When you matter more, you need to hustle for attention less. I help develop stronger IP for creators, entrepreneurs, and expert-led businesses—your premise, storytelling, frameworks, and pillar projects—so you can differentiate easier and resonate deeper.
Picture this: a group of your professional peers, your industry’s influencers/analysts/content creators, and your ideal clients are in a room talking shop. They swap notes, discuss trends, and share their opinions — but a handful of them can’t stop repeating the same opening line before they speak:
They quote you, cite your ideas, share your frameworks or stories. Those who don’t know you immediately whip out their phones to join your email list. In a world obsessed with being more visible, you are more memorable. Let others agonize over growing followers. You have actual influence — and it drives actual revenue, helping you grow your business and leave your legacy.
Your premise is the defensible assertion you make to your audience, pulled from your perspective, which informs your choices and your reputation.
It’s the idea you’re known for — and it helps you create owned IP. Books, shows, and speeches have premises. Your personal & corporate brands need a premise too.
That’s why it feels harder than it needs to feel to stand out, to inspire action and sales, to create high-impact content, and to align all you do.
I work with entrepreneurs, creators, and execs who sell high-ticket services or wish to invest in their personal brands to stand out easier + resonate deeper.
Following my work in marketing, sales, and creative at Google, HubSpot, a tiny startup, and a premier VC firm, I’ve spent years as a business author, touring keynote speaker, show host, and consultant.
I’ve worked with brands like Salesforce and GoDaddy, startups like Wistia, Podia, and Help Scout, and experts and entrepreneurs who earn a living as authors, coaches, speakers, consultants, fractional execs, and creators.
I work with very few clients at a time, helping them with their premise development and signature stories, ensuring they have an easier time differentiating, charging a premium, and building their brands their way.
“He's just that good. He knows what's gonna work, and he also knows how to make it work for YOU. Hire Jay. He gets it, and he's worth it.”
Michelle arrived as a true veteran of the online business space — but a well-kept secret. She doesn’t publish much on social media, can’t stand all the “simple secrets” and hacks being pushed out there, and doesn’t need them to support her business. She also has good instincts, strong opinions, and a valuable network to respect when taking any new ideas public.
“Even though I came in with the start of a premise, he helped me hone it, made it a thousand times better than what it was, and most importantly, he taught me how to embody it.”
She hired me to develop her premise and take it to market through a new podcast — in a way that felt customized to her, not shoved into my idea of the “right” process.
“I can see how my next offering comes from this. I can see how content comes from this because it’s not just tons of random things, but all beats of the premise. I can see how my sales are easier because of this. The value I offer becomes the premise, and it’s super intuitive and creates a coherent circle around my business.”
Susan owns Beyond Margins. She’s a veteran CFO/COO and business strategist offering premium services and education. As she likes to say, “Calm is the new KPI.”
Susan was ready to grow her audience and her portfolio of both revenue-generating offers (courses, memberships, services) and pillar content projects (podcast, newsletter, guest appearances) in a way that felt coherent to her and valuable and original to others.
Susan knew she had lots of good ideas, but it didn’t all feel coherent to her or immediately clear and memorable to others. “When people spend time with me, they stick around. Getting them to do so is the challenge,” she said.
“I need to be able to draw a coherent circle around all my content and my offers.”
Susan needed a clear premise, plus the IP around it developed through content. After just a couple calls, things started to click.
(These are actual clients during live calls, seeing it all come together.)
[Pictured: online training company CEO // Fortune 100 SVP-turned-author // freelance writer // habit and career coach.]
The impact of an idea is directly proportional to its value + its originality.
✍️ You keep changing your positioning … or maybe your site feels stale.
You should have a premise capable of fueling your website and pillar projects supporting your brand.
💌 You publish expert content … but you’re not getting the passionate response you want.
What you know is worth their support. What you say should make that clear.
💵 You have meaningful revenue … but it’s getting harder to stand out or charge a premium.
Your ideas and message must convey your premium thinking ahead your premium price points.
🎤 You’re giving some talks … and you’re ready for the keynote stage.
You need to challenge the status quo, not try to out-expert everyone perpetuating it.
“Jay’s commitment to craft is contagious. Even rarer, he’s skilled at breaking down and explaining how to assemble specific ingredients for achieving greater resonance in your work.”
—Jenny Blake (entrepreneur, author, and podcaster with >2m downloads; ex-Google L&D leader)
“It felt like he had known me for years. He made my message super clear and powerful to both me and others — waaaaaaay better than I could have done alone. In a few short conversations, he totally understood my voice and gave honest feedback throughout.”
—Shawn Shepheard (business coach for family-owned businesses)
“Before working with Jay, I didn’t really have a premise for our show. Now we have an original premise and a method to come up with premises on our own.”
— Kevin Leahy, managing producer for Guy Raz
“Jay’s superpower is listening to what somebody says and just cutting right to the chase and telling them what they really mean.”
—Jennifer Goforth Gregory (author and marketing writer/consultant for Samsung, Adobe, HP, AmEx)
After starting my career in media and marketing roles at Google and HubSpot, a tiny startup and a VC firm, I authored the book about questioning best practices, Break the Wheel, toured as a professional speaker (giving keynote sin 25 states and 3 countries), launched two celebrated business shows (the podcast Unthinkable and the docuseries Against the Grain), and cofounded the mastermind for business storytellers, the Creator Kitchen.
As an advisor, I’ve worked with more than 200 individuals and teams to help them differentiate through the impact of their ideas, not the volume of their content. Past brand clients include Salesforce, GoDaddy, Wistia, Drift, Podia, InVision, Zillow, Blackbaud, Dometic, James Hardie, and Help Scout, as well as hundreds of individual thought leaders and experts, including the author behind Google’s employee training program and the performance coach who helped develop Kobe Bryant’s Black Mamba persona.
I’m a proud New England resident, a troubled Knicks fan, and an obsessive grilled pizza chef. My grandest aspiration (though genuinely, it’s my biggest delusion) is to be the Anthony Bourdain of business storytelling.
🏅 “A must-listen marketing podcast” — LinkedIn’s editorial team
🏅 One of Boston’s “50 on Fire” — American City Business Journals
🏅 Top 50 most influential B2B marketers in the world — TopRank influencer marketing firm
🏅 I was also the #1-rated speaker at Content Marketing World according to the audience ratings of 200 speakers. The next year, I became the youngest-ever opening keynote for the event to 4,000 attendees.
“I never had a creative partner until hiring Jay. He is so strategic and ruthlessly practical. My work ended up lightyears ahead.”
—Mia Quagliarello (Head of Creator Community, Flipboard; prev. Apple, YouTube, Viacom)
“You can go ahead and create more content. Or you can create something special that stirs hearts and engages minds. If you are the kind of person who wants your work to really matter, listen to Jay. He’ll be your perfect guide.”
— Ann Handley (WSJ Bestselling Author of Everybody Writes; globally touring speaker; Partner at training org MarketingProfs)
What does it take to resonate? On How Stories Happen, experts, entrepreneurs, and world-class communicators dissect their signature stories piece by piece. We explore how they found their stories, how they developed their ideas, and how they're using a given story to grow their business and leave their legacy. Hosted by Jay Acunzo.
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SparkToro is an audience research tool which shows who your audience is, what they talk about, and where to reach them. Founded by Rand Fishkin and Casey Henry, the team at SparkToro believes high-quality market research and audience research should be available to everyone, not just tech giants and those with huge budgets. Try SparkToro for free>>
Coming this fall: SparkTogether, an in-person storytelling event where business builders present never-before-shared details of successes and failures building their projects and products. Talks aren’t recorded, so the stories are refreshingly honest, and space is limited, so attendees are high quality, kind, and caring people. Learn more about SparkTogether>>
I partnered with the brand Help Scout to create a three-part docuseries about businesses who believe there’s a better way to build than growth-at-all-costs.
With a diverse range of real-world stories, Break the Wheel offers a simple but powerful way to think for yourself when surrounded by endless advice and conventional wisdom. Say goodbye to average work and hello to doing your best.
“Usually business writing is for people who want to be led, not for people who want to think.
Jay challenges people to think instead, and to remember that we benefit from being whole people not divided into business pieces and not-business pieces. I’ve been reading his work for years.”
- Maggie, a happy reader and think-for-yourselfer
“File this book under completely paradigm shifting.
This will change the way you think about what you need to do to be successful, and free you do do more of what is a unique expression of yourself. It’s easy to get caught up thinking that success lies in best practices. But best practices aren’t best for everyone. Question assumptions and unlock massive impact, revenue, and fulfillment.
-5 Star Amazon Review”
“A rare great marketing book!
A terrific book with important advice for every marketer. It’s not ‘best practice’, it’s how to find what’s best for your specific situation. Smart, well-written and super helpful.”
-5 Star Amazon Review