Damns Given: Nick Richtsmeier

Jun 24

Don't Click Me

Lead-chasing through the old internet click maze is the greatest negative transfer of value from mid-market businesses to Silicon Valley ever conceived. It is a virus keeping businesses in the thralls of a long-lost fantasy. And you don't have to do it anymore.

Jun 24, 2024

6 min read

May 30

How everything gets better

Changing our minds is an essential feature of commerce. If people can't retain the agency, then only very powerful actors with very deep pockets get to decide for everyone else. The good news? The future outlook on getting our minds back looks pretty good.

May 30, 2024

6 min read

May 24

So what do you do now?

As the Open Web closes, an era of trust shortcuts and workarounds closes with it. And now you must begin on a new era of Trust-Made Growth™️ in a post-trust world. Here are seven jumpstarts. You can't and shouldn't do them all. But you can do one. Let's dive in.

May 24, 2024

5 min read

May 17

The Web-ending whimper

Doing business on the Internet used to be fun… and profitable. But in the last six months, the Internet's four foundational promises have been permanently broken. Now, ventures like yours have to pivot to a very different future.

May 17, 2024

14 min read

May 09

Chaos is a ladder.

In this week's FWD, we look at "Who benefits from the chaos?" We live in a time when chaos is a primary tool in driving ventures forward. How do you benefit when the swirling chips of the game are constantly leveraged against ventures like yours?

May 9, 2024

6 min read

May 02

Segment... or die.

There is no growth plan for consultative ventures without properly built segmentation. You can't create content that matters. You can't show differentiated value to new prospects. You can't provide legendary service. And, in all likelihood, you're on the path to obscurity.

May 2, 2024

7 min read

Apr 16

How to trust Gen Z and selling through a storm

In the internet era, little care is shown to putting your brand in the wrong place. In this week's FWD, brands are willing to throw billions of dollars at platforms that users themselves wish didn't exist, and the most popular growth engine in finance tends to produce the most unhappy clients.

Apr 16, 2024

6 min read

Apr 10

Wealth managers: Segment... or die.

There is no growth plan for wealth managers without properly built segmentation. You can't create content that matters. You can't show differentiated value to new prospects. You can't provide legendary service. And, in all likelihood, you're on the path to obscurity.

Apr 10, 2024

7 min read

Apr 09

Too early to celebrate?

The AI Sludge running down the mountain is immense, and sure to overwhelm the current web's already-feebled ability to act in trust. And yet, there are signposts of a new internet rising and with it new generations who are on to the game being played.

Apr 9, 2024

5 min read

Apr 02

Hidden growth killers

Growth killers hide in plain sight. They are often treated as cultural quirks. And in many cases when I’ve challenged about them, the leaders treat them as isolated problems or communication breakdowns, not systemic issues. Willful blindness feels good, but it doesn’t make growth.

Apr 2, 2024

6 min read

Mar 26

Do Not Recommend

We've let the internet decide how we decide on nearly everything for two decades now. It's not working for consumers, and it's not working for your business. Here's what happens next.

Mar 26, 2024

6 min read

Mar 25

Organic growth fails on purpose

There are only two business plans left for growing RIAs: Build to Sell or Build to Buy. And for all the firms not doing either, they are counting on running out a clock that is moving faster than even the most cash-sheltered RIAs can imagine.

Mar 25, 2024

7 min read