How to scale your brand without ads — “We don’t advertise” is a common refrain I see in founder stories. It’s usually a way to communicate product quality. Our product is so good we didn’t have to advertise. Ads are expensive. So not advertising is an attractive business strategy. But just because you don’t advertise, doesn’t mean you…

One spends significantly more on marketing. — Last year I conducted an analysis comparing brands that distribute via DTC (direct, ecomm brands) and brands that distribute via retail. Contrary to recent news, both models can be profitable. But the business models are slightly different. As a heads up, the data is now a year and a half…

How Slack could replace the MBA — The value of an MBA (Masters in Business) degree is constantly under question. And for good reason. 2 years of classes (and up to $200K+) is a big investment. Entrepreneurs have come out with cheaper innovations. There’s Mark Ritson’s 10 week mini MBA program. Seth Godin’s month-long alternative MBA. Even…

On AI. And writing. — If you were to ask me about music 10 years ago, you’d see I was quite in the know. Okay, I didn’t know that much, but I had opinions. I could tell you about a few up-and-coming artists and offer some new song recommendations. Now? I have no idea. …

How to align product and brand strategy to create a profitable fashion business — Bandage dress brand Hervé Léger was a 2000s staple. Their bandage cocktail dresses and skirts hugged women into the classic ‘going out look’ years before Kim K’s body-contouring SKIMS entered the scene. And then… Hervé Léger dresses disappeared. The brand (and parent BCBG) went bankrupt in 2017. At a podcast…

What’s better than raising prices to meet demand? — Taylor Swift priced her Eras tour tickets with average face value of $253.56. But due to higher demand than available supply, the average resale ticket went for $3,801. In-demand restaurants are following a similar trend: platforms like ResX and Cita offer marketplaces where you can buy and sell a restaurant…

How Peloton can (finally?) return to growth — Peloton announced quarterly earnings last week and once again came up short of investor expectations. Revenue slightly beat expectations, but so did losses, with the miss blamed on a struggle to convert free-trial subscribers into paying users. How can the company speed up its turnaround? Step 1 — Analyzing Peloton’s business I do like a lot…

How to live (and lead) like Cory Ellison — Apple’s The Morning Show features a number of strong personalities — the narcissistic but captivating Alex Levy (played by Jennifer Aniston), the Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos not-so-caricaturesque caricature Paul Marks (played by Jon Hamm), and my favorite — network CEO Cory Ellison, masterfully brought to life by Billy Crudup. Cory has…

The playbook for turning a product into a luxury good — High end coat brands Moncler and Canada Goose have a lot in common. Both were founded in the 1950s (Moncler in 1952 and Canada Goose in 1957), and both expanded with the help of private equity in the 2000s. …