Idein was born in a vacuum: the creative void in which most of Corporate America operates.

Founders Phil Roberts and Kevin Kuester, recognizing that vested interests, inertia, and the tyranny of consensus choke innovation, founded Idein to offer a lifeline to clients who have grown tired of mediocre performance-who believe the word "incremental" should never be paired with "progress."

Over the course of their fifteen-year collaboration, Roberts and Kuester have created a series of hit restaurant experiences as distinct from one another as from their competition:

Buca di Beppo, immigrant southern Italian restaurants - a Nation's Restaurant News "Hot Concepts" winner.

Manny's Steakhouse, a Twin Cities institution and one of the Zagat guide's top-scoring restaurants nationwide.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room, a swank '30s-era seafood supper club in Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas, Indianapolis, Atlanta, San Diego and Washington, DC.

Chino Latino restaurant and bar, serving "Street Food From the Hot Zones" in a setting as hot as the equatorial cuisines it showcases.

Individually, Roberts and Kuester have worked with a wide range of clients, including Universal Studios, Target, Herman Miller, Nissan, Steinway and Sons, The French Government Tourist Office, and Federal Express.

By creating ideas that spread like contagion and cut through the clutter, that aren't just seen or read, but felt and experienced, Idein helps clients encourage buyers to purchase goods and services for fundamentally new and different reasons.

We are a quiet firm. We operate discreetly, confidentially, and professionally, and we pride ourselves in providing extraordinary consulting in often highly sensitive, challenging and/or fast-growth situations.

Idein undertakes a limited number of confidential initiatives at a time, participating in an equity position in new ventures as appropriate. Preferred clients include businesses in the Experience Economy, and those who have the desire to stage the unexpected.