Career
On advertising, strategy, career pivots, and the space between talking and making.
The Portfolio Is the New CV
Why showing what you've built matters more than listing where you've worked. Credentials are fading. Craft is forever.
Read CareerRange Is a Superpower
Pub guide to culture engine to Japanese restaurant finder. Why building across categories isn't scattered - it's strategic. Generalists win.
Read CareerWhat Advertising Taught Me About Building Products
How 15+ years in ad agencies prepared me for product building. The skills are more transferable than you would think.
Read CareerThe 15-Year Pivot
From agency strategist to product builder at 40. Not a career change - a career evolution. Why experience IS the advantage.
Read CareerWhy Every Strategist Should Build Something
Building products gives strategists real empathy for what they're recommending. Stop advising. Start making.
Read CareerSide Projects Are the New MBA
Why building 14 products taught more than any business school could. Shipping beats studying. Doing beats debating.
Read CareerLetter to My Future Employer
An open letter to whoever hires Mike next. What you're getting, what you're not, and why this portfolio IS the interview.
Read CareerNobody Reads Your Strategy Deck
15 years writing strategy decks that nobody read. Why building the thing is the best strategy document. Show, don't present.
Read CareerAdvertising Is Dead. Long Live Advertising.
The industry is unrecognisable. But the core skills - storytelling, audience empathy, creative problem-solving - are more valuable than ever. Just in new containers.
Read CareerThe Brief Is Dead - And Builders Killed It
Why traditional creative briefs fail in a build-first world. When you can go from thought to URL in a day, the brief becomes a relic of a slower era.
Read CareerWhy I Do Not Network - And What I Do Instead
The difference between networking and genuine connection. Why showing your work beats collecting business cards every time.
Read CareerProof I Am Not Just Talk - Why Strategists Need to Build
After 15 years of writing decks and presenting strategies, I needed to prove I could actually make something. The gap between recommending and doing.
Read CareerHead of Culture - The Role That Should Exist Everywhere
Why every brand with physical products needs a Head of Culture. Not a CMO, not a brand manager - someone who connects brand, product, and culture into one coherent thing.
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