What Curious does

The Curious Company (dba Curious) is a privately held boutique consulting firm founded in 2000 by Pam Scott and Diane Tompkins, headquartered across Marin County and Northern California. The firm designs and leads bespoke transformative engagements for purpose-driven companies and nonprofits, organized around five interconnected service lines: Insights (human-centered research), Strategy (brand and mission strategy), Ideation (collaborative invention), Coaching (leadership development), and Gatherings (group facilitation and retreats).

The firm's underlying technology is a human-centered design and creative-strategy methodology refined over 25+ years, drawing on the founders' prior experience with major consumer brands (Nike, American Express, MINI, HP, Lexus, Levi's, Unilever) and an extended network of values-aligned creative practitioners. The methodology is augmented by proprietary frameworks such as the "Power Games" research approach co-developed with Spitfire Strategies. There is no software product, platform, or technology stack in the conventional sense; the deliverable is senior practitioner time and bespoke engagement design.

Commercially, Curious operates a pure professional services revenue model with quote-based, project-priced engagements. Go-to-market is entirely direct and relationship-driven, with no marketing channels beyond the website and word-of-mouth referrals. The client base spans marquee foundations (Bill & Melinda Gates, Hewlett, Robert Wood Johnson, Marin Community, Caring for Colorado, Maverick Collective), purpose-led commercial brands (Patagonia, OLLY, True Botanicals, Method Home, Target's NatPak), media organizations (Discovery, Science Channel), government and quasi-governmental bodies (USOC), and educational institutions (Auburn, Stanford's Global Center for Gender Equality, Stand for Children, Global Citizen Year). Since 2010 the firm has been exclusively focused on this purpose-driven segment, having shed its prior consumer-brand practice.

Name

Curious

Legal name

The Curious Company

Website

https://thecuriouscompany.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Curious Company is a privately held boutique consultancy founded in 2000 by Pam Scott and Diane Tompkins, offering bespoke insights, strategy, ideation, coaching, and facilitation services to purpose-driven companies, foundations, and nonprofits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Impact Consulting

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Creative Concepting & Campaign Development (BPAFAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Creative Boutique Agencies (MPAAAAAB)

Keywords

• Social impact consulting
• Brand strategy services
• Human-centered research
• Executive coaching services
• Purpose-driven marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Professional Services: Bespoke consulting engagements for purpose-driven companies and nonprofits. Services include insights research, brand strategy, ideation workshops, leadership coaching, and facilitated gatherings/retreats.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Curious Company is a boutique social impact consulting firm that helps purpose-driven companies, foundations, and progressive brands with brand strategy and creative work. It delivers five service areas — insights (qualitative and ethnographic research), strategy (brand positioning and business strategy), ideation (creative concepts and storytelling), coaching (leadership development), and gatherings (intimate, custom-designed convenings) — through bespoke engagements led by the co-founders.

Product overview

Curious is a professional services consultancy founded by Pam Scott and Diane Tompkins in 2000, offering a unified service portfolio of five interconnected offerings: Insights (human-centered research), Strategy (brand and mission strategy), Ideation (collaborative brainstorming and invention), Coaching (leadership development), and Gatherings (group facilitation). All engagements are bespoke, crafted to respond to each client's specific moment and challenge.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Insights Qualitative, ethnographic, and market research service that uncovers the people, stories, and cultural dynamics behind a brand or social issue, producing insights briefs for downstream strategy and creative work. Intended for mission-driven organizations, foundations, and brand teams seeking evidence-based understanding of audiences.
• Strategy Brand positioning and business strategy service that translates insights into clear, differentiated brand platforms, messaging architectures, and strategic roadmaps for purpose-driven organizations. Intended for marketing leaders, social impact teams, and foundation program officers.
• Ideation Creative ideation service that develops big ideas, campaign concepts, and storytelling platforms emerging from the prior insights and strategy phases. Intended for brand and communications leaders at nonprofits, foundations, and purpose-driven consumer companies.
• Coaching Executive and leadership coaching service supporting individuals and teams as they activate brand, social impact, or organizational change. Intended for senior leaders at mission-driven organizations transitioning strategy into action.
• Gatherings Custom-designed, intimate gatherings and convenings built around a defined purpose, audience, or strategic moment, drawing on the firm's facilitation and human-centered design practice. Intended for foundations, advocacy coalitions, and brands seeking high-touch events rather than mass conferences.

Named customers20 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWith the Global Center for Gender Equality, Curious conducted research to identify an archetype asking for and most ready to adopt a radically new approach to philanthropy.
• Discovery ChannelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious designed and led multi-day creative sessions with leadership to land and activate a new, bold brand positioning that enabled the network to compete more effectively.
• Hewlett FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnering with IDEO.org, Curious conceived and co-led design sprints in Ethiopia and Rwanda to train reproductive justice leaders in human centered design.
• IDEO.orgcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFor several years, Curious led conversations that fostered connection and trust among cohorts of IDEO.org Fellows. They also coached the founding partners at critical moments of their leadership.
• OLLYcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious surfaced insights and led brand workshops with OLLY leadership that inspired a stronger OLLY brand positioning and new product opportunities.
• True BotanicalscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTapping into its roots as an OG leader in plant-based, non-toxic skin care, Curious partnered with the True Botanicals CEO to dramatically re-vision the future of the iconic brand.
• PatagoniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious coached creative design leadership as the company doubled down on its commitment to make Earth its 'only shareholder.'
• TargetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious facilitated a strategic process with Target's NatPak, a group of natural brands, to land a value proposition of the collective that was bigger than any individual brand.
• Caring for ColoradocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn partnership with local Design Fellows, Curious went deep in-community to design a game-changing approach to reproductive health needs of Colorado-based Latinas.
• Global Citizen YearcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious designed and led discussions to forge connection, trust and resilience among GCY Fellows as they launched into a year of working, living and leading abroad.
• Marin Community FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious led an extensive human centered design effort that resulted in a transformative program serving Moms striving for self-sufficiency in the county.
• Method HomecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDuring Method's earliest days, Curious generated consumer insights that directly informed product development, brand positioning and communication.
• PSIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious upskilled the PSI/Tanzania country team in human centered design and sparked a global initiative by PSI to upskill every office worldwide in participatory methodologies.
• Robert Wood Johnson FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking in partnership with Spitfire Strategies, Curious designed a new form of research, called Power Games to explore the dynamics of inertia and activation for social causes.
• Science ChannelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious designed and led the leadership team through a multi-day brand workshop to define a compelling vision for Science Channel 2.0.
• Stand (for Children)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious designed an extensive engagement with staff and leadership to articulate a vision for transforming public education that was as compelling to teachers as it was to families.
• Stanford Global Center for Gender EqualitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious engaged as brand strategy, coaching and facilitation partners to GCfGE as they spun out of Stanford University and defined themselves as an autonomous organization.
• U.S. Olympic CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious designed and led USOC leadership through a multi-day brand vision and strategy session to define and claim a bold, exciting new direction for the organization.
• Auburn UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious curated an Innovation Tour with prominent Silicon Valley leaders to spark debate and generate fresh ideas about how to truly equip students for the future ahead.
• Maverick CollectivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurious engaged the founding Maverick Collective philanthropists to surface insights for how the organization could be more effective and rewarding.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• M/H/C (Made by Human, Creative): Boutique purpose-driven creative and brand consultancy focused on social-impact organizations — directly comparable in mission, scale, and service mix (brand strategy, creative, activations) to Curious.
• Purposeful (purpose consultancy): Strategy and communications consultancy dedicated to purpose-led brands and social-impact organizations — overlapping segment and service overlap (brand strategy, narrative, positioning) with Curious's core offers.
• Spitfire Strategies: Strategic communications and social-impact consultancy; Curious partnered with Spitfire on the "Power Games" research methodology for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the firms share purpose-driven and foundation clients with similar workshop/facilitation delivery models.
• Pentagram: Partner-led creative and brand-strategy consultancy offering bespoke brand positioning and identity services; comparable to Curious in its founder-led, partner-only boutique structure and high-touch client engagement model.
• MetaDesign: Global brand-strategy and design agency with a similarly founder-influenced boutique practice model, offering brand positioning and creative concepting services for impact-oriented clients.
• Beutler Ink: Creative agency serving nonprofits, causes, and mission-driven brands with brand strategy and creative campaign work — closely comparable niche and delivery style to Curious's purpose-driven engagements.

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy and Curious's most direct design-thinking peer; the two firms have co-led engagements (e.g., IDEO.org / Hewlett Foundation design sprints in Ethiopia and Rwanda), operate in the same human-centered design methodology, and serve overlapping purpose-driven clients.
• Frog Design (Capgemini Engineering): Large design and brand-strategy consultancy with overlapping offerings in human-centered research, brand vision, and transformation programs for mission-driven organizations, now part of Capgemini's broader design practice.
• The Kominsky Method / David Graves Consulting: Independent global creative agency network (The Community) operating purpose-driven brand and campaign work at a larger scale; comparable in offering (brand strategy, creative concepting) though much broader and less niche.
• Bain & Company — Purpose & Sustainability practice: Global strategy consulting firm with a dedicated Purpose practice serving foundations and impact-oriented corporates — relevant comp for Curious's consulting engagements with Gates, Hewlett, Robert Wood Johnson and other foundations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-curious-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Curious