Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.
Who we are
Former Big 4 and MBB partners and senior partners. Combined, we spent 170 years inside these firms and 90 of those years at partner level. We led practices, sat on leadership committees, mentored the people who run these firms today, and delivered work we were proud of.
We are not naming ourselves. We remain in the consulting ecosystem’s orbit as advisors, board members, investors, and clients of these firms. Publishing under our real names would constrain what we can say. The anonymity is the editorial proposition: insiders speaking freely because we are unnamed. The credentials are real. The identities are protected.
Why we are writing
These firms used to stand for something. Genuine expertise. A commitment to getting it right even when getting it right was expensive. The partner track produced exceptional professionals because it demanded exceptional standards.
Over the past two decades, we watched that change from the inside. The leverage model replaced depth with volume. Partner politics choked innovation. Cost-cutting gutted capability. The people who made these firms worth hiring quietly left. What remains is a set of institutions coasting on name recognition earned by a previous generation.
We spent our careers telling clients they needed to transform or die. The irony of watching our own firms resist the same advice has not been lost on us.
What this publication is
The Exit Memo publishes candid analysis of the Big 4 (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) and MBB (McKinsey, BCG, Bain). We examine the recurring scandals, the AI disruption these firms are not ready for, and the slow shift in market perception from “trusted advisor” to “expensive vendor.”
We name firms. We do not name individuals unless they are public figures making public statements. We cite evidence, describe the business model dynamics that insiders recognize immediately, and make arguments grounded in decades of firsthand experience.
We are not bitter ex-employees with an axe to grind. Bitter people stop caring. We are writing because we care enough to say what current partners cannot say on the record. When we are wrong, we say so. When something works at these firms, we say that too.
The collapse of the current model is overdue. We would rather see these firms reborn than buried, but we are not sentimental about what they have become.
What to expect
Anchor editions arrive in your inbox every few days: long-form analysis, forensic case studies, diagnostic pieces on how these firms actually operate beneath the brand. Between editions, shorter pieces publish to the site covering breaking news, provocative questions, and firsthand observations from conversations with people still inside.
The discussion beneath each post matters as much as the post itself. We respond in every thread. We welcome disagreement, and we especially welcome current Big 4 and MBB employees who think we have something wrong. Pushback with specifics makes everyone smarter.
Everything is free. Subscribe and you won’t miss an edition.
