The Strategy Consultant
Entrepreneurs & Operators
Sells ideas — frameworks, analyses, board-level recommendations under a firm's brand
The Strategy Consultant sells ideas: the deliverable is the recommendation itself — frameworks, diagnostics, C-level presence. They work firm-embedded (McKinsey, BCG, boutique strategy firms), trading micro-decision freedom for brand leverage — the firm logo opens doors a solo cannot, and methodology IP comes pre-built. Daily work is stakeholder interviews, workshop facilitation, issue trees, strategy memos, and 12-36-month roadmaps. What separates the Consultant from a Developer or Freelancer is buy-in management with skeptical boards and client-relationship ownership under the firm's trust, not their own.
How it earns
Firm-leveraged daily rates (≈€1.5k-3k/day for senior independents, €4k+/day at Partner level in DACH); project retainers; the firm's brand as the sales engine.
How it fails
Irrelevance — recommendations that don't land in the client's reality; high-fee 'strategy' decks that repackage publicly available information as proprietary insight.
Real examples across cycles
Linux / Open Source
- Bruce Perens (open-source-in-the-enterprise strategy advice)
- Gartner/Forrester analysts advising boards on Linux adoption
- the 451 Group's open-source practice
Crypto
- Blockchain strategy consultants (2017)
- McKinsey crypto practice
AI
- AI transformation consultants (BCG X, McKinsey QuantumBlack)
- strategy boutiques
People who play this role
Your first step
Pick one company in your target segment, write a one-page diagnosis (problem + 3 hypotheses + 1 recommendation), and send it to a contact there this week.
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