Overview
our work 
development 
Michael Echenberg Joining Dean
I started at Dean & Company in September of 1995, having graduated from Harvard with a joint degree in Political Philosophy, Evolutionary Biology, and Cold War History. I begin with this fact to reinforce the notion that Dean & Company is not looking for people with any specific background. If they were looking exclusively for engineers or economists, I most certainly would not have gotten a second look.
My Experiences at Dean
While at Dean, I spent time on a variety of projects ranging from pricing strategy to competitive analysis in areas ranging from ATM deployment to cable telephony. My most memorable project, though, involved the launch of a new Internet service for one of the very first Internet Service Providers in the U.S.
AT&T, a long-standing Dean & Company client, approached us with a problem that was as simple to describe as it was complex to resolve. "We see this Internet thing on the horizon," they said. "We know that it's important, but we don't know why. And we think that we should get involved, but we don't know how." We proceeded to launch a multi-year, multi-national initiative with them that ended with the launch of the AT&T WorldNet Service.
Over the course of the project, I built my first business planning model; led an AT&T/Dean & Company cross-functional team charged with figuring out how to incorporate Internet appliances and high speed access into the service; and traveled to Madrid, Milan, Geneva, and Amsterdam to launch international WorldNet partnerships. Dean & Company was involved in every aspect of the strategic planning and launch of the service. The experience was unforgettable.
What I'm Up to Now
I left Dean & Company to join the class of 2001 at Harvard Business School. I then proceeded to postpone business school to join a start-up internet services company where I ran the strategy group and served on the board of directors. (While the market downturn hit the company hard, it is still around — in a somewhat altered form.) Coming full circle, I hired Dean & Company to help us understand the economics in each vertical market and then to prioritize them. Needless to say, I was pleased with their work.
I am now at Harvard Business School as a member of the class of 2002. The experience has been terrific and promises to get better still. And the lessons I learned at Dean and Company continue to serve me well.
