Dive deep into business, brand and strategy.
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LinkedIn’s Positioning Advice Is Creating the Problem It Claims to Solve
Before diving in, I respect both Anthony and Viktar. They’re helping companies clarify their messaging, and that matters. However, a fundamental confusion is occurring that needs to be addressed. This isn’t about calling anyone out. It’s about clarifying what positioning actually means versus what most people think it means. Also,…
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TD’s Investor Day Autopsy: Great Plumbing, Weak Architecture
“I’m excited we’re getting back to winning.” — Raymund Chun With that declaration, TD’s leadership kicked off an Investor Day (September 29, 2025) designed to signal a reset and a return to form. It was a masterclass in financial communications. The team framed a necessary overhaul around three universally agreed-upon…
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Autopsy: Kyle Poyar’s Fyxer Growth Analysis
Why This Analysis Exists Kyle Poyar is doing great work. His newsletter, Growth Unhinged, consistently delivers sharp insights on go-to-market strategy, pricing, and growth mechanics. His decision to go all-in on the newsletter is admirable. It takes conviction to bet on your own platform and point of view. This analysis…
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WTF is Cloud?
♛ 30.09.2025 WTF is Cloud? Read Time: 8 Minutes Hello HOW FAKE POSITIONING EXPERTS WOULD HAVE KILLED “CLOUD” A Case Study in Why Copywriters Masquerading as Strategists Fail at Mental Territory Ownership THE BRIEF It’s 2005. You’re in a conference room with the world’s best “positioning experts.” Here’s what you hand…
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What Kal-El and Simba Know About Identity That Most Businesses Don’t
Both have power. Kal-El can fly, bend steel, and see through walls. Simba is a lion. Born to rule Pride Rock. But power means nothing when you don’t know who you are. Their stories tap into something universal: the human battle for identity. Psychologist Erik Erikson referred to this as…
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The $500 Billion Position That Compaq Threw Away
On January 1997, Compaq Computer was about to claim the most valuable mental territory in technology history. Their marketing team, led by George Favaloro and technologist Sean O’Sullivan, had identified a position that would eventually define a $500+ billion market. They’d written a press release about investing in NetCentric, and…
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Does “owning a noun” flatten positioning’s complexity?
Read this post first and then look at the comment section for Michiel. A Note on Michiel’s Challenge To Michiel, thank you for the thoughtful critique. Your questions about whether “owning a noun” flattens positioning’s complexity deserved more than a LinkedIn comment response. You’re absolutely right that positioning involves relationships,…
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The Positioning Test That Destroys 99% of “Experts”
To every copywriter masquerading as a positioning expert, try this experiment. And if you’re hiring one, do this first. Here’s the test: Take these exact words: “We make AI work for you.” Now imagine three companies saying it: Feel the difference? When ChatGPT says it, you believe it. They own…
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How Cluely Owns “Command” and Why Your Tactics Don’t Matter
Note: Monopoly uncovered all the insights you’ll read in this perspective. Why This Series Exists Most business advice is backwards. It starts with tactics (growth hacks, funnel optimization, messaging frameworks) and works backward to strategy. But tactics without position are just expensive experiments. You’re throwing spaghetti at the wall and calling…
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Mental Availability vs Positioning
♛ 23.09.2025 Mental Availability vs Postioning Read Time: 3 Minutes Hello Byron Sharp gets credit for making marketers care about mental availability. But he’s created a new confusion: thinking availability equals positioning. They’re not the same thing. Mental Availability = Probability of being thought of in buying situations Positioning = Owning…
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Howie.ai’s Position: The AI Secretary That Owns Delegation
TL;DR Howie doesn’t compete for “best scheduler.” It owns “secretary,” an entirely different mental territory. By reframing scheduling as delegation rather than self-service, Howie created a position where 1,000+ customers pay $25-95/month to CC an AI assistant that handles meetings with human-grade etiquette. The hybrid model (AI + human review)…
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The most dangerous advice comes from those who succeeded without knowing why
Everyone loves that Dakota Meyer quote about not taking criticism from people you wouldn’t take advice from. LinkedIn eats it up. Founders tattoo it on their minds. It’s also completely backwards. Here’s what I’ve learned analyzing hundreds of companies through the positioning lens: Successful founders are terrible at explaining their…
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