The Impact Studio’s Fall 2025 Cohort Takes Over BCG Detroit

The opportunity for a one-on-one with a consultant from Boston Consulting Group, popularly referred to as BCG, is something established companies pay upwards of three to four figures per hour. BCG Detroit, however, has a mission to support the social impact entrepreneurship ecosystem at the University of Michigan and, for the second year in a row now, opened its doors to the Impact Studio Incubator Cohort of Founders and Applebaum Impact Design Fellows so that they could get access to possibly business-changing advice — without a bill at the end.

Though the Cohort visited the consultants in the Detroit office in mid-November, these relationships were growing far earlier than that. Since the start of the semester, each Impact Studio startup was matched with a BCG consultant who they could meet and chat with as needed in order to pick yet another expert’s brain on how to best develop their business.

Mousa Alhazmi (MHI ’25) presents his startup, CO2 Wristband, at the BCG Detriot office

“The consultants gave time each week to review pitch materials and provide recommendations to each founder,” explains Aaron Brodkey (MBA ‘27), one of the Fellows at the Studio. From assisting with business models and pricing to narrative and visual communication, BCGers provided major support for the ventures throughout the semester.

Lyle Rubin (MBA ‘27), founder of Motor City Commons, can attest to the value of the relationship with his consultant, Ben. “Ben was very helpful when it came to building the overall course of action in both the lead-up to the BCG presentation and beyond. I now have a much clearer understanding of what steps I have to take moving forward,” he explains.

Naveen Awad from BCG speaks with Lyle Rubin at the BCG Detroit Office

The weekly touchpoint meetings with the consultants helped Founders make progress leading up to the BCG Detroit office visit in November, when the Founders presented their ventures to consultants and received feedback on critical points and important advice going into the future. This was more than just practice for pitching their idea. The critical thinking and “tough questions” throughout this process helped evaluate businesses from a new perspective.

After lunch and opening remarks from Brian Tobelmann, Principal, and Naveen Awad, Managing Director and Senior Partner, the Founders broke off into their assigned meeting rooms and kicked off their presentations. Each session began with the Founder(s) pitching their startup in front of consultants and Impact Studio peers before handing the mic over to the BCGers in the room, who would then challenge Founders with questions about their business model and encourage them with final recommendations and advice.

Ultimately, at the end of these sessions, everyone walked away with improved knowledge on how to scale their venture — from securing their first customer to crafting compelling narratives with data… the list goes on! Not only that, these conversations laid the foundation for new professional relationships that could prove to be significant as time passes and business grow.

Jakob Bouna, founder of Northstar Dental Alliance, meets BCGers

“Seeing how BCG consultants work” was one of the best parts for Applebaum Impact Design Fellow Kaitlyn Jang (MSI ‘27). Direct, personal back-and-forth conversations with strategy experts gave a peek into how the minds of consultants approach analysis and problem-solving. Networking with the consultants during Happy Hour at the end of the day enabled students to expand their network and sharpen their business acumen, learning about the cutting-edge work of the consultants. After all, not many people know what makes a business successful as well as a consultant at one of the top consulting firms in the world — and if there is one thing that the community at the Impact Studio wants, it is to see the Impact Studio’s startups successfully blossom into fully established businesses that do good for as many people as possible for years to come.