sales function and complement the founder's role. The company also hired a strategic partner with Georgia Tech to hire top students. Despite the early hires, the success of the company can be attributed to the smart people who pushed the founder to think more like a leader and helped him see the future. The company's success can be attributed to the excellent people who helped him make decisions that he wouldn't have made on his own. 

The Structure of a Successful Company

Christian’s company has 60 employees, and a top-down structure consisting of an Executive Leadership Team (ELT) consisting of six members: the CEO, President, Head of People, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Revenue Officer, and the CTO. The CEO focuses on mission and metrics, breaking down the vision into KPIs and measurables, and making sure everyone understands it. He also works on brand equity through social media, podcasts, and speaking events. He also talks about how he approached pay bands and benefits to attract talent and maintain retention. The CEO manages the ELT, ensuring they are motivated and have the same vision. An initiative Review Board was created to address pent up projects or initiatives that were not previously budgeted. This allowed people to request new projects or initiatives outside of budget season, providing a pressure relief valve for strategic initiatives.

A Successful Marketing Philosophy

Christian's marketing philosophy focuses on teaching good concepts and adding value to people, rather than being an influencer. He uses content such as videos and white papers to add value and engage people, leading to more leads and engagement. He initially used LinkedIn outbound to find open job opportunities and reach out to hiring managers, but found that more people would ignore him than respond. Christian shares his teaching methods on LinkedIn, YouTube, and a newsletter. For cybersecurity-focused content, he hosts a weekly cybersecurity executive brief on YouTube. He also has a marketing team that helps with content creation, and practice leaders who produce content regularly, called media properties, on LinkedIn. Each member of the team has a dedicated content pillar, and it's up to them to create content that resonates with the audience. A marketing team supports them with video editing and accountability. Christian initially did it all himself, using a video editor tool and recording videos and writing white papers. 

Timestamps:

03:14: Cybersecurity precautions for independent consultants and small firms

08:10: Cybersecurity awareness training for small businesses

13:51: Growing a consulting firm through strategic decision-making and recurring revenue streams

18:19: Scaling a consulting business by hiring a leadership team

22:24: Leadership decisions and team structure

26:55: Using LinkedIn for business growth and content creation

Links:

• Connect with Christian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianhyatt/

• Check out his book: https://risk3sixty.com/stos

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.