Be Bold. Be Humble. CMO | CBO | Brand Strategy | Brand Building | @HustleFundVC #AngelSquad Investor | Passionate about the power of brands | Free Agent
Los Angeles
Joined March 2007
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AI replaced the old starting point for junior strategists: transcribing notes, two weeks of 4Cs research. But I want more strategists, not fewer. Juniors can now start with judgment and a point of view from their own cohort. Mentoring changes too.
Founders spend months on a name. Customers rarely remember it exactly.
They remember whether it delivered, how it felt, maybe a color. The experience does most of the branding, planned or not.
A small one for the weekend.
When I was five my family trekked to Everest Base Camp. On the way, we stopped in a village and I got to hold what they told us was the skull of a yeti.
I didn't appreciate it then, but moving that much taught me the most useful skill I bring to work: walking into a room where I don't speak the language yet and figuring out what people actually care about.
That's most of brand strategy.
Last year I shared 50 early-stage startups worth watching.
This year it has a name and a standard: The Momentum 50, Class of 2026.
ALT The Momentum 50, Class of 2026 badge
The full essay, with what this class says about where things are going:
signaturemoves.substack.com/…
All 50 with sources: docs.google.com/spreadsheets…
Your call: which company in this class will have the most momentum by next October?
Reply with one name and why. I'll credit everyone who got it right.
Make a call or nominate for 2027: docs.google.com/forms/d/1U5G…
Submit your ad brief. Legends of the ad world tear it apart in seconds.
AdLegends Mentor runs it through 4 legend personas - Ogilvy, Bernbach, Dru, Wells - scoring for sales, not awards.
No agency softness. Just brutal truth.
Try it free → adlegends.co/
I spent an afternoon this summer talking AI with a small agency.
The tools have already changed, but the principles haven't.
Sharing the presentation here: the-agency-after-prompts-zzq…
Most brands chase attention.
The best brands create memories.
Forty years later, people still talk about DoubleTree's warm chocolate chip cookie.
Not because it's a cookie.
Because it's a Signature Move.
wapo.st/3Q9rYwm
