Insights
Directthinking.
The operational and commercial problems we see in the work, and what it takes to fix them. No thought leadership for its own sake.
AI Enablement · Cost Optimization · IT & Cloud Cost · Leadership · Marketing Procurement · Media · Modernization · Operations · PE Value Creation · Revenue Operations
Marketing Procurement
The agency pitch is theatre. Buy the team, not the show.
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementHow much should a mid-market company pay its media agency?
3 min read→LeadershipWhat a decade of selling to CMOs taught me about how marketing money is actually spent
2 min read→PE Value CreationWhat does operational due diligence actually cover?
2 min read→LeadershipThe CFO is in the marketing meeting now. Good.
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementShould we bring programmatic media in-house?
2 min read→MediaPrincipal media, explained for the people who sign the invoices
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementHow do you audit a marketing budget?
2 min read→AI EnablementYour AI pilot is a licence, not a strategy
2 min read→AI EnablementWill AI reduce our agency fees?
2 min read→AI EnablementAgentic workflows: what is real in 2026, and what is a demo
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementWhy Your Media Agency Review Is Long Overdue (And How to Run One Without Blowing Up the Relationship)
3 min read→PE Value CreationPrivate equity’s next lever is the vendor stack, not headcount
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementThe RFP Process Most Brands Get Wrong, And How to Fix It
3 min read→Cost OptimizationWhere the money actually is
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementProgrammatic Advertising: Where Your Budget Goes and Why a Chunk of It Shouldn't
3 min read→OperationsHaving a procurement team is not the same as having procurement
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementAgency Roster Bloat Is Costing You More Than You Think
3 min read→IT & Cloud CostAuto-renewal is a business model
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementHow to Negotiate an Agency Contract Without Losing the Agency
3 min read→MediaRetail media is the new programmatic. Same margin, new name.
2 min read→IT & Cloud CostYour SaaS Stack Has a Leak: The Vendor Rationalization Guide
3 min read→LeadershipThe operator’s test for any consultant: will they run it?
2 min read→IT & Cloud CostHow to Stop Overpaying for Cloud Without Firing Your Entire DevOps Team
3 min read→PE Value CreationThe 100-Day Plan Most PE-Backed Companies Don't Actually Execute
2 min read→MediaLog-level data: the clause worth more than the discount
2 min read→PE Value CreationEBITDA Improvement Without Cutting People: The Vendor-First Playbook
2 min read→ModernizationTransformation starts to slip long before the technology fails
3 min read→AI EnablementThe board pack in an afternoon: what automation actually changed
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementFewer agencies, more senior people. Why the small roster wins.
2 min read→Revenue OperationsRevenue Is Stalling and It's Not a Sales Problem
3 min read→IT & Cloud CostThe most boring million in the company
2 min read→IT & Cloud CostWhen cloud spend starts eating margin: the operator's playbook
3 min read→MediaMeasurement is a governance problem, not a data problem
2 min read→LeadershipWhat a good fifteen-minute call sounds like
2 min read→Marketing ProcurementOutdated marketing contracts are quietly draining performance
4 min read→Tell us what you’re working on.
Fifteen minutes. We’ll tell you whether we can help and what the engagement looks like. No pitch deck, no sales cycle.