Money Mirage Archives - Wakeman Consulting Group

Blue Dot Fever

“Blue Dot Fever” is everywhere. The New York Post. Twitter. TikTok. Everywhere. The seating charts are damning. Whole sections unsold. Blue dots just staring at you. A lot of folks will tell you this happens all the time…those are folks on the primary side. Other folks will say this is a sign that customers have gotten […]

Do You Know Your Pricing Blind Spots?

I think about pricing as one way your strategy shows up in the world. How do I mean? One, your price comes out of how well you’ve worked the Strategy Stack. Especially the first three questions: Two, your price shows how you view yourself? For me, your price is often a reflection of your strategy, […]

Intent vs. Volume: The Trade-Off No One Talks About

You can’t be everything to everyone. This is the battle of modern business. Chasing volume. But sliding into the realm of being a commodity. You have to make a trade: volume or intent. Volume alone isn’t a strategy. Mass market is fine. Just make sure it is your choice. If you don’t, that’s drift. Dressed […]

The Three Mirages: Why Organizations Chase the Wrong Targets

There’s a feeling we are all familiar with. Working hard. Growing. Adding clients. Opening offices. Can’t quite keep up. But something feels off. Like you are chasing something elusive. Likely a mirage…I’ve identified three that seduce more organizations than anything else. The Money Mirage: “Growth” becomes “success.” Revenue. Headcount. New markets. New offices. Measurable. Addictive. […]

The NY Times Just Published the Temu Version of My Met Opera Analysis

Same story. Less depth. No framework. Let’s compare. A little over two weeks ago, I wrote a piece called “The Met Opera’s Crisis Isn’t About Art. It’s About Strategy.” I laid out frameworks for analyzing the situation: Today, the New York Times published its own version. Same subject. Same desperation. Same Saudi deal. Same Chagall […]

I TOLD YOU SO! StubHub’s Earnings and Stock Crash!

About a year ago, I wrote about StubHub’s S-1. I spent days reading through it, analyzing it. I came away skeptical…if I’m being nice. Yesterday, the market caught up to me. StubHub’s stock fell 12.8%. Q4 revenue fell 16% to $449 million. Full year loss? $1.9 billion. I told you so. Let me recount the […]