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What does it take to go from zero in the bank to a successful exit without financial investors?

In this episode, Marc Staudenmayer, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Advyce & Company, joins Sammy Gebele to share how he and his co-founder Burkhard Wagner built one of Germany’s fastest-growing consultancies by merging three firms into one and eventually selling to a strategic acquirer for a high multiple.

Marc walks through the full story: the early crisis that forced clarity when Advyce & Company had just €3k left in the bank, the decision to say no to private equity, and the smart merger strategy that built real scale through collaboration, culture, and digital infrastructure.

He explains how Advyce & Company avoided the “stupid mistakes” seen in traditional consulting, designed a transparent partner model where collaboration is rewarded, and created a digital backbone that made integration almost effortless.
And ultimately, how that discipline and structure led to a deal that rewarded everyone involved.


You'll learn:

How to scale your consulting firm to a successful exit without giving up ownership or culture

Why collaboration beats competition in driving sustainable growth

How a strong digital backbone enables flexibility and rapid integration

The structural choices that make post-merger integration actually work

How Advyce & Company turned “let’s not make the same stupid mistakes” into a strategy for lasting success

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Get in touch with Marc on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-staudenmayer
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Marc's book recommendation:
Business Class by Martin Suter https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Business-Class-Geschichten-Welt-Managements/dp/3257800592
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About the host Sammy Gebele:

Sammy and SAWOO offer a B2B community-building service that establishes you as a thought leader in your industry and helps you build genuine, human-to-human relationships with your dream clients.
Get in touch with Sammy Gebele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammygebele/

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Past guests on the LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcast include: Friederich von Hurter, Melanie Tobler, Tilman Au, and many more!

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Thanks to our friends at SAWOO for producing this episode with us!

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In this exclusive keynote from the main stage at the LEADERS IN CONSULTING London Summit, Stephen Edward (Managing Director, PTS Global), Connor Budden (Global Director at Service Performance Insight), and Sarah Edwards (Chief Product Officer, Kantata) unpack how consulting firms must rethink what success looks like as AI reshapes every part of the services lifecycle.

Stephen shares how a 40-year-old, employee-owned consultancy is re-evaluating quality, culture, and reskilling while delivering on complex multi-year capital projects.
Connor brings fresh SPI benchmark data showing how high performers are moving beyond T&M, experimenting with subscription and outcome-based pricing, and using revenue per consultant as a leading indicator of AI maturity.

Guided by Sarah, the discussion goes straight to the questions every Partner and MD is wrestling with:

How fast do we need to transform?
What should replace utilisation at the top of our scorecard?
How do we measure the value of AI agents, evolving skills, and next-generation delivery models?

If you're questioning how to keep your consulting business competitive in an AI-first market, this conversation delivers a practical, forward-looking roadmap for the metrics that will matter most in the years ahead.

You will learn:

1. Why leading firms are shifting from T&M toward subscriptions and outcome-based pricing.
2. The AI-era KPIs that matter most, from revenue per consultant to real-time sentiment.
3. How employee-owned and mid-sized consultancies rethink quality, culture, and reskilling.
4. How to redesign your scorecard to track skills evolution, client health, and business agility.
5. Where high performers see real ROI from AI in delivery, proposals, and knowledge access.

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Get in touch with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahedwards3/

Get in touch with Stephen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenjedward/

Get in touch with Connor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-metcalf/

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About the host Sammy Gebele:

Sammy and SAWOO offer a B2B community-building service that establishes you as a thought leader in your industry and helps you build genuine, human-to-human relationships with your dream clients.
Get in touch with Sammy Gebele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammygebele/

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Past guests on the LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcast include: Friederich von Hurter, Melanie Tobler, Tilman Au, and many more!

Send us a text

Die wenigsten Beratungen überleben den Sprung vom Gründerteam zum Marktführer. Atreus hat’s geschafft.

Was macht eine Beratung wirklich skalierbar: Menschen, Prozesse oder Haltung?

Uwe Gehrmann, Partner und Mitglied des Executive Board bei Atreus, teilt im Gespräch mit Sammy Gebele die Erfolgsprinzipien hinter dem Wachstum eines Unternehmens, das vom kleinen Beratungsplayer zum Marktführer und Exit-Kandidaten wurde.

Er erklärt, wie Atreus durch kollaborative Führung, eine klare Sales-Struktur und konsequente Kulturarbeit gewachsen ist und warum Teamvertrauen und Umsetzungsstärke entscheidend sind, wenn Beratung wirklich Wirkung zeigen soll.

Eine inspirierende Episode für Partner, Geschäftsführer und Growth-Leader, die wissen wollen, wie man Beratungen auf das nächste Level bringt, ohne Kompromisse bei der Qualität.


1) Wie du eine Beratung skalierst, ohne ihre Kultur zu verlieren.

2) Warum Vertrauen das stärkste Wachstumsinstrument ist.

3) Wie kollaborative Führung echte Sales-Power schafft.

4) Welche Rolle Teamzusammenhalt bei Skalierung & Exit spielt.

5) Wie du mit Klarheit und Fokus nachhaltiges Wachstum steuerst.

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Uwe Gehrmann freut sich über den Austausch zu Themen rund um Skalierung und Wachstum in der Beratungsbranche.
Verbinde dich mit ihm auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uwegehrmann

Uwes Buchempfehlungen:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People von Stephen Covey | https://www.amazon.de/dp/0743269519

Die Macht des Einfachen: Warum komplexe Konzepte scheitern und einfache Ideen überzeugen von Jack Trout & Steve Rivkin | https://www.amazon.de/dp/3593363530

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Über den Host Sammy:
Sammy und SAWOO bieten einen B2B-Community-Building-Service, der Dich als Vordenker in Deiner Branche etabliert und Dir hilft, echte, zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen zu Deinen Wunschkunden aufzubauen.

Schreibe Sammy einfach via E-Mail unter sammy.gebele@sawoo.io
oder connecte Dich auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammygebele/

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Bisherige Gäste des LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcasts: Friederich von Hurter, Melanie Tobler, Tilman Au und viele weitere!

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Vielen Dank an unsere Freunde von SAWOO, die diese Episode vom LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcast für uns produziert haben!

Send us a text

During the pandemic, Christian Underwood laid off almost his entire team.

Today, he leads an AI powered consultancy that generates €5.5 million in revenue 2025 and will generate €50m+ 2026.

Christian is the Co-Founder and CEO of StrategyFrame, a consultancy that doesn't look like one. It's lean, software-powered, and built for scale.

Clients use the platform to run strategic processes internally, supported by smart workflows, trained agents, and minimal external input.

In this episode, Christian joins host Sammy Gebele to share how StrategyFrame grew from a consulting reboot into a high-revenue, product-led firm with ambitions to 10x sales over the next year.

They explore what an AI-native consultancy really looks like, what Christian had to learn in the transition from service to product, and why trust, not tech, is the true moat when your platform becomes the business.

Whether you're running a traditional firm or building a tech-enabled offer, this conversation offers an inside look at what the future of strategy consulting may already look like.


You’ll learn:

1. How Christian built a €5.5M consulting business with a lean, AI-supported delivery model
2. What it means to deliver strategy as a product, not a project
3. How one article brought 1,200+ inbound leads overnight, and what that says about market readiness
5. The critical hires that keep a no-office, no-pyramid consultancy running
6. Why defensibility in AI consulting comes down to trust, not algorithms

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Get in touch with Christian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianunderwood/

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Christian’s book recommendation:

SIMON SAGT! Was im Management wirklich zählt by Hermann Simon
https://amzn.eu/d/0bU5KBE
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About the host Sammy Gebele:

Sammy and SAWOO offer a B2B community-building service that establishes you as a thought leader in your industry and helps you build genuine, human-to-human relationships with your dream clients.
Get in touch with Sammy Gebele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammygebele/

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Past guests on the LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcast include: Friederich von Hurter, Melanie Tobler, Tilman Au, and many more!

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Thanks to our friends at SAWOO for producing this episode with us!

Send us a text

In this episode, Tilman Au, Managing Director Conclusion DACH, and Engbert Verkoren, CEO of Conclusion, reveal how they’re building one of Europe’s most entrepreneurial IT and consulting ecosystems where autonomy, collaboration, and growth go hand in hand.

Tilman shares why moving forward with diva-e was the natural choice, and how joining Conclusion opened a new chapter of purpose and scale. Engbert explains why the ecosystem’s model will at times trade efficiency for entrepreneurial fit, and why every new partner must bring a unique proposition to earn their independence.

Together, they unpack how Conclusion empowers founders to grow faster, and achieve cross-domain synergies that create long-term client relationships built on trust and shared ambition. For consulting leaders considering their own next chapter, whether joining a group or building one, this conversation offers a rare inside look at how an ecosystem model truly works in practice.


You’ll learn:

1. Why Conclusion prioritizes entrepreneurial fit over pure efficiency
2. How autonomy and collaboration coexist in a multi-company ecosystem
3. The secret to post-acquisition growth that doubles or triples company size
4. Why “staying relevant” is every leader’s real long-term KPI
5. What to look for when choosing (or becoming) the right growth partner

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Get in touch with Tilman and Engbert on LinkedIn or via email:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/engbert-verkoren/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tilman-au-ceo-investor-digital-expert/

tilman.au@conclusion.com
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Engbert and Tilman's book recommendations:

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Good to Great by Jim Collins

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About the host Sammy Gebele:

Sammy and SAWOO offer a B2B community-building service that establishes you as a thought leader in your industry and helps you build genuine, human-to-human relationships with your dream clients.
Get in touch with Sammy Gebele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammygebele/

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Past guests on the LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcast include: Friederich von Hurter, Melanie Tobler and many more!

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Thanks to our friends at SAWOO for producing this episode with us!

Send us a text

Ein guter Berater hat einen Plan. Ein exzellenter stellt die richtigen Fragen.

In dieser Folge des LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcasts spricht Yeliz Keppel, Partner bei Cassini Consulting, über die Kunst, wirksam zu beraten und warum das weniger mit Antworten als mit Haltung zu tun hat.

Yeliz verantwortet bei Cassini den Bereich Consumer Goods & Services, ein Team, das Konsumgüterunternehmen ganzheitlich begleitet: strategisch, organisatorisch, kulturell. Ihre Karriere begann in der Industrie, vom Start-up bis zum Konzern. Diese Perspektive prägt ihre Beratungsarbeit bis heute.

Im Gespräch mit Host David Anheier berichtet Yeliz, wie sie ihre eigene Rolle im Kundenkontext transformiert hat: Weg von operativer Tiefe, hin zu echter strategischer Partnerschaft.

Sie erklärt, weshalb operative Exzellenz zum Wachstumshindernis werden kann und was es braucht, um im Beratungsalltag systemisch zu denken, Muster zu brechen und als Sparringspartnerin wirksam zu werden.

In dieser Episode erfährst du:
1) Warum Fragen oft wirksamer sind als jede PowerPoint-Folie.
2) Weshalb operative Exzellenz langfristig nicht reicht.
3) Wie systemisches Denken Beratungsarbeit vertieft.
4) Welche Haltung echte Führung in der Beratung verlangt.
5) Warum KI die Art zu Arbeiten verändert und so Gestalter von Verwaltern trennt.

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Vernetze Dich mit Yeliz Keppel auf LinkedIn: https://de.linkedin.com/in/yeliz-keppel

Yeliz’ Leseempfehlung:
Radical Candor von Kim Scott | https://www.amazon.es/Radical-Candor-Kim-Malone/dp/1250103509
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Über den Host David:
David ist Partner bei entero und verfügt über umfangreiche Erfahrung in der Salesforce-Beratung, insbesondere im Consulting von Beratungsunternehmen bei der Optimierung und Digitalisierung ihrer Prozesse.
In den letzten zehn Jahren hat er Teams geleitet, komplexe Kundenbeziehungen verwaltet und digitale Lösungen implementiert, die die betriebliche Effizienz verbessern.
Seine Leidenschaft gilt der Unterstützung von Unternehmen bei der Nutzung von Technologien zur Förderung von Wachstum und Transformation, um sicherzustellen, dass sie in einer zunehmend digitalen Welt wettbewerbsfähig bleiben.

Schreibe David einfach via E-Mail unter david.anheier@entero.de
oder connecte Dich auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danheier/

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Bisherige Gäste des LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcasts: Friederich von Hurter, Melanie Tobler, Tilman Au und viele weitere!

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Vielen Dank an unsere Freunde von SAWOO, die diese Episode vom LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcast für uns produziert haben!

Send us a text

When consulting firms stop hiring juniors and AI makes it easier for those who do join to go it alone, how will you build and retain the next generation of leaders?

Thordur Arnason, VP & Global AI GTM Lead at Capgemini, has a clear-eyed view of consulting’s talent crisis. In this episode, Thordur joins host Sammy Gebele to break down how the old consulting pyramid is being upended by automation, what’s fueling the success of the solo entrepreneur, and why the firms that rethink their hiring, internal mobility, and innovation models will be the ones left standing.

They discuss why creativity, curiosity, and entrepreneurial drive now matter more than technical mastery, and Thordur explains how value-based pricing, new risk-sharing models, and smarter career paths can keep future leaders invested in your vision, not building your next competitor.


You'll learn:

1. The real reasons behind the collapse of consulting’s traditional pyramid model, and what every leader must do now to secure their firm’s succession pipeline.

2. Why agile firms are winning the race for top junior talent, and how large consultancies could be left behind if they don’t adapt.

3. The new skills and mindsets to look for when hiring for consulting teams driven by AI.

4. The internal structures that motivate your top innovators to stay, grow, and lead.

5. How value-based pricing and innovative risk-sharing models will redefine client value in an increasingly efficient, AI-driven market.

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Get in touch with Thordur on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thordur/

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Thordur’s book recommendations:

- The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman https://amzn.eu/d/7LnxvHE
- Goliath’s Curse by Luke Kemp https://amzn.eu/d/312VxJI
- HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers by Elisa Farri and Gabriele Rosani https://amzn.eu/d/dA4BqOx

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About the host Sammy Gebele:

Sammy and SAWOO offer a B2B community-building service that establishes you as a thought leader in your industry and helps you build genuine, human-to-human relationships with your dream clients.
Get in touch with Sammy Gebele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammygebele/

___________

Past guests on the LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcast include: Friederich von Hurter, Melanie Tobler, Tilman Au, and many more!

___________

Thanks to our friends at SAWOO for producing this episode with us!

Send us a text

Wie schafft man es, eine Beratungseinheit im Public Sector in nur drei Jahren von null auf 70 Mitarbeitende zu skalieren und dabei im ersten Jahr bereits Millionenumsatz zu erzielen?

Anna Köllmann hat genau das bei Materna geschafft. Ihr Erfolgsgeheimnis? Ein klarer strategischer Plan, ein internes Trainee-Programm, gezielte Nutzung von Rahmenverträgen und der Mut, Verantwortung frühzeitig abzugeben.

Heute verantwortet sie als Vice President das sicherheitskritische Großprojekt ATLAS, die zentrale IT-Plattform für die Zoll- und Steuerabwicklung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

Im Gespräch mit Host Sammy Gebele teilt Anna, wie sie ihren Bereich systematisch aufgebaut hat und was es wirklich braucht, um wachstumsfähig zu bleiben, ohne sich in operativen Details zu verlieren.

Dich erwarten folgende Learnings:
1. Wie du eine Consulting-Abteilung in Rekordzeit skalierbar aufbaust.
2. Welche Rolle Rahmenverträge als echter Wachstumstreiber spielen können.
3. Warum ein eigenes Trainee-Programm in Zeiten von Fachkräftemangel zum Gamechanger wird.
4. Weshalb man Führungsebenen früher etablieren sollte, als man denkt.
5. Wie man als Führungskraft Verantwortung klug übergibt, ohne an Wirkung zu verlieren.


Vernetze Dich mit Anna Köllmann auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annakoellmann/

Annas Buch-Empfehlung:
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? von Louis Gerstner. | https://www.amazon.de/Who-Says-Elephants-Cant-Dance/dp/0060523808


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Über den Host Sammy:
Sammy und SAWOO bieten einen B2B-Community-Building-Service, der Dich als Vordenker in Deiner Branche etabliert und Dir hilft, echte, zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen zu Deinen Wunschkunden aufzubauen.

Schreibe Sammy einfach via E-Mail unter sammy.gebele@sawoo.io
oder connecte Dich auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammygebele/

___________


Bisherige Gäste des LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcasts: Friederich von Hurter, Melanie Tobler, Tilman Au und viele weitere!

___________


Vielen Dank an unsere Freunde von SAWOO, die diese Episode vom LEADERS IN CONSULTING Podcast für uns produziert haben!