Mapping Distrust
Your success depends on trust. And we are in a post-trust society. The post-trust society snuck up on us slowly and is now urgently here. Wherever the business of trust is in play, pivots will be required.
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The Good List 2024
FWD 114: Things I loved in the year that was
One of the things you loved--most viewed, most commented, most shared, etc.--was the series of posts over the last six weeks framing the fundamental change in the marketing/media landscape, where we are and what happens next. One friend
2025: Love is for the ones who love the work
Leading in 2025 will be the product of passion, of vulnerability, of joy. It will belong to those who still believe in something worth making. Growth is a required feature of 2025. This is where we think you'll find it.
Weaponized nostalgia: Four things I finally learned in 2024
The fundamental culture that produces reliable business growth has dramatically changed. And it means we've got to learn lessons we've been avoiding for years. These were my hard lessons in 2024.
Better boats in a bigger storm -OR- what 2024 taught us about trust
The fantasy that you could just podcast-SEO-blog-social media your way to a community of happy customers has ended. But the storm is just beginning.
🧐 You can have whatever internet you want, just not that one
The internet's platforms are either fading into the background, only to be used for AI fodder or being designed to create echo chambers.
Your future customers are cozy in their custom digital spaces, designed to keep you, your podcast, social media posts, and ads out. So time for a Plan B.
The apocalypse collapse
You have permission to stop doing it the way it's been done. To stop selling with all of the bad habits of the last decade. You can invite your prospects back into their aspirations, their best beliefs about themselves, and all the possibilities that make them Americans.
Postponing your potential.
Leaders under-index the impact of their own decisions while over-indexing the impact of national or global headlines. So while your category is on its heels (trust us, it is), it's time to get aggressive.
Zuck's perfect fit, Ursula steals voices, and The Obvious Answers Factory™️™️™️
I briefly considered joining the ranks of firms that collect fees for not thinking about you at all. And that was something I couldn't do.
Why not theft?, "very demure," and the glorious rise of the midmarket
FWD 106: this week we hit all the accelerants out of summer, the power of slang, and why midmarkets and humility are back in fashion
The times they are a-changin'
Olympics fever changes the national mood (and the strategy for brands) and why you must only lead what you love
The questions RIAs are asking about marketing this year
The industry is at an inflection point where nearly all growth efforts are about to be subsumed in the attention-consuming fire of M&A. The only way for firms to control their own destiny is to control their growth strategy, and to do that, you've got to ask better questions.
A market crash tells us who we are (and other uncomfortable truths...)
The economy is in the Find Out stage of the classic F*** Around and Find Out narrative generated by Silicon Valley. But you don't have to participate.
Who wants this to fail?
Growth is change. And everyone of us has reasons to fight change. The magic of growing your venture is knowing in advance where the fight is, and how to care for people through the process.