Before Catalys

I joined Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting straight from university and worked mainly on sales DX strategy for large companies, using systems for sales management, customer management and marketing automation.

I enjoyed understanding how well-known large companies actually work, and making those flows more efficient and more valuable by improving and automating them. But a lot of it was systems work, and that sat a little apart from where I wanted to go as a management consultant. I increasingly wanted work closer to how a company decides things, and work that contributed to growing the business.

Five years in, with promotion to manager in sight, I thought about where my career should go, decided to shift my centre of gravity from systems to management and strategy, and started looking.

Why I joined

There were two main reasons.

The first is being able to work close to founders I can trust.

Talking to the two representatives in interviews, I found them calm as people but with real drive towards a big goal, confidence that they would get there, and a clear vision. Being directly involved in a company growing under founders like that was a strong draw.

The second is that I was sure this was a place where I could raise my own market value while contributing to clients’ growth.

I believe the ability to raise a company’s value is the source of an individual’s market value. Catalys has plenty of ground where you gain experience close to actually running a business: value creation at fund portfolio companies, and our own M&A.

On that basis I judged this a place where, under founders I trust, I could aim to be a consultant who genuinely manages, and I decided to join.

Growth and results

I have been here about a year, and it feels like three or four years’ worth of growth.

There are two reasons.

The first is the nature of the work. It is mostly strategy work in one- to three-month cycles, one after another, and with overlapping assignments I handled about ten projects in a year. Being able to review and improve that quickly makes the pace of growth extraordinary. I worked on two cost-visibility projects back to back, the first with my manager’s support and the second on my own, which was an ideal progression and left me confident in that area.

The second is how little stress there is to get in the way. Reviews from director level up are precise and constructive; nobody here grinds you down. Without pointless stress I can concentrate on getting better, which I put down to a hiring policy that weighs character as heavily as ability.

What our projects are like

Compared with my last job, the big differences are that a small team carries a lot of discretion, and that the work is mostly pure strategy.

We usually run projects with two people, and since managers are often carrying several projects at once, I now take the lead on far more, from building the deck to dealing with the client. At my last job there were many projects with ten or more people where I stayed in a member’s role; here I get to drive the whole project as the main person on it.

Most of the themes are pure management and strategy work such as mid-term plans, due diligence and value creation. Compared with my last job, which leaned towards systems, I am happy to be somewhere that builds my capability as a management consultant.

What I want to achieve at Catalys

I want more people, inside and outside, to like Catalys.

Growth and a listing matter, of course, but to me the rarest thing about Catalys is that the people who work here think it is a good company. We often hear the same from clients.

Getting there needs every element — the people (skill and character), the work and the clients, the systems and the policies — to be something everyone can accept without strain.

At around 30 people I think we have achieved that to a degree. Doing it at 100 or more will not be easy.

So for now my goals are to build the ability to win work reliably, and to be part of building systems that make the place easy to work in, and through that to help build a company that is loved inside and out.

* Roles and details are as they were at the time of the interview.