My Daily Emails

What Sherlock Holmes taught me about finding clues that reveal what customers really want My 11-year-old brought home the complete Sherlock Holmes collection. She’s been devouring novels almost since she

Why fear-based micro-management destroys more product launches than bad strategy It arrived at 5:47 AM on a Tuesday. A 12-paragraph email from a client’s team member, dissecting every social media

How one jewelry company turned a nervous purchase into an unforgettable brand moment I was terrified to spend big bucks on earrings I had never even seen. It was my

Why launching products feels like playing a rigged video game — and how to win anyway Life isn’t fair. But that’s nothing compared to launching a product in the digital

A Sunday salute to the dreamers, makers, and stubborn optimists who refuse to accept “good enough” This morning I’m thinking about the relentless optimism of product makers. You know the

The simple triage system that keeps product launches moving when chaos feels like the new normal Tuesday morning: Payment processor glitch affecting 15% of checkouts. Tuesday afternoon: Customer discovers product

How smart packaging design creates unboxing experiences that sell more products Nestlé has partnered with IBM to develop AI that designs better packaging materials. Not stuff like flashier graphics or

Why I avoid deleting nasty comments and celebrate the free engagement — BUT where I draw the line Last week, a troll showed up on a client’s YouTube video with

The cognitive bias that’s costing you sales — and how to break through it I’ve only walked out of a movie theater before the ending once in my entire life.

Why finding your price point feels like threading a needle blindfolded — and the surprising research that makes it easier Every product maker faces the same pricing paradox. Price too

How to find real customer pain points using tools you already have Last month, a client asked me to help identify why their competitors were gaining market share DESPITE having

How one simple button rewired human behavior and created trillion-dollar industries Sometimes the hugest breakthroughs start as the tiniest solutions. My friend Melina Palmer recently interviewed Bob Goodson, coauthor of LIKE:

The retail psychology trick that’s hijacking your customers’ brains (and how to use it ethically) I went to IKEA once for a simple lamp. Ninety minutes later, I emerged with

The behavioral data revolution that’s reshaping product strategy Three months ago, a SaaS founder emailed me, clearly in a panic. Her Net Promoter Score had never been higher — 73,

Innovators often ask me straight-up whether their groundbreaking product is likely to succeed. Here’s my answer: Go find 10 ideal buyers who aren’t friends or relatives. Try to sell them

The hidden math that makes rare problems inevitable (and expensive) Jason Cohen, founder of WP Engine, shared a brutal truth about scaling that most product makers discover too late. When

Reader Elena from Denver wrote me with a dilemma that plagues product teams everywhere: “Our team keeps getting pulled into feature requests from our loudest customers — usually the ones who

Why product launches are equal parts terror and triumph (and how to survive the roller coaster) Every product launch is a massive adventure where everything is on the line. Will

Why Dr. Squatch’s exit to Unilever reveals the hidden strategy behind sustainable product businesses An unusual soap company just sold to one of the world’s largest consumer goods corporations. Dr.

I was recently helping a client wrestle with a positioning dilemma that flags everything wrong with how most companies think about pricing. This particular product costs about half what competitors

A car wash in 2006 unknowingly revealed one of the most powerful psychological principles in customer retention. Researchers tested two loyalty punch card offers that were mathematically identical but psychologically

How Instagram proved that customer requests can be the worst product strategy I spent half an hour last week listening to a product manager defend their latest feature update. “But

Why 78% of your customers are lying to you (and you’re buying it) Last month, a client showed me their customer survey results with obvious excitement. “Look at this —

The missing link between great features and great revenue I just published one of my favorite podcast episodes ever. My guest is Heather Inocencio, a product strategist who’s driven some

Innovators and inventors are exceptionally optimistic by nature. They have to be. You can’t dream up world-changing products without believing impossible things can become inevitable. That relentless optimism fuels the

How the galaxy’s most beloved franchise just made QR codes — and Coke — more fun The Force is strong and sweet with this marketing campaign. Coca-Cola just launched an experience

A new Peloton-Fitbit partnership email landed in my inbox this morning, offering members $40 off a Fitbit Charge 6 for “real-time heart rate tracking, powered by Fitbit.” At first glance, it

Happy Fourth of July to all my American readers! As a Canadian experiencing your independence day from the sidelines, I’m reflecting on something I’ve observed working with American product makers

Years ago, I had a crash while cornering on my bike that left me with a fractured arm and some nasty road rash. The physical injuries healed within weeks, but

Last week I was giving a reader feedback about the website for his B2B startup. His company helps entrepreneurs navigate complex bureaucratic processes — the kind of paperwork nightmare that

My Pinterest rep reminded me last week about something that stuns many business leaders. “Most entrepreneurs still think Pinterest is all Gen X women getting inspiration for kitchen renovations,” she

Mattel announced something that sounds like sci-fi but is happening right now. The toy giant behind Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price is partnering with OpenAI to use artificial intelligence for designing new

Every time our family travels, I watch my wife perform “the ritual.” She spreads every piece of clothing across our bedroom floor like a tactical operation. Socks paired with underwear,

I remember when my youngest daughter discovered she could get her sister’s attention by saying “Don’t look” — immediately followed by whatever she wanted noticed. It worked every single time.

Ben & Jerry’s lost masses of customers when they stopped selling ice cream in occupied Palestinian territories. But they gained millions more. Most companies would freak out at even considering such

We’re in a new reality where purchasing decisions are political statements A client texted me yesterday: “Did you see the McDonald’s boycott news? Should we be worried about this kind

Cristian, A SaaS founder from Romania recently asked me something I’m hearing more and more often. “How do I choose the right marketing direction when there’s a plethora of conflicting

Here’s a brutal truth no big agency will ever say out loud: They don’t really sell outcomes. They activate bodies. Once you scale past a certain size, your number one

Kim from Atlanta wrote with a frustration many marketers share: “I loved your piece about Google Ads forcing broad targeting. We’re seeing the same thing, but my boss thinks I’m just

Hey, today is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. In my part of Canada, we’ll enjoy over 17 hours of daylight. It’s an emotional high point for me —

General Mills and Kraft Heinz are making moves that every product maker should study carefully. Both food giants announced a couple days ago they’re removing synthetic dyes and artificial colors from their U.S.

List member Alex from Boston wrote with a leadership challenge many founders face: “You mentioned ‘productive pessimism‘ in planning, and it really resonated. But how do you get your team on

There’s a collective intake of breath when Shark Tank contestants proclaim that over 80% of their sales come from Amazon. It’s not the good kind of gasp. The sharks recognize what many

Hormel Foods — the company behind SPAM, Skippy peanut butter, and Dinty Moore stew — is using AI to figure out which peppers will make you sweat. And be delighted

Longtime list member Carlos from Miami wrote me about a challenge many premium brands face: “Amazon is driving us to lower our prices to stay competitive with knockoffs, but we’ve built

I once worked with a B2B client whose organizational structure provided me a schooling in how not to operate. Their company wasn’t a unified entity but a collection of competing

The Rolex Submariner costs US $9,150. Not because the ceramics, steel, and mechanisms justify that price. Not because Rolex performed some magical positioning alchemy that convinced customers to value precision timekeeping at

A while ago I came across this product tagline (I paraphrase slightly): “Delivering transformative enablement via cross-platform process optimization.” That’s not the Curse of Knowledge. That’s just vagueness. The Curse of

Sometimes the smartest business decision is giving your worst customer exactly what they want. This goes against every entrepreneurial instinct, right? We’re taught to stand firm on principles, maintain boundaries,