Balancing Curiosity, Specialization, and Success as a Pricing Professional with Robert Ribciuc

Robert Ribciuc is the Managing Partner at EBITDA Catalyst. He helped establish, grew, and managed a successful advisory/consulting firm focusing on pricing strategy and analytics, go-to-market optimization, and revenue management for middle-market corporate and private equity portfolio (PE) clients in diverse industry verticals.

In this episode, Robert shares the key to succeeding as a pricing practitioner: nurturing curiosity. By continually seeking new experiences and knowledge, you'll not only advance in your current role but also pave the way for future promotions, ultimately leading to a successful career as a consultant.

 

Why you have to check out today’s podcast:

• Explore effective strategies for boosting personal and professional development as a pricing professional
• Discover the endless possibilities that come with nurturing your curiosity in the field of pricing
• Find out significant insights about specialization at the same time taking a broad approach in the pricing profession

 

"Without curiosity, you wouldn't have tried and you wouldn't know how much room for improvement to have."

- Robert Ribciuc

 

Topics Covered:

01:51 - The breadth of the pricing field extending beyond one's job

03:57 - Specializing in a particular industry versus embracing a multifaceted approach to pricing

08:37 - The importance of constantly learning and adapting in pricing

12:02 - How pricing professionals can be better at what they do

14:40 - How curiosity gets your job done easily and gets you promoted 

20:46 - The challenge of teaching for students in university versus teaching for companies

26:08 - Summarizing what the whole topic is about

28:18 - Robert's motivational message

 

Key Takeaways:

"Go read a book about a different industry, something that's not pricing. Also, get out of your chair and go walk to our product people, go walk to our marketing people and make some friends. Get them to tell you what their job is like and what they're thinking about." - Robert Ribciuc

"Curiosity is kind of the opposite of, ‘I can do it easy.’" - Robert Ribciuc

"In many companies the curiosity gets subdued by, ‘Oh, I find that if I just do this repeated cycle my boss is happy enough,’ right? And that can be an illusion." - Robert Ribciuc

 

People/ Resources Mentioned:

• Ronald Baker: https://impactpricing.com/podcast/497-classic-trash-the-timesheet-exploring-opportunities-in-subscription-businesses-with-ronald-j-baker/
• Susan David: https://www.susandavid.com
• Vendavo: https://www.vendavo.com
• Pros: https://pros.com
• Zoom: https://zoom.us
• Honeywell: https://www.honeywell.com/us/en

 

Connect with Robert Ribciuc:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ribciuc/
• Email: robert@ebitdacatalyst.com

 

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: mark@impactpricing.com