We’re the people who figure out why good products are failing.
We help CEOs of profitable-but-precarious companies figure out why their product isn't working – despite doing everything 'right'.
We specialise in service companies that are trying to nail their first product, and product companies that are stuck on their second product.Using our own unique methods like Multiverse Mapping and Pitch Provocations, we diagnose exactly what’s not landing with your customers (they either don't find it, don't choose it, don't use it, or don't get value). So you can quickly kill what's dead in the water and invest smartly in what can actually work.
For example ...
The global conglomerate that had to decide what to do with a four-year old startup they'd acquired. We helped them break out of their "data-driven Catch 22".
The bootstrapped crypto/AI startup that had built an almost-right product for an almost-right audience. We helped them pivot a few degrees to find a market that's 100x more lucrative.
The 50-person business that needed to bring a failed multi-million-pound technology outsourcing project back in house. We helped them stop the bleeding and find practical ways forward – while maintaining business continuity.
The digital agency who'd been talking about productising an open-source CMS for two entire years. We helped them compress a year of learning into 6 weeks.
The SaaS company with loads of brilliant ideas that kept on failing in the market. We helped them develop a new process and evolve successful products.
The common theme? Everyone agreed that success should be within reach – but the well-trodden path just wasn't working.Why? Because they were all overlooking something crucial-but-hidden in their model of product success.
We are Tom Kerwin ...
Tom is a self-confessed technique fetishist who never stops looking for opportunities to get better results by doing things differently. After studying engineering at Cambridge University he co-founded and successfully exited two startups.Later he started helping organisations set up their innovation and experimentation practices from scratch, gaining experience growing and developing high performing teams.He's boiled down some of his hardest-hitting knowledge into Innovation Tactics, a card deck that's part of the riotously popular Pip Decks series.
and Corissa Nunn
Corissa has a sixth sense for cracks in the plan. She doesn't shout about it, but she just knows when a strategy's on shaky ground or a person’s in the wrong role.Her background in linguistics makes her a natural at translating corporate language, reading between the lines and spotting what's being said a little too carefully.She's transformed messaging strategy for multiple startups, turning confusion into clarity, and clarity into sales.Along the way, she's influenced strategy, helped leaders through acquisitions, and coached teams to take them from reactive people-pleasers to proactive influencers.
More than 30,000 people have our methods in their back pocket, courtesy of the Innovation Tactics Pip Deck, authored by Tom Kerwin.Pick up a copy today
About us
With over 20 years of experience at the coalface, we've been in your shoes.Unlike ex-military consultancies, the Big Four, or FAANG alumni, we've been leaders in normal organisations – ones that look a lot like yours.We’ve seen everyone nod along in the meetings... then stumble off in completely different directions. We've seen strong-in-the-deck strategies fall apart on contact with reality. We've seen business ideas that should be high ROI burn through millions with nothing to show. And we've turned those kinds of situations around.Along the way, we learned how to avoid costly nightmares, solve go-to-market challenges, nail product-market fit, and find paths to sustainable growth.We'd love to help your organisation do the same.
Book your free diagnostic session
In this 30-minute confidential call with us, you’ll surface where your model of product success is blocking you from making progress.What you’ll get in 30 minutes:
A fast, clear-eyed signal check on your strategy
Clues for where your team thinks it’s aligned but isn’t
Sharp suggestions for what to try next
Work with us
1-3 DAYS | 1-3 TEAMS
Lightning Alignment workshop
For diagnosing how aligned a team currently is around a piece of work – and how to get more aligned.You come away from this with an immediate, actionable diagnostic about the level of alignment and – critically – the next things the team can focus on to accelerate progress.It starts with a Strategic Signal Diagnostic, then our custom built Align-O-Matic diagnostic tool.
2 WEEKS | 1 TEAM
Strategic Signal Sprint package
For urgent priorities that a team needs to grasp fast – so they can take high-agency action.In just two weeks, we help leadership teams map their strategy at exactly the right level of granularity, drop deadweight projects, and install a faster signal-to-move loop.No decks, no noise, just traction.
3 WEEKS | 1 TEAM
Market Constraint Excavation package
Compress a year's worth of learning in the market into a focused 3 week sprint that shifts how you think about your market and opportunities.We work directly with your teams to turn your narratives about your potential markets into spiky provocations. Then we show those to people from your potential markets and gather rich signals about what's really going on. Then we work with your teams to process those signals into insights that give you ideas you couldn't have had.You get: upgraded thinking, plus a detailed report that exposes the constraints in your market and gives you multiple new, fast options for making progress.
2-6 MONTHS | 1-3 TEAMS
Right First Time package
A bespoke engagement for when the stakes are sky-high.Lots has already been invested into trying to get something off the ground. There’s a towering heap of sunk costs. Countless stakeholders are involved – some with totally opposite perspectives. Good strategies keeps getting derailed by misunderstandings.Maybe you’re facing the second (or third) attempt to bring something new to market. Maybe it’s the tricky second-product problem, and you need to roll out a whole other value chain. Maybe you’re refactoring or redesigning something big and important.You’ve been doing everything “right” according to best practice. So why isn’t it working?Together, we'll co-create a custom plan to work closely with you over a period of months to help you crack it. You'll execute faster, get more control over timelines, and avoid wasted effort.
4 HOURS | 1 PERSON | FROM £149
Master Multiverse Mapping Course
Want to dip a toe in the water before you commit?Try one of our most powerful tools for yourself with our online course. We offer a fully self-paced option as well as a hands-on option.Find out more: Master Multiverse Mapping
30 MINS | 1 PERSON | FREE
Book your free diagnostic session
In this 30-minute confidential call with us, you’ll surface where your model of product success is blocking you from making progress.What you’ll get in 30 minutes:
A fast, clear-eyed signal check on your strategy
Clues for where your team thinks it’s aligned but isn’t
Sharp suggestions for what to try next
Or email us: [email protected]
Tentacles – the Crown & Reach Podcast
With over 100 episodes, our podcast is the best bad podcast out there. By which we mean: raw, unfiltered, unedited conversations. We talk about strategy, sense-making, and the blurry edges between work and all the other stuff. Because sometimes feeling your way through the fog – with limbs outstretched – is the only way to move forward.Listen nowOr search “Tentacles” wherever you normally get your podcasts.
The Reach - our newsletter
Join over 2,500 readers who get The Reach, our email newsletter, over on Substack.You can expect feature-length pieces that will tickle your brain in a mostly pleasing manner.
A few highlights:
Bunny ducking - Part 3 of the Vision Chasm series (how teams make great progress without agreeing a vision)
How to bend the curve of luck (take advantage of the asymmetry of adaptiveness!)
We need to talk about AirBnB (including a new 2x2 to visualise product risks)
Tumbling into the Vision Chasm (Part 1 of a series on strategy without a vision)
OKRs sound good but they don’t work (it’s not your fault)
Fear-driven development (The Time Machine exercise to understand perceived risks)
Signals > Stories > Options (our simplest powerful exercise)
How to do discovery and delivery at the same time … with Pivot Triggers
Stop polishing 💩 products with this one weird trick (inviting you to do a “Hard Test”)
Master Multiverse Mapping Course
Want to dip a toe in the water before you commit?Try one of our most powerful tools for yourself with our online course. We offer a fully self-paced option as well as a hands-on option.Find out more: Master Multiverse Mapping
How we work
We offer consulting, training and coaching. Based in the UK, we work with clients remotely and in person.Baked into all our methods, you'll always find:
A living strategy
You need to orient yourself towards the signals that matter. Stretch outward with real intelligence. Sense earlier, move smarter, learn from the edges. Fast. Like an octopus.Organisations that can think and act at every point of contact will outmanoeuvre those that can’t.
Antifragile prioritisation
Forget the impact/effort matrix. We help you make plans that give you the predictability you need, without sacrificing the flexibility you also need.
Adaptive alignment
Being aligned doesn't have to mean everyone sees the world exactly the same way. Our methods help teams spot the areas of greatest uncertainty so that they can move forward with confidence, and realign swiftly when plans evolve.
Distributed cognition
No more happy clappy workshops. No more expensive decks gathering dust.Once your teams can understand the unfolding strategy in real time, they can make high-agency decisions in the moment and bring you the signals you need from the frontline.
Get our thinking for free ...
... whether you prefer podcast or newsletter.
Book your free diagnostic session
In this 30-minute confidential call with us, you’ll surface where your model of product success is blocking you from making progress.What you’ll get in 30 minutes:
A fast, clear-eyed signal check on your strategy
Clues for where your team thinks it’s aligned but isn’t
Sharp suggestions for what to try next
Contact us
Resources
Move fast and create value (without breaking things)
A masterclass in how the best teams deliver faster and under budget, not by doing everything faster but by working in a different way.Three architects, three iconic buildings, one crucial difference: how they handled uncertainty.You'll learn the hidden framework that separates triumphs from disasters.This is ideal if you're already good at shipping, and you don't know how you're going to squeeze much more speed out of your current operations without harming quality.
Sign up for more resources that will give you an edge at The Reach