Arguably the #1 thing companies care most about is driving shareholder value (aka pushing up their stock price). We see them go to great lengths to achieve this goal, often using all kinds of sketchy tactics from shrinking sizes to creative accounting methods. But what if the best way to drive shareholder returns is actually by providing value to customers? (I know, crazy concept right?)
It’s hard to forget how dominant Lululemon was for much of the 2010s. From high school girls to pilates moms, Lulemon’s signature logo was a quintessential status symbol. However, in recent years new players Alo Yoga and Outdoor Voices have emerged to challenge Lululemon’s supremacy. Can the pioneer of athleisure maintain its throne, or will these newcomers reshape the athletic wear landscape?
It’s actually insane how much prescription glasses can cost nowadays, with some pairs pushing over $1000. Thankfully startups like Warby Parker are making eyewear more accessible, disrupting the market by offering glasses starting at just $95. Their success sparked a wave of D2C eyewear companies such as Zenni Optical and EyeBuyDirect. But in this growing market of affordable eyewear options, which company delivers the best value?
I decided to get an early start with my New Year’s resolution and am finally fixing my chaotic sleep schedule. I’m a data enthusiast at heart so naturally I invested in a Whoop to help me track both my sleep patterns and movement. I honestly love the results I’m seeing so far with my sleep schedule improving quite a bit (no more 3am bedtime😵). I was talking with a friend about my results which got him interested in purchasing one too. However, he’s torn between the Whoop and its rival, the Oura Ring which offers similar functionality but in ring form.
Layovers: the bane of many travelers’ existence. Fortunately, most airlines now let passengers choose their layover location. Flying from New York to Hawaii? You’ll likely need to stop somewhere in the middle, but you’ll get options ranging from San Francisco to Denver, Houston and more. This got me thinking: Which airport provides the best layover experience?
As companies grow from scrappy startups to scale-ups, they face a critical challenge: how to maintain a deep understanding of customer needs while dealing with rapidly increasing complexity. I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Nick Altebrando, an experienced product leader and the current Chief Product Officer at Ada, who has a ton of experience taking companies through the “Scale Up” Phase. Nick shared valuable insights on prioritizing customer needs, leveraging data effectively, and balancing stakeholder interests in fast-growing companies.
Last week, I spoke with Jazmin Lewis, who leads Customer Success at hackajob, a fast-growing tech hiring platform. With her extensive experience in both B2B and marketplace dynamics, Jazmin shared valuable insights into how data drives customer success and product development. Here's what we discussed:
Consulting, finance and tech firms are “people” businesses, getting their value from the talent they hire. These industries fiercely compete (often against each other) for top candidates, with recruitment efforts often starting as early as freshman year of college. The competition has intensified to the point where many firms are offering close to $200k in total compensation for fresh grads. However, in this high-stakes talent war, an important question emerges: can companies attract the best and brightest with more than just hefty paychecks?
Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Alejandro Villacís, who leads Customer Experience and Insights at FCP Euro, a leading online marketplace specializing in aftermarket and OEM parts for European vehicles like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche. With over a decade of experience managing operational customer experience teams, Alejandro provided valuable insights on how support teams can drive business growth and improve the overall customer experience. Here's what we discussed:
Nowadays, it seems like tons of brands have started to “incentivize” reviews. Shein, for example, offers customers a decent number of spending credits for posting reviews and/or photos after purchasing a product. Most of the time, people who had a negative experience with a brand or product are more likely to leave a review than someone who was neutral or generally satisfied. So a major advantage of a brand offering incentives like these is that it motivates more satisfied customers to leave reviews as well. Free People is one brand that does exactly this. So we decided to run an analysis on Free People to see how these incentivized reviews might actually affect their rating and public perception.
Churn is a HUGE issue for any and all companies. But a common misconception is that identifying a customer at risk of churning is too difficult to do with accuracy. The truth is, there are actually a few effective ways you can identify unhappy customers before it’s too late. But a commonly overlooked method is sentiment analysis. To give you a quick example of this, we ran an analysis on Hydrant’s reviews for 3 of their products: Hydrate, Energy, Immune.
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with Steve Joos, a seasoned product leader currently serving at Vanco, a company specializing in payment solutions for churches, schools, and nonprofit organizations. Steve's experience in managing complex product ecosystems, particularly in companies built through acquisitions, offers valuable insights for product leaders facing similar challenges. Here's what we discussed: