The Superposition Game Show is Back!!!

Have you ever sat there and thought: “Hmm, I wish there was a incredibly niche game show that highlighted Data & AI consultants like myself or people they find interesting, like maybe one where I could go talk about my work and my personal passions while I play a series of progressively more unhinged games and the game show host had a hilarious crash-out every episode trying to keep track of the scores (which are totally meaningless anyways), and sometimes his cat hosts the show too?”

Don’t lie, I bet you have. And I bet you’ve come up empty so far.

WELL, FRIEND, DO I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU, BECAUSE THE GAME SHOW OF YOUR DREAMS IS HERE!!!

(and has already been here before, but that’s beside the point 🤣)

Now, in case you live under a rock or we’ve never met (or if you’re extremely confused), let me catch you up: I think most of the content consultancies in the Data & AI world put out is boring AF. So last year, to finally fight back against that blob of sadness, I built a whole show where I pit 3-4 of your favorite Data & AI nerds against each other in a series of ridiculous games so they can tell you all about their expertise, projects, and passions.

The rules of the show are simple:
1. There are no rules
2. Nothing matters, and I decide the points based on how chaotic you are
3. Make David laugh, and you win
4. I change my mind every 5 mins (see rule #1)

Season 1 was a huge success: 12 episodes (including a LinkedIn livestream and even an in-person one!), over 40 victims contestants, and so many amazing insights into the lives of the wonderful people in our industry.

But it wasn’t nearly enough, so we’re all the way back now with more of EVERYTHING. More ridiculous games. More illustrious guests. More nonsense scoring decisions. More hilarious moments. Maybe even a Halloween costume or two.

Plus, if you guys are nice, you might get a few episodes hosted by my cat Plum.

If you’ve ever heard me talk about this, you’ll know this show is a huge labor of love. I put a lot of care into it, but this show is really about YOU, and the things that make us Data & AI consultants (and the people that help us succeed) special.

So if you want to risk it all to play my stupid games, whether you are a Data & AI consultant (or really any type of expert in that field), someone who serves consultants, or just a huge fan of game shows, I want to hear from you. I’m looking for a few brave souls for the first batch of episodes in the coming weeks, so reply to this email or fill my interest form here so I can reach out to you!

And if you’d like to get a sense for what the show looks like, check out one of my favorite episodes of the first season!

Bring your friends, bring your pets, bring your family. All are welcome for season 2 of the Superposition Game Show!!

I’m not too proud to admit that, for a while now, the way I’ve talked about what I do for other Data & AI consultancies hasn’t been precise enough, and honestly, it’s been one of the biggest pains in growing my company.

I mean, sure, the current pitch centered on being a consultancy for other Data/AI consultancies works well enough to generate business. But if I want to majorly grow, I have to be real with myself that the problems a consultancy needs help with are more tied to what stage they’re in (even if they all have exactly the same expertise).

Seems stupidly obvious in hindsight, but I’d be lying if I said it hit me right away.

It wasn’t until I talked to many of them face-to-face these past few months that I realized how awkward it felt to message the value of the different versions of my work depending on who I was talking to, BECAUSE I WAS USING THE SAME MESSAGE FOR ALL OF THEM.

I’ve noticed that no matter how mature they are, every one of my clients is navigating an existential crisis. But the shape (and magnitude) of the crisis depends on their context:

A founder just starting their shop (think under $100K in revenue) is usually knee-deep in a gnarly identity crisis, so as someone more comfortable with technical details, you just need basic structure to get through it.

A founder in my current sweet spot ($200K-$3M) is hitting their first big freak out. The type that hits you when you’ve succeeded despite yourself, and you suddenly realize the things that made you initially successful don’t scale, so you need data and advice on what play to call next.

And a founder leading a mature shop ($3M+) doesn’t need advice, they need alignment and a clear vision for what’s ahead in our industry, which is changing faster than any of us can keep up with. So you know what to do, but just need a vehicle to get your team (or your clients) on the same page.

What’s surprised me is that the work itself looks really similar across all three. Same frameworks, same kinda advisory sessions, same workshops, same, same, same.

I was saying the same thing to everyone when I really should’ve been doing the same work, and personalizing the message instead.

So next week, that’s where we’re headed.

Which means, to start, that if you’re running a Data & AI consultancy in its very early days (or thinking about starting one), you’re going to want to tune in both to my LinkedIn page later this week, and to this newsletter next Monday 👀👀

(and if you run a more mature shop, your turn is coming in a few weeks)

Everyone you know has a super ridiculous theory for why big consultancies are struggling these days: AI, client fatigue, bad reputations for us consultants, poor results delivered, consultants being mean or something, the weather is annoying so they hate us, or just good ol’ bad luck on our part.

But my take is that you can wishcast whatever reason you feel like if that fits the narrative you have in your head….

For many years, large consultancies grew at an insane rate based on how easy it was for clients to borrow money in the days of Zero Interest Rate Policies (ZIRP).

Ask any consultant you know who was around during that golden era - it was like your average F500 was literally giving money away to needy consultants across the world. Great times were had all around!

But those days are gone.

Why, you ask? Because when borrowing is expensive at an enterprise level (such as it is today), discretionary services like consulting are the first to go.

That’s not a conspiracy theory, so take your tinfoil hats off. It’s just basic math.

Everyone in our industry wants to pretend there’s some nefarious reason for our struggles as an industry, but the reason is muuuuch simpler than that. Interest rates are high, and continue to climb, so that means:

If you’re running a boutique shop, though, you’re not hopeless adrift in an unrelenting ocean! You can fight back against this reality by experimenting with anything from value-based pricing to wholesale changes of delivery models to be both more oriented around closely aligning to the needs of clients, or to position to pursue smaller clients to make up for lack of overall demand.

Big shops can’t do this, and that’s what’s really killing them these days.

This is the final part of an 8-part series where I talk about the factors that make Big 4 consultancies successful. Want to see the others? Let me know by replying to this note, or check back next week, where I’ll summarize all of them!

My favorite part of hosting a game show for consulting nerds is that they always go, "Wait, you have a GAME SHOW?!" like they're picturing something fun and quirky like Jeopardy

And then I’m just sitting there looking like:

(For legal reasons, I have been advised by my legal team to clarify that no human, animal, or egos (maybe??) has or will be harmed in the production of the Superposition Game Show 😉)

If you’ve enjoyed the topics I talked about today and want to learn more about my work - let’s chat!

I specialize in helping founders of boutique Data & AI consultancies of all shapes and sizes overcome existential problems in their growth.

So if you’re finding yourself stuck as your shop scales, I’m here to help!

Want to talk about a problem internal to your company? Sign up for a free therapy session with me!

Want help to expand, ideate, and scope Data & AI projects with your clients? Sign up for a demo workshop!

And if you want more details, check out my:

Otherwise, thank you so much for reading, please make sure you vote in the poll above, and see you next week!

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