Big Tech: Revenue & profit per employee, 2018–2024 Productivity tells a different story than headcount alone. Toggle companies, switch between revenue and net income, or index everything to 2018 = 100 for a normalized comparison. METRIC Revenue / employee Net income / employee SCALE Absolute ($K) Indexed (2018 = 100) Interactive chart: Revenue and profit … Read more
There’s a lot of hype right now about agentic buying the idea that AI agents will soon buy from other agents, automating entire decisions on our behalf. In theory, your AI talks to my AI, they compare specs, negotiate price, and everyone saves time. That sounds efficient. But here’s the tension: buying, as well as … Read more
Marketers can be really freaking annoying. “You need to build a brand.”“You can’t only invest in the short term.”“You have to think long term, blah blah blah.” And yes, they’re right.Just like I should spend 20 minutes stretching, meditate, journal, and hit the gym every morning. Instead, I chug my coffee, drag my daughter out … Read more
I didn’t expect a 19-minute video about paper coffee filters to offer the clearest case against the strip-mining era of AI, but here we are. Yes, I watched it. A deep dive comparing the taste of pour-over filters. For most people, that sounds oddly specific. For people like me who roast their own beans, it’s … Read more
You know what everyone in marketing is chasing right now? AI tools. Digital activations. Shiny new ways to deliver the same old messages. And yet, one of the most effective advertising moves of 2025 doesn’t involve pixels or algorithms. It involves paper. Yes, paper. I’m talking about the Amazon Holiday Catalog for kids. The audacity … Read more