“No buzzword replaces craftsmanship.” Kirill Bobrov
I saw Kirill’s piece right after a conversation where a related topic came up.
Managers in large organizations love to shop. They want silver bullets. Ideally a menu of comparable options so they can negotiate price, get a discount, take a long weekend, and then shop for the next shiny object.
Anything that doesn’t fit that mold faces an uphill battle.
- If it takes more than a month or two, it feels risky and hard to sustain focus.
- If it requires effort and cost to implement, it’s competing against marketing hype promising better, faster, cheaper.
If building and running a business were just a matter of shopping and buying, it would be easy. And if it were easy, I wouldn’t be writing this.
We have met the enemy, and it is us. I’m pointing the finger at myself here. I’ve fallen for it.
I’ve spent on ad campaigns, agencies, and “systems” pitched like perfect products from “appointments on autopilot” to “power positioning” by people who didn’t understand my business, my customers, or my market. Each time, I hoped I’d found a solution. Each time, I avoided learning the fundamentals of prospecting, building relationships, and marketing my own business.
In over 20 years, nearly every client we’ve ever had came through a partner or referral not a purchased system.
Stay with me. This is relevant, and I will justify these lines as my marketing effort for the day, in the spirit of Alex Hormozi, who I genuinely like and hope to meet some day.
Our actual strategy is simple: be a partner. We invest the time to understand your business. We build long-term relationships because they make us more effective and more affordable over time. When we start a project, we go all in because our livelihoods depend on your success.
The painful truth from my career: the worst outcomes always came when there was a disparity of commitment. As the saying goes, “the chicken is involved, the pig is committed.” We choose to be committed.
Procurement often doesn’t care about relationships, history, or shared success — they care about winning the transaction. That’s short-term thinking.
Yes, we’re competent. We’re experienced. Many of our projects share patterns that make us efficient and cost-effective. But they’re still custom solutions — shaped around your business, data, and goals. The tools we deliver only have value when wielded by committed people.
We are committed because it’s in our wiring, because it’s how we get paid, and because your success is tied to ours. We want you to succeed long-term. If you fail, we fail.
The obsession with tools, shortcuts, and silver bullets is tempting. I’ve been there. But in data, analytics, and AI, the biggest multiplier isn’t the tool, it’s the partnership. It’s two sides equally committed to the goal, willing to invest the focus, time, and hard work it takes to win.
We bring the craft, the experience, and the commitment. What we need from you is the same. When both sides show up, that’s when the magic happens and the results are worth far more than anything you can buy off the shelf.
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