Are You Responsible for High-Stakes Growth Bets That Need Stronger Evidence and Faster Decisions?
The Precoil EMT System helps executive teams make risk visible, align on what must be true, and build evidence before scaling strategic investments further.
What’s Really Holding You Back
Your growth bets aren’t failing because people lack effort, it’s because the risk isn’t visible yet.
The Same Decisions Keep Getting Revisited
The same strategic bets continue circulating through meetings without reaching clear resolution. Teams spend more time revisiting discussions than moving initiatives forward with confidence. As momentum slows, opportunities narrow and decision fatigue starts to build.
Teams Aren’t Aligned on What Must Be True
Each function is operating from different assumptions about customers (desirability), business impact (viability), and execution risk (feasibility). Product, strategy, finance, and operations often define success in completely different ways. Without shared clarity, decisions become harder to make and harder to defend.
Investments Move As Risk Increases
Time, capital, and resources get committed before enough evidence exists to scale confidently. Critical risks stay hidden until late-stage execution, where changes become slower and more expensive. By then, teams are managing momentum instead of making deliberate decisions.
$24M in New Growth and $12M saved in 36 months
DuPont generated $24M from the combined 57% of the projects (Commit + Correct) that launched in the market and saved $12M by re-deploying resources from the 43% of the Cut projects.
26% Commit
Customer-validated value propositions with strong sponsorship and competitive advantage31% Correct
Early course correction based on customer, market, or value-chain evidence43% Cut
Projects discontinued early due to lack of viable path forward, liberating capital and talent
Three Levers. One Integrated Solution.
The Precoil EMT System
One principled approach to building a scalable growth engine.
Extract Map Test
EMT is a proven system for improving the speed and impact of high-uncertainty investments by making risk visible and testable early.
And it works by pulling three critical levers:
Extract. Map. Test.
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Most assumptions are implicit, which means different teams are operating from different versions of reality, which causes teams to talk past one another, revisit the same decisions, and create unnecessary rework.
The Extract lever solves these discrepancies by making hidden assumptions visible so teams stop debating opinions and start aligning on facts.
At its core: Do customers want it? Does it make financial sense? And can your organization actually deliver it?
Once those assumptions are visible, teams can separate signals from opinion. They can focus on what truly needs evidence to move forward.
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Not every risk matters equally, and not everything needs testing.
We focus on what’s both critical to success and unsupported by evidence.
That’s usually where progress gets stuck.
The Map lever creates a shared view of risk across the organization, making ownership and dependencies clear so issues get resolved early, not escalated late.
Now teams can see how their risks connect. They can see where trade-offs exist, and can resolve issues before they land on an executive’s desk.
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No early big launches. No full builds upfront.
Instead, we run fast, focused tests to reduce uncertainty and move decisions forward.
The Test lever turns risk into learning with real-world insights, so you can decide with evidence, not opinion.
Each EMT cycle prepares one investment or initiative. But across decisions the impact compounds. Your organization begins to experience shorter cycles from idea to evidence. Fewer late stage escalations. Clearer capital allocation. Higher return on investment decision. And higher confidence without endless analysis.
Hi, I’m David J Bland
I’m the founder of Precoil and lead author of Testing Business Ideas, which has sold more than 100,000 copies in over 20 languages worldwide.
For more than 15 years, I’ve worked with executive teams on high-uncertainty growth initiatives where the cost of being wrong is significant.
I specialize in helping organizations make risk explicit, align teams around what must be true, and generate evidence before major growth investments are made.
My work has supported companies including DuPont, Toyota, Adobe, HP, and GE in improving the speed and impact of strategic investment decisions through structured experimentation and evidence-based decision-making.
Reframed Risk and Decision-Making at Realtor.com
When Dave Masters was leading product teams at Realtor.com, his team faced a familiar challenge: multiple options, strong opinions, and no clear path forward. Instead of debating endlessly or committing based on instinct, they used Precoil's approach to extract assumptions, map risk, and design tests before investing further. What began as a single workshop evolved into a new way of making decisions, replacing lengthy debates with evidence, reducing risk before building, and giving teams a structured path to move forward with confidence. As Dave later reflected, the experience fundamentally changed how he approached product leadership and decision-making.
Shared Language For Risk and Decision-Making
When Moses Adedoyin was helping build new ventures at GuideWell, he encountered a challenge common to large organizations, every team had a different definition. Ideas moved forward, but there was no shared framework for evaluating risk, testing assumptions, or determining what evidence was required before investment decisions were made. Rather than treating ideas as projects that immediately deserved funding, Moses and his team adopted a more disciplined approach focused on identifying assumptions, categorizing risks, and generating evidence before scaling commitment. Over time, this created a common language across teams and leaders, helping GuideWell make growth decisions with greater clarity and consistency.
Rethinking Risk in Manufacturing at Behr
When Darren Stoddart was leading innovation at Behr, he faced a challenge common to many established organizations: how do you pursue higher-risk growth opportunities without abandoning the rigor that made the company successful? Rather than relying on instinct or waiting for expensive research, Darren's team began surfacing assumptions, identifying risks, and generating evidence before major commitments were made. The result was a more disciplined approach to innovation, one that helped the team cut weak ideas earlier, build confidence in stronger opportunities, and bring evidence-backed recommendations into executive discussions.
Client Results
What Becomes Possible With The EMT System
You've invested in growth bets before.
But most organizations still make high-stakes decisions with incomplete evidence. Teams work from different assumptions, uncertainty remains hidden, and leaders are asked to commit more resources before the biggest risks are understood. Precoil helps make those risks visible, testable, and easier to decide.
How We Help You.
Higher returns on investment decisions
Testimonials
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![Alexa Dembek]()
“David is our journey partner for fast-learning and de-risking. He helps us keep innovation and sustainability priorities interwoven to find new value and growth.”
Alexa Dembek - Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer at DuPont
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![Vinuth Rai]()
“David’s advising helped us apply lean startup to our new mobility products and services, by rapidly testing them in the market with customers.”
Vinuth Rai - Director of Connected Services Division at Toyota InfoTechnology Center
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![Aaron Slessinger]()
"When David gave us cardboard, I wasn’t sure at first but now use it to test our curved displays with customers before we start building."
Aaron Slessinger - Vice President - Consumer Print Product Portfolio at HP
Who this is for
Built for Leaders Responsible for High-Uncertainty Growth
The EMT System is designed for executive teams and growth operators who are responsible for making decisions about new ventures, strategic investments, and growth initiatives where the path forward is not yet clear.
These leaders are under pressure to move faster, align stakeholders, and make confident decisions despite incomplete information. They recognize that the biggest risk isn't uncertainty itself, it's committing resources before the critical assumptions have been tested.
This Is For You If
You are a CEO, COO, CSO, business unit leader, or executive responsible for future growth
You oversee growth bets, strategic initiatives, venture portfolios, or new business opportunities
You want teams to surface risks earlier instead of discovering them after major investments have been made
You need a repeatable process for deciding what to Commit, Correct, or Cut
You are tired of funding assumptions and want stronger evidence before scaling initiatives
You believe better decisions come from faster learning, not bigger presentations
This Is Not For You If
You're looking for a quick innovation workshop without changing how decisions are made
You already have a proven system for evaluating growth opportunities and generating evidence before investment decisions
Your teams are aligned on assumptions, risks, and priorities, and consistently make fast, confident decisions under uncertainty
You're satisfied funding initiatives based primarily on intuition alone
You aren't willing to challenge existing assumptions or stop initiatives when the evidence suggests a different path
You're not ready to invest time and leadership attention into improving how growth decisions are made
It’s Time To Make A Decision
Every growth bet begins as a set of assumptions.
The question is whether you'll discover what's true before or after significant resources have been committed.
Apply for a Growth Strategy Call below
If you're ready to improve the speed and quality of growth decisions, we'll review your current approach, identify where uncertainty is creating friction, and determine whether Precoil can help your team turn assumptions into evidence before you scale.
© 2026 Precoil, LLC.
contact@precoil.com
This website is operated by Precoil, LLC. The information provided on this site is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, financial, accounting, or investment advice.
Precoil provides consulting, advisory, training, and facilitation services designed to help organizations improve decision-making under uncertainty. While our methods are intended to help teams make more informed decisions, we do not guarantee specific business, financial, innovation, or growth outcomes. Results vary based on organizational context, market conditions, execution, and other factors beyond our control.
Client examples and testimonials reflect the experiences of specific organizations and individuals and should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future results.
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