Workplace romance: When boards must step in

Workplace romance: When boards must step in

When do workplace relationships cross the line – from being a personal issue to a boardroom concern? COLDPLAYGATE was a standout moment in 2025. Astronomer’s CEO and chief people officer were caught on camera in an intimate embrace at a Coldplay concert and left the company within days. More recently, PropertyLimBrother’s CEO and chief strategy…

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7 founder habits that turn unpredictable revenue into stability

7 founder habits that turn unpredictable revenue into stability

If your revenue graph looks like a heart monitor, you are not failing. You are building something early, uncertain, and human. Most founders do not struggle because they lack ambition or intelligence. They struggle because revenue volatility messes with decision-making, confidence, and time horizons. One good month creates false confidence. One bad month creates panic.…

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9 fundraising myths that first-time founders still believe

9 fundraising myths that first-time founders still believe

If you are raising capital for the first time, it can feel like everyone else got a secret playbook you missed. Twitter threads make it sound easy. Demo Day decks look inevitable in hindsight. Meanwhile you are rewriting your pitch at midnight, second-guessing your metrics, and wondering if investors can smell uncertainty through a Zoom…

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What is value-based pricing (and why it works for startups)

What is value-based pricing (and why it works for startups)

You finally have users. A few are paying. Some say the product is “cheap,” others ask for discounts, and a couple would probably pay more but you never tested it. Pricing suddenly feels heavier than features, because one wrong move affects revenue, positioning, and confidence all at once. This is where most founders start hearing…

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7 reasons the best founders plan for profit before they plan for scale

7 reasons the best founders plan for profit before they plan for scale

Most founders say they want to build something big. What they usually mean is they want momentum. Users, revenue, headcount, press. Scale feels like progress, especially when you are early and everything still feels fragile. But if you spend enough time around companies that actually survive, a quieter pattern shows up. The founders who last…

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5 signs your pricing strategy is signaling weakness

5 signs your pricing strategy is signaling weakness

Pricing feels deceptively simple until you are the one staring at Stripe dashboards at midnight, wondering whether your numbers say confidence or desperation. Most founders obsess over product, growth, and fundraising before they ever interrogate pricing. That is understandable. Pricing forces you to confront how much you really believe in what you are building and…

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AI Tools Mean Smaller Companies Can Compete For the Elusive Big Fish

AI Tools Mean Smaller Companies Can Compete For the Elusive Big Fish

Not long ago, the notion that a small business could land a high-stakes client felt nearly impossible. Sure, small businesses make up a significant portion of the U.S. economy, but big-budget clients have historically stayed with big firms because it felt safe and predictable. Going with a startup or small firm was seen as unpredictable,…

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Marketing Access Requires More Than An Agency

Marketing Access Requires More Than An Agency

Great marketing shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be accessible. That belief has guided my work from day one, and it’s why I built more than a service business. My view is simple: if we want real access to great marketing, we need an ecosystem—capital, technology, and education—not just an agency. Too many brands are…

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Consequences Founders Face When Ignoring Finances

Consequences Founders Face When Ignoring Finances

At some point in the founder journey, almost everyone has the same quiet realization. You are working nonstop, revenue is coming in, money is going out, but you cannot clearly explain where the business is actually winning or bleeding. You glance at your bank balance instead of your financials and tell yourself you will “dig…

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