Richard

Since he was “a weird little kid,” Sam Faycurry aspired to attend Harvard Business School. So, when he got accepted to the prestigious program, he and his family were thrilled.

But life had other plans. While helping his mother and sister, both registered dietitians, start their business, Faycurry stumbled into an untapped business opportunity. He and his partner Mark Stefanski founded Fay, a digital platform that connects people with registered dietitians (RDs) who offer personalized nutrition counseling and accept insurance.

Soon, Faycurry realized he couldn’t attend Harvard and run the business at the same time. So, he dropped one dream to pursue another.

Related: 3 Things Your Business Idea Must Have To Succeed — as Proven By Famous Harvard Business School Startups

Today, at 31, he is the co-founder and CEO of Fay, which has raised $25 million in funding and is rapidly changing the landscape and accessibility of nutrition counseling. He talked with me about his journey from helping family members to leading a venture-backed startup on the latest episode of the One Day with Jon Bier podcast. Here are five key entrepreneurial lessons Faycurry learned along the way.

Get down and dirty

Faycurry believes experience is the best teacher. Rather than simply studying how to start a business, he says it’s equally important to get your hands dirty and just do it.

“You read these books and they’re always talking about, ‘Don’t do things that don’t scale.’ What the f— does that mean?” he says. “But then you’re sitting there and you’re doing things that don’t scale, and you’re like, ‘Oh, shit. That’s what they mean.'” This hands-on approach allowed Faycurry to deeply understand the problems in the nutrition industry and develop tailored solutions.

Swallow your pride

Building a successful startup means checking your ego at the door, and setting aside your pride to do menial jobs that might feel like they should be someone else’s problem.

For example, Faycurry recalls his mouth being bone dry from having to lick his fingers to separate mounds of paperwork. “It’s not until you’re doing that that you’re realizing, ‘Oh, this is what it means to be low ego.'”

But he says a willingness to tackle unglamorous tasks head-on was crucial in understanding the intricacies of the industry.

Related: How to Avoid the Double-Edged Sword of Ego in Entrepreneurship

Solve real problems, not intellectual exercises

Before building Fay, he admits to starting companies that were “more like intellectual masturbation.” He describes these early attempts as “horrible ideas” that no one really needed. It wasn’t until he focused on solving a real, tangible problem for his family members that he found success.

“When you’re in this intellectual state, one could be thinking about a lot of problems to solve,” he says. “However, when I found myself helping my mom and my sister start their dietetics private practice, I started to just uncover things that people maybe never saw before.”

Be willing to pivot from your original plan

Despite his lifelong dream of attending Harvard Business School, Faycurry made the difficult decision to drop out when Fay started gaining traction. “It was the most challenging decision because it meant so much to be offered to my family,” he explains. “No one in my family had ever gone there and it was a big source of pride.” This ability to adapt and prioritize the business over personal goals was crucial for Fay’s growth.

Related: Navigating Crucial Business Decisions — How to Know When to Pivot and When to Persevere

Stay hungry

Despite being a market leader, Faycurry and his team are constantly aware of the dangers of complacency. “It’s actually one of our great weaknesses,” he admits, pointing to the need to keep climbing even when they’re at the top of the mountain.

He refers to to a number of instances in the mental healthcare space where the companies that rested on their laurels had to drop out of the race, while those with something to prove stayed in the game.

For this reason, Faycurry says he’s always challenging his team to ask themselves, “How do we maintain that hunger and that drive?”

Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, Faycurry has learned that success often comes from the most unlikely places. He never dreamed his family’s dietician business would derail his Harvard Business School track—but that’s exactly what happened. By focusing on real issues and being willing to do the grunt work, Faycurry has positioned Fay to make a significant impact in the healthcare industry.

Reflecting on his journey from helping his mother and sister with paperwork to leading a venture-backed startup, Faycurry remains confident Fay will make an impact. “This feels like the one,” he says. “Whether it’s successful, I don’t know. I’m not here to say that. But for some reason, in my bones, this feels like it.”

Faycurry’s story reminds us that sometimes the most promising business ideas come from the most unexpected places—even from licking stuck-together papers in a suburban office.

Craig Newmark, the 71-year-old retired founder of Craigslist, has four focus areas for philanthropy: military families and vets, cybersecurity, journalism, and pigeon rescue.

On Wednesday, he pledged $100 million to support U.S. cybersecurity, bringing his total giving and pledges to $400 million since 2015.

^{Craig Newmark. Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images}

According to the Wall Street Journal, Newmark has already committed over 20% of the $100 million pledge to organizations and projects around cybersecurity. Common Sense Media, for example, received $2 million to support efforts like a cybersecurity awareness campaign for parents and teachers.

Related: Melinda French Gates Reveals Her Next Move After Leaving Gates Foundation: ‘Set Your Own Agenda or Someone Else Will Set It For You’

Newmark was worth $1.3 billion in 2020 and pledged to give away almost all his wealth to charitable causes in December 2022. He told the Journal that his giving was inspired by the Judaic concept of tikkun olam, Hebrew for “repairing the world.“

Newmark’s approach is to find the right people, give them the resources they need, “and then get outta their way,” according to his philanthropy’s website. He doesn’t give organizations who receive grants requirements to hit certain targets.

Newmark has yet to commit $88 million of his latest $100 million pledge. Applications are open through his foundation’s website where he personally vets the proposals.

Related: Warren Buffett Just Changed Up His Will and Locked Out the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

In our competitive business world, stunning visuals can make all the difference in capturing your audience’s attention and conveying your brand’s message effectively. High-quality images aren’t just a luxury—they’re a necessity for compelling marketing materials, engaging social media posts, and professional presentations.

Introducing the Award-Winning Luminar Neo Lifetime Bundle, now available for just $149.97 (reg. $752) through September 29. This limited-time offer provides you with lifetime access to Luminar Neo, an easy-to-use photo editing software designed to help you elevate your business visuals without the need for extensive training or a hefty budget.

With 4.6/5 stars on the App Store, it’s a comprehensive solution to empower users with innovative tools to transform your marketing materials and make your business shine. This bundle includes the 2022 Red Dot Award winning software, a video course on how to use it, and six add-ons, including both a Winter and Light Reflection overlays—to take your visuals even further.

Designed with simplicity in mind, Luminar Neo’s intuitive interface makes it accessible to everyone, regardless of your photo editing experience. You’ll be able to harness the power of artificial intelligence to enhance landscapes, replace skies, and retouch portraits with just a few clicks. Features like Skyᴬᴵ and Skinᴬᴵ automate complex editing tasks, saving you time and effort.

Achieve quick, pro-level results and maintain a consistent look across all your marketing materials with a wide range of presets. With tools like layers, masking, and local adjustments, you have the flexibility to fine-tune your images to perfection. And whether you’re on Windows or macOS or prefer to use it as a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom, Luminar Neo fits seamlessly into your workflow.

Don’t wait to get in on this incredible price and get the Award-Winning Luminar Neo Lifetime Bundle for just $149.97 (reg. $752) through September 29.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Join us for an insightful webinar with Scott Greenberg as he delves into the unique challenges and opportunities of managing seasonal employees. In this session, Scott will share his expertise on how to effectively recruit, onboard, and retain seasonal staff, ensuring they remain motivated throughout their tenure.

You will learn best practices for:

• Creating a Positive Work Environment: Foster a collaborative and motivating workplace through clear communication and leadership.

• Maximizing Efficiency: Streamline workflows and optimize resources to boost team performance.

• Integrating Seasonal Workers into Your Workforce: Seamlessly onboard and manage seasonal staff to align with long-term goals.

• And much more!

Whether you’re preparing for a busy holiday season or a peak summer period, this webinar provides the tools and strategies to harness the full potential of your seasonal employees.

About the Speaker:

Scott Greenberg designs game-changing steps to grow businesses, build high-performing teams and create unforgettable customer experiences. For ten years Scott was a multi-unit, award-winning franchise owner with Edible Arrangements. His operation won international recognition: “Best Customer Service” and “Manager of the Year,” out of more than 1000 locations worldwide. Today he’s a sought-after international speaker, consultant and franchise coach, with clients that include McDonalds, Great Clips, GNC, RE/MAX, Smoothie King, Global Franchise Group and countless other companies in all 50 U.S. states and throughout the world. He’s also a VIP Contributing Writer for Entrepreneur.com. Going beyond numbers and profits, Scott delves into the human-side of business to help organizations boost performance and make a memorable impact on the lives of customers and employees. Scott is the bestselling author of The Wealthy Franchisee (2020), as well as his newest book Stop the Shift Show (2024).

A U.K. bank is warning the world to watch out for AI voice cloning scams. The bank said in a press release that it’s dealing with hundreds of cases and the hoaxes could affect anyone with a social media account.

According to new data from Starling Bank, 28% of UK adults say they have already been targeted by an AI voice cloning scam at least once in the past year. The same data revealed that nearly half of UK adults (46%) have never heard of an AI voice-cloning scam and are unaware of the danger.

Related: How to Outsmart AI-Powered Phishing Scams

“People regularly post content online, which has recordings of their voice, without ever imagining it’s making them more vulnerable to fraudsters,” said Lisa Grahame, chief information security officer at Starling Bank, in the press release.

The scam, powered by artificial intelligence, needs merely a snippet (only three or so seconds) of audio to convincingly duplicate a person’s speech patterns. Considering many of us post much more than that on a daily basis, the scam could affect the population en mass, per CNN.

Once cloned, criminals cold-call victim’s loved ones to fraudulently solicit funds.

Related: Andy Cohen Lost ‘A Lot of Money’ to a Highly Sophisticated Scam — Here’s How to Avoid Becoming a Victim Yourself

In response to the growing menace, Starling Bank recommends adopting a verification system among relatives and friends using a unique safe phrase that you only share with loved ones out loud — not by text or email.

“We hope that through campaigns such as this, we can arm the public with the information they need to keep themselves safe,” Grahame added. “Simply having a safe phrase in place with trusted friends and family — which you never share digitally — is a quick and easy way to ensure you can verify who is on the other end of the phone.”

Days after proposing to settle a data breach lawsuit for $30 million, 18-year-old genetic testing company 23andMe now faces another public hurdle: Seven independent directors of its board resigned on Tuesday through a pointed letter addressed to CEO Anne Wojcicki, who is now the only remaining member of the board.

The resigning directors, among whom were YouTube CEO Neal Mohan and Sequoia VC Roelof Botha, called out Wojcicki for not submitting a “fully financed, fully diligenced, actionable proposal” to take the company private over the past five months. They wrote that their strategic direction for 23andMe was different from Wojcicki’s.

“Because of that difference and because of your concentrated voting power, we believe that it is in the best interests of the Company’s shareholders that we resign from the Board rather than have a protracted and distracting difference of view with you as to the direction of the Company,” they stated.

Related: 23andMe DNA Technology Helps Family Find Kidnapped Daughter After 51 Years

Wojcicki, who co-founded the company in 2006, controls 49% of 23andMe votes. In July, she submitted a proposal to buy all the shares she didn’t already own at $0.40 per share and take the company private. A special committee created by the company rejected her proposal, stating that it wasn’t in the best interests of shareholders.

^{Anne Wojcicki. Credit: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images}

Wojcicki told employees in a memo on Tuesday that she was “surprised and disappointed” by the resignations and would immediately begin finding replacement directors. She stated that “taking 23andMe private will be the best opportunity for long-term success.”

23andMe, which was valued at $6 billion in 2021 shortly after going public, is now a penny stock worth 34 cents per share at the time of writing. The company has until November 4 to bring its stock price up to at least $1 per share or risk being delisted.

23andMe has faced a number of public setbacks, including a data breach in October that impacted nearly 7 million accounts and appeared to target people with Chinese or Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Customers filed a class action lawsuit in January and 23andMe proposed a $30 million settlement earlier this month.

23andMe’s core product is a $99 ancestry kit that requires a customer to submit their spit in exchange for genetic insights. A $199 kit advertises health predisposition reports. The company is also developing drugs in-house and testing them.

Related: 23andMe Hackers Selling Stolen User Data, Including DNA Profiles of ‘Celebrities,’ on Dark Web

As government regulations and industry standards become increasingly stringent, many firms — particularly professional services firms — are under pressure to ensure they are operating in a compliant and legal manner. Failure to adhere to these regulations and requirements can have serious consequences for the company, including hefty fines, negative public perception, legal action and business disruption.

Historically, compliance and risk management were a manual process where teams meticulously tracked, updated and verified compliance metrics and standards. Unfortunately, the margin for human error is enormous and could leave the company open to significant risk. The solution lies in workflow automation systems. By leveraging automated systems to track, monitor and complete regulatory and compliance tasks, companies can improve their ability to remain in line with the current standards.

Related: Smart Entrepreneurs Use Automation to Become More Efficient. Here Are 6 Ways to Adopt It.

1. Process standardization

Manual processes are one of the leading causes of regulatory and industry compliance failure. This is especially true for companies that have numerous employees performing different tasks in slightly different ways. Implementing an automated workflow process enforces consistency and uniformity by standardizing processes across the organization. With each task being performed within the bounds of the workflow systems, the company has more control over team members who may cut corners or deviate from the complaint process.

2. Reduction of human error

In many cases, compliance and regulatory violations aren’t intentional or malicious. Even the most diligent employees can make mistakes from time to time. Unfortunately, when it comes to compliance, even small, innocent errors can come with outsized consequences including large fines or legal action. Automation can reduce the risk of human error by taking over routine and repetitive tasks, like data entry, that are prone to manual mistakes.

3. Regulatory updates and alerts

Regulatory requirements are constantly changing. Nearly two-thirds of business owners admit that they struggle with keeping up with compliance regulations. It can be challenging to track and implement these changes, leaving the organization out of compliance. Industry-specific workflow automation systems can be programmed to automatically integrate regulatory updates as they become available. For example, tax accountant firms typically use software that updates to the latest forms available from the IRS.

These tools can also provide real-time monitoring of potential compliance issues and provide system alerts. This allows for compliance issues to be addressed before they snowball into a major problem, ultimately avoiding a fine or other consequence.

Related: 3 Ways Businesses Are Staying Ahead of Regulatory Changes in 2024

4. Audit protection

Highly regulated businesses are often required to maintain a robust repository of important documents such as permits, financial records, employment contracts, regulatory filings and other legal agreements. The mismanagement of these important documents can lead to serious consequences if they are lost or inaccessible during an audit.

Automated workflow systems can streamline document management by organizing, storying and archiving all necessary documents in a systematic way. The best part is that digital documents can be backed up and aren’t at risk of permanent loss in the event of a flood or fire.

5. Compliance reporting

In many cases, companies are required to submit or publish documentation to regulatory agencies or to the public. This can be a very time-consuming process. In addition to storing important documents, automated workflow tools can also leverage system data to help generate these reports instead of completing them manually. This can reduce the risk of inaccurate or incomplete reports being filed with regulatory agencies.

6. Data security compliance

One of the fastest-growing areas of compliance is data security, especially with the advancement of tools such as artificial intelligence. Numerous governments and agencies across the globe have developed standards and requirements around how sensitive and private information should be stored and handled, particularly regulations like GDPR and HIPAA. Manual processes and human handling can expose data to unauthorized access or breaches, leading to compliance violations.

Most automated workflow platforms come equipped with the latest built-in security features such as encryption, user authentication and access controls to help safeguard sensitive data and comply with data protection regulations.

Related: The 5-Step Guide to Navigating Legal and Regulatory Changes in Business

Workflow automation systems are transforming the way businesses manage risk and compliance. The downside is that governments and regulators understand the power of these systems, which may encourage additional complex regulations in the future. It’s critical for organizations to start implementing these systems so they can remain ahead of this curve. As regulations continue to evolve, leveraging automation will be the key to protecting your business against any regulatory or compliance risks.

I worked at Hootsuite when the social media management leader launched its first paid certification program, and I’m lucky to have witnessed the development of such industry-leading customer education. But I know that revenue was not the main goal going in.

At the time, the courses were intended to support lead generation and customer success initiatives, but as course uptake grew, the company realized the true potential in its courseware, and today, Hootsuite’s Academy is a bonafide revenue generation center.

For many companies, however, customer education isn’t working as hard as it could for the bottom line. While the success stats are undeniable — 90% of companies have experienced positive benefits from investing in customer education — the reality is that companies today need tangible ROI that goes beyond positively correlated metrics like increased customer satisfaction and lifetime value. They need another revenue stream.

Hootsuite and others like Hubspot and LinkedIn have paved the way for customer education programs with a full-funnel impact. And if your company hasn’t jumped on board in leveraging customer education as a revenue driver, now is the time. Here’s why and how to get there.

Related: Want Loyal Customers? Teach Them Something New — Here’s How Customer Education Programs Elevate Your Business

Full funnel impact is the way forward

Ever since the pandemic, customer churn has hit record levels, putting pressure on marketing and customer success teams to double down on their efforts to attract, engage and retain customers. With businesses feeling the financial squeeze of the economic downturn, many have sought out new revenue channels in addition to reducing costs.

Marketing and customer service teams are a goldmine here, with their wealth of knowledge and data about the customer — from their understanding of the purchase journey to the challenges customers experience once they’re onboarded. Customer success and marketing teams can leverage the knowledge base and support assets they’ve already created and work together to package their assets into tangible offerings that customers will pay for. They can shift the customer experience to self-serve learning and reposition themselves to generate revenue, alleviate demands on their time and empower customers to reach their goals more independently.

At my current workplace, we’ve seen immense value in getting customers onboarded and activated as quickly as possible using self-serve courseware. However, this strategy isn’t only for SaaS companies. I’ve seen it in clients from a wide range of industries – from broad-based public education programs to highly specialized training. One thing I’ve noticed across the board? Creating full-funnel impact is only possible through the collaboration of disparate business units and a unified business plan.

Related: 4 Ways Brands Can Educate Their Customers and Win Hearts

Start with a strategy

Unless you’re an educational institution, you’ll quickly discover that offering courses and certifications is different than making software or selling widgets. Treating it as a unique business will help you get the resources you’ll require to succeed. That includes marketing support and integration within your overall product strategy.

As tempting as it may be to slap together existing content and put a price tag on it, the reality is that you will need a plan that anticipates and facilitates growth. Carefully consider what your customers will pay for and what you need to offer everyone. That might involve creating tiers of paid access that match engagement levels, such as paid certification for standard customers and one-on-one coaching for your top performers.

I recommend looking at least a year or two ahead at potential growth and what’s required to support it. For example, once your courses are launched and established, you may want the ability to develop a private community where students can collaborate and share what they have learned.

Part of Hootsuite’s success came from choosing a platform that allowed it to leverage the power of its growing subscriber base. Selecting tools that can grow with you will enable you to add new features when you’re ready and avoid the hassle of having to migrate your content to a more robust platform, just as it’s gaining traction.

Related: Your Startup’s Most Important Investment Is Customer Education

Leverage technology and augment it with creativity

If creating the kind of value people will pay for feels daunting, technology can help here, too. Generative AI tools make lighter work of transforming existing assets into courseware, and the delivery platform you choose may have built-in prompts and features to turn your vision into reality with minimal effort. Case in point: we’ve succeeded in taking video edits down from six hours to just one using AI – an impressive efficiency boost!

Keep in mind, too, that you don’t necessarily need to produce dozens of high-quality videos. Consider how to leverage what you’ve got, then fill the gaps with new content that clearly addresses your customers’ pain points. And don’t be afraid to get creative. Sure, there are playbooks on how to develop courseware, but you can always go your own way.

If you need inspiration, take a look at what others are doing — especially worthy rivals in other sectors. One of my favorites is Cricut Access, a paid account for Cricut crafters that offers resources, support and project ideas. The company caters to consumers, which is not my company’s target audience, but I find it’s always a source of good food for thought.

Finally, don’t be afraid to try things — even if they might not work. After all, the best way to learn is by experimenting. And learning right alongside your customers may be the most authentic way to accelerate both their productivity and revenue — and yours.

As the co-founder and former CEO of Yum! Brands, one of the world’s largest restaurant companies with a portfolio including franchises like KFC and Pizza Hut, David Novak drove tangible results.

In the 17 years he was CEO, from 1999 to 2016, Novak helped scale the company to eight times its original size, from a market capitalization of $4 billion to $32 billion. However, Novak credits the numbers to a more qualitative than quantitative aspect of leadership — creating the right work culture.

In a conversation with Masters of Scale host Jeff Berman that aired earlier this month, Novak explained how he steered Yum! Brands from the beginning.

“I made my number one priority to really create a powerful culture where everyone counts,” Novak said. “That became job number one for me as a CEO, because if I can create that right work environment, people will innovate and people will go further.”

Novak explained that early on, he tried to learn from companies that were winning or consistently delivered good results. He went out and visited companies including Walmart, Home Depot, and General Electric.

“We met with them,” Novak said. “Then we came back and we codified what’s really driving the success of these companies that allow them to get to great results year after year.”

Related: The Side Hustle She Started in a High School Locker Room Hit Multimillion-Dollar Revenue — and Taylor Swift Is a Fan: ‘Invest in Yourself’

Novak, who oversaw 1.5 million employees globally, began emphasizing recognition and encoding it into Yum!’s culture. In previous interviews, he talked about how he would use recognition to motivate employees. In one case, at KFC, Novak gave away rubber chickens and $100 as an award for a job well done.

Today, Yum!’s culture remains one of recognition and collaboration, per its public-facing culture page.

In 1948, diamond company De Beers launched a marketing campaign with the slogan “A diamond is forever.” Fifty years later, the company created another campaign justifying the price of diamonds with the slogan, “Isn’t two months’ salary a small price to pay for something that lasts forever?”

Now, De Beers is aggressively cutting prices to bring sales up, and you can buy a diamond-making device for $200,000 on Alibaba.

It’s a sign that diamond production is democratizing, reports Ars Technica.

In the past five years, lab-grown gem sales have burgeoned and made the price of mined stones less appealing, according to diamond expert Paul Zimnisky. The lab-grown diamond market was $13 billion last year and is expected to reach about $22 billion by 2031.

Ankur Daga, CEO of the fine jewelry company Angara, estimated that half of all engagement rings sold this year will have lab-grown stones, a significant jump from 2% in 2018.

“The diamond industry is in trouble,” Daga told CNBC in June.

As of press time, natural 1-carat diamonds cost around $4,000 while lab-grown diamonds of the same weight go for around $620.

How a lab-grown diamond machine works

The 44-ton device uses high-pressure high temperature (HPHT) technology to take a diamond seed, or a tiny diamond particle that starts the whole process, and transform it into a lab-grown diamond. Alibaba focuses more on business-to-business products, so the machine they have for sale would likely be bought and used by a company with specialized knowledge.

Related: She Started a Business With $2,000 of Personal Savings — Then Grew It to More Than $100 Million Revenue

Lab-grown diamonds are up to 90% less expensive than natural diamonds and look exactly the same to the human eye. They can only be told apart with special equipment in a professional gemological lab.

They also don’t carry the same environmental and social concerns as naturally found diamonds, which have to be mined in unsafe conditions.

Even with this kind of growth, and machines like the one sold through Alibaba, Zimnisky says that naturally-found diamonds will still have a place in the future.

“Human desire for rare and valuable objects runs pretty deep within us,” Zimnisky told NPR. “I don’t think that’s going to, all of a sudden, change.”

Related: This Family-Owned Manhattan Jewelry Shop Struggled to Rebuild After 9/11. Today, 2 Sisters Who Run the 46-Year-Old Business Reveal What It Takes to Persevere.