The “Asshole Test” Hack to Win at Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is one of my favorite promotional strategies. Nothing beats a tried and true recommendation from someone you know, like and respect. And that’s what influencers are – at least the ones that don’t whore themselves out to the highest bidder and flaunt any and every product on Instagram… The truth about influencer marketing...

9 Ways to Engineer Viral Products and Word of Mouth Marketing

Designing virality and word of mouth marketing into your product When it comes to producing hockey stick growth and exploding valuations, virality and word of mouth are the holy grail. A product that markets itself without spending a dime on customer acquisition (CAC)… That is the stuff of legends that every company strives for, but...

What Swiss startup founders can learn from Silicon Valley, Sweden and Israel

Move fast and break things… that is the traditional (albeit slightly cliche) Facebook/Silicon Valley slogan we’ve heard for years. And for a time, it was incredibly effective. Just look at Big Tech’s domination of the S&P 500. Without question, wildly ambitious founders and wild rides have defined the last two decades of startups, innovation and...

Stealing Starbuck’s Strategy for Viral Growth and Customer Retention

Designing addictive products Three-to-four-million people buy Starbucks coffee every day. And in the US alone, there are more than 250M cups of coffee (of any brand) purchased on a daily basis. That’s a lot of freaking caffeine. And it doesn’t even include homebrew… But it wasn’t always so. Habits are hard to build and harder...

The Secretly Sneaky Referral Strategy to Boost Sales

Nothing sells like a friend’s recommendation. “Man, you gotta see the new Avengers movie.” We trust the folks in our lives, and they trust us. It’s part of the social contract we all subconsciously abide by. In the past, to fit in was to survive. And to offer great advice, what could be more valuable...

 Why Your Startup’s J Growth Curve is Actually Just an S

Two days ago I had the privilege of moderating a roundtable with some of the smartest futurists and forward thinkers in the industry. Our panelists included Tim O’Reilly, James Allworth, Ben Gilbert and Jeff Morris Jr. It was an interesting experience. They say you are the average of the 5 people in your life and...