Work
Clients & methods
My mission is to educate and inspire entrepreneurs, executives, and investors to create categories — the ultimate growth strategy.
What makes me different
A different kind of partner
I focus on building thought leadership over building a firm. No one has written more about Category Creation in the Harvard Business Review than I have.
I am selective and particular, choosing clients who are Category Creators, such as Keurig, iRobot, and InBrace.
You receive only Senior Partner time and attention. I personally accept and personally work on 1-2 projects at a time; there is no bait and switch.
I build bespoke consumer fact bases. In order to create a unique point of view, I craft, append, and bridge atypical data sets.
What I do
Day to day
- I started my career helping the Fortune 500 solve growth problems.
- I now help VC/PE-backed, high growth companies create and design new categories.
- I author books and articles, give speeches, appear on TV, speak on podcasts, and conduct research about superconsumers and category creation.
- I co-founded Category Pirates, a Top 5 Substack newsletter. As one of my co-founders likes to call it, "It's like Harvard Business Review, but for pirates."
- In total, I have helped companies realize $10 billion in annual, incremental revenue, and even more in market capitalization.
How I partner
Questions worth answering
- “How "high" is high for my new category?”
- “Who is the most valuable consumer who can see the future?”
- “How can I simplify and accelerate my growth?”
- “What kind of offer, business model innovation, and M&A can amplify my valuation?”
- “How do I tell investors my story to receive the full multiple we are worth?”
My methods
The toolkit
- Category Creation & Design
- Superconsumer & Super Geo Growth Strategy
- Size the Prize / TAM Fact-Base
- Product, Business Model & Flywheel Innovation
- Investor Narrative & IPO Support
- Think Like a Pirate
Selected clients
Category queens and category creators
Helping category queens create new categories. Helping Fortune 500 market leaders grow.
- Nike
- AB InBev
- Gillette
- Colgate-Palmolive
- Nestlé
- Kraft
- Tyson Foods
- Samsung
- Safeway
- Smithfield Foods
- Brink's
- Keurig
- iRobot
- InBrace
- Royal Canin
- Generac
- American Girl
- HydraFacial
- Eargo
- Coravin
- Malibu Mylk
- ixcela
- Crown Media
- Philippine Airlines