Michael Fisher
Mike Fisher, Vice President and Director, Corporate Development at SRA International
We recently began a new biweekly column highlighting the members of ACG National Capital whose work for some of the most aggressively growing companies and brands in the Washington, D.C., business community is driving economic and corporate growth in the capital region. This week, we continue the series by taking an in-depth look at Anirudh Kulkarni, the founder and managing principal of Customer Value Partners.
Anirudh Kulkarni
After finishing high school in New Brunswick, Canada, Anirudh Kulkarni was drawn to the D.C. area. He chose to receive his undergraduate and graduate degrees from George Washington University and fell in love with the city and the magic of being so close to the politics and power of the nation’s capital.
Anirudh would later find another love in his life: consulting. He took a job with SRA International, a consulting firm serving the national security, civil government and global health markets. During his time with SRA International, Anirudh helped build the company’s commercial practice, before leaving to pursue other ventures.
Anirudh became the Managing Director for Strategic Services at Answerthink, a venture-backed, private sector-focused consulting and systems integration firm that featured multiple former KPMG consultants. As part of the leadership team, Anirudh helped grow the company to over 300M in revenues in four years through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth, with a public offering along the way.
After spending five years building up Answerthink and taking it public, Anirudh decided to take some time off…until his consulting past came back to haunt him. In line with the adage, “once a consultant, always a consultant,” Anirudh found his former clients contacting him for assistance.
Despite the fact that he wasn’t looking to start anything new, he began to realize that a new consulting practice was in the works. In 2003, he decided to get more focused and began building the firm which would become Customer Value Partners (CVP).
Following its inception seven years ago, CVP has become a fast-growing consulting firm. Headquartered in Fairfax, and with offices around the country, including Baltimore and New York, the firm focuses on performance improvement based on a voice of customer based approach. The firm’s 120 management and technology consultants operate across multiple industries, including the public sector. Their focus on CRM and IT functional effectiveness helps companies utilize IT to improve business operations.
What’s more…Anirudh is downright having fun.
A member of ACG National Capital for three years, Anirudh’s position as the founder and managing principal at CVP makes corporate growth a natural subject of interest for him.
With the company’s long term corporate strategy to build a large, well respected national consulting firm, being able to leverage their balance sheet and take advantage of their superior financial position to grow is part of the plan. In fact, CVP recently made a small international acquisition to jump start a new practice in social media and social media marketing. The acquisition is viewed as an incredible training exercise for Anirudh, as it was small enough not to jeopardize the firm but strategic enough to add great value moving forward.
For Anirudh, ACG membership has many perks. The association is the largest gathering of individuals experienced in corporate growth, and allows him to be plugged into a wide network of business and thought leaders. This network of business leaders and investors is especially important for CVP since the company may raise capital in the future to fund acquisitions.
ACG events are also exceptional educational opportunities. Anirudh cited the recently launched M&A roundtable as an example. This event for corporate officers educates participants on the tactical side of M&A and due diligence.
In addition to the incredible education and networking opportunities that are afforded by ACG membership, Anirudh also appreciates the opportunity to play in the association’s charity golf tournament. He especially appreciates the tournament’s “best ball” format, since his abilities as a golfer are well dwarfed by his abilities as a consultant.
