CL Marketing. Great companies win because they’re understood, not because they’re louder.

Great companies win because
they’re understood,
not because they’re louder.

Christopher Lumby
Hand-drawn first-place trophy

Hi. I’m Chris, and I help ambitious tech companies turn product innovation into market leadership.

Cover of the field guide How Great Products Become Great Companies by Christopher Lumby

How Great Products Become Great Companies

Read my take on how building thoughtful, well-designed, highly-relevant products becomes the brand advantage you can’t buy.

Get the guide

Free PDF · no email required

Frameworks you can steal

Full-spectrum messaging framework: brand, positioning, offerings, differentiators, capabilities, products and value proposition on one page

Messaging & positioning

One page that holds brand, positioning, offerings, differentiators and value proposition together – so Sales, Marketing and Product describe the company the same way. Fill it once for the company, then clone it per segment: the spine stays, the language changes.

Download the template

PDF

Jobs-to-be-done scattergraph plotting importance against satisfaction, with over-served, appropriately served and under-served zones

Jobs-to-be-done opportunity map

Score every customer outcome for importance and for satisfaction, then plot it. Anything sitting well below the diagonal is under-served, and that gap is where the real opportunity is – it separates table stakes from the openings worth building against.

Buy the book

Jobs to be Done · Anthony W. Ulwick · Strategyn

Go-to-market framework in three phases: strategy and plan, launch and activate, learn and optimize

Go-to-market planning

Three phases – strategy, launch, learn – with a named owner against every line. Not every launch needs every activity; the point is deciding out loud which ones it doesn’t, before the date is locked.

Download the tracker

Excel workbook

Where I can help

Clarify your positioning

Successful companies start with clarity. Together, we'll sharpen your positioning, identify what truly differentiates you, and build messaging that customers immediately understand.

Unlock growth

When growth stalls, marketing is rarely the root cause. We'll uncover what's holding the business back–from product-market fit to go-to-market execution–and build a path back to sustainable growth. The same applies when you're entering a new market, adopting AI, or trying to make sense of what's changing.

Build products people want

The best product ideas aren't invented–they're discovered by understanding customers. I'll help identify unmet needs, prioritize opportunities, and align your roadmap with what the market is actually asking for.

Turn innovation into revenue

Great technology doesn't sell itself. Whether you're launching an AI platform, enterprise software, or a new product category, I'll help translate innovation into a commercial story customers understand and buy–then build the team and systems that can do it again.

Ways we can work together

Fractional

I jump in to lay groundwork, fill a temporary gap, or help you find a permanent replacement all while keeping the marketing engine running.

Consulting

I do a preliminary assessment, we work out the project scope together, then we roll up our sleeves and get to work tackling specific challenges.

FTE

I officially join the team with 100% of my time, energy, and focus dedicated to setting priorities, execute, and help your company hit escape velocity.

Me in thirty seconds

I think business is the one of the world's most fascinating puzzles. Complicated, messy, endlessly challenging – and incredibly satisfying when it works. Strategy matters. Execution matters more. And while there are plenty of formulas for success, somehow there's never quite a formula.

I'm a design freak and relentlessly curious. Contemporary furniture, product design, systems, architecture. Art fairs are my happy place. Self-taught CAD designer. UW grad. Avid hiker. Collector of life hacks. I'm happiest when I'm learning something new or figuring out how something could work better.

California has been home for more than three decades. I love L.A. culture. Dodgers. Venice Beach. Arts District. Dad was a native Angeleno. Lost our home in the Pacific Palisades Fire in January 2025, but wife and I rebuilt an entirely new home in 19 months. Not exactly the project we had planned, but excited about what comes next.

Born & raised in the Pacific Northwest (with a brief detour to American Samoa)
Half-Canadian (still trying to figure out which half)
Hopeless collector of business books. It’s getting out of hand. (see my top picks)