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Just a word of advice. McKinsey consultants are potentially worse than just an MBA on your founding team. There's a reason you never hear about McKinsey consu
by jgill 15y ago
Just a word of advice. McKinsey consultants are potentially worse than just an MBA on your founding team. There's a reason you never hear about McKinsey consultants ever going on to actually start a company that actually matters. They are "value extractors" not creators and generally if you have one on your founding team, I pray for you. They can't do anything on their own. In my experience they do not really understand what it takes to actually create a company and are motivated so much by money and their insecurities as the writer of the FT piece hints at.
- 110101001010100 15y ago"Value extractors". Spot on. With few if any exceptions they will never add value. Their expertise is in locating value someone else has created and then drinking from that fountain for as long as they can. And they are very good at it. Their position is similar to lawyers. With very few exceptions if any, they are simply an expense. They need a client to cling to and sap off of. And no matter how intelligent they may be, that is how they think.
- lancewiggs 15y agoWe can be hard to absorb, that's for sure. I've successfully helped a lot of start-ups, but I (and they) have been careful to ensure that the time I spend there is limited. eBay hired too many MBAs/consultants and stuffed themselves as a result. But arguing that McKinsey alumni are all-bad is clearly over the top. They can produce results incredibly quickly and are comfortable dealing with very senior levels at corporates. Business development and major deals are a specialty. Try calling one when it's time to think about major decisions, pricing, figuring out how industries work and just general business advice.
- rhizome 15y agoI've successfully helped a lot of start-ups So what do you make of the grandparent's observation that none of them go on to form vital startups themselves?