Money Mirage Archives - Wakeman Consulting Group

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 […]