Liquid Research · Author

Research by Alenn Rebolledo

8 papers on the systems, constraints and information gaps that shape how smaller companies decide and grow.

  1. No. 08

    Published September 25, 2026

    The Small Business Series

    The Business of One

    Most U.S. small businesses have no paid employees. This paper separates their prevalence from their performance and proposes a framework for adding capability before deciding whether to add payroll.

  2. No. 07

    Published September 24, 2026

    The Small Business Series

    AI Did Not Eliminate the Small-Business Gap. It Moved It.

    AI did not eliminate the small-business gap; it moved it. Using Census BTOS and the 2026 diffusion working paper, this paper separates AI access, adoption, and value, and locates the constraint shifting from purchasing to integration.

  3. No. 06

    Published April 21, 2026

    The Decision Series

    Positioning Is an Operating Decision

    Positioning fails when it is written as language rather than as constraint. A framework for testing whether a stated position is real, and what has to change downstream for it to hold.

  4. No. 05

    Published April 7, 2026

    The Compounding Company

    Retention Is a Growth Channel

    Acquisition is budgeted; retention is assumed. A look at the published economics of repeat business, the arithmetic of compounding retention, and the operating changes that move it.

  5. No. 04

    Published March 24, 2026

    The Operating System Series

    More Software Is Rarely the Answer

    Tool sprawl is usually a symptom of undefined ownership. A framework for deciding whether a problem needs a purchase, a connection, or a decision.

  6. No. 03

    Published March 10, 2026

    The Small Business Series

    The Small Business Intelligence Gap

    Smaller companies rarely lack ambition or information. They lack the analytical infrastructure that larger firms treat as ordinary overhead. A look at the gap and how to close it cheaply.

  7. No. 02

    Published February 24, 2026

    Human + Machine

    Automation Before Standardization Is Just Faster Chaos

    Automating an undefined process encodes its variation permanently. A sequence for deciding what is ready to automate, what should be standardized first, and what should stay manual.

  8. No. 01

    Published February 10, 2026

    The Constraint Series

    The Constraint Is Usually Somewhere Else

    Most growth programs begin where attention is loudest rather than where throughput is limited. A short method for locating the binding constraint before spending against it.