Ex McKinsey consultant. Yes. It's shocking how much of what you see in the papers is driven by consultants and investment banks. There are a few companies who

Ex McKinsey consultant. Yes. It's shocking how much of what you see in the papers is driven by consultants and investment banks. There are a few companies who disavow the use of them, but most are unafraid to bring in hired guns. The not so smart companies hire large teams of consultants who stay there for years. These are expensive employees. The smart companies use the consultants well to get rapidly informed about certain decisions - such as an acquisition or strategy. The really smart companies use consultants to help build knowledge or capacity (e.g. how to analyze a potential acquisition) and then kick them out immediately afterwards & keep doing it themselves. VCs were good at this. The extraordinarily smart compares are spending too much time hanging out with customers and understanding their unmet needs to worry about hiring management consultants. Of course there are consultants that can help with the ability to observe customers as well...