Rainmaker Thinking
Rainmaker Thinking is a privately held management research, training, and consulting firm founded in 1993 by Bruce Tulgan, providing keynotes, workshops, organizational assessments, and online training to enterprise, government, and mid-market clients.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1993
- HeadquartersWhitleyville, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Rainmaker Thinking does
Rainmaker Thinking is a privately held management research, training, and consulting firm founded in 1993 by Bruce Tulgan and headquartered in Wallingford, Connecticut, with a core leadership team of under ten people. The company operates three ongoing longitudinal research studies (Generational Shift in the Workforce since 1993, Leadership/Management/Supervision since 1995, and Human Capital Management since 1997) that have engaged hundreds of thousands of participants, generating proprietary methodologies such as the FAST Feedback System, Management Fundamentals, the People List tool, the Go-to-Person framework, and five talent-assessment competency models.
The firm monetizes this research through a multi-format service stack: keynote speeches and half-day, full-day, and multi-day workshops delivered by Bruce Tulgan; project-based organizational assessments combining surveys, focus groups, interviews, and executive coaching; the RainmakerLearning subscription platform providing on-demand video training; and a back catalog of 21 published books distributed through major retail channels. Customers include Fortune 500 enterprises (Walmart, Target, IBM, American Express, Aetna, CDW, Publix, ESPN, Deloitte), federal and military organizations (U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, CIA, Department of Defense), and associations and mid-market firms across retail, technology, financial services, healthcare, and agriculture.
Go-to-market is consultative and founder-led, with all engagements priced via custom quotes and demand generated primarily through Bruce Tulgan's personal brand, content marketing (Forbes, Psychology Today, Training Magazine, SHRM, company blog), gated white papers, podcasting (The Indispensables), YouTube, and a newsletter. The business is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, no subsidiaries, no acquisitions, and no public filings, and its primary structural risk is concentration of delivery on a single founder.
Rainmaker Thinking firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rainmaker Thinking
- Legal name
- Rainmaker Thinking Inc.
- Website
- https://rainmakerthinking.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1993
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Rainmaker Thinking is a privately held management research, training, and consulting firm founded in 1993 by Bruce Tulgan, providing keynotes, workshops, organizational assessments, and online training to enterprise, government, and mid-market clients.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rainmaker Thinking industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Management Consulting
- NAICS
- Management Consulting Services (54161)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Critical Thinking & Problem Solving (EDABAMAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Digital Workplace & Collaboration Consulting (BPAHAEAH)
Keywords
Where Rainmaker Thinking is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Whitleyville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Rainmaker Thinking business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Keynote and Workshop Speaking Fees: Revenue from delivering keynote speeches and workshop sessions at corporate events, conferences, and organizational gatherings. Pricing based on engagement scope and duration.
- Organizational Assessments: Custom consulting engagements providing comprehensive personnel risk assessments, organizational analysis, and advisory services. Billed as project-based consulting with custom quotes.
- Training Services: Extended training engagements where RainmakerThinking works closely with client organizations on communication improvement, accountability, and culture building. Includes both in-person and virtual delivery.
- RainmakerLearning Online Training: Subscription-based online video training platform offering Bruce Tulgan's expertise on demand, including videos, handouts, worksheets, and forum-style discussions.
- Book Sales: Revenue from Bruce Tulgan's 21 published books, including bestsellers available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and bulk orders. Titles include 'The Art of Being Indispensable at Work', 'It's Okay to Be the Boss', and 'Not Everyone Gets a Trophy'.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom enterprise pricing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
Rainmaker Thinking product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rainmaker Thinking provides management research, training, and consulting services to organizations. Its core offerings are live and virtual keynote speeches and workshops delivered by founder Bruce Tulgan, project-based Organizational Assessments using surveys, focus groups, and interviews, and RainmakerLearning — a subscription-based online video training platform. The firm also publishes 21 books and research white papers supporting its longitudinal studies on generational shifts and management practices.
Product overview
Rainmaker Thinking is a management research, training, and consulting firm founded in 1993 by Bruce Tulgan. The company's offerings consist of core services including Keynotes & Workshops (live presentations on management topics such as The Art of Being Indispensable at Work, Highly Engaged Management, and Talent Attraction & Retention), Organizational Assessments (comprehensive evaluation services using surveys, focus groups, and interviews), and RainmakerLearning (an online video training platform). Supporting the core services is a portfolio of 21 books, white papers (including The Undermanagement Epidemic Report, Winning the Talent Wars, The Great Generational Shift, and The Voice of Generation Z), and The Indispensables Podcast. Digital resources include Management Fundamentals eBook, The Strong Leader's Guide to Great 1:1 Meetings, and Talent Assessments eBook. The company also offers downloadable infographics covering workplace topics such as alignment, citizenship, influence, and meeting management.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- RainmakerLearning: Online video training platform providing Bruce Tulgan's expertise on demand with videos, handouts, worksheets, and forum-style discussions.
Products and services
- Keynotes & Workshops Live and virtual presentations by founder Bruce Tulgan on topics such as The Art of Being Indispensable at Work, Highly Engaged Management, Talent Attraction Retention & Development, and Generational Shift in the Workplace. Available as keynotes, half-day, full-day, or multi-day workshops. Targeted at enterprise organizations, government agencies, and conferences.
- Organizational Assessments Comprehensive organizational assessment services using strategic employee opinion surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and ongoing dialogues to identify personnel risks, issues, and opportunities. Deliverables include written reports, briefings, executive coaching, and talent dossiers. Delivered as project-based consulting engagements with custom quotes.
- RainmakerLearning Subscription-based online video training platform providing on-demand access to Bruce Tulgan's expertise through videos, handouts, worksheets, and forum-style discussions for each lesson. Designed for individuals and teams seeking continuous leadership and management training.
Quantifiable outcome
- Only 10% of managers practice the basics of management with their direct reports regularly and consistently, at least once a week. Undermanagement remains the number one cause of preventable employee performance problems.
Companies that use Rainmaker Thinking
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Rainmaker Thinking technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
Rainmaker Thinking partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Rainmaker Thinking competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- The Ken Blanchard Companies: Ken Blanchard Companies provides management and leadership training products, books, and consulting built around proprietary frameworks—mirroring Rainmaker Thinking's content IP-plus-training model.
- Dale Carnegie Training: Dale Carnegie & Associates delivers enterprise leadership, management, and interpersonal skills training globally—competing head-to-head for the same L&D budgets Rainmaker targets.
- Gallup: Gallup is a direct peer offering workplace research, employee engagement surveys, and management/leadership advisory—closely overlapping Rainmaker's research-led, assessment-driven approach to management effectiveness.
- Development Dimensions International (DDI): DDI specializes in leadership assessment, talent management, and management training for large enterprises—directly comparable to Rainmaker's Organizational Assessment and training services.
- Center for Creative Leadership: CCL is a globally recognized leadership development research and program provider whose evidence-based assessment and training portfolio parallels Rainmaker's research-plus-workshop model.
- Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a direct peer in leadership development consulting and organizational/talent assessments, serving global enterprise and government clients with adjacent methodologies to Rainmaker's offerings.
- FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey is a direct competitor offering leadership and management training, content-based methodologies, and enterprise consulting—closely paralleling Rainmaker Thinking's keynote/workshop/assessment stack and target buyer.
Emerging players
- BTS: BTS is a strategy execution and leadership development consultancy offering experiential workshops—comparable to Rainmaker's workshop-based training model while operating with broader delivery scale.
Broad incumbents
- McKinsey & Company: McKinsey's Organization Practice serves enterprise clients with broad organizational consulting—partially overlapping Rainmaker's organizational assessment work but at vastly greater scale.
- Harvard Business Publishing: Harvard Business Publishing is the publisher of Bruce Tulgan's books and operates a much broader leadership content/training ecosystem—adjacent as both customer and adjacent competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Rainmaker Thinking social profiles
Digital presenceRainmaker Thinking financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rainmaker Thinking leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Rainmaker Thinking funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rainmaker Thinking M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Rainmaker Thinking
What does Rainmaker Thinking do?
Rainmaker Thinking provides management research, training, and consulting services to organizations. Its core offerings are live and virtual keynote speeches and workshops delivered by founder Bruce Tulgan, project-based Organizational Assessments using surveys, focus groups, and interviews, and RainmakerLearning — a subscription-based online video training platform. The firm also publishes 21 books and research white papers supporting its longitudinal studies on generational shifts and management practices.
Is Rainmaker Thinking a public or private company?
Rainmaker Thinking is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Rainmaker Thinking founded?
Rainmaker Thinking was founded in 1993. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Rainmaker Thinking based?
Rainmaker Thinking is headquartered in Whitleyville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Rainmaker Thinking make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Keynote and Workshop Speaking Fees are the primary driver. The others are organizational Assessments, training Services, rainmakerLearning Online Training and book Sales.
Who are Rainmaker Thinking's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are The Ken Blanchard Companies, Dale Carnegie Training, Gallup, Development Dimensions International (DDI), Center for Creative Leadership, Korn Ferry and FranklinCovey. BTS is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are McKinsey & Company and Harvard Business Publishing.
Does Rainmaker Thinking have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rainmaker Thinking.
What industry is Rainmaker Thinking in?
Rainmaker Thinking's product category is Management Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDABAMAG, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, with a secondary code of BPAHAEAH, Digital Workplace & Collaboration Consulting. Its NAICS code is 54161 and its SIC code is 8742.