Authenticity just became an even bigger selling feature. A 2025 arXiv study found that people (and even AI tools) can only tell fake product reviews from real ones about half the time. That’s no better than a coin toss. And it means the entire review economy is breaking. For product makers, this changes how trust is built. Buyers are looking less at stars and more at signals of real humanity. So design for proof, not perfection. Show verified-user badges prominently. Offer quick video...
3 days ago • 1 min read
The most persuasive thing a brand can say is the truth that stands to hurt its pitch. I was surprised to read this in an email from Backblaze, the cloud backup company we use for offsite data protection: “Drives are failing less, and lasting longer. The classic bathtub curve no longer fits.” That’s not the message you’d expect from a company whose business was built on the FEAR of lost data. Know what? It made me trust them MORE. Because hard drives still eventually fail, and just as...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Haptics just jumped from niche tech to Costco shelves, and that changes everything. I recently wrote about the haptic F1 movie trailer you could feel through your phone. And then Costco handed me the sequel. I was walking past the electronics aisle and there it was: a full haptic vest. Not tucked in a boutique VR shop. Not showcased in a gaming expo. Front and center at Costco, between air fryers and family packs of granola bars. That’s when it was official for me. Haptics aren’t emerging...
5 days ago • 1 min read
The moment you touch a new product, the story you’ve built in your head gets rewritten. I’ve been eagerly waiting for the prototype of a product I’m helping launch. Even after photos, drawings, and deep discussions, I know my whole understanding will shift the moment I use it in real life. That’s psychological distance at play. Until something is in your hands for real, your brain can only imagine so much, all based on what you’ve experienced with status quo products. A recent ScienceDirect...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Big innovation rarely comes from big teams. Every startup founder dreams of becoming HUGE. But a recent Forbes article found that the most successful consumer brands are scaling innovation through micro-teams. Those are small, cross-functional groups that move fast, prototype quickly, and own outcomes. Four to six people.Tight mandate.Direct access to users. That’s it. The formula that’s been working in real life. For product makers, it’s a model worth copying. Small teams launch sooner,...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Seven days out, plan to make buying and fulfilling easy, and to avoid torching margin. Black Friday is ridiculously stressful for many product makers. It doesn’t have to be. Decide right now what you will not do. Set a firm floor on discounts. YOU own your pricing. Protect your best-sellers. Say no to panic promos that drain cash and train bad expectations. Then make the win obvious. Bundle what already sells together. Pre-promote a single, clear offer and a simple landing page. Publish...
8 days ago • 1 min read
If people don’t assume your product is high-end, delaying the price reveal can be an unpleasant surprise. Startup founder Dwight in San Diego wrote in response to my post about strategically delaying the price reveal, but only if your brand is premium: “Any suggestions for getting to the point where customers expect to pay more?” For sure. And none of them involve raising your price first. Premium is earned through strong signals. Stack enough of them, and buyers walk (or click) in expecting...
9 days ago • 1 min read
In product innovation, speed-to-market now outperforms scale. A new Siemens report found that the consumer goods brands winning today aren’t the ones launching more products. Nope. They happen to be the ones launching products faster. Instead of betting on a giant portfolio, they ship a smaller, smarter version … then learn, tweak, and relaunch. That’s a lesson for every product maker, not just CPG giants. Don’t wait for perfection. Build your minimum WOW product (the simplest version that...
10 days ago • 1 min read
If buyers expect your product to be expensive, making them wait for the price can make them want it more. New research in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that when shoppers anticipate a premium product, delaying price disclosure boosts sales. The wait nudges their internal reference price upward, so the final number feels more justified. But if buyers expect “cheap,” hiding your price backfires. They assume it must be too high, and bounce. So how do YOU use this? For premium or novel...
11 days ago • 1 min read
