The Strategy Skills Podcast: Management Consulting | Strategy, Operations & Implementation | Critical Thinking

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed one of Wall Street’s legendary tech analysts, Mark Mahaney.  In this episode, Mark discusses ten lessons that are proven to help investors succeed in tech stock investing. He shares powerful advice and knowledge from analyzing the most explosive sector on Wall Street over the past quarter century.  Lesson 1: There Will Be Blood… When You Pick Bad StocksLesson 2: You Can Lose $...Even When You Pick The Best StocksLesson 3: Don’t Play QuartersLesson 4: Revenue Matters More Than AnythingLesson 5: It Doesn’t Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Product SwingLesson 6: TAMs - The Bigger The BetterLesson 7: Follow the Value Prop, Not the MoneyLesson 8: Management Matters MostLesson 9: Look for Ballpark Reasonable ValuationLesson 10: Hunt for DHQs - Dislocated High-Quality Stocks Mark Mahaney has been covering internet stocks on Wall Street since 1998, with Morgan Stanley, American Technology Research, Citibank, RBC Capital Markets, and Ever

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed one of the most recognized, connected, and dynamic executives in the sports and entertainment industry today, Scott O'Neil. In this episode with Scott, he shared most of the valuable lessons in his life that keep him grounded and thriving as a leader, coach, husband, and father. Scott has more than 25 years of experience leading NBA, NHL, and NFL teams and leagues, including the National Basketball Association, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Rangers, and New Jersey Devils. His mission to build innovative, inspiring, socially impactful, and high-performing teams and business organizations have earned him a reputation as a “leader of leaders.” A Harvard Business School-educated CEO, O’Neil contends that fostering a corporate culture founded in respect, diversity, employee development and corporate social responsibility is what drives the success of the award-winning sports teams an

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 316, an episode with the author of Digital Transformation Payday, Tim Bottke. Why do companies embark on digital transformation? Is it because they need it? Or is it because it is the trend? In this episode, we deep-dived into the world of digital transformation. We discussed the common mistakes companies make when pursuing digital transformation and the rationale that CEOs and leaders must have to succeed in this endeavor. Tim Bottke is a senior Strategy Partner at Monitor Deloitte and an Associate Professor for Strategy and Digital Transformation at SDA Bocconi, a Financial Times/Forbes/Bloomberg Businessweek Top-Five European business school. He has more than 22 years of top management consulting and (digital) transformation experience from two global strategy boutiques and Deloitte, working with clients in more than 20 countries. Digital Transformation Payday: Navigate the Hype, Lower the Risks, Increase Return on Investments. Tim Bottke Enjoying this episode? Get acces

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed Suneel Gupta, the author of the international bestselling book Backable (2020). This book is rooted in his inner journey from twice-failed entrepreneur to becoming a leader behind two IPOs and being named “The New Face of Innovation” by the New York Stock Exchange. The book reveals the mindset shifts and hidden habits of people who are extraordinary at pushing new ideas forward. It shows how the key to success is not charisma, connections, or even your résumé, but rather your ability to persuade others to take a chance on you. As the founding CEO of RISE, a breakthrough wellness company, Suneel helped thousands of people establish a way to personalize their physical and mental health journey while connecting with certified nutritionists and trainers at an affordable price. The company was named “App of the Year” and partnered with then first-Lady Michelle Obama before being acquired by the NASDAQ-listed company One Medical Group. I

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the former Amazon Digital Media VP, Bill Carr. Bill is the coauthor of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon, an insider's breakdown of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and best practices from two long-time, top-level Amazon executives.  Bill Carr joined Amazon in 1999 and spent more than 15 years with the company. As the former Vice President of Digital Media, Bill launched and managed the company's global digital music and video businesses, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Bill was an Executive In Residence with Maveron LLC, an early-stage, consumer-only venture capital firm. Bill later served as the Chief Operating Officer of OfferUp, the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S. Today, Bill is the co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at large and early-stage companies on how to implement the managem

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic from the Corporate Strategy & Transformation study. In this podcast, we look at the problem of superficial financial analysis. One way to save the client money, before they run out of cash in about 16 months, is to stop all investments which lose money. This, however, is a terrible idea that will cause enormous damage to the client’s core business, consumers, and the economy. We discuss how we handle this recommendation and what we proposed in the study to fix the problem. Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we address how to answer difficult questions raised by the client during an executive workshop or another type of client's executive group meeting. We start with discussing the right mindset any consultant requires to be able to effectively handle difficult questions from a client. We thereafter review the particular steps in addressing a client's difficult questions raised during a workshop or a presentation. Lastly, we dive into which skills are required to be able to handle difficult questions, especially the kind of questions for which you don't have an immediate answer. Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss how accurate our financial model for the market entry strategy study is. Watch the video version here: How accurate was our financial model for the market entry strategy study? Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic about the top-down view of energy. It is crucial to provide boundaries when discussing sector-wide issues or the executives may get lost in the details and miss the key levers. Watch the video version here: Top-Down View of Energy Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interview an amazing neuroscientist, Dr. Wendy Suzuki. Wendy and Michael discuss how much many of us compromise our cognition and what can be done to improve our performance. You may be able to brag about that 1 a.m. email but if you could monitor your level of cognition you would quickly see, "Oh my God! This is not good." What is it doing for your brain? What is it doing for your executive functions in the prefrontal cortex? Leadership is not just about managing a team and setting goals for them. This is such a one-dimensional definition of leadership. Leadership is whether you can be fulfilled by what you are doing, be able to get up in the morning, and not kill yourself in the process of meeting a goal that some shareholder wants you to meet. You have to distinguish between health and performance. You can be performing quite high but you can be doing some dangerous things to push those numbers up or to push that productivity up. Just be

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we share one of our more in-depth episodes taken as a sample video from one of our strategy studies. This episode is complimentary and available on iTunes, Youtube, Spotify, and many other podcast players. Watch the video version here: How do I build the storyboard and why is it done so early?  Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 307, an episode with the Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Business Review Group, Adi Ignatius. In this episode with Adi Ignatius, we discussed timeless pieces from the Harvard Business Review, deep-dived into the business ideas and concepts within, and discussed how its perspective on business ideas helps us prepare for the future. Adi shared how HBR’s mission changed from the time it was founded and how it is improving for readers. Adi Ignatius oversees the editorial activities of Harvard Business Review, hbr.org, and HBR’s book-publishing unit. Prior to joining HBR in 2009, Mr. Ignatius was the No. 2 editor at TIME. He is the editor of two books: President Obama: The Path to the White House and Prisoner of the State: The Secret Diaries of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Both made the New York Times Bestseller List. Adi lived and worked overseas for nearly 20 years. He was Editor of Time’s Asian edition and served as Beijing Bureau Chief and Moscow Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journ

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 306, an episode with one of America’s most respected and accomplished voices on women as leaders and their relationship with power, Carolyn Buck Luce. Have you ever wondered what the world looks like from someone else’s point of view? We are all born different, with unique perspective, set of skills, talent, and experience, and with this combination, we can write our own story and design a life that is aligned with our purpose and meaning. As Carolyn said, “If you want to live in a way that is worth dying for, you can choose the most epic story for yourself knowing that you already have everything you need to have a life of meaning and purpose. The only question is how you want to invest your time, your trust, your talent, and your treasures.” Carolyn Buck Luce is a sought-after speaker, she was appointed by New York City’s former Mayor Bloomberg to his Commission on Women’s Issues and has co-authored numerous articles in the Harvard Business Review on women’s leadership, as

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 305, an episode with a leading expert in digital marketing, Dr. Mindy Weinstein. In this episode, Mindy discussed how to leverage the principle of scarcity to influence customer decisions, boost sales, and positively impact your business. She also shared the four types of scarcity: time-related, supply-related, demand-related, and limited edition. In this conversation, Mindy highlighted the importance of using scarcity ethically and developing marketing tactics that align with your product or service that aim not only to sell but to help your audience and customers. Dr. Mindy Weinstein is a leading expert in digital marketing and has been named one of the top women in the industry globally. Founder of the digital marketing firm Market MindShift, she has trained thousands of professionals from organizations of all sizes, including Facebook, The Weather Channel, and World Fuel Services. She has a doctor of philosophy degree in general psychology with an emphasis on technology

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 304, an episode with Dr. Ella F. Washington, the author of The Necessary Journey: Making Real Progress on Equity and Inclusion. How do we build an environment where employees feel safe to be themselves? Who is responsible for creating an organization that values and embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion? And what do we truly need to achieve, sustain, and maintain the workplace utopia that we dreamed of? Dr. Ella F. Washington is an organizational psychologist and DEI expert with a wealth of experience through her involvement as the Founder and CEO of Ellavate Solutions, a Professor of Practice at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, and the co-host of Gallup's Center of Black Voices Cultural Competence Podcast. Dr. Washington continues to deepen her research pipeline and thought leadership as a Gallup Senior Scientist studying inclusive leadership, strengths and other DEI workplace topics. She has global consulting experience in the human capital space,

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 303, an episode with Frank O’Connell, the author of Jump First, Think Fast. In this episode, Frank takes us on his career journey as he successfully explores multiple industries from baked goods to sporting apparel to video games. He shares the lessons he learned and how he built lasting relationships as he worked in different industries. Frank O’Connell is known for his unconventional approach for high performance through his strategic thinking, brand building, breakthrough marketing, and new product ideas. His accomplishments include serving as president of Reebok Brands, president of HBO Video, CEO of Indian Motorcycle, and chairman and CEO of Gibson Greetings, Inc. He spent the first fourteen years of his career developing well-known brands at Arnold Bakery, Mattel, Carnation Company, and Hunt Wesson foods, among other brands in the baking and natural foods industry. O’Connell was a senior partner with The Parthenon Group, a top strategic consulting company for seven yea

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 302, an episode with a Professor of International Business and Strategy at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Ravi Sarathy. What happens if a company or country regulates its own digital currency? In this episode, Ravi Sarathy answers very interesting questions about blockchain and cryptocurrency. He outlines the features and capabilities of a blockchain, the implications of using it, and how organizations can leverage blockchain to their advantage. Ravi Sarathy is the author of Enterprise Strategy for Blockchain, published by MIT Press in Oct. 2022, in which he explains how companies can gain a competitive advantage by developing and deploying blockchain capabilities. Ravi has published in journals such as Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Long Range Planning, Small Business Economics, and California Management Review. His previous book was Firms within Families: Enterprising in Diverse Country Contexts. His r

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we explain how leadership is defined at great firms like McKinsey and BCG, and how we also manage leadership transition at FC. It will surprise you to see how different the mindset can be and that we think about these issues all the time.  The most important role of a partner is to leave the firm in a better place than when she/he joined, and to hand over a client relationship to a newer partner. The ability to maintain this cycle is critical.  If the mechanism is not there, even proud and great firms suffer during leadership changes. You want to avoid that. The cycle must be continuous.  Click here to see the Corporate Strategy & Transformation study. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Let’s be honest. Most consultants simply go into Google and search for any reports / analyses to compile market trends/an industry analysis fact pack. In other words, they do not put much thought into it beyond ensuring they are not caught for plagiarism. This is because many consultants think of the market trends or industry analysis as an output to deliver, which will never be used, and it does not matter what comprises the analysis. For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic from week 4 of the Corporate Strategy & Transformation study, where we discuss how/why we built a bespoke market trends pack for the client addressing the issues important to them and them only. We used this market trends analysis to guide the executives on the issues we considered important to their strategy. Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss how to convert insights into Strategy Maps. It is a powerful tool to create prescriptive / forecasting models to explain and predict strategy options. This is how to move from being a consultant to thinking and presenting like a partner. It is complimentary and available on iTunes, Youtube, Spotify, and many other podcast players. The Video version of this episode is available on youtube - https://youtu.be/hcStB7fjsJ0 Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo