by the way
Servais Micolot – Founder & CEO of thinkGo
“Behind every transaction, there’s a decision that commits far more than numbers. That’s why at thinkGo, we don’t just advise – we’re committed, we’re your partner.”
A founding conviction
M&A consulting is not just about technical expertise. It requires a deep understanding of people and organizations – of what has been built, what is at stake, and what needs to be preserved.
It’s this conviction that lies at the heart of thinkGo: an independent boutique, created to provide managers, investors and shareholders with the level of commitment and rigor that these decisions deserve.
A career rooted in the field
Founder and CEO of thinkGo, Servais Micolot has over 30 years’ experience in business development and management with major Swiss and international groups.
A senior executive for two decades, he has devised and steered complex business strategies, managed multicultural teams and developed business relationships with all types of customer – from family-run SMEs to major international groups, in sectors as varied as industry, services, technology and distribution.
At the age of 35, he took the next step by founding his first company. This entrepreneurial experience – with all that it implies in terms of risk-taking, solitary decisions and assumed responsibility – has had a lasting impact on his view of the issues involved in transferring and acquiring businesses.
This is a rare asset in M&A consulting. Servais Micolot doesn’t talk about a company from the outside – he knows its reality from the inside. He knows what a company means to the person who built it. He understands the doubts of those considering selling their company, as well as the ambitions of those looking to acquire one. This closeness to business reality enables him to go beyond technical advice: he anticipates human issues, identifies sticking points before they arise, and supports his customers with the clarity and commitment that such decisions demand.
Swiss roots, international outlook
Switzerland is a very special market. Fragmented into three distinct cultural areas, it requires a detailed knowledge of customs, networks and contacts – in French-speaking Switzerland as well as in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino.
Servais Micolot lived in German-speaking Switzerland for six years. German and Swiss German were his second working languages for twenty years. He is fluent in French, German, Swiss German, English and Italian. His network covers French-speaking Switzerland, German-speaking Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy and the USA.
In M&A transactions, language isn’t just a communication tool – it’s a vector of trust. Negotiating in German-speaking Switzerland with a Bernese or Zurich entrepreneur means addressing him in his own language, with his own references, in a relationship of equals. It’s often this detail – perceived as such – that opens the doors to off-market deals and smoothes negotiations that might otherwise have got bogged down.
This cultural mastery, combined with a network built up over thirty years of active presence in the field, makes Servais Micolot a singular interlocutor on the Swiss M&A market: able to source where others don’t look, to understand where others translate, and to engage where others observe.
His skills
- Acquisitions, mergers & transfers
- Business development
- Corporate management
- Sales
Profile
- Nationality: Swiss
- Languages: French, German, Swiss-German, English and Italian
- Active networks: Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy and USA
- Member of the Swiss Chamber of Business Transition Experts
