Shafaat Choyon.

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Essays · Growth

Essays on growth and marketing.

Growth is the core of my work: 17 years across eight industries, most of it in Bangladesh. That record includes a Galaxy Note9 launch that ranked No. 1 globally for growth, and corporate clients at Praava Health scaled from 342 to about 1,400. These essays are about how demand, pricing, trust and retention move a number, in the US and in Bangladesh.

In this topic: Trust, brand and positioning Retention, measurement and the operator's job Content, LinkedIn and personal brand Commerce and the AI-era buyer Talent and work Health and AI markets

Trust, brand and positioning 10

Tariffs reach the shelf in a year: price like you mean it

Tariffs reach the shelf in a year: price like you mean it

New York Fed research finds about 90% of tariffs land on import prices almost at once, but in its scenario a 10% tariff lifts consumer goods prices only about 2.6% after a year. That lag is a pricing window. Bangladesh's brands show how to use it.

The insular buyer: trust now ties with quality and price

The insular buyer: trust now ties with quality and price

In Edelman's 2026 brand study, 88% of consumers call trust an important or critical reason to buy, level with quality and value, and more than two-thirds want a brand headquartered in their own country. Bangladesh shows that "local" is earned, not registered.

The dual-market operator's edge

The dual-market operator's edge

Most operators compete in one market. I read two: the US and Bangladesh: daily. Seventeen years taught me that bridge is a position no one else can occupy.

Create the category, don't compete in one

Create the category, don't compete in one

Positioning wins a slot someone else defined. The stronger move: design the category itself: name the problem, set the terms, become the default answer.

Pricing is positioning, not a spreadsheet

Pricing is positioning, not a spreadsheet

Your price is the loudest thing your brand says. In cash markets where every taka is felt, pricing is your sharpest positioning decision: not a spreadsheet.

The authenticity dividend - your last real moat

The authenticity dividend - your last real moat

In a feed drowning in AI sameness, the scarce thing is proof a person made it. Notes on trust: from Dhaka's markets to the backlash against AI slop.

Frugal innovation as a design philosophy

Frugal innovation as a design philosophy

The West calls it "frugal innovation." In Bangladesh we called it getting it done. The design principles of 2026 are what scarcity taught us years ago.

Everyone says "AI-powered" - position on the job

Everyone says "AI-powered" - position on the job

When every booth claims the same edge, the phrase means nothing. Positioning must move where copycats can't follow: the job the customer is hiring you to do.

When nobody trusts anybody, trust is the growth strategy

When nobody trusts anybody, trust is the growth strategy

In low-trust categories, trust isn't a brand value: it's the growth engine. From moving 10 million onto digital payments where trust was the entire barrier.

The pendulum swings back to brand

Performance marketers report diminishing returns, ad spend passed $1T, and AI floods every channel with sameness. The scarce asset: a brand people trust.

Retention, measurement and the operator's job 7

Flat budget, new AI line: the CMO's third squeeze

Flat budget, new AI line: the CMO's third squeeze

Marketing budgets sit at 7.8% of revenue, and CMOs now put 15.3% of that into AI. Only 30% say they are ready to scale it. The AI line is not new money, so the question is which old line pays for it.

$Half a COO: why fractional leadership is a growth model$

Half a COO: why fractional leadership is a growth model

One major search firm reports client demand for interim leaders up 310% since 2020, and 83% of independent executives say most of their clients have revenue of $1 billion or less. Only 22% name lower cost as a benefit. Companies buy part-time leaders for speed and skill, which makes fractional a growth model, not a budget trick.

After LDC, growth is an operations job

After LDC, growth is an operations job

Bangladesh has three more years before it leaves the UN's least developed country group. The preferences and cash incentives that let firms win on price are the part that ends. What replaces them is capability, and the leader who builds it has to understand operations, not just demand.

The Shrinking CMO

The Shrinking CMO

Marketing budgets are flat at 7.7% of revenue, 95% of CMOs feel ROI pressure, and tenure hit a 10-year low of 4.1 years. What keeps a growth leader standing.

Measure the number you're avoiding

Measure the number you're avoiding

Every team measures something. The winning ones measure the number they'd rather not look at: and decide what to count before they start, not after.

CSAT Over Revenue

CSAT Over Revenue

55% of CMOs now name customer satisfaction, not revenue growth, as their primary success metric, up from 42% in 2023. What that quiet shift actually means.

Retention is the real growth engine

Retention is the real growth engine

Acquisition costs rose ~60% in five years. Winners obsess over the leaky bucket: cash markets taught me retention, not reach, is the growth engine.

Content, LinkedIn and personal brand 7

LinkedIn reach fell by half. Here is what still travels

LinkedIn reach fell by half. Here is what still travels

Third-party analyses say LinkedIn posts reach about half as many people as they did. LinkedIn's own numbers say time on content is up 10%. Both are true, and the gap between them is the new playbook.

Saves, Not Likes: What 300,000 LinkedIn Posts Actually Show

Saves, Not Likes: What 300,000 LinkedIn Posts Actually Show

A 2026 report on 300,000 LinkedIn posts: saves outweigh likes, polls rank very low for follower growth, and hashtags haven't worked in years.

LinkedIn's Algorithm Reads Your Bio Before It Reads Your Post

LinkedIn's Algorithm Reads Your Bio Before It Reads Your Post

LinkedIn's 2026 algorithm reportedly reads your headline and About for topical authority before deciding a post's reach. Credibility is set before you hit publish.

$The Creator Economy's Math Problem$

The Creator Economy's Math Problem

207 million people call themselves creators in a $248.95B market, but only 4% earn over $100K a year. The gap between reach and revenue, and why it matters.

The personal-brand playbook for the markets everyone ignores

The most underrated growth asset in 2026 isn't a company brand: it's a person's. And the biggest opening to build one is where Western creators aren't looking.

Stop throwing away what you publish

Stop throwing away what you publish

The most wasteful thing in content isn't a bad idea: it's a good one you published once and dropped. Atomize a few durable assets instead of churning posts.

I rebuilt my website to be read by AI, not just Google

I rebuilt my website to be read by AI, not just Google

80% of searches now end without a click. Field notes on optimizing for answer engines: structured data, llms.txt, and becoming the source AI actually cites.

Commerce and the AI-era buyer 4

Shoppers let AI compare, not buy

Shoppers let AI compare, not buy

AI traffic to US retail sites rose 693% last holiday season, but only 14% of Americans are comfortable letting AI place the order. Bangladesh, where 86.8% of online shoppers still pay cash on delivery, shows how to design for that gap.

Your next customer reads an AI answer first

Your next customer reads an AI answer first

Google now shows an AI Overview on 83% of branded US desktop searches, and most searches end without a click. The first sales conversation now happens in an answer you did not write. Here is how to earn your place in it.

Retail Media Hits $203.9B While 76% of Purchases Still Happen In Store

Retail Media Hits $203.9B While 76% of Purchases Still Happen In Store

Retail media is projected to hit $203.9B in 2026, up 14%, yet 76% of purchases still happen in stores. Digital-first hype meets where buying happens.

Commerce runs on chat, not storefronts

Commerce runs on chat, not storefronts

Bangladesh has 300,000+ Facebook and Instagram business pages, most run by sellers working from a chat thread. People buy from a person, not a store.

Talent and work 2

Where Did the Graduate Jobs Go

Where Did the Graduate Jobs Go

UK graduate job ads fell 33% in a year, and 17,000 vacancies drew 1.2M applications. What the squeeze means for employer brand, from the UK to Bangladesh.

The Gen Z Pay Cut for Ethics

The Gen Z Pay Cut for Ethics

89% of Gen Z say purpose at work matters to their job satisfaction, and two-thirds of young UK workers would take less pay for an ethical employer. Why employer brand is now a P&L lever.

Health and AI markets 3

AI Closes the Diagnosis Gap Bangladesh Can't Wait For

AI Closes the Diagnosis Gap Bangladesh Can't Wait For

Bangladesh has 170M people and a specialist shortage no pipeline closes fast enough. AI triage isn't a supplement there, it's the first clinician many meet.

The First Fully AI-Designed Drug Could Get FDA Approval Within the Year

The First Fully AI-Designed Drug Could Get FDA Approval Within the Year

Insilico's rentosertib is the first fully AI-designed drug in Phase IIb, with a 60% shot at approval by 2027. Why verification, not design, is the real bottleneck.

86 New AI Medical Devices in One Quarter Is a Maturity Story

86 New AI Medical Devices in One Quarter Is a Maturity Story

Q2 2026: 86 new FDA-cleared AI/ML medical devices, spreading beyond radiology into cardiology, dental, and pathology. This is regulatory maturity, not hype.

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