Michael Blaisdell & Associates

What Michael Blaisdell & Associates does

Michael Blaisdell & Associates, Inc. (MBAI), founded in 1980 by Mikael Blaisdell, is a privately held, founder-owned B2B consulting and advisory firm focused on customer lifecycle management, customer retention strategy, and corporate ecosystem design for technology companies. The firm operates from a single U.S. corporate entity with global project delivery spanning North America, EMEA (Belgium), and Asia Pacific (China), and its content reaches 160+ countries.

MBAI's offerings consist of seven named consulting services — The Customer Support/Service Operational Review, The Customer Success Product/Marketing Review, The Corporate Ecosystem Review, Digital Community Design, Interim Online Community Management, Online Community Vendor-Product Selection Consulting, and Customer Success Research — delivered as bespoke, quote-based engagements with multi-year contract cadences. Underlying these services is a proprietary Corporate Ecosystem framework and a research base built from 45+ years of continuous practice, formal surveys (since 2006), and thousands of interviews. The firm maintains The Customer Success Forum on LinkedIn (founded 2009, 64,000–65,000 members) as a non-billable thought-leadership and community asset, and the founder also operates The Customer Success Association (founded 2012) and publishes Customer Success Central.

Revenue is generated exclusively through professional services fees from enterprise clients — referenced case studies include Fortune 500 insurance, Fortune 100 electrical systems manufacturing, multinational software vendors, and financial software manufacturers. There is no software product, no public pricing, no disclosed headcount, no institutional funding, and no M&A activity. The firm's go-to-market is primarily community-led and sales-led, leveraging direct outreach, referrals, and the LinkedIn forum as top-of-funnel channels.

Name

Michael Blaisdell & Associates

Legal name

Mikael Blaisdell & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://mblaisdell.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mikael Blaisdell & Associates (MBAI) is a privately held, founder-owned B2B consulting firm founded in 1980 that delivers bespoke customer lifecycle, customer retention, and corporate ecosystem advisory services to enterprise technology companies, anchored by The Customer Success Forum on LinkedIn.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Bragg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Advisory Services: The firm generates revenue through professional consulting engagements including Corporate Ecosystem Reviews, Customer Support/Service Operational Reviews, Customer Success Product/Marketing Reviews, Digital Community Design, and Interim Online Community Management. Services are offered to technology companies seeking to optimize customer relationships and build corporate ecosystems.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MBAI provides bespoke consulting and advisory services to technology companies on corporate ecosystem design, customer retention strategy, customer support/service operational reviews, and online community management. Services are delivered as tailored engagements drawing on the firm's 45+ years of customer lifecycle research and the founder's moderation of the largest Customer Success professional community on LinkedIn.

Product overview

Michael Blaisdell & Associates (MBAI) is a consulting and advisory firm established in 1980, offering professional services centered on customer lifecycle management, customer retention, and corporate ecosystem development for technology companies. The firm's primary offering is The Customer Success Forum, a large online professional community on LinkedIn. Beyond that, MBAI delivers a portfolio of specialized consulting services including The Customer Support/Service Operational Review, The Customer Success Product/Marketing Review, The Corporate Ecosystem Review, Digital Community Design, Interim Online Community Management, Online Community Vendor-Product Selection Consulting, and Customer Success Research. The services are research-backed and address the strategy, process, people, and technology dimensions of building and managing corporate ecosystems and customer relationships. The company positions itself as Analysts, Advisors, and Product-as-a-Relationship Advocates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Customer Success Forum: The oldest and largest online gathering of Customer Success professionals on LinkedIn, founded in 2009 with over 64,000 members worldwide.

Products and services

• The Customer Support/Service Operational Review A consulting service that assesses a company's customer communications channels, access methods, interaction types, and support infrastructure. It includes interviews with agents, call/case monitoring, and senior management strategy review, delivering a written report and presentation with actionable recommendations for customer retention and satisfaction. Targeted at technology companies and large enterprises.
• The Customer Success Product/Marketing Review A consulting service to assist Customer Success technology companies in refining their go-to-market strategy. It evaluates product-market fit, partnership options, and advertising channels tailored to the global customer success professional community.
• The Corporate Ecosystem Review A strategic consulting service that maps and evaluates all individuals and entities connected to a software company — employees, customers, alumni, fans, influencers, partners, advocates, and detractors — and develops an Ecosystem Map to weld these connections into increased profitability.
• Digital Community Design A consulting service that guides companies in the strategic design and development of online discussion communities. It begins with clear identification of community strategy and desired outcomes, and helps companies take existing or new communities to a higher level of strategic effectiveness.
• Interim Online Community Management An interim management and moderation service for online communities. Mikael Blaisdell, who founded The Customer Success Forum on LinkedIn, serves as interim Manager/Moderator to sustain community rules and prevent decline into chaos.
• Online Community Vendor-Product Selection Consulting A vendor-neutral consulting service that guides companies through identifying their ecosystem strategy and specific requirements for online community technology, then manages the vendor evaluation and selection process.
• Customer Success Research An ongoing research initiative focused on customer lifecycle management, customer retention strategies, and the evolution of Customer Success as a profession. It encompasses formal research surveys, interviews, forum moderation data, and analysis spanning decades, serving as the foundation for all MBAI consulting services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.9% of incoming calls answered in under 60 seconds (from 60% in 4-5 minutes), with no increase in headcount
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 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

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Customer Success AssociationcoreOthersMikael Blaisdell is the Founder and Executive Director of The Customer Success Association, which publishes Customer Success Central. The association maintains the Customer Success Library and Directory of technology vendors and consultants in the Customer Success sector. MBAI is a Partner of the Customer Success Association (badge displayed on company website).

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Service Council: Customer service and customer experience advisory community and research firm. Comparable to MBAI in building a member-driven community around customer service leadership and producing research used by enterprise CX buyers.
• TSIA (Technology Services Industry Association): Research and advisory organization serving technology services organizations with a dedicated Customer Success practice. Highly comparable to MBAI's research-backed advisory model and overlapping customer base of technology companies seeking to optimize customer success operations.
• ClientSuccess: Customer success management platform provider with adjacent CS advisory services. Comparable to MBAI in serving CS leaders and being a reference point in the CS vendor ecosystem that MBAI's vendor-selection clients evaluate.
• Beyond Philosophy: Customer experience consulting firm that combines advisory with proprietary CX frameworks and thought leadership. Directly comparable to MBAI's framework-driven (Corporate Ecosystem) advisory positioning in the customer experience space.
• Heart of the Customer: Boutique customer experience (CX) consulting firm that helps companies operationalize customer-centric strategy. Comparable to MBAI in being a specialized, advisory-led CX/CS consultancy serving mid-to-large enterprises.
• ICMI (International Customer Management Institute): Consulting and research firm focused on contact center and customer management operations. Directly comparable to MBAI's Customer Support/Service Operational Review service and overlapping focus on customer service strategy and process redesign.
• Catalyst (Customer Success consulting): Customer success advisory and training firm serving B2B technology companies. Directly comparable to MBAI's CS-focused strategic advisory work and overlapping enterprise software client base.

Emerging players

• Vitally: Customer success platform targeting B2B SaaS companies with adjacent content and community resources. Comparable to the kinds of CS tech vendors that MBAI's Customer Success Product/Marketing Review and Vendor Selection services are designed to support.
• Gainsight: Leading Customer Success software platform that also runs Gainsight Customer Success University and adjacent advisory content. Indirectly comparable — MBAI serves as a strategic advisor to many Gainsight-adjacent CS technology vendors and overlapping enterprise CS buyers.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos Customer Experience (Walker): Global market research firm operating a large Customer Experience practice (built on the acquisition of Walker Information). Comparable to MBAI in delivering customer experience measurement and strategic advisory to enterprise clients, but at much larger scale and with broader research capabilities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/groups/Customer-Success-Forum-1913401

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 Michael Blaisdell & Associates