Before anyone asked: thirty years in Austin tech
Before I share this month’s piece, I need to pause. This newsletter was ready to go out last week, but after the news that Austin lost Joshua Baer, and putting anything else into the world felt wrong while our community was still absorbing it. If you are not in Austin, you may not know the […]
Why the Biggest Agency Merger in a Decade Is Happening at the Worst Possible Time
I’ve managed agencies all over the world — running PR across Asia Pacific for JPMorgan Chase, picking partners for LabMorgan spin-offs, managing comms at IBM Research. Every one of those situations had a conventional answer: go with the big name, optimize for scale and prioritize efficiency. But every instinct I’d built told me to look […]
The 4 Clocks of M&A Communications: Why Smart Acquirers Treat Comms as Deal Infrastructure
At 6 a.m., Bloomberg Media called me in Hong Kong to ask about layoffs I didn’t know were happening. I was brand new to my role leading communications for JPMorganChase across the Asia-Pacific region. The CEO and chief people officer were new. Both came from firms without a culture of early-looping the communications team into […]
The GEO Revolution in B2B Marketing
A colleague recently shared a story that stopped me cold. A mid-market bank CEO was evaluating fraud prevention solutions. Rather than Googling, he asked ChatGPT to recommend the top three providers for community banking. The AI delivered three names. My colleague’s company, despite $2M in annual content marketing and a sales team of twelve, wasn’t […]
The Listening Tour Strategy: Why Your Most Valuable Business Asset Can’t Be Automated
I spent last night at a vinyl listening party—no screens, no distractions, just Erin Ivey on stage with her producer and fellow musician in an intimate room. We listened to her new album Souvenir the way it was meant to be heard: eyes closed, fully present, absorbing not just the songs but the stories behind […]
The $8M Pattern in M&A Communications: Why Strategic Stakeholder Planning Prevents Customer Churn
The Pattern Behind High-Stakes Business Failures I’ve been thinking a lot about patterns lately. Not the kind you see immediately, but the ones that emerge over years of watching companies navigate their most critical moments. Here’s what keeps showing up: The companies that reach breakthrough moments—Series B funding, major customer wins, industry recognition—inevitably face high-stakes […]
How Poor Communications Strategy Destroys Tech Company Value (And What B2B Leaders Can Do About It)
When your crisis response is the C-suite calling random PR firms with no strategic framework, you’ve already lost valuable market position and investor confidence. Picture this: A tech company has reported 76% revenue growth, a 300% surge in its core business segment, and positive gross margins for the first time. Wall Street analysts maintain “buy” […]
The Search Revolution: Why Traditional SEO Is Failing Marketing Leaders
The search landscape has fundamentally shifted, and most marketing leaders are still playing by outdated rules. While your team focuses on keyword optimization and link building, artificial intelligence has quietly become the primary intermediary between your brand and your customers. More than 50% of Google searches now end without users clicking through to any website […]
PR Isn’t Dead – It’s the Most Strategic Business Function of 2025
Modern PR has evolved far beyond press releases and media pitching. Today’s strategic communications professionals drive measurable business results through employer branding, crisis management, and integrated marketing approaches. If you think PR is just about getting on “Good Morning America,” you’re missing how this $129 billion industry is reshaping business strategy in 2025. I saw […]