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Perspectives

Thoughts, ideas, and perspectives.

Rediscovering your core customer in a turnaround

Why companies in turnaround must refocus on their core customer instead of chasing incremental audiences, with examples from Apple's 1997 revival, Starbucks' Back to Starbucks plan, Nike's sport-first restructuring, and Zulily's refocus on Mom.

Staffing decisions in a turnaround

Why turnaround leaders must make hard staffing calls quickly, backed by Netflix's talent density framework, research on how one underperformer drags down team performance by 30-40%, and Nike's ongoing restructuring under Elliott Hill.

Marketing leadership in a turnaround

What most companies get wrong when marketing needs to be fixed, not just optimized.

Marketing payback interval

Why shorter marketing payback intervals accelerate startup growth, with a worked example comparing reinvestment cycles across channels with different return profiles.

Simpson's Paradox

What Simpson's Paradox is and how it can mislead business decisions when segment mix differences hide the true performance of marketing tests.

Marketing mix shift

How to diagnose marketing mix shift when a key metric changes unexpectedly, with a step-by-step decomposition of intra-channel, mix, and interaction effects.

Marketing profitability on the margin

How to evaluate whether increasing marketing spend is profitable by calculating marginal cost per acquired order versus marginal product margin.

Outsourced management of startup stock option plans

A concept for outsourced management of startup employee stock option plans, addressing the tension between employee protection, founder focus, and equity dilution.

Customer acquisition cost

How to calculate customer acquisition cost (CAC), why it matters for paid marketing, and how to analyze it across channels to optimize growth and fundraising.

Weekly reads, week of July 18 2016

Curated weekly reading list covering A/B testing culture, Pokémon Go mechanics, Dollar Shave Club disruption, and mobile design trends from the week of July 18, 2016.

Weekly reads, week of June 13 2016

Curated weekly reading list covering product prioritization, Amazon Echo, Facebook AI, Spotify economics, and bot-to-bot APIs from the week of June 13, 2016.

Anonymous content platform

A concept for an anonymous content platform combining Tor-based submission with Ethereum-based smart contracts for anonymous publishing and payment.

Weekly reads, week of May 23 2016

Curated weekly reading list covering Ethereum, Google strategy, SaaS valuations, wealth inequality, and the role of luck in success from the week of May 23, 2016.

Weekly reads, week of May 16 2016

Curated weekly reading list covering product management, data science, push notifications, and sumo analytics from the week of May 16, 2016.

Crowdsuing platform

A concept for a crowdsuing platform that lowers barriers to class action lawsuits through better plaintiff coordination and competitive legal representation.

Employee ESO Insurance

Exploring whether startup employees could purchase insurance to protect the value of vested stock options against dilution from fundraising and preference stacking.

Weekly reads, week of January 25 2016

Curated weekly reading list covering media strategy, publishing innovation, startup failures, and technology shifts from the week of January 25, 2016.

Weekly reads, week of January 18 2016

Curated weekly reading list covering startup strategy, management decision-making, and growth frameworks from the week of January 18, 2016.

Weekly reads, week of January 11 2016

Curated weekly reading list covering product management, growth strategy, startup culture, and technology trends from the week of January 11, 2016.