Autopsy
Notes and perspectives from the Value Proposition Studio.
Notes from the studio.
01 / Autopsy
Category design · Oct 8, 2026
GoPro built the action camera, then watched its crown become a standard
GoPro created and named a category, held about 75% of it, and fell to about 6% in three years. A Category King case on why the throne comes without tenure.
Read articlePremise, promise, proof · Sep 13, 2026
Blockbuster earned millions from late fees and paid for them with its promise
In 2000 Blockbuster collected about 800 million dollars in late fees and turned down the chance to buy Netflix for 50 million. A case on a revenue line that worked against the promise it was meant to serve.
Value to Market · Sep 10, 2026
The 6% rule: what Meta's Metaverse teaches about upstream budget
A healthy project spends 6% of its budget on the Value to Market strategy, upstream. Meta's Metaverse bet shows what happens when the downstream bill runs ahead of the value question.
Premise, promise, proof · Sep 9, 2026
No Man's Sky paid for its launch promise in a week and repaid it over ten years
Hello Games launched No Man's Sky in August 2016 below what players had been led to expect, then spent a decade adding free updates until the game reached its highest player numbers. A case on the expectations gap and the slow arithmetic of proof.
GoPro built the action camera, then watched its crown become a standard
GoPro created and named a category, held about 75% of it, and fell to about 6% in three years. A Category King case on why the throne comes without tenure.
Category design · Autopsy · In the news
Read articleBlockbuster earned millions from late fees and paid for them with its promise
In 2000 Blockbuster collected about 800 million dollars in late fees and turned down the chance to buy Netflix for 50 million. A case on a revenue line that worked against the promise it was meant to serve.
Premise, promise, proof · Pricing and scarcity · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleThe 6% rule: what Meta's Metaverse teaches about upstream budget
A healthy project spends 6% of its budget on the Value to Market strategy, upstream. Meta's Metaverse bet shows what happens when the downstream bill runs ahead of the value question.
Value to Market · Autopsy · In the news
Read articleNo Man's Sky paid for its launch promise in a week and repaid it over ten years
Hello Games launched No Man's Sky in August 2016 below what players had been led to expect, then spent a decade adding free updates until the game reached its highest player numbers. A case on the expectations gap and the slow arithmetic of proof.
Premise, promise, proof · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleLabubu: Pop Mart made the rare thing easy to get, and the value left
Pop Mart scaled Labubu production a hundredfold and watched resale prices halve. A case on scarcity as the product, and why adding supply can destroy the value it was meant to serve.
Pricing and scarcity · Autopsy · Core values · In the news
Read articleBud Light in 2023: one sponsored post, two audiences and an undeclared premise
In April 2023 a single Instagram partnership set off a boycott of Bud Light, which lost its place as America's best-selling beer within weeks. A case on premise, channel spillover and why a response that tries to please every audience can lose all of them.
Positioning · Channels · Autopsy · In the news
Read articleSnap Spectacles: ten years of a product looking for its place in the portfolio
Snap launched camera glasses in 2016, wrote down unsold stock a year later and kept releasing new versions. In June 2026 it opened preorders for 2,195 dollar AR glasses. A case on launches that rhyme, and launches that repeat.
Portfolio and rhyming · Autopsy · In the news
Read articleTupperware: the party built the brand, and the brand never found another room
Tupperware left the shops in the 1950s and sold through home parties for decades. When the parties faded the company tried the shelf twice, and in September 2024 it filed for bankruptcy. A case on a channel that carried the whole proposition.
Channels · Autopsy · Core values · In the news
Read articlePeloton built for the demand of 2020, and 2020 did not last
Lockdowns pushed Peloton's revenue past 4 billion dollars and its market value toward 50 billion, then the gyms reopened. A case on adoption, on demand that belonged to a moment, and on the premise that should have sized the factory.
Adoption · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleGorillas: groceries in ten minutes, and the questions the promise raised
Gorillas became a unicorn in under a year by promising groceries in about ten minutes, then cut jobs and was sold within two. A case on a benefit so strong that customers started looking for the catch.
Premise, promise, proof · Autopsy · In the news
Read articleQuibi raised 1.75 billion dollars for a moment that disappeared at launch
Quibi launched in April 2020 with premium shows cut into episodes under ten minutes, built for phones on the move, and shut down six months later. A case on a premise that rested on a context, and a new format the market had no way to learn.
Adoption · Category design · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleCracker Barrel: the Old Timer was an asset, and the redesign spent it
In August 2025 Cracker Barrel took the man leaning on the barrel out of its logo and reversed the decision about a week later. A case on the core values an old identity carries, and what a rebrand removes along with the drawing.
Rebrand · Core values · Autopsy · In the news
Read articleWeWork promised a higher consciousness and signed fifteen-year leases
WeWork reached a 47 billion dollar valuation in January 2019, withdrew its IPO that September and filed for bankruptcy in November 2023. A case on a promise, an offer and a business model that described three different companies.
Premise, promise, proof · Positioning · Autopsy · In the news
Read articleTropicana redesigned its carton and shoppers could no longer find it
In 2009 Tropicana removed the orange with a straw from its Pure Premium carton. Sales fell about 20% in under two months and the old pack came back. A case on the assets customers use to find you on a shelf.
Rebrand · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleBalenciaga in 2022: a value without a boundary
In November 2022 two Balenciaga campaigns, one with children holding teddy-bear bags and one with a court ruling on child abuse imagery among the props, set off a global backlash. A case on core values, the limits they need, and the decisions that followed.
Core values · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleNew Coke: the taste test was right, and the customers owned the value
In April 1985 Coca-Cola replaced its formula with a sweeter one that had won blind taste tests, and brought the original back 79 days later. A case on core values that belong to the customer, and what research cannot see.
Core values · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleGoogle Stadia: a promise of faith from a company with a public record of closures
Stadia launched in November 2019 as console-free gaming in the cloud and closed in January 2023 with full refunds. A case on adoption, and on trust as an asset a company carries into every launch.
Adoption · Premise, promise, proof · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleKodak built a digital camera in 1975 and kept protecting film
A Kodak engineer built a digital camera prototype in 1975, and Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. A case on the portfolio a company protects, and the value its customers carried somewhere else.
Portfolio and rhyming · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleJaguar Type 00 and the rungs a brand cannot skip
Jaguar replaced its whole value set in one stroke and claimed an identity it had no proof for. Read through the Promise Ladder, the rebrand is a jump over every rung in between.
Premise, promise, proof · Rebrand · Autopsy · In the news
Read articleBlackBerry owned the keyboard, then the phone stopped needing one
BlackBerry led the early smartphone market with a physical keyboard and secure email for companies. After the iPhone the premise of the category changed, and the strengths that had built the lead stopped counting.
Category design · Adoption · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleNokia sold four in ten of the world's phones and still lost the smartphone
At the end of 2007 Nokia estimated it held 40% of the global handset market. Six years later it sold its phone business to Microsoft. A case on how the strengths that protect a leader can hold it in place.
Category design · Moat · Autopsy · Brand history
Read article- 01GoPro built the action camera, then watched its crown become a standardCategory design
- 02Blockbuster earned millions from late fees and paid for them with its promisePremise, promise, proof
- 03The 6% rule: what Meta's Metaverse teaches about upstream budgetValue to Market
- 04No Man's Sky paid for its launch promise in a week and repaid it over ten yearsPremise, promise, proof
- 05Labubu: Pop Mart made the rare thing easy to get, and the value leftPricing and scarcity
- 06Bud Light in 2023: one sponsored post, two audiences and an undeclared premisePositioning
- 07Snap Spectacles: ten years of a product looking for its place in the portfolioPortfolio and rhyming
- 08Tupperware: the party built the brand, and the brand never found another roomChannels
- 09Peloton built for the demand of 2020, and 2020 did not lastAdoption
- 10Gorillas: groceries in ten minutes, and the questions the promise raisedPremise, promise, proof
- 11Quibi raised 1.75 billion dollars for a moment that disappeared at launchAdoption
- 12Cracker Barrel: the Old Timer was an asset, and the redesign spent itRebrand
- 13WeWork promised a higher consciousness and signed fifteen-year leasesPremise, promise, proof
- 14Tropicana redesigned its carton and shoppers could no longer find itRebrand
- 15Balenciaga in 2022: a value without a boundaryCore values
- 16New Coke: the taste test was right, and the customers owned the valueCore values
- 17Google Stadia: a promise of faith from a company with a public record of closuresAdoption
- 18Kodak built a digital camera in 1975 and kept protecting filmPortfolio and rhyming
- 19Jaguar Type 00 and the rungs a brand cannot skipPremise, promise, proof
- 20BlackBerry owned the keyboard, then the phone stopped needing oneCategory design
- 21Nokia sold four in ten of the world's phones and still lost the smartphoneCategory design