Case Study: Cohort Global
How Cohort Global Went from BRW Fast Starter to International Player
Client: Cohort Global
Industry: Digital Lead Generation
History: Founded in 2008
Size: 45 employees
Founders: Marcelo Ulvert and Malcolm Treanor
Engagement: 2011 - Present
ROI at a Glance
Revenue growth of $23M ($5M - $28M over 6 yrs)
Scaling to international size and reputation
Strong culture and team that attracts top talent
Successful exit of both founders in 2017
Profit Was Not the First Priority
Increasing profit is often the first thing that comes to mind when growing a business. Cohort Global didn’t want to focus on profit, and instead increase the value of the business as a whole. In looking to accomplish this, inefficiencies dragging at the company needed to be addressed. These included an over-reliance on the managing partners, inadequate documentation around policies and procedures, no formalised functional structure and insufficient clarity around Cohort’s IP.
100 Days to Kickstart Growth
Introduced through a referral, the founders knew Stellar had an established track record and utilised a different approach to conventional consultancies. Stellar’s founder Chris had also grown his own businesses to make the BRW Fast Starters list, meaning he intimately understood the challenges that small, fast-growing businesses faced.
Cohort was looking to rapidly accelerate growth, so an intense project over 100 days was launched. Working with Cohort’s leadership team, Stellar focused on developing high-performing functional structures, clarifying the business’ products and positioning, and building a collaborative, growth-focused culture.
Successful Sales and International Expansion
Cohort Global has transformed dramatically from those early days, however, Stellar has continued the journey alongside them. As the business grew, Stellar helped to set up board structures and assisted with two exit sales; a partial exit in 2014, before a full exit in 2016.
With the founders having moved on and international expansion now a reality, Stellar works on developing the next phase of leaders and the executive team in Cohort Global.
“Over the last five years we have worked with Chris and his team to build out our business for growth. Over this time, we reskilled everyone in our team creating a common business language, which meant we can get things done faster without making it hard on ourselves. Even when we expanded internationally we could build a common approach across borders because we had a great foundation to work off. Chris also helped us with capitalising the business to assist growth and supported us through two exits. It has been a great experience working with him. ”
