The document discusses the contrasts between pandas and sharks, focusing on pandas' inefficient digestion and the challenges of their bamboo diet. It emphasizes the importance of learning from failure in marketing, using examples of customer acquisition costs (CPA) and strategies such as design sprints. The author outlines a process for successful failure, advocating for quick testing, clear goals, and embracing the fear of failure.

1. David Coghlan
Marketing guy, music fan, cat enthusiast
@DavidACoghlan
Linkedin.com/in/davidacoghlan/
shark^

2. Why Sharks are better
than Pandas:
The art and science of failure

7. As much as 90–98 percent of the panda’s diet consists of the leaves, shoots, and stems
of bamboo, a large grass available year-round in much of China’s forested regions.
Pandas solve this problem by rapidly
passing prodigious quantities of the grass through their digestive tracts on a daily basis.
Despite adaptations in the forepaws, teeth, and jaws for bamboo consumption, the giant
panda has retained the digestive system of its carnivore ancestry and is therefore unable
to digest cellulose, a main constituent of bamboo.
and elimination of wastes occurs
up to 50 times per day.
As much as 16 out of every 24 hours is spent feeding,
Source: Encyclopedia Britanicca https://www.britannica.com/animal/giant-panda

8. I love sharks

9. Failure.

11. “We’ve had some
successes over the years...
We’ve also had billions of
dollars’ worth of failures
along the way.”

13. “Dave, we’re X,XXX customers off our
target. What are you doing to close the
gap?”

17. + ? =
X,XXX
customers
£10 CPA

19. + ? =
X,XXX
customers
£20? £40? £50? CPA

21. CPA
<£30
X,XXX
customers
=+

24. CPA
<£30
X,XXX
customers
=+
Potential high intent
search audience

27. CPA
<£30
166 customers
=+
Potential high intent
search audience

29. CPA
>£30
C.100 customers
=+
Potential high intent
search audience

33. CPA
>£30
X customers
=+
Potential high intent
search audience
Discount
~£100

34. X customers
Acceptable CPA? Sales volume and
spend
Lower price?

36. Smart people

37. X customers
Acceptable CPA? Sales volume and
spend
Lower price?

38. Yea but Dave...

39. The design sprint

43. The Pinocchio
(Pretotype)

44. Pinocchio

45. Pinocchio

47. Spoiler alert:
What people say they want isn’t
necessarily what they’ll pay for

48. Minimal Viable Product (MVP)

49. MVP

51. The manual Turk

52. Mechanical turk

54. The provincial

55. The provincial

56. The false door

57. False door

58. How to fail successfully:
1. Know exactly where you’re going
2. If you don’t know, test into it quickly with a design sprint
3. Break down the journey to your goal - challenge your destination
4. Hunt for failure everywhere, do it fast and as cheaply as possible
5. Being scared is ok, but do it anyway

59. Happy Failing