My Daily Emails

You know that distinctive “thunk” when you close a Mercedes door? It didn’t happen by accident. Teams of “psychoacoustics” engineers spent years (and millions of dollars) perfecting that sound. They

Half a million taste tests. Exhaustive market research. The world’s BIGGEST brand. A bulletproof strategy. And then, New Coke became an iconic case study in face-planting spectacularly. Here’s what makes

Shaking, slapping, banging, performing ritual dances… We used to try all kinds of things to get ketchup out of a glass bottle. For over 100 years, we westerners just accepted

Remember cassette players with “Made in Japan” stamped on them? Um, yeah, me neither. 😉 But to those who’ll readily admit they do, that label once meant something special. Interestingly,

Whether you make wearable tech, food products, or complex devices, December brings fresh eyes and untrained hands to your creation. These fresh new users are super valuable. They often: Think

Discord is becoming increasingly popular with business teams. Which is kinda weird, because Discord was built for gamers. Its creators wanted better ways to coordinate World of Warcraft raids. Now

The guy wasn’t even shy about it. “Amazon’s my rental service,” he told me. “Bought a 3D printer to make some prototype parts, used it for a week, then returned

A couple weeks ago I talked about Stanley’s iconic hammered green finish. That industrial heritage color launched a brand that’s evolved dramatically — kids now hunt for Stanley cups in

I want to make these emails more valuable to you. But I can only guess what you like unless you tell me. Do you prefer: Should I focus more on:

It happens fast. You’re scrolling TikTok and see someone demonstrating a product in their kitchen. No fancy lighting. No script. Just genuine excitement about how well something works. Suddenly you

A great product deserves great support. Yet too often, customer support is treated as a cost center — something to minimize, automate, outsource. The math seems simple: fewer human interactions

I enjoy social media, at least most of the time. Bluesky’s freshness and kindness have been a pleasant surprise. X and LinkedIn keep me connected to interesting minds and opportunities.

Product success stories are inescapable. They’re all over YouTube, LinkedIn and X, and marketers gobble them up. But the ones that didn’t make it? Those product stories can teach you

Strategy work isn’t always about maintaining professional distance. It’s possible to dive so deep, you find yourself on the other side of the world, pitching your client’s innovative food ingredient

AI makes me a better strategist by being a worse one. Let me explain. Every day, I use a variety of AI tools. They take on tasks I never loved,

The 1983 “Cabbage Patch Riots” sound almost mythical now. I’m old enough to remember it well. Parents literally wrestling in store aisles. Clerks getting trampled. Someone drove 1,000 miles to

Sometimes success creates its own problems. Tesla revolutionized the auto industry, pushing electric vehicles into the mainstream through bold innovation. But recent data suggests concerning patterns: The latest J.D. Power

My American friends really know how to layer tradition with commerce. In four days, they’ll combine family feasts with football and pilgrims. Then right at peak gratitude — boom —

Growth usually happens in steps. Until it leaps. I witnessed this firsthand working with an Asian food producer. The business leader had impressive credentials — co-founder of his province’s largest

I have a Stanley vacuum bottle that belonged to my father. Hammered green finish, probably as old as I am, still working perfectly. My grandfather had one too. Back then, these