Torsten
Principal, Princeton Office
Education
INSEAD
M.B.A., 1992
Activities at INSEAD: I actually studied quite hard, so there was not much time for outside activities, except for the occasional wine tasting
Memories of INSEAD: Fond. It was the first time I lived in France, and it made me want to stay
UNIVERSITAT OF HANNOVER
M.Sc. in Geography, 1987
Hometown
Hannover, Germany
ZS Career Path
Consultant (London Office), 1992
Manager, 1994
Principal, 1998
- Managing Principal (Europe), 2004
- Moved to the Princeton office, 2006
On the work
"I like the mix of sound analysis that goes extremely deep, and the practical application. I don't believe in elegant recommendations that I could not go implement myself. One of my favourite assignments has been the conception and global roll-out of a new marketing strategy, which took me with my client over two years to Europe, South America and the US."
On ZS values
Do the Right Thing: “I once told a client who wanted us to rubber-stamp a decision already made that we did not think ZS could add value to the project and that we would rather forego the work (and an attractive budget). Incidentally, the same client called us back after two years to do a new analysis without preconceptions from the ground up.”
On life outside work
"Were I not a consultant, I would probably have turned out to be a professional musician (my brother is). After my wilder years in a rock band in Germany to earn my living as a student, I have nowadays mellowed to play classical guitar - just for myself."
On the Princeton office
"Over my career at ZS, I have worked in six different offices in the US and in Europe, and Princeton is the one I came back to. It is a great place to raise a family (lots of space, horses for my daughter etc.), and you have two major cities - New York and Philadelphia - basically in your backyard. Princeton is a very international and "young" town, and, through the university connection, can offer many educational or cultural events. The best thing for me, though, is that here most of my clients are really near by - in a one-hour radius - which makes it much easier to "be there" for them and to develop deep relationships."