How a Dry Salad Made Me a Better Marketer

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to drive through the rolling hills of Tuscany. And find yourself at a local trattoria. You may encounter a curious problem …

Because after ordering a frito, risotto, pasta, and a perfectly charred Florentine steak … adding a salad is the only sane choice.

But when the waiter places the salad on the table … something feels off.

The salad is dry.

That’s because in Italy, it is expected, that any self-respecting human being should be able to perform the bare minimum preparation of dressing a salad.

Unfortunately, the only salad dressings I knew of came from bottles with Paul Newman’s face slapped on the side.

Fortunately, my well-traveled, culinary-trained wife, had me covered.

And so began my first cooking lesson.

After getting my ‘mise en place’ or as my wife calls it, “getting your shit together.”

• In a small Masson jar, I combined a 4:1 ratio of olive oil to red wine vinegar.

• I added two pinches of fine sea salt. Capped it. And shook.

• With the dressing ready, I poured it over the greens and gave them a toss.

“Now taste it,” she instructed. “What’s missing? What’s out of balance?”

At first, I honestly didn’t know how to answer her. It just tasted off.

So we did a simple experiment:

• I grabbed a leaf and added a touch more oil. Better or worse? No difference.

• I tried another leaf with a bit more salt. Better or worse? Worse.

• Then, I added a drop more vinegar to another leaf. Better or worse? Better.

“That’s it,” my wife smiled. “You’ve found what’s out of balance.”

And that’s when it hit me—learning to isolate a problem rather than throwing the whole thing out—is the number one skill most entrepreneurs lack.

Whether it’s a failed launch or a “lame duck” landing page, every problem can be solved by identifying its individual ingredients.

If you take the time to isolate and test those elements, you might find that what you thought was broken only needs a slight tweak.

I’m happy to report that I was not shamed as a salad noob during my travels. And to this day, my daughter still requests me to make her favorite salad.

Happy cooking,