BCG

"Kajsa was enthusiastic. She had wanted us to think about cosmetics before Elkington’s consultants had even begun their research. ‘They’re a lot like clothes,’ she pointed out. “The good stuff is really hard to find in some countries.’ I thought it was a great idea, too. The synergy with what we were already doing was perfect. ‘Can you get your people to focus their research on this?’ I asked Elkington. ‘Sure,’ he said. “Whatever you want.’ We all knew it could still be months before there were any results from Project Champagne — as we called BCG’s new research mission — but couldn’t help daydreaming a little as we walked back to the office. ‘If it’s a separate business, we’ll have to give it a different name, right?’ Kajsa said. ‘I guess so,’ I said. “Any ideas?’ She smirked. ‘How about bootiful?’"

"Transformations that occur in an unusual firm, before you start a new venture There was Jeff Bezos, working out the plan for Amazon while still working in that most remarkable of firms, D. E. Shaw & Co, one of the very few that knew how much the internet was going to change the world. Before Amazon was even born, Bezos was transformed, equipped, almost Messianic. There was Bill Bain, still within BCG, already transformed, already happily piloting the approach he would perfect in his own domain. This first model is the best – you can acquire ideas and authority, and start to experiment, while still employed by someone else. You become transformed on their dime. The firm you found is not really a start-up, more a continuation and personalisation – your personalisation – of a validated prototype. The new venture can be relatively low-risk, yet still high-return, both financially and, more important, psychically. Work for a strange, singular, surprising – and surprisingly successful – company. Look for one that is growing fast; that does things differently from its larger rivals; that focuses on a special subset of customers and that knows something the rivals do not know. Attain rare knowledge and confidence from what the firm knows. Next, work out how to use that special knowledge in a different way, just as Bezos did."

"The Bain philosophy was audacious in the extreme. You can instantly see the benefits for Bain & Company – long assignments and ever-increasing consulting fees within the client company meant huge inbuilt growth and profitability. Yet it wouldn’t have worked if it didn’t reflect the reality that consultants could be vastly more useful within such a relationship. They could understand the company better than it understood itself, and ensure that the chief executive could implement whatever was necessary for radical profit improvement, without brooking opposition from powerful internal executives. These were ‘barons’ – heads of functions such as manufacturing or marketing, or of country operations – excoriated by Bain because they often acted to protect themselves and their people from profit-maximising change. When I defected from BCG to Bain & Company, I was amazed at how utterly dissimilar the two outfits were. They used the same intellectual capital, but in totally contrasting ways. Bain & Company worked within clients in a much more intensive, expensive and remorseless way, leaving very little to chance – so achieving extraordinary results."

"What about Bruce Henderson? He invented business strategy as we know it today, guiding BCG towards its two epoch-making displays, the Experience Curve and the Boston Box. He begat a unique and important company."

"Consider, for example, the following types of potentially transforming experiences: •  Educational – go to the best college(s) for what you want to learn and do. •  Self-defined unique expertise – become the expert in a narrow subject which you define. •  Live in a different country and culture. •  Work as an apprentice for an expert in your target field. •  Finagle a job in an exceptional, innovative company, which: ■  knows something unique – such as BCG for Bill Bain, BCG and Bain & Company for me, or DESCO for Bezos ■  operates in a different market from any other firm, defined by customers, products, price, or technology (or permutations of these differences) ■  is growing very fast – 30 per cent at least, ideally doubling or better each year ■  comprises ‘A’ people – curious, demanding, and innovating. •  Start a company, club or network like this."

"When I was thirty-three, and my vehicle hove into view in the shape of LEK, I asked myself whether I was ready to become co-founder of a serious global firm – that was what we intended – to rival the giants of BCG, Bain and McKinsey. I pondered the question, and eventually decided I was ready, because: •  I really understood the concepts of strategy consulting and how to sell it. •  I could see a gap in the market for our first phase of success – we could build a British-based firm able to package and sell ‘American’ concepts in user-friendly ways to British and European bosses. •  Not only was there a gap in the market, but there was also a market in the gap – a big target market which was under-served. We could see something that our top competitors couldn’t: that the decision-makers in British and European companies were often put off by American ‘power salesmanship’ and jargon, by a lack of intellectual subtlety, and a failure to understand local nuances. We aimed to capitalise on that. •  Although we were a new outfit, LEK had partners who had worked for two of our top rival firms at a senior level, and we reckoned we would be at least the peers of the consultants we would be selling against. •  We were really excited about being in business for ourselves, taking whatever risks we wanted to, choosing who would work in our venture and reaping the rewards for ourselves and our people. •  We were confident about the economics of our new business if we could sell large chunks of business. We knew that strategy consulting was highly profitable, that it required no capital investment, and that it could be cash-positive very quickly."