We don't compete on price; we compete on our promise.

As a firm, we've made a series of commitments and promises to our employees, the communities we live in, and our clients. In the latter case, our commitment is to compete on our promise, not our price. Our promise is that we don’t get paid in full until our clients see a 5x return on their investment.

With that in mind, we've taken an unconventional approach to pricing. We provide full transparency to all current and prospective clients by listing our prices. You can find them on our website and in our sales and marketing materials.

This is far from typical in the professional services world. In fact, some of our advisers counseled us against it. So why have we taken this approach? Here are a few reasons:

• Our prices reflect the market. According to Management Consulted, there are more than 1,300 management consulting firms in the world. We aspire to be the most diverse, trusted, creative, and sustainable boutique firm in management consulting. To achieve this vision, we need to attract skilled and capable talent. To do that, we need to pay at (or above) market rates. As of Management Consulted’s 2024 calculations, those rates come in at:
  • Analyst (post-undergrad): $110K
  • Associate (post-MBA/PhD): $190K
  • Project leader (2–3 yrs of experience): $220–240K
  • Principal (4–5 yrs of experience): $275–350K
  • Junior partner (6–8 yrs of experience): $375–450K
  • Senior partner (10+ yrs of experience): $500–700K

Paying at these levels ensures parity and allows us to compete for the best talent to serve our clients.

• They demonstrate how we staff our projects. Solo practices are great for the gray-haired and rocket scientists among us. But we've found that the most enduring, value-generating solutions are crafted through the collaborative and creative efforts of a diverse group of people. That's why we staff each project according to what we call the Core Four model. Each project gets one partner, one associate, and two analysts. This ensures clients and their matters get hands-on engagement, counsel, and support from the highest level of our firm combined with the skill, energy, diversity, and creativity of a well-rounded, vibrant team.
• It gets us to the good stuff faster and makes space for others. If clients and prospects know how much our services cost, they’ll know whether they have—or can get—the budget they need to work with us. True, our pricing and our approach won’t work for everyone. That’s by design. It allows us to serve the clients that are the right fit for us and leaves room for other types of firms to serve other types of clients.

We don’t think consulting should be a black box. Nor are we in the business of selling snake oil. We’re here to be of service to and partner with our clients to create enduring value for them and their teams.