Intellicast S5E19 – Growth-Focused Acquisition Strategies with Steve Schlesinger and Ted Pulsifer of Schlesinger Group

Welcome back to Intellicast! On today’s episode we are joined by a couple of powerhouses in the market research industry; Steve Schlesinger and Ted Pulsifer of the Schlesinger Group. Steve and Ted join the guys to clear up some of the questions the guys have had about their acquisition strategy and their goals.

The interview kicks off with Ted giving a bit of detail on how life has changed since he was last on, specifically around joining the Schlesinger Group family and what it has meant to him and the former MarketCube business. Ted talks about how one of the benefits is how he can really drill in on specific items rather than having to wear multiple hats.

We then turn it to Steve.  Before we jump into the talk of acquisition strategy, Brian and Steve talk about Steve’s recent experience at SampleCon in Los Angeles.  Steve gives us his opinion as a first-time attendee, and as someone who has traditionally spent most of his career in qualitative research.

Next, Steve gives some perspective on the strategy he uses when looking for and acquiring companies to add to the Schlesinger family.  And family is the term Steve uses, which Brian Lamar and Producer Brian found super interesting.  Steve details what he looks for in a company, some of the inner workings of how a deal may come together, and also how they manage company culture integration. 

This leads to the guys discussing what kind of opportunities Steve looks for in companies that may be of interest to him, and who does the first contact of sort to start a deal path underway.  It is really interesting to hear how this gets started. 

In the last part of the interview, we change gears and get serious on a topic that is of interest to everyone: cereal.  Steve, Ted, Brian Lamar, and Producer Brian talk about their favorite cereals.  Steve gets into some deep details about how he mixes cereals and the kinds of cereal you can find in his kitchen. 

This is a great episode with 2 awesome guests!

If you want to learn more about Schlesinger Group, visit their website at https://www.schlesingergroup.com

You can connect with Steve Schlesinger on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-schlesinger-0360171/

You can connect with Ted Pulsifer on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedpulsifer/

 Thanks for listening!

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