Gusto, the payroll and benefits company, found that SMBs that are fully remote tend to have higher scores across almost all performance indicators. Of course, it would probably help if everyone used the same software. Right now, the best office suite option for small businesses has to be this one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 for family or up to six users that’s on sale for just $99.99. That’s 23% off the normal $129 subscription price.

The best thing about a Microsoft 365 subscription is that you know the programs are always up to date with the newest innovative features because you get them as soon as they are released. Communication is a breeze; up to 300 people can join group video calls on Microsoft Teams and talk for up to 30 hours. Also, each user gets 1TB of secure cloud storage and can use up to five devices of their own simultaneously, including computers, phones, and tablets.

Applications include Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, Clipchamp, MS Edito,r and Microsoft Defender. They can help you with spelling and grammar, offer royalty-free creative content, and so much more.

The real gamechanger, though, is Microsoft’s AI-powered productivity assistant Copilot. Its AI features are integrated seamlessly into the Office programs to save you time and effort by helping you work smarter and more efficiently. Microsoft Copilot can even automate tasks!

Security is another huge perk of Microsoft 365. Advanced features protect all of your files, and all of the Outlook features that help you stay organized are backed by the most robust security tools.

Plus, you can’t beat the flexibility of this suite of programs. You can use it on almost any type of PC, Mac, Android phones and tablets, iPads, and iPhones. Not only can you collaborate in real-time, but you can also work offline. It’s no wonder Microsoft 365 has a 4.7 out of 5 stars rating on both GetApp and Capterra.

Get a one-year subscription to Microsoft 365 for a family, or up to six users, while it’s available for only $99.99, a 23% discount.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

PDFs are a business essential — Adobe, the creator of the file format, estimates that more than 2.5 trillion PDFs are created each year. Easily creating, editing, and converting PDF files makes doing business smooth and seamless, but to make it happen, you need the right tool.

That’s where PDF Expert comes in. This award-winning app unlocks all the PDF functionality you need to keep business going, and right now, you can get a lifetime subscription for $79.97, 42% off the $139.99 regular price.

Editing tools that do it all

There’s a reason PDF Expert was named an Editor’s Choice pick from Apple, and why more than 30 million people rely on it worldwide: It packs a comprehensive set of tools into one easy-to-use PDF editor.

That includes creating PDFs from JPGs, PNGs, Word files, Excel spreadsheets and even PowerPoints — or taking PDFs and making them into image files, editable documents, and spreadsheets and presentations.

But PDF Editor goes way beyond creation. Use the program to highlight and comment on existing PDFs or fill out forms. You can also use it to change text, or add images and links into the file. It also supports managing pages, splitting multi-page files into separate documents, and merging separate PDFs into one.

You can even use this program to enhance scanned files, and crop and split pages to suit them to your needs. And maybe most usefully of all, you can use the program to add your signature to critical documents like invoices, contracts, or agreements.

The fine print

This deal is for new users only, and is only valid for Macs. If that describes you, however, it’s a great deal — this subscription is good for use on an unlimited number of personal Mac products.

Your team already uses PDFs everyday. This is a golden opportunity to make their jobs easier and their workday more productive, for a price you won’t beat.

Get a lifetime premium plan subscription to PDF Expert for $79.97 (reg. $139.99).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TikTok’s algorithm has been infamously called “addictive,” with research finding that it is “highly engaging and emotionally rewarding in nature,” which has led to compulsive (and lucrative) user numbers. It’s also why the algorithm is a main point in the ongoing saga of the app potentially being banned in the U.S. if it isn’t sold soon.

But billionaire Frank McCourt Jr., 71, tells Entrepreneur in a new interview that he and his business partners are “completely ready to buy TikTok” — and they “don’t need or want the algorithm.”

The former L.A. Dodgers owner and investor, who’s worth $2.4 billion, said that China has “made it very clear” they’re not selling it.

“So we’re in a good position if there is a transaction,” McCourt said.

Related: Emma Grede Dropped Out of School at 16. Now the Skims Boss Runs a $4 Billion Empire — Here’s How.

After last year’s law passed requiring TikTok to separate from its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, or face a permanent ban in the U.S., the potential to own TikTok has attracted a slew of interest from notable people and companies. (After multiple extensions, the new deadline is June 19.)

McCourt announced his $20 billion offer for TikTok in May 2024, calling it The People’s Bid for TikTok. He made the bid through Project Liberty, the $500 million initiative he founded in 2021 that focuses on creating a better Internet by giving users control over how they share their data. Over time, other public figures joined his bid, the most notable being Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary in January and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in March. But so far, there haven’t been any updates.

“We’re on standby,” McCourt said.

Other bidders for TikTok include AI startup Perplexity, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, mobile advertising company AppLovin, and Amazon. McCourt said O’Leary called him after talking to all the potential bidders and determining that The People’s Bid was ahead of the rest. Ohanian connected with McCourt through a mutual friend, and also ended up publicly backing the bid’s mission.

^{Frank McCourt Jr.}

Why Frank McCourt’s Bid for TikTok Is Different

McCourt is working towards creating a new Internet, and TikTok is a stepping stone to get there.

McCourt’s bid is focused on the social media app’s 170 million users. He wants to migrate those millions of people and their data over to an open-source platform that both preserves TikTok’s user experience while also using an American-built tech stack.

The basis of this platform is called the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), which Project Liberty developed and first made public in 2021. DSNP stores individual data in a profile that a user can transport across a network of social apps. Users on the platform can take their connections and content, their personal data, from one DSNP app to another and dictate the terms of its use.

“We’re advocating for a new, better, advanced Internet where individuals own and control their identity and their data,” McCourt said. “We’re in charge, and our social information is ours to share with others as we see fit.”

Right now, the only social media app that uses DSNP is MeWe, which has more than 20 million users globally and began offering members the option to sign in with DSNP in September 2022. Now, McCourt wants to bring the protocol to TikTok’s 170 million users as well.

“We need to scale DSNP for it to be a true alternative, and that’s what TikTok would do,” McCourt said.

McCourt outlined a future where social apps will be interoperable, and users will be able to tap into their network no matter which social app they are logged into. So, someone on MeWe could talk to someone on TikTok, or share a link with them without logging into an account just for that one specific app.

Related: 3 Simple Steps to Start Making Money on TikTok

McCourt compared the situation to how phone numbers are now interoperable. A person using AT&T can call someone on Verizon without worrying about whether their call will go through.

“Imagine an Internet where that’s the case, where you can be on one app and I could be on another, and we’ll be able to share information,” McCourt said.

McCourt noted that gathering $20 billion for the bid was “quite easy” because “people saw the value” of the offer. And if The People’s Bid doesn’t end up being selected, McCourt isn’t ruling out developing a competing social media app.

“We may,” he said. “At some point, we just need to move forward.”

More than 50% of entrepreneurs fund their companies with retirement savings, and another 20% use personal savings, according to data from Guidant Financial. Under those circumstances, every penny has to count, so you won’t be splurging on expensive software just because you think it would be nice. However, if you can get an affordable, powerful operating system designed specifically for professionals to turbocharge productivity and offer maximum security, you shouldn’t pass that up. That’s precisely what you get while Microsoft Windows 11 Pro sells for only $14.97.

Everyone from designers to developers will appreciate this operating system, but entrepreneurs who must always be effortlessly connected will be particularly happy with it. Convenience was a priority for Windows 11, and the sleekly intuitive user interface is as friendly as it gets. Yet, the advanced security features will help you sleep easier at night. You’ll get a biometrics login, encrypted authentication, advanced antivirus defense, and so much more.

Tools to increase productivity abound, from a far more robust search experience to improved voice typing, seamless redocking, snap layouts, and more. Unique features to optimize your professional tasks are found throughout the system, such as BitLocker device encryption, Windows Sandbox, Hyper-V, Azure AD, Smart App Control, TPM 2.0, Windows Studio Effects, and more.

Of course, hard-working professionals are also entitled to their downtime, and Windows 11 Pro provides unprecedented gaming features. You’ll enjoy DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics that maximize your hardware to provide amazingly realistic graphics so you can play all the latest games to their peak potential.

Features such as Widgets and Microsoft Teams are also built in. You can even ditch the mouse and keyboard because the Touchscreen function will still give you a genuine computing experience. However, the superstar in this system is Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant. It answers questions, changes settings, opens apps, generates code suggestions and images, kicksstart your writing process, and more.

Get Microsoft Windows 11 Pro while it’s available for just $14.97.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Artificial intelligence has definitely changed how we do business, for the better in many ways. Chatbots that reply in seconds, algorithms tracking your behavior so you can instantly get what you want and automation handling routine tasks faster than any human team ever could.

But just because it’s fast doesn’t mean it feels good.

Efficiency is great, but I’ve seen too many businesses losing the human element that actually builds trust and loyalty. If your digital experience feels robotic, scripted or cold, people won’t stick around, no matter how “optimized” it is.

At some point, tech needs a heartbeat behind it. Otherwise, all you’re doing is automating disconnection.

Related: How to Scale a Marketing Strategy That Works

When automation goes too far

Yes, automation is powerful. It keeps things running. Chatbots answer questions 24/7, tools auto-schedule content and systems track customer behavior. But let’s not ignore the downside.

Sure, 51% of consumers prefer interacting with bots over humans when they want immediate service. But what if they don’t? What happens when customers get frustrated from waiting or having to repeat themselves?

Think about the entire experience. When every interaction feels automated, customers begin to question whether anyone is really paying attention. Bots can’t read the room. They can’t hear tone, detect frustration or understand nuance. So, while automation helps scale, it often kills connection if you rely on it too much.

Your chatbot can still handle basic questions, but when things get tricky, a handoff to a human rep makes all the difference. Most people aren’t expecting perfection. They’re looking for effort, care and responsiveness. When that’s missing, the tech isn’t helping — it’s hurting.

Personalization is now a necessity, not a mere desire

Personalization is now a basic expectation, but it can’t be all AI.

In 2024, Forbes surveyed over 1,000 U.S. consumers for their State of Customer Service and CX Study and found that 81% of customers prefer companies that offer a personalized experience, and they expect this personal touch across the platforms they use, not just in-store or over email.

No surprise there — it confirms what we already know about personalization. Customers want fast, relevant and thoughtful service that feels made for them. But here’s where brands get it wrong:

They use AI to automate “personalization” based on click behavior, email opens or CRM tags — and stop there. The result? Generic messages dressed up in personalization tags. “Hi [FirstName]” isn’t what people mean by thoughtful.

Yes, AI helps scale insight. But real personalization comes from real-time awareness, in those moments that can’t be predicted. Knowing that a customer just called support five minutes ago changes how you respond to their next email. This isn’t something AI alone can deliver. It takes judgment, context and care.

Let your team go off-book when it serves the customer. That’s what humanizing your strategy means: efficient, but never robotic. Because personalization shouldn’t feel predictive, it should feel considered. AI might tee it up, but humans close the loop.

Related: 5 Innovative Ways to Give Your Customers the Personalized Experiences They Want

Do what the algorithm can’t

Speed, data and automation can open the door, but connection keeps people coming back.

Ask real questions

The comments section is the closest thing you’ve got to a real-time focus group. It keeps your blind spots in check.

Ask what your customers are struggling with, what they want to see more of and what’s missing. They’ll tell you when something’s off. If you’re paying attention, you can adjust before it becomes a bigger issue.

Reward frontline feedback

Your best insights aren’t in your dashboards. Want to improve a feature? Ask the person fielding complaints about it. Want to write better copy? Talk to the person who knows the objections your customers keep bringing up.

Build a process where frontline teams can flag patterns, share feedback and influence decisions. When your team sees that their input shapes the brand, they become more invested. And when customers see that their voice actually leads to improvements, they trust you more.

Lead with your story

Sprout Social reports that for 86% of consumers, authenticity is a major factor in choosing which brands to support. That’s why storytelling — especially the messy, honest kind — builds trust faster than any email sequence ever could.

It doesn’t have to be dramatic or polished. Some of the most powerful brand moments come from raw, unscripted content: a phone-shot video, a glimpse of what went wrong behind the scenes, a quick peek at how you build your product.

The truth is, customers don’t just want to be sold to — they want to be in a relationship with the brands they buy from. Seeing real people doing real work is what turns that relationship from transactional to emotional.

Related: How Brands Can Embrace Authenticity in a World Craving Transparency

People first, always

AI is here to stay, and that’s not a bad thing. Use automation. Streamline. But remember, the brands that will truly thrive are the ones that know how to scale connection, not just automation.

The future of digital isn’t less human. It’s more intentional.

Next time you build a marketing campaign, send an email or respond to a comment, ask yourself: Does this sound human? Or just efficient?

One thing to keep in mind when getting a laptop to support your professional needs is that not every job needs the latest M-series MacBook. If your goal is reliable performance, decent battery life, and that always-satisfying Apple experience—without obliterating your tech budget—this refurbished Apple MacBook Air 13.3″ (from 2017) might be exactly what you’re looking for.

At just $199.97, it’s a compelling option for entrepreneurs, frequent flyers, remote teams, or anyone needing a no-fuss, high-functioning laptop. Whether you’re outfitting new hires, building a small remote team, or just need a travel-friendly workhorse for flights and coworking spaces, this deal checks all the right boxes.

Powered by a 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 128GB SSD and Intel HD Graphics 6000, this MacBook Air can easily handle productivity apps, video calls, and browser-based work. The 13.3-inch Retina display (1440×900) gives you enough screen real estate for spreadsheets, docs, or Netflix—no judgment here.

And with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 12-hour battery, you’ve got the flexibility to work wherever you find a signal and a seat.

A business-savvy no-brainer

Sure, it’s not the newest model, but at this price, it’s a smart choice for businesses that are looking to scale or support remote productivity without buying into another $1,000 machine. It’s also ideal as a reliable secondary laptop for traveling professionals who’d rather not risk their $2,000 daily driver at airport security. It’s been cleaned and inspected, and arrives with the possibility of some light scratching or minor blemishes.

All in all, it’s a legit Apple laptop with great performance, for just $200. You’ll get what you need, save what you don’t, and maybe even impress a client or two with how resourcefully you roll.

Get a top-quality refurbished Apple MacBook Air for just $199.97 (reg. $999) with free shipping when you order through July 20.

Apple MacBook Air 13.3″ (2017) 1.8GHz i5 8GB RAM 128GB SSD Silver (Refurbished)

See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Salesforce’s first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday beat estimates, with revenue up 8% year-over-year to $9.83 billion. Earlier this week, the company also announced a deal to buy data management company Informatica for $8 billion, its biggest acquisition since it purchased Slack for $27.1 billion in 2021.

“Sometimes you have a quarter when everything is going right for you,” said Salesforce CEO and Board Chair Marc Benioff, 60, in an earnings call on Wednesday, per The Wall Street Journal.

According to Salesforce’s 2025 proxy statement, released in April, Benioff made over $55 million in the 2025 fiscal year, which ran from Feb. 1, 2024, to Jan. 31, 2025. His base salary was $1.55 million, and his bonus was $2,500, both unchanged from 2024. His stock awards increased by about $8 million, and his option awards by over $3 million from 2024. His $55 million compensation included over $4 million in personal security costs and over half a million dollars in aircraft usage.

Meanwhile, Salesforce’s median employee took home a total compensation of $178,949 in fiscal year 2025. Benioff made approximately 308 times more than the typical Salesforce employee.

Related: Salesforce Has Used AI to Reduce Personnel Costs By $50 Million This Year. Here’s Which Roles Are Affected.

In the 2024 fiscal year, Salesforce’s median employee received a salary of $164,985. That year, Benioff made $39.6 million, or 240 times more than the median.

^{Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images}

Salesforce’s median salary is lower than Google, where a mid-level employee made $331,894 in 2024, and Nvidia, where a typical employee made $301,233.

Meanwhile, Salesforce could be slowing down hiring in certain departments and accelerating hiring in others as it attempts to internally maximize its use of AI tools. The company’s chief financial and operations officer, Robin Washington, said on a call with analysts on Wednesday that Salesforce has downsized “some” of its hiring needs thanks to AI. It’s also hiring fewer customer service representatives and software engineers as its current staff use AI for greater productivity, but is growing its sales team by 22% this year.

Related: Here’s How Much 8 CEOs Made in 2024, From JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon to Disney’s Bob Iger

CEO Pay Is Rising

A study released on Thursday by the Associated Press found that CEO pay increased by nearly 10% in 2024 due to higher profits and stock prices. The study, which was based on proxy statements filed with federal regulators by companies in the S&P 500, examined the pay of 344 executives. It found that the median pay package of CEOs in 2024 was $17.1 million, up from $16.3 million in 2023.

The highest-earning CEO on the list was Patrick W. Smith, the CEO of taser-making company Axon, who took home $164.5 million. Other top-earning executives included General Electric’s H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. ($87.4 million), Apple’s Tim Cook ($74.6 million), and Netflix’s Theodore A. Sarandos ($61.9 million). Most of those pay packages were comprised of stock or options awards.

The study also found that the typical employee at an S&P 500 company earned $85,419 in 2024, a 1.7% year-over-year increase.

Most entrepreneurs are using AI the wrong way — tweaking blog posts, drafting emails and hoping it saves time. But surface-level tools won’t grow your business. What if you could use AI to build a system that runs your content, lead gen and sales — without hiring a single person?

This video reveals the four high-leverage AI growth hacks that solo entrepreneurs are using to reclaim three days a week and scale to seven figures — no tech skills required. What you’ll discover:

• The content research shortcut top creators swear by: Uncover high-converting ideas from what’s already working in your niche — then turn those insights into original, engaging content in record time.
• Your always-on sales assistant: Deploy a smart system that engages leads, answers questions and handles objections — boosting conversions while you focus on growth.
• Lead generation on autopilot: Set up a full cold outreach engine that identifies ideal prospects, warms them up and keeps conversations moving — without the manual grind.
• Revenue-boosting email intelligence: Analyze your past campaign data to reveal exactly what drives clicks and sales — then use AI to write emails that outperform your best ones.
• The plug-and-play system behind seven-figure solopreneurs: Link these automations together to build a lean, self-sustaining business engine that grows even when you’re offline.

Everything is broken down step-by-step, no tech skills required. If you’re ready to scale your business without burning out, this is the video to watch.

Download the free “AI Success Kit” (limited time only). And you’ll also get a free chapter from my brand new book, “The Wolf is at The Door – How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World.”

If you’re an entrepreneur, you understand this dynamic well: credentials open doors, but character closes deals.

College admissions work the same way.

A perfect GPA and test scores don’t get a student into an Ivy League school. They get the application opened. From there, it’s emotional intelligence, social awareness and self-understanding that determine who gets in — and who gets waitlisted or denied.

This is why every year, top colleges turn down Valedictorians — and admit Salutatorians who demonstrate more maturity, curiosity and insight into who they are and how they grow.

Related: 8 Must-Have Leadership Qualities for Workplace Success

Why “be authentic” isn’t helpful advice

When students sit down to write their personal statements, they’re told to “be authentic” or “show emotional intelligence.” But those phrases are abstract. What do they actually mean? How do admissions readers interpret them?

Most families assume that Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is about being kind, likable or involved in service work. But SEL isn’t about checking personality boxes. It’s a competency framework. A set of skills. And increasingly, it’s the clearest proxy for future success — not just in school, but in life.

What SEL really is — and why it matters now more than ever

At its core, SEL consists of five key competencies:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Social awareness
• Relationship skills
• Responsible decision-making

These are real-world, transferable skills — rooted in emotional intelligence (EQ) — that students must develop if they’re going to thrive in dynamic, high-pressure environments like college. Or startups. Or the real world.

Colleges aren’t just evaluating what students know — they’re assessing how students think, how they grow, and how they relate to others. That’s why the personal essay exists in the first place: it’s a live demonstration of how a student thinks about themselves and the world around them.

It’s also why, in the new admissions landscape — test-optional, post-affirmative-action, and increasingly holistic — SEL has moved from “nice to have” to strategic advantage.

Character is the competitive edge

According to the 2024–2025 Common Data Set, across Ivy League and Top 20 schools, the number one most consistently important non-academic factor in admissions isn’t work experience. It’s not talent. It’s not even extracurriculars. It’s character and personal qualities.

Let that land for a moment.

MIT marked this category as the only “very important” factor in their entire non-academic review process — above talent, extracurriculars or recommendations.

What they’re really asking is: Can this student lead themselves? Can they work with others? Can they adapt and grow under pressure?

Related: 4 Best Practices for Smarter Higher-Education Admissions Procedures

The three most strategic SEL moves students can make

Over decades in admissions, we’ve helped students turn personal qualities into compelling essays that demonstrate maturity, leadership and EQ — not just say they have it.

Here’s what actually works:

1. Insight over performance

Most students treat the personal essay like a TED Talk. They tell a big story and drop a moral in the final paragraph — hoping it lands like a mic drop.

That doesn’t work.

Colleges want to see insight. Reflection. Specific examples of how a student grew, not just what happened to them. The strongest essays aren’t about life-changing moments — they’re about mindset shifts.

Big realizations > big stories.

2. Build a voice, not a persona

Trying to sound “smart,” “quirky” or “deep” almost always backfires. Colleges can tell when students are forcing a certain personality or voice on the page. How? Because it’s the same “voice” that appears on nearly half their applications, they eventually end up denying.

Strong essays don’t need gimmicks. They need clarity.

Don’t:

• Overuse metaphors to manufacture meaning
• Write in a voice that isn’t yours
• Hide vulnerability behind clever formatting

Do:

• Be specific about how your thinking has changed
• Use language that sounds like you, not a TEDx speaker
• Share grounded, honest moments — not performances

3. Study the right models

Students often base their essays on viral “How I Got In” posts, which are more about performance than substance. These essays follow a formula that doesn’t demonstrate actual SEL.

Better models? Read published personal essays from real writers — Joan Didion, Brian Doyle, Esmé Wang. These are authors who write with emotional intelligence, depth and nuance.

Final thought

If you’re a founder, you know what it’s like to bet on people. Admissions officers do the same. They’re not just looking at performance. They’re looking at potential.

And the clearest indicator of future potential — in leadership, in relationships, in adversity — is how well someone understands themselves.

That’s what SEL reveals. And that’s why it’s the most overlooked yet powerful lever in modern college admissions strategy.

I’ve been through it all — companies that soared, companies that sank, deals that looked like gold and turned out to be sand and partnerships that either multiplied value or silently killed it. If there’s one brutal truth I’ve learned after decades of building, buying, selling and sometimes burying companies, it’s this:

Relationships — not ideas, capital or even timing — are the ultimate determinant of success.

It’s a lesson that no spreadsheet will teach you and no pitch deck will fully convey. But it’s the one thing every founder, CEO, investor and partner needs to internalize if they want to build something that lasts.

Let me explain through five unfiltered truths I learned the hard way — some through exits, some through bankruptcies.

Related: How to Build and Sustain Deep, Meaningful Business Relationships (and Why It’s the Key to Long-Lasting Success)

1. Bad partnerships are more expensive than bad products

A bad product can be fixed. A misaligned partner? That’s a cancer in the system.

I once co-founded a company with incredible potential — strong unit economics, great early adoption and even some early buzz in the media. But internally, the leadership team was fractured. One partner prioritized short-term revenue. Another obsessed over product perfection. And I, caught between the two, tried to play referee.

Guess what happened?

We burned cash arguing. We stalled decisions. Morale tanked. Ultimately, the company died — not because of the market, but because we couldn’t get out of our own way.

Looking back, I now ask this before every deal: Do I want to be in a foxhole with this person when things go wrong? If the answer isn’t a hell yes, it’s a no.

2. Bankruptcy is a leadership failure, not a market failure

Yes, markets change. Yes, industries shift. But most of the bankruptcies I’ve seen — including my own — weren’t because of the economy. They were because we made poor decisions, delayed hard conversations and ignored red flags.

We had a company that seemed unstoppable — fast-growing, flush with investor interest and scaling quickly. But internally, management was siloed. Sales leadership was misaligned with operations. Decisions were made based on ego instead of data. We ignored tension because things were “good enough.”

Until they weren’t.

When it collapsed, it was easy to point fingers at external market conditions. But the truth? We failed ourselves.

That experience forever changed the way I build. Now, every leadership meeting starts with alignment. If leadership isn’t rowing in the same direction, I don’t care how good the boat is — it’s going nowhere.

Related: Want Strong Business Relationships? Avoid These 3 Mistakes.

3. Buyers don’t buy products — they buy people

When I’ve successfully exited companies, there’s a pattern that shows up every time: We were aligned with the buyer on values, vision and execution style.

One of our best exits came not because we had the best tech, but because the acquiring team said, “We want to work with you guys.” They knew we had strong relationships across departments, high employee retention and a culture of transparency.

Deals get done when there’s trust. Period. It doesn’t matter how great your EBITDA is if the buyer doesn’t believe in your leadership or your people.

If you’re preparing to exit, ask yourself: Would you buy this company if you didn’t know the numbers, but just knew the people running it?

If the answer is no, you’ve got work to do.

4. Decision-making is a muscle — train it or lose it

Poor decision-making doesn’t show up all at once. It’s a slow erosion — a hundred little moments when you defer, delay or delegate decisions you should own.

One business I led started slipping when we over-delegated key choices to mid-management without ensuring those managers were aligned with the company strategy. Over time, execution drifted. Product launches missed the mark. Marketing lost focus. And we didn’t notice until revenue plateaued.

Strong companies don’t just have good leaders — they have good decision-making systems.

Now, in every company I touch, we prioritize decision hygiene. Clear frameworks. Accountability. Retrospectives. You can’t outsource judgment. You have to train it.

Related: 8 Strategies for Building Long-Lasting Business Relationships

5. The exit isn’t the end — it’s the mirror

When you sell a company, the terms of that exit reflect everything you did right — or wrong.

Great exits happen when:

• You have strong internal processes

• Your financials are airtight

• Your leadership team is trusted

• Your reputation precedes you

Bad exits — or worse, failed exits — happen when:

I’ve lived both sides, and I’ll tell you: Nothing haunts an entrepreneur more than realizing they killed a great business by not focusing on the fundamentals early enough.

So, what’s the takeaway? If I could give one piece of advice to any founder building a startup today, it’s this:

Invest in relationships before you invest in features. Build trust before you build scale. Fix your internal operating model before you chase more revenue.

Money follows alignment. Buyers follow leadership. Teams follow purpose. And if you get those right, the next big thing might just follow you.