The fatal flaw in most businesses – and probably yours too
This one might sting a little, but it needs to be said: You started your business for the wrong reason. So did I. So did most people in fact. And it’s this misguided ambition that lies at the root of most business failure, sooner or later. It’s a bitter pill when you realise it. It’s […]
The first thing you should do: the art of picking your category
I’ve now been doing sessions in The Strategy Shortcut System for 2 weeks, and it’s cool because it’s given me a new perspective. The “mass” nature of the product has shown more clearly where the most common strategic missteps lie for most founders – and, as expected, they are in the places you least expect. […]
You can take down the big guys – here’s how
Every big brand out there is afraid of you. More so than you would think. Even the biggest, most powerful, most seemingly unassailable titans are vulnerable. Google, Apple, Meta – they all can be beaten. Because they all afflicted with the same fatal flaw: The growth trap. The growth trap is why even the best […]
I think Liquid Death is the most significant case study of our generation – here’s why.
Most of the stuff I write is classical strategy schtick in a different outfit. At the end of the day supply and demand is what it is, and there are only so many ways you can make a business work. But there are a couple of exceptions… There are a couple of places where I […]
Three ways strategy needs to change.
Last week, I shared my breakthrough. I realised there are these dynamite principles every founder should know… but they’ve been locked away—hidden in academia and billion-dollar consulting firms. These are the principles of business strategy. The ones almost every business breaks because they don’t know any better. My goal? Change that. I want to: Show […]
How I Went from Getting Fired by Big Corporations to Charging Them $20,000 an Hour
When you think “high paid strategy expert”, my story is not what comes to mind. I have no qualifications I have no MBA I have no PHD I didn’t go to a fancy school I didn’t do a relevant degree I never worked for slick consulting firm Technically I did work for two glamorous blue-chip […]
Recognise this? Signs you have a serious strategy problem
Imagine if you could solve 80% of your business problems in one hit. Well you can, if you get your strategy right. You see lack of strategy normally manifests in multiple downstream ways which founders are always stressing over, but which are often impossible to fix because their root is at a higher level. Sales […]
The differentiation trap: please stop making this mistake
The other week, I wrote about two of my favourite business words: “really” and “actually”. But now I want to rail against one of my most hated words: “Just”. As in, “isn’t this just…?”, or “aren’t you just talking about …?”. This is quite personal because I get this quite a lot when sharing strategy […]
The two most powerful words in business – use them constantly
Your language determines your thoughts. Your thoughts determine your actions. Your actions determine your results. So I guess in a sense those postmodernists were right about something – the way you use language matters. More than you think. Luckily however we don’t need to overthink it too drastically when it comes to business. In fact […]
Struggling with your messaging? It’s easier than you think…
In this newsletter, I’m going to show you the easy way to turn strategy into world class messaging. Not just messaging actually – but world class sales, marketing, and branding; because at the end of the day all of these things are simply messaging applied in different contexts. I appreciate this will sound like heresy […]