My start and my role at FOSTEC & Company

Before joining FOSTEC, I completed a Master of Business Administration at the Mannheim Business School and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore. Before that, I worked for several years in a start-up in the education sector.

In strategy consulting, no two workdays are the same and the tasks are highly dependent on the respective project. The projects I manage include e-commerce and digitalisation projects or commercial due diligence projects.

In e-commerce strategy projects, we help our clients define what the future sales structure should look like and which sales channels should be used best and how. In addition, we quantify the effect, i.e. we determine the turnover and margin potential and derive the ROI from this. Subsequently, we support the implementation. In digitalisation projects, for example, we support clients in the development of new and disruptive business models in order to be competitive.

My most exciting project experience

My most exciting project so far was the commercial due diligence of a secure messenger for a private equity investor. The question was whether the business model is sustainable and whether it makes sense for this investor to acquire the company for his portfolio.

During the commercial due diligence we analysed different facets of the company. For example, the competition. How active are the competitors and what services do they offer. We also looked at how big the market for such services is and how fast it is growing. And then, of course, the company’s ability to develop new services and features, as well as the development of current customers. In a very short time, you gain an incredible amount of insight into the company, but also the industry in which it operates.

Challenges in strategy projects are the quick familiarisation with partly still unknown topics often in a very short time and the flexibility to react quickly to changing information or customer wishes.

What drives and motivates me

What motivates me so much about strategy consulting are two aspects: Impact and the incredibly steep learning curve. You have a say in the strategic direction the company will take in the next few years. At the same time, you learn an incredible amount of new things every day. These two aspects drive me to be active as a strategy consultant every day.

When I think about the future of FOSTEC, I find it very exciting to be able to help shape so much here and develop the company further. We are given a lot of freedom and are allowed to contribute, for example, to the development of new concepts and consulting services. That also fits in wonderfully with our motto. Challenge. Disrupt. Unleash. Question ideas, change them and create new potential from the new.

 

My start and my role at FOSTEC & Company

Before joining FOSTEC & Company, I completed my Bachelor’s degree at EBS in Oestrich-Winkel and then a Master of Law and Business at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg. During my studies I gained experience in investment banking, private equity and transaction advisory and additionally managed the family business for two years.

The main focus of my work is commercial due diligence projects. Here I advise and support our clients, mainly private equity companies, but also strategists in the acquisition of companies from various industries. The targets are mainly software or e-commerce companies. In addition, I am also involved in strategy consulting projects that focus on growth and efficiency issues.

My most exciting project experience

For me, there is no such thing as “the most exciting project”. Every commercial due diligence is something special and at the end we give an investor a detailed overview of the opportunities, but also the risks of a transaction. From this, an investor can then deduce whether the company should be acquired and on what terms. In such projects, in addition to the great responsibility, one also feels the impact that our work has in a crucial part of the transaction process.

In every commercial due diligence, we immerse ourselves in a new company and analyse the business model, the products, the market, the competition, and thus get a holistic overview of the sustainability of a company. I find that very exciting and appealing.

The biggest challenge in such projects is obtaining data for analysis. The company being acquired usually only wants to provide as little information as necessary, but we need a lot of information.

What drives and motivates me

The work as a strategy consultant is very multi-faceted and therefore has a virtually never-ending learning curve. That’s what drives me every day. No two days are the same and it allows me to constantly develop personally. I look forward to seeing FOSTEC & Company grow and to supporting it and becoming part of the success story.

 

 

Markus Fost, Managing Partner of FOSTEC & Company, with an insight into the company, what sets FOSTEC & Company apart and what prospects there are for employees:

FOSTEC & Company

FOSTEC & Company is a strategy consulting boutique with a focus on the digital economy. We focus on topics such as the platform economy, e-commerce, Amazon commerce, digitalisation and transformation.

We help our clients grow stronger and operate more efficiently. We operate in a very entrepreneurial way and are part of FOSTEC Ventures, an investment company with over ten investments in the B2B technology and services sector. Our consultants also regularly work for our portfolio companies. True to our claim: “Unleash your digital potential!” we support our clients in exploiting their full digital potential.

Our range of services and our clients

Our range of services is diverse and includes the following services: Due Diligence Services, Market Intelligence, Pricing, Strategy, E-Commerce, Transformation, Digitalisation, Execution Support & PMO.

We accompany you from strategy to implementation and thus ensure the realisation of the identified potentials. Our clients are predominantly manufacturing companies from all sectors for which we develop sustainable business models, including larger medium-sized companies to DAX groups of multinational companies as well as private equity companies.

What distinguishes FOSTEC & Company

FOSTEC & Company combines strategy consulting and private equity with an exclusive focus on topics within the digital economy. In this way, we combine strategy consulting quality at Tier 1 level with a very high level of expertise in e-commerce and digitalisation. With this positioning, we are one of the first points of contact for boards, managing directors and shareholders when it comes to identifying and realising potential through e-commerce and digitalisation. We distinguish ourselves through:

• Entrepreneurship in practice
• Methodical expertise and operational experience
• Realisable solutions and flair
• cooperation and knowledge transfer as one team
• Track record and references
• Focus on strategy / digitalisation / e-commerce

Goals and perspectives at FOSTEC & Company

We will expand our team of highly qualified and motivated employees in Stuttgart, but also establish additional locations in Munich, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition, we will also continue to expand our ecosystem on the investment side in order to be able to provide clients with holistic support at the highest level from strategy to implementation.

FOSTEC & Company offers its employees a very steep learning curve, varied and highly topical projects at the cutting edge with the opportunity to take on a lot of responsibility in order to grow personally and professionally. In addition, we offer individual mentoring, both by the partner and by mentors within Consulting, to support a steep career path.

We encourage entrepreneurial thinking and action and give our team the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities, even in investments.

 

 

My start and my role at FOSTEC & Company

Since 2017, I have been working as a management consultant at FOSTEC & Company. Before that, I was Key Account Manager E-Commerce at XciteRC, an investment of FOSTEC Ventures. My role as a management consultant is broad and generalist. For example, I look after the areas of: Human Resources, Accounting, Controlling and IT. That is very varied and versatile in any case.

My most exciting project experience

One of the most exciting projects for me was the transformation of Digilents, a FOSTEC Ventures investment in HR services. Digilents, which was formerly called CEC Connect eCommerce, had its focus mainly on placement from its own network and started in Cologne.

After the company moved from Cologne to Stuttgart, we broadened the business model and expanded the placement of experts in addition to recruiting permanent employees in order to further strengthen our market position in the DACH region. We have also rebranded under the name Digilents, which stands for Digital Talents, introduced processes and built a larger team.

A big challenge in my field of work is to manage the large variety of tasks at a high level of maturity despite the very broad assignment. Comparable to someone who is exclusively in charge of a single area.

What drives and motivates me

I am driven every day by the fact that my work makes a difference. For the company, the quality of my work has a big impact. It feels like a pilot flying his own plane and having a big responsibility.

I am looking forward to the growth of FOSTEC & Company, to new colleagues, to new tasks and challenges. I am looking forward to actively shaping and experiencing this change. We have been very successful in the last few years and I am sure that we are far from finished here.