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Staging for Startup Success “Success is a process.” ― Alex Noble “If you put good people in bad systems (processes) you get bad results.” ― Steven Covey Most start-ups fail because they don’t get to product-market fit. Start-ups (and other early-stage ventures) that go through a gating process, whereby they invest more only after scaling…

Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard reminds me that no company has an excuse for substandard growth. Despite its size, Microsoft has managed to triple its revenue over the past 10 years, delivering between 9% and 10% average growth in key indicators such as revenue, net income, and free cash flow. Though mainly from…

Profitable advertising requires two things, higher Long-Term Value (LTV) and lower Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Achieving a ratio where LTV exceeds CAC by a factor of two signifies not just a profitable campaign but a scalable business. Below this level, your business will struggle. The competitive edge in SaaS isn’t just in the product but…

I happened to be in two conversations over the past week centred on making an investment in scaling a business. And they prompted me to share my experience in making scaling decisions. To successfully scale a business, at least five things need to be in place. A strong value proposition, product-market fit, a scalable market,…

Hiring remains the Achilles heal in strategy implementation and in scaling. Hiring slows down the growth of many high-growth companies, furthermore, compounding the problem, a large percentage of senior hires don’t work out. This is because many companies continue to have a dated hiring philosophy (as seen in their job specs and adverts) that focuses…

Years ago, I discovered “Communications of Ad Man” by Leo Burnett in the P&G office library. I took copious notes and have continued to learn from his work. Here’s what I absorbed from the master of emotional branding. 1. Focus on Human Emotions: “What helps people, helps business.” Burnett believed in tapping into universal human…