Research

Long-form research publications. Data-backed arguments for ideas that don't sell themselves yet.

Frontier Commons · 6 chapters

FAIL

Why innovation failure is a feature, not a bug.

Most organizations treat failure as a moral problem instead of a data source. Six chapters built from CB Insights post-mortems, BCG innovation readiness data, and 50 years of missions history.

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95%

products fail

orgs ready

3.6x

with tolerance

The VC Trap → The Art of Stopping → The Autopsy → The Philanthropy Trap → The 99 Percent → Reader's Guide

Frontier Commons · 6 chapters

RAMEN

Profitable enough to say no.

Bootstrap profitability as a strategic weapon. Why organizations that reach ramen profitability before raising survive longer — from Goldratt's Theory of Constraints to Mailchimp's $12B zero-VC exit.

74%premature scaling

93%pivoted from plan

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Frontier Commons · Research brief

DECAY

Relationships don't ghost. They fade.

The research foundation for Relay. Dunbar's social brain hypothesis, Burt's decay functions, and WHO loneliness data scored into a framework that detects fading relationships before anyone notices.

32%mortality risk

90%ties lost/yr

150Dunbar's number

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Frontier Commons · 6 chapters

Collective Impact

Isolated efforts cannot solve systemic problems.

Why 450,000 US faith organizations remain fragmented. The Kania-Kramer model for structured collective action — common agenda, shared measurement, backbone support — applied to the faith ecosystem.

450Kfaith orgs

$20ROI per $1

5conditions

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