Cari Jacobs-Crovetto

As a coach at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, Osterwalder and Pigneur introduced me to the Business Model Generation book. Since then, I've reviewed thousands of Business Model Canvases (BMC) and coached executives on leveraging this powerful tool for organizations of all types and sizes. In today's disruptive landscape, businesses must rethink their strategies to meet evolving customer needs and adapt their internal and external operations. The BMC is the perfect tool for this process, as it: Breaks down silos by forcing you to consider all aspects of your business and their interconnectivity Provides flexibility to zoom in or out on your business, depending on your role and audience Enables innovation by allowing you to explore scenarios and anticipate changes in your business model To create a good BMC, it's crucial to: Deeply understand your customers through ethnographic research. Articulate clear value propositions beyond just features. Co-create the canvas with your team to foster alignment and discussion. Having an external coach can be highly beneficial in building and refining your BMC, as they can help uncover core issues and facilitate productive discussions. As our world continues to evolve, I encourage you to embrace the BMC as a visual tool for making sense of new realities, breaking down silos, and navigating change. Need help with your Business Model Canvas? Reach out - I can help! #BusinessModelCanvas #FireUpInnovation

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Learn to identify the real value you deliver, solve critical problems, and create distinctive offers. Pay attention to what ignites your curiosity and passion during client interactions - these are the keys to setting yourself apart. Dig deep into the role of your essence in differentiation and its pivotal role in crafting a unique value proposition: https://lnkd.in/ggSubNni #TransformationCatalyst #SuccessDifferently #shorts

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A stroll through San Diego led me to Geppetto's, where a life-sized puppet and friendly staff turned me into an unexpected customer. 🌟This IS the magic of independent retail. 🌟 With consumer spending down, small businesses need innovative strategies beyond discounting to thrive without sacrificing profitability. Curious about how #indieretailers are navigating these challenges? Check out my latest article in Total Retail. #Retail #SmallBusiness #CustomerExperience #Innovation #IndependentRetail #SMB #boutiqueowner #retailer #fashion

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I am helping several of our early-stage 𝐁2𝐁 portfolio companies hire their first Head of Marketing (reach out or tag someone looking). Hiring Your First Head of Marketing is one of the most impactful decisions you'll make as an early-stage founder. "Impactful" can be good -- drive quality pipeline, define your messaging, support retention, and amplify your brand's presence in a noisy market. "Impactful" can be bad -- waste your team's time, money, and energy chasing the wrong things with the wrong budget. We wrote a guide to help early-stage founders make the right hire. Takeaways: ✅ Prioritize Demand Generation: Early-stage startups need marketing leaders who can focus on driving pipeline and revenue. Look for someone hands-on in creating demand. If your candidate is not asking to look at your pipeline and wants to see your CRM data, they likely won't focus on building (AND Tracking) pipe. ✅ Focus on Product Marketing Early: Your Head of Marketing needs to deeply understand your product and market fit. Articulate your value proposition, craft compelling messaging, and educate the market about why your product matters. Your candidate should be eager to connect not only with sales but also with your product leader to understand what makes your startup unique. ✅ Test for Startup Agility: Marketing leaders from large enterprises often struggle to adapt to the resource-constrained, fast-moving startup environment. During interviews, dig into how they’ve succeeded in ambiguous, scrappy situations. ✅ Balance Between Strategy and Execution: A great Head of Marketing will think big-picture and be willing to roll up their sleeves and execute when needed. This balance is critical in early-stage growth. Ask how they think about hiring and what tools they need in the next year. Finding the perfect hire is challenging, especially as a startup with early revenue is challenging. Focus on the core pieces that matter most. Read the full guide here for more tips:

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Is this the future of content creation? I created TellBrain.com to help the marketing teams at Crane Venture Partners portfolio companies to better understand the opportunities with GenAI in creating marketing content. From topic selection to published blog post (with hero image and resource links) in less than 5 minutes. #contentmarketing #aiexperiment

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Last night, while in town for GAI Insights #GenerativeAIWorld, I co-hosted a dinner with long time friend Dave Balter and True Ventures, gathering top minds in AI, VC, and entrepreneurship in Boston. BrandRank.AI CTO Matt Cox (based in Boston w/our tech team) and investor Bill Hildebolt of gen.video joined us. We dove into how AI is revolutionizing productivity across industries. The consensus? AI literacy is becoming as crucial as digital literacy was a decade ago. Our discussion centered around four key themes: - AI'S IMPACT ON BUSINESS: From automating tasks to enhancing decision-making, AI is transforming how companies operate and compete. - HUMAN-AI COLLABORATION: We explored the potential of AI as a creative partner and decision-making tool, and the implications for various industries. (Perfect timing for CincyAI for Humans (CincyAI) one-year anniversary celebration today.) - THE FUTURE OF WORK: We debated which jobs might be displaced, which new roles will emerge, and how to prepare for an AI-driven workforce. - ETHICAL AI AND BRAND PERCEPTION: Our work at BrandRank.AI is showing how AI can reveal uncomfortable truths about brands, raising questions about transparency and authenticity. (Are LLMs are too smart for BS!) What jumped out in the conversation is that AI isn't just a tool – it's becoming a collaborator, creator, and potential competitor. Are we ready for AI in boardrooms, creative processes, and as the primary interface for brand interactions? The entrepreneurial energy was palpable as we explored opportunities in AI-driven health monitoring and human-AI creative collaboration -- this balanced with ethical considerations and the responsibility we bear as leaders in this space. The future of business is AI-collaborative. Are we prepared to be good partners? This discussion echoed the conference's sentiment, bolstered by outstanding presentation by MIT and HBS faculty: we're in an unprecedented moment of disruption. It's not just a technological shift, but a fundamental reimagining of work, creativity, and interaction. (Amazing conference so far Paul Baier, John Sviokla Liz Vanzura) Great time to be an entrepreneur! And the ultimate test for leadership! Thanks Dave, Gus Coldebella and True team for great and timely conversation. Kelly Cohen Hank Hudepohl Carl Fraik Aftab Pureval Kendra Ramirez Christopher Brock Jon Salisbury Helen Todd (Human) Jon Salisbury Jack Wyant MJ Price 🌱Lauren Morgenstein Schiavone Judy Zitnik Christopher Morse Christy Page Jocile Ehrlich Lee Beech Tracey Cooke Sherrie Kinderdine Adriana Altuve Chetan Parekh Diana Takach Jonathan Carson

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In the age of AI, idea curation will eclipse idea creation Innovation starts with great ideas, but how can leaders consistently identify and implement the best ones? This recent piece from #Vistage dives into the art of idea curation and how CEOs can harness this process to drive business growth and operational efficiency. #Innovation #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #CEO

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Thanks for the Feedback The coauthors of the New York Times–bestselling Difficult Conversations take on the toughest topic of all: how we see ourselves Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen have spent the past fifteen years working with corporations, nonprofits, governments, and families to determine what helps us learn and what gets in our way. In Thanks for the Feedback, they explain why receiving feedback is so crucial yet so challenging, offering a simple framework and powerful tools to help us take on life’s blizzard of offhand comments, annual evaluations, and unsolicited input with curiosity and grace. They blend the latest insights from neuroscience and psychology with practical, hard-headed advice. Thanks for the Feedback is destined to become a classic in the fields of leadership, organizational behavior, and education. https://lnkd.in/g6cQstBk

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I recently listened to Black T-Shirts Podcast with legendary Brent Smart and Adam Ferrier, interviewing Wanda Pogue, an accomplished traditional strategist who's now pioneering something called "post-creative strategy." A new model of strategy that feels like it brings a tech-product and experimentation mindset into the brand world (which is my black t-shirt). The new model: Instead of crafting one big idea (or release), you develop your brand proposition and roll out multiple pieces of creative across different demos on social media. Then, you observe what over-indexes and mine into the comments for insights. You can optimise the creative or evolve it based on the new ideas that come straight from your target audience; because the best customer ideas come when they’ve never been asked for them. What I love about this approach is how it merges speed, experimentation, and real-time market insight. It's more than just A/B testing or feedback generation—it's essentially running in-market focus groups. The insights gained from real audience interaction often outshine pre-creative testing. I’m fascinated by these innovative shifts in strategy and how they’re reshaping how we gather insights. And how else we can apply a product mindset into the brand and marketing world. Experimentation is a scary mindset in the brand context, but just the same as with product, as long as you have your fundamental strategy right, everything else could and should be an experiment. Keen to know what you think of this approach, or what you think of experimentation, is it too scary? Too expensive? Or?

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Conversation in my head today: Matt: I care about getting founders unstuck and growing. Alt-Matt: What kind? Like new? Series B? Matt: No I work with early stage. Alt-Matt: Like digital only? How about Pet food makers? Chewing gum startup? Alligator Grooming business? Matt: My focus is on pre-7 figure revenue. Alt-Matt: 9 figure companies are so underserved. Matt: I need to focus! Alt-Matt: You should really start that granola business. Your stuff is so addictive. Matt: GO AWAY. Alt-Matt: Just trying to help. This is where Archtypes come in handy. Also helpful: headphones. I wrote about Archetypes in my last newsletter. You can read it here. https://lnkd.in/gbjPMJuy

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Innovation starts with great ideas, but how can leaders consistently identify and implement the best ones? This recent piece from #Vistage dives into the art of idea curation and how CEOs can harness this process to drive business growth and operational efficiency. #Innovation #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #CEO

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Sharing my new piece in this week's #writersvault In this one, I observe - The Intersection of Neuroscience & Brand Strategy Link to Read | https://lnkd.in/gvxC8uGV Incorporating insights from neuroscience into brand strategy is not merely an academic exercise but a practical approach to enhancing brand effectiveness and consumer engagement. By understanding emotional resonance, leveraging neuromarketing insights, and managing cognitive load, C-suite leaders can develop more compelling and impactful brand strategies. #weeklycolumn #neuromarketing #Brandstrategy #marketing #consumercentricity #storytelling #ReasonToBelieve

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I'm loving Elisa Camahort Page's latest for Optionality, in which she riffs on a recent conversation with Libby Rodney of The Harris Poll about the shifting attitudes among the generations still at work. You know what? The most senior in the workforce and the most junior are not so different. "We’ve learned our lesson about putting all our eggs in one employment basket. We’ve learned our lesson about sacrificing personal needs for professional ones. We’ve learned how much we crave meaning and purpose. So we want more options, more irons in the fire, more diversified revenue streams, more interests and pursuits. Some or all of the above. Whether any one of us is pursuing an optionality-driven path at any given moment, Jory and I believe that most of us who are seasoned in the workforce are, at least, optionality-curious. But The Harris Poll data reminds me that it’s not just us. Those who are newest to the workforce, the Young Millennials and Elder Gen Zs, have already observed what it may have taken me and my cohort a decade or two to realize." And, being a kid of the 70s and 80s...there's nothing that a Bill Murray quote doesn't make more interesting. https://lnkd.in/dxBKETMf

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"Sometimes the most compelling and sustainable way to motivate is to simply be vulnerable." Thought I'd share this powerful case study on the impact of conscious leadership from Alice Zhang, CEO of Verge Genomics Building a conscious culture that consistently chooses authenticity over fear, isn't easy. In fact, it takes courage, awareness and self-discipline. Qualities that Alice has cultivated in herself and empowered her teams to develop in themselves. And the results speak for themselves! Verge is one of the few AI drug discovery companies to have developed a drug from platform to clinical trial entirely in-house, at one-fourth the cost of traditional drug discovery. #ai #consciousleadership #executivecoaching #vulnerability #authenticity #results https://lnkd.in/ePN5i2xr

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Bravo to Julie Crabill and the team at Fathom.org for this eye-opening, nuanced take on #AI's impact on American society. The research indicates not just the business and productivity impacts of AI we like to talk about, but also impacts on public policy, bipartisan viewpoints, and the growing lack of trust in the tech companies who are on the forefront of AI development. A great read and something for me to keep in mind as I work with organizations grappling with AI. Marie Gill, Gina Jeneroux, MBA FLPI, Mark Wayman, Allie K. Miller ORG AI Download the report from the Fathom site. https://fathom.org/

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Last week, I spoke with 18 CMOs at a CMO-only conference organized by Drew Neisser. We discussed all things CMO - from brand, demand gen, PR, product marketing, and AI... or what it means to be running marketing at PE vs Public vs VC-backed companies. Here are three MYTHs I believed in but I have changed my perspective after this conference. MYTH 1: Revenue is a sales problem FACT 1: Marketers co-own revenue more deeply than I thought At scale, 80%+ revenue comes from existing customers. The best marketers do a whole lot more to help with retention, expansion, and multi-threading. Best ABX campaigns are central to deal conversion and momentum. While marketing attribution is tough, many marketers have advanced POVs on measurement and marketing programs. MYTH 2: Marketers have a defined scope of work FACT 2: Marketers are overworked and often are forced to take on tactical work that other teams refuse to execute. For example, one CMO of a $280M ARR company shared that last week his CEO wanted his team to support a gifting campaign for all customers. Even though this could be easily handled by CS Ops. Another CMO was talking about 24 metrics that they track (or are forced to track): yes 24 metrics! MYTH 3: Marketers aren't in the weeds FACT 3: Marketers go into a lot more detail and in many cases scale through tools and programs vs adding more headcount. Coming from a sales background, I have several CRO friends who run $200M-1B sales organizations. They understand forecasting, pipeline, MEDDIC, deal reviews, hiring/firing, and executive connections... but rarely are they involved in specific deal cycles. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much detail does CMOs know. For example, I spoke to a CMO of $450M ARR company who was evaluating one of our competitors. He has very specific questions about how we enable warm intros to past champions through internal connections before agree to bring us into the evaluation. TAKEAWAY: Marketing is tough in the current market but the best CMOs are over-delivering by being extraordinarily revenue-focused. They also see themselves as GMs (leaders who run marketing) vs just heads of marketing.

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As I'm getting ready to be in Santa Clara to connect with people Face to Face, there's something pretty cool digitally- Matcha.so 🍵 pods and what Melissa Moody 🍵 is working on Small groups are the most effective way to tap into your valuable network. And we can all use support to reach our goals- this is where Matcha Pods come in Matcha Pods make it smooth (and fun) to invite, schedule, message async, and meet live with small groups of your peers around a shared goal or topic of interest. How it works- 1. Pick a shared goal or focus area. 2. Invite up to 5 other people who are working on or interested in the same thing. 3. Set a timeline and cadence that works for your group. 4. Up-level each other with async messaging and recurring virtual video chats.  5. High-five each other because, finally, your meetings are aligning with your key business goals. Want to try it? Right here ⤵ https://lnkd.in/gsGxN_2M Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored, but I'll get rewards at no additional cost to you if you use the referral link :-)

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