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Justin Waterman
Director at EY-Parthenon - M&A and Value Creation
Professional Background
Justin Waterman holds the esteemed position of Director within EY-Parthenon's Transaction Strategy & Execution consulting practice, where he employs his expertise to assist a diverse clientele of Fortune 500 firms and middle-market businesses. His primary focus lies in optimizing capital transformation and M&A activities, ensuring that clients fully realize the value brought about by these strategic decisions. Justin’s extensive experience in operational due diligence extends to both buy-side and sell-side processes, and he plays a crucial role in integration and separation strategy, providing advice and execution support tailored to each client’s unique needs.
In addition, Justin’s competencies include enabling value creation through strategic initiatives such as working capital optimization, operational restructuring, strategic sourcing, and turnaround strategies. His adept leadership is evidenced by his handling of complex project management tasks, process improvements, and operational turnaround initiatives across large, global organizations, affirming his capability to navigate the intricate landscapes of corporate transactions.
Industry Experience
Justin’s breadth of industry experience is remarkably diverse, spanning several vital sectors:
- Technology (from burgeoning startups to established Fortune 500 corporations)
- Consumer Products and Retail
- Manufacturing and Industrial Products
- FinTech
- Government, particularly in Education and Aerospace
This varied background not only enriches his perspective but also equips him with the insights necessary to drive value and forge advantageous strategies in differing market environments.
Other M&A and Transaction-Related Experience
Alongside his industry expertise, Justin has cultivated a strong foundation in M&A and transaction-related initiatives. His experience encompasses:
- Comprehensive end-to-end separation support for carve-outs and divestitures
- Efficient deal management and execution (covering PMO, TMO, IMO, SMO, JVMO processes)
- Rigorous synergy analysis, along with meticulous one-time and standalone cost evaluations
- Precise operating model design, focusing on both the current and future state; this also includes formulating workplans, cutovers, and critical path management
- Crafting Transaction Services Agreements (TSAs) and conducting Day 1 readiness assessments
- Driving post-deal value creation through strategic sourcing events, freight optimization, and enhancements in Order to Cash (OTC) working capital processes.
Functional Experience
Furthermore, Justin demonstrates a strong functional background across multiple areas:
- Digital / E-Commerce / Customer Experience (Sales and Marketing)
- Supply Chain Management (including “Deliver” and “Source” aspects)
- Finance and Accounting
This functional diversity serves to amplify his strategic input, allowing him to approach each project with a well-rounded understanding of the myriad factors at play in the corporate landscape.
Education and Achievements
Justin Waterman’s academic credentials further bolster his professional profile. He holds a prestigious Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, a program renowned for its rigorous approach to business education and an emphasis on real-world applications. Additionally, he earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Economics and Communication from the University of California, Davis, providing him with a solid foundation in critical thinking, analytical skills, and effective communication strategies. Justin's educational journey began at San Marino High School, where he laid the groundwork for his future academic and professional endeavors.
Achievements
Over the course of his career, Justin has demonstrated a commitment to excellence and a clear passion for empowering organizations to realize their full potential through effective transaction strategies and execution. His journey through various roles, including Manager, Senior Consultant, and Summer Senior Consultant at EY, has equipped him with the insights, tools, and methodologies needed to succeed in the complex environment of corporate transactions. Prior to his time at EY, Justin was Head of Sales Operations at LiveRamp, which was acquired by Acxiom, and also made significant contributions as Operations Analyst at ClearSlide and in Sales Finance & Commercial Operations at AdRoll. His early career also includes valuable insights gained during his time as an Industry Analyst at IBISWorld. These varied experiences showcase his broad expertise in consultancy, operations, analysis, and strategic execution, highlighting his capacity to drive results in any environment.
Justin Waterman possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience in consulting, particularly in M&A and transaction strategy. His journey, marked by continuous learning and professional development, along with a substantial educational backdrop, underscores his capability in leveraging sophisticated methodologies to deliver exceptional value to his clients.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.