Industry: Business Services
Stephen Blunck
Senior Consultant, Maven Associates
VP, Serent Capital
Associate, Advent International
Senior Associate Consultant, Bain & Company
MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
BS, Brigham Young University
Representative Projects
- Developed and implemented procurement and cost reduction initiatives for multi-billion-dollar public retailer
- Designed organizational growth strategy and decision-making framework for charter school network expanding across regions
- Led the merger of two human capital management enterprises to consolidate market share and drive growth synergies
- Created strategy to accelerate company growth for data center company
- Implemented value creation initiatives for at-risk healthcare entity, including leadership build-out, growth strategy, and new geography expansion
- Supported ed-tech company with merger integration, financial operations, capital structure, and tracking against key performance indicators
- Negotiated with lenders to obtain ~$600M in financing to facilitate company recapitalization
- Led due diligence workstreams for multiple potential private equity transactions, with combined enterprise value of ~$6B
Expertise
Industries
- Business Services
- Healthcare
- Financial Services
- Retail
- Education
- Technology & Software
- Human Capital Management
- Pharmaceuticals
Project Types
- Growth Strategy
- M&A Strategy
- Finance
- Profit Improvement
- Organizational Design
- Due Diligence
Representative Clients
Companies
- JCPenney
- Uplift Education
- TalentWave
- Professional Health
- Care Network
- KEV School Solutions
- Data Center Co.
- ATI Physical Therapy
- InVentiv
PE Firms
- Serent Capital
- Advent International
- COO, J&S Audio Visual
- VP, Apple Leisure Group
- Principal, Plutus Capital
- Principal, SunTx Partners
- Consultant, Bain & Company
- J.D. University of Virginia Law School with emphasis on M&A
- B.S., B.A. Southern Methodist University Dallas
Representative Projects
- Developed cost reduction initiative for large public property management company based in Toronto/New York. Led business process outsourcing plan for several back-office functions including HR, Payroll, F&A, Call Center.
- Consolidated back-offices functions of three PE-backed travel companies and 10 different business departments including Operations, Call Center Customer Service, F&A, Rate Loading saving $6mm annually.
- Oversaw divestment of large $250M E-commerce business for a PE backed company which included winding down operations and data-centers.
- COO of $100M+ PE-backed hotel services business encompassing 400+ employees. Oversaw FP&A and all aspects of Operations. Created Key Performance Indicators, vision, and strategy for group.
- Created continuous improvement office which identified bottlenecks in a $1B+ Canadian copper mining operation, increasing production by 18%.
- Developed outsourcing plan for large software application company identifying over $20M in annual savings.
- Created Centralized Procurement office for major aero-space defense contractor which consolidated purchasing efforts with company’s largest suppliers saving 12%.
Expertise
Industries
- Airline
- Business Services
- Defense
- Mining
- Private Equity
- Real Estate
- Retail
- Technology
- Tourism/Hospitality
- Transportation Services
Project Types
- SG&A Reduction
- BPO
- Operations Optimization
- KPI Dashboards
- Business Process Transformation
- M&A Assessment/PMI
- PMO
Representative Clients
Companies
- Brookfield Properties
- Apple Leisure Group
- Woolworths (Australia)
- Ned Bank (South Africa)
- Teck Industries (Canada)
- Sabre Group
- Rio-Tinto (Australia)
- Expedia/Travelocity
- Freeman Industries
- United Airlines
- Lockheed-Martin
PE Firms
- Plutus Capital
- SunTx Capital
- Founder, Maven Associates
- Principal, Stagen
- VP Strategy & BD, GES
- Manager, Bain & Company
- Engineer, Black & Veatch
- MBA, Tuck-Dartmouth
- BS, Mechanical Engineering, Rice University
- BA, Economics, Claremont McKenna College
Representative Projects
- Led development of a strategy to accelerate company growth and maximize exit valuation multiples for a ~$300M metal manufacturer
- Developed a growth strategy for a ~$200M online consumer loan business
- Created a roadmap for a ~$40M publisher to improve profitability and pursue new strategic growth opportunities
- Conducted a 3-week due diligence of a PE acquisition target in the equipment moving space
- Led the development of a profit improvement plan for a hydraulic seal manufacturer
- Developed a 5-year Value Creation Plan for a ~$600M wine distributor in Canada post acquisition by a PE fund
- Built a growth strategy for a ~$200M luxury recreational boat manufacturer
- Conducted a 3-week due diligence of a PE acquisition target in the land management space
- Developed detailed analysis of the Top 20 competitors of a national big box retailer
- Created a growth strategy for a ~$100M SaaS business
Expertise
Industries
- Business Services
- Consumer Products
- Financial Services
- Manufacturing
- Metal Fabrication
- Restaurants
- Retail
- Technology
- Transportation Services
Project Types
- Due Diligence
- Growth Strategy
- M&A/PMI
- Marketing/Branding
- Organizational Design
- Profit Improvement
Representative Clients
Companies
- Cobalt Boats
- At Home
- Safariland
- PointClickCare
- WorldStrides
- Alliance Equipment
- Arterra Wines
- Craftmark Bakery
- Raybern’s
- PDC
- Best Egg
PE Firms
- Carlyle Group
- JMI Equity
- Ontario Teachers
- Anchor Partners
- Satori Capital
- Founder, MG&A Strategy
- CFO / COO, Qida
- VP Strategy Manager, JPMorgan Chase
- Senior Associate Consultant, Bain & Company
- MBA, Columbia Business School, New York City
- BS & MA, Management, ESADE, Barcelona
Representative Projects
- Led a 5-year strategy formulation for an Asian subsidiary of a global leading life insurance company, partnering with the local leadership team and the central strategy function.
- Developed market assessments for pharmaceutical and transportation clients exploring growth opportunities in new verticals.
- Prepared strategic recommendations for the Board of Directors of a Real Estate Technology and Consulting company analyzing the alternatives for one of their business units.
- Improved Sales Innovation for a global research firm scaling up a pilot program 10x in two months to systematize personalized outbound marketing for C-level technology executives.
- Assisted an online presence management technology company rethink sales analytics to support nimble decision making in pursuit of growth target.
- Supported clients in Private Equity, household appliances, healthcare and telecoms industries on commercial due diligence, customer, service and profitability projects.
Expertise
Industries
- Business Services
- Financial Services
Project Types
- Corporate Strategy
- Strategy Development
- Market Assessment
- Digital Transformation
Representative Clients
Companies
- Top global publicly traded insurer
- ~$5B American road transportation company
- $300MM+ US-based pharmaceutical quality provider
- >$3.5MM media start-up
PE Firms
- $100B+ Global PE
- Middle-market focused European PE investor
- Multiple European family-promoted PE investment funds
- Managing Director, Quincy Analytics
- Partner, The Lucas Group
- Vice President & Chief of Staff, Liberty Mutual Insurance
- Manager International Growth, Staples, the Office Superstore
- Consultant, Bain & Company
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- BS, Quantitative Economics, Tufts University
Representative Projects
- Performed due diligence and led integration of claims and wholesale units for 2 $10bn P&C insurance carriers; delivered $120mm+ in synergy savings
- Used “profit pool” approach to identify high potential new market and product extensions for the $60bn 2nd largest US life insurer; opportunities identified led to road map to achieve $740mm operating profit increase over 7-years
- Led complete strategy development for a $15bn P&C insurer; delivered projects with EVA of $400mm
- Led due diligence of leading SaaS provider of e-application and quoting software for the life insurance and variable annuity market
- Designed go-to-market strategy to leverage digital assets of a PE backed InsurTech IoT/Telematics provider
- For a mid-sized PE firm, led due diligence for successful acquisition of a $50mm SaaS employee benefits administration solution
- Developed global growth strategy for the world’s largest retailer using grounds up profit pool approach across 4 continents and 12 countries
- Created 5-year blueprint to improve EBITDA from $40mm to $475mm for the largest US wholesale grocer
- Built business cases for initial international expansion of largest office superstore
Expertise
Industries
- Business Services
- Insurance
- Retail
- Software
Project Types
- Due Diligence
- Financial Modeling & Analysis
- Growth Strategy
- M&A/PMI
- Profit Improvement
Representative Clients
Companies
- Liberty Mutual
- Chubb
- Prudential
- OneBeacon
- Roost Telematics
- Walmart
- C&S Wholesale Grocers
- Staples
- Sysco Foodservice
PE Firms
- Bessemer IP
- EQT
- Welsh Carson
- Riverside
- Great Point Partners
- Brookside Partners
- Principal, Hanafi Strategy
- Senior Director, IT Strategy & Innovation, DIRECTV/AT&T
- COO, Folio3
- Consultant, Bain & Company
- Director/Strategy Lead, Viant
- Financial Analyst, Citigroup Smith Barney
- BA, Columbia University
Representative Projects
- Providing Agile PMO and strategy planning support for a federal government agency
- Planned and supported ~$225M multi-year digital transformation for a large consumer products company
- Acted as Portfolio Lead for data management and governance initiative for a large consumer products company
- Conducted IT cost benchmarking analysis for a large telecom provider, identifying ~$70-120M opportunity to right-size spend mix
- Developed digital platform strategy for sports and news networks division of a Fortune 100 cable company
- Led financial management and spend analysis for savings portion of $1B IT synergy savings program for M&E company post-merger integration
- Developed strategies for new digital capabilities in areas such as cloud computing, Big Data, social business and API’s for a large M&E company
- Led enterprise-wide information management strategy covering all major business units and entire information value chain for a large M&E company
- Developed IT strategic plans and managed multi-year roadmaps for multiple, complex IT capabilities for a large M&E company
Expertise
Industries
- Business Services
- Consumer Products
- Entertainment
- Financial Services
- Retail
- Technology
- Telecom
Project Types
- IT/Digital Strategy
- Digital Transformation
- Strategic Planning
- Corporate Development/M&A Strategy
- Business Planning
- Agile PMO
- Product Management
Representative Clients
Companies
- CenturyLink
- Charter Communications
- Federal Government Agency
- Harman/Samsung
- Mattel
- PTC
- Seagate
- Sears
- VNU/Nielsen
PE Firms
- American Express
- Charles Schwab
- General Dynamics
- Owner, ORCA Consulting LLC
- Case Team Leader, Bain & Company
- Senior Associate, Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLC
- Engineer, Northrop Grumman
- MBA, Booth (U Chicago), concentration in entrepreneurship
- BS, Mechanical Engineering, UCLA
- Minor, Accounting, UCLA
Representative Projects
- Built recommendation for market entry of new product in innovation department of $26B consumer goods company
- Led development of international portfolio strategy for $3.5B global manufacturing company prioritization of growth, sustain, divesture of multiple recent acquisitions
- Created new US pricing strategy for newly created pricing team at $24B consumer goods company and integrated new pricing vendor into process
- Built recommendation for market entry into new health care space for national retail company based on assessment of current landscape and future health care trends
- Conducted a 1-week due diligence of a PE acquisition target in the conference management space
- Conducted a 1-week due diligence of a PE acquisition target in the software registration space
- Conducted a 1-week due diligence of a PE acquisition target in the health care services space
Expertise
Industries
- Agriculture
- Business Services
- Consumer Products
- Financial Services
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Technology
Project Types
- Growth Strategy
- Due Diligence
- M&A
- Pricing Strategy
Representative Clients
Companies
- McDonalds
- Kraft Heinz
- CVS
- Walmart
- Regal Beloit
- Nutrien
PE Firms
- Carlyle Group
- Pamlico Capital
- Gemspring Capital
- GTCR
- Sterling Partners