Founder, Digilu  ·  Author, Elevate or Vanish

Mike
Millett

Former VP of Marketing, Stratus Building Solutions / StratusClean.

Mike Millett

Mike Millett has worked through successive shifts in desktop publishing, websites, search, content, and AI since 1988. He founded Digilu in 1999 and later served as VP of Marketing during the four-year transformation of Stratus Building Solutions into StratusClean.

Elevate or Vanish is not written from outside that history. The book includes the calls he got right, the ones he got wrong, the systems he built, the ones that failed, and the personal experiences that shaped how he thinks about trust, visibility, judgment, and responsibility.

Why the book is personal

The book’s focus on trust is not a market-positioning exercise. Mike spent years preaching, and the same question runs through the whole book: what happens when a person, a company, or good work is not being seen clearly? The Afterword says where that question comes from.

Professional record

  • 1988. Produced a high school newspaper on a Macintosh and watched a skilled trade become a menu command within a few years.
  • 1989. Started a business on a Mac SE and a laser printer.
  • 1999. Founded Digilu, and has worked through every platform shift since: websites, search, content, and AI.
  • Stratus Building Solutions. VP of Marketing during the four-year transformation into StratusClean, announced at the 2025 annual meeting and live in April 2026. The StratusClean story.
  • The Marketing Helix. Created the Marketing Helix, his customer behavior model.

The full record is at MikeMillett.com.

Current work

Mike runs Digilu, the company that takes ongoing responsibility for helping businesses remain understood, findable, trusted, and able to adapt as conditions change.

Publishing

Mike’s essays are published at mikemillett.com.

Elevate or Vanish by Mike Millett, book cover
Elevate or VanishMike Millett

Read the book

Every chapter is on this site, free. The PDF is the same book. No email required.

Start reading → Download the PDF ↓

MikeMillett.com   Digilu

About this book

Who wrote Elevate or Vanish?

Elevate or Vanish was written by Mike Millett, who founded Digilu in 1999 and served as VP of Marketing during the four-year transformation of Stratus Building Solutions into StratusClean. It is a business memoir with a thesis, published free by Digilu in 2026.

What is Elevate or Vanish about?

Elevate or Vanish, by Mike Millett, argues that execution keeps getting cheaper while trust, judgment, and responsibility do not. It follows that pattern through nearly four decades of his own work, from desktop publishing in 1988 through websites, search, and AI, including the StratusClean transformation and the decisions he got wrong.

Is Elevate or Vanish free?

Yes. Elevate or Vanish by Mike Millett is free to read at elevateorvanish.com and as a PDF download. No email is required. The book is free to read and to share in unmodified form.

How long is Elevate or Vanish?

Elevate or Vanish is 149 pages in its PDF edition: an Introduction, 43 short chapters in six parts, an Afterword, The Proof, and Sources and Notes. The six parts are The Cost of Confusion, Trust Creates Momentum, The Market Moves Faster Than Businesses Evolve, Fragmented Brands Create Fragmented Trust, Visibility Is No Longer Optional, and Elevate or Vanish.

What is the StratusClean story in Elevate or Vanish?

In Elevate or Vanish, Mike Millett describes the four-year transformation of Stratus Building Solutions, a commercial cleaning franchise whose name made strangers think of construction, into StratusClean. The new name was announced at the 2025 annual meeting and went live in April 2026. The book separates what is independently documented, what is internal company data, and what cannot honestly be isolated.

Where can I read the complete Elevate or Vanish?

All 43 chapters of Elevate or Vanish are published at elevateorvanish.com, along with the Afterword, The Proof, and Sources and Notes. The same book is available as a free PDF at elevateorvanish.com/elevate-or-vanish.pdf.