We are advisors, practioners,
executers, and partners.
Lazare is led by a team of senior practitioners who have managed and grown creative, consulting, and technology businesses in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. All of us have lived or operated outside of our home countries for years, which has helped us hone a decidedly international perspective and a naturally collaborative style.
André Coste
Before creating Lazare Consulting LLC at the end of 2016, André was EVP - Chief Operating Officer of MDC Partners, Inc. a $1.3 billion communication group headquartered in NYC (Nasdaq: MDCA) from 2013-2016. He was instrumental to MDC's rapid internationalization and in re-defining the strategy of the 35+ Partner Agencies portfolio.
Prior to moving to the US, Andre spent 9 years at Publicis Groupe, the world's 3rd largest communication group (Euronext: PUB.PA). He began as Asia-Pacific CFO before becoming Global CFO of Publicis Worldwide in 2008.
André has always been passionate about discovering new cultures so it's no surprise that he brings 30 years of international experience having worked and lived in several countries in Asia, Europe and now the USA. He has done business, led teams and completed M&A deals in 50+ markets.
André began his career as an investment banker at Paribas Capital Markets in Japan and then moved into several Treasury, Financial Communication and Corporate Finance positions before being appointed CFO across several industries (Consulting and IT, Travel, Packaging and Manufacturing).
He graduated from the ESSEC MBA (France) after spending a year as a student at Yonsei University in Seoul and Hong Kong University.
Patrick Collins
Patrick joined Andre at Lazare Consulting in 2017 after helping launch Grace Blue Acquisition, a boutique global advisory practice designed to let M&A clients in the creative communications space proactively evaluate and engage with the best potential partners versus only those known to be “for sale”.
Prior to Lazare, Patrick spent 20+ years in and around the advertising industry. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he started in the business at DDB Chicago and, over the course of his career, has led a broad range of clients at agencies as diverse as RPA in Los Angeles and M&C Saatchi in London. His experience at Ogilvy leading the BP global business sparked his interest in the inherent creative and operational challenge of big, complex, global brand relationships. And his move to TBWA let him do that at even greater scale, as the head of their global relationships with Mars, Visa, and Accenture.
Patrick left the advertising world in 2013 to scratch an entrepreneurial itch and take on a role as brand and marketing director for two small West Coast technology-driven start-ups – Project Frog and SimpliPhi Power.
Although based in New York, Patrick commutes from his home in Chicago. Which, unfortunately, means he is no stranger to rolling delays in the summer and cancelled flights in the winter. But worth it, to see the Cubs finally win a World Series.
Alex Kuhnel
Alex joined Lazare in September of 2021 and brings a deep background in technology and B2B platforms along with firsthand experience helping businesses leverage lean start-up processes to unlock new growth.
After completing a post-graduate degree in France, Alex started his career in a variety of commercial analyst and planning roles at T-Mobile in London. He quickly found himself gravitating towards “intrapreneur”-type positions, helping companies like Orange Mobile, Experian, and TGI/Kantar identify and exploit growth opportunities across their existing businesses. In 2015, he scratched an entrepreneurial itch and became an angel investor in Deolan, a new French B2B platform designed to improve collaboration in the air transport sector. Shortly thereafter, he was asked to join the company and, as COO, help them attract new funding and scale the business.
In 2019, Alex decided to leverage merge his knowledge of big-company tech needs with his passion for start-up methodologies by setting up his own consulting practice. One of his first clients was Adwanted, a relatively new European ad-tech company, and what began as one assignment quickly morphed into a full-time role. He worked closely with the Founder and Lazare Consulting to expand the company into the UK via the acquisition of Mediatel, a market leader in traditional media data and planning. In parallel, he helped the Leadership Team design and build a structure and processes specifically designed to enable scaling across what was becoming a multi-faceted, international business.
With a German birth certificate, a French graduate degree, and 20 years of living in London under his belt, Alex is practically the definition of a “modern European”. When he’s not on an airplane or a train to see clients in Europe, he resides with his family in Montpellier, France.
Julien Marzouk
Julien has over 15 years of management consulting experience in growth strategy, market entry and mergers & acquisitions. He is the Managing Partner of Kinesis Partners, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in helping European companies achieve organic and external growth in the US. Prior to co-founding Kinesis Partners, Julien was the Head of the Strategy Consulting team in New York at Altios International, where he worked with international companies building growth and go-to-market strategies for their US expansion.
Prior to moving to the US, Julien worked as a Strategy Consultant at Advention Business Partners, a spin-off of Bain in Paris, France, where he assisted Fortune 500 corporations and private equity firms with strategic market reviews, corporate strategies and pre-acquisition commercial due diligence.
Julien has a passion for solving puzzles and co-creating strategies with organizations in different industries (Technology, CPG & Retail, Manufacturing and Life Sciences). He began his career as a Business Journalist for CNBC Europe, working on identifying investment opportunities in Africa and in the Middle East. He has lived and worked in more than 10 countries.
Julien holds an MBA in Corporate Strategy from Bocconi University (Italy) and NBS (France) and a degree in Leadership Development from Columbia University (US).
Marc Damasse
Marc joined Lazare in December 2021, bringing 20+ years of experience as a CFO/COO in marketing communications plus a track record of helping C-level leaders of small-to-mid-sized European service businesses sharpen growth strategies and retool operations.
Marc began his career at TBWA where, over a span of 12 years, he rose to be International Controller while working and living in New York, Moscow, and several Central and Eastern Europe markets.
In 2011, Marc joined Publicis Worldwide as CFO for Western Europe, a scope that expanded 2 years later to include CEE. Based in Hamburg and, later, in London, Marc partnered with regional CEOs to help them execute major acquisitions, integrations, restructurings, and better manage client contract negotiations.
Prior to joining Lazare, Marc was CFO of GroupM, WPP’s media operation in France, where he was charged with leading a complete transformation of the business and a full reorganisation of all support functions to increase effectiveness and efficiency.
Based in Paris, Marc’s background in digital, media, and marketing communications plus his country-level experience within Europe not only strengthens Lazare’s core competencies but better enables us to advise European clients in their own time zones.
Julie Comer
Originally from Paris, Julie joined Lazare Consulting in 2019 to be a Financial and Market Analyst after graduating from EDHEC Business School in France and earning a master's degree in finance from IIM Udaipur in India.
While studying at EDHEC, Julie interned as a management controller for luxury goods manufacturer in Paris, followed by a year as a financial analyst at Adwanted, a New York City-based ad-tech start-up. After helping Adwanted close two European acquisitions, Julie officially joined Lazare Consulting in 2021. Since then, she has been promoted to Senior Associate in recognition of her strong contributions and expanded remit.
After discovering the best parts of New York City, Julie returned home to France to help Lazare build out its recently established Paris office and directly support French and International clients. Although she misses the wide spread availability of iced oat milk lattes in the States, Julie feels the croissants are definitely better in Paris.
Brian Rose
Brian joined Lazare Consulting in 2022 and, in his role as Market Analyst, supports our efforts to help clients identify, engage, and explore potential partnerships with like-minded independent companies.
Brian attended the Stevens Institute of Technology, where he majored in Business & Technology. Over the course of his studies, Brian held internships at WeWork and Connectivity Ventures Fund, the latter of which sparked an interest in M&A and helping small-to-mid-sized businesses scale.
Upon graduation and prior to joining Lazare, Brian spent a year working in Operations & Finance at Handsome Brook Farms, a food distribution company focused on sustainable and organic agriculture.
When not working on a search, Brian can be found playing his guitar, tending to his house plants, or spending time at his local coffee shop.
