Picture this: your startup’s product is finally adored, social media is buzzing with raving reviews, and sales charts show an upward trajectory. It’s the dream scenario every entrepreneur wants when launching their business. Yet this dream remains frustratingly out of reach for many startups, especially in consumer tech. Despite innovative ideas and determined teams, many struggle to achieve the critical milestone of product-market fit.
Stepping up to address this challenge is student-led consulting firm Ascend Consulting Group. By vetting and training students to consult venture-backed startups, the group offers a fresh perspective on how businesses connect with their target market, especially Gen Zs, and achieve product-market fit.
Creating Products that People Want
Now, product-market fit is no small feat. A product only reaches this critical milestone when it aligns so well with customer needs that customers find it indispensable. Likewise, this alignment often comes with significant challenges. According to Flair HR, 93% of all successful businesses have undergone pivots from their initial ideas and changed their original plans to adapt to changing market conditions, customer needs, or other factors.
The stakes are even higher for tech startups targeting the Gen Z market. Forbes notes that this generation demands more than functional products—they expect seamless digital experiences, personalized interactions, social media-driven engagement, and ethical, sustainable options.
Ascend Consulting Group’s co-founder, Mac Cutler, explains, “Many startups fall into the trap of building products in isolation, relying on assumptions or one-off anecdotes rather than real-world feedback. Surprisingly, even in our hyper-connected world, product developers remain significantly disconnected from their target users, especially Gen Z.”
This disconnect is particularly evident in the tech sector, where rapid development often outpaces thorough market research. Traditional consulting models, with their reliance on historical data and lengthy research cycles, struggle to keep pace with the fast-changing preferences of younger consumers.
Ascend Consulting Group believes in a radically different approach: direct engagement with Gen Z for timely, dynamic understanding. The firm immerses itself in every stage of product development and marketing, offering real-time insights into Gen Z preferences and expectations. As Cutler aptly puts it, “Don’t build for Gen Z—build with Gen Z.”
How Ascend Consulting Group Helps Startups Win
Gathering Gen Z Insights
Ascend Consulting Group, founded in 2024 by students William Host and Mac Cutler, bridges startups and the Gen Z consumers they aim to please. The firm recruits, matches, and trains elite students from top universities like UCLA, Boston College, Northwestern, Cal Berkeley, and others to serve as an extension of the business team.
Rather than relying on broad surveys, these students engage directly with their networks to break through the ice and identify what this generation truly needs; furthermore, they communicate these insights to founders through weekly iterative deliverables. Whether it’s conducting dozens of user interviews, running Gen-Z user testing, drafting novel UI/UX mockups, or executing creative ideas from the business, its team, or its personal project manager.
This hands-on technique enables founders to distill clear recommendations, grasp how Gen Z will receive the product, and drive meaningful product improvements.
Host emphasizes, “In today’s market, you can’t afford to spend months on market research only to find your insights outdated when you implement them. Our model allows startups to stay ahead of the curve, adapting their products in real-time based on direct feedback from their target users.”
Eliminating Ambiguity While Building
Ascend Consulting Group understands that startups often struggle to manage the overwhelming volume of product feedback collected from surveys, interviews, reviews, and support tickets. This abundance of information can quickly become chaotic, especially when users provide vague, contradictory, or non-actionable feedback. Comments like “poor user experience” or “needs improvement” offer little clarity, creating confusion, derailing product roadmaps, delaying critical decisions, and wasting valuable resources.
Data is invaluable in today’s fast-paced market—but only if businesses can act on it. Ascend Consulting Group goes beyond simply gathering insights about Gen Z; its mission is to help startups find consensus within the data and implement changes that align with consumer expectations and business goals. By leveraging the unique perspectives and networks of Gen Z-led teams, Ascend Consulting Group transforms unactionable feedback into clear, prioritized insights. This enables startups to channel their resources into developing products and features that resonate with their consumers’ needs.
Ascend Consulting Group bridges the gap between user expectations and actionable strategies, helping startups refine their products, craft messaging that resonates with Gen Z values, and build innovative business models that balance purpose with profit.
As Host explains, “Our vision is to establish Ascend Consulting Group as the home for building products with Gen Z. From founder to founder, our mission is to help the next generation of business leaders embody this value of customer obsession throughout their company’s journey.”
With Ascend Consulting Group, businesses are not just reacting to trends—they’re shaping the future and creating the next big thing together.
The First Step to Winning
Ascend Consulting Group doesn’t promise instant success. Instead, it views its work as the critical first step in helping startups establish a strong foundation for long-term growth. The firm helps startups avoid pitfalls and create adaptable products that meet market needs.
While success may take time, Ascend Consulting Group’s perspective makes certain that startups are prepared to seize opportunities with the fastest-growing consumer segment: Gen Z.
