Demand Capture
Dead Stock Is a Distribution Failure
Inventory is rarely truly dead. It is simply invisible to the demand that exists. The problem is not product; it is distribution.
Thinking
Essays
Long-form pieces on marketing science, demand capture, systems thinking, and the mechanics of growth. Position papers, not tutorials.
Systems
The 40,000 SKU Problem
Human intuition breaks down at scale. Managing ad spend for long-tail inventory requires systems, not spreadsheets.
Systems
System-to-System Integrations as Sales Channels
The future of B2B sales is not a portal. It is an API. Inventory should flow like water to where the demand is.
Demand Capture
Demand Exists. Capture Is the Problem.
Most businesses chase demand creation when they should be building systems to capture demand that already exists.
Systems
Why Most Google Ads Fail Before the First Click
The failure point is rarely the ad. It is the misunderstanding of what Google actually is.
Marketing Science
Funnels Are a Symptom, Not a Strategy
The funnel metaphor has done more harm than good. Here is what it obscures.
Marketing Science
Market Share Explains Growth Better Than Loyalty
Decades of marketing science point to a counterintuitive truth about how brands actually grow.
Systems
Why AI Fails Without Demand Mapping
AI tools are proliferating. Most will fail. The ones that succeed share a common trait.
Marketing Science
Buying Moments Beat Personas
The same person behaves differently in different buying situations. Personas miss this.
Systems
Automation Should Reduce Cognitive Load
Most automation adds complexity instead of removing it. Here is how to tell the difference.
Demand Capture
Why More Leads Is Usually the Wrong Goal
Lead volume is a vanity metric. What actually matters is downstream conversion and revenue.
Systems
The Hidden Cost of Broken Follow-Up
Most leads are not lost to competitors. They are lost to silence.
Demand Capture
Google Is Still the Most Misunderstood Channel
After two decades, most businesses still treat Google like a billboard instead of a demand engine.
Marketing Science
Why Attribution Models Lie
Attribution gives precise answers to the wrong questions. Here is what to do instead.
Systems
Systems Scale Judgment. People Do Not.
The best operators build infrastructure that makes good decisions automatic.
Demand Capture
The Difference Between Demand Creation and Demand Capture
Two fundamentally different activities that most businesses confuse.
Systems
Why Most AI Tools Become Noise
The problem is not the technology. It is the lack of clear problems to solve.
Marketing Science
Mental Availability Is Not Brand Awareness
A crucial distinction that changes how you think about marketing investment.
Marketing Science
The Myth of the Perfect Funnel
Obsessing over funnel optimization often makes overall performance worse.
Marketing Science
Why Marketing Metrics Drift From Reality
The measurements you rely on are probably telling you less than you think.
Marketing Science
When Optimization Makes Performance Worse
The paradox of improving parts while degrading the whole.
Marketing Science
The Operator's View of Marketing Science
How to read the research as someone who builds and runs systems.
Operator Thinking
What I Was Wrong About in Marketing
Beliefs I held confidently that turned out to be incorrect.