Free Big Bet Resources
The Big Bets System™
Generating Growth and Competitive Advantage is Hard.
But It Doesn't Need to be Complex
The Big Bets System™ equips executive teams to focus on what matters most—
solving the right problem, faster, to grow & win.
  • What is our strategy to grow and build defensible advantage?
  • Where will AI create measurable enterprise value—now and next?
  • How do we develop leadership capacity to match our ambition?
Replace vague goals with critical thinking, hard choices & clarity to match your ambition.
Diagnose
Define the industry forces, customer "what sucks", and your unfair advantages
Design
Where to Play & How to Win. Define your portfolio and create the moves-of-no regret and big bets for consideration
Diagram
Map coherent actions. Design the experiments. Establish velocity & accountability.
Deliver
Lead the bet. Maintain ambition. Be the chief repeating officer. Become a Bet Bet Legend.
John Rossman & Kevin McCaffrey, authors of Big Bet Leadership, on the Geekwire podcast
The Big Bets System™
Thinking, Methods & Frameworks
From the best minds in strategy — Rumelt, Martin, Porter, McKinsey, Chen & Rossman
PLUS +
Integrated AI Advantage
Leading AI Models, World Class Prompts, Agentic AI Solutions and Proprietary Data and Research..
PLUS +
Expert Advisors & Aligned Partners
We complement your experience & perspective with integrated world-class advisors & partners
— all using the Big Bets™ System.
AI is poised to disrupt the traditional strategy consulting industry. That obvious.
What’s less obvious? What replaces the traditional consulting firm?
Top-tier firms are slow, expensive, and optimized for staffing—not outcomes. Most companies can't afford them. And even those who can are questioning the return.
Here’s our answer:
We combine three powerful ingredients to create a 10x value compared to traditional management consulting:
  1. Proven thinking, methods + frameworks that drive structured thinking, not noise.
  1. AI and proprietary capabilities & prompts that compress time and cost, while improving analysis & insights.
  1. Independent seasoned advisors who guide, challenge, and help you act. No junior team driving billing hours.
Together, this model produces sharper strategy, far better insights & outcomes, and faster execution—at a fraction (1/10th) of the cost of McKinsey, Bain, or BCG.
The Big Bets System™
The clarity, speed, and AI edge to outthink your competition.
John Rossman — Author, Operator, Advisor, Keynote Speaker
Led by the early Amazon executive who played a key role in launching and scaling the Amazon Marketplace;
Author of "The Amazon Way", "Think Like Amazon" & "Big Bet Leadership"
Senior Technology Advisor to the Gates Foundation; Senior Innovation Advisor to T-Mobile; and leading keynote speaker.
Are you ready to compete and win in the hyper-digital era?
Here's some of our latest thinking
— Read Rossman's Substack for Free

thedigitalleader.substack.com

Times of Turbulence: Why this isn't the Age of AI

The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence—it is to act with yesterday’s logic.— Peter Drucker But the real threat? It’s not the turbulence itself. It’s clinging to the logic and operating models of a bygone era. It’s acting with yesterday’s playbook in the face of today’s circumstances and tomorrow’s potential.This is why Big Bets™ matter now more than ever.

thedigitalleader.substack.com

You Don’t Have a Growth Problem. You Have a Growth System Problem.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take — Wayne Gretzky. In today’s volatile and hyper-digital environment, sustained growth isn’t just a strategy—it’s a survival imperative. Yet, most companies fail to grow consistently. That’s not due to a lack of effort, ambition, or intelligence, but because of an outdated playbook. The reality is clear: consistent and transformative growth requires Big Bets.

thedigitalleader.substack.com

Scaling vs. Growth: The Hazard Most Leaders Don’t See Coming

“More companies die from indigestion than starvation.” — David Packard, Co-founder of HP