The PGS Blog

Pivoting For Growth Versus Pivoting for Gross Profitability

This is a crucial prioritization to set BEFORE you plan a major pivot to your product mix in a vulnerable, early-stage consumer brand.  When brands sprawl across non-adjacent categories, it is common for one of them to offer a higher product margin than the others. Every

Don’t Be Afraid to Pivot – Get Control of the Math

The number one reason founders are terrified of pivoting is an often unjustified terror that the business will somehow implode as they do it. But, pivoting a CPG business the right way is not like screwing up a quarter pipe pivot at the top. There

Pricing From the Shelf Back – The Key to Pricing Strategy

Today, a  sneak peek from the Updated edition of Ramping Your Brand. Have you ever wondered how you make so little per case despite the much higher SRP at the retailer’s shelf?  The cruel reality is that not only do brands get paid last (outside of DTC),

The Math Behind Pivoting Well

Pivoting has and will continue to be about selecting 3-6 hero UPCs amidst your current mix and pivoting the strategy for growth to those UPCs. The investments will all head toward supporting these hero UPCs. A managed removal of the others becomes something you can

Your Recession Playbook

There is a significant likelihood of a Trump administration triggering a recession with a protectionist trade policy and mass removal/detention of illegal immigrants crucial as a proportion of the total workforce to agricultural operations, construction trades, and the home-building industry. Lack of labor would cause

Price Relaxation Case Study – RAOs

I talk about this slippery concept in Ramping Your Brand. What price relaxation is not is slashing your case cost to the distributor and hoping the retailer lowers their price. It’s not about direct unit price lowering.  It’s about something more subtle, something that actually unlocks

Why Artisan Pricing (Never) Scales

Unless you can unleash a media/entertainment machine like Dr. Squatch Soap, then you can not launch with artisan pricing and keep it for very long. Or you simply will not scale.  Have a listen to why this is… CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO Episode 134 

Valuations that Work for Founders and Investors – Part 2

Conversely, founders often try to go to the other extreme. Hey, Mark Cuban, give me $500,000 for 5% equity. Give it! This is a pre-money valuation of $9,500,000. For a typical Shark Tank business selling less than $1 million, this is a crazy 10x of

Valuations that Work for Founders and Investors – Part 1

Valuation. Like I have, anyone who has ever watched Shark Tank repeatedly knows what a 'shark' deal looks like. 25-40% equity for $100-300K. The founders get $150,000 for 30% equity on a classic Shark Tank deal. That is a pre-money valuation of only $350,000 on

Top Three Traits of Killer Founders

“James provides insightful guidance to those who are working hard to start and scale their businesses.” The following is a brief excerpt from Episode 100 of Startup Confidential! I didn’t think I’d make it to this milestone, honestly, at twice per month. Thanks for listening in. "1)