ECHELON’s business model consists of four core competencies: research, content development, investment banking, and consulting. Research and content development drive investment banking and consulting. ECHELON’s six differentiating characteristics (focus, execution, network, team, entrepreneurship, and creativity) drive the efficacy of ECHELON’s four core competencies and the business model as a whole. These elements come together to produce the utmost result…consistently superior increases in enterprise value.
Industry Situation
While the “all firms win” environment of the late ’90s left most companies feeling no pain, the more complex and competitive environment of today rewards only those firms that temper their actions with wisdom. ECHELON believes that high-quality research is the key to developing this wisdom, and the firm has extensive experience in doing just that.
It has been ECHELON’s experience that many investment product developers and distributors have a wealth of data and information but are often lacking when it comes to having the specific 1) decision-making intelligence, 2) skills and experience, and 3) capacity…required to reach their peak. As a result, most firms either conduct far too much or far too little business and managerial research…very few conduct the right amount. Those that conduct too much research suffer by 1) spending great amounts of time and money, 2) easily losing direction and focus, and 3) not making decisions or making relatively poor ones. Those that conduct too little research are usually blissful until they find themselves totally off focus after spending millions on the implementation of a strategy that effectively amounts to the construction of an expensive bridge to nowhere.
The research process is incredibly important in getting to the right answer, and this is often overlooked by advisers who have not been operators and/or not been trained at the leading investment banking and/or consulting firms. Analyzing one’s competitors or interviewing one’s clients are tasks that should not be done without precision and forethought. Rather, detailed project plans and interview guides need to be developed to ensure the proper focus and execution. Many industry experts may claim to know the answers to key business questions, but for years ECHELON has found that high-quality research leads to better executive decision making. More specifically, high-quality research is required to separate the real opportunities from the illusory ones and to execute successfully.
ECHELON Actions
1. Service-Focused Research
Peter Drucker often noted that the best first question in business and managerial research is, “How much research does it make sense to conduct?” ECHELON specializes in conducting the right amount of research, which in turn yields affordable bridges to financially attractive destinations in the business landscape. ECHELON’s assessment of the time available, budget, window of opportunity, risks of failure, and potential rewards of success, allows ECHELON to provide a valuable answer to this iterative but seminal question.
The second step of ECHELON’s research process is to “begin with the end in mind.” This means asking clients pointed questions and listening intently to what they would like to learn, what they would like to use the research for, and where they would like the research to take them. ECHELON views research as the beginning and results as the ending of its value-added continuum (VAC).
Research |
ECHELON’s Value-Added Continuum |
Results |
 Importantly, and as outlined in the diagram above, ECHELON understands 1) the difference between data and information; 2) how to conduct the right analysis quickly; 3) how to distill conclusions from findings, and recommendations from conclusions; 4) that the project does not end with actionable recommendations; 5) the symbiotic and iterative relationship between strategies and tactics; and 6) the importance of developing the proper incentives and controls. ECHELON’s VAC highlights 1) the importance of research, 2) the fact that strategy is just one part of the continuum, and 3) the drivers and dependencies of successful business decision making and execution. The VAC is significantly enhanced through ECHELON’s six differentiating characteristics: industry experience/knowledge, execution experience, network of contacts, multidisciplinary team, entrepreneurship, and creativity. The unique combination of ECHELON’s six differentiating characteristics is what allows it to provide advice and transactions that are superior in their creation of enterprise value.
2. Development of Intellectual Property and Databases
With respect to investment banking and consulting projects, ECHELON believes it is important to come armed for the task, get off to a fast start, maintain momentum, and deliver superior results. That means that in addition to having experience, one must also have the right data and the right contacts to execute quickly and effectively. Accordingly, ECHELON has developed an intelligence backbone that is specific to providing investment banking and consulting services to the investment industry. ECHELON’s mantra with respect to this backbone is “organization, process, and execution.” Thus, ECHELON starts by systematically capturing data on the industry from an impressive breadth of resources. It then filters the data and moves that which is to be kept into a series of databases and a highly organized repository. This information is then used in client engagements; to coach clients; to train client employees; to train ECHELON employees; and to develop research reports, webinars, and conference presentations.
ECHELON’s databases of buyers, investors, sellers, and lenders are enormously useful in the execution of investment banking assignments. In addition, its databases of transactions, deal values, deal terms, and deal structures are also instrumental in achieving the most attractive terms for ECHELON clients. ECHELON’s data repository and research reports often serve as the foundation for ECHELON consulting assignments. And finally, ECHELON’s database of industry contacts allows it to move quickly and gather information that other firms would not think to look for.
ECHELON Services
Results Delivered by ECHELON
There are a limited number of other consulting firms that possess large amounts of investment industry intelligence, but none of them can conduct transactions. Similarly, there are a number of other investment banks that can conduct transactions, but none of them have a meaningful slate of consulting services or much in the way of processes designed to harvest, organize, package, and store large amounts of industry intelligence. ECHELON Partners is the only firm that provides potency in both disciplines, creating a host of unique, value-creating services and a synergistic benefit for its clients.
With thousands of products, competitors, and technologies, it takes far more than an “industry expert” to help companies achieve standout business success. It takes the research, resources, and services available only at ECHELON. |
