29. Mike Figliuolo on running a successful training firm

Our guest today is Mike Figliuolo, a McKinsey alum and West Point graduate.

Mike is the founder and Managing Director of ThoughtLeadersLLC, which provides training to corporations that is inspired by the types of internal training that consultants receive at McKinsey and other top firms.

He is also the author of three books

One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership 

The Elegant Pitch: Create a Compelling Recommendation, Build Broad Support, and Get it Approved

Lead Inside the Box: How Smart Leaders Guide Their Teams to Exceptional Results, which Mike co-authored with Victor Prince.

I heard about Mike’s firm from several Umbrex members, who have helped deliver some training sessions for Mike, and I recognized his name because Mike was the very first person to interview me when I applied to McKinsey, seventeen years ago.  So it was nice to reconnect.

In this episode, Mike gives an overview of his most popular courses and talks through lessons learned he has had in building a training firm. Lesson 1 – somewhat counterintuitive - don’t customize your training! I like the metaphor he uses to explain why: you need to be at the baseline or at the net.

Mike shares the business model of how the fees get split four ways each time a session is delivered: one share for the person who wrote the course; one share for the person who sold that particular session; one person who delivered the session; and one share for the house.

Do take a look at his firm’s website: thought leaders llc.com

Mike is happy to write a check to consultants who help him develop new business, so if know some clients that could benefit from his firm’s services, he’d love to hear from you.