Time & Materials Podcast

This week I pick up where last week’s conversation with Ellen Daley left off. As I mentioned last week, Ellen was the CEO of Acorio, a ServiceNow consultancy that became ServiceNow’s largest boutique partner.This week’s episode discusses the ins and outs of building a partner-centric professional services business. These partner-centric models revolve around a product company that uses services providers to provide consultative help to their mutual clients and perform implementation or integration work to make clients successful. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chris-hart.com

I recently caught up with Ellen Daley, an experienced board member and advisor for professional services firms.Ellen was the CEO of Acorio, a ServiceNow consultancy that became ServiceNow’s largest boutique partner. Along the way, Acorio was recognized on Inc’s Best Workplaces list and had one of the highest customer satisfaction scores in the ServiceNow ecosystem. Acorio was sold to NTT Data in October 2020.Today’s podcast episode is the first part of our conversation that focuses on the characteristics of fast-growing professional services companies. Part two of our conversation will be posted next week, discussing partner-led sales approaches. Subscribe below so you’d miss it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chris-hart.com

This week I’m joined by Steve Bernet, a professional services CFO and finance leader, to talk about navigating an investment banking sales process for selling a professional services business. Listen to our full conversation for all the details. We cover what to expect in the sales process, a couple of tricky challenges no one warns you about, and what happens when the process doesn't go well. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chris-hart.com

Today I'm joined by Aater Suleman, an experienced professional services founder of the firm Flux7 that NTT Data acquired in 2019. Aater is now helping other professional services founders through his accelerator, Vixul. Think of it as the Y Combinator of IT services.In the podcast, Aater and I discuss remote work, culture building, and his experiences in founding and growing Flux7, which was fully remote from the start. We delve into the benefits and challenges of remote work, hybrid work environments, and the key factors contributing to successful remote work cultures. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chris-hart.com