Contrarian Decisions and their results

 #1

When Topgain was started, Sanjiv Menezes and I decided that we will not do what traditional strategic advisory does. There is a huge trust deficit in Advisory and we will try to plug that. We will treat our client organisations as our own and do whatever it takes, with ownership. There won't be a sales team and a delivery team. The person who meets you across the table and says, "Let's do this" , will be the one who works on doing it.

Why was this a contrarian decision?
This is not how Advisory works. There always is a sales team and delivery team. This model strongly limits our ability to scale because every single Advisor working with us will need to reorient their mental model too.

What was the outcome?
Three years and counting, our client relationships are strong, long-lasting, and above all else, when we sit down at the end of the day, we feel a sense of professional satisfaction.