Published in Better Marketing·Jan 4The Brilliance of Verizon’s Iconic Marketing Campaign“Can you hear me now?” — why it worked so well — The cell phone industry is notorious for being one of the most competitive in the marketing world. And for good reason — with a combined market cap of over $300 billion dollars, a single percentage increase in market share can mean billions of dollars in value for the company. But…Marketing5 min read
Published in The Startup·Nov 2, 2020This Mindset Shift Will Make Your Customers Fall in Love With YouAnd boost your ROI at the same time. — In every one of his adventures, Indiana Jones travels to a foreign land to uncover an ancient artifact. Without fail, he runs into opposing forces along the way who are also searching for that same thing but with a far more nefarious use in mind. During one of his adventures…Marketing8 min read
Published in The Startup·Oct 27, 2020How to Spot Opportunities in a CrisisAnd cash-in on emerging, existing, and pivoting businesses — Finding Opportunities In A Crisis We are in the middle of a historic crisis. It’s undeniable. With the outbreak of a global pandemic, all-time-high unemployment numbers, and our economy essentially going into a medically-induced coma, the period of crisis has officially arrived. But I’m not here to preach doom and gloom. There’s plenty of that…Business5 min read
Published in The Startup·Oct 7, 2020What Marketers Can Learn About Storytelling From the Movie IndustryUsing the power of the individual — Hollywood has developed a technique for effectively telling stories that hold our attention. The way movies suck you in isn’t a fluke or an accident — they’re engineered that way. And more importantly, this technique can be transferred to marketing and make your message more engaging and powerful. That’s what…Business4 min read
Published in Entrepreneur's Handbook·Aug 6, 2020How Jan Koum Built a $20 Billion Business in 5 YearsThe billion-dollar story of WhatsApp — Jan Koum and Brian Acton co-founded the insanely popular texting app, WhatsApp, which was acquired by Facebook for a whopping $21.8 billion. The funny thing is, they were both rejected when applying to work at Facebook only a year before building WhatsApp. …Startup10 min read
Published in The Startup·Jul 14, 2020How WeWork Plans To Be Profitable in 2021Finally, some fiscal responsibility — The Rise and Fall of a Star By now we’re all pretty familiar with WeWork’s infamous fall from near-IPO stardom. But for context, let’s recap real quick: WeWork raises money. A LOT of money. Then more. Then SoftBank comes in with even more. And more (SoftBank’s investments in WeWork total $10 billion). WeWork eventually reaches a potential…Startup6 min read
Published in The Startup·Jun 20, 2020How These Co-Founders Sold Their Startup for $30 Million in 4 MonthsAnd they hadn’t even launched yet — Fate brought them together. Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll met while working for the travel site, Jetsetter (which was later acquired by TripAdvisor). During their time at Jetsetter, the trio conceived of the idea for an app. They were sure it would go viral. Their idea became Vine…Marketing7 min read
Published in The Startup·Jun 17, 2020Peloton’s Masterclass in Brand-BuildingRecord sales and Peloton just cut marketing to zero — relying on a strong brand to drive word-of-mouth sales — Record Sales During a Crisis The battle for profitability is nothing new for Peloton; the company has been engaging in this uphill exercise since long before its IPO last September. With pivot after pivot, they’ve tried countless angles to achieve the coveted milestone. …Startup5 min read
Published in The Startup·Jun 12, 2020How to Craft an Effective VC Pitch Deck With Only 10 SlidesSecrets revealed from Guy Kawasaki’s “The Art of the Start 2.0” — What is the Purpose of a Pitch? To generate interest in your startup. It’s not to explain every aspect of your product. It’s not to beat your audience over the head with information until they submit and write you a check. Your objective is simply to stimulate enough interest in your company to land a second meeting. …Startup6 min read
Published in Better Marketing·May 1, 2020The Greatest Marketing Lesson Steve Jobs Ever TaughtWhy convenience is the ultimate marketing strategy — Steve Jobs: Icon, Legend, Disruptor Steve Jobs was the backbone of Apple. Without him, Apple would never have even existed, much less reached the heights it has. And in October 2011, we lost not only an iconic, visionary founder but an inspirational human being who changed the way billions of people do things every day. …Marketing4 min read
