Altimeter Group, a research and consulting firm founded in 2008 recently announced the addition of three partners to meet the demands of the growing company. Founded by Charlene Li in 2008, Altimeter focuses on digital strategies- specifically research and commentary on how companies can leverage social and emerging technologies.
Ray Wang, Jeremiah Owyang and Deborah Schultz joined Li in late August/ early September of 2009. All four partners have individual blogs that are widely read blogs and are well known in the social media / technology arena. Additionally, Li, Wang and Owyang are all former top analysts at Forrester Research, an independent technology research company. There was significant buzz in the tech blogosphere when the announcement that Owyang and Wang would be leaving Forrester. Tech insiders see Owyang and Wangs’ resignations as “prime examples of what happens when an employee’s personal brand eclipses the company’s brand.”
“Ray, Jeremiah and Deborah are among the top experts in their respective fields,” said Charlene Li, founding partner of Altimeter Group. “Individually, they bring unmatched expertise to their roles with the firm, and collectively they are unstoppable professionals with the passion and prowess to advance entire industries through the innovative application of technologies to achieve business goals. Altimeter Group’s clients will benefit tremendously from their guidance and counsel.”
While it is unclear what this means for Forrester, it is unlikely to have any siginifcant impact as the firm is comprised of 380 researchers on staff. Meanwhile, Altimeter falls into what is expected to be an increasingly popular categoy of research focused in the realm of social media.