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Lip Loi Creative: questions answered
What people ask me about Lip Loi Creative, and my answers. The project itself has its own page.
When the Plunge build and equipment were priced, which assumption in the original pitch broke first?
The build cost. Plunge wanted a large luxury space full of ice baths, with everyone in view of each other, and they had no idea what that costs to build. I thought the build was too expensive and that the equipment would get much cheaper, quickly. Both came true. The numbers no longer worked, so Plunge dropped the luxury format. A luxury room cannot support a business that depends on volume. Since then, studios have appeared in small spaces, perhaps ten private rooms, each with its own sauna, ice bath and shower. Cheaper equipment made renting rooms the model that works.
After the luxury model was set aside, what did you put in front of the studio first?
What it would cost to build, priced by someone who has carried a build. I led with that because the pitch never shows it. Beside it I set where equipment prices were headed. The units were dropping fast, and the studio's whole premium rested on them. Third was go-to-market, before any capital ask. They took it as a fix and not as a no. They brought me in on exactly that scope: the capital raise strategy, go-to-market and construction cost. That is how my seat at the studio began. The luxury format did not survive the numbers, and they dropped it instead of raising money against it.
Once the original concept was paused, what did the later work on Plunge consist of?
Consulting, nothing more. What Plunge really did was begin my working relationship with the studio. I saw its deck work, started hiring it on other projects and then brought it into Drive for the Dream. I carry the narrative and the studio handles the visual side. Many projects have followed.
What did the fractional CRO seat add to the studio?
Revenue. The studio had world-class craft and no one whose job was revenue: which engagements to take, how to position each, what it should cost and who would bring in the next. It began when the studio pitched a concept of its own, a contrast-therapy studio, as an investment. I said to improve it before anyone funded it, and I spelled out what improved meant. First came the build cost, measured against equipment prices that were dropping fast. The fractional CRO seat grew out of that advice. The studio handles the physical and design work. The seat sets direction and narrative for each engagement, and on the best-known engagements it also brought the work in.
How did the four-question deck structure hold up with the Olympic champion?
Each page carries the four questions along its top edge: where we have been, where we are heading, how we reach it, and what it takes to make it happen. That lets a sponsor follow the argument without a meeting. The structure held. What shifted was the source of the content. The Olympic champion answered questions first. They covered what drives him, what he measures himself against and which brands he wants beside him. Those answers filled the inside pages, and they produced the luxury tie-in, which surprised me.
What carried over when you reused the deck structure on the next engagement?
The approach. Brand work for a person is collaborative, and the person has to be invested. The key is to get the person talking. Ask about food, about the brands they wear, about their colors, about whether they are a day or a night person. You can pull a nugget from any of it.