I have the privilege of advising some of the brightest entrepreneurs out there in CPG today. Yet, intelligence alone (IQ) does not prevent a founder or her team from literally becoming blind to very likely, but negative interpretations of her brand’s KPIs. Again and again and
Those who follow me closely may have noticed that I practice virtually all the central tenets of my best-selling book in my professional services practice. My own business has been growing exponentially because I did the following: 1. Wrote and self-published a book - badly needed
I’m not a clinical psychologist; let’s be clear. That said, entrepreneurs do tend to skew strongly toward narcissistic behavior (in the latest research). This is a learned pattern of interpreting social life in a constant source of positive feedback. That’s how I see it as
Many have forgotten how Walmart, specifically, their Supercenter format provided mainstream CPG a single retail account that generated double-digit revenue growth for years in the 1990s and 2000s. It was a bargain with the Devil, though, because it compressed net margins for those brands by
The premium food/beverage/alcohol space grew at a pace last year not seen since 2006. Let that sink in a bit. And ever since 2006, the sector has been steadily decelerating, though still growing in both market share and absolute $ sales (and ahead of inflation). See the
You will most likely accumulate tons of negative feedback about your brand over the years unless you are the next SkinnyPop and found a gaping, ‘easy’ innovation hole in a sleepy category managed by the arrogant (at the time, at least). The key is finding the
For years, I’ve talked about having a 1-Page Strategic Plan, which contains your one-line competitive strategy and outlines the critical playbook you are testing to drive exponential growth for your business. I even gave away my template to another 20 folks last month at my quarterly Riding
Founders: before you hire your first marketing director, please read Allan Dib’s classic, no shiny objects allowed, book on marketing planning. Like me, he is an experimentalist. All successful pros are experimenting with their consumer communications. It’s effortless to waste money on campaigns. So be very
Did you miss it too? One of its late-stage investors was the slow absorption of BrightFarms - Cox Enterprises (yes, the cable company). Here’s the public story of BrightFarms, for those of you not tracking the cleantech/agritech cross-over. Paul Lightfoot and Ted Caplow founded Bright Farms in
Look, would you climb a 14,000-foot mountain without vetting your optimal route given current weather conditions or making sure you have the right supplies and physical training? Would you go on a 200-mile bike ride without planning your route, bringing spare tubes, and knowing how much food and water to