Which problem matches yours?
Eight situations I get called for. Each links to the engagement that fits — a Sprint, a 90-Day Program, or Advisory — and to the kind of outcome the work produces.
Considering a launch.
Format, brand, product, or market. Before the rollout budget is committed.
A bet that needs to land on the first try.
Launches burn momentum when they miss. A pre-launch simulation reveals which version actually lands with your audience before the marketing budget is committed.
Decision Sprint, 2–4 weeks
Ranked launch options. Scenario tests against real audience data. Go / no-go recommendation with a 30-day execution plan.
€3.1M redirected, 14 days
A multinational publisher’s €4M audio rollout redirected to the option that actually held with target listeners.
Evaluating an acquisition.
Target fit, synergy reality, integration risk — before the LOI.
Due diligence, stress-tested.
The finance team models the deal. Integration risk, portfolio overlap, and audience cannibalization usually don’t live in the model.
Decision Sprint or Advisory
Sprint if the decision is one-shot. Advisory if you’re building deal muscle inside the group.
€42M overlap isolated pre-deal
Top-5 European group identified revenue overlap and integration risk 19 days before the board vote.
Revenue plateau.
Numbers flat for three quarters. Team split on what to change.
The plateau is expensive and political.
Push harder or pivot. Both sides have numbers. The evidence-based tie-breaker usually doesn’t exist yet.
90-Day Growth Program
Monthly experiments with weekly scoreboards. Kill what doesn’t work. Double down on what does.
+31% direct revenue, 90 days
Regional news-talk group pivoted to ads + supporter model. Every month paid for itself.
Regulatory shift.
DSA, AI Act, licensing, carriage deals — translate the policy into P&L.
Compliance cost meets strategic choice.
Regulation redraws what’s possible. The question isn’t “how do we comply” — it’s “which of our moves still work”.
Decision Sprint, 3–4 weeks
Option set modeled against the new regulatory constraints. Posture recommended. Cost profile transparent.
€7M compliance cost reduced
Global media group re-ranked its DSA response across 3 markets in 18 days. Legal signed. CFO signed.
Format decision.
Keep, flip, or spin off — tested with real audience before the money moves.
Three internal camps. One flagship.
Programming, sales, and strategy each have a view. Simulated audience response usually ends the debate in week two.
Decision Sprint
Ranked format options. Audience response simulated for each. A recommendation signed off in 2–4 weeks.
+18% satisfaction, +2.1 pts share
Owner-led AM/FM group in the Pacific region settled the split and gained share against the incumbent in one quarter.
Talent or brand bet.
A flagship hire, a rebrand, a personality deal — not reversible without damage.
The bet leaves a footprint either way.
A star host, a new brand, an exclusivity deal. The cost of being wrong is not just money — it’s the headline.
Decision Sprint
Brand and talent tested pre-announcement with target audiences. Risk profile quantified before the contract.
Headline avoided
A broadcaster redirected a costly content move one week before announcement to a stronger option.
Monetization pivot.
Ads to subs, subs to bundles, bundles to SaaS — with a P&L that still works.
The model change is existential.
The wrong pivot can kill the business faster than the plateau it’s trying to solve. Pacing and sequencing matter.
90-Day Program + Sprint
Sprint to frame the pivot. 90-Day Program to run the experiments and codify the new model.
8,400 paying supporters, 90 days
Regional news-talk group moved from ads-only to ads + supporter with no incremental audience spend.
AI integration.
Where it moves revenue. Where it’s noise. Where it becomes a liability.
A lot of hype. A few real levers.
Content generation, audience modeling, programming optimization, ad ops, discovery — each with different economics. The hard part is ranking them.
Decision Sprint
Ranked AI bets against real revenue levers. Built on our own stack: MusicDatak and MediaDatak.
Built with François Pachet
Former director of Spotify’s Creator Technology Research Lab and of Sony Computer Science Laboratory.
Your situation isn’t on this page?
Say it on a 20-minute call. I’ve usually seen it before — 30+ markets, 30+ years — and if not, the call is free.