Investor Group Services – The Boston Firm Changing the Landscape of Private Equity Consulting (Podcast)

We’re excited to be joined by Brian Fleming (Managing Director) and Peter Lee (VP), two leaders at Investor Group Services (IGS). IGS is a boutique consulting firm that provides M&A diligence and strategic support for private equity and corporate clients.

The conversation provides an in-depth look at who the firm is, what it does, and it’s value proposition for clients and job-seekers alike. In addition, we cover:

• Compensation at IGS (spoiler: no bonus cap!)
• How promotions work
• Skills and qualities that IGS seeks in candidates
• The firm’s collegial, dynamic culture
• Professional development opportunities at IGS
• Travel requirements

IGS is also looking to add curious, hungry, and passionate individuals to its team. If your interest is piqued, explore current openings today.

 

Additional Links:

• Learn more about careers at IGS: Careers
• Connect with IGS’ recruiting team: [email protected]
• IGS LinkedIn page: LinkedIn
• Ready for turkey day, but forgot the cranberry sauce? Grab last-minute essentials with free delivery on 1st Instacart order: Order Now
• Get coaching to prepare for your next case interview: Coaching

Transcription: Investor Group Services – The Boston Firm Changing the Landscape of Private Equity Consulting (Podcast)

Stephanie Knight 

Brian and Peter, welcome to Strategy Simplified. We are so excited to have you on today.

IGS 

Thank you, excited to be here.

Stephanie Knight 

So we’d love to have us kick off with a little bit of an introduction about you both. Brian, would you get us started? Give us a brief background.

IGS 

Sure. My name is Brian Fleming. I’m a Managing Director at IGS. I joined in 2008. I think I joined the day that Lehman Brothers went under. So great timing. So as a consultant, and then after some years, became a vice president, and now I’m a Managing Director. I joined IGS out of business school, where I went to Tuck. Prior to business school, my background is more in finance. So I worked at investment bank, I worked at a micro lender, I worked at a Private Equity firm. So I had a decent number of years kind of in between undergrad, which was also at Dartmouth, and business school.

Stephanie Knight 

On how big was IGS back when you joined?

IGS 

Oh, geez. Probably slightly more than half the size that it is today.

Stephanie Knight 

A lot of growth. Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks for that. Brian. Peter, what about you?

IGS 

Yeah, so my name is Peter Lee. I’m a vice president at IGS. I joined about 10 years after Brian in 2018. So haven’t got quite the tenure there. Likewise, I joined after completing my MBA. Before that, and you may have guessed, my accent isn’t a US accent. I’m from Ireland originally. And I’ve been working in asset management in a company in Dublin. And before that, I had just completed an undergrad in accounting in Ireland also.

Stephanie Knight 

Love it. We’re so glad to have you both on. Looking forward to hearing two different perspectives on IGS. And also how your background and pathway has impacted your time at the firm as well. Peter, if you could just help us understand a little bit, for those that don’t know much about IGS yet, would love if you could share more about the type of work that you do, for home, where.

IGS 

Yep, for sure. So we are a boutique consulting firm, we have a single location in Boston, Massachusetts. As it stands today, we’re about 60 consulting professionals, and another 30 to 40 research professionals who help us with kind of a big primary research effort that we conduct. We offer commercial diligence support to our clients, alongside some strategy consulting or portfolio company work and set aside studies to companies looking to, you know, get investment in their asset or to exit an investment on an asset. Our clients are generally revolving around Private Equity. So it’s either the Private Equity sponsor themselves, or one of their portfolio companies. We also work directly with some corporate clients. And our customer base is North America centric. A lot of their businesses just revolve around North America as well. We will do some international work, but the bulk of what we do is focused on North America.

Stephanie Knight 

And a follow up question to that one. So the diligence work and then some strategy consulting work. Is it the same set of consultants who get to participate in both sets of work? Or are people streamlined into one of those areas when they join?

IGS 

No, so everybody can work on both types of projects. And as it stands now, we don’t streamline people into a specific type of project. So a lot of the diligence and strategy work will encompass similar types of research and it’s just looking at an opportunity or an asset through kind of a different lens. So it’s a good opportunity for everybody in the sense you’re not continuing to do commercial diligence, which is short timelines, pretty intense and more of a matter of fact, versus strategy work is more of an exploration of an opportunity and you can kind of get a bit more creative with the work, so it’s a good balance to be able to do both.

Stephanie Knight 

Makes perfect sense. Absolutely. I can tell you in my own professional consulting journey, I never took on a diligence project because I heard about those. And they they can have, as you said, those tight timelines and a lot of work that your clients are expecting you to do valuable work. And so Brian, what is it about IGS that makes your clients want to hire you? What is it that that stands apart as you think about both the commercial diligence and strategy work that you do?

IGS 

Sure. I think one important aspect is our private equity focus. So we understand how private equity investors think, what issues are most important to them, factoring in all the different constituents involved: the deal team, the investment committee, other third parties, such as lenders that need to see our report. So we do a good job of prioritizing the issues that are most important to our client, whether it’s an issue germane to the upside opportunity, or the downside risk. And so we’re going deep on the most important issues. And we’re also articulating a clear view, or recommendation on those issues. So there might be some other reports out there that maybe go deep in areas that aren’t as important to the client. So I think the fact that we’re focused on private equity helps us kind of tailor our research and our output accordingly. So that’s one aspect.

Another one would be our research approach. So we place a meaningful emphasis on primary research or market research. So in addition to our full-time consulting team, we’ve got a team of 30 plus market researchers that help us conduct interviews at a scale that otherwise would not be possible. And that’s important to have a comprehensive view of a market, a current view of a market where you’re not relying on the view of a couple of experts that might not be representative of the overall market, or maybe their view is outdated, because we’re dealing with times where things are moving pretty quickly, right? What’s true yesterday may not be true today, or certainly tomorrow. So many of our peer firms either don’t approach the primary research in as comprehensive a manner, and some of them outsource it. And so we think, especially as you deal with deal timelines, it’s important to manage that internally. If you’re dealing with a three or four week project, you’re probably in the field doing research for two of those weeks.

And as you learn more, you might want to change the questions you ask or how you ask those questions. Managing internally allows us to pivot in real time, and really not lose any of that focus or kind of valuable time along the way. So those are things at a firm level. For me personally, what I’ll always emphasize to my clients is, I’m going to be honest with you, and I’m going to think in your long term interest. So if I think about some of my closest client relationships, they started out by, in the early stages, maybe advising them to walk away from an investment that wasn’t a good opportunity. Or maybe giving them a different view on the growth of the market or that company that they leveraged to kind of adjust the valuation for that transaction. So I think that really demonstrates the value that we add and it kind of solidifies that relationship when those dynamics are at play.

Stephanie Knight 

And in terms of dynamics of play, in terms of external factors, we’re certainly operating in a unique period of history, and we’re having this conversation in the fall of 2022, still coming out of the COVID era, now in a stagflation pre, or actually in global recession, depending on your perspective and who you talk to. And I’m curious, Brian, what impact that has on your business and the way that you approach your client work, if any, at this stage.

IGS 

Stephanie, I think it certainly solidifies or strengthens the importance of that market research. So there aren’t, you have to, with the impact of an impending recession or potential impending recession, you have to look prior recessions. But no two recessions are the same overall, or for certain industries. So if you’re looking at an end market that’s more tied to kind of the housing sector, well, it probably, the impact was particularly acute through the Great Recession. And so that’s probably not going to be a good proxy for what’s going to happen this time around. So you have to pull that third party data, but I think getting the pulse of the market currently, is important. So it kind of speaks to the importance of a range of viewpoint points, a range of kind of research sources, and not being too singular reliant on one input.

Stephanie Knight 

Something that I find, it always surprises me a little bit, I do a lot of work with students and aspiring consultants. And when they start to ask some of these big questions about what’s the size of a market? Is it attractive? Is it growing? Is this a place that you want to operate? A lot of their immediate questions are, as you alluded to, Brian, this sense of who’s a subject matter expert that I can go talk to? Or does that report, does that exact report and data already exists, and the sense of IGS and how you’ve invested in the market research aspect of things, and you talking about primary research, I’m sure not only has to do with the output that you can bring to your clients from those efforts, but also the type of people that you that you want to hire and the type of culture that you have at IGS. Do you think that that’s a fair assertion? What does that say about your values and your priorities as it relates to the work and output you deliver to your clients?

IGS 

Well, I mean, it speaks to the fact that we want people that are intellectually curious, that enjoy the research process. So for example, someone who wrote a thesis and really enjoyed doing so, oftentimes is a good fit for IGS, right? Because they like what we do. They understand that it’s not a simple solution of going to one spot, and that’s going to be the answer. If that were the case, you wouldn’t need firms like IGS, and many of our peer firms. It’s not that easy. And that’s why clients need to turn to us and our peers.

Stephanie Knight 

And in this type of culture, and especially this type of work, I find that candidates often want to understand from those who have stayed in the space and climbed up the ranks, like you have Brian. Over a decade at IGS, 14 plus years at the firm. You’ve worked your way up to the management team. You spoke a little bit already from your personal perspective. But I wonder if there’s anything else you want to say about what’s made you stick around, and what’s that journey like and how is IGS supported you in that as you are now a leader in the firm?

Speaker 1 

Yeah, so as far as what’s made me stick around, I’ll highlight a few things. One is that I’m always learning. I think that’s a common thread through a lot of consulting, but certainly the case here at IGS. So always learning about a new industry or a segment within an industry, or learning about how a certain P investor kind of approaches deals and what their investment thesis is. So that’s one thing. I also like the fact that it’s a younger firm in terms of the average age of the workforce. So that makes for a fun environment with a lot of energy and makes for a dynamic place to work. And then third, it’s been a place where I can balance my personal life with work. So I’ve got three kids, and they’re now seven, nine and 11. And I coach my son’s hockey team, and I coach one of my daughter’s soccer teams, and I’m able to do that, while kind of working my way up at IGS.

Stephanie Knight 

That absolutely speaks to

IGS 

I will add to that, that Brian starts work at 5:00am. So he may he makes time as well.

Stephanie Knight 

Well, in client services, the clients still does come first. Right? But it’s always a balancing act. So not at the expense of your life or your family. So absolutely. No, I appreciate that. Peter, what would you add to this conversation in terms of the types of candidates that IGS is looking for, and the type of culture that you’re trying to build?

IGS

Yeah, I think one of the big things IGS looks for is kind of someone who comes across as, and has a proven track record of hard work. There’s nothing easy about the learning curve in consulting, because you effectively have kind of two things happening when you join the firm. One, you’re trying to learn their processes. And two, you’re trying to learn the output of what they’re producing. So you’re kind of it’s information overload and process overload for the first three, six months. And I think I’d have people who are and thrive in a kind of an environment where there’s ongoing deadlines, you’re continually being pushed, and it’s pushed and guided to get better and improve, and you kind of you appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow so quickly. So I think people who can portray that in an interview, whether it’s through examples, or prior work they’ve done or studies they’ve done in university, for example.

Brian references a thesis and I specifically remember when I was being interviewed, I talked to one of the senior managers in the company about kind of a 22,000 word study I had written and that kind of engaged them straightaway and they could see okay, this person clearly got into the weeds and enjoyed that process. So I think it’s people who thrive in an environment that allows you to work hard and grow at an accelerated pace. And then I think for IGS, specifically, the fit interview, like you’ll do a lot of fit interviews with IGS. And it’s something that’s very important because you’re continually on the phone or in team meetings, talking to each other and you need people who you get on with and enjoy working with and  whether that’s solely focused on work or grabbing a beer on a Friday, it’s kind of people who are nice to be around and bring a good atmosphere and energy to the firm are very important I think.

Stephanie Knight 

So quick learners, a thirst for knowledge, intellectually curious, attention to detail, proclivity to research, your space, working for private equity clients, I find many candidates may have a mental hurdle, because it’s an area of business that seems to have a lot of its own vernacular, a lot of buzzwords, a lot of commercial diligence and deal teams and just just so much to kind of wrap your head around. Do candidates need to have exposure and experience into the space? Or with these core fundamentals of the intellectual curiosity and proclivity to research, do you grow them into knowledge and depth of expertise to serve your private equity clients?

IGS

It’s definitely the latter. You know, a lot of our hires come from liberal arts backgrounds, they may have done some modules or courses in economics or math, for example. But it’s candidates who have the ability and the willingness to kind of learn and explore a new topic and become a subject matter expert in that, they will thrive and grow very quickly. Like there’s in my eyes, no prerequisite to becoming a good consultant. It’s all about what you do when you join the firm.

A I think people will pick up quickly that a lot of the thing private equity investors focus on are logical, right? So they like businesses where demand is recurring in nature. Well, that makes sense. They like businesses where relationships are sticky, and there’s not a lot of switching activity or it’s hard to switch. Well, that makes sense. So I think that allows people regardless of their background to kind of pick up, whether it’s the vernacular, or kind of the things that are most important to our clients, they can pick those up quickly because they’re not esoteric. They’re things that are logical. And it’s a matter of people not being, intimidated and being comfortable. They’re smart people and they can get up to speed and understand these concepts pretty quickly.

Stephanie Knight 

Makes sense. Peter, I know something that candidates are also often asking us about is that the advancement pathway, and the the compensation that would be associated with this work in general. People flock to consulting, or at least the idea of it thinking about accelerated career pathways and attractive compensation packages. And so hoping you could just speak to us a little bit about how IGS considers that fixed versus variable comp, and the kind of promotion pathway.

IGS

Yeah, so I can probably deal with that in kind of two steps. Wanted to just talk about the team structure initially. There’s  multiple layers on any given team, from a research professional to kind of do that primary research efforts. And then you have Associate, Senior Associate, Consultant, which is either internally promoted or the MBA hire kind of comes in at the consultant level. Then there’s a senior consultant and a vice president, and then you’re going to move into the principal and partner position after that. As a general rule of thumb, the industry would say kind of two years at each level is somewhere, 18 months to two years is kind of what people spend in a position. I think, given IGS’s size and flexibility, we really do look at the individual and kind of ask the question, are they ready.

And it’s not a conversation around, oh, they’ve been here 18 months or two years, we should promote them. It’s they’ve been here 12 months, but they’ve kind of blown expectations out of the water. So maybe we should give them an opportunity to move up. So I think kind of, you can take it as a rule of  thumb 18 months to two years could be a nice target to have. But IGS’s promotion cycle is more informal and driven by the individual, as opposed to, you have to wait until June every year to get promoted, for example. I think then to address the comp structure question, we try to offer a competitive base. And we’ll continually be monitoring our peers to kind of see how they’re moving. And we’re not going to be dollar for dollar the same just depending on kind of waiting increases came at a given company, but we’re typically keeping an active pulse on where the base salary sits. And I think we’re IGS differentiates is on our variable compensation structure.

So that’s effectively an annual bonus that is driven by two factors. One, the performance of the company, and two the performance of the individual. So a lot of people like to hear that, as an individual, if I work harder, I can and will be rewarded accordingly. So I think there’s a good incentive there. Typically, the way we look at the variable structure is kind of think of the target as being around 25% if the company more broadly hits their goals. But another differentiator that’s unique at IGS, we don’t actually cap the bonus. So that can move according to the performance in a given year. And it’s ran as high as 50%. But on the other side, it can obviously run lower than 25%. But it’s a good opportunity and incentive for people because when you’re in the midst of a busy year, and it’s kind of project after project after project, there’s kind of some solace or incentive in knowing okay, well, at least I know, the company is doing well. And when it comes to the end of the year, and that conversation, we will be rewarded based on kind of our performance and the level of engagement we maintained throughout the course of the year.

Stephanie Knight  

Makes perfect sense. Yeah, that sense of as I continue to lean in, I want to get recognized for that. I want to be compensated for that. And I don’t have to wait for a prescribed timeframe or semi-annual review, that you’re able to be fluid and treat everyone as an individual. And that’s one of the benefits of working for a smaller firm, right? Brian, I know one of the benefits possibly of also working at a smaller firm is access to leadership and management. Do you see that in play? Do you have mentorship relationships and working relationships with younger and junior colleagues at IGS?

Yeah, so people get access to senior management from day one. And they also get access to clients from day one. I mean, that doesn’t mean that they’re managing client relationships, but they get that client access from day one. And then, as far as additional interaction with senior management outside the the projects themselves, there are a handful or so of mentor groups that are organized around kind of the managing directors, and the principals are kind of the head of each of the mentor groups. And it’s populated by Vice Presidents and consultants and associates. And we go out to lunch together, or we’ll do a workout class together or it’s a range of things. One group did an axe throwing event before. So Peter might have been on that one.

Yeah. Yeah, it is a very good opportunity, kind of the informal nature of these mentor trees, make it easy for people to actually engage and get comfortable, chatting about whether it’s how do I approach this, or how do I kind of move up the ranks, or I feel like my progress is slowing. And there’s an outlet there for you to get some advice and guidance from people who’ve kind of sat in your position, and know what it’s like,

And we’re also giving people performance feedback throughout the year. So there’s, both, in addition to case-specific feedback that people get from their teams on that project, I’d say people get informal check-ins with an MD or a principal, what Peter, probably three times a year, would you say on average, something like that?

Roughly, roughly that. And it’s weighted more heavily when you’re newer, you get them more frequently, which is, you know, the more real time the feedback is in your first six, nine months, I think the more beneficial it is for you. Versus giving Brian feedback after 14 years, he’s not going to improve.

Stephanie Knight 

Continuous improvement, feedback loop, I’m sure. All right. I was gonna say you can keep teaching old dog new tricks. But Brian, I also didn’t want to kind of insult you. You’re not that old either.

IGS

And there’s upward feedback too.

Stephanie Knight 

That’s good in any in any team system. Absolutely. We’ve heard a little bit Brian about the different levels. And Peter talked us through the team structure. At what point on average, does somebody starts to lead a project or own a client relationship?

IGS 

On average, that happens more consistently at the VP level. Would you agree, Peter?  Yeah, but I think formally, it’s the VP level.

Yeah, but there are opportunities at the consultant level. So I mean, I think when I was a consultant, I was able to leverage some relationships from school. I think one was business school, one might have been undergrad, and was able to sell a couple projects as a consultant. Now I didn’t sell those autonomously, I looped in someone from the management team at that time and they supported me, and provided guidance as I needed it. But strong consultants are given the opportunity fairly quickly to lead readouts, right. So for me, there’s nothing better than a consultant, who becomes the subject matter expert, and wants to be the go to person on the readout with a client, because that gives me the bandwidth to take on more, whether that’s trying to do more business with existing clients, trying to develop new clients, thinking about how we can continue to expand the business. So we welcome that opportunity for people who are go getters like that, and are strong performers. So it really isn’t defined, it just kind of happens organically, right? You demonstrate your ability, and then you start to do that more and more. And as far as, you know, doing more of the client cultivation and management, that’s not required to become a vice president. But that starts to, it becomes more of the job as you’re a vice president.

Stephanie Knight 

And Brian, as you go out there and continue to expand the business and sell new work, it sounds like that’s going pretty well, because you guys at IGS are hiring even in this tight market. And so do you have any advice for candidates considering a career in general in consulting, or considering IGS specifically?

IGS 

I mean, we’re definitely hiring, and we actually closed a couple of weeks ago on a growth investment from a private equity investor in our own firm. So I think that’s going to accelerate our efforts as far as growth and diversification of the business. So we’re already hiring aggressively and that’s going to ramp up even more. You know, as far as advice for people, like I wouldn’t think about your overall career yet. I think consulting is great whether you’re coming out of undergrad, or a couple years undergrad. Coming out of business school or a couple of years out of business school. And IGS is particularly great because you’re going to learn, you’ll get exposure to a bunch of different types of private equity investors. Some growth equity investors, some buyout investors. Maybe we’ll see some more firm turnaround specialists over the next year or two, So you get exposure to a bunch of different investor types, then you get exposure to the management teams as well. And you get all this across a range of industries. So you’ll learn what you like. And just as importantly, you’ll learn things you don’t like. And that’s going to inform what your long term career decision is. And it  might be to stay in consulting, it might be to stay at IGS. We would love that. But if it means you want to go work in portfolio support at a private equity firm, great. IGS is a great place to start to take that next step. If you want to be in a corporate development role at an operating company, great. It’s a great way to start that. So, it really does afford you the opportunity to take any number of steps from here.

Stephanie Knight 

Peter, what would you add to this? What do you think makes IGS stand out? Why should a candidate consider to come work with you guys?

IGS 

Yeah, I think from my perspective, the big driver behind it and my job satisfaction in IGS, the first one would definitely be the opportunity to kind of grow at my own pace. And we’ve kind of touched on this already. But I think I was probably at the firm six, seven months, and I kind of started taking more of the lead around being the go-to for the client. And they could see this, it was if they had a question, they would send their message to me, and obviously cc the likes of Brian or the senior manager. But there was no limitation on kind of what I could take on, it was more like, once the senior people could see, okay, like, we can trust him, he’s doing a good job, we can kind of let them manage the day to day, as well as lead the readout. So I think as I looked to grow and get better as quickly as I could, there was no roadblocks or no bureaucracy in my way. So I think that was a big differentiator in my experience with IGS. I suppose I think as I’ve grown more and kind of moved up from the consultant, senior consultant to vice president level, when I look at my peers, I kind of see the opportunity set in front of me is a lot different to my peers in consulting, who are kind of at the same point in their career, but they could be 2, 3, 4 years from actually being able to own a client relationship. Where with IGS, once you step into that VP position, it’s kind of the world is your oyster. You can go and try and win your own clients, you can take on your own kind of business development initiatives. And I think that opportunity, there’s a great sense of fulfillment around when you win a client that kind of comes back to you for that second project, because you know, then that you’ve kind of, you’ve made the engagement, you’ve connected with that client, but then they saw value in what you produce. So I think that’s definitely a very unique aspect of IGS. You know, four or five years out from your business school, your MBA, you’re already kind of working on a book of business.

Stephanie Knight 

Absolutely. And another thing that stood out to me, certainly from your careers page is very clear. If you want to live in Boston, if you want to work in Boston, come work with us at IGS. A no travel model, it sounds like. Brian, is that true across the board? And I know we’ll get questions is IGS thinking about expanding outside of Boston? But that seems like a clear way it stands out as well.

IGS 

Yeah, so there’s limited travel, like we don’t need to travel to do our work. The travel that I’ve done historically is tied to business development. So meeting, trying to develop new client relationships. You know, I think as part of this recent investment that we closed on, we’re going to think more meaningfully about other offices now, whether it’s an office that looks exactly what we have in Boston, and whether it’s kind of a smaller satellite office, that’s TBD. But I think it’s definitely something. We recognize the value of it in multiple ways, right? Recruiting, retention, and business development. So it’s something that we’re exploring meaningfully. So no hard commitments or specifics yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we’ve got more people in various locations over time. And we already have some people, we’ve got a consultant who’s down in New York. And Peter’s kind of been back and forth between Ireland and here in Boston, and elsewhere in the US through COVID. So there’s flexibility already. But I think we’re going to expand on that over time.

Stephanie Knight 

It’s an exciting growth stage to be in. Absolutely. Peter, I’m sure that this conversation has piqued a lot of people’s interests to want to learn more about the work that you do, the available roles and how to apply. What would you recommend that they do in that process?

IGS 

Yeah, I think there’s a couple of things that we all would like to see candidates doing when they’re thinking about applying. I think the first good resource is to go to our website and to kind of get a sense for the work we do, the deals and the industries we spend a lot of time in. But I think it’s kind of looking at that and understanding it. But then another great one, and most of the firm would be more than willing to kind of reach out to someone, connect with them on LinkedIn, shoot them an email, just to kind of find out about the industry, find out about what we do specifically. Because I think it’s very important for us in an interview to see a candidate that actually understands the requirements and the demands of a career in consulting. And it’s not to say we’re working every weekend, I think IGS does a very good job of kind of protecting weekends. But it can be pretty demanding Monday to Thursday, Monday to Friday. So kind of learning as much as you can through informal conversations by connecting with someone on LinkedIn, shooting them an email asking Do they have time for kind of a team’s or a coffee or whatever it is, if you’re actually based in Boston. Once you have a sense for IGS and what we do, and if you think it’s a good fit, I think you can learn the specifics of the job on the website, and then reach out directly to Katie or Jane or the recruiting at IGS Boston email, and kind of coordinate a chance to have a chat more formal chat, or somewhere to submit your resume. So I think the website is a great place to start and kind of build from there.

Stephanie Knight 

Great. I know that we’ve talked in a few different ways about the firm culture that you’ve cultivated. Brian, as we start to wrap up the conversation, are there key qualities that you feel like embody the the IGS spirit and key skills, capabilities or qualities that you’re looking for in your next cohort of consultants?

IGS

Sure. We talked earlier about people who are intellectually curious. So that’s not unique to IGS, but it’s certainly important here. Being a good team player. So I think we’ve got people who are smart and driven, but are marked by humility, as well. So you’ve got to work well with others. I think a third thing is kind of the ability to deal with uncertainty. So if you think about transaction wor. So the buy side work has got the shortest duration of three to four weeks. So it might be an industry or a segment of an industry that you didn’t know a whole lot about beforehand. And you’re going to learn a ton in those three to four weeks. But you’re not going to learn everything, right? So you’re still going to need to pull up at the end, and make a recommendation to the client, give your opinion and kind of develop an internally consistent and coherent story for the client. And the clients recognize that, right? They recognize their limitations to what you can get done over the course of three to four weeks. But even with that, some people have a hard time with that uncertainty. Well, if I just have a little bit more. Whereas others are able to do it, they’re able to pull up and say, I’ve got these facts, I’ve got these opinions I’m confident in, I’ve got these things I’m less certain in. Given the totality of that, we’re going to make this recommendation and back it up in this manner. So I think people intrinsically know that about themselves, whether that’s something they’re comfortable with or not. So I think that’s something specific that people have that quality tend to do well here.

Stephanie Knight 

Brian, is there anything else about the firm or your initiatives right now that you want to make sure to add into this conversation?

IGS 

I think another, you know, Peter alluded to, or you asked Peter earlier about, are people able to work on different types of projects. And I think as we grow the business, we’re also going to further diversify the business. So I think if you were to look at IGS in three years, the biocide diligence work we do will be larger than the buy side work we do today, but it will be a smaller piece of the overall pie. So, I think there’s going to be more varied types of work that we do over time, which I think makes for a more compelling and enriching experience for people. It’s going to draw from different skill sets. And it is a nice complement if you’ve done a couple of buy side diligences in a row that, okay, well, maybe I’m working on this data analytics project. Now we’re this portfolio strategic support project. So I think those sorts of opportunities are going to become more prevalent over time.

Stephanie Knight 

Sounds like an exciting time to join onto what you guys are doing it at IGS. Peter, any other confirm comments here you wanted to add on?

IGS 

Yeah, I think it kind of echoes what you mentioned there. But coming out of business school, for somebody who’s interested in taking a tangible role in the growth of a company, IGS is positioned perfectly to kind of meet that opportunity. Like we have a new investor who really wants to grow the company. We’re currently at 60 odd professionals, and we’re kind of hitting an inflection point between the smaller business and trying to push towards that larger, more broad, diversified organization. So I think it’s a very exciting time for anybody coming out, that wants to be able to kind of run their own course, over the next three, four years, or whatever it is of their career, and hopefully longer. IGS provides a great opportunity for that based on where we are at the minute.

Stephanie Knight 

Absolutely. Well, we have a little bit of a tradition here at Strategy Simplified. We’d like to round out the conversation with just getting to know you a little bit better on a personal level. So Peter, if I could put you on the spot first, to share with us a unique food that you have eaten or tried that’s memorable.

IGS 

I would probably say the most unique food I’ve eaten would be suri grubs, which are a grub ound in the Amazon. To describe them, they’re kind of like a slug with a hard exterior, a hard leathery exterior. And when the locals bring them out to you on a plate, they recommend you eat them live, so you kinda just have to pick them up and go for it. So I think unique, interesting dining experience is what I would put that under.

Stephanie Knight 

Unique, interesting, I can think of a couple other words that I’d probably use to describe that as well. But experience, I think, more than anything else you do that for the experience, and to be able to tell us that story at this moment in time. A different one for you, Brian. Who’s one person from history that you would love to get dinner with, and why?

Speaker 1 

It’s not a unique answer, but probably Abraham Lincoln just to learn about leadership, especially leadership through challenging and divided times. So like I said, I’m sure many, many others would come up with the same answer, but he’s one that comes to mind.

Stephanie Knight 

Absolutely. That strikes a chord at this moment in political history. Absolutely. Same question back over to you. Peter. Do you have one you could identify?

IGS 

Yeah, I would probably go with an Irish political leader, a guy by the name of Michael Collins. He might not have as much name recognition of Abraham Lincoln, but he was an Irish politician who was heavily involved in kind of our struggle for independence in the early 20th century. I personally am very interested in kind of Irish history, and you’re getting his first hand account of what happened between the initial uprising of 1916 to when we ultimately gained independence in 1922. He was very heavily involved in that entire process, whether it was military actions or the negotiation side and ultimately, he signed the Declaration of Independence for us. But he was assassinated as a result of it because that’s when they found out his identity. And he knew that would be the situation. But I think it would be an interesting conversation to hear his thoughts on it.

Stephanie Knight 

Oh, absolutely. And only a handful of generations ago, for all that to have occurred. So crazy.

IGS 

100 years this year, actually.

Stephanie Knight 

in some ways, we’ve come a long way. In some ways, it doesn’t feel like we’ve come very far. But well, this last one, Peter, I’ll go ahead and start with you. What’s an impactful piece of advice that you’ve received from a mentor in your career?

IGS 

I think, I’m not sure, is this in my career, or in my personal life?

Stephanie Knight 

Either one.

IGS 

Yeah, I think a mentor I would have as kind of would describe achieving any kind of overarching goal you have as setting a bunch of attainable goals in the meantime. And kind of doing that allows you to keep yourself motivated, keep yourself on track and kind of reward yourself as you go. Because a lot of times, if you do target the overarching goal as the first stopping point, you can kind of get lost, lose motivation. You lack direction along the way, you don’t give yourself a chance to check in. So I think that that objective of setting attainable goals along the route is very important.

Stephanie Knight 

And I can imagine in commercial diligence work, how that type of structured sequencing, rhythm and cadence as you set those interim deliverables, how that can apply in your current life as well.

IGS 

Yeah, for sure.

Stephanie Knight 

Makes a ton of sense. Brian, would love to have you close us out with the same question, a piece of impactful advice that you’ve received from a mentor?

IGS 

I think it’s just about the importance of asking questions. So when you’re earlier in your career, you can be nervous about asking questions, Well, I should know how to do this. Well, the best way if you don’t, is to raise your hand and ask how to do it. Or if you disagree with the view of a more senior member of the team, don’t assume just because that person’s more senior or has more experienced that they’re right. You might be closer to the data and you may be right. So I think it’s like, don’t be afraid to ask questions and speak up. I think the questions aspect is also portable to when you’re you’re interviewing. So I remember when I was interviewing, people would tell me like, make sure you have questions at the end. And I oftentimes would dismiss that. And they wouldn’t spend any time thinking about it and throw one or two things in. Now that I’m on the other side of the table that is really important. That shows that you’ve done your homework, you’re interested in the job, you’ve learned a good amount about IGS and that’s led you to want to learn more. So I think that having that mentality, I think is consistent with the intellectual curiosity that we talked about earlier, how that’s important.

Stephanie Knight 

Absolutely. Brian, Peter, it’s been a pleasure to get to know you today. I’m excited for your growth and achievements at IGS. I look forward to following along and watching as you continue to grow. Thanks for being with us today.

IGS 

Great. Thank you, Stephanie.