Finance
"I have a map of the United States ... actual size. It says, Scale: 1 mile = 1 mile. I spent last summer folding it. I also have a full-size map of the world. I hardly ever unroll it." -- Stephen Wright (comedian) Much as we build maps as models
Boards
While I could write the equivalent of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover when it comes to variations on how to get fired as CEO, the purpose of this post is simply to discuss three things CEOs can say to their boards that will perk their ears and get them
CAC
I've written about this topic a lot over the years, but never before integrated my ideas into a single high-level piece that not only provides a solution to the problem, but also derives it from first principles. That's what I'll do today. If you&
Competition
Does your competitive analyst introduce themselves like this? If so, you’ve got a problem. Not only because his younger brother Big is a controversial employee over in DOGE but, more importantly, because old Harvey is not defining his job correctly. Many competitive analysts effectively define their job as product
Boards
Let's say you're a CEO leading your startup's migration from mid-market to enterprise. To do that, you've hopefully already done the following: * Analyzed existing success in enterprise accounts. (Most people don't start purely from scratch, but instead have picked up
Boards
I remember how silly the board looked that day. Reviewing the slide with performance by salesrep, an alpha board member impatiently shouted the seemingly obvious conclusion: "Look, only one rep -- Joe Schmedley -- is performing. Everyone else is struggling. The solution to our problem is quite simple: we
Demandgen
My marketing professor once said, The answer to every marketing question is, "It depends." Thus, the important part is knowing on what. So, how do you calculate the cost/opportunity? Well, it depends! On what? On the specific question you're trying to answer. When people ask
AI
This is a quick post to announce my latest appearance on Dan Turchin's AI and The Future of Work podcast. Dan, the founder/CEO of PeopleReign, has been doing AI since long before it was cool and, to give you an idea of how long he's
Demandgen
Why is it that when we want to add an account executive (AE) to the plan, we always think about some ratios but not others? For example, most people think: Boom! Then we're going to need: * 2/3rds of an sales consultant (SC) * 1/3rd of a sales
Marketing
Years ago, I was in a board meeting and a VC dropped the expression: "you can't eat IRR." I'd never heard it before. It sounded catchy. But, honestly, I didn't know what it meant. At first, I thought it was VC-ism. But
Boards
So, you're on the executive staff of a startup and you've been asked to present at an upcoming board meeting. That's great news. Board exposure is a key benefit of working on the e-staff. You’re getting the chance to build relationships with the
Branding
I’m late with this year’s predictions post because I’ve discovered that writing while recovering from knee surgery, zonked on painkillers, is a surprisingly difficult endeavor. Onward, through the fog. And apologies for the delay. I’m always humbled by the act of making predictions. A few months