Work
Someone, not everyone
The biggest mistake most entrepreneurs make is to be too broad in who they’re building it for. And that’s natural. Having more people who could buy your products feels safer, needing your nonprofit or reading your book. It’s almost like there’s that proverbial list in the
Start / Stop / Continue
Early in my career, when working in business development at WONGDOODY, we'd do a post-mortem after every pitch. Both the ones we won and the ones we lost. The process we followed was straightforward but worked great. It's called Start/Stop/ Continue. When you analyze what happened and how you
AI
I'm excited about the advent and recent progress on the AI front. Unfortunately, I am not smart enough to fully understand and recognize any potential catastrophic downsides of AI. What excites me is simply the fact that there will be more and more tasks that I don't have to worry
Hard Now > Hard Later
Assuming you're not a trust fund baby gifted with incredible genes, things are going to get hard at some point in life. You might struggle to pay the bills. Or you're dealing with some health issues brought on by a series of compounding unhealthy life choices. Or a relationship with
Do Then Know > Know Then Do
I have been teaching at the university level for the last couple of decades, first at the Academy of Art University and then at my alma mater, the University of Montana. At the same time, I've been both a marketing practitioner and entrepreneur. When I first started teaching, I'd follow
When Starting Your Career, Optimize For a Variety of Experiences. Here’s Why and How.
For the first ten years of my career, I spent my days working on dozens of large brands in ad agencies and my nights trying to launch side project businesses. My agency work exposed me to bigger-picture business strategy thinking across various industries and some of the most brilliant and
The Three Skills You Need to Supercharge Your Career Growth
Early in your career, your focus should be on honing your craft. Do the work. Learn about the work. Put in the extra hours. Start a side project that gives you even more at-bats. Your goal needs to put yourself on a track to be great at what you do.
How to win at life by taking a portfolio approach to everything you do.
I studied finance in college and even worked for American Express Financial Services. I loved some of the principles that drove half of our decision-making. I hated the greed that drove the other half. So ultimately, I ended up in marketing. One of the principles that stuck with me was
Focus on those leaning in
I have done marketing for twenty years now. Without exception, I can tell you that the best people to market to are the ones already "leaning in" looking for a solution to their problem. Yet somehow, too many marketers and brands decide to go after everyone and their mother-in-law regarding
How To Create Win-Win Situations
Business can be complicated. Ditto for marketing. Relationships, same. Whenever others are involved, you're going to encounter challenges and compromises. Welcome to being human. There are two ways to approach those situations. You can look to come out ahead (mostly a zero-sum game), or you can try to create a