Startupfest 2014

1. Professional Services Start-up That Scale
Start-up Festival
Montréal
July 11, 2014
1. Defining Intangibles
2. Scaling Services
3. Wins & Sins — A Personal Journey
Mark Bruneau
Founder & CEO of ADVENTIS and VELOCENT

2. Selling Intangibles: Wins and Sins
1. What does “Intangible” mean?
2. Building A Scale Services Business
3. Services Start-Ups Wins & Sins
Mark Bruneau
Start-Up Festival, July 11, 2014
1

3. 1.1 Defining Intangibles
Selling intangibles…
Can be:
• Imagined
• Infered
Need to be:
• Touched
• Seen
• Quantified
Use active listening &
incisive language to shape a
vivid picture of the Journey
and its outcomes
… Requires a bridge
from ideas to concrete results
Measurable outcomes
• Market share
• Enterprise value
• Competitivity
Superiority
Intangibles Tangibles IDEAS RESULTS
• Overcoming Doubts
• Make Them Believe
2

4. 1.2 Language that Surfaces Issues & Opportunities
“I did not sculpt David — I removed the excess stone that
released him” - Michelangelo
3
Active Listening
1. Invest in developing deep
understanding of the client business,
industry, and possible issues &
opportunities
2. You want to sell more? “Stop
talking” — don’t think about what to
say next — Listen to infer coded
needs
3. Develop real-time hypotheses and
use investigative questions to test
them
4. Synthesize, summarize, and
paraphrase in real-time
Client Confidence
1. “I respect you, you’ve taken time
to learn about me, my company,
my industry”
2. Earn the legitimacy to ask deep
questions
3. “This consultant can help me
sound GOOD” — “You express
my issues & opportunities more
incisively than I can ever after 10
years”
4. “I will enjoy the process of
working with this smart person”

5. 1.3 Less is More
“You don’t sell intangibles by talking about them, but by demonstrating
just what it feels like to work together.”
Charles H Green
“When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt”
“Consider both interpersonal chemistry and strategic needs to
determine which relationships to cultivate”
Don Moyer, Harvard Business Review
Henry J Kaiser
4

6. 1.4 First Be an Expert — Then Be a Friend
• Most CEO’s are lonely:
‐ In the pursuit of power and wealth many have lost
family, friends, a personal life…
• Most CEO’s are mis-informed and are told by their
senior executives highly varnished truths
• Over time, through trust, empathy, and external
comparative knowledge — be a friend:
‐ Truthful
‐ Empathic
‐ Helpful
and they will keep you around a long time!
5

7. Selling Intangibles: Wins and Sins
1. What does “Intangible” mean?
2. Building A Scale Services Business
3. Services Start-Ups Wins & Sins
Mark Bruneau
Start-Up Festival, July 11, 2014
6

8. 2.1 Understanding the Leverage Model
Finders
1
Minders
5
Grinders
25
Leverage Consulting Model
Cost & Value
• Rain Makers
‐ Rare
‐ Prima-donna
• Extract maximum
value from teams
• Rigorous research
& analyses
Early stage: "highly customizable" work
performed by skilled professionals - no
standardization and reproducibility.
Low leverage model: After 2-3 years, a
few senior people sell their expensive
time at expensive rates. Limited growth
potential.
High leverage model: Bill out junior
people at high utilization. Profit drivers:
• High utilization rates
• Allows finders to secure new projects.
Key enablers of high leverage:
• “Lead" the market in a particular
industry sector or functional area
• convert learnings into reproducible,
standardized modules
7

9. Productable
Teachable
Deliverable
Highly
Customizable
Services
“Guru”
Standardized
&
Reproducible
Services
Standardization Engine
Product Marketing
“Products”
for Clients
“Training”
for Staff
“Delivery
Set-Up”
for
Organization
Learnings
Learnings
Learnings
Cost Low
Geographic
Expandability
High
HighLow
Client Value
Proposition
HighHigh
Scale allows lower cost, speedier delivery
and a deeper network
Sub-Scale At-Scale
2.2 Why Scale & Leverage Matter:
8

10. 2.3 From “Guru” to a Sales Generating Machine
Get Published
• Identify trade publications
• Get to know the editors
• Learn what they want
• Submit articles
Get Referred
• Do great work
• Refer others
• Consistently connect
• Ask for referrals
Be the Authority
• Identify your special knowledge
• Master public speaking
• Develop list of opportunities
Be Connected
• 2 Industry events per month
• Be very curious
• Be very helpful
• Reconnect with those you meet
Engage in Social Networking
• Blog
• eNewsletter
• LinkedIn Networking
• Reconnect with those you meet
Engage in Community
• Something you truly care about
• Add value
• Learn the etiquette
• Reconnect with those you meet
9

11. Selling Intangibles: Wins and Sins
1. What does “Intangible” mean?
2. Building A Scale Services Business
3. Services Start-Ups Wins & Sins
Mark Bruneau
Start-Up Festival, July 11, 2014
10

12. 3.1 A Personal Journey
11
After Harvard Business School 1986, I joined Mercer Mgmt Consulting — after 5
years I had vaulted from “Associate” to “Senior Associate”… Too slow for me
I thought I could do it faster, sell as well as Partners I worked for — so I started
my own firm — me and a box of business cards
In 5 years, we reached $10M revenues, in 10 years we reached $60M in
revenues — with no debt nor line of credit
I sold the firm shortly after — for 1.25 X revenues

13. 3.2 My Learnings — Wins & Sins
WINS
+ Keep cost as variable as possible
• Part-time high caliber stringers
• Well networked home offices
+ Clear value proposition, well defined
industry or functional expertise
+ Scope projects narrowly and precisely —
Then OVER deliver
+ Set achievably stretch revenue (objectives
sold – billed – and collected) for each
partners – with clearly defined functional
or sub industry charter
+ Commission 2-4% on fees sold
+ Hire staff slowly (after demand is secured)
+ Hire the best – Pay what it takes (test for
work ethic and cultural fit)
+ In case of M&A offer generous retention
bonuses over 3 years
SINS
− Over-commit to fixed costs
(people, office space, etc.)
− Generalist value proposition
− Over-promise on contract scope
and deliverables – working
beyond scope is never
appreciated
− Unclear performance
expectations by level
− Neglecting marketing and sales
prospecting while delivering
− Mistaking big contract revenues
as lasting forever
12