Running a boutique research firm has taught me many things, and the importance of listening is one of the biggest pieces.
Not just to clients, but to markets, to patterns – to what’s not being said.
Recently, a client came to us with what seemed like a straightforward ask:
“We need a list of the top 100 companies in a niche space.”
Easy enough to scope and we would have quickly built a proposal and moved ahead. But during a couple of early conversations, it became clear that they didn’t just want a list.
They needed insight. Context. Direction.
“Top 100” didn’t mean the biggest by revenue. What mattered more was:
Who’s innovating fastest?
Who’s expanding into adjacent segments?
Who’s attracting investor attention?
In other words – who’s shaping the future, not just dominating the present.
That shifted everything!
And it reminded me again why asking the right questions before the research starts is often more important than the research itself.
When a client says “we want a list of competitors,” they often really need clarity on their own positioning.
When they ask for “market trends,” they’re often looking for direction – where to play next, where to go deeper, what to de-prioritize.
The skill isn’t just in finding data – it’s in spotting meaning.
And meaning lives in context, not in numbers or words alone.
