Acropolis Advisors & Catalant Form Strategic Alliance
to Rival the Big 3 in Strategy Consulting
Boston, Massachusetts, August 30, 2023—Bill Achtmeyer, Chairman and Managing Partner of Acropolis Advisors, LLC and former founder and CEO of Parthenon, and Pat Petitti, co-founder and CEO of Catalant Technologies, Inc announced today the formation of an elite partnership in the world of top end strategy consulting.
“Our partnership represents a game changer in the CEO advisory space. Never before on a real time basis have clients been able to access senior advisory capability, deep global industry expertise, and a transformative strategic construct developed by Co-founding Acropolis partners, HBS strategy icon Professor Michael Porter and Bill Achtmeyer that helps CEOs achieve sustainable competitive advantage while serving the needs of all stakeholders. This requires the senior advisory resources of Acropolis coupled with the incomparable talent that is available through the Catalant network of 80,000 independent consultants, a number of whom hail from the top three strategy firms of McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. Together, they are able to provide CEOs, C-suite executives, and PE partners with actionable insights that bolster the purpose and valuation of the enterprise simultaneously.
The Acropolis/Catalant partnership is prepared to help its clients solve their most vexing strategic issues from achieving higher levels of growth, improving the bottom line, optimizing the portfolio, creating shared value initiatives that turns sustainability into a strategic advantage, and enhancing the culture of the enterprise. Our approach delivers greater value in less time and cost than any other alternative, “said Achtmeyer and Petitti in a joint statement.
The strategy consulting market is largely unchanged over the past 100 years;
we propose a different approach.
10 years ago Clayton Christensen published a Harvard Business Review article titled “Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption”, suggesting consulting’s fundamental business model had not changed in 100 years and was in need of change. While the consulting model has gone unchanged in the decade since Christensen’s article, client needs and expectations have evolved. Companies require more flexible and targeted solutions, and their problems require a combination of strategic and operational expertise. The way people work has changed, as well. Digital technologies have created a more connected world where some of the best consultants are choosing to become independent, taking more control over how they work and offering companies direct access to people who have solved their specific problem before.
“Our partnership is a unique business model innovation that combines the best strategic advisory talent with the fast-growing benefits of utilizing the high-skilled part of the freelance economy,” said Achtmeyer.
What makes our partnership valuable for clients: Unmatched strategy advisory combined
with deep industry consulting capabilities across the globe.
This partnership brings together the unparalleled strategic gravitas in the Acropolis Advisors partners and Catalant’s global network of seasoned strategy consultants. Acropolis was founded by some of the great strategic thought leaders of our generation in Achtmeyer and Professor Porter. Catalant’s network of ex-McKinsey, BCG, and Bain consultants has over 7 years of experience and relevant operating experience in a wide range of industries.
“Unlike the traditional consulting model, where most of the work is delegated to a large team of junior resources, we will serve the modern business environment with a nimbler approach. The Acropolis/Catalant partnership allows us to dynamically flex the team size and composition, matching the required expertise with the evolving nature of the business’s need over the course of an engagement. Our collaboration focuses exclusively on strategy consulting services for the C-Suites of both public and private companies. This specialized approach ensures a laser focus on driving growth, innovation, and sustained value creation,” said Petitti.
“We were introduced to Catalant on our first engagement where we required deep expertise on a battery component that is critical to supporting the electric vehicle revolution. We needed to tap into experts around the world who had extensive operational knowledge. Catalant understood fully our analytic process and helped to crack the case in less time and with more insight than I have ever witnessed,” said Acropolis Chairman, Bill Achtmeyer.
“The gravitas of the Acropolis team is a game-changer for us in assisting the CEOs of our enterprise clients. We have known for some time that there is pent-up demand to serve the C-suite. There is fatigue with the extraordinarily expensive and constant consulting support from major legacy management consulting firms. Our approach is a welcome alternative,” said Pat Petitti, CEO of Catalant.
“In the course of getting to know Pat and the Catalant team, it became clear to us that he has built an amazing platform and juggernaut network of top talent that seeks to work on their terms and not as part of a large and matrix -laden firm. Multibillion dollar global corporations that house many business units and operate globally have significant growth challenges. They must challenge the status quo to be successful. They cannot turn to the Big 3 for breakthrough strategies because those firms also consult with their competitors. We can tap exceptionally capable folks who know the industries of our clients backwards and forwards and where our primary goal is to aid in developing strategies that achieve sustained competitive advantage. This is a perfect marriage,” reflected Achtmeyer.
BIll Achtmeyer
Email: billa@acropolisadvisors.com
Cell: +1.857.891.5628
Pat Petitti
Email: pat@gocatalant.com
Cell: +1.617.947.8270