Microblog
Strategy, design, AI, and the things I can't stop thinking about.
Humanity has been running one play for 12,000 years. Build technology. Get more productive. Repeat. From the Fertile…
PhilosophyWhat four words changed for meI spent years helping other companies find their four words. It took me longer to find my own. The search I was a "brand…
Micro-monopolyThe agent ecosystemOne AI agent doing strategy is interesting. Six agents doing strategy together is something else entirely. The system I…
AIBending the competitive structureMost companies try to win the game as it exists. Better product. Better marketing. Better execution. They accept the…
Micro-monopolyBuilding this siteI built this site the way I build strategy. Simple. Clear. Opinionated. Nothing here that doesn't earn its place. The…
DesignThe call when you're stuckI've become the person people call when they're stuck. Founders. CMOs. Strategy directors. When they can't see the path…
First principlesNot too different"Be different" is half the advice. The other half nobody talks about: don't be too different. The spectrum On one end…
Micro-monopolyConsumer insights at machine speedThe research phase of brand strategy used to take months. Category analysis. Consumer interviews. Competitive audits…
AIStartups and billionsI've worked with startups that had nothing and global companies with billions. The surprising truth: the problem is…
PhilosophyTalking to 50 strangersI've done hundreds of qualitative interviews. Consumers, executives, front-line employees, industry experts. Here's the…
ResearchMicro-monopoly vs. positioningPositioning and micro-monopoly are not the same thing. Most strategists treat them like they are. That's the mistake…
Micro-monopolyThe one-slide strategyIf your strategy needs 40 slides to explain, it's not a strategy. It's a document. Documents get filed. Strategies get…
DesignWhen AI gets strategy wrongI've let AI systems generate brand strategy. On purpose. To see where they break. They break in revealing ways. Failure…
AIColorado and deep problemsI live in Colorado. Not New York. Not San Francisco. Not London. Colorado. People ask why. The answer is in the work…
First principlesWhen companies get lostI've seen it dozens of times. A company that was once clear becomes confused. Growth stalls. Teams fight over direction…
Micro-monopolyThe problem with "innovation"Every company says they want innovation. Bold thinking. Breakthrough ideas. Disruption. They put it on slides. They fund…
PhilosophyThe survey instrumentMost brand surveys measure what people say. I design surveys that reveal what people think. There's a gap between the…
ResearchThe category structure problemAI can map a competitive landscape in minutes. Every player, their positioning, the white space, the overlaps. It's…
AIThe upstream problemMicro-monopoly sits upstream of everything. Brand. Marketing. Product. Sales. Culture. All of it flows from one decision…
Micro-monopolyTypography as strategy signalI obsess over typography in strategy presentations. Not because I'm a designer. Because type is a signal. What type…
DesignSmall, clear stepsBig strategic problems are paralyzing. Everything connects to everything. Pull one thread and three more unravel. Nobody…
First principlesCaring too much about the work"He cares too much about the work." People say it about me. They mean it as a gentle warning. I take it as confirmation…
PhilosophyStrategy is real estateThink of strategy like real estate. Micro-monopoly is the location. Brand is the structure you build on it. Location…
Micro-monopolySynthetic survey researchTraditional brand perception research takes weeks. Design the survey. Recruit respondents. Clean the data. Analyze…
AIInsight vs. observationMost things called "consumer insights" aren't insights. They're observations. There's a difference, and it matters for…
ResearchEmotionally intelligent vehiclesSony Honda Mobility isn't building cars. They're building emotionally intelligent vehicles. The bet The auto industry…
Field noteThe protein bar problemEvery protein bar says the same thing. Clean ingredients. Great taste. High protein. It's a category of clones. The…
Field noteDeodorant, but make it strategyPit Liquor makes deodorant from alcohol. Whiskey-based. Natural. Actually works. But when they came to me, they were…
Field noteThe tequila that wasn't about tequilaThe tequila was good. That was the problem. "Good tequila" is a crowded field. Every brand claims smooth, premium…
Field noteArtistic entertainmentThe pandemic nearly killed Cirque du Soleil. A live-entertainment company that couldn't do live entertainment…
Field noteItalian sport coutureFILA was stuck. A $2 billion sportswear brand competing on price against Nike, Adidas, and everyone else. They were…
Field noteStrategy looks like designThe best strategy decks I've made look like design work. Clean typography. Intentional hierarchy. White space that lets…
DesignThe whiteboard ruleEvery problem I've ever solved started the same way. An empty whiteboard. A marker. One question. "What game are we…
First principlesThe four-word testHere's my test. Tell me your strategy in four words. Not a tagline. Not a mission statement. The strategic essence. Why…
Micro-monopolyBrand strategy agentsI'm building AI agents that do brand strategy. Not chatbots. Not prompt templates. Multi-agent systems where each agent…
AIWhy strategy is lonelyThe person who sees the strategic path usually sees it alone first. That's the nature of the work. If everyone could see…
Philosophy"Better" is a trapMost companies default to "better." Better product. Better service. Better price. It feels safe. It's not. The problem…
Micro-monopoly