Barry Samria spent more than two decades working in consulting before launching Audere Partners with some colleagues in 2016. During those 20 years, he noticed a few things: One, even though consulting firms are proponents of change, when it comes to changing internally, they are very conservative; and two, firm leaders all talk about values but it's often a "check the box" exercise. Few firms practice what they preach.
"Those were the two things that drove us as we sat down to create something really daring and bold," says Samria, a Managing Partner with Audere. "We're really trying to build a brand based on values, no exceptions. We wanted to have a clear set of values that everyone understood. We set out to change the course of consulting. We wouldn't be afraid to be daring and bold."
In fact, the word "Audere" is Latin for "to dare." Samria says Audere Partners is out to prove that consulting can be done a different way. He says earlier in their careers, he and the other founding members of the firm noticed how rare it was to have open and honest discussions with clients for fear of upsetting them. "We simply were not going to do that at Audere," he says. "We live our core values; that's the genesis of the firm."
Samria says he and the founders were focused on breaking out of the old way of thinking. "We're looking to be innovative. We want to try new things and we want to break the mold. It's part of our DNA. We have a culture and an appetite for change. There are no sacred cows: There's nothing that can't be challenged. It's about passion, not just maximizing profits."
But maximizing profits certainly hasn't been a problem. Audere grew a whopping 376 percent in 2017 and is forecasting another 126 percent growth this year. And Audere also plans to more than double its staff in 2018 from 20 to 45.
"The growth comes form client relationships," Samria says. "Every time we deliver a piece of work, we want to crate an extraordinary experience; not just for the client but for ourselves, too."
Samria says the firm spent a year or so trying to figure out who it was and what it was going to be, and only really started marketing itself last year. "Now we are breaking into new sectors, new geographies and hiring some business developments people to push us to the next level."
That next level includes some new markets as the firm is in the process of expanding into Europe, but most of the focus remains on North America, Samria says.
"In five years, it's our objective to be a truly global firm. We would hope that we'd be exceeding the $100 million revenue mark in five years, too. If not, we'll certainly be there in ten," he says. "Our aspirations would be to be a firm in excess of 500 people in ten years."
To get there, Samria says it will be critical that Audere listens to its clients, who "want assurances that what we're doing for them will be sustainable after we've gone. They're looking for a culture of continuous improvement," he says. "It's really about developing the client's people so they can continue the work after we've gone. You have to deliver an extraordinary experience for the client."
Samria says even though through Audere Partners probably has "maybe 1,000 years of consulting experience collectively as an organization, we are still learning and we are still challenging ourselves every day to find new ways to deliver that extraordinary experience."
Headquarters: Denver
Additional Offices: Calgary
Service Lines: Operations Management, Strategy
Client Industries: Manufacturing, Energy
Billable Consultants
2016: 6
2017: 20
2018 (projected): 45
Revenue (in millions)
2016: $1.3
2017: $6.2
2018 (projected): $14
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