Fit / process # Work with me I do one kind of work. A technical product has moved ahead of the market's understanding of it, and customers, product usage, or revenue lag the product. I lead growth for that company, with positioning and brand as core drivers of demand. I set the direction and get the programs working, hands-on or with the existing team, then hire people to run and scale what we've proven. Working with me starts with a short note and one conversation. You get a plain answer on fit, and if it's a yes, the scope goes in writing before anything else does. I'm always open to a conversation. I go all in on whatever I'm working on, and I stay open to a step up: a harder problem, a bigger remit, or a more talent dense team. The rest of this page: who the work is for, what I don't do, and what to send. Updated October 31, 2026 From note to scope 1. Send a note 2. One conversation 3. A plain answer on fit 4. A written scope On this page 01 ## Who this is for Founders and executive teams at AI infrastructure, developer-tool, and complex B2B platform companies. Usually a talent dense team with real constraints: pipeline pressure, usage-growth pressure, or a differentiation that keeps turning up in someone else's release notes. The signs it's a fit. Tick the ones that are true: - A strong technical product needs more customers, product usage, pipeline, or revenue. - Positioning has drifted. Product, Marketing, and Sales each describe the company differently. - Developers are adopting the product, but growth and monetization lag it. - The proof exists (customers, benchmarks, working examples) but it's fragmented or invisible to the market. - Marketing content doesn't earn engagement from technical audiences or buyers. - Product truth gets lost somewhere between Engineering, Marketing, Sales, and the buyer. Two or three of those and we should talk. None of them, and you probably need something I don't do. That's the section after next. 02 ## The shape of the work The shape doesn't change much with the title. I've done it as the first marketing hire reporting to the CEO, as a VP Marketing running a 14-person AI-first commercial org, as a director inside a public company, and in shorter engagements with founders. The sequence was the same each time. 1. Clarify positioning, fit, and the market story. What's technically true about the product, who it's for, and why it matters, in words Product, Sales, and the buyer can all repeat. 2. Find the proof spine and the current bottleneck. What evidence already exists, what's missing, and which constraint has the clearest connection to customers, usage, and revenue. 3. Get the growth programs working, hands-on or with the existing team. Positioning, brand, technical customer proof, acquisition, lifecycle, Sales enablement: whichever the bottleneck needs first, not all of them at once. 4. Measure, review, and prove what works. One weekly loop from market signal to decision, shipped work, measured outcome, and reusable learning. 5. Use the results to guide investment, then hire people to run and scale what's proven. I use AI agents to execute more of this directly, with review gates that protect accuracy. The operating system supports the work. The value is deciding what's worth bringing to market and turning it into customers, usage, and revenue. The proof is on the work pages: [Blaxel](/work/blaxel), [VRIFY](/work/vrify), [GitLab](/work/gitlab), and the founder years at [Assembly Digital and Studio Palms](/work/studio-palms-assembly-digital). I'm always open to a conversation. I go all in on whatever I'm working on, and I stay open to a step up: a harder problem, a bigger remit, or a more talent dense team. 03 ## What I don't do Plainly, because the wrong expectation wastes both our time. - I'm not a marketing agency. assemblydigital.com is my personal site. Assembly Digital was the design consultancy I founded in Vancouver in 2012 and ran until it became Studio Palms in 2015, and the domain stayed with me. There's no team behind it to hire. - I'm not a volume content studio. If the brief is more content per week, I'm the wrong call. - I'm not a prompt consultant. AI is how I execute more of the work myself. It isn't the service. - I don't sell guaranteed results. Outcomes depend on the product, the constraints, and whether the team follows through. What I can show you is the mechanism and the measurement. - I don't do brand without operational follow-through. A rebrand that doesn't connect to demand, usage, and revenue is decoration. - I don't work without measurement. If there's no appetite for proof, measurement, or explicit tradeoffs, we'll frustrate each other. 04 ## How it starts 1. Send a note. What the product does and who it's for (a link to the docs beats a deck), where growth is stuck in one or two sentences, what you've tried, the numbers you can share, and the decision you're trying to make and by when. 2. One conversation. I'll ask about the product at source, the funnel from signup to revenue, the team, and who decides what. Treat it almost like an interview in both directions. You should leave knowing whether I understand the product. I should leave knowing where the constraint is. 3. A plain answer on fit. Yes, no, or not me but here's who or what. I'll say which, and why. 4. A written scope before any work starts. The constraint we're attacking, the first measurable outcome, the weekly cadence, decision rights, and what would make us stop. Short enough to fit on a page. No discovery deck. If I can't name the constraint after one conversation, that's information about fit, not a reason for a second meeting. 05 Start here ## What to send, and where Email [michael.preuss.mba@gmail.com](mailto:michael.preuss.mba@gmail.com), or [message me on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-preuss-mba/). Include: - the product and who it's for, with a link - where growth is stuck, in one or two sentences - what you've tried and what it did - the numbers you can share: signups, activation, usage, pipeline, revenue, whichever you have - the decision you're trying to make, and when you need to make it Role conversations start the same way. The career proof is on the [About page](/about). Don't put customer data, credentials, or anything sensitive in a first note. ## FAQ ### How do I work with Michael Preuss? Send a short note to michael.preuss.mba@gmail.com or a message on LinkedIn: what the product does, where growth is stuck, what you have tried, and the decision you are trying to make. Michael Preuss replies with a plain answer on fit and, if it is a fit, one conversation about the product, the numbers, and who decides what. Before any work starts, the constraint, the first measurable outcome, the cadence, and decision rights go in writing. He is always open to a conversation. He goes all in on whatever he is working on and stays open to a step up: a harder problem, a bigger remit, or a more talent dense team. ### Is Michael Preuss an agency or a fractional operator? Michael Preuss is not an agency. assemblydigital.com is his personal site; Assembly Digital was the design consultancy he founded in Vancouver in 2012 and ran until it became Studio Palms in 2015, and the domain stayed with him. He is a marketing and growth executive for technical B2B companies, based in North Vancouver, BC, who has led growth as a first marketing hire reporting to the CEO, as a VP Marketing, and as a director inside a public company. He is not a volume content studio or a prompt consultant either. He is always open to a conversation. He goes all in on whatever he is working on and stays open to a step up: a harder problem, a bigger remit, or a more talent dense team. ### What does Michael Preuss not do? Michael Preuss does not run a marketing agency, a volume content studio, or prompt consulting, and there is no team behind assemblydigital.com to hire. He does not sell guaranteed results or make claims without proof artifacts. The weakest fit is a team that wants a high-volume content vendor, brand work without operational follow-through, or no measurement and no explicit tradeoffs. ### How does an engagement with Michael Preuss start? It starts with a short note and one conversation about the product, the funnel from signup to revenue, the team, and who decides what. Michael Preuss gives a plain answer on fit: yes, no, or not him but here is who or what. If it is a fit, the constraint being attacked, the first measurable outcome, the weekly cadence, and decision rights are agreed in writing before any work starts. ### What is Michael Preuss's process? Michael Preuss's process has five steps: clarify positioning, fit, and the market story; identify the proof spine and the current bottleneck; get the growth programs working, hands-on or with the existing team; measure, review, and prove what works; then use the results to guide investment and hire people to run and scale what is proven. He runs it on a weekly loop from market signal to decision, shipped work, measured outcome, and reusable learning. AI agents execute more of the work directly, with review gates that protect accuracy. ### Where is Michael Preuss based? Michael Preuss is based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He has delivered marketing and growth programs across North America and international markets.