Industry: Pharmaceuticals
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

Independent Consultant, Estee Lauder Companies and Macy’s
Director, What If Innovation
Principal, Bain & Company
Consultant, Bridgespan Group
MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
BA, Public Policy, Brown University
Representative Projects
- Led development of a full potential growth strategy for ~$700M PE owned consumer products company to drive increased profitability
- Created global supply chain strategy for multi-branded clothing retailer
- Developed growth and channel strategy for a growing media business
- Generated consumer insights for consumer health business in the pain category
- Developed an innovation roadmap for <$100M PE-owned consumer products company to drive category expansion
- Designed new salesforce strategy for a major pharmaceuticals company
- Created full potential growth strategy for the US division of a global HR services business
- Led implementation of a digitally-oriented customer loyalty strategy for retailer
- Drove transformation program focused on organization, process, and technology for multi-branded beauty company
- Built an omnichannel growth strategy for department store chain
- Managed a successful post-merger integration effort within the research and advisory industry
Expertise
Industries
- Advertising & Media
- Consumer Products
- Pharmaceuticals
- Retail
- Technology
Project Types
- Growth Strategy
- Innovation
- Transformation
- Process Improvement
- Organizational Design
- Customer Loyalty
Representative Clients
Companies
- Yankee Candle
- ThinkThin
- Estee Lauder
- Sanofi
- HP
- Warner Music Group
- Macy’s
- Liz Claiborne
- Pfizer
- Sirius Radio (pre XM merger)
- Manhattan Mini Storage
- Adecco Group
PE Firms
- TSG Consumer
- Madison Dearborn Partners
- Worked in Bain’s Private Equity Group early in career

- FounFounder, Practiko, LLC
- Managing Director, WM Partners
- Co-founder, PadInMotion
- Principal, Bain & Company
- MBA, Harvard Business School
- MSc, Economics, LSE
- BA, Economics, ITESM
Representative Projects
- Co-led the creation of a ~$300M fund focused on nutritional supplements. Sold to Clorox for ~$700M. Rolled up five nutritional supplement players, doubling revenue and increasing EBITDA 10x within three years.
- Created a customer focused growth strategy for a major pharma company focused on customer driven growth doubling stock value within 12 months
- Co-founder of PadInMotion, providing tablet technology for patients at hospitals, achieving exponential growth in first five years
- Developed detailed growth strategy (brand-pack) to reactivate growth for a beverage company in a mature market to reach >8% CAG
- Redesigned organization of major retailer in Mexico to double LATAM business in 5 years with lower costs
- Redesigned new commercial model to boost efficient growth for a major pharma company
- Developed multiple R&D and growth strategies for a variety of mid and large pharma customers across different therapeutic areas such as oral contraceptives, cardiovascular, and ophthalmology
- Conducted due diligence and created an expansion strategy for a network of radiotherapy centers
Expertise
Industries
- Chemicals
- Consumer Products
- Education
- Financial Services
- Health & Wellness
- Healthcare Services
- Industrials
- Pharmaceuticals
- Retail
Project Types
- Growth Strategy
- M&A Strategy
- Post-merger Integration
- Organizational Design
- Marketing
- Profit Improvement
- Due Diligence
- Strategy Implementation
Representative Clients
Companies
- 3 of the top 5 pharma companies
- National chain of pharmacies
- Mid size pharma
- Network of radiotherapy centers
- Leading mass retailer
- Global beverage company
- Leading multinational food player
- Global beer company
- Leading international green house operator
PE Firms
- Top tier PE firms
- Mid size PE firm
- Founding member of WM Partners focused on health and wellness
- International producer of specialty chemicals

- VP Strategy, MeadWestvaco
- Principal, Marakon Associates
- Director Strategy, Xerox
- Associate Principal, McKinsey
- MBA, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- BA, Economics, Harvard
Representative Projects
- Developed a new adjacent market growth strategy for a $3B branded consumer products company
- Led strategic diligence for a branded consumer products company acquiring a $60MM Canada-based supplier
- Evaluated multiple potential new platform acquisition opportunities for a $20B global industrial conglomerate
- Led team developing a new product market entry strategy for the Food SBU of a $6B global packaging company
- Drove annual strategic planning process and re-defined the business model of a $3B global vision care provider
- Co-led the commercial due diligence for a successful $2.4B hospital supplies company acquisition
- Built a PMO capability and led high-value strategic projects to transform a $1.3B PE-backed consumer products client
- Developed a break-out strategy for a life sciences client to shape a new market and grow revenue 6x over 5 years
- Co-led the development of a new international sales and distribution approach for a life sciences client
Expertise
Industries
- Aerospace/Defense
- Consumer Products
- Entertainment
- Industrials
- Materials
- Packaging
- Pharmaceuticals
- Technology
Project Types
- Strategy
- Corporate Development
- New Market Entry
- Profit Improvement
- Program Management
- Team Building
Representative Clients
Companies
- Mead Johnson
- US Pharmacopeia
- Pfizer
- Live Nation
- Scotts
- Timken
- Textron
- Dow Chemical
- Allergan
- Alcon
- Danaher
PE Firms
- Charlesbank
- TPG
- Clayton Dubilier

- Director, Mattel (Sales & marketing for Target account)
- Case Team Leader / Consultant / Senior Associate Consultant / Associate Consultant, Bain & Company
- MBA, Kellogg School of Management @ Northwestern University
- BEng, Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University
Representative Projects
- At Mattel, built a comprehensive view of Mattel’s retail performance annually at Target. Advised Sr Execs at Target on best promotional retail strategy in-store and online to promote products from ~15 Mattel brands.
- For a Fortune 50 drugstore retailer, acted as Engagement Manager for a market landscape/competitive deep-dive project specifically focused on improving profitability overall through increased loyalty in pharmacy
- For a US-based Fortune 100 retailer built a competitive landscape of the Beauty space and evaluated ~40 companies for inorganic acquisition.
- For ~$10B Beauty company, developed a comprehensive view of the Luxury & Prestige cosmetics market landscape including consumer-driven market segmentation, and opportunity identification in 8 market segments based on primary and secondary research
- Medical Devices: For a Fortune 500 leader in Medical Devices, created pricing strategy for Marketing department of $1B division through primary and secondary research
- Arts & Crafts: Revised procurement strategy for SVP of Procurement overseeing $300M budget and 50+ vendors, resulting in $14M savings
- Private equity: Performed diligence on 9 different acquisition targets (mostly consumer-facing organizations) through 1,000+ customer and expert cold-calls.
Expertise
Industries
- Agriculture
- Arts & Crafts
- Beauty
- Beverages
- Fashion
- Gardening
- Medical Devices
- Pharmaceuticals
- Retail
- Telecom
- Toys
- Vision Services
Project Types
- Growth Strategy
- Consumer Strategy
- Marketing
- Profit Improvement
- Pricing Strategy
- Due Diligence
Representative Clients
Companies
- Target (customer)
- Nestle
- Mars
- Kohl’s
- Walgreens
- Motorola
- Medtronic
- Express Scripts
- Shiseido
- Vera Bradley
- Wilton
- Burpee
PE Firms
- Anchor Partners
- Ares Management