A commentary on Paul Leinwand’s ‘Beyond Digital’ — A few days ago I finished reading “Beyond Digital” by Paul Leiwand and Mahadeva Matt Mani. I thought it’s’ a great ‘final part of the trilogy’ after ‘The Essential Advantage’ and ‘Strategy That Works’. Of all its lessons, though, one in particular stuck in my head: chapter five, ‘Build Outcome-Oriented…

I recently wrote about thinking differently than the majority through bold ideas that are usually wrong but, when right, generate much value. A friend of mine then commented, paraphrasing: “but how to build an appropriate portfolio of these ideas? …

Recently, I was scammed at Magazine Luiza, a large Brazilian retailer. Someone penetrated my account and bought a cell phone. I noticed immediately and called their customer service. After almost 10 minutes of navigating through the various options in the system, talking to a first employee, being transferred to a…

A beaver was visiting the Hoover Dam with his rabbit friend. When the rabbit saw it, he asked: ‘Beaver, do you know the builder of this dam?’ The beaver replied: ‘Look, rabbit, it wasn’t a beaver who did this, but clearly someone who stole our idea!’* In my career, I’ve…

I recently read Robin Hanson about Best Case Contrarians and it got me thinking. The great value of being a contrarian, of thinking differently, is not in always being right. On the contrary, if you want to almost always be right, you best bet is to follow the average opinion…

Just because you say so, does not make it so — We have seen it many times. “Our mission is to serve our clients exceptionally well” on a company’s website. “Client focus” as the #1 value in their employee’s booklet. A beautiful client-service manifesto on a large poster on the CEO’s office wall, which every manager signed during the last corporate…

Many retailers have been following a trend of adding marketplaces to their e-commerce, expanding their assortment with their partners’ on their websites and apps. The economic logic is clear: the company already has the trouble of creating and maintaining its e-commerce, so adding up their partners’ assortment (3P) should attract…

Copying is not usually viewed favorably. Business books emphasize creativity, originality and innovation; companies that create, shape and lead their own markets like Amazon, Apple and Microsoft are raised to the pedestal of fame and success, while their followers are viewed with far less prestige. …