Service Business Talks with Fexingo: Consulting, Agencies, and Professional Services

A growing number of top consulting firms are building proprietary payment networks to streamline client transactions and reduce fees. This episode examines how McKinsey, Bain, and others are entering the payments space—processing over $2 billion in transactions annually—and what this means for traditional payment processors like Stripe and Adyen. We discuss the strategic rationale: capturing data, reducing costs, and offering end-to-end solutions. We also explore the risks, including regulatory hurdles and client pushback. If these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going—buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo.

#Consulting #PaymentNetworks #McKinsey #Bain #Stripe #Adyen #Fintech #ProfessionalServices #BusinessStrategy #Payments #TransactionProcessing #DataMonetization #ConsultingTrends #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #ServiceBusinessTalks #LucasAndLuna #Episode43

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In this episode of Service Business Talks with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore why top consulting firms are aggressively building in-house cybersecurity practices rather than continuing to outsource to specialized boutiques. They focus on McKinsey's 2024 acquisition of cyber firm CloudSecur—a $350 million deal that signaled a strategic shift. The hosts break down the economics: demand for cybersecurity consulting grew 27% year-over-year in 2025, and margins on these services approach 60%, far higher than traditional strategy work. They also discuss the talent war, with firms offering equity packages to lure CISOs and ethical hackers. Luna challenges whether firms can maintain independence when advising on security products they may have built or recommended. The episode closes with a look at how this move reshapes competition with pure-play cybersecurity consultancies.

#Consulting #Cybersecurity #McKinsey #CloudSecur #Strategy #ProfessionalServices #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #InHouseBuild #MergersAndAcquisitions #TalentWar #CyberRisk #EthicalHacking #Margins #RevenueGrowth #FirmStrategy #ServicesBusiness #PodcastEpisode

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In this episode of Service Business Talks, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising trend: top consulting firms are acquiring or launching their own coffee roasters and cafes. While it may seem like a vanity project, they argue it's a strategic play for brand immersion, client retention, and talent perks. Lucas dives into the business rationale, citing specific examples like McKinsey's partnership with a premium roaster in Berlin and Deloitte's in-house barista program in London. They discuss margins, real estate footprints, and how coffee culture mirrors the consultative relationship. The conversation challenges listeners to consider how non-core assets can actually anchor core services—and why a great espresso might be the ultimate relationship management tool.

#Consulting #Coffee #ProfessionalServices #ClientRetention #TalentStrategy #BrandExperience #McKinsey #Deloitte #Strategy #BusinessTrends #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Podcast #CoffeeRoasters #OfficeCulture #NonCoreAssets #LuxuryServices

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Episode 40 of Service Business Talks digs into the surprising trend of top consulting firms building internal venture studios to incubate and spin out their own startups. Lucas and Luna examine McKinsey's stealth startup factory, Deloitte's Greenhouse program, and BCG's Digital Ventures unit, which collectively have launched over 200 companies in the last five years. They break down how these studios operate differently from traditional corporate venture arms, why they help firms retain top talent, and what this means for the broader innovation economy. The conversation includes a look at the typical P&L of a venture studio versus a consulting engagement, and a discussion of how this model could reshape competition between consultancies and venture capital firms.

#VentureStudio #ConsultingInnovation #McKinsey #Deloitte #BCG #StartupIncubator #CorporateVenture #InnovationEconomy #TalentRetention #BusinessStrategy #ProfessionalServices #ConsultingFirms #PodcastEpisode #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ServiceBusinessTalks #Entrepreneurship #VentureBuilding

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Episode 39 of Service Business Talks explores the growing trend of consulting firms launching their own ESG rating agencies. Lucas and Luna discuss how McKinsey's sustainability ratings arm, launched in 2024, aims to challenge incumbents like MSCI and Sustainalytics. They unpack the conflict of interest concerns—consultants both advising companies on ESG and rating them—and examine the potential impact on the $40 billion ESG data industry. The episode also touches on regulatory scrutiny from the SEC and EU, and what this means for corporate clients trying to navigate the alphabet soup of ESG frameworks. A concrete look at how the consulting industry is reshaping a market it once only advised on.

#ESG #SustainabilityRatings #McKinsey #ConsultingFirms #ESGData #MSCI #Sustainalytics #Greenwashing #Regulation #SEC #EU #Business #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ServiceBusinessTalks #ProfessionalServices #Advisory

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Episode 38 of Service Business Talks with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna examine the growing trend of consulting firms launching in-house credit and lending divisions. Using the example of a mid-tier firm that started offering working capital advances to its own clients, they break down the economics: why a consultancy can earn 12-15% risk-adjusted returns on a $50 million credit pool, how regulatory arbitrage works, and what this means for traditional lenders. They also discuss the cultural tension between advisory objectivity and being a creditor. A specific, data-driven look at one of the more surprising vertical integrations in professional services.

#ConsultingFirms #CreditArms #Lending #ProfessionalServices #VerticalIntegration #WorkingCapital #PrivateCredit #RegulatoryArbitrage #RiskManagement #ClientFinancing #AlternativeLending #BusinessStrategy #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Finance #ConsultingTrends #ProfitPool

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In this episode of Service Business Talks with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising trend: consulting firms opening their own coffee shops. They dive into how Deloitte's 'The Coffee Club' in London serves as both a client meeting space and a subtle brand immersion tool, generating recurring revenue while reinforcing expertise. The hosts discuss the economics—how a single location can pull in $1.2 million annually—and the strategic rationale: controlling the client environment from arrival to departure. They weigh the risks, like distracting from core consulting work, and consider whether this signals a broader shift toward experiential branding in professional services. Tune in for a concrete, numbers-driven look at why bean counters are now counting beans.

#Deloitte #TheCoffeeClub #Consulting #ProfessionalServices #ExperientialBranding #ClientExperience #RevenueStreams #BusinessStrategy #CoffeeShops #BrandImmersion #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #LucasAndLuna #ClientHospitality #Diversification #RetailInConsulting #BusinessModel

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In this episode of Service Business Talks with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising new trend: top consulting firms are acquiring their own private aviation fleets. They break down the economics behind McKinsey's recent purchase of a six-aircraft fleet from Jet Aviation, including an estimated $85 million upfront cost versus projected savings of $120 million annually in chartered flights. The hosts discuss how this move reshapes partner travel, client perception, and operational efficiency, and whether it signals a broader shift in professional services logistics.

#ConsultingFirms #PrivateAviation #McKinsey #JetAviation #BusinessTravel #FleetAcquisition #PartnerProductivity #OperationalEfficiency #CostSavings #ProfessionalServices #CorporateAviation #TravelLogistics #ServiceBusinessTalks #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #LucasAndLuna #PodcastEpisode

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In this episode of Service Business Talks with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising trend: consulting firms are moving beyond cloud partnerships to buy and build their own data centers. They focus on McKinsey's acquisition of a former IBM data center in New Jersey, a 50,000-square-foot facility that now runs client simulations and proprietary AI models. The hosts break down the economics—why paying $20 million upfront beats a decade of cloud egress fees—and discuss what this means for client trust, data sovereignty, and the future of professional services. Lucas explains the 'data gravity' concept that's pulling strategy firms into infrastructure ownership, while Luna questions whether this creates a new conflict of interest when consultants also control the data pipes. A concrete look at how the biggest names in consulting are becoming hybrid tech firms, one server rack at a time.

#Consulting #DataCenters #McKinsey #CloudComputing #Infrastructure #ProfessionalServices #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #DataStrategy #DigitalTransformation #PrivateCloud #DataSovereignty #Hyperscaler #EdgeComputing #ITConsulting #BusinessStrategy #DataGravity

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In Episode 34 of Service Business Talks, Lucas and Luna explore a growing trend among top consulting firms: acquiring and building their own cloud infrastructure. They examine why firms like McKinsey and Deloitte are spending billions on private data centers and edge computing nodes, moving away from relying solely on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. The hosts break down the economics, client data security concerns, and how this shift could reshape the consulting industry's margins and competitive dynamics. Specific examples include McKinsey's QuantumBlack arm investing in private GPU clusters and Deloitte's strategy to offer cloud-agnostic advisory. A must-listen for anyone in professional services or tech strategy.

#Consulting #CloudInfrastructure #McKinsey #Deloitte #QuantumBlack #PrivateCloud #DataCenters #GPUClusters #EdgeComputing #CloudAgnostic #BusinessStrategy #ITServices #DataSecurity #ProfessionalServices #TechTrends #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ServiceBusinessTalks

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