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Scaling a business is only progress if it doesn’t come at the expense of discipline and resilience. That’s the focus of the second book in my Three Secrets series, which I’ve recently reduced in price for newsletter subscribers – details below. The same thread runs through this week’s edition: AI that delivers real returns, advertising that targets so precisely it stops feeling shared, and strategy that works when attention, energy and budgets are finite. It’s all about smart growth.

Enjoy!

A special subscriber offer: book two

Last week I shared the first book in my Three Secrets series – now it’s the turn of the second. The Three Secrets to Scaling Your Company reveals how to grow without losing control. It lays out the three disciplines that stop growth from turning into chaos, drawing on lessons from my own ventures and from founders who’ve been through the fire. For the next two weeks, subscribers can pick it up on Amazon for just 77p, before it returns to £19.99. If you do buy a copy, I’d be grateful for a quick verified review — they make a real difference to rankings and visibility. Check it out here.

Advertising in 2030: AI, biometrics and purpose fatigue

WPP’s latest survey of industry experts suggests the next five years will hardwire AI into the creative process, normalise biometric logins and push hyper-targeted personalisation to new extremes. But not every trend runs hot: consumers remain price-sensitive, with “purpose” playing second fiddle to affordability. The picture is one of consolidation rather than revolution – advertising still exists, but reshaped by technology that makes messages more precise, while ‘bot-to-bot marketing’ becomes a reality. Read the full report here.

AI delivers ROI faster than expected

A new Google Cloud survey of 3,466 global executives finds that the AI hype cycle has moved firmly into the ROI phase. Nearly nine in ten early adopters of “agentic AI” – systems that can act independently within guardrails – report positive returns, with the strongest gains in productivity, customer experience, business growth, marketing and security. Time-to-market has shortened to as little as three months, while C-suite sponsorship emerges as the biggest differentiator between experiments that stall and programmes that deliver. For boards still weighing the business case, the data points to a simple truth: the return comes fastest when AI is embedded in workflows, not treated as a side project. Check out the survey here.

When no news is good news

Almost half of UK adults now say they sometimes or often avoid the news, according to research cited by the Guardian. Rising anxiety, feelings of helplessness and an overload of grim headlines are driving the behaviour. Instead of constant updates, people are choosing selective exposure – dipping into stories they can act on and skipping those that feel overwhelming. For businesses, it underlines a wider shift in attention: audiences are becoming more intentional about where they spend their focus and gravitate to content that feels useful or actionable. Read the article here.

Why European startups are sprinting uphill

A new report reveals that Europe continues to lag in scaling its startups, not for lack of ideas or talent but because of structural drag. Founders face slow incorporation processes, patchwork regulation and a funding landscape skewed toward late-stage bets rather than early capital. Markets remain fragmented by borders, languages and rules, making expansion harder than in the US or China. Add in cautious investors and limited domestic tech giants to act as acquirers, and the continent’s brightest companies often head abroad to realise their potential. Find out more here.

Do consumers really care about brand purpose?

Research across the UK, US and Australia shows that even for brands most heavily invested in social or environmental purpose, awareness among consumers remains surprisingly low – on average just 18%, and possibly closer to 9% once guessing is accounted for. Among 14 exemplar purpose-led brands, only Nike stood out, thanks largely to its size and penetration. The lesson for brands is that purpose must be more than a mission statement. Without recognition, it’s unlikely to move behaviour or deliver commercial value. Read part one of the report here.

Jaguar holds course amid backlash over radical rebrand

Jaguar’s new “hot pink” branding and luxe repositioning sparked uproar among loyalists, traditionalists and even figures like Donald Trump. The rebrand is more than cosmetic: Jaguar expects only about 15% of its current customer base to stay (yes, you read that right), as it leans into an exclusive, electric-only future. Caught between critics and the risk of alienating decades of heritage, managing director Rawdon Glover insists the move is deliberate and necessary. The question for Jaguar – and any legacy brand – is whether the perception risk pays off when the cars finally arrive, or whether it becomes a case study in how not to transition. Find out more in this great paywall-lifted piece in the WSJ.​

Why sick leave is rising – and what actually works

UK employees are now absent an average of nearly two working weeks a year, the highest level in over a decade, according to CIPD and Simplyhealth. The drivers are familiar – mental health, musculoskeletal issues and everyday illness – but the response is often backward-looking. Most firms still lean on counselling or EAPs once problems are entrenched, while fewer than a third train managers to spot and support issues early. Where culture and job design are addressed – through flexibility, manageable workloads and targeted prevention – organisations see faster improvements than from any after-the-fact interventions. Read the report here.

AI prompt of the week: how to evolve your business without breaking it

You've learned so much since launching that you can see exactly how you'd build your product better today – but you're trapped by existing customers and the fear of disrupting what works. This prompt helps you design a systematic evolution strategy that incorporates hard-won insights without destroying existing value.

Design a strategic evolution roadmap for my product. If I rebuilt from scratch today, what would I do differently based on [current learnings, user feedback, market changes]?

My context: [product description], [user base], [key constraints], [biggest insights since launch]

Create a three-phase plan: Foundation improvements (0-6 months), strategic shifts (6-18 months), transformation completion (18+ months).

Include: Risk mitigation strategies, testing frameworks for major changes, customer communication plans and methods for prioritising which insights to act on first without disrupting current operations or revenue.

Drop me a line

That’s all for now – thanks for reading. Keep an eye out for the unexpected this week because I’ve found that a great idea can come from the most unlikely places. I’ll be back next Sunday with more perspectives on what’s shaping founders, markets and teams.

Cheers!
Adam

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