Boutique Business Consulting Firm Thrives in San Diego
San Diego, CA - January 24, 2008
Bainbridge Profiled in The San Diego Daily Transcript
By Jeran Wittenstein
When business consulting shop Bainbridge Inc. decided it was time to establish a West Coast presence in the late 1990s, the company initially looked to San Francisco, the epicenter of the technology boom.
"Then we did a little more homework and decided the quality of life (in San Diego) is better," said managing principal Nick Chini.
The lower cost of living and numerous universities in close proximity were other considerations. A decade after choosing San Diego as the destination for its main office, that decision has turned out to be key in the evolution of Bainbridge - even though there are no Bainbridge clients in the area.
What began as a small shop to help a university professor research projects has grown into a nationwide business providing management and investment advice to some of the highest profile companies in the world. One of the critical drivers of that growth is within walking distance of Bainbridge headquarters in UTC: the University of California, San Diego.
UCSD graduates now account for more than half of Bainbridge's full-time recruits, said Chini, who is active in advising clients with private equity and M&A deals as well as managing the firm's overall execution from San Diego.
"UCSD has been a huge advantage," Chini said. Graduates "want depth of experience and diversity... there is no other field out there that gives you the exposure to the range of industries, the range of functions - sales, strategy, product development - than consulting."
With no other major consulting groups in San Diego, Bainbridge has essentially had its pick of the litter among those that would like to stay local, often choosing from a field of 20 to 30 well-qualified candidates per position, according to Chini.
Founded in 1975 by author, consultant and professor Boulton Bainbridge Miller, the company now operates nearly a half dozen offices in California, Massachusetts, Nevada and Texas.
Bainbridge has three areas of expertise: management consulting for large capitalization companies, advising private equity groups and hedge funds on acquisitions and, most recently, managing the firm's own private equity funds.
Chini declined to reveal the names of the firm's clients, although he did note that Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) was once a client. He did say that Bainbridge currently advises some of the largest companies engaged in sectors ranging from the Internet and hardware to financial services and energy.
Everything begins with research at Bainbridge.
"What really sets us apart from our peers is our primary source research," Chini said. "Information is power, and that leads to better executive decisions."
Though Chini isn't specific about what this research entails, for consulting he said it often involves surveying customers and clients of companies in order to present management with "a perspective they usually don't see directly."
Chini has been involved with Bainbridge since he connected with the nascent firm at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned an MBA. There he was among a group of students and professors in high demand as the technology boom was picking up speed.
"We were at the right place at the right time," Chini said. "What was really just a hobby - a way for us to make ends meet in grad school - the next thing we knew had became a long-term business."
jeran.wittenstein@sddt.com
Source Code: 20080124cre
This article can be found online at: http://www.sddt.com/files/Banking&FinanceQuarterly_2008.pdf
Sending Message...