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Entrepreneur
7 hours ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Meet the Entrepreneur Behind Qualified Digital
Jaqi Saleem is the founder and CEO of digital experience agency Qualified Digital, and founder of Jaqi Purpose Co., a mission-driven investment fund. Here she breaks down her best advice for sustainable growth, fundraising, and creating a culture of collaboration. Please give us the elevator pitch of your business. My company, Qualified Digital, is an award-winning digital experience agency that competes with top consultancies 100-1,000 times our size to serve Fortune 500 clients like Mayo Clinic, CVS, Hitachi Vantara, CommonSpirit Health, Kaiser Permanente, Novo Nordisk, Bristol-Myers Squibb and TransUnion. Our 360° approach, in partnership with industry leaders like Adobe, blends B2B and B2C expertise to craft seamless customer journeys. Our tagline is "The Experience of Connection". Or, if you want a simpler soft pitch, we can use my Mom's description: "I think they put the buttons on the internet." You are not wrong, Mom, we do that too. What inspired you to create this business? The truth is, I started this digital customer experience agency completely by accident. After over 15 years at agencies — and getting the feeling I had hit a glass ceiling — I decided to give independent consulting a try. A couple of months in, a customer offered me an opportunity to build and fund my own guerrilla dream team to pick up some business-critical projects after an unexpected and rapid split with their previous digital agency. I didn't hesitate — I called all of the smartest people I knew and asked them to join me. I was gratified and humbled when they did. Fast forward 7.5 years, Qualified Digital is private equity backed by Stella Point Capital, and has 100+ teammates composed of the smartest people I now know. Related: 'We Didn't Know We Could Do That!' These Co-Founders Built a Unique Photography Business That Tapped an Unexpected Need — And Now Is Found in 60 Cities What advice would you give entrepreneurs looking for funding? Make sure you are looking for a partner who adds value and is aligned to your vision, not just a check. Don't be pompous, but be curious in ways that show you need to know about the potential investor, as well. Don't ask them questions you could find on their website; welcome them into the conversation; leave room for their voice, as the dynamic changes and creates more opportunity to connect. They are investing in you as a leader, as much as in your business, so be human, not a well-dressed robot. While you want to be prepared to speak the entire time, hope and invite a dialogue and anticipate what they might ask so you don't freeze or skip a beat. Practice, practice, practice, not just for presenting your investor deck in the order it is laid out, but for any direction that the conversation may go. I often keep an appendix of items that likely wouldn't make it into a brief pitch, but may be a confidence builder if they ask a pointed question and you can show you are on top of it. Lastly, and this is extremely important: ensure they don't see you as a project. Investors don't want to do your job; they need to believe that you can execute on an incredible idea, not just that you have one. Especially if you don't have a track record to point to, develop a clear plan or include a partner who can lead on the business front. Clear plans are important, either way, so they feel they can press the easy button by just funding and advising. Female-owned businesses only get 2 per cent of VC funding — what specific advice can you give to women business owners seeking to emulate what you achieved in getting PE investment? Knowing that stat can be intimidating, but don't let it get in your head. It might stop you from asking at all, and we need to change that number, not perpetuate it. I did not run into any resistance in my process, and ran a competitive one, which I highly recommend. This allowed me to command the value I knew Qualified Digital was worth, gender identity aside. If you are at the right stage, really consider bringing on a banker to represent you. They come with fees, but the right ones, with the right network, are worth their weight in gold. Related: He Hated Furniture Shopping. So He Built a Business to Do It for Him. Here's How This Unconventional Founder Is Finding New Customers and Growth. What kind of growth have you seen? In the early years, starting from scratch, Qualified Digital grew 100% YoY+. As our revenue numbers increased, that percentage has naturally changed. Last year, we delivered 45%+ growth. This year, through the combination of organic growth and our recent acquisition of Xpediant Digital, we are on track to deliver another 40% growth year for 2025 and are projecting $31.5M in revenue. What tips can you give to other founders on maintaining company culture when your team is either partially or fully remote? I'm proud of the work-life balance that we're able to give our team by being a fully remote company. We have over 100 employees and FTE equivalents on our team, based all across the US and around the world, and that team is able to pick up and drop off their kids at school, take care of their mental and physical health, and do the things they love like travel, or whatever passions or hobbies they have. QD's company culture encourages a mindset that is both entrepreneurial and collaborative, and I feel that is one of the things that really sets us apart. My advice is: create an energy that multiplies, and it will. Culture cascades from the top, so your team has to want you to win, they have to want each other to win, and they have to want to win themselves. And most of all: hire great humans and interesting people. Your team is the magic, and it is your job as a leader to protect that culture from those who draw down on it. What advice can you give about making the decision to acquire another company, such as your recent acquisition of Xpediant Digital? See a clear 1+1 = 3. Do not buy revenue, buy a value multiplier, whether that is a new capability, new industries, or products that accelerate what you do. Is it a value add to your existing clients, or is it all about new clients you can add value to? Either way, just ensure you have a clear vision that helps your team and their team get excited to execute on that vision. Make sure the company is a culture fit; that your team and their team will be proud to stand shoulder to shoulder and excited to collaborate. Remember, when you are hungry, everything can look like a steak (or a portobello mushroom burger if that's more your style). Related: They Started a Side Hustle in Their College Dorm and Bootstrapped Their Way to a Massive Business: 'It's Always Been About Being Scrappy' You also make investments through your investment fund, Jaqi Purpose Co. What tips can you give entrepreneurs seeking to pitch to investors like you? Show me the problem, show me that solving that problem adds a social or mission-oriented outcome, and then show me the solution you have for that problem and how you are doing so. Show me there is a market or need for it, that no one else is doing it (well), and that if you had the money, you would be able to deliver what and by when. Be ready to show me that you are ready. I want to invest in things that matter, which means I want that investment to be successful. It cannot just be an idea, it needs to be a plan. A plan that you can execute on with guidance and money, not one that would be a project I would take on. What does the word "entrepreneur" mean to you? If I am honest, the word entrepreneur is still a word that I have to remember to match myself to. I love this question, because it challenges old thinking I had around the word. Taking a step back, acknowledging that I am an entrepreneur, I would say this: It is someone who is relentlessly passionate about the business, product or problem they are solving; someone who is not afraid of failing, but mostly because they think they won't in the long run; know that controlled failure is an essential part of the process in any kind of meaningful success; someone who teeters the line of confidence and delusion, just enough to take the big risky swings necessary to drive meaningful impact, but with the humility and pragmatism that keeps them grounded and taking the right swings; someone who builds with the end in mind, making space for the right amount of uncertainty and evolution, but with some sense of what success looks like in the end. Is there a particular quote or saying that you use as personal motivation? "I have no particular talents — I am just passionately curious" - Einstein. I love this quote, and in fact, "passionately curious" is one of our five core values at Qualified Digital. It was just so relatable to me. It eroded some of that "them but not me" impostor mindset. If Einstein says he has no special talents, and his superpower is curiosity, well then, that is a recipe I could put to action.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Accenture (ACN) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates
Accenture (ACN) came out with quarterly earnings of $3.49 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.30 per share. This compares to earnings of $3.13 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 5.76%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this consulting company would post earnings of $2.84 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.82, delivering a surprise of -0.70%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Accenture , which belongs to the Zacks Computers - IT Services industry, posted revenues of $17.73 billion for the quarter ended May 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.56%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $16.47 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Accenture shares have lost about 12.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 1.7%. While Accenture has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Accenture: mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $3 on $17.12 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $12.72 on $68.75 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Computers - IT Services is currently in the top 36% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Another stock from the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector, Anterix (ATEX), has yet to report results for the quarter ended March 2025. The results are expected to be released on June 24. This wireless communications company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.43 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +15.7%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Anterix's revenues are expected to be $1.58 million, up 25% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Accenture PLC (ACN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Anterix Inc. (ATEX) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Bloomberg
9 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Thousands of Laid-Off Government Workers Are Flooding a Shrinking Job Market
Thousands of private government consultants laid off during the Trump administration's cost-cutting crusade are increasingly flooding a shrinking labor market. Job postings among seven of the 10 consulting companies singled out by the General Services Administration for contract cuts are down about 27% since 2023, and about 11% from a year ago, according to data scraped from job boards by labor market analytics firm Lightcast.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Accenture's Q3 EPS, Revenue Surpass Estimates
Accenture (NYSE:ACN) beats Q3 estimates as GAAP EPS rises to $3.49, driven by strong consulting demand. Revenue climbed 7.5% year-over-year to $17.7 billion, topping consensus by $380 million, while new bookings totaled $19.7 billion, down 6% in U.S. dollars and 7% in local currency. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Sign with ACN. Generative AI engagements accounted for $1.5 billion of that backlog, signaling sustained appetite for digital transformation projects. Accenture returned cash to shareholders with a 15% dividend hike to $1.48 per share and repurchased or redeemed 6 million shares for $1.8 billion. Looking ahead, the company raised its full-year targets: revenue growth of 6%7% in local currency, a modest 0.2% tailwind from foreign-exchange, and operating margin expansion to 15.6%, up 10 basis points on an adjusted basis. Diluted EPS is now expected between $12.77 and $12.89, while free cash flow guidance was lifted to $9.0 billion$9.7 billion. Why it matters: Investors should note Accenture's balanced growth across legacy and AI services, bolstered by robust cash returns and a raised outlook that underscores confidence in demand resilience. That chart shows Wall Street's 12-month ACN targets sitting at an average of $355, about 16% above today's levels, with bullish bulls eyeing as high as $395 and skeptics at $290. Despite the upbeat outlook, Accenture's shares are actually down double-digits year-to-date, weighed by broader tech sell-offs and profit-taking after last winter's rally. The divergence between the low and high cases highlights how much of the upside hinges on AI spending and macro stability. If consulting budgets hold firm, you could see ACN grind toward those $355$395 marks; if belt-tightening returns, it might test sub-$300 territory again. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Wall Street Journal
10 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Accenture Posts Higher Profit, Revenue, But Bookings Fall
Accenture ACN -1.81%decrease; red down pointing triangle reported higher revenue and a profit and disclosed positive guidance but bookings fell in its latest quarter. The consulting firm also said it was combining several of its services into one business unit, part of a change of a broader effort tied to the time of growing artificial intelligence adoption, effective Sept. 1.
