Who wants a dusty slide deck that no one reads? Instead, what if your marketing system was built like a campfire—something you tend, feed, and enjoy, night after night?
In this post, we explore how to design a self-reinforcing marketing system : one where all the elements—Product, Price, Placement, Promotion, and People—work together with intention to drive sustainable growth.
You’ll learn :
Why marketing ≠ advertising
How to design your marketing mix for maximum effect
Why permissions-based marketing is more than just legal compliance—it’s a loyalty engine
Which metrics actually matter (spoiler : acronyms abound, but most aren’t as useful as they seem)
Why trying to “do everything” leads to burnout—and how to build capacity instead
This isn’t a newsletter—it’s a builder’s field manual.
The Paradox of Success : Why Customers Fall Out of Love With Growing Brands
Every founder dreams of the moment when their product finally sticks. The market responds, growth takes off, and the team can breathe easier. But often, this is where a hidden problem begins.
As companies scale, they naturally shift focus to growth mechanics—sales funnels, supply chains, hiring, and operations. What gets lost in the shuffle? The very thing that made the business successful in the first place: relentless, purposeful engagement with customers.
This is the paradox of success. In finding market fit and scaling, companies stop doing what got them there—listening closely to customers. Over time, the voice of the customer fades, employees lose touch with the original mission, and when the market inevitably changes, the company is caught off guard.
The solution isn’t simply “talk to customers more.” It’s building a Scalable Feedback Engine—a structured way to capture, distill, and disseminate customer insights across the company, led by a champion who makes sure the customer’s voice never disappears from decision-making.
If you want to build lasting resilience and innovation into your brand, preserving customer focus is non-negotiable.
The Innovation Heartbeat : A Framework for Everyday Innovation
Innovation isn’t just for billion-dollar companies and moonshot projects. It’s about solving real problems with creativity and domain knowledge. A process improvement, a workflow tweak, a feature shaped by customer feedback—these are all innovation in action.
But as companies grow, innovation often stalls. Communication lines stretch, priorities shift, and ideas lose momentum. That’s where the Innovation Heartbeat comes in.
The framework works like a supply chain for ideas, ensuring feedback and insights don’t get stuck but instead flow into real outcomes. It operates in three straightforward phases :
Pulse In –> Collecting feedback from customers.
Fill & Process –> Reviewing and grading feedback into actionable insights.
Pulse Out –> Distributing those insights to stakeholders for ownership and action.
At the center of the framework is the Internal Champion, a role dedicated to curating, advocating, and sharing customer-driven insights. By tracking metrics like time-to-insight, conversion-to-acceptance, and customer signal trends, organizations can build innovation into their culture.
Best of all, it’s easier to implement when your company is small, so the system grows with you.
In this episode of The Journey, Paul sits down with John Kennelly, founder of I Hate Sales, to explore what it really takes to build a business when you’re not a natural-born salesperson.
John shares the raw and relatable story of how he transitioned from the Silicon Valley startup grind to becoming a solo founder… first struggling to land clients, then hitting his stride by doing the one thing most people dread : embracing sales. Along the way, John opens up about early failure, the imposter syndrome that comes with claiming expertise, and how being of service—even for free—can reignite your momentum.
From war stories at Google and Apple-acquired startups, to launching a sales training cohort for first-time founders, this conversation is packed with tactical advice, heartfelt reflection, and one crucial takeaway : being genuinely interested in people is a superpower.
Sales forecasting can feel like the “real” dismal science—especially for builders creating tangible goods. Like public speaking, most dread it until they’ve done it enough to realize they’ll survive. This guide breaks down why forecasting matters and offers practical, time-series-based methods you can start using today.
You’ll learn :
The difference between causal, qualitative, and time-series forecasting
Why early-stage builders should focus on time-series approaches
Four practical models: Historical Comparison, Moving Average, Seasonally-Adjusted Moving Average, and Exponentially-Smoothed Bursting
How to forecast without historical data by basing production on financial risk tolerance
Whether you’re smoothing volatility with a moving average or modelling demand bursts for new product launches, the goal is the same : optimize resources without over-complicating the process. Track your results, refine your methods, and keep building momentum.
Recently, I wrote about the Scalable Feedback Engine— a system that helps you gather customer feedback in a structured, leveraged way as your business grows. But I didn’t get deep into the “how” of collecting feedback itself.
This post is about that.
Put the two pieces together, and you’ve got a working blueprint for using customer insights to fuel innovation in a repeatable, sustainable way.
In August, I’ll also be dropping a free guided tool to help you build your own Scalable Feedback Engine from scratch. But for now, let’s talk about the first piece : gathering feedback.
Walking the Talk (Literally)
If you scroll to the bottom of any post in The Journey, you’ll see a simple request for feedback — and an anonymous link. Dozens of you have already weighed in. Thank you. I’m genuinely walking the walk here : most of the format changes you’ve seen in recent weeks came directly from your input.
That’s part of my own feedback engine. Yours might look different, but the principle is the same:
You have to start by asking questions — and making it easy for people to answer.
But what questions should you ask?
That’s where most builders get stuck.
Anchor Your Questions in Purpose
To get clear answers, you need clear intent. That means rooting your questions in purpose — and not just your organization’s, but also the purpose of the person who’ll use the insights.
“Purpose” can mean a few things :
Organizational purpose — Why does your business exist?
Team or functional purpose — What’s this group here to accomplish?
Personal purpose — What impact are you, as a builder, trying to make?
Let’s bring this into focus with a few examples.
Context-Based Purpose in Action
Ask yourself: Who is the stakeholder, and what are they trying to achieve?
Is it a delivery team leader trying to improve customer experience?
A product designer aiming to create better kitchen tools?
A sales leader trying to align messaging and pipeline?
Each one of these people has a different lens. If you understand their purpose, you can craft better questions — and ask them at the right time, in the right way.
Stay Focused, Damnit.
Most first-time surveys are vague, catch-all monsters. One survey, 25 unrelated questions, blasted out to the entire list.
You might get lucky with a few useful responses — but mostly, you’ll get noise.
People don’t respond well to vague questions. They don’t have time to reason through what you’re trying to figure out.
So help them.
Create distinct feedback mechanisms for specific stakeholder–purpose pairings. Distribute them through relevant touchpoints. Use automation to reduce overhead — but always keep your questions purposeful.
Here are a few quick Do This / Not That examples:
Delivery Experience
DO THIS : Include a QR code to a feedback survey on the packing slip or delivery receipt.
NOT THAT : Ask about delivery experience as one of 30 questions in a generic annual marketing survey.
Product Design
DO THIS : Go outside. Talk to 25 strangers. Ask what they love and hate about their kitchen counter setup.
NOT THAT: Ask your newsletter list to email you about their dream countertop.
Sales Experience
DO THIS : Send a personal email survey to your 10 oldest and 10 newest customers. Ask what pain points you solved.
NOT THAT : Drop a Net Promoter Score link in your email signature and call it a day.
Again, even the “Not That” options aren’t wrong — but they’re misaligned with purpose. Misalignment = missed opportunity.
Touchpoints Matter
Need inspiration? I put together a free resource: The Big Ol’ List of Feedback Touchpoints. No email required — just a Google Doc.
Don’t default to the easiest channel. Choose the one most relevant to the audience and their journey.
Rethinking Incentives
Your superfans will give you feedback because they care. That’s great — but it only gets you so far.
You’ll need to motivate folks outside your core circle too.
Cash incentives and gift cards work — but they get expensive. Instead, get creative with the value you offer :
Game dev? Offer an exclusive skin or badge.
Coffee shop? Free coffee for a week if they complete the survey. Bonus: feature a new blend you’re testing.
eComm brand? Award loyalty points for participation.
Think of it as a value exchange. You’re already asking them to trade money for your product — now offer a little value in return for their thoughts about it.
Creating an Innovation Heartbeat
Even the best survey in the world is worthless if it goes nowhere.
Insights must be circulated, not just collected.
That’s where the concept of an Innovation Heartbeat comes in :
Input phase : Feedback is gathered (heart expands)
Output phase : Insights are shared with decision-makers (heart contracts)
This rhythm — like a literal heartbeat — keeps your organization healthy. It builds habits. It brings visibility to customer needs across departments. And it works no matter your company size.
Three-person team? Review feedback monthly as a group.
Three-hundred-person company? Break down meetings by stakeholder group. Set regular cadences.
The key is routine. Feedback isn’t a one-off activity. It’s a pulse.
Insights Fuel Innovation
Innovation becomes exhausting when it’s solely the responsibility of the internal team. You already have a day job — brainstorming better ways to serve customers shouldn’t fall entirely on your shoulders.
By integrating customer feedback into a scalable, habitual system, you lighten the load — and unlock a stream of outside-in thinking.
You’re no longer guessing what customers want. You’re co-creating it with them.
Final Thought
The sooner you start, the easier it becomes to build a habit around feedback. And when feedback becomes habitual, so does innovation.
And innovation? That’s how you stay relevant. It’s how you avoid being commoditized. It’s how you create the kind of business that’s hard to copy — and easy to love.
Good businesses talk to their customers.
Great businesses listen to their customers.
Exceptional businesses build around them.
Be that kind of business.
—
This article is a part of my series on topics for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and people who just love building things. I podcast and post weekly with tools and guides on The Journey. Check out the companion piece here : https://6catalysts.substack.com/p/survey-smarter-turn-questions-into-gold
In this month’s Ask-Me-Anything edition of The Journey, we respond to Elena from Thessaloniki, who’s grappling with a powerful question: should she focus all her energy on launching one unforgettable mythology-themed tour, or offer a broader selection of decent ones?
The post unpacks how to test and validate a “minimum lovable product” in tourism—without quitting your job or blowing your budget. It dives into the mindset of portfolio careers, the power of storytelling in boutique travel, and practical steps for idea validation, from local collaborations to low-cost pilots.
This one’s for anyone wondering if “less but better” is truly the path to success—or if spreading out risk with multiple offers is the safer bet. Hint: the answer is smarter than either extreme.
Running your business isn’t the same thing as building your business.
Are You Working In the Business or On It? Here’s Why That Difference Matters More Than You Think
You’re clocking 60+ hours a week. Your calendar is a war zone. You’re juggling operations, firefighting problems, and trying to keep your team motivated.
But here’s the real question :
Is your business actually growing the way you want it to?
If the answer is no, it might be time to revisit a concept you’ve probably heard before :
You need to work on the business, not just in the business.
It’s a mantra passed around in entrepreneurial circles like gospel. But many founders misinterpret it — or ignore it — until they find themselves overwhelmed and off course.
And here’s a nuance that’s rarely discussed : the more you distance yourself from the day-to-day, the more you risk losing touch with the soul of your company. Culture drifts. Vision fades. Momentum stalls.
That’s not just a cautionary tale. It’s a reality for many builders who wake up one day and realize they’ve created something they don’t even recognize.
Let’s unpack what it really means to work in the business versus on the business — and how to strike the balance that growth actually requires.
Working In the Business
When you’re working in the business, you’re embedded in the day-to-day. You’re in the weeds : running operations, solving customer problems, fixing bottlenecks, managing your team, and shipping the product.
This is often called “Founder Mode,” and it’s gained a resurgence of popularity — especially after Paul Graham (of Y Combinator) rebranded it in 2024. Silicon Valley treated it like a revelation. But the truth is, leaders have been operating this way for decades. It’s not new — it’s just been repackaged.
Working in the business isn’t a bad thing. In fact, there’s immense value in being present :
You build credibility with your team by showing up
You gain situational awareness that outsiders miss
You can solve problems quickly and directly
It also aligns with servant-leadership principles — rolling up your sleeves and putting team success above your own comfort. Many of the best leaders I’ve known favor this style.
But there’s a downside.
When you’re too deep in the daily grind, it’s hard to maintain peripheral vision. You stop seeing the bigger picture. You miss strategic opportunities. You optimize for today instead of building for tomorrow.
You can’t see the forest for the trees.
And that’s a dangerous place to be when you’re responsible for shaping the future.
Working On the Business
This is where real growth happens.
Working on the business means stepping back to think about how the business operates — and how it can improve. It’s about treating your company like a product : something to be iterated, optimized, and intentionally shaped.
Instead of asking :
“What task needs to be done today?”
You ask :
“How can we design this business to create happier customers, more effective teams, and better outcomes — at scale?”
This mindset shift is powerful. It’s also uncomfortable, because it forces you to think like a system builder, not just a taskmaster.
Let’s use a simple analogy.
You already know that customers need things from your business — products, services, pricing, support.
But have you considered that your employees are also customers? They need things from you, too :
Fair compensation
Clear direction
Tools that actually work
A sense of purpose
Room to grow
When you start viewing employees as internal customers, everything changes. You begin managing them with the same intentionality you manage your external relationships. You start solving real problems — on both sides of the equation.
And guess what?
That’s the work of building a great business.
How to Think Like a Builder (Not Just a Doer)
When you’re working on the business, these questions become your compass :
How do we make this simpler?
How do we make this more effective?
How do we build our capacity to create happy customers?
The answers might lead you to new systems, tools, team structures, or workflows. They might also highlight where you’re overcomplicating things or holding on to outdated processes.
But here’s the key : when you treat this kind of work as a real project — with goals, milestones, and deliverables — you stop spinning your wheels and start building momentum.
Why You Need to Do Both
This isn’t an either-or situation.
The best leaders switch between modes. They observe and participate, then zoom out and redesign.
Working in the business helps you see what’s broken. Working on the business helps you fix it for the long term.
One builds trust. The other builds systems.
You need both to scale without losing your sanity — or your soul.
How to Balance the Two (Without Burning Out)
Yes, it’s possible to do both. But it’s hard. That’s why most people default to one or the other.
Here’s what’s worked for me :
Segment your time aggressively.
Spend 3 weeks each month working in the business
Reserve 1 week each month to work on the business
Protect that week like you would a meeting with your top client
And when you do work on the business, treat it like any other strategic initiative. Document your plans. Write down your goals. Use a real framework — like SMARTER goals — to give your ideas structure.
SMARTER stands for :
Specific
Measurable
Actionable
Relevant
Timely
Evaluated regularly
Revised based on outcomes
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been buried in the day-to-day and growth feels stagnant, it’s time to step back.
Not forever. Just long enough to see the forest again. To notice the friction points. To reconnect with your vision. And to ask : What’s really needed to move this business forward?
Then, when you step back into the day-to-day, you’ll bring that clarity with you.
Working in the business builds strength.
Working on the business builds direction.
Doing both makes you a builder worth following.
—
This was originally posted as an article on my Substack, The Journey. You can check out the companion podcast episode there (links out to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YT Podcasts) :
Exceptional businesses make customer needs the centre of everything they do.
But how do you actually do that?
How do you scale customer feedback in a way that drives innovation — not just more data entry?
How do you ensure that as your business grows, your connection to the customer doesn’t shrink?
Let’s break it down.
The Real Risk of Growth
There’s a quiet paradox baked into success : the more your business grows, the easier it becomes to lose touch with the very people who helped you grow in the first place — your customers.
It happens all the time. You hit traction. You build processes. You get busy. Suddenly, customer feedback isn’t something you’re living and breathing every day — it’s a report you look at once a quarter.
That’s not how you build an enduring business.
To stay close to your customers, even as you scale, you need more than a suggestion box and a feedback form. You need what I call a Scalable Feedback Engine.
What Is a Scalable Feedback Engine?
It’s the system that keeps the voice of the customer alive in your organization — even when you’re not in the room.
At its core, it’s a combination of :
The right tools
The right processes
The right person (a champion who owns it)
Let’s walk through each layer, and how they come together.
Anatomy of a Scalable Feedback Engine
To function well, your feedback engine needs five key components :
1. The Champion
This person is the voice of the customer inside your business. They synthesize insights, communicate them to decision-makers, and advocate for change. Without a champion, even the best research dies in a slide deck.
2. The Surveying Layer
This is how you collect input — surveys, polls, feedback forms. Tools like Google Forms, Typeform, or SurveyMonkey fall into this category.
3. The Data Aggregation Layer
Once data is collected, you need to make sense of it. This layer helps you clean, sort, and visualize feedback. Think Excel, Google Sheets, or BI tools like Looker Studio or Power BI.
4. The Insights Layer
This is where human intelligence comes in. It’s how you convert raw data into useful conclusions. Often, the format here is a presentation, a report, or a strategy brief.
5. The Communications Layer
This is how you reach out to customers to collect feedback, and how you report results internally. Email, SMS, WhatsApp — whatever channels your customers already use.
A Real-World Example
Meet Sylvie.
Sylvie is the feedback champion at her company. Here’s how she runs her engine :
She sends a survey using Google Forms (surveying layer)
She builds the campaign in Brevo (communications layer)
She analyzes the responses in Google Sheets (data aggregation)
She prepares a PowerPoint presentation for stakeholders (insights layer)
She schedules follow-up discussions to socialize the findings
Sylvie’s system isn’t complex — but it’s effective because she drives it with consistency and clarity.
Tools of the Trade : What Belongs in Your Stack?
Let’s run through some go-to tools for each layer of your feedback engine.
Communications Layer
Your existing marketing tools often work well here. Look for ones with strong integration capabilities.
The best feedback engines don’t feel like static systems — they feel like conversations.
And they keep evolving based on what you learn, too.
Final Thoughts
Customer feedback is not a luxury. It’s not “nice to have.” It’s your source code.
As your business scales, so must your ability to listen. To make sense of what you hear. And to take action on what matters.
That’s the difference between “talking” to your customers and actually building a business around them.
A Scalable Feedback Engine makes that difference visible — and powerful.
—
This article is a part of my series on topics for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and people who just love building things. I podcast and post weekly with tools and guides on The Journey.
The Market-Maker Method : How to Validate a Big Idea Before You Build It
When the stakes are high, guesswork isn’t good enough.
Whether you’re preparing to launch a brand-new product, disrupt an entrenched category, or bring something to market that has no clear precedent — what you need isn’t just confidence, but proof.
That’s where the Market-Maker Method comes in.
It’s the most advanced and resource-intensive of the idea validation approaches — but also the most powerful. Done right, it gives you the closest thing to real market feedback you can get before investing in a working prototype or full-scale launch.
You’re not asking if your idea is good. You’re watching how real people behave when it’s placed in front of them.
What Makes This Method Different?
This approach flips the script : instead of explaining your idea to friends or bouncing it around a boardroom, you simulate a real launch. You build a proxy marketing campaign for the product or service as if it already exists — or will be available soon — and then measure how the market responds.
It’s part performance, part experiment. And it can generate incredibly valuable signals if you set it up right.
It’s especially well-suited for :
Innovative or unfamiliar ideas that require customer education
High-investment decisions where you need strong validation before committing
Concepts without clear comparables in the market
And if the stakes are truly high, you can chain this method after others :
Start with the Contrarian Method to challenge assumptions
Refine with the Alignment (Make-Believe) Method
Pressure-test with Customer-Centric field validation
Then roll into a Market-Maker proxy launch to simulate real-world conditions
Why Not Just Launch the Real Thing?
Simple : it’s risky and expensive.
The Market-Maker Method gives you a safer and faster way to validate critical assumptions — like pricing, value propositions, and target audience resonance — before investing time and capital in building the actual product or service.
It’s like staging a dress rehearsal for your business. Only your audience is made up of real customers.
Two Paths to Execution
You’ve got options for how to run the simulation :
Use an external platform, like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or Quirky. These platforms come with built-in traffic and legitimacy, but they also make your idea public — and… rip-off’able.
Host it yourself, on your own website, with landing pages and a paid ad campaign. This gives you more control and privacy, but it requires more infrastructure and spend.
Worried about intellectual property? You’re not alone. If you’re dealing with a tangible product that could be cloned before you can go to market, you can mitigate the risk by :
Simulating a comparable concept that tests your core assumptions without revealing your proprietary design
Using gated landing pages only accessible through paid ad campaigns
Minimizing traceability by not linking the test directly to your main brand
What You’ll Need
To pull this off well, you’ll need a small but capable cross-functional team :
A marketing analyst who understands what metrics to track and how to interpret them
A content creator who can craft compelling messaging and visuals
A digital marketer who knows how to build landing pages and ad funnels
(Optional) A paid ads specialist, or enough budget to test via Facebook, Google, or other platforms
Expect to spend $1,000 to $5,000 USD on traffic acquisition if you’re hosting it yourself. This should give you enough data to spot trends and measure real intent.
What You’ll Do
Think of this like a minimum viable launch — just without the product.
Here’s a structured plan :
1. Choose Your Simulation Format
External platform (Kickstarter, etc.)
Self-hosted website with landing pages and ad funnels
2. Assemble Your Team
Assign roles based on your available resources and skill sets
3. Build a Lightweight Plan
Include only what you need to stay aligned :
Visual customer journey map (optional but helpful)
Pricing/offer structures to test
Marketing messages and benefit statements
Success/failure thresholds
Timeline and trigger points for content release or ad spend
4. Create Your Assets
Landing page(s) with purchase signals (e.g., pre-order button, cart)
Product imagery, copy, and video (if relevant)
Email drips or remarketing sequences
Ad creatives and targeting parameters
5. Set Up Measurement Tools
Conversion tracking (clicks, add-to-cart, form fills, opt-ins)
Page scroll depth, bounce rate, time on page
Ad performance and audience engagement data
6. Run a Dry Test
Have people not involved in the build go through your simulation to test usability, clarity, and friction points.
7. Launch
Turn on your ads, share the page (if relevant), and monitor engagement in real time. Follow your planned triggers and timelines.
8. Review the Results
Once the test concludes, analyze :
Conversion rates
Audience behaviour
Offer resonance
Engagement depth
Did you hit your success thresholds? Did customers act as expected? If so, you’ve got strong evidence that your spark is ready to become something real.
Key Advantages
This is as close to real market validation as you can get without launching a product. If you execute it well, you’ll gain :
Behavioural proof, not just opinions
Ready-to-use marketing assets if you go to launch
A warm lead list from opt-ins collected during the campaign Exposure to new potential customers
This method doesn’t just validate — it helps you build momentum.
But It’s Not for the Faint of Heart
There are tradeoffs :
It’s complex. This is the most involved of the validation methods.
It’s not cheap. Even a basic campaign will cost something to run — especially if using paid ads.
It takes time. Treat it like a real mini-launch, because that’s essentially what it is.
Brand risk exists. If money changes hands and you can’t fulfill, you risk reputational harm. Be transparent.
Still, for high-stakes ideas, the value you get from this approach dwarfs the cost of doing it wrong in the real market.
Final Thoughts
The Market-Maker Method isn’t a shortcut. It’s a proving ground.
It demands planning, cross-functional execution, and a willingness to go beyond feedback and into behavior. But the payoff is real insight — how your customers will actually respond, not just what they say they like.
So if your spark is bold, unconventional, or deeply important to your next chapter — don’t wait for certainty. Simulate it.
Launch the version you haven’t built yet.
And see what the market tells you.
Want the checklist and templates I use for Market-Maker tests?
![[Medium] Survey Smarter : How to Turn Questions into Gold](https://6catalysts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/six-catalysts-survey-smarter.webp)
![[Medium] Working ON the Business](https://6catalysts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/e95187a2-1d6e-4a7c-86c9-435f278293c4_969x574.webp)
![[Medium] Two Tin Cans and a String](https://6catalysts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/the-journey-two-tin-cans-and-a-string.webp)
![[Medium] Testing Ideas : The Market-Maker Method](https://6catalysts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/c9e9ec02-f7e4-4a2b-99b2-972d1a188c0b_1024x608.webp)
