Blog
Retrospective reflections written in 2026 on operating roles from 2000 onward.
Channel Conflict and the Politics of Direct-to-Consumer
In 2003, selling direct was an act of rebellion inside a wholesale company. The lesson: economics always wins arguments.
Influence Without Authority
For the first decade of my career, I owned nothing. No P&L. No headcount budget. No final say. But I learned how to move things anyway.
Designing for Behavior Before 'Growth' Existed
Before growth teams, before funnels, before A/B testing at scale—there was just watching how people actually used the thing you built.
Why Early Ecommerce Failed (and What Survived)
Between 2000 and 2006, most digital commerce initiatives died. The ones that survived shared patterns I didn't recognize until years later.
9/11 and Leading Through Uncertainty
Twenty-five years ago, the world changed overnight. I was at Nike, building something unproven, when uncertainty became the only constant.
Building Commerce in a Post–Dot-Com World
In 2000, the internet had just been humbled. The dot-com crash reset expectations across every boardroom. Capital retreated. Public markets corrected sharply. Digital initiatives that had been treated as inevitable were suddenly treated as speculative.