Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Show Notes: Brian Stollery talks about AlphaSense, an information provider that independent consultants and boutique firms are using to gain an edge over those who rely on chat GPT or consumer LLM tools. AlphaSense is built for this kind of work, pulling in verified content such as industry reports, broker research filings, earnings calls, expert calls, news, and internal research and internal content. It layers this with market-leading AI functionality that can read and synthesize all of it to deliver consulting-grade insights at scale. AlphaSense Explained Brian clarifies that AlphaSense is not primarily an expert network like AlphaSights, but rather a market company and enterprise intelligence search engine for the AI generation. It offers the depth and breadth of authoritative data that would be obtained from a legacy research platform with the intuitive user experience of modern AI tools. The value of AlphaSense lies in the deep, authoritative content set that is the foundation of AlphaSense, along with the speed and accuracy of the AI that allows users to quickly surface relevant insights. Brian also talks about the major categories of sources of proprietary information that feed into AlphaSense. The AlphaSense Platform The AlphaSense platform features an index where users can go to different things, such as portfolio monitors, research topics, expert insights, news, risk signals on consumer tech growth investment strategy, events, company documents, and talent job executive movements. The dashboard includes eight or nine widgets that provide a list of seven or eight articles on various topics. These articles are sourced from various sources, such as news articles or interviews with experts. The platform also has over 200,000 pre-recorded, transcribed expert calls, which are added to the library for analysis by the AI. How AlphaSense Gathers Information The interviewers are usually conducted by-side analysts, corporate users, and experts in respective fields. They work with corporate development teams and head of corporate strategy to conduct these interviews. The platform believes that a rising tide lifts all boats, and every expert call that happens throughout the AlphaSense is published back in the platform to further enhance and grow its library of expert calls from subject matter experts who are currently active in their industry.   AlphaSense Use Cases In management consulting, AlphaSense may not be suitable for calls that would be better suited to AlphaSights where the information is sensitive or should have restricted access.  However, the use case for AlphaSense is to get up to speed on an engagement and quickly search across benchmark expert perspectives. This allows them to bolster their expertise within the management consulting space. AlphaSense is an institutional grade content engine that consolidates information from various sources, including expert calls, news, research reports, broker research, and more. It offers over 6000 vetted business and market news sources and trade journals, most of which require paywalls. AlphaSense allows users to bypass these paywalls and provides real-time insights from over 700 partners.   The AlphaSense Dashboard The dashboard includes relevant documents related to executive movements, risk signals, growth, and investment strategies. Users can explore the dashboard by searching for trigger words related to their watchlist of consumer tech companies. The AI can then pull relevant documents, such as expert insights, event transcripts, press releases, and news, to provide valuable insights for business development or due diligence. The Executive Search Function The document search module within AlphaSense allows users to get forensic insights from relevant documents, such as executive search, talent, and hiring practices. The AI can also generate summary responses, which are useful for top-tier consulting use cases. However, the AI may sometimes make a guess or hallucination if an answer is not available. This is why the Big Three and Big Four rely on AlphaSense for their consulting use cases. The AlphaSense Research Tool The AlphaSense generative search tool is a research analyst team in a box. The tool is designed to answer macro business questions, such as market size or pricing trends. Brian checks McKinsey, Bain and BCG's performance in 2025, including their revenue, talent, hiring, and growth areas. The AI agent breaks down these questions into subquestions and finds 3000 documents across the content library. It then extracts documents from expert calls, press releases, investor relations presentations, research reports, and sustainability reports. The AI outputs a summary of the documents. The tool is particularly useful for understanding the performance of consulting firms like McKinsey Bain and BCG. Quality Sources and Quantitative Data AlphaSense provides bullet points on McKinsey, revenue, growth, talent, and hiring, with links to expert calls and other sources of data. The AI outputs are deep linked and cited to the source, ensuring accuracy. For instance, McKinsey Sciences for Growth, a 2025 focus, integrates tech-enabled capabilities and AI. BCG reported $13.5 billion in 2024 revenue, achieving 10% global growth and expanding its workforce to 33,000 employees. AlphaSense also has sentence-level citations, ensuring every sentence is deep linked and cited to its source. AlphaSense uses various models from partners like open AI, sonnet four, and Gemini 2.5, all grounded in high-quality, relevant documents. The tool's intelligence selects the best model based on the use case, whether it's reasoning-based or quantitative or qualitative. The AI is a comprehensive market-leading library of authoritative content that consultants care about. Modes of Research and Meeting Prep for Management Consultants Brian shares the typical use cases for management consultants using generative search platforms. He highlights two modes: think longer and deep research. Brian used generative search to prepare for a meeting with a client at a mid-sized consulting firm, focusing on digital strategy. The AI summarized transcripts, expert calls, earnings calls, and press releases from iHeart, highlighting the company's focus on technology, digitization, and AI-enabled automation as the key to cost savings and digital revenue acceleration. The platform also offers an iPhone app for on-the-go access to insights. The AI analyzed bullet points and planned insights on every section, creating a comprehensive competitive intelligence report. The report includes chatter on core service offerings, engagement models, pricing structures, sector specialization, news partnerships, partnerships, and tech bets.    AlphaSense’s Generative Grid Brian talks about using AlphaSense's generative grid, which is a generative AI-powered spreadsheet to aggregate documents and interrogate them. This is useful for tracking executive compensation and performance components for target accounts. The grid allows consulting users to analyze past performance and understand the current climate. Another use case is connecting consulting, transformation, and strategic advisory services to key performance indicators, such as free cash flow, human capital, strategic objectives, or EBITDA. By attaching value drivers directly to performance components, consultants can focus on adjusted EBITDA growth, cost optimization, Target, discover integration execution drive, adjusted ROTC, and revenue growth tied to executive compensation. AlphaSense for Understanding Business Development Brian explains that the use cases and projects of consultants using AlphaSense  vary, but one major use case is business development understanding. It helps in identifying companies' propensity for M&A or divestitures, such as changes in management or new strategic initiatives. AlphaSense also offers a deal scanner for M&A consultants looking at acquisitions or private equity deals across a portfolio of companies or industries. It also provides due diligence services, such as meeting prep, company research, trend analysis, market assessment, client benchmarking, and sentiment analysis. Alpha Sense’s Access to Information Providers AlphaSense has access to SEC filings, newspapers, trade journals, investment bank coverage, and reports. AlphaSense also has access to other information providers like CrunchBase, capital, IQ, and Pitch Book. The Venn diagram highlights the overlap of information between AlphaSense and other information providers, such as CrunchBase, Morningstar, and CrunchBase. If a company's revenue or employee count is in CrunchBase, it can be accessed via AlphaSense. Alpha Sense vs. Capital IQ The conversation turns to the differences between AlphaSense and Capital IQ, a financial reporting platform. AlphaSense is an end-to-end intelligence engine that provides access to investment banking reports, but it requires downloading them one by one. It is not possible to search across all content sets at once. Capital IQ, on the other hand, offers valuable structured data, is great for downloading Industry Reports, and is a strategic database of financials and filings. It is also useful for importing statistical or financial models into Excel. AlphaSense, on the other hand, is an end-to-end intelligence engine that provides decision-ready insights across billions of data points. Timestamps: 03:23: Overview of AlphaSense's Content and AI Capabilities  07:27: Detailed Walkthrough of AlphaSense Dashboard 12:38: Exploring Different Categories of Information Sources  16:36: Generative Search and Deep Research Capabilities  26:05: Use Cases for Management Consultants  42:50: Comparison with Other Information Providers  49:22: Pricing and Accessibility Links: Website: https://www.alpha-sense.com/ Recently feature on AlphaSense on CNBC with more insight on our Deep Research differentiation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HJ8Egisg-w If folks want to reach out directly for their own personalized demo: Email: bstollery@alpha-sense.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briancity/ 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.

Wes Wheless is a solo consultant focused on helping others like him through Develop My IP, offering services like Niche Finder and IP Builder sprints. In this engaging conversation, he delves into the importance of identifying a unique niche and developing intellectual property. Wes shares fascinating case studies of clients who have carved out their market space, like a fractional CMO for subscription companies, and emphasizes the power of tailored visual communication in attracting clients. Tune in for insights on transforming expertise into a thriving consulting practice!

Show Notes: Alex Lugosch and Ilya Druzhnikov, founders of True PMF, explain that True PMF is a rapid prototyping and discovery service for startups and established companies who are releasing a new product or testing a new market and don’t have the tools or six to eight months to try new experiments for product market fit. The firm uses cold calling tools to test out different ideas and pitches to potential clients, focusing on understanding the reactions of potential buyers. Ilya explains how their tool saves time and money by improving the cold call process. First Steps in a Cold Call Strategy Alex and Ilya work with a founder to identify their target audience and use tools like ZoomInfo to gather a list of people that fit that profile. They then use cold calling tool to test out different ideas and iterate different pitches to potential clients. They also train the founder to do cold calls, helping them understand the process and find what resonates with potential buyers. The firm often stacks rank lists of 20 audiences to test in the next 20 days, with each experiment taking about two sessions of an hour each. At a certain point, they do turnover, where the founder takes over to learn how to do the process. They use several list building services, data validation services, and dialers to build tight lists, accessing many people at the C-suite that most founders can only dream of contacting. Within one or two calls, they find that those people are picking up on their pitches and talking to them, which is a significant improvement from the traditional six-month process of trying to determine if something is a product market fit. The Cold Call Conversation and Analysis Ilya explains the process, beginning from when they contact the founder, building the initial list, finding direct phone numbers for 80-100 people, and loading them into their enterprise-grade tech stack that few startups can afford.  He goes on to explain how they start the conversation.  They try to make the pitch relevant to the founder and explain that their solution could save time and money while having a positive impact on the bottom line. After the call, the transcript goes directly into the AI model, which produces an analysis of the conversation and offers recommendations on how to proceed. The next step is to determine the outcome of the call. In a typical calling session, there are sometimes upwards of 14 or 15 connects. As the conversation gets closer to the target, the conversations become more rich, with more follow-up emails, scheduled demos, and referrals. It's an iterative process until discovering the audience is interested in the topic and/or the call can be referred to the right person. Cold Calling Techniques The conversation turns to the importance of effective cold pitching techniques. They mention the importance of recognizing what’s currently relevant to the client. They also discuss the concept of partnering one person to take a pitch and then alternate to the other person without giving feedback. The key to getting better at cold pitching is focusing on the elements that work in the previous pitch. This technique can be applied to other situations as well, such as listening to each other's tone of voice and understanding their preferences. Alex emphasizes that these techniques are not meant to scale sales but to provide relevant information about messaging and product features that can be used in outbound campaigns that are scalable, such as emails, LinkedIn messages, or conferences. Ilya and Alex give an impromptu example of an opening conversation with mid-market private equity owned portfolio companies. Ilya explains that their informs more effective marketing strategies. This approach helps clients narrow down their ideas about the persona, develop stronger content that connects with their target market(s),  and ensures that their marketing efforts are highly effective. Cost of SDRs Cold Calling The discussion revolves around the cost of cold calling sales development representatives (SDRs) and their effectiveness in B2B product spaces. Emphasis is placed on understanding the messaging and the potential for managing costs. They mention a company with 400 clients across Europe that raised over $50 million and had six SDRs, but none of them were effective. They also mention that a multinational tech startup with a large B2B sales team cannot afford six CROs to run their sales team. They advise against giving cold calls to unskilled SDRs, as they may not be adaptable enough to handle complex situations. However, cold calling is a good prototyping tool, as it allows companies to reach a wider audience, gain insights and understanding of their market, and potentially increase their revenue. Examples of How TruePMF Serves Clients Alex and Ilya initially focused on high-growth e-commerce brands, but later discovered that they needed to target established e-commerce brands looking for margin expansion. They created a new list of these brands and tested it with CTOs, which proved more relevant. Then, they called private equity partners, specifically tech stack operating partners, to expand their reach. This allowed them to sell their solution across multiple brands. Another example is a smaller company with 20 clients, all big enterprise clients, looking to sell to private equity firms. Ilya also discusses the process of selling a product before building it, and emphasizes the importance of honesty and transparency in the sales process.   About the Founders of TruePMF.com Alex Lugosch, a FinTech founder and executive at a wholesale, e-commerce company, and the B2B credit space, and Ilya Druzhnikov, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, have both been working with founders and CEOs to help them understand Product Market Fit. They have worked in various industries, including B2B wholesale, e-commerce, and angel investing. The website, Pmf.com, is by referral only, and they have a bias for working with serious people who are serious about their business. They require founders to attend every call, including the CEO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Head of Sales. The company has sold their product to 400 companies across Europe and is coming to the United States. Timestamps: 00:02: Introduction to True PMF and Their Unique Approach 03:28: Explaining the True PMF Service  06:35: Detailed Walkthrough of the Process 10:47: Iterative Improvement and Audience Targeting  16:29: The Role of Cold Calling in Business Development  34:04: Client Examples and Success Stories  40:23: Background of Alex and Ilya  Links:  Website: https://truepmf.com/ 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: Vanessa Liu, co-founder and CEO of Sugarwork, talks about how this tool helps enterprises capture tacit knowledge by acting as a guide.  Sugarwork helps companies capture specific information at scale and enables sharing, and guides companies to ask specific questions to elicit the required insights.    How the Sugarwork Platform Works Vanessa explains how the dashboard works and how it helps companies understand, leverage, and easily access their tacit knowledge for better decision-making and growth.  She introduces the scheduling section. Vanessa shows how the Knowledge Share section acts as a guide that helps advance the discussion and gathering of key insights.  She talks through the shares a few query examples that guide questions that gather insights, including roles and responsibilities, problem-solving, and core technical questions.   Sharing Resources and Data from Meetings  Vanessa explains how scheduling meetings works and the integrations with several different meeting apps. Vanessa talks about the AI avatar or an employee interview an interviewee, and how the information gathered and stored in the Knowledge Share section. The platform allows companies to schedule video meetings where an AI note taker transcribes the conversation and provides a summary. The raw data from the meeting is also available, allowing participants to share their insights. Shared Resources are uploaded into a repository, allowing the company to access the information on a permissions-based basis. She demonstrates how AI takes notes and issues a summary and overview.  Asking Questions and Accessing Knowledge Share Vanessa explains that the platform is typically used for short, compressed periods, such as a transformation or launch of something new. This allows HR teams to access knowledge shares and ask questions as if they were talking to the interviewees. The platform also allows for queries based on ChatGPT, or other tools to understand why a client or customer works with a particular vendor. The platform is designed to be accessible to the entire company.   Interview Use Cases and Documenting Processes  The conversation turns to the use of interviewers in companies, with two common models: one involves a trained interviewer interviewing everyone in the company, and another involves multiple interviewers for onboarding junior employees. Vanessa suggests two use cases for this approach: documenting processes and understanding succession planning work. A project manager can document the process and create a process map to optimize it. Another use case involves understanding people's knowledge shares for succession planning or transformations.   Saving Time and Improving Efficiency Vanessa also mentions the activity value added analysis (AVA) project, where companies can identify activities that are taking up significant time and eliminate them. This tool can be used for cost-cutting projects, such as the AVA project, where companies can identify bottlenecks and improve efficiency. The second use case is business optimization, where companies can map processes to identify areas for optimization and understand where people are spending time. For example, a new product development process can be analyzed to identify pain points and identify solutions for bottlenecks. This can include changing the configuration of people involved or adjusting handoffs.   Budget Processes and Interviews Sugarwork is designed to help companies understand their processes and identify key themes in customer segments. The platform is not intended for detailed process mapping, but rather for understanding the different customer segments and their roles in the process. Sugarwork provides a consolidated view of everyone involved in the budgeting process. The platform also helps identify key themes across various customer segments. Its focus on detail, data analysis, and automation makes it an attractive option for companies looking to streamline their processes and improve their efficiency.   Insights and Pricing The platform has been used by mid-sized companies going through digital transformation, large companies hiring consulting firms, and small consultancies seeking to understand best practices, talent, and processes.  Vanessa explains that customized templates are created for companies based on desired outputs and participants' roles and functions.  She goes on to talk about the pricing structure of Sugarwork and use cases on customers looking for insights into best practices, talent, and automation. Sugarwork has also been used by small consulting firms to run analysis with their clients, as they can scale their work and use the tool faster. Vanessa shares an example of a consulting firm using Sugarwork when working with a government agency.  They had to conduct numerous interviews and needed to scale their team. By using Sugarwork, they were able to easily store, access, and analyze the data and make informed decisions about their strategies and resources.  Timestamps: 01:59: Overview of Sugarwork Dashboard  02:38: Detailed Walkthrough of Sugarwork Features  06:16: Interview Process and AI Integration 10:40: Use Cases and Recommendations  14:27: Data Analysis and Customer Targeting  20:12: Pricing and Availability   Links: Website: https://www.sugarwork.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessawliu/

Show Notes: Ami Parekh discusses the business model and services of Included Health, a company that provides personalized healthcare. Included Health partners with self-insured employers and health plans to improve the way working Americans and their families receive healthcare.  Included Health Services  About a third of Fortune, 100 companies, and 10 million Americans have access to Included Health’s services. The company focuses on providing access answers and advocacy as people engage in the healthcare system. The company has nearly 3000 people, including 1000 clinicians across the country, including primary care doctors, specialists, nurse practitioners, and therapists. Additionally, hundreds of care advocates help patients understand the ins and outs of the healthcare system. Many patients come to Included Health because they can't get access to primary care and behavioral health, which can take one to two months across most of the country. The company aims to address this supply problem. Navigating the Healthcare System Ami talks about the role of Included Health in helping patients navigate the healthcare system, focusing on personalized and best-for-the-patient approach. She explains how it can help patients navigate their insurance and coverage options. She also covers the use of data and data science to match patients with the highest quality healthcare professionals for specific requirements, such as orthopedic surgeons or specialists. Ami emphasizes that Included Health are not plans or payers, but providers who work with a wide field of providers, and their job is to help patients achieve the best outcomes within the current healthcare system. Accessing Quality Data in Healthcare The conversation turns to the concept of quality data in healthcare, how it is crucial to consider the quality of care and the likelihood of repeat surgeries, and the issue of inappropriate prescribing behavior, such as the use of opiates and benzodiazepines, which can be addictive. Ami explains how Included Health accesses and uses data, and how collected sanctioned data can help determine if a provider is safe for family members to see. Ami emphasizes that data is never perfect, and in the worst case scenario, patients can consult with clinicians to find the right doctor. The data can help inform conversations about who to see, and Included Health offers support in finding publicly available data sources and the right practitioner. She highlights the need for better data and collaboration between healthcare providers and patients to improve patient outcomes and overall healthcare quality. Improving Healthcare Pricing and Cost Employers typically pay for Included Health as a layer on top of their health plan, as they want their employees to be healthy, productive, and engaged members of their workforce. They also want healthcare costs to remain low so that they can pay their employees a living wage and invest in other benefits. Healthcare is often the number two cost after supplies in America, and employers want their employees to be healthy, productive, and engaged. Included Health offers a way to give healthy days back to employees by reducing the number of days they are unable to be healthy due to mental or physical health reasons. This results in increased productivity, better work performance, and overall cost savings. There are two dimensions to using included health services: first-time care and saving time. First, employees get the right care the first time, which can lead to cost savings. Second, health plans are incentivized to offer support to their patient population, as they are paying for it. Third, Included Health helps find providers quickly, saving employees time and freeing them up to focus on the healing process and family. Furthermore, Included Health provides access to primary care doctors, which is crucial for long-term cost savings and better health. How Included Health Works Included Health has about 1500 clinicians available for virtual appointments, including behavioral health providers. The app allows users to schedule appointments within a week, ensuring choice and quick access to healthcare services. Technology has brought about broader trends in the industry, such as value-based care and making things easier to access. The cost of healthcare is increasing by seven to 10% year over year, making it unsustainable for the American population. Employers, who are often the purchasers of healthcare, are seeking better solutions to control healthcare costs. They are trying to do this through products and services, creating new networks, and focusing on wellness. The trend is driven by employers and the government, as well as insurance companies. Included Health fits into this trend by reducing total care costs and prioritizing the member experience. By being a one-stop shop for patients and members, employers can experiment with different services without disrupting the member experience. This allows them to work with the growing trend of cost-cutting and value-based care in the healthcare industry. Included Health’s Clients and Pricing Structure  The pricing structure for the company is custom, client-by-client, and depends on the population being served. The company does not have a per-head pricing structure, but rather on a population level. Performance guarantees are part of the pricing model, which includes up-operation and delivery of savings.The company has started participating in shared savings models with CalPERS, which allows California employees and their dependents access to their services. Payers see the company as a provider for their members, and they believe that these models are helping them achieve better outcomes for patients. Included Health mostly focuses on larger enterprise and jumbo clients, with 33 of the Fortune 100 companies being clients. Smaller clients also receive good results from the company. The Role of AI in Healthcare Ami discusses the use of Telehealth in healthcare. She mentions her parents as an example of how they could do more virtually than they are today. Ami also discusses the role of AI in healthcare, stating that, by providing tools that can help healthcare workers it is a beneficial tool.  AI has been used in healthcare for therapy, diagnosis, and diagnosis, with 20% of conversations being healthcare-related. She is excited about the potential of AI in healthcare. Member-facing AI can answer basic health insurance questions and provide guidance on insurance deductibles and costs. Included Health ensures all of their AI services are supported by humans, whether on the clinical side or on the care team side, to ensure a human is available to the customer when needed.  Ami believes that AI will be a tool that supports the human workforce in healthcare, making their jobs easier and allowing them to do more for the members. Over the next year or two, AI will play a significant role in healthcare, with AI helping navigate systems, schedule calls, and provide better access to care for patients. Timestamps: 01:22 Included Health's Services and Impact 03:22: Navigating the Healthcare System  07:20: Challenges and Solutions in Healthcare Data  14:29: Employer and Health Plan Perspectives  21:33: Value-Based Care and Pricing Structure  27:21: Health Plan and TPA Relationships  32:41: Role of AI in Healthcare  Link:  https://includedhealth.com/   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: Sarah Dobson, founder and creative director at Design of Brand, discusses their niche in helping founders of companies establish their brand identity. They offer a process that includes brand strategy, naming, and creating a visual identity system for launch or relaunch. She explains what a brand identity entails and provides examples of successful case studies.  Discovering and Designing a Brand Identity Sarah explains what the core of a brand identity is, how it is more than just a palette or a logo, and how she helps founders articulate that identity from developing the symbolic mark, word mark, and often, the name of the company through to the visual design elements of fonts and colours etc. She discusses her practice of collecting examples for design inspiration. She shares that he takes photos of various elements, such as typography, street signs, shapes, and color palettes, and banks them to find the right place in someone's identity. She also mentions that she started using Pinterest early on and quickly gained 800,000 followers. Sarah believes that understanding trends is crucial for creating unique designs and not looking like another brand. She uses Pinterest to research interiors and symbols for clients where she populates secret boards with images and ideas. She researches broadly online to find inspiration from a variety of sources and uses it to create visually appealing designs. Sarah mentions that she is considering launching a course to help people name their companies. She believes that sharing her capabilities with others would be meaningful to help more people develop their brand identity. A Case Study on Naming a Brand  Sarah shares a case study of working with a founder who didn't have a name for their company. She shares the story of Othership, a social sauna and cold plunge business in New York. The founder had stopped drinking and was looking for alternative alternatives to bars. Sarah explains that she had two clients who were also interested in Sonic culture and the Soho House of Wellness. The clients joined forces to establish their company and Sarah explains how she worked closely with them to develop a deep understanding of who they were and of the company they were developing. Sarah observed the founders as they were prototyping and building out the space. They developed breath work, audio and physical space to help them synthesize their vision for a more social, healthy way of having fun. Sarah explains how she encouraged them to change their name from Inward to Othership  because it reflected the founder's focus on connections and creating a healthy space with and for others rather than internal issues. She also explains how playing with suffixes and compound words is a part of the naming process. Case Study on Creating a Visual Identity Sarah discusses the process of creating a visual identity for the brand Othership, including the logo mark, buttons, and photography. She talks about where she found inspiration for the symbol mark, which included drawing inspiration from the spinning top toy and The Sims. The logo has had an incredible effect on people's lives, with at least five people now having tattoos of it. The color scheme was inspired by Disney’s Fantasia, and the founders' energy was a key factor in the design, and the color palette was atypical and flexible, not just two colors. Sarah explains that this approach was similar to a design she developed for a super food snack cafe's color palette. In terms of process and iterations, Sarah mentions that, sometimes, two to three different concepts are explored, with one being the most likely one based on the client's preferences and the other exploring more strategic ideas. The process is seen as due diligence, with the goal of finding the one that resonates with the client. Case Study on the Brand Identity of a Cannabis Retailer and an Organic Food Snack Sarah discusses his experiences in creating a cannabis retailer in Canada, which was a unique and exciting venture. She created a brand called Superette, which aimed to make people feel comfortable buying cannabis legally. The brand was inspired by Peter Pan in Brooklyn, an old Polish bakery because the store felt like a community, with lineups and regulars for breakfast. Another case example is a nut milk bar cafe and a nut milk. The cafe was developed by a friend after completing a nutrition education course and wanted to provide a healthier cafe alternative to muffins and unhealthy drinks. The founder went on to develop and sell the nut milk, which  t is made from scratch and is nutritionally dense, making it a potential competitor to Starbucks. The brand was rebranded and reworked, with the word mark and visual identity system updated. The goal was to strengthen and optimize the brand for future success. A Design Perspective on Fonts Sarah talks about her knowledge with fonts. She shares a quote, “words have meaning but  typography has a feeling and can be spectacular.” She talks about the evolution of typography from handwriting, scripting, manuscripts, and the printing press to the computer. A study by the New York Times found that serifs such as Baskerville or Garamond were found to be the most believable font. Sarah suggests starting to educate oneself by examining their intuition and feeling the right fit. She mentions that Comic Sans, an early digital font, has been found to be beneficial for dyslexia due to its letter forms. Sarah talks about her methods of classification when choosing a brand font and gives a few examples of how a font feels. She suggests that anyone interested in learning more about fonts should start by exploring different font styles and their impact on the human subconscious. Timestamps: 01:44 Explaining Brand Identity  07:31: Case Study: Other Ship 17:30: Visual Identity and Branding Elements  22:17: Typography and Design Philosophy  22:34: Case Study: Superette  25:37: Case Study: Nut Bar  Links: Website Portfolio Design of Brand Instagram Othership Othership Inspiration "Logo Dump" Superette Nutbar 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.

Chad Oakley, CEO of Charles Aris, has extensive experience from major consulting firms. He delves into the current job market for consultants, examining how rising interest rates and inflation have impacted consulting firms and hiring trends. Chad highlights the shift towards specialization and the importance of quantifying achievements for job seekers. He also touches on evolving demands for consulting, especially in navigating challenges like supply chain management and the growing interest in blue collar services amid changing investment trends.

In this engaging discussion, Joe O’Mahoney, a part-time professor at Cardiff University and expert in boutique consultancy growth, shares insights from his 20 years of research. He emphasizes that strong leadership and clear market positioning are crucial for scaling consulting firms. Joe outlines the significance of building a competent sales team and developing specialized services to enhance profitability. He also delves into the challenges of talent management and the complexities of firm valuation, offering practical strategies for success.

Show Notes: Chris Freeberg is the co-founder of deck.support, a company that brings some of the best tools for PowerPoint into Google Slides. Chris and cofounder Dimitri Limberopoulos recognized the need for increased functionality in Google Slides as more companies were switching from PowerPoint to Google Slides but wanted a larger variety of tools and functionality for projects. deck.support was launched last month in the Google workspace marketplace as an extension to Google Slides and provides a wide range of  tools to increase creativity and functionality that are available for PowerPoint. deck.support is an affordable and  essential tool for those who prefer working in Google Slides for client or collaboration reasons.     An Introduction to deck.support  deck.support lives within Google Slides and Chris demonstrates how to access the extension. He discusses the use of deck.support which offers various formatting shortcuts and alignment tools. These tools allow users to quickly align images, columns, and objects, and automatically resize them for better alignment.    deck.support Objects and Templates Tutorial Chris explains how to use objects and templates. Objects are text and graphical elements that can be inserted onto a page, such as three-step process wheels or four-step process wheels.  Templates are more elaborate versions of layouts. Templates can include a table of contents, detailed agenda, context, findings, matrix, BFA, call out, box prioritization, traffic light, slide, Harvey Ball, timeline, slide, customer funnels, and more. The founders have tried to replicate the visual languages used in their slides. The collection of templates, key actions, deliverables, and hypotheses is a complete list of 90% of the standard slide designs used in consulting projects. deck.support for Project Goals and Objectives The project also includes charts with more numerous charts to explore the project's goals and objectives. The goal is to provide a more engaging and effective presentation for clients. They have built a roadmap of 10 different chart types to start with, aiming to bring a high level of precision to Google Slides. AI is another feature which allows users to prompt the AI to read a slide and add finishing touches. This is an integration with Open AI, which will look at a slide and add specific notes to the speaker notes at the bottom. The AI suggestions launched at the bottom of the slide include a more action-oriented or informative headline that concisely summarizes the benefits of deck support. deck.support and the Golden Age of Entrepreneurship Chris discusses the importance of remembering who the audience is for a slide presentation to ensure clarity and comprehension. The process of building the tool involved a quick analysis of the potential of Google Slides, and hiring a developer with expertise in Google Apps Scripts. The augmented intelligence provided by AI tools allowed him to understand the process of development and make informed decisions. Chris believes that AI is a gold standard in the field of entrepreneurship, as it provides a demystification of the process, making it easier and more enjoyable for the audience. He also mentions the importance of considering the audience's needs and the potential for advancements in the field. Chris and Dimitri built a roadmap using PowerPoint and AI to understand the purpose of their software. They were guided by 17 years of BCG experience and were familiar with existing tools and their limitations.  Developing, Testing, and Pricing deck.support Chris discusses the development process of their product, which took about six months. The first step was identifying how to communicate what they wanted in terms of tools and functionality, and identifying the limitations of current tools on the market. They used chat GPT to evaluate different jurisdictions for incorporation, such as Delaware, Ireland, Dubai, and Singapore. They landed on Singapore, as it was the best place for two international people selling software. Chat GPT helped them evaluate different options and run simulations of fees, given different revenue levels and currency flows. Each section of the tool became its own block, and they tested each one before launching it in the App Store. They learned that the most valuable aspect of the product was the user-centered approach and understanding how it would be used and integrated into workflows.They currently offer the product for free on the Google workspace marketplace, but the alignment tools will be paid for. The core version of export will have an annual fee of $50 per year, and charts will be an additional feature that people can pay for. The pricing for charts is currently around $300 a year, and efficient elements will be around $100 a year. The overall value of the product is expected to be around $150 a year for charts. AI Tools for PowerPoint The conversation turns to AI tools for PowerPoint and their potential to create specific slides for consultants and professionals. Most people don't want someone to create the entire pitch deck for them, but rather just insert a slide according to their template. Chris believes that AI tools are still a few years away from being able to do this and that the need for AI tools will diminish as knowledge professionals have a better understanding of how to visually bring a presentation to life. He states that AI tools can be useful for high school students and sales professionals, but they may fall short when it comes to the nuance of consulting work. He talks about the limitations of AI models in generating creative campaigns. One of the biggest challenges is their inability to replicate the same character over and over again. AI models today are better at starting from a link sheet and bringing consistency from users on a micro level. The Process of Getting a deck.support into Google App Store Chris shares that getting a product into the Google App Store was painful, as there is a process that requires submission to the Google Workplace Marketplace for approval. This process verifies the app's security, consistency with best practices, and that there is no attempt to steal user information. The challenge was navigating two different teams within Google, all of whom seemed to be based on different sides of the world. The process lasted about six weeks, with cryptic emails asking for approvals and cryptic questions asking for help. Chat GPT helped identify opportunities to fix issues within the Google Cloud console. Security Measures for deck.support When it comes to security, Chris explains that the tool has no ability to see how users use the tool or what buttons they push. Once CRM capabilities are turned on, they capture email addresses and user accounts, but only the slide being viewed is transmitted to Open AI. Open AI returns this information consistent with the Terms of Service. Chris emphasizes the importance of enterprise security, as they have completed an enterprise security assessment for a consulting firm that uses Google Slides. They have documented that there is no image or information capture in the tool, only knowing who a user is, their active account, and the right to press the Layout button.Chris also talks about the use of Google App Script for the Google Slide extension, which ensures compliance with SOC 2 compliance. This means that the tool is not covered by the Google Workplace sandbox, which means it doesn't have to pay $40,000 for its own SOC 2 compliance. Chris explains that the tool lives in the cloud, not on its own. Users can download the tool from the deck.support website. Chris also mentions the limitations of Google Slides extensions, which require users to click on the "Open sidebar" button every time. To fix this, an App Script can be added to Google Slides, allowing users to click on the "Open sidebar" button when opening the slide. The Script can be found in the Extensions menu within Google Slides.  Timestamps: 02:20: Overview of deck.support and Its Features  36:30: Detailed Features of deck.support  36:45: Development and Building of deck.support  36:59: Challenges and Future Plans for deck.support  38:50: User Experience and Availability of deck.support  Links: Website: https://deck.support/ Marketplace Listing for downloads: https://workspace.google.com/marketplace/app/deck.support_pro_tools_for_google_slides/128114120858 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: Stephan Meier, a professor at Columbia Business School, is the author of the book "Employee Advantage." He teaches the business strategy core class, which is required for all MBA students. Stephan also teaches an elective on the future of work, focusing on how treating employees and labor interacts with technology and business strategy. Stephan conducts international trips to African countries, such as Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya, to provide students with international experiences and perspectives on businesses, strategy, and different environments. His focus is on putting workers first to help businesses thrive. The conversation turns to Stephan’s book and the concept of the workplace and business strategy. He mentions how the pandemic brought the workplace under the spotlight and technology use ramped up, while at the same time, Stephan was teaching a class on the Future of Work. The conversation turns to the concept of putting workers first as a key element of business success, and how the business language reveals the mode of managing the employee base. This outlook has led to a large divide between employee and employer. According to Gallup surveys, about 65% of Americans are not engaged at work, and this number is even higher worldwide. Stephan also talks about customer centricity and how employee experience is crucial for both innovation and customer satisfaction. The Employee First Approach Stephan cites Jeff Bezos, and Amazon as examples of organizations that prioritize employee satisfaction. Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos believes that learning from dissatisfied employees can lead to continuous improvement and better business outcomes. This mindset is also seen in other industries, such as Costco in the US, which provides clear career paths, communicates clearly, and promotes internally. DHL Express, for two years in a row, was named the best employer in the world on the best workplaces in the world list for two consecutive years. They put employees first because they realized that turnover is terrible and happy employees are more engaged and leads to satisfied customers. They changed aspects of communication, listening, training, and career path within the organization, leading to financial success. How the Employee/Customer Centric Approach Wins Stephan discusses the importance of treating employees well and putting them first at the margin when making trade-offs. He talks about Starbucks, where the company's customer-centric approach has led to a loss of a customer-centric environment. He talks about how this could be improved. Stephan also emphasizes that both customers and employees are critical stakeholders that create value within the organization. Companies that prioritize their employees are more likely to be successful. This is because they have a strong focus on competence, which is encouraged by offering the right tasks that push employees optimally. This is crucial for motivation and retention, as people often leave organizations when they don't learn anything new. How Successful Companies Prioritize Employees Stephan states that companies strive to differentiate through a customer-centric approach, but he goes on to explain that the employee-centric and the customer-centric approach are often interchangeable. He offers examples of companies that prioritize their employees including Costco, DHL Express, and MasterCard. Microsoft uses an AI-powered tool called Unlocked, which allows employees to choose projects they want to participate in and matches them with opportunities within the company. This approach not only improves the internal market but also creates a better experience for employees. Companies like KKR, which invest heavily in portfolio companies, implement ownership programs, which give employees stock options as a start. To differentiate between companies that prioritize their employees, companies should consider metrics such as engagement level and turnover rates. By focusing on these early indicators, companies can better understand their commitment to their employees and work towards creating a healthy workplace culture that leads to productive and engaged workers. How to Build an Employee-centric Workplace Stephan suggests that companies should start by focusing on what they do with customers and how they do it with employees. They can use ideation workshops to understand customer needs and differentiate themselves from competitors. For example, Eli Lilly applied customer journeys to employees, focusing on their experiences and moments that matter. This approach helped them get more people promoted and had a significant impact on their business. Stephan recommends designing workshops to help employees think about ideas and motivations, as well as redesigning processes and procedures within the organization. By doing so, companies can better understand their employees' needs and preferences, leading to a more engaged, productive, and innovative workforce. Timestamps: 04:09: Development of The Employee Advantage 04:29: Counterintuitive Claims and Examples of Employee-Centric Companies  12:29: Balancing Employee and Customer Centricity  15:01: Practical Examples of Employee-Centric Companies  19:44: Criteria for Identifying Employee-Centric Companies  23:23: Industry-Specific Considerations  27:30: Consulting Approach for Implementing Employee-Centric Strategies  Links: Website: https://www.stephanmeier.com/ Stephan’s Book: The Employee Advantage   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.