Business Strategy

Nonprofits, if I had to rebuild our corporate partnership strategy based on last night’s gala, here’s the updated playbook: Last night I attended a gala packed with donors, executives, founders, investors. Brilliant people who all had one thing in common. They’re active on LinkedIn Posting. Commenting. Building their brand. Leading conversations. Meanwhile, I spoke with 14 nonprofit leaders. Guess how many were actively using LinkedIn to grow their mission? Two. That’s right. Two. And it showed. 1. Most donors aren’t meeting you in your inbox. They’re meeting you in their feed. The folks writing checks aren’t passively waiting for a pitch deck, they’re discovering missions worth funding through content that inspires, educates, and positions you as a partner, not a petitioner. 2. Galas give access. LinkedIn gives scale. The gala gave me one night of connections. LinkedIn gives me 365 days of visibility. Stop treating corporate partnerships like special events. Start treating them like long-term campaigns with consistent storytelling and strategic targeting. 3. Relationship > Recognition. I saw multiple nonprofits with slick sponsor logos on the backdrop but no real engagement with their funders. Meanwhile, the most successful partnership I heard about? A founder who invited her corporate donor’s staff to volunteer, share feedback, and feel ownership. Hint: the company renewed for 3 years. 4. Board members aren’t always your best door openers. LinkedIn is. I met a nonprofit exec who said: “Our board is supposed to make intros, but they don’t respond.” Then he admitted he hasn’t posted on LinkedIn in over a year. You’re sitting on the most efficient prospecting platform ever built. Use it. 5. Legacy beats logo. Every donor I spoke to wanted to belong to a movement. Not just sponsor a dinner table. Not just get the tax write-off. They wanted to co-create something meaningful and be remembered for it. So here’s the real move: In 2025, nonprofit growth doesn’t come from fancier decks or gala invites. It comes from consistent storytelling, smart networking, and positioning your mission as a brand amplifier. What have you learned from attending galas? With purpose and impact, Mario

I bombed my first 15 VC pitches because investors were reading my slides instead of listening to me. Here’s why you need TWO versions of your pitch deck and how to craft each 👇🏾 If you’re fundraising, you should have two decks: 1. A shared deck 2. A presentation deck The difference between them is subtle but huge if you want to raise VC. 1️⃣ A shared deck - to be sent via email as you ask for introductions to investors, or send cold emails. - Use complete headlines that summarize key points - Include sufficient context so it makes sense without you - Make it skimmable with bold text highlighting key metrics - Includes citations/sources 2️⃣ A presentation deck - to be displayed during pitches to GUIDE your pitch, not do the presenting for you. - Limit text to 10 words per slide maximum - Use large, impactful numbers (57,000 companies!) - Rely on visuals, graphics, and icons to tell the story - Keep slides simple - YOU are the presentation, not the deck When I switched to this dual approach, it was easier to engage investors. They asked better questions. My pitches became conversations instead of my clicking to the next slide for the investor. The worst thing that can happen during a pitch is for you to share a great story or point about your traction, but the investor isn’t paying attention because they’re too busy reading the essay that you put on your slides. What questions do you have about your deck? Share them below!

One reason AI initiatives stall? Few execs use AI in their own work. In 3 hours, I take leaders from “I don’t know” to a POV (co-developed with AI!) on how AI can support key strategic initiatives. To crack the code on exec adoption we: >> Focus on Strategic Use Cases that Click with Execs << To get experience with high value use of AI, we dive into cases that directly enhance executive decision-making and strategic thinking. This tends to be a major eye-opener—most leaders don't realize AI can elevate their highest-level work. Once executives experience immediate personal value, they better understand how AI can have immediate impact across the organization. >> Reframe Mental Models << Generative AI operates fundamentally differently from anything we've seen before, so we need to identify why and how digital change playbooks must shift to leverage this moment. I go straight to the heart of the silent organizational barriers that prevent productive adoption, and how to navigate a path forward. >> Start with the Business, Not the Tech << We don’t begin with AI—we begin with your business. We anchor the process with the breakthroughs that will drive real impact—and to get there, we go analog with brainstorming, whiteboards, and post-its, working to envision what advancement could look like. What could be possible if cognitive limits were lifted? What long-standing friction could finally be overcome? This surfaces a library of meaningful, business-driven opportunities. Then, using proven filters and frameworks, we zero in on the highest-impact places to start applying AI. >> Use AI to Develop AI Strategy << We then—on the spot—collaborate with AI to develop executive viewpoints on how AI can accelerate those strategic priorities. This is hands-on work with AI tools to co-create a path forward, often culminating in each group sharing a lightning talk (co-developed with AI) with the broader team. This approach fast tracks execs to: 1️⃣ Build readiness: Gain deep understanding of the new landscape of use cases today’s AI offers, and the organizational structures needed to effectively harness it. 2️⃣ Map use cases: Develop a prioritized library of strategic use cases ready for immediate collaboration with technology and data teams. 3️⃣ Accelerate alignment: Establish common language and jump-start cross-functional alignment on tackling high-impact opportunities. 4️⃣ Hands-on understanding: Acquire hands-on experience with AI tools they can immediately apply to their most challenging strategic work. What do my clients say about this approach? That their teams shift from skepticism to enthusiasm—hungry for more, and from uncertainty to clarity about the next steps. It’s a remarkable change, especially in a few hours. ➡️ Want to learn more? Let’s talk. #AIworkshop

The transportation market has been wild the last few years, and too many shippers still lean on slashing carrier rates to cut costs. As someone who owned a significant amount of freight spend in the past, I can assure you that most of your freight savings opportunities will come from fixing your own broken processes and not putting your transportation partners in a tough spot financially. If you want to be a good trading partner, it starts with you. Actually, to improve anything, most of that must start with you. Where to start if you're a shipper looking for savings? 👇🏻👇🏻 (1) Are you maximizing weight on your shipments? (2) Are your lead-times solid to allow appropriate time for planning? (3) Have you shifted the location of where you're servicing a customer? (4) Have you considered a sailing schedule to balance out your freight volume? (5) Are you recovering ALL your freight costs back from your customers in your pricing? (you should) (6) Have you looked at your average shipment distance vs. last year? (7) Are you using premium LTL carriers when it's not needed? (8) Can you do load consolidations? (9) Audit your freight invoices! Typically a few % points to gain there. These are just a few ideas vs. squeezing a carrier on rates. Improving your costs involves wayyyyyy more than carrier rates. Have a good day doing your thing LinkedIn land!

My startup pivoted 6 times before we landed on an idea that got us to PMF (signal-based sales platform for Demand Gen). In the beginning, here are 6 lessons I wish I knew: 1 - On Pivoting: alternate between open and closed periods Most founder say say, 'We're going to try this new idea, but we're not going to get rid of the old idea'... Instead do an open period of exploration for 30 days. Any idea works. Then pick one. Then do a closed period. Start with 30 days. You're ONLY allowed to work on that one idea. If a new idea comes in? write it down on a doc titled "ideas to return to during open period" After 30 days you can decide: do we continue in a closed period or return to an open period. Then repeat but make the closed periods longer and longer (60 days, 100 days, 1 year). Dedicate specific periods to exploration, then commit entirely to execution for increasingly longer intervals. 2 - On Co-Founders: talk to your co-founders daily If I'm not going back and forth, seven days a week, 365 days a year, with my co-founders, we're not moving the chains in the business. This level of communication is non-negotiable for alignment and rapid progress. 3 - On Decisions: choose whatever makes you $$ the fastest Whenever a team member proposes an idea to me I say "Tell me a story that starts with your idea and ends with us making more money, and make that story as short as possible." The fewer steps between idea and revenue, the better. 4 - On Focus: cut what doesn't fit I made the tough decision to fire 11% of our customers last year when we moved up market and they weren't ICP. This freed resources and focus to better serve our ideal customers. You can cut lots of projects/focuses in your startup without missing out much. 5 - On Personal Speed: embrace necessary discomfort When things aren't going well, resist the urge to focus only on what you're good at, and instead address the fundamental issues. If things suck and you're an engineer - you will code because you're good at it If things suck and you're a seller - you will sell because you're good at it But if things suck you can't get out of it by doing what you do best. Don't do the things that make you comfortable, because you'll fail if you do. Engineers go sell. Sellers go to product/customer discovery. 6 - On Company Speed: build learning into your culture One of our core values at Warmly is "slope > Y-intercept" – we prefer team members who learn quickly over those who start with more knowledge but grow more slowly. It's kind of a math nerd thing but slope is your rate of change. Y-intercept is where you start. Whoever has the highest rate of change (aka learning) will always win over time no matter who has the higher start. I've seen new grads run laps around enterprise sellers in 18 months because they were savages. Put speed of learning into your company. #founder #startup

Taking risks doesn’t make you brave—it just means you’re reckless if you’re not prepared. When you’re creating a project or a business, you’ve probably thought about the risks. And if you haven’t, you should. People love to say, “Take the leap! No risk, no reward!” And sure, that’s true. Without risks, there’s no progress, no learning, no growth. But taking risks without being prepared isn’t bravery—it’s stupidity. It’s like jumping into a pool without checking if there’s water. And if you’re not careful, you’re going to hit the ground hard. That’s where the pre-mortem analysis comes in. It’s not about avoiding risks—it’s about understanding them. It’s about imagining your project has failed and working backward to figure out why. Because if you can predict how you might fail, you can prevent it from happening. Here’s how it works: 1️⃣ Imagine the project has failed. Gather your team and ask: “What went wrong?” Map out every possible reason. 2️⃣ Identify the risks. Categorize them: internal (team, resources) vs. external (market, competition). 3️⃣ Create a prevention plan. For each risk, outline actionable steps to mitigate it. The benefits? Uncovers hidden risks before they become problems. Encourages open, honest communication within teams. Builds a culture of proactive problem-solving. I always take this step when building out long-term plans for our teams because I remember the feeling of being terrified of failure and not comprehending what that looks like. It was my first ever “startup” in high school and I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were gonna crash and burn, but I just didn’t know how to describe it. Then my mentor put me on to the pre-mortem analysis. When I started describing what failure looked like, it became a lot less frightening and I built out plans to steer clear from failure. Again, taking risks is necessary, just make sure you’re not going into them blindly. Plan for failure to ensure success. Because the best way to win is to know how you might lose. #entrepreneurship #leadership #founders #problemsolving #growthmindset #startups #strategy

Most service businesses fail at differentiation. Want proof? Visit 20 tech agency websites. 16 will say nearly the exact same thing: "We're a full-service digital agency delivering innovative solutions." Translation: "We have no idea who we are or why clients should choose us." When everyone tries to be everything to everyone, you end up being nothing to anyone. Here's my step-by-step framework for creating a service offering that actually stands out: → Step 1: Start with WHO, not WHAT Don't list capabilities first. Define the specific client profile you serve best. "Tech startups between seed and Series A with distributed dev teams" beats "businesses of all sizes." → Step 2: Narrow down to specific pain points Not "marketing challenges" but "trouble scaling customer acquisition after product-market fit while maintaining CAC under $100." → Step 3: Show the "Before & After" state Document what life looks like before working with you, and the promised land afterwards. Be ruthlessly specific. → Step 4: Package your methodology Give it a name. Make it tangible. "Our 5-phase implementation process" is forgettable. "The Revenue Acceleration Framework" sticks. → Step 5: Price for positioning, not hours Commodity pricing = commodity perception. Value-based pricing signals confidence. → Step 6: Say what you DON'T do The magic happens when you explicitly eliminate services from your offering. "We don't do X, Y or Z" is more powerful than "We do A through Z." I used this exact framework to transform my agency from competing on price to commanding premium rates with a waitlist of clients. Your most valuable business asset isn't your client list or your team. It's clarity about who you serve and how you serve them differently than anyone else. What's stopping you from getting brutally specific about your service offering?

🚀 When I was running TeaSquares, keeping up with production while managing inventory was a constant challenge. Learn from my mistakes so you don't have to go through them. Here’s here's what you need to know: I remember one time we overproduced a batch due to a miscalculated sales forecast selling to Jewel Osco—leading to excess inventory that tied up cash flow and eventually expired. 😬 On the flip side, there were moments when a sudden surge in orders left us scrambling to restock, missing out on potential sales. I felt like I was constantly getting pushed around by some outside force. It left me scrambling and my team feeling off balanced and reactionary. Here’s how to gain clarity and set your brand up for sustainable growth: 🔹 Align Sales Forecasts with Inventory 📊 → Predict demand & avoid stockouts 🔹 Track COGS in Real Time 💸 → Stop guessing your margins 🔹 Implement Batch Tracking ✅ → Stay compliant & recall-ready 🔹 Monitor Profitability by SKU 📈 → Focus on your best performers 🔹 Automate Reporting 🤖 → Save time & catch issues early 💡 Pro Tip: If a product isn’t profitable, either adjust pricing or cut it from your lineup! Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gXGnayhV Written in collaboration with Marcos and Benoît at Kaizntree 🔥 Have you ever struggled with balancing sales and production? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear your experience! ⬇️ #CPG #foodandbeverage

I lost $2.3M because I was drowning in metrics. Most entrepreneurs (including my former self) fall into one of two dangerous traps when it comes to measuring business performance. Let me share what I discovered after the expensive way... Trap #1: The "Gut-Feel" Brigade These are the entrepreneurs running their entire operation on intuition. "I know my business," they say. "I can feel when things are working," they insist. I get it. But here's the truth: You can't improve what you don't measure. Trap #2: The "Data Hoarders" Then there's the opposite extreme (this was me): • 47 different KPIs • Multiple dashboards • Daily metric reviews • Endless spreadsheets What did I get? → Analysis paralysis → Decision freezes → Constant strategy shifts → Bleeding cash like a hemophiliac in a tub of razors Here's what changed everything for me: The One Metric That Matters (OMTM) Framework Instead of tracking everything or nothing, identify the ONE metric that's currently blocking your growth. Examples from my consulting work: • E-commerce client stuck at $2M/year OMTM: Cart abandonment rate Result: Added $3M in profit • Services business launching in new geo OMTM: New meetings booked Result: $1M in new business in 8 months The magic happens because: 1. Clear focus 2. Aligned teams 3. Faster decisions 4. Better results How to Find Your OMTM: 1. Identify your current #1 business goal 2. List all metrics that influence it 3. Ask: "If I could only improve ONE of these, which would have the biggest impact?" That's your OMTM. But remember: It's not static. Your OMTM will change.  Focus on your One Metric That Matters. Everything else is just noise. P.S. - if you want to know how to scale without voodoo and gurus, I write and make videos about using the scientific method in business.

Small brands win differently—here’s how (#2 in the series) Last week, I kicked off this series on how small brands can beat the big guys—by doing what they can’t, won’t, or aren't set up to do. #𝟭 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿: 𝗪𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵. Big brands buy awareness. Small brands can earn deep love. The brands that win don’t chase mass appeal—they go deeper, not wider. Now, here’s #𝟮: 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲. Big brands play it safe. Small brands win by taking a stand. Big brands hedge bets. They answer to shareholders or executives, which means they can’t afford to alienate anyone. Their messaging is often scrubbed of anything remotely opinionated—until it becomes so generic, no one cares. How a small brand can win: 𝟭. 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.  𝟮. 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗣𝗢𝗩. If your messaging sounds like it went through six rounds of legal approval, it’s already dead. - Graza fought against great olive oil needing to be expensive and intimidating. - Dr. Squatch built a cult brand by openly mocking traditional body wash. - Aunt Fannie's’s fought against toxic household cleaning products being what we think of as "clean." Have a fight worth fighting. Your brand needs a philosophical problem. Something that’s not fair—something your audience feels deep down and wants to change. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻. Your customers should see your brand and say:  "𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀." If you don’t stand for something, you’re just taking up space. What’s your fight? Drop it below. ⬇️