Revenue Growth Drivers

💡 Amazon earnings have been reported this week. Is #eCommerce finally recovering? What about Amazon Web Services (AWS)? ⤵️ 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 / 𝗲𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 Amazon's retail business appears to recover quite well this year, now growing 7% again. Strategically, this isn't a big deal, though. More importantly, "Third-Party Seller Services", its #marketplace business, is growing 20% YoY as Amazon prioritises 3P merchants over its own #retail unit. One explanation might be that Amazon's first-party sales receive the most significant amount of scrutiny by regulators and the public, often accused of using its data advantage and copying successful merchants. But there's more to it... 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 / 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 The by far fastest growing revenue line of Amazon is its #RetailMedia business. #Advertising revenue growth is re-accelerating to 26% YoY growth. 👉 Hear me out! That doesn't only mean that Amazon Ads are growing faster than Google Search (11%), Meta Social Ads (23%) or Snap Inc. Ads (5%). It shows Amazon Advertising is already bigger than YouTube and Snap Inc. combined. In fact, by the end of this year, Amazon's Advertising business will be the size of the entire 🇩🇪 German advertising market ($48bn). 🤯 💡 Hence, 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 might be the whole reason Amazon is growing its own retail business only moderately while boosting its 3rd party seller marketplace. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒐𝒏'𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎. Amazon basics don't necessarily pay their rent on the scarce screen real estate. (Remember Amazon cutting lots of its own brands recently?) Profiting from the heavy competition among third-party sellers by collecting fees for listing, fulfilment, placement, AND advertising is a much better business. 🌨️ 𝗔𝗪𝗦 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 Of course, as with Microsoft & Alphabet Inc., analysts were closely watching Amazon Web Services (AWS) results. And while Azure sales are re-accelerating to 29%, making the MSFT Cloud the primus inter pares this earnings season, and Google Cloud Platform growth dropped by 5%, #AWS sales seem to have stabilized at last quarter's growth around 12%. It's worth noting, though, that AWS - in times when clients seek to save costs - has improved its operating margin from 24 to 30% and contributes USD 7 billion to the group's profit. 💸 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 Amazon - to my knowledge - is the only company that publishes its cash flow statement as the first part of its earnings release, while most companies put it after the income statement and balance sheet. On a last twelve months (LTM) basis, Free cash flow has shifted from a negative USD 20 billion to a positive USD 21.4 billion in just one year. As Amazon is finally clearing inventory, cutting 27,000 jobs and growing its advertising and cloud business, it's back on track to generating huge amounts of cash for its shareholders.

Telcos are cutting muscle, not fat Over the last decade, the top 20 Telcos eliminated 476,000 jobs. A full 25% of their workforce vanished. Verizon dropped from 177,000 to under 100,000. AT&T halved its staff. BT, Orange, Telefónica, all trimmed deep. And yet EBITDA margins barely moved. Global averages hovered at 33% in 2015 and remain almost identical in 2024. Net profit margins are still weak. AT&T lands near 8%. Orange and Telefónica oscillate between 2% and 5%. Telcos Return on capital sits below 5%, well under the cost of equity. The real problem is structural. Telecom runs on an asset-heavy model with mandatory reinvestment. Annual depreciation demands fresh capex just to stay flat. 5G added spectral cost but fragmented architecture. Vendor ecosystems are optimized for recurring complexity, not simplification. Internal talent was replaced not with automation, but with outsourced friction. Cutting 25% of jobs did not reduce cost, it just relocated it. What used to be salaried became contractual. What was operationally controlled became externally managed. The work stayed. The margin did not. Now AI enters the Telco scene and the same mistake looms. Boards expect 10 to 30% efficiency gains, but unless telcos confront the root issues: architectural sprawl, vendor lock-in, fragmented stacks, no uplift will materialize. Job cuts will return, this time repackaged as recurring software fees and AI platform licenses. Efficiency is not a strategy. It is a temporary illusion unless it transforms the model. The future is not about removing people, but removing duplication, opacity, and vendor drag. That is where margins hide. And where telecom must finally look. https://lnkd.in/gw7ruCW8

A bold prediction no one wants to hear: Half of all commercial solar systems installed before 2016 will be underperforming or non-operational by 2030. The solar industry is obsessed with the future. Cutting-edge panels (bigger is better). Sleek batteries. Dazzling projections for new installs. But here's the reality we can't afford to ignore: a silent crisis unfolding on rooftops across America—a crisis I've been tackling firsthand since 2012, traveling the country with SunPower to address some of the industry’s most pressing system failures. Across the country, tens of thousands of rooftop solar systems—once hailed as the clean energy revolution—are quietly decaying. Not because the technology failed, but because the industry did. We rushed to install. We cut corners. We promised 25 years of performance… and delivered systems that can’t make it past 10. Here’s what’s killing them: Inverters are dying—many are already out of warranty, with no replacements available. Wiring and electrical infrastructure that was never designed for 25+ years of exposure. Install quality? Forget it—an army of barely trained crews built the boom, and now we’re paying the price. Maintenance? There was no plan. Just a contract, a handshake, and a hope it would all work out. This is not just an engineering issue—it's a financial one. Underperforming assets are generating less revenue than forecasted, while increasing the risk of electrical faults, fire hazards, and insurance claims. And here's the kicker: almost no one is ready to deal with this wave of system failures. Asset managers, facility owners, and even EPCs are discovering that repowering, remediation, or decommissioning is far more complex and expensive than expected. This is where the next frontier of solar energy lies—not in installing the next 100GW—it’s rescuing the first 100GW. Revitalization. Repowering. Responsible end-of-life planning. The question isn’t whether it’s coming. It’s whether we have the guts to face it. Are we going to keep pitching the dream— —or finally clean up the mess we left behind?

The pricing structure of medical cannabis flower as a raw material is intricate & varies widely, influenced by factors such as quality, production costs, regulatory compliance, & market demand. When considering the purchase of medical cannabis, the lowest price available often does not represent the best value or the most responsible choice, for several reasons: Quality & Potency: High-quality medical cannabis requires careful cultivation practices, including the selection of premium strains & the maintenance of ideal growing conditions. These factors contribute to the potency, cannabinoid profile, & overall effectiveness of the product. Lower-priced options may not provide the same therapeutic benefits, which is a critical consideration for medical users who rely on these attributes to manage health conditions. Compliance & Safety: Growers of medical cannabis must adhere to strict regulatory standards that cover everything from cultivation & harvest to packaging & labelling. These regulations are designed to ensure product safety & consistency. Compliance is costly, & growers who invest in meeting these standards must often price their products higher to reflect these costs. Products that come at a suspiciously low cost might not meet these essential safety standards, potentially putting users at risk. Sustainability of Cultivation Practices: Ethical cultivation practices, such as the use of organic methods & sustainable materials, contribute to the higher costs of production but are crucial for environmental sustainability & product purity. The lowest-priced products may not take these factors into account, reflecting a disregard for environmental & consumer health impacts. Economic Fairness: Fair pricing supports the livelihood of growers & workers in the cannabis industry. It ensures that they are compensated fairly for their labour & investment. A race to the bottom in pricing undermines the economic viability of ethical & meticulous producers & may lead to poorer working conditions or the cutting of important quality controls to reduce costs. Growers go to great lengths to produce a product that meets the stringent criteria necessary for medical use. This includes investing in high-quality genetic stock, employing advanced growing techniques, regularly testing products for potency & contaminants, & ensuring a controlled supply chain. All these efforts are geared towards creating a safe, effective product that meets the patient's needs. Reflecting these costs in the price paid for medical cannabis is not merely about ensuring business profitability but about sustaining a market that prioritizes quality, safety, & ethical practices over mere cost-saving. Choosing products based solely on price might not only compromise the health benefits but also undermine the development of a responsible & sustainable industry. #medicalcannabis #cannabismedicinal #cultivation #patientsafety Real picture ©Carl Haffner 2024 (from a HIL client 2023)

AutoNation just reminded the industry why fixed ops wins championships. In 2025, AutoNation generated: $4.83 BILLION in service & parts revenue. Lithia, the #2 group, generated: $3.91 BILLION. That’s a difference of nearly $923 MILLION. Now here’s where the story gets interesting… Lithia has 447 stores. AutoNation has 271 stores. That means Lithia has 176 MORE rooftops than AutoNation… and still trails them by almost a billion dollars in fixed ops revenue. Put that into perspective: Those additional 176 Lithia stores would need to generate: Roughly $5.24 million MORE per year per store or about $436,000 MORE per month per store …just to tie AutoNation. Or… Every Lithia rooftop would need to improve by roughly: $2.06 million MORE annually per store That’s not a “more stores” advantage. That’s operational dominance. So how do dealer groups grow fixed ops revenue WITHOUT adding more tech bays? A combination of everything: • Increase labor hours per RO • Increase technician proficiency • Improve utilization before hiring more techs • Expand ELR and customer-pay labor rates • Align warranty rates closer to door rates • Increase MPI conversion rates • Improve advisor sales process • Reduce dispatch downtime • Improve shop throughput • Extend service hours before building additions • Improve customer retention after warranty expiration • Use AI and data mining to reactivate dormant customers • Increase same-day service capability • Improve BDC/service lane coordination • Add pickup & delivery and mobile service • Improve appointment show rates • Reduce cycle times • Optimize parts availability and workflow Most dealerships don’t have a bay problem. They have an efficiency problem. The future of dealership profitability is going to belong to the groups that treat fixed ops like a production system, not just a department. And the numbers are starting to prove it. Source: Automotive News Top 100 Dealership Groups Service & Parts Report [oai_citation:0‡051026Top100Dealers-S&PBodyShop-050826.pdf](sediment://file_00000000242c722fac0533db33718e7 :::

Last month, I spoke with a VP Sales who built one of the most effective enterprise motions I’ve seen. His team wins $500K F500 deals at Seed with no marketing. Full STEALTH. This level of trust so early is almost unheard of. Sequoia just led a $45M Series A. Here’s how Trevor Messick from Nuvo did it: 1. Compelling message > Deck Enterprise is a battle of attention. Busy SVPs chased by 100s of AEs/SDRs and internal priorities need one thing – get to the (big) point, fast. A door-opening message so sharply researched it feels like a punch, whether it’s an email or a first call POV. And to approve $500K, punchy words that say "this is board level." Trevor didn’t spend his time polishing decks/proposals templates. He spent it on messaging – teaching his team how to build 6-fig stories. Priceless. 2. Turn customers into your marketing department In stealth, no brand means you start every deal in a credibility hole. Trevor's bet: over-invest in Customer Success until every customer becomes a trust-building marketer. White-glove onboarding, deep value-add, and post-sale check-ins. It all worked – referrals became their #1 pipeline source, while customer stories and proactive referrals (every deal!) drove trust no startup could build so early. 3. Make referrals a pipeline stage, not a wish Referrals beat cold outbound any day of the week – if you treat them like a deal stage. In late-stage negotiation, Trevor’s team asks: “If we deliver our promise, can we get 2 warm intros to peers?” They give a shortlist of lookalike accounts and track every intro like a must-win deal. Win rates crush cold calls because trust is already baked in. 4. Make buying from you feel like buying from a $1B vendor No brand? Make the buying experience your brand. With no big website or product marketing backup, Trevor designed buying moments that say: “wow, they’re real pros!” – using Deal Rooms (Aligned). All materials, timelines, and updates in one collaborative, smart workspace. No critical info buried in emails, out-of-the-loop stakeholders, or decision overwhelm. Buyers say it feels like working with a top-tier enterprise vendor, and deals moved faster. 5. Built a buying signal engine Half the F500 buying team never talks to reps. But their clicks, views, and activity tell the real story. Trevor built a signal engine in Gong (pushed to Slack) that pulls data from every Deal Room interaction (hidden buyers, content views, chat, MAP updates, AI assists) plus email and call data. It became their most accurate deal health score and deal execution decision center – letting them double down on engaged deals, tailor every move, and save at-risk ones before buyers went dark. —— Trust is the currency of enterprise. You can’t buy it. You can’t fake it. But you can design for it. From email-one to the $500K ask. That’s how a startup wins at the big table. P.S. Here’s free access to the Deal Rooms they use: https://lnkd.in/dwujpFvM

A little story on how some innovative thinking helped to drastically improve Amazon’s efficiency and profitability. With customer fulfilment Amazon wants to drive two critical metrics: 💨 Increase speed 💰 Reduce cost to serve Increasing speed helps Amazon grow sales; customers like speed and respond well to it. Reducing the cost to serve is important for profit, but it is also critical for selection: a lower cost to serve means it makes economic sense to stock more lower priced items and push these through the network. The problem is that these things often have an inverse relationship. Increasing speed usually incurs more costs. So, Amazon went back to the drawing board.  It found that across all of its warehouses and distribution centers there were thousands of connections joining up all the nodes across the US. Some of these shipping routes were long and thin (low fill rates on trucks), and they made little sense. Someone then made the comment that the UK – which is a smaller, denser country – had a way more efficient fulfillment network. for Amazon They said: it would be good if the US were like 10 UKs rather than just one big country. 💡The lightbulb went off. Why not? So that’s what Amazon did: it regionalized. Rather than treating the US as one giant network. It created a series of eight very well-connected regional networks. With a regional network, Amazon also had to ensure the right products were in the right place. This is where understanding demand, with the help of AI, came in. Amazon calls this ‘perfect placement’, and the aim is to have products as near to where orders are placed as possible. These things allowed Amazon to square the circle: it increased speed while reducing the cost to serve. The change has allowed Amazon and its sellers to more profitably sell lower cost items. The increased speed has also helped increase demand for items that are needed quickly: things like household essentials. This is one of the reasons that Amazon is currently increasing its market share in these lower average selling price categories, which is a big challenge for traditional retailers like Target which relies on these things to drive foot traffic. All of this is a great example of how, even at established companies, good thinking and the smart use of technology can have a dramatic impact on operations. And, it also shows why Amazon deserves its success: it thinks smart, executes well and never rests on its laurels. #retail #retailnews #Amazon #AmazonAccelerate #logistics #fulfilment

ENERGY'S NEXT BIG PAYDAY The Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is reshaping how revenue is generated in the energy sector. Here’s what every energy professional needs to know. As the BESS owner/operator, you're at the center of this financial revolution. Whether you're a utility, an independent operator, or an investor, your role is to optimize the system's operation while capitalizing on diverse revenue streams. From predictable Tolling Agreements to flexible Spot Market opportunities, each model is tailored to different goals and risk appetites. Top Revenue Streams and Key Stakeholders: • 𝗧𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 2𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺: 𝘌𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳. Stable, predictable income over 5–10 years. Perfect for offloading operational risks. • 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆-𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 2𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺: 𝘜𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 / 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳. Straightforward, fixed income with short 1–5-year contracts. Ideal for entering the market with clarity. • 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 2𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺: 𝘐𝘚𝘖/𝘙𝘛𝘖 (𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 / 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳). Long-term contracts (5–15 years) designed for financial stability and capacity payments. • 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀 (𝗖𝗙𝗗). 2𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺: 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. Protection against market volatility with a secure revenue hedge over 1–3 years. • 𝗧𝗼𝗽-𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗛𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀 (𝗧𝗕 𝗛𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀). 2𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺: 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵. Revenue stability within price bands over 3–5 years, balancing risk and reward. • 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 (𝗩𝗣𝗣𝗔𝘀). 2𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺: 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘳. Support sustainability goals with long-term, risk-managed pricing for up to 10–20 years. • 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀. 2𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺: 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴. High potential returns in peak pricing scenarios, with operational flexibility in variable, short-term contracts. • 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀. 2nd Party: ISO/RTO. Premium pricing for grid services like frequency regulation, often in short-term variable agreements. Why does this matter? Each revenue model has a unique balance of owner risks, benefits, and typical lengths, making it critical to align your strategy with the right stakeholders and revenue stream. At the intersection of clean energy and financial innovation, BESS stands out as the ultimate tool for revenue diversification in a rapidly evolving market. Which revenue model do you think has the most potential for scalability? Let’s dive into the future of energy finance—drop your thoughts in the comments below. 

Key agency growth insights from my roundtable with Avi Arya (do not miss this post) 1. Building a 100-Crore Agency 📍The path to building a high-revenue agency isn't about more clients—it's about systematic value creation: 📍Vertical specialization: Focus on becoming the definitive expert in 1-2 industries rather than a generalist 📍Productize services: Create tiered, standardized offerings with clear deliverables and margins 📍Value-based pricing: Shift from hourly/project rates to pricing based on client business outcomes 📍Recurring revenue model: Transform one-off projects into long-term retainers with clear ROI metrics 2. Sales First, Everything Else Second 📍Your first strategic hire should be sales, not creative or technical talent: 📍Agency founders: Spend 60% of your time on revenue-generating activities, not delivery 📍Hiring sequence: Sales → Project Manager → Delivery Team (not the reverse) 📍Compensation structure: Create performance-based incentives where sales compensation grows with client retention 📍Documentation: Have your sales hire document their process before building the team further 3. US Market Entry Strategy 📍For international expansion, invest in native speakers: 📍Cultural fluency matters: US clients expect contextual understanding beyond language skills 📍Investment perspective: The premium you'll pay for native speakers is offset by higher close rates (typically 3-4x higher) 📍Hybrid approach: Pair native sales/account managers with offshore delivery teams for optimal unit economics 📍Meeting schedules: Structure client communications during overlapping business hours to minimize friction That is it! The most productive roundtable honestly. Met people who have been there and done that!

👊 Is the quest for more THC potency shaping the future of cannabis—or leading us astray? In today’s rapidly evolving market, patients and producers alike are fixated on one key metric: THC potency. But while the push for higher THC grabs attention, what does it mean for the future of cannabis? 🚀 Cannamonitor’s latest analysis of 234,000 flower products prescribed to UK patients in 2022-2023 reveals a powerful shift: a significant decline in the market share of products under 21% THC and a sharp rise in those exceeding 23%. This THC race is fuelled by: 🌬️ Patient preferences With THC as the primary labelled metric, it's become the go-to indicator for potency and value. ⚙️ Technological advancements Better genetic selection, cultivation techniques and processing methods drive cannabinoid levels. 🥊 Competitive dynamics Producers and brands are focusing on the less crowded high-THC segment to stand out. 💸 Economic incentives Higher THC levels command premium pricing across the supply chain. But is this pursuit sustainable? In North America, the trend is nearing a tipping point. 📈 In many markets production now routinely pushes past 30% THC, with lab shopping scandals shedding light on potential fraud. While GMP standards in the UK offer more stringent oversight, other practices to push perceived potency are still possible. The UK is still playing catch-up, trailing several years behind the US and Canada. 🛤 2024 has seen a surge in high-THC product launches, some exceeding 28%, with patient interest increasingly focused on ultra-potent varieties, as indicated by message boards discussions. This trend is likely to continue for the time being. 💡 What’s next for cannabis? While THC dominance persists for now, breeders and forward-thinking brands are already eyeing the next evolution, with a renewed focus on: 🎨 Terpene profiles 👃 Differentiated aromas 🏔️ Unique landraces and phenohunts The chase for high THC is far from over, but as consumers become more educated, diversification beyond potency will be key to long-term market success. What’s your take on the THC potency race? Is it here to stay, or are we due for a shift? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 👇 And if you found this insight valuable, give it a 👍 and 🔄 to keep the conversation going! PS: Make sure you do not miss our upcoming UK Market Data Report by subscribing to our mailing list in the comments.