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
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
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
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
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
“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)
Building a fast-growing brand requires minimal variation in the core offering as you grow your brand block. The less variation on major variables (e.g. category, format, etc.) the more easily the trademark symbol becomes known for something very, very coherent and tight. The more productive marketing
Kara Goldin loves to recount her tale of being laughed at and mocked by ex-Pepsi executives when she discussed selling non-carbonated flavored water. "That'll never work. No one will ever make it for you. Not scalable." These were the knee-jerk operational objections she heard from a mansplaining
One of the worst problems caused by annual trade show appearances is that young, insecure brands in formation get assaulted with all manner of ‘trends.’ The new ‘trend’ threatens to distract you and your team with noise from the sidelines of your particular battle for growth.
Go deeper than my book and learn how to build your own 1-page strategic plan for exponential growth. There are less than ten spots available for the January cohort training on January 10. So, you may want to grab one now. My book does not coach you