Inside the Proposal Deadline – Life at a Grant Consultancy
An in-person recording with Søren Houmøller, Maria Battistel and Tereza Marie-Jo Berk from 1st Mile
Check out the episode website with links, photos from the session etc.
What does a grant consultancy actually look like when several proposal deadlines are approaching at once?
For episode #243, I visit 1st Mile at DTU during a busy proposal period. Together with founder Søren Houmøller and team members Maria Battistel and Tereza Marie-Jo Berk, I look behind the scenes at how a small consultancy organises several applications in parallel: who manages the proposal, who writes what, how budgets and work plans are handled, how people move between teams, and what happens when something goes wrong close to submission.
But this episode is just as much about people as proposals. We talk about the relationships with clients, why team fit matters, how 1st Mile tries to create enough redundancy for colleagues to step in when needed, and why being able to say “no” early can be healthier than promising something you cannot deliver. Finally, Søren explains how he thinks about leadership, recovery after deadlines and building a workplace where intense periods do not become the permanent norm.
Time codes:
00:00 Arrival & Introduction
04:40 What's on the Table?
13:31 Building Proposals as a Team
33:32 When the Deadline Takes Over
52:20 Managing the People Behind the Proposals
01:03:24 After the Deadline
01:12:03 Goodbye
