Given the vast competitiveness of the modern consulting environment, consulting leaders today must focus on certain important aspects, such as client-centricity, innovation, and adaptability in order to serve their clients better and scale organizational success. In fact, such qualities contribute to client success, foster a culture of continuous improvement, and enhance the overall effectiveness and resilience of consulting teams in a dynamic business landscape.
Recognized for his brilliance in business strategy, Alec Hudnut (Managing Partner, Vici Partners) is a highly effective leader who brings the rare combination of deep intellectual horsepower and a keen understanding of how businesses operate. His creativity, intellect, and problem-solving abilities bring simple solutions to the most complex problems.
A Journey Marked by Strides of Success
After completing his university education, Alec Hudnut began his career as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, specializing in small and medium-sized companies. Subsequently, he pursued a Master’s in Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Following his academic endeavors, Alec Hudnut spent five years at McKinsey, concentrating on operational improvement within the banking and energy sectors. He initiated the firm’s board governance practice during his tenure, which enhanced board support for shareholders and company executives.
A significant shift occurred when Alec Hudnut departed McKinsey to establish University Access, the world’s first e-learning company. The code Alec and his team developed for this pioneering venture is showcased in the Smithsonian Museum, exemplifying American innovation in the invention wing. After successfully selling University Access, Alec Hudnut ventured into autonomous navigation, contributing to a company specializing in aiding robots and mobile machines through visual pattern recognition and simultaneous localization and mapping. This venture culminated in a successful sale to a leading robotics company.
Alec Hudnut’s entrepreneurial journey continued with a focus on the retail market. In this phase, he led a company that developed technologies in visual pattern recognition, enabling the identification of packaged goods without relying on barcodes. This technology, known as LaneHawk, became widely adopted in thousands of U.S. and European retail stores, especially at checkout stands, ensuring accurate transaction records. Another subsequent chapter in Alec’s career involved running the prepaid debit card division at a bank. Following this experience, he joined Vici Partners. Drawing from his extensive background, Alec Hudnut finds fulfillment in being the firm’s Managing Partner, particularly through engaging with CEOs, board members, owners, and CFOs. Having been a CEO for four different companies, Alec resonates with the challenges and experiences of his clients. This shared understanding enables him to provide valuable insights and assistance, making the consulting process not just a job but a personally satisfying endeavor.
Harnessing Knowledge within the Workforce
Since 2008, Vici Partners has dedicated itself to refining a system designed to assist organizations in harnessing the knowledge within their workforce. The company focuses on cultivating buy-in and thereby transforming challenges into tangible business improvements. Vici Partners caters to two primary client categories as a mid-sized consulting firm with a specialized emphasis on earnings growth.
Firstly, the company engages with businesses facing financial challenges, aiding them in swiftly reaching cashflow break-even. Vici Partners has consistently achieved positive cash flow for these clients within six to nine months. The second facet of the company’s practice involves collaborating with larger entities, often publicly traded or private equity-owned businesses, striving to enhance their earnings and bolster operating income. Through its targeted approach, Vici Partners continues to deliver impactful solutions to organizations seeking to navigate financial challenges and drive sustained growth. In its earnings growth practice, Vici Partners typically improves operating income by 25% within two to three years.
Surfing through the Tides of Change
In order to attain the top position in the industry, Vici Partners has surpassed several hurdles to be recognized as a team for success. Essentially, a pivotal factor propelling Vici Partners’ growth was its strategic shift from serving divisions to entire enterprises. When handling a division of, let’s say, a $50 billion revenue company—initially a $500 million division—the subsequent projects scaled up to a $2 billion division, eventually encompassing the entire company. Another significant catalyst for Vici’s growth has been its engagement with prominent international companies beyond the United States, extending its services to regions like Japan and Europe. This expansion into the global market positions the company for substantial long-term growth.
Another challenging point for the company was during the pandemic season. Like many businesses, Vici Partners also faced several challenges in continuing operations and scaling business success. Alec Hudnut recalls how the initial days of the pandemic posed challenges for the company. In the initial six months of the pandemic, Vici Partners experienced a limited influx of new clients. The focus primarily rested on serving existing clients and implementing earnings growth programs. The company engaged in its first virtual-only project about six months into the pandemic. The situation involved a distressed company facing substantial financial losses and imminent depletion of funds.
Working collaboratively with the CEO, Chief Operating Officer, and CFO over virtual platforms like Zoom and Teams, the Vici Partners team successfully orchestrated a turnaround, achieving profitability within six months. This pivotal experience revealed the viability of remote project execution. Consequently, much of the company’s operations transitioned to a remote work model. This shift has proven beneficial in catering to international clients across various time zones. Before this realization, Vici Partners and its clients were accustomed to regular in-person interactions. However, with the acceptance of remote collaboration and the efficacy of the earnings growth approach in this setup, the firm has embraced a more flexible hybrid working model. Vici Partners and its consultants align their work schedules with the hybrid practices most clients adopt – a combination of work from home and office. This allows the company to seamlessly provide on-site or remote services from its offices, adapting to the evolving preferences of clients in a hybrid manner.
Today, Vici Partners primarily acquires clients through referrals from existing clients or former clients. The company’s brand is synonymous with a compelling track record, notably achieving a 25 percent improvement in operating income within 2 to 3 years for profitable clients, and in distressed situations bringing a client to profitability within 6 to 9 months. This established performance track record is crucial in building trust with prospective clients. When these potential clients engage with Vici Partners, conversations with prior clients emphasize the successful and meaningful improvements achieved in a short timeframe. The trust factor is effectively addressed through the company’s consistent and strong past performance history with other clients.
Disruptive Model of Working
Unlike other organizations in the consulting industry, Vici Partners doesn’t incorporate a conventional working model. Alec Hudnut highlights that in consulting, the standard deliverable for most consulting firms typically involves recommendations or presentations outlining suggested courses of action. “However, at Vici Partners, the approach is distinctive,” he says. The company collaboratively generates numerous initiatives with its clients, from modest enhancements to substantial measures to improve earnings. This collaborative effort extends to developing detailed implementation plans and operational and financial metrics. These components serve as the framework for monitoring the effective execution of the proposed programs. Vici Partners often supports clients throughout the implementation process, setting its services apart from the more conventional consulting firms. As a result, the company’s approach yields tangible and prompt impacts on clients’ operating income, distinguishing it from the traditional consulting model.
Vici Partners specializes in two core services. Firstly, their turnaround services cater to companies in financial distress, involving a 6 to 9-month intervention where Vici may replace or support management. Leveraging playbooks, they address personnel costs, pricing, and revenue growth to expedite profitability. The second service, earnings growth, follows a meticulous 16 to 20-week process across four phases. Consultants collaborate closely with clients, generating many ideas in the first phase. This structured approach is tailored to enhance operating income, ensuring a targeted and strategic uplift within a specified timeframe. Subsequent phases involve narrowing down these ideas through business cases, obtaining buy-in from executives and internal stakeholders, and ultimately deciding on and implementing the selected ideas. Vici’s rigorous and systematic approach typically yields a 25 percent improvement in operating income for clients within 2 to 3 years. The company’s commitment to structured processes ensures a comprehensive and effective approach to addressing clients’ unique challenges and fostering sustained growth.
Attentiveness for Leadership and Business Efficiency
Being a seasoned and recognized leader, Alec Hudnut’s leadership philosophy revolves around being a patient listener and its importance in taking the company forward. “it’s very important to listen well because, in our practice, the answer often lies inside of the company already,” he adds. As he sees it, an effective consultant’s primary role is to listen to the client attentively, discerning what is effective and what is not, and identifying potential initiatives that may be hidden within the organization. A crucial element of success, according to Alec, is listening intently. Another guiding principle he emphasizes is the concept of “beginning anew.” When collaborating with clients, especially individuals from different departments, Alec Hudnut advocates for bringing them into unfamiliar territories. For instance, involving a marketing professional in the manufacturing side of the business allows them to approach it with a fresh perspective, akin to a newcomer.
This process of beginning anew, characterized by asking numerous questions and challenging assumptions, proves instrumental in uncovering inefficiencies and fostering a mindset conducive to successful business growth. It aligns with Alec’s belief in the power of an open mind, proactive listening, and a beginner’s approach to driving positive outcomes in consultancy.
Innovation as a Winning Strategy Amidst High Competition
Quoting how “The consulting market, in general, is quite competitive,” Alec Hudnut highlights how the vast competition in the industry demands businesses to be agile and fast-paced with their strategies to be ahead. In the competitive consulting landscape, Vici faces challenges from major consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Accenture, and Deloitte, as well as notable restructuring firms like Alix Partners and Alvarez and Marsal. What sets Vici apart is its distinctive team composition—comprising exclusively senior professionals, each with extensive leadership experience as CEOs, partners in consulting firms, or operating partners in private equity. The firm’s approach to innovation is equally distinct. Vici believes that the solution to a company’s challenges is often within its walls but hasn’t been given due consideration. This perspective guides their approach to implementation, where they actively seek out and value input from individuals within the client’s organization.
For instance, during a project with a company operating a large call center, a manager had long advocated for a focus on “first call resolution,” an idea borrowed from her previous experience. Despite her efforts being overlooked internally, Vici engaged with her, understood her innovation, and collaborated to build a compelling case showcasing the positive impacts on customer experience and business efficiency. Through this process, Vici recognized existing innovation and facilitated its acceptance and implementation, demonstrating its ability to uncover valuable ideas within client organizations and bring them to fruition.
Envisioning a High Growth Future Ahead
Alec Hudnut and Vici Partners envision a strategic focus on three key areas for company expansion. Firstly, there is a commitment to furthering international presence. Second, the aim is to enhance collaboration with large clients, building on existing relationships. Thirdly, a concerted effort is directed towards engaging more with private equity clients, extending services to additional companies within their portfolios.
The approach to company growth aligns with a philosophy akin to the character played by Tom Cruise in the U.S. movie “Jerry Maguire.” Drawing inspiration, Alec Hudnutemphasizes the importance of maintaining a select clientele and delivering exceptional service. The core principle involves ensuring that clients are satisfied and extremely pleased with the outcomes, experiencing tangible improvements in operating income. This client-centric philosophy underpins Vici Partners’ growth strategy, fostering long-term partnerships and sustained company expansion.
As a renowned leader in consultancy, Alec Hudnut advises: “Work on yourself first. Most problems I see in companies directly relate to the leader’s weaknesses. So as a leader, young entrepreneur, or even seasoned CEO, if you can address your weaknesses and get through them, you will improve the company.“
