17: Denzil Rankine, Founder AMR International

Episode notes

I've noticed many successful founders are driven by an earlier disappointment in their lives which is often related to their 'non-traditional' backgrounds when it comes to consulting. After a rejection from Oxford stuck in his craw and enjoying an early experience of consulting, Denzil built specialist expertise that would allow him to take advantage of an emerging market: commercial due diligence for M&A. Although it seems crazy now, the idea that there was more to a potential acquisition than its financials was relatively new in the 1990s. Denzil founded AMR international in 1992 support M&A activities in business media, information, and technology. He eventually sold the company in 2002 to Stax, a Boston-based M&A strategy consulting firm which had recently received backing from Blue Point Capital Partners. In addition to founding and growing a successful strategy consulting firm in competition against much bigger players, Denzil is a regular speaker at industry conferences and an author of six M&A related books. Here's a link to the book mentioned in the podcast Send us Fan Mail Prof. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit.

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