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AI May Make Your Career Detours More Valuable
Shopify COO Jess Hertz recently described a shift from the traditional “T-shaped” person, someone with broad capabilities and deep expertise in one area, to what she calls an “X-shaped” person. As she put it, AI requires people with “multiple spikes of expertise” who can absorb complexity, learn new spaces quickly, and become capable across several…
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The same sale. Four very different reactions.
Labor Day is here, and with it comes a wave of retail sales. They seem to bring out different behaviors in all of us. There are the deal hunters, like my wife, who will happily wait for the annual Nordstrom sale because finding a great deal is part of the fun. Then there are the…
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Why customer opinions matter less than you think
Karina didn’t launch her denim brand by analyzing spreadsheets. She launched it by solving a personal frustration. She wanted premium jeans that women could comfortably wear from morning through dinner. What followed wasn’t endless planning—it was raw execution: prototypes, fabric tests, fit changes, waistband tweaks, and manufacturing hurdles. Watching KarinaJ Denim come to life up…
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What My Garden Gives Me Before Monday
On weekends, I like to spend some time taking care of my garden. I have citrus trees, a small rose garden, and an assortment of flowering plants. Right now, I’m also trying to revive my hydrangeas. There is always something that needs watering, trimming, feeding, moving, or a little extra attention. I enjoy the work…
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Agentic AI Can Do Competitive Analysis. But Can You Trust It?
Chatbots such as ChatGPT have changed how I do competitive analysis—but they hasn’t replaced judgment. I use AI chatbots to build the initial framework and analysis, pointing them to any internal analysis/notes, competitor’s white papers and data sheets, their product documentation (if available), pointers to customer reviews (from Gartner peer insights, G2, etc), and any…
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Multiple Clients. Competing Priorities. Constant Context Switching. Here’s How I Keep It Straight.
One of the challenges of working with multiple consulting clients, or even working as a General Manager or a C-level executive in a company, is constantly shifting your attention from one very different problem to another. As an independent consultant, on any given day, I may move from network security to AI to MDM, while…
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How I learn big topics in 30-minute bytes
How I choose what to learn and then how do I learn that big topic in 30 minutes a day
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How I Try to Stay Relevant When Everything Is Changing
One challenge of working in the technology industry is the sheer pace of change. There is always a new model, architecture, company, or idea to understand.For the last 30 years, I’ve made learning part of my daily routine.My approach is simple. I pick a topic I want to understand deeply. I break the topic into…
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I am so proud of my daughter
I could not be prouder of my daughter, Karina, who launched Karina J Denim this weekend after three years of design, development, and persistence.While working at Microsoft (where jeans were part of the everyday dress code), she found that women’s jeans, regardless of price, often became uncomfortable after only a few hours of wear. After…
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What is your actual win rate?
Read this blog to understand the difference between a funnel win rate and competitive win rate
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Five benefits of reviewing your product packaging
A review of product packaging by your product marketing team can provide the following key benefits: Best of all, you don’t need to hire expensive pricing consulting firms that use complex mathematical models and lots of buzzwordy analysis to help you simplify your packaging. Such recommendations are hiding in plain sight for your product marketing…
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The 60/30/10 principle is everywhere.
The 60/30/10 rule offers a timeless approach to balance in different areas. You should apply this rule to how you prioritize your work. Most financial advisors recommend that you allocate 60% of your income towards essential needs (like rent, groceries, utilities), 30% towards discretionary spending (like dining out, entertainment), and 10% towards savings (emergency fund,…
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