The 2023 Rising Stars of the Profession: Athul Ravunniarath

Athul Ravunniarath is a Senior Manager at Stax. He has extensive experience, on a global and domestic level, in strategy consulting, with a strong focus in TMT engagements for investor clients and investor-backed assets.

At Stax, Athul leads a variety of consulting engagements across M&A due diligence as well as value creation initiatives, spanning market assessments, market expansion and prioritization opportunities, new product development, customer needs assessments, competitive strategy, and go-to-market strategy development. His expertise spans multiple industries with a focus on software and IT services.

What would you say has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

Support from our Managing Directors and Directors, and the entrepreneurial culture we have created at Stax have been critical to my success.

Consulting continues to be the ultimate 'apprenticeship' individually, and I've learned everything about this industry and how to provide clients with value from the seniors I've worked with. They've taught me and then placed enough trust in me to not only run and deliver projects, and but also to begin owning client relationships. The entrepreneurial culture has also been critical for me – it has allowed me to 'play above my title' when I was ready.

The access I have to our Seniors on a daily basis has accelerated my development meaningfully.

I also cannot understate the support from the juniors. We've hired an extremely talented, intellectually curious bunch, and they're also raging to do 'good work' for 'good people,' and neither I nor the firm would've been successful without the outstanding commitment to work that the juniors display daily.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

The work I do – consulting for private equity – is rarely boring. Every client and every deal is uniquely different. The questions are different, their worries are different, and that makes my work both exciting and challenging.

This forces me to both client-centric and deal-centric – there is no 'resting on my laurels,' and there is no end-state individually – I'm always being forced to get better, and always learning.

For instance, the analytical tools we're utilizing today are different from those we were using five years ago, and I've learned an entirely different language to approach the problems we help solve.

The deals we are looking at today, and the markets that we are studying didn't exist five years ago.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

Climbing through the ranks at Stax and being recognized for being a good consultant has brought great satisfaction to me. I fell into consulting quite accidentally, and becoming a good consultant, and being recognized as a good consultant, colleague, peer, advisor, has been a great achievement.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

Two pieces of advice come to mind, one from a Managing Director and one from a peer that I've learned a lot from.

Advice from a Managing Director. Credibility matters internally and externally. And internally, there is upward and downward credibility to think about. Folks usually think about building credibility with seniors, partners, etc. and it is important and matters tremendously. But folks rarely think about building credibility with the juniors on the team. When starting in a new role, and with new team members, you have to demonstrate to the team that you can perform in the role, and build trust with them so that they are not second-guessing their role or output, and feel like you have their backs. A good team can make or break projects, and you want to work with a team that wants to work for you.

Advice from a peer. Consulting being the ultimate apprenticeship means that there's never an end-state. And you will constantly be learning, and there will be moments where you feel like you're grasping at the straws – and that's okay! You have to be okay with not being the 'best' at everything all the time, and you need to make space for 'growth.' I try to have an internal check-in with myself every six months to think about the progress I've made on my near-term growth objectives and the things I want to work on and improve.

What does this recognition mean to you?

Given the nature and confidentiality of our work, we don't often receive public accolades. It's nice to be recognized by peers and clients publicly for doing good work.