May 2025

When we were presented with the opportunity to interview Mark Stewart, CEO of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, with the famous Goodyear Blimp, we jumped at the opportunity. After all — we all know the brand. And we should: It’s a Fortune 500 company, they have 68,000 employees globally, and they did over $18 billion in revenue in 2024.

We met Mark and his team in the hangar in Akron, Ohio and did the interview with the iconic blimp in the backdrop, which is unsurprisingly enormous. The first story he told was about how the Goodyear blimps were used in World War II as anti-submarine support. As a business owner myself, it’s pretty amazing to remember that this company has 1) been around for so long and 2) has pivoted, changed, evolved, grown, etc. in so many ways.

Related: How the CEO of This Iconic Pizza Brand Is Building on 50 Years of Deep-Dish Dominance and Fueling Sustainable Growth

Mark Stewart’s path into the automotive industry started early. His grandfather was a mechanic, his father worked in tires, and he grew up around the tools and the trade. That familiarity with vehicles eventually led him into engineering and manufacturing, including a five-year stint at Stellantis before taking on the CEO role at Goodyear. His career wasn’t mapped out in some perfect arc — it was built through a mix of opportunities and a willingness to take on what came next. Our conversation wasn’t about big turning points as much as it was about sticking with the work and adapting along the way.

We spent a good portion of our time talking about the Goodyear Forward plan, which is the company’s current strategy to modernize both operations and culture. Stewart emphasized the push to reclaim Goodyear’s position in the tire industry — not just in terms of brand recognition, but performance. When I asked what it’s like leading a 126-year-old brand, he quipped, “Don’t mess it up.” There’s clearly pressure there, but he didn’t overdramatize it. Just a steady awareness of what’s at stake and what needs fixing.

There were some practical insights in the conversation that stuck with me. One was around the importance of regional manufacturing — building tires closer to where they’ll be sold, not just for logistics but to stay in tune with local markets. Another was about retail. While some might shy away from direct-to-consumer operations, Stewart sees Goodyear’s retail footprint as an advantage. It gives them proximity to customers and more control over the experience.

We also touched on broader topics like electric vehicles, tariffs and AI — especially how tire sensors might play a bigger role in the future of vehicle performance and safety. His approach wasn’t speculative; he stayed focused on what’s real and what’s within the company’s control. It’s a theme that came up a few times: Build the right products, stay close to your people, and let the noise stay on the outside.

Related: The CEO of Thomson Reuters Is Betting Big on AI-Driven Innovation. Here’s What Every Leader Can Learn From His Approach.

What I enjoyed most about the conversation was hearing about Mark’s grandfather and father. He seemed genuinely interested in what he was doing and seemed to care about the brand of Goodyear. Mark is about a year and a half into the role as CEO, and I’m interested to see what they have in store in the future.

Emma Grede, 42, is a founding partner and chief product officer at Skims, a shapewear brand worth $4 billion. She also serves as the co-founder and CEO of apparel brand Good American, which recorded $200 million in sales in 2022 (and $1 million on its first day live on October 18, 2016, marking the biggest denim launch in history). She’s worth a reported $390 million.

She’s also a high school dropout raised by a single mother in East London who began working a paper route at 12 years old to earn extra money. By 16, she had left school and started working at a fashion production company. While there, Grede came up with the idea for her first business, a marketing and entertainment agency called Independent Talent Brand (ITB) that matched fashion designers with funding. She founded the company in 2008 at age 25 and grew the agency before selling it 10 years later to marketing firm Rogers & Cowen for an undisclosed sum.

Related: Good American CEO Emma Grede Talks Management, Navigating Outside Noise, and Why You Should Always Stick to Your Mission

Now, Grede is based in Los Angeles with her husband, Skims CEO Jens Grede, and their four children. She also co-founded the sports apparel brand Off Season and the chemical-free cleaning company, Safely. She appeared as a guest investor on Shark Tank in seasons 13 and 14.

And now she can add podcast host to her resume. The serial entrepreneur just launched a new podcast called Aspire, which aims to educate and inspire business leaders through in-depth conversations with leading executives and celebrities.

^{Emma Grede. Photo Credit: Jamie Girdler}

Grede sat down with Entrepreneur to talk about her new podcast, how she manages several businesses, and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

Why did you start your podcast, and how is it different from other business podcasts?
I left school when I was 16 years old. So, I don’t have a traditional trajectory. I’m trying to unpack as much as the success that I’ve had, the mistakes that I’ve had. I wanted to give something that I thought would have been useful to me when I started my businesses.

What kind of advice would have been useful?
To start, you have to love what you are doing. I say that because it’s tough to start something from scratch, and it’ll test every fiber of your being. So you have to really want to do it. It has to be more than just a single goal, like I need to make money, or I just want to leave the place where I work. It has to be something that fuels you.

What kind of mindset does it take to be successful in entrepreneurship? Is there a trait or skill that stands out?
I think you have to have unwavering self-belief. There’s a part of this that is really about a mindset that won’t take no for an answer and can see around and through problems and adversity. That works every time.

How did you decide on entrepreneurship?
It’s something I fell into. Like so many of us, I worked a corporate job for many years. I left that job because I didn’t think I was being remunerated well enough for what I did. So I fell into entrepreneurship. And that’s why I started my own thing.

If you could start a side hustle today, what would it be?
I would want to be a florist. That’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do that I’ve never touched. I would love to have a job that is just about the beauty, and is artistically fulfilling. That would be my little dream side hustle. A flower shop somewhere in a lovely place.

What’s your leadership style?
At [Good American], there are over 150 people. I’m the chief product officer in another company [Skims] where there are probably 400 people. So, it’s a lot of people, but I tend to hire the best people and get out of their way. One of the things that I do well is hire. I’m particularly good at putting teams together.

What do you look for in new hires?
I hire for attitude over experience often. That’s not in all positions, but I think especially when you’re starting a company, having people who have the energy, who have the passion, you can’t put a price on that.

What keeps you motivated?
I honestly feel that I’ve created the life of my dreams. I’m grateful every day that I get to do what I do. I think that keeps me motivated, that I have made this life for myself, and it’s of my choosing.

What is it like working with your husband on the same C-suite leadership team? Do you keep a separation between the family and work dynamics?
I’ve worked with Jens for a very long time, and we had a solid professional relationship before we were a couple. He handles the marketing and day-to-day running of Skims while I focus on the product. So our roles are very defined, and we do different things. We have different skills, which makes us very compatible as business partners. We also have a lot of separation in our actual roles. But if I’m honest, we love what we do so much. So does business spill into home time, and do we talk about what we do all the time? Absolutely. Yes. There’s a part of that that’s inevitable.

Do you have a lot of help at home?
I have twin three-year-olds, and then I have an 11-year-old and an 8-year-old. At home, I don’t have four kids that I get to school myself in the morning. I have a lot of help around me, and I rely on all of that help to get through the day. I think it’s very important to be honest about that because I don’t want anyone to look at me and think, Oh, wow. She’s some kind of superwoman. It’s like, No, I’m not superwoman. I’m just a woman. I’m making choices every day and making lots of sacrifices every day.

This interview has been lightly edited and cut for clarity.

Related: Kristin Cavallari and Emma Grede Reveal How They Built Brands That Stand Out in a Saturated Market — and the Secret Isn’t Star Power

Elon Musk‘s new five-year plan has him staying at Tesla.

In an interview at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, Tesla’s CEO said that he is committed to staying at the electric vehicle maker for years to come.

Related: A Tesla Executive Received a Record Pay Package, and It’s Not Elon Musk

When asked if he will still be leading the company in five years, he said: “Yes, no doubt about that at all.”

CNBC reports that Musk wants to keep his position as Tesla’s CEO to maintain “sufficient voting control” over the company to avoid activist investors.

“It’s not a money thing,” Musk said. “It’s a reasonable control thing over the future of the company.”

Related: With Tesla Down 71% in Net Income, Elon Musk Says He’ll Spend Less Time at DOGE

Tesla’s sales have dropped 13% in the first three months of this year, marking the largest quarterly drop in Tesla’s history. Net profits have plunged by 71%. The EV maker’s revenue also fell 9% year-over-year.

Musk is currently the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $376 billion at press time, per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Every day, we’re bombarded with noise — emails, ads, pop-ups, sponsored posts and DMs from strangers who want to “hop on a quick call.” It’s relentless. And people are tired.

Marketers often call this “audience fatigue,” blaming content overload. But after working with hundreds of leaders to build authentic authority, I’ve come to see it differently: it’s not just content overload — it’s trust fatigue.

Trust fatigue is what happens when people stop believing. When every message feels like a sales pitch in disguise, people disengage — not just from brands, but from leaders who once earned their respect.

So, in a world where trust is slipping and skepticism is rising, how do you become someone worth listening to?

Trust moves from institutions to individuals

One study found that 79% of people trust their employer more than the media, the government, or nonprofits. That’s huge.

It means trust is no longer institutional — it’s personal. People don’t want another faceless brand talking at them. They want a real person who shows up with clarity, consistency and value.

That’s your opportunity. If you want to lead, you need to earn trust. And the good news? It starts with three moves.

Related: Trust Is a Business Metric Now. Here’s How Leaders Can Earn It.

1. Be discoverable

Let’s get practical. Google yourself — what comes up?

If it’s outdated bios, scattered links, or worse — nothing — you’ve got work to do. Your digital presence is your first impression. When someone wants to vet you, they’re not asking for your resume. They’re looking you up.

A strong LinkedIn profile is the first step. Make it sound like a leader, not a job seeker. Then, create a personal website that reflects who you are, what you stand for, and the people you serve. This is your platform.

Next, give people a reason to trust you: thought leadership content — articles, interviews, podcasts — that showcase your ideas. If I can’t find you, I can’t follow you.

2. Be credible

The internet is full of opinions. What cuts through is proof.

Credibility comes from evidence: media features, speaking gigs, client testimonials, books and bylines. These aren’t vanity metrics — they’re trust signals. They tell your audience: this person has earned a platform.

You don’t need to headline a TEDx talk tomorrow. Start small. Write a piece for your industry publication. Share a client win. Build momentum with real, earned signals of authority.

And the data backs this up. A Gallup/Knight Foundation study found that nearly 90% of Americans follow at least one public figure for news or insight, more than brands, and sometimes more than the media itself.

3. Be human

Here’s where many leaders go wrong: they forget that trust isn’t just about what you say — it’s how you make people feel.

You can have the slickest website and the most polished profile, but if your tone feels robotic or your content sounds like corporate filler, people will scroll right past.

You don’t need to spill your life story, but you do need to sound like a real person. Share lessons you’ve learned, not just what you’re selling. Tell stories. Speak plainly. Be generous with your insights.

I once shared a story about a career setback on stage, unsure of how it would land. It ended up being the thing people remembered — and the reason they reached out. Vulnerability built more trust than any polished pitch ever could.

Related: How Talking Less and Listening More Builds Your Business

Trust is the strategy — authority is the reward

Many leaders think, “If I’m good at what I do, people will notice.”

They won’t.

In a world overflowing with content and short on attention, visibility matters. Credibility matters. And most of all, connection matters. You build trust gradually — through how you show up, what you say and how well it resonates with what your audience actually needs.

So here’s where to start:

• Audit your online presence as if you’re a stranger seeing yourself for the first time.
• Share stories in your writing and speaking that make people feel something real.
• Post something this week that reflects what you believe, not what you’re trying to sell.

Lead with service. Speak with clarity. Build trust by showing up as yourself.

Authority doesn’t come from shouting the loudest. It comes from being the one people believe.

Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer, Vaibhav Taneja, 47, received a $139.5 million pay package last year.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Taneja’s pay was the highest ever recorded for a CFO since modern reporting started in 2006. The compensation consisted mainly of the stock options and equity awards Taneja received in October 2024 because of his promotion to CFO in August 2023. It also included a base salary of around $303,000, according to an April 30 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In comparison, the median base pay for a Tesla analyst is $93,000, with median stock grants of $20,000. Tesla employs around 120,000 workers globally, per CNBC.

Taneja has been with Tesla in various financial roles since February 2017, after working for nearly two decades at accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and renewable energy company SolarCity.

Related: ‘They Need to Expand’: Tesla’s Annual Sales Declined For the First Time in 2024. Here’s Why.

His compensation beat the previous record set by Kim Brady, who received $86 million in pay in 2020 as the then-CFO of electric truck company Nikola. Brady retired from the role in March 2023. Nikola has recently encountered financial difficulties, filing for bankruptcy in February after failing to raise additional funds or secure a buyer.

Other CFOs in comparable companies were less highly compensated. Microsoft, which belongs to the Magnificent Seven group of high-performing tech companies along with Tesla, awarded its 53-year-old CFO, Amy Hood, around $25.8 million in compensation last year. Another Magnificent Seven company, Meta, compensated its 39-year-old CFO, Susan Li, around $23.6 million in 2024.

Taneja received more compensation in 2024 than his boss, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was not paid for his work last year. Musk’s $56 billion compensation package was first approved by shareholders in 2018 and depended on Musk leading Tesla to hit a series of revenue, market cap, and operational milestones. Musk achieved the targets, but has not received his pay after a Delaware judge determined last year that the compensation was unfair to shareholders. Musk appealed that decision in March.

^{Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Visual China Group via Getty Images}

Taneja’s high pay contrasts with Tesla’s recent poor performance. In the first three months of this year, Tesla’s net profits plunged by 71% to $409 million compared to the same time last year. Tesla’s revenue also fell 9% to $19.3 billion, and its deliveries dropped 13% to 336,681 cars. The delivery decline marked the largest quarterly drop in Tesla’s history.

Tesla shares were up about 1.3% today.

Related: With Tesla Down 71% in Net Income, Elon Musk Says He’ll Spend Less Time at DOGE

JPMorgan Chase is trying to use AI to cut down its headcount.

At the company’s annual investor day on Monday, JPMorgan’s CEO of consumer and community banking, Marianne Lake, 56, gave a presentation predicting that AI would allow the bank to reduce employee numbers by 10% in the operations and account services departments. The operations division processes statements and payments, while the account services unit manages day-to-day transactions.

Related: JPMorgan Says Its AI Cash Flow Software Cut Human Work By Almost 90%

Lake, who runs Chase Bank and its credit card business, said that 10% was a modest estimate — the bank would most likely “deliver more” in headcount reductions.

“I would take the over on this projection and bet that we will deliver more,” Lake said, per Business Insider. She did not disclose a timeline for when the workforce reductions would occur or which roles they would impact.

^{Marianne Lake. Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images}

JPMorgan’s Chief Financial Officer, Jeremy Barnum, 52, disclosed at the same investor day event that the bank would spend less than $95 billion on hiring this year as AI makes operations more efficient. That’s a drop from $200 million in hiring efforts in 2023 and $100 million in 2024.

“We’re asking people to resist headcount growth where possible and increase their focus on efficiency,” Barnum stated, per BI. “It’s not just the amateurs who are helped by these [AI] tools. It’s amazing stuff, and we have high hopes for the efficiency gain.”

JPMorgan’s headcount has grown in recent years, swelling over 20% from 255,350 employees in 2020 to over 317,000 in 2024. At the same time, the bank’s net income has doubled from $29.13 billion in 2020 to a record-high $58.5 billion in 2024.

Related: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Isn’t Worried About AI Taking Over Jobs — Here’s Why

Who will take over as JPMorgan CEO?

At JPMorgan’s investor day, investors were eyeing the executives who could possibly take over the CEO position from Jamie Dimon when he retires within the next four years.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Lake is a top contender for the CEO spot. She started at the bank as an accountant and eventually became Chief Financial Officer from 2013 to 2019, before being promoted to her current position.

The other two CEO hopefuls are reportedly the co-heads of JPMorgan’s corporate and investment bank, Doug Petno, 59, and Troy Rohrbaugh, 55.

Petno started as an investment banker at JPMorgan before eventually becoming the CEO of commercial banking from 2012 to 2024. Rohrbaugh joined JPMorgan in 2005 as a managing director and was previously the head of Macro Markets, which includes the bank’s foreign exchange and emerging markets businesses.

Related: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Shares Four Tips for Leaders

Dimon said on Monday at the investor event that he still intends to retire as CEO within the next four years, though he and JPMorgan have yet to publicly announce a successor.

“What we’ve told you is that the board has intent… to be thinking about succession, and we should be doing that,” Dimon said, per Barron’s.

Dimon has led the bank since 2006. JPMorgan shares have skyrocketed by nearly 200% over the past five years.

In 2022, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called cryptocurrency “decentralized Ponzi schemes” at a U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing. “I’m a major skeptic on crypto tokens, which you call currency, like Bitcoin,” he said at the time.

But on Monday at JPMorgan’s annual investor day, Dimon said that JPMorgan Chase, the U.S.’s largest bank, will allow its clients to buy Bitcoin, per CNBC.

Related: JPMorgan Chase Says AI Could Cut Headcount By 10% in Some Divisions: ‘We Will Deliver More’

“We are going to allow you to buy it,” Dimon said. “We’re not going to custody it. We’re going to put it in statements for clients.”

^{JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon delivers a speech during the Global Markets Conference, ahead of the Choose France summit, in Paris, on May 15, 2025. MICHEL EULER/POOL/AFP | Getty}

Rival Morgan Stanley has allowed clients to buy bitcoin ETFs since August 2024.

Dimon has long cited the risks of bitcoin, including money laundering. At Davos last year, he called it a “pet rock” that “does nothing.”

Related: ‘This Has to Stop’: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Outlines How to Run a Successful Meeting

But that doesn’t mean he is going to hold other people back from making their own financial choices.

“I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke,” Dimon said. “I defend your right to buy bitcoin.”

Since President Trump first announced new tariffs on U.S. trading partners in April, with frequent revisions ever since, American businesses of all sizes have been caught in a whirlwind of uncertainty. For entrepreneurs relying on foreign suppliers, sudden spikes in raw material costs can force a frantic reevaluation of longterm strategies and pricing models. These constantly shifting tariffs have upended months, even years, of planning across operations, production, supply chains, and competitive positioning, leaving many entrepreneurs stuck in near paralysis.

Most imported products face a baseline duty of at least 10%, but that number is subject to change with little warning. Trump announced much larger reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries in April before instituting a 90-day pause. Trump also raised tariffs on China to 145% before lowering them back to 30% for most Chinese goods for at least 90 days starting in May. To handle the tariff whiplash and survive in today’s volatile political and economic climate, you need to navigate constant uncertainty and adjust to frequent disruptions. If you’re not able to pivot quickly as changes arise, you may have to pass rising costs onto consumers, putting your business at risk of losing them entirely.

Related: Walmart Is Raising Prices, According to the Company’s CEO. Here’s When.

To stay ahead of these constant changes, business owners need to regularly explore a range of “what-if” scenarios. For example, if tariffs rise on a key supplier, how quickly should I adjust prices? Or, what are my options for switching to a supplier in a country with lower tariffs? With so many moving parts, AI can make this easier. Tools like ChatGPT make it simple to start using AI for financial modeling and supply chain analysis —helping you stay agile while navigating unpredictable tariffs.

How small businesses can use AI for smarter scenario planning and future-proof decisions

Earlier in my career, I helped large oil companies and financial institutions optimize their supply chains for better efficiency and lower costs. Traditionally, creating these models required complicated Excel spreadsheets and some proficiency in mathematics. Not only has AI made the modeling process more accessible, even for non-technical business owners, but it has also provided business owners with an essential tool for scenario planning that is adaptable in real time.

Tariffs are fundamentally unpredictable, especially today, so AI can’t predict what tariffs will be tomorrow, next week or next month. It can, however, help your business prepare for the unknown and make smarter decisions faster by running dozens of those “what-if” scenarios in seconds. That’s why it’s best to understand and use AI as an optimization model instead of a one-time solution.

Here’s how the optimization model works and how you can use it to build a pricing and procurement strategy that will help your business stay on top of 2025 tariffs:

Step 1: Provide your AI tool with data

Start by entering the key details into your AI tool—some of which your Large Language Model (LLM) may already know. An LLM is a type of AI that understands and creates human-like text by learning from vast amounts of writing.

Include information like:

• Current and projected tariff rates
• Domestic and international costs of goods
• Inventory holding periods
• Revenue per unit

This data is likely already available in your balance sheet, which you can quickly upload to your AI tool like ChatGPT or source through simple research. The AI’s goal is to optimize for a combination of these variables that yields the highest profitability at the lowest cost at any given point.

Related: What Is a Tariff? Here’s an Overview of the Basics.

Step 2: Use AI to model supply chain alternatives

AI can scan trade databases and tariff announcements in real time, constantly updating teams in need. As tariffs fluctuate and updates are tracked, your optimization model will shift and evolve.

For example, if tariffs rise and the cost of overseas products increases, you may look to purchase goods domestically and ask your AI system to recommend sourcing alternatives. AI can even compare the benefits, drawbacks and long-term implications of sourcing from various countries.

While AI can’t provide specific pricing or shipping estimates, it drastically reduces the time it takes to evaluate new options. Once you find the rest of the information you need, by researching online or calling the suggested companies directly, feed it into your model to update your strategy in real-time.

Step 3: Use AI to explore multiple scenarios and identify the best path forward

Beyond just helping with sourcing decisions, AI can also recommend how much you can raise your prices to stay profitable without driving customers away. For example, your business might absorb a 5% to 10% tariff increase through modest price hikes, but a 15% increase could start to push customers away. AI can simulate different pricing strategies to help you find the perfect balance for your unique situation.

Ask your AI tool questions such as:

• How much would I lose if tariffs remain between 10% and 15% over the next 60 days?
• When does buying from international suppliers become economically unviable?
• How much would I need to raise prices if tariffs increase to 20%?
• What’s the best price increase to keep my revenue steady while covering costs?

AI can help pinpoint various thresholds and calculate your options. These actionable insights can be life-saving for businesses lacking the time, energy and resources for trial and error.

Think of AI as a personal financial analyst that works around the clock and costs a fraction of a human hire. Regardless of your business, integrating AI into your operational toolkit and interacting with it daily can help you prepare for an unpredictable market.

While the future of tariffs remains uncertain, their impact is very real today. Instead of freezing up from uncertainty or making hasty decisions, AI empowers business owners to stay proactive and ready for whatever comes next.

Digital ad spending is projected to reach $870.85 billion globally by 2027, but the average conversion rate across 18 major online retail verticals is just 1.85%.

This number highlights a harsh truth — no matter how much traffic you drive to your site, you can’t market your way out of a bad product or service.

Entrepreneurs often focus on two main marketing goals — attracting visitors and converting them into customers. But without a solid foundation, even the most creative marketing campaigns will eventually hit a wall.

At Digital Silk, we’ve worked with hundreds of mid- to large-sized brands, and time and again, we’ve seen this truth play out — no amount of beautiful design or high-traffic ad campaigns can compensate for a weak product.

Think about it — if your offering is weak, no marketing gimmick can create lasting growth.

You might attract visitors with compelling ads or even have an award-winning website, but if your product or service doesn’t meet expectations, you’ll struggle to earn their loyalty, generate referrals or achieve meaningful revenue.

Related: It’s Time to Break the Cycle of Cheap, Disposable Junk — Here’s How Entrepreneurs Can Lead the Way

Traffic and conversions only work if your product delivers

Driving traffic and capturing conversions are important marketing goals, but they can only succeed if what you’re selling meets or exceeds expectations.

In my experience, many businesses believe that marketing is the cure for their sales struggles, when the real bottleneck often lies in the customer experience. Even strong ad campaigns will fall flat when users are disappointed by your products and services.

Yes, first impressions matter — 88% of consumers are less likely to return to a site after a poor experience, but even a flawless website can’t hide a weak offering for long. If your product doesn’t solve a real need or deliver on promises, customers will lose trust, and no amount of retargeting can win it back.

Imagine running a restaurant with poor food quality. Despite how beautiful your website looks or how well you optimize your local SEO and targeted ads, if customers have bad experiences, it will lead to negative reviews and lost revenue.

Before investing heavily in marketing, ask yourself: Does my product or service truly deliver the value that would make someone want to recommend it?

Related: Discover How Product Quality Can Distinguish Your Brand From Competitors

Why a strong product is your best marketing tool

Consumers today have more options and information at their fingertips than ever before.

According to a Gartner survey, 77% of B2B buyers said their last purchase was very complex or difficult. People are cautious. They expect the quality of what you’re offering to match your marketing promises.

Having a strong product or service provides several benefits:

• Organic word-of-mouth marketing: Satisfied customers tend to share their positive experiences. They refer friends, share on social media and leave glowing reviews — all of which serve as authentic, cost-free marketing.
• Lower customer acquisition costs: If your customers are happy and stick around, you spend less on constantly bringing in new ones.
• Stronger brand reputation: Trust and reputation are earned by consistently delivering on promises, not by clever slogans.

From my experience, no marketing strategy, no matter how well-funded, can make up for customer disappointment. I’ve worked with brands that were spending six figures monthly on traffic acquisition, but until they fixed issues within their products, they couldn’t scale profitably.

Consider Starbucks, for instance. It transformed from a simple coffee shop into a renowned experience brand. Customers don’t just buy coffee — they invest in the atmosphere, service and consistency. This is why Starbucks enjoys outstanding customer loyalty, since its marketing focuses more on storytelling than straightforward selling.

Building a strong foundation requires creating a product that naturally fosters loyalty, which is the true catalyst for lasting brand success.

Related: Customer Experience Will Determine the Success of Your Company

How to ensure your product is marketing-ready

Before ramping up your marketing efforts, take a moment to honestly evaluate what you’re offering.

Start here:

• Seek real feedback: Go beyond surveys. Engage in conversations, analyze support tickets and read online reviews. Look for recurring themes rather than isolated comments.
• Benchmark against competitors: Evaluate how your product stacks up in terms of quality, pricing, experience and customer support.
• Fix issues first: If customer feedback repeatedly points to the same problems, prioritize improvements before increasing your marketing budget.
• Create a “wow” experience: Amaze your customers in unexpected ways, whether that’s through better onboarding, quicker delivery or more personalized service.

One approach I like to use is combining qualitative customer feedback with behavioral data, like heatmaps, exit rates or abandonment reports. This helps you understand not just what customers are saying, but also how they’re behaving, enabling you to tailor their experience more effectively.

Top companies that invest in customer experience outperform their competitors by three times in shareholder returns. Investing in experience has become a proven driver of growth and a strong competitive advantage.

Take Airbnb as an example. The company shifted its focus from merely listing properties to prioritizing guest experiences. It achieved this by providing streamlined bookings, personalized support and memorable stays. As a result of this commitment, Airbnb has evolved into a global brand, generating $11 billion in 2024.

Related: Developing a New Product? Here’s How to Make It a Hit Success

Build something worth marketing

At its core, marketing can only amplify the truth about your business — it cannot rewrite it. Make sure you are building something truly worth marketing. When your product or service genuinely solves problems and delights customers, every marketing channel you invest in will work harder and more effectively for you.

In fact, 73% of consumers cite customer experience as a crucial factor in their purchasing decisions.

Focus on delivering real value and watch your marketing efforts turn from struggle into momentum.

The first time I hosted a Prompt Party, I didn’t call it that. I was just trying to keep my five-year-old busy on a rainy Friday evening.

He wanted to make a video where our dog, Calvin, cooked up scrambled eggs with green onions. So we opened Sora, typed in a prompt and watched a pixelated masterpiece come to life. It was weird. And wonderful. And most of all, it was ours.

That was the spark.

Since then, we regularly gather for what’s become a tradition: Prompt Parties. They’re our family ritual where imagination leads, AI follows, and joy is the goal, not the output.

Related: Don’t Be Afraid Of AI — Your Fears Are Unfounded, and Here’s Why

Why we started Prompt Parties and why they stuck

Like many parents working in tech, I’ve had to confront some big questions:

• How do I introduce AI to my kids without overwhelming them?

• How do I make it feel like a tool, not a threat?

The answer, I’ve learned, is play.

Our Prompt Parties are casual. Pancakes optional. We brainstorm ideas, type in prompts and generate AI videos or images together using tools like Sora. Then we laugh, critique, remix and sometimes fall down rabbit holes of absurdity.

One week, the prompt was:

“Create the most photorealistic close-up of a blister pack of 8 pills, but instead of pills, there are tiny, adorable octopuses in different colors and textures. Each octopus is fully visible in side view, squished gently into its compartment like a soft gummy, but looking cheerful and content.”

The result? “Happy Octopus Pills.” A serotonin hit disguised as AI art. Feel free to try these on your own; I’d love to see what the output is.

That same day, my son Kai asked if Calvin (our side-eyeing dog) could wear a top hat and judge people like a Victorian aristocrat. We obliged:

“Dog side-eyeing like it knows your secrets. Make the side eye more intense. Have him wearing a top hat and human clothes.”

We’ve made LEGO towers with real-life bears in clown makeup. We’ve explored haunted castles and invented cereal mascots. There are no rules. Just prompts and possibility.

The science behind silliness

Shawn Achor, the positive psychology researcher behind The Happiness Advantage, argues that happiness isn’t a luxury; it’s a precursor to performance. Joy improves creativity, resilience and cognitive ability.

And guess what?

AI makes joy accessible in entirely new ways. It rewards curiosity, makes ideas tangible and bridges the gap between imagination and execution.

For kids, it’s magic. For adults, it’s a masterclass in thinking differently.

When we turn AI into play, we reduce the fear factor. We shift the narrative from “this tech will replace you” to “this tech can collaborate with you.” And that’s a lesson worth learning early.

Related: Here’s What Sora, OpenAI’s Text-to-Video Creator, Can Really Do

Building AI literacy without the creep factor

Let’s be real: Some parts of AI feel a little dystopian. Deepfakes. Chatbots impersonating humans. Kids don’t need all of that.

What they do need is agency.

Here’s how we keep Prompt Parties joyful and grounded:

• Use bounded, kid-safe tools. We use Sora, not Midjourney. And we steer clear of tools that generate ultra-realistic humans or open-ended chat. We don’t ever use images of them or real people.

• Stay involved. Every prompt goes through me. We sit side by side. If a result feels off, we talk about it. Not with fear, but with curiosity.

• Celebrate their ideas. Whether the prompt results in a perfectly rendered image or a total flop, we cheer the attempt. It’s not about what the AI makes. It’s about what they imagined.

• Turn screen time into story time. Most creations begin as drawings, stories or re-enacted scenes with stuffed animals. This feeds into active play and imagination later. AI is the spark, not the endpoint.

What Prompt Parties have taught me

I started this as a way to teach my kids about AI. But I’ve learned just as much in the process.

• Originality beats polish. The octopus pill pack wasn’t technically perfect. But it made us laugh, think and feel. That’s the metric that matters.

• Emotions drive retention. A child who gets to play with AI will remember how it works far more than one who just reads about it.

• We’re not raising consumers. We’re raising creators. The real win isn’t AI literacy, it’s creative confidence. When kids learn they can steer technology, not just consume it, you change the trajectory of how they’ll interact with the world.

A surprising takeaway: Creativity is a form of courage

Here’s what I didn’t expect when we started Prompt Parties:

The courage it takes for a child to say an idea out loud before they know how it will turn out. To imagine something no one’s ever seen. To press “generate” without knowing what they’ll get back.

That’s not just play. That’s bravery.

And it reminded me: Creativity isn’t about talent. It’s about permission. Permission to be original. To be ridiculous. To be seen.

Related: 3 Ways Parents and Educators Can Guide Children’s Responsible Use of GenAI

These parties aren’t just building AI fluency. They’re building resilience, voice and self-trust.

Because the world they’re growing up in won’t just reward knowledge. It will reward perspective. The ability to think differently, speak clearly and imagine what doesn’t yet exist.

And that starts with a question: What if?

Each Friday, we ask a simple question: What do you want to create today?

That question has generated more laughter, connection and creative spark than anything else I’ve tried as a parent.

So, if you’re wondering how to bring AI into your home without the creepy vibes, start there.

Give your kids the prompt (and the permission) to play.

Because teaching them how to be curious, thoughtful, joyful humans in an AI world might just be the most powerful lesson of all.