I was honored to give this talk, "The Art & Science of Value Creation: 3 Traits of Great Value-Creators" for Creative Mornings at the end of San Diego Startup Week.  Check out the talk here:  And here's the deck:    ...

Over the last few years I have argued time and time again there is “no more powerful tool in your marketing toolbox than a cup of coffee with a customer.” That’s because the answers to your most important questions can only be found by direct interactions with your customers. Direct, authentic interactions with your audience always lead to the best...

Growth is hard. From those of us starting from zero, to those with a flourishing audience. From a startup in a co-working space to an enterprise marketing team in global HQ. From the greenest novice to the battle-tested veteran…growth is hard. That’s because marketing has forever changed. What used to be a simple one-way broadcast has turned into a continuous, asynchronous, amalgamous, voluminous, raucous conversation. The...

It’s true, there is no lack of failure in starting new ventures. The likelihood of failing with a startup, new innovation initiative, or new product extension is much higher than the likelihood it will succeed. Just because those are the hard facts, doesn't mean failure is an acceptable outcome. Yet, in startup culture, the phrase, “Fail Fast” has become something of...

One of the key principles of lean is to “learn fast.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood on a stage and said those two words in the last year. Although, on paper, the concept seems easy enough, the truth is, learning fast is hard. You must be prepared to hear things you don’t want to hear. You must be open...

In a world where customers are smart, competition is fierce, and change is easy, business success cannot rely on a tight message, a pretty promise, and a large megaphone. Instead, success depends on inviting customers on a shared journey toward creating real value. We all know that social media has transformed the communication landscape. If the conventional approach to branded communication...

[This article was originally published on Brandisty.] A question that seems to come up a lot in brand development is, “what’s the difference between a logo, identity and a brand?” After all, people often use them as interchangeable synonyms everyday. “Check out our new brand,” or “we are going through a re-design of our brand,” or my favorite, “do you do branding?” To...

I’ve become more and more acquainted with the phrase, “eating your own dogfood,” the farther I journey down the Lean Brand innovation path. If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, “eating your own dog food” (also called “dogfooding”) is slang for using your own product or ideas to validate the quality and value of your product or idea. My personal acquaintance with the...

For The Lean Brand Launch Tour, hundreds of founders, intrapreneurs, and entrepreneurs came out in support of a new way of brand innovation. We're happy to share the presentation that Jeremiah Gardner and Brant Cooper gave during the tour. Remix it, rework it, and reuse it as you journey down your own Lean Brand path. The Lean Brand Launch Tour...

NOTE: For my upcoming book, The Lean Brand, we intentionally passed on the traditional publishing route to focus on creating a community around the book. It was a bit risky, but we felt it gave us the best chance at having discretion and flexibility with how we went about bringing the book to life. Part of our community building plan...