Sticks

What Sticks does

Sticks is a qualitative strategy consultancy founded in 2009 by Kevin May in Seattle. The firm operates a "Creativity as a Service" model that mobilizes a community of over 400 business thinkers—drawn from agency strategy, management consultancy, market research, law, architecture, neurology, journalism, and other disciplines—to assemble small teams that tackle unprecedented business challenges for corporate clients. There is no proprietary technology platform; the offering is entirely human-expertise-based and organized like an agency creative department, with output expressed in plain English. The firm explicitly does not sell replicable category playbooks, instead emphasizing distanced objectivity and lateral exploration of template-less problems.

Sticks serves enterprise and mid-market clients across a range of verticals, with disclosed logos including Microsoft, T-Mobile, Virgin, Hasbro, Starbucks, Expedia, Allstate Insurance, Moet Hennessy, PEMCO, Essentia Water, Lagunitas, HomeAway, LearnBIG, Cheddar's Restaurants, and Front Desk. Revenue is generated through custom professional-services consulting engagements initiated via a free initial consultation (with responses promised within 48 hours) and priced on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than flat retainer. The go-to-market motion is sales-led, combining direct outreach, a website consultation form, founder speaking engagements, and published thought leadership.

The company operates through two legal entities—Sticks, LLC in Seattle (US headquarters at 115 West Galer St, Suite B) and Sticks (Over Here) Ltd in Oxford, UK (19 Oakthorpe Road)—and is privately held with no disclosed external institutional investment or parent ownership. The firm also maintains a related sub-brand, MindLode, referenced from the Sticks website navigation.

Name

Sticks

Legal name

Sticks, LLC

Website

https://stickscompany.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Sticks is a qualitative strategy consultancy founded in 2009 that mobilizes a community of over 400 diverse thinkers to tackle unprecedented business challenges for enterprise clients across technology, consumer goods, insurance, and other industries. Founded by Kevin May with offices in Seattle and Oxford.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Strategy Consulting Services: Professional services revenue generated through custom consulting engagements. The company assembles small teams of diverse thinkers to address client challenges requiring creative problem-solving, strategic thinking, and distanced objectivity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sticks is a qualitative strategy consultancy that mobilizes a community of over 400 diverse business thinkers to deliver 'Creativity as a Service' for unprecedented business challenges. The firm assembles small teams of professionals from varied backgrounds for custom strategic engagements, conducts intensive Salon discussions to surface fresh thinking, and provides consultation on research, strategy, and implementation for corporate clients and start-ups. They also offer free initial consultations and speaking engagements led by founding partner Kevin May.

Product overview

Sticks is a qualitative strategy company that operates as a professional services/consulting firm rather than a software product company. The company offers 'Creativity as a Service' — a model that mobilizes brainpower and experience from a community of over 400 business thinkers to address unprecedented business challenges. Services include assembling small teams of diverse professionals for strategic output, conducting intensive Salon discussions to uncover fresh questions and creative thinking, and providing consultation on research, strategy, and implementation. The company also offers free initial consultations and speaking engagements led by founding partner Kevin May. There are no discrete software products, modules, or technology platforms identified in the source material.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MindLode: Referenced as a related entity/site linked from the Sticks website navigation.

Products and services

• Qualitative Strategy Consulting Custom consulting engagements that assemble small teams of diverse professionals from Sticks' community of 400+ thinkers to deliver strategic output for corporate clients facing unprecedented business challenges. Clients include Microsoft, T-Mobile, Virgin, Hasbro, Starbucks, Expedia, Allstate Insurance, and Moet Hennessy.
• Salon Discussions Intensive facilitated sessions conducted to uncover fresh questions and creative thinking for clients facing complex challenges, used as a structured methodology within consulting engagements.
• Free Initial Consultation Complimentary first consultation offered to potential clients to assess whether Sticks can help and how they might approach the client's situation; responses are provided within 48 hours.
• Speaking Engagements Keynote and conference speaking engagements delivered by founding partner Kevin May on topics including creativity, problem-solving, business strategy, and the decline of expertise, booked through C.KAY International representation.

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Anomaly: Creative agency with a strategy-led approach to brand and business challenges for enterprise clients. Comparable to Sticks in combining unconventional thinking with measurable enterprise outcomes.
• Mother Design: Creative agency with strong strategic thinking and a culture emphasizing unconventional perspectives. Comparable to Sticks in leveraging diverse creative talent and independent perspective to solve brand and business challenges.
• Prophet: Brand and marketing consultancy focused on relevance-driven growth, transformation, and customer experience. Comparable to Sticks in serving enterprise clients with strategic, qualitative engagements aimed at creative breakthroughs.
• Lippincott: Brand strategy and design consultancy that helps enterprises with positioning, identity, and strategic clarity. Highly comparable to Sticks as a creative-led strategy boutique serving C-suite clients with qualitative, perspective-driven engagements rather than pure analytics.
• Siegel+Gale: Brand strategy and experience design consultancy focused on simplicity and clarity. Comparable to Sticks in serving enterprise clients with strategic positioning work delivered by senior, partner-led teams.
• Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy combining strategic thinking with creative output for major enterprise clients. Comparable to Sticks in serving CPG, tech, and consumer brands seeking differentiated strategic perspectives on positioning and business challenges.

Peers

• Pentagram: Independent design consultancy with partner-led creative and strategic work for major institutions. Comparable as a boutique, founder-driven consultancy that draws on diverse senior talent to serve enterprise clients with bespoke strategic output.

Broad incumbents

• R/GA: Global creative agency with a strong strategy practice serving enterprise clients across brand, product, and communications. Larger and more diversified than Sticks, but overlaps in offering strategic counsel to enterprise marketing leaders.
• BBH (Bartle Bogle Hegarty): Global creative agency with a strong strategic planning heritage and C-suite relationships. Comparable to Sticks in delivering strategic creative output for major brands like Virgin and T-Mobile.

Emerging players

• The&Partnership: Marketing agency built around the principle that strategy and creative should be inseparable. Comparable to Sticks in selling integrated strategic-creative output to enterprise clients, though larger and more media-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SticksCompany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sticks