Chad and Tiffany Mussmon went from teachers to franchise owners in 1997, building from one The Little Gym (#198 on the Franchise 500) to seven locations across Maryland and Virginia — and adding two Snapology (#394 on the Franchise 500) territories along the way. This spring, they opened a co-branded Little Gym and Snapology hub in Leesburg, Virginia, giving parents one stop for physical development and STEAM. In this Q&A, they trace the journey, systems and family handoff behind that growth.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Related: Considering franchise ownership? Get started now to find your personalized list of franchises that match your lifestyle, interests and budget.

Image Credit: Unleashed Brands

What made you take the leap from employee to owner back in 1997?
Chad: We were both teachers with a young family coming out of college and didn’t really have capital right away — we just worked our way through with sweat equity and put a business plan together. I didn’t come from an entrepreneurial family, but my uncle was an entrepreneur, and I loved his approach to mentoring people and creating his own destiny. Franchising was new to me — I knew McDonald’s, but I didn’t realize how widespread franchising was as a 23-year-old. We just started shifting our mindset from employee to ownership, with the awesome responsibility that comes with that.

In the early years, what was the hardest challenge, and how did you deal with it?
Chad: Back then, multi-unit ownership wasn’t common outside of the big guys. There wasn’t a lot of strategy for a single-unit operator moving to multiple locations. We had a mentor who gave us great real estate contacts. Local banking contacts were a big part of our ability to capitalize on growth.

Related: A.I. Could Destroy the Power of Video Marketing — But Only If We Allow It

What did Covid-19 change for your business?
Chad: With Covid, we had a rough time — we closed a bunch — and my entrepreneurial spirit was crushed. I told Tiffany I’d never open another business. But my spirit recovered, and we opened four in 18 months. We saw numbers in the aftermath of Covid we’d never seen. We never had a million-dollar revenue location before Covid-19; then, in the two years after, five out of six locations were million-dollar locations. Things are leveling off now, and the D.C. economy has its challenges, but we have become stronger. We also learned a lot about dealing with landlords — some worked with us, some didn’t. It was a learning curve.

What told you it was time to keep expanding and hiring management?
Tiffany: We saw the need locally — our county is one of the fastest-growing in America — and there was a big need for a non-competitive gymnastics program.

Chad: We knew we couldn’t do it by ourselves, nor did we want to work 60-70 hours a week. I was probably one of the first Little Gym people to step away from day-to-day operations. I’m still very active, just not day-to-day. I was able to do that by focusing closely on the type of quality instructors, directors and managers running our facilities.

How have parents responded to combining both brands under one roof?
Chad: It’s been phenomenal. For parents, it’s about the ease of bringing multiple children to one place. Some kids are more athletic, some are more into coding or STEM. The preliminary results are that parents love doing multiple activities under one roof — it really helps the modern family with their lifestyle.
Tiffany: Snapology goes perfectly with The Little Gym. Both concepts believe in the same thing — building confidence for kids. We even have kids doing both — two classes at The Little Gym and a class at Snapology — in one place.

Your kids now help manage the co-branded location. What does that look like?
Chad: They’re the new generation of that blood, sweat and equity. Their ownership will come based on the success of the location — they have an equity stake.
Tiffany: We’re mentoring them like we were mentored. It’s probably our favorite location now because we spend time with them. They’re both young parents, and we spend most of our time there.

How do you keep quality consistent across multiple units and brands?
Chad: It’s a challenge. I’ve been a “systems guy” for 20 years. I’m big on creating documented ways of doing things. Even in franchising, you still get discrepancies. But when systems are in place, we can direct things back to the right way when issues come up.

What’s next — more co-branded sites, new markets or a pause?
Chad: We’ll consider some markets in our territories over the next 12 to 18 months for The Little Gym. At some existing locations, as space becomes available, we may talk to landlords about adding Snapology. Some other concepts on the Unleashed platform are appealing, but I think we’re taking a pause to catch our breath.

This is the second installment in the “1,000 Days of AI” series. As an AI keynote speaker and strategic advisor on AI university strategy, I’ve seen firsthand how generative AI is transforming education — and why aligning with the future of learning is now a leadership imperative.

I’m starting with education, not because it was the most disrupted, but because it was the first to show us what disruption actually looks like in real time.

Why start here?

Education is upstream to everything. Every future engineer, policymaker, manager and founder is shaped by what happens in a classroom, a lecture hall or a late-night interaction with a search engine. When generative AI arrived, education didn’t have the luxury to wait. It was forced to adapt on the fly.

ChatGPT didn’t quietly enter higher education. It detonated. Assignments unraveled. Grading frameworks collapsed. Students accessed polished answers in seconds. Faculty were blindsided. Institutional responses were reactive, inconsistent and exposed deep fractures in how learning was being defined and delivered.

The idea that education meant memorization and regurgitation cracked almost overnight.

Related: How AI Is Transforming Education Forever — and What It Means for the Next Generation of Thinkers

AI in education didn’t break higher ed — It exposed the disconnect

Long before AI, colleges were already straining under somewhat outdated models — rigid lectures, static syllabi, compliance-heavy assessments and a widening chasm between classroom instruction and workforce reality. Students were evolving faster than the systems designed to serve them.

Generative AI made that gap impossible to ignore. Within months of its release, a majority of students admitted to using ChatGPT or similar tools for coursework. Meanwhile, most college presidents acknowledged they had no formal AI policy in place. The dissonance was loud, and it created not just urgency, but opportunity.

In the past year, I’ve partnered with some of the largest education systems in the world to help develop their AI strategies. We co-developed governance frameworks, launched executive working groups, crafted responsible use guidelines and trained thousands of faculty across campuses. The goal wasn’t just to respond; it was to lead.

At the same time, I’ve worked with community colleges — the frontline of workforce development. These institutions feel disruption first and move fastest. I’ve helped their leaders connect generative AI to student outcomes, integrate tools into classroom experimentation and align innovation with workforce readiness and equity.

Whether it’s a flagship university or a high-impact college, the principle is the same: Strategy must align with people, culture and mission. The institutions making the biggest strides aren’t the ones with perfect AI plans. They’re the ones willing to move while others wait. This momentum is powered by intrapreneurship on the inside, and increasingly, by student-driven entrepreneurship on the outside.

Students are becoming entrepreneurs

Students aren’t waiting for permission; they’re reinventing how learning works. They adapt quickly, embrace emerging technologies and experiment boldly. Some might call it cheating. I’d call it testing the system.

Today’s students no longer see education as a linear path to a degree. They see it as a launchpad for ideas.

They’re using not just ChatGPT, but a full arsenal of AI tools — Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and more — to write business plans, generate branding, build MVPs and pressure-test real-world ideas. In fact, some aren’t just using tools; they’re creating their own. They’re not waiting to be taught. They’re teaching themselves how to build, launch and iterate.

And yes, some of it is used for shortcuts. For cutting corners. For getting around assignments. Academic integrity is a real issue and one that institutions must address. But it’s also a signal that the system itself needs to evolve. These students are not just bypassing rules — they’re stress-testing the relevance of education as it exists today. And this is where intrapreneurs inside the system become critical to bridging the gap.

Related: Why We Shouldn’t Fear AI in Education (and How to Use It Effectively)

Intrapreneurs are moving institutions forward

We all know that innovation rarely happens in the corner offices. The most powerful change isn’t coming from executive memos. It’s coming from the ground up.

I’ve seen faculty members redesign assessments to include AI. Academic advisors build GPT-powered chatbots for student support. Department chairs test automated grading workflows while central IT is still writing policy. These are intrapreneurs — internal innovators leading with agility.

My work has always been to help them scale and to get out of their way. Real transformation happens when governance, incentives and innovation align — and when execution is taken seriously.

What institutions are doing that works

Here are five moves I’ve seen deliver the greatest impact across leadership, faculty and students alike.

1. Accept that change is inevitable: Ignoring, shaming or regulating innovation won’t stop it. Institutions must choose to engage with change, not resist it.

2. Acknowledge that learning is now co-created: In many cases, students are more fluent in new tools than faculty. It may feel awkward — but that discomfort is the birthplace of co-creation and collaborative innovation.

3. Support intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship: Encourage faculty and staff to experiment internally while also supporting students who are launching startups or prototyping ideas using AI.

Institutions that move now are defining the next decade of learning. That doesn’t mean ignoring issues of academic integrity or the risks of cognitive offloading — we don’t know what we don’t know. But that uncertainty should inform us, not paralyze us.

The institutions that will thrive in the next 1,000 days aren’t those with the most tech. They’re the ones that create space to adapt, listen and lead from every level — through both intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship.

Related: How AI, Funding Cuts and Shifting Skills Are Redefining Education — and What It Means for the Future of Work

Leadership is no longer a title; it’s a posture. Every instructor redesigning a course, every student experimenting with AI, every staffer who builds a better workflow is shaping the future of education.

According to the World Economic Forum, over 40% of core job skills will shift in the next five years. That’s not a prediction — it’s a mandate.

The only way forward is to build systems that learn as fast as the people in them. Presidents and provosts can provide vision, but it’s intrapreneurs who will make it real. Transformation won’t be dictated from above. It will be powered from within.

AI is not the end. It’s the beginning of a new way of learning and a new kind of leadership.

Coming next in the “1,000 Days of AI” series: Higher education wasn’t ready for AI, but students forced the conversation. K-12 is even more essential because critical thinking, ethical reasoning and digital fluency must begin long before college.

After Bitcoin launched in 2009, it became clear to proponents that it would have a difficult time ever becoming “electronic cash.” It was too slow and decentralized. Instead, the consensus was reached that its purpose should fit its architecture. The pivot was important: Bitcoin aimed to be a decentralized store of value — a digital vault. It wasn’t built for speed, and as a store of value, it would never need to be fast.

Ten-minute block times were acceptable because they didn’t need to be used for daily payments, let alone real-time gaming or algorithmic trading. It wouldn’t have to compete with Visa or PayPal; it simply had to serve as a hedge against macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, like its gold and rare metal counterparts.

As such, its limited throughput was reframed as a feature rather than a flaw, a security trade-off that prioritized immutability and decentralization over instant convenience.

In many ways, Bitcoin became a philosophical statement about the trade-offs inherent in trustless systems, teaching the industry that decentralization has costs, but those costs define its unique value proposition.

Related: America Needs a Bitcoin Reserve — Here’s Why

The blockchain space has evolved far beyond its origins, and no other chain can attempt to recreate Bitcoin’s narrative. In 2025, Web3 is no longer about theoretical use cases. It is powering actual economies, which rely on fast finality and battle-tested security. Tokenized assets, payments apps, decentralized finance, consumer loyalty, identity, gaming and increasingly AI systems all rely on the same foundation: scalable, low-latency infrastructure.

These real-world applications demand performance that was inconceivable in the early days of cryptocurrency. The promise of decentralized technology can no longer exist solely as a concept; it must operate at the speed, scale and reliability that modern users have come to expect.

But that foundation is nowhere near where it needs to be. Today’s blockchains are asked to perform like global-scale platforms, even as most still struggle with 1990s-era throughput. That mismatch is the biggest threat to Web3’s future, the distance between what’s demanded of a decentralized blockchain and what these protocols can actually offer.

Most chains today still process fewer than 100 transactions per second. Legacy networks like Visa can handle tens of thousands without breaking a sweat. High-frequency trading platforms operate with microsecond latency. And yet we expect developers, enterprises and users to build and transact on infrastructure that’s slower than dial-up.

Related: Why Gold and Bitcoin Are the Go-To Safe Havens in 2025

The public will not wait for us to catch up. They are used to seamless, real-time experiences. Anything less feels broken. This is not a matter of optimization. It is a question of survival. If we do not build for performance, we will not be taken seriously. Web3 cannot survive on nostalgia or theoretical ideals alone; it needs infrastructure capable of handling the realities of billions of users, each expecting instant results, frictionless interaction and financial security at all times.

What Web3 needs now is a clean break from legacy limitations. The next generation of chains must be built for speed from day one. This includes advanced sequencing architectures that allow networks to prioritize and order transactions efficiently. It also includes parallelized execution, which enables blockchains to process thousands of transactions simultaneously, rather than one after another, in a single line. On top of that, developers need predictable fee structures that make sense at scale. Micropayments don’t work when fees are higher than the transaction itself. Without these foundational changes, innovation will remain bottlenecked and adoption will stall.

None of this is optional anymore; If we want blockchain technology to serve billions of users, we need infrastructure that performs like global financial rails. That means sub-second latency. It means tens of thousands of transactions per second. It means costs that make sense for everyday use.

Some of this is already underway. Several high-throughput chains are being tested right now, and a few are in production. Polygon PoS is expected to cross 5,000 transactions per second this year. Within the next twelve to eighteen months, 100,000 TPS is within reach. At that point, Web3 can begin to seriously challenge legacy platforms.

Plus, with the power of ZK technology, we can now have institution-grade blockchains that can provide 10s of thousands of TPS with full control and compliance available to the corresponding institution. Zero-knowledge proofs allow for privacy-preserving verification and regulatory compliance simultaneously, making it possible for institutions to leverage public blockchains without compromising security or governance requirements.

Related: I Studied 233 Millionaires — These Are the 6 Habits That Made Them Rich

But we can’t afford to celebrate incremental improvements. Speed is not just a technical achievement. It is what unlocks the real-world applications we have been promising for over a decade. Without it, we stay stuck in the prototype phase.

The next generation of the internet won’t wait for us. It will move forward with or without blockchains at its core. If Web3 wants to be part of that future, it must start building like it.

Now.

In today’s world, not every founder comes from a technical background, and that’s no longer a dealbreaker. With AI projected to grow 28.5% by the end of the decade, even specialists are racing to keep up with emerging innovations. In such a fast-moving environment, the expectation that any one person, founder or otherwise, will master every detail is both unrealistic and counterproductive.

The reality is this: You don’t need to code to build in tech, but you do need to translate. The ability to connect across disciplines has become the most important skill to develop — not just as someone building a company, but as someone leading one.

If my experience in the NBA has taught me anything, it’s that every good team is made up of strong translators: people who understand both the locker room and the boardroom, coaches who can speak to data analysts and players, and leaders who can turn strategy into execution. Unsurprisingly, this is exactly what tech startups need, too.

Related: Having No Experience Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Start a Business

Clarity beats jargon

When I started building Tracy AI, I quickly learned that trying to sound technical wasn’t helpful and actually slowed things down. Translating product decisions into clear, outcome-based language helped us move much faster. We didn’t always need to build models from scratch, but we did need to understand what those models were aiming for. That’s the real distinction between technical literacy and technical fluency: One is about credibility, but the other is about clarity. When everyone’s on the same page, people align, and products get better.

Having this approach enabled us to bring in outside subject-matter experts, test assumptions early and avoid costly missteps that often come from internal echo chambers. Regardless of whether your team is fluent in Python, the ability to communicate clearly across complexity is what ultimately drives the company’s momentum.

Hire smart

I once read a quote from David Ogilvy that stuck with me: “Hire people who are better than you are, and then leave them to get on with it.” In tech, that means surrounding yourself with brilliant engineers, designers and product minds, and focusing your own energy on alignment, direction and decision-making.

Building a company is about asking better questions, setting the right priorities and making sure your team is rowing in the same direction. That requires trust, communication and discipline, not technical depth. It also means knowing how to translate business needs into technical priorities, and vice versa.

When it comes down to it, a founder’s job is to build bridges. Between vision and execution. Between product and people. Between strategy and reality. The most valuable skill in business isn’t your ability to code; it’s your ability to connect. Not being afraid of connecting strong, self-motivated individuals in your business is not only a recipe for success — it’s just good business sense.

Related: How (Not Why) You Need to Start Hiring People Smarter Than Yourself

Letting go

Rapid-growth companies face a specific leadership challenge: knowing when to direct and when to step back. For founders, especially those without technical backgrounds, there’s a strong temptation to stay hands-on with every detail. According to a Harvard Business Review study, 58% of founders struggle to let go of control, often remaining stuck in what’s known as “founder mode,” even when the company is ready to scale.

Being stuck in founder mode can slow down progress, stifle creativity and burn out the very experts hired to build. The job of the founder is to hold the vision and define the “what” and “why,” while trusting the team to figure out the “how.” That means giving engineers autonomy to explore solutions and trusting their understanding of the mechanics.

At the same time, it’s important to stay connected to the people you’re building for. From my experience, I made sure to spend time with athletes, coaches and trainers — not just as a former player, but as a product owner committed to learning. That user feedback wasn’t just helpful; it became a compass for the tech. Just because we may need to let go of day-to-day, doesn’t mean we can’t get involved in other ways.

At a certain point in any startup’s life, there is a transition from idea to alignment. Engineers speak in sprints and system architecture. Investors speak in ROI and risk. Users speak in frustrations, workarounds and outcomes. As a founder, your job is to be the connector between all of them, bridging the gap between engineers, users and investors, often speaking three very different languages in the same meeting.

Related: Are You Running Your Business — or Is It Running You? How to Escape ‘Founder Mode’ and Learn to Let Go

That means being able to explain what users actually want to your developers, breaking down technical constraints in a way your investors can understand and communicating a vision clearly enough that everyone in the business can see where they fit in. This is what makes a product usable, turns a group of builders into a team and ultimately transforms a good idea into a lasting company.

Seeing someone’s handwriting increases perceptions of thoughtfulness, intelligence, and competence, according to a study published in the APA’s Journal of Consumer Psychology. If you want to boost these things as an entrepreneur, but also want to stay in the 21st century, a stylus can be a great compromise.

The Tinymoose Pencil Pro Plus works with your iPad and allows you to write precisely right on the tablet, and right now this handy tool is on sale for $29.99 (reg. $39.95).

Take notes, sketch ideas, and more with this stylus

Get back to the art of natural writing with the Tinymoose Pencil Pro Plus. It allows you to draw directly on any iPad Air, iPad Pro, or iPad mini released from 2018 to 2025, making it widely compatible and ready to help you get some work done.

The Pencil Pro Plus was designed with power users in mind, offering tilt sensitivity that allows for natural shading and varied stroke thickness, and palm rejection so you can rest your hand on the screen without accidentally making marks or ruining your creation. It also offers zero lag, so you can enjoy real-time response with pixel-perfect precision.

There’s a shortcut button for busy entrepreneurs — just press once to exit an app, twice to capture screenshots, and hold it down to power the pen on and off. It features Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to see the battery status easily. And speaking of battery — it lasts up to 10 hours on a single charge, so it’s ready to stick with you through the workday.

Its lightweight aluminum alloy body makes it comfortable to write with for long periods of time. It also includes a magnetic attachment that offers wireless charging and snaps securely to the side of your iPad so you can keep track of it at all times.

Get a Tinymoose Pencil Pro Plus for just $29.99 (reg. $39.95) now.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

In a little over three decades, Nadeem Bajwa went from being a college student struggling to pay the bills to the owner of a fast food empire, owning 270 Papa John’s locations in North America.

The 58-year-old told CNBC that he immigrated to the U.S. in 1991 from Pakistan. He attended a college in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and worked side hustles to make ends meet. One of his side jobs was delivering pizza for a local Papa John’s chain, making $4.25 an hour. His first summer in the U.S., he would wash dishes during breakfast time, deliver pizzas for Papa John’s in the afternoon, and then work at Taco Bell at night.

“I just started delivering for Papa John’s when they came in town, and from there, just started loving it, and tips were good, so that helped,” Bajwa told CNBC.

Related: Want to Start a Business? This Franchise Will Give You Up to $100,000 to Do It.

When Bajwa graduated from college in 1996, he had already worked his way up the ranks at Papa John’s, going from delivery driver to area manager. He submitted applications to corporate roles at other companies, but found that he couldn’t get a job that would pay more than what he was making at Papa John’s. He decided to stick with the pizza shop for that reason.

Bajwa’s experience running a Papa John’s store helped when he eventually decided to become a franchisee and open his own location. In 2002, he opened his own Papa John’s restaurant in East Liverpool, Ohio, saving money on startup expenses by doing most of the labor himself.

The store took $150,000 to build out and was an instant success, with more customers showing up than expected. However, the crew was undertrained and overwhelmed, and half of them walked out that first day alone.

“[At first] it was chaos,” Bajwa told CNBC. “I learned how important it is to be ready before [opening].”

Related: This Entrepreneur Turned a Weekend Side Hustle Into a Business That Doubled Margins — And Is on Track for $7 Million

That one restaurant led to another, then another. Bajwa’s goal now is to open 500 Papa John’s locations in the coming years.

Papa John’s, which was founded in 1985, has over 3,000 locations in the U.S. It usually takes an initial investment of at least $272,915 to get a Papa John’s restaurant off the ground.

The right domain is essential in 2025 and beyond. Brands need that perfect web address to establish credibility and attract traffic. In practice, domain brokerage firms act as intermediaries between buyers and sellers, often negotiating opaque fees that can increase the final costs.

Join me as I reveal the reality of domain brokers, highlighting common fees and negotiation strategies that help keep budgets under control. Fellow entrepreneurs will learn what questions to ask when hiring a broker, which hidden costs to watch for and how to challenge price tags. Ultimately, I’ll demonstrate how to prepare for acquiring high-value domains without overspending.

What is a domain brokerage?

Domain brokers serve as intermediaries in negotiating the purchase of premium web addresses. They utilize private marketplaces, proprietary networks and historical sales data to discover domains that might not show up on public auction sites.

• Brokers often provide expertise in valuing domain assets, advising on trademark risks and handling escrow services.
• Firms tend to charge a mix of retainer fees, flat rates or commissions on successful deals.

Brands relying on brokers expect quicker access to top-tier domains with professional negotiation, but they often face confusing bills with multiple line items. Entrepreneurs who understand what they’re signing up for avoid sticker shock at closing.

Related: 5 Unforgettable Lessons I Learned Spending $1 Million on a Domain Name

Typical fees found in domain brokerage deals

Most brokers quote a base commission but also add extra charges, such as appraisal fees, which can range from $200 to $1,000. Escrow services typically cost between $75 and $150 per transaction. Legal reviews of trademark and contract language often add a few hundred dollars at a minimum. Premium placement on listing sites involves either monthly or one-time marketing fees.

Be aware that some brokers inflate domain renewal fees or charge administrative fees for international transfers. Companies that don’t review fee schedules beforehand risk paying three times the domain’s market value after all charges are applied.

How hidden costs balloon your bill

An entrepreneur seeking a three-letter .com domain may plan to spend $10,000, including a 15% broker commission.

• This is where the broker finds the domain and negotiates a seller price of $9,000. A commission of $1,350 seems reasonable.
• Adding a $500 appraisal fee, $100 escrow fee, $300 legal review charge and a $1,000 premium listing fee increases the total to $11,950.
• Domain renewal costs of $200 and transfer fees of $150 push the total closer to $12,300.

In the end, unexpected fees turn a $10,000 budget into a $12,300 expense.

Vetting brokers without overspending

Brands should request potential brokers to provide a detailed fee schedule that outlines both upfront and contingent charges. Essential questions to ask include whether appraisals or escrow services are included in the commission, what happens if the deal falls through and who is responsible for legal costs.

Successful brokers share case studies, transparent pricing and sample invoices. Brands can compare flat-fee firms with percentage-based brokers. Flat-fee brokers typically charge between $2,500 and $5,000 regardless of domain price, making them appealing for high-value domain targets. Percentage-based brokers are generally better suited for budget-conscious acquisitions, where commissions remain reasonable and affordable.

What to look for in a domain name broker for businesses

Track record matters. Brands should seek brokers with proven experience in securing domains within their industry niche and review broker performance portfolios. Positive client testimonials and case studies demonstrate success rates and average savings.

Having strong escrow partnerships ensures secure funds transfer. Expert negotiators know how to approach domain owners without spooking them into holding out for inflated offers. Transparent communication frameworks keep brands informed throughout every step.

Related: A Great Domain Name Can Add Millions to Your Business — Here’s How to Get One (Even If It’s Already Taken)

Negotiation tactics that cut costs

Arming yourself with market comparables and past sale prices levels the playing field. Brokers should provide historical sales data demonstrating that similar domains have sold for lower prices. Silent offers submitted without disclosing maximum budgets prevent anchoring at high figures.

Creative deal structures, such as deferred payment agreements or equity components, incentivize sellers to accept fairer terms. Knowing when to walk away helps prevent price wars from spiraling out of control. A well-timed pause in negotiations can encourage sellers to accept reasonable offers instead of losing the deal.

When to walk away from overpriced domains

Red flags include sellers who demand all-cash upfront, substantial price hikes during the escrow period or refusal to share domain history records. Brokers should set clear acceptable price ranges and focus on domains that match value expectations.

If a broker encourages brands to exceed their budget, it signals potential misalignment. Walking away from a domain now prevents draining funds and allows redirecting resources to other options.

Persistence pays off, especially if brokers scout multiple candidates instead of fixating on a single prized address.

Balancing time versus money

DIY methods require substantial effort in researching WHOIS records, monitoring expiry dates and drafting outreach emails. Hybrid models cut down time commitments to negotiation stages only.

The good news is that full-service brokers completely relieve brands of administrative tasks, but they often charge high fees. Brands comparing options should evaluate the value of internal hours against broker costs to find the optimal balance.

Best practices for smooth domain transfers

Once a price point is agreed upon, escrow holds the funds until the ownership transfer is completed successfully. Brokers should coordinate with registrars to update WHOIS records and verify the domain status.

Brands need to confirm transfer lock statuses and obtain authorization codes. Multi-step verification ensures trademarks transfer smoothly without legal issues. A seamless transfer prevents downtime and maintains SEO authority.

Auditing current domain acquisition strategies

Brands already using brokers should review past invoices by comparing estimated fees with actual charges. Analyzing negotiation results helps identify broker performance trends and possible overcharges.

Regular audits can uncover hidden recurring fees, allowing for renegotiation of fee structures or broker replacement. Consistent reviews help keep costs under control over time.

Owning your domain purchases with smart strategies

Understanding how this process and the associated fees work can help you reduce costs. Negotiate costs upfront, walk away if prices skyrocket and combine DIY tools with broker support to secure domains at fair rates.

Audit your current approach, match acquisition methods to your resources and demand transparent pricing from any broker you hire. Balance time versus money, explore hybrid options and conduct a fee audit before you buy.

This way, you can secure a great domain name for your business that feels predictable, affordable, and perfectly aligned with your brand goals.

If you’re working with artificial inteligence (AI) to streamline workflows, improve outputs, or test prompts at scale, ChatPlayground AI offers a focused solution: compare responses from 40+ AI models in a single view, without hopping between platforms. This lifetime subscription to the Unlimited Plan for $89.99 is great for users who need a reliable, centralized interface to optimize daily output and maximize the quality of generative AI results.

Whether you’re a founder fine-tuning marketing copy, a developer experimenting with code generation, or a researcher looking to test variations in tone or logic, ChatPlayground gives you a unified workspace to view and analyze side-by-side responses from leading AI models — including GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet 4, Gemini 1.5 Flash, DeepSeek V3, Llama, Perplexity, and more.

This isn’t just about comparisons. The platform also includes powerful tools to help you iterate and implement: prompt engineering, AI image generation, file upload and chat for images and PDFs, and saved chat histories for future reference. The Chrome extension enables AI access directly from your browser.

The Unlimited Plan includes unrestricted monthly messages, making it ideal for heavy users running frequent queries or managing team workflows. You’ll also get priority support, early access to new features, and compatibility across any major desktop browser — no OS limits or device caps.

Built for scale and speed, ChatPlayground AI is a practical investment for entrepreneurs, marketers, analysts, and creators who want to make better use of generative AI — without wasting time jumping between tools or guessing which model will perform best.

For a limited time, take advantage of this deal on a lifetime subscription to ChatPlayground AI on sale for $89.99 (MSRP $619).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

When world champions and proven leaders unite, investors pay attention.

As the former President of Topgolf, Troy Warfield helped transform golf from an exclusive pastime into a global entertainment empire worth billions. That’s why there’s arguably no better CEO to help Surf Lakes bring surfing to the 99% with their patented 360° wave technology.

Since most people don’t live near a beach, surf parks are a $65B market opportunity on the rise. And Surf Lakes is positioning itself as a global leader in the space. World surfing champions Tom Curren and Mark “Occy” Occhilupo are even joining as shareholders and ambassadors.

But the real opportunity is not just in the parks. Here’s how Surf Lakes is redefining the sport, and how you can share in their potential growth.

Millions of people want to surf, but 99% aren’t near a beach

Despite having an estimated 25 million to 35 million participants worldwide, surfing is still mostly limited to the coasts. Less than 1% of the global population lives near surfable waves. For everyone else, the ocean might as well be off-limits.

Surf Lakes solves that problem. Their tech produces 2,000 ocean-quality rides per hour across five skill levels, from beginners catching their first roller to pros training in barreling waves. The tech opens a huge opportunity in the surf park market.

Surfing is growing in popularity as we speak. The sport is now a permanent Olympic event, with 47 million viewers tuning in to the Paris 2024 competition in Brazil alone. Surf parks nearly doubled worldwide in 2024, as developers scramble to meet surging demand.

For perspective:

• 6,000+ ski resorts exist worldwide
• 38,000+ golf courses are operating
• 410M+ in global theme park attendance

Surf Lakes believes that the number of surf parks worldwide will reach the hundreds very quickly.

Multiple ways to profit from surfing

The Surf Lakes model isn’t just about ticket sales. Their wave tech opens the door to licensing fees and royalties from global partners, memberships and day passes for recurring revenue, competitions, training programs, food, beverage, retail, and more.

Each new park creates multiple, scalable income streams, just like Topgolf did with memberships, events, and hospitality.

Surf Lakes has already sold nine tech licenses across the U.S. and Australia. Their first full-scale commercial park is in the works. With industry legends and proven leadership behind them, they’re positioned as the technology provider of choice in a market just hitting critical mass.

Here’s how investors can be a part of it.

Get in at the start of Surf Lakes’ next chapter

For investors, Surf Lakes represents a unique chance to get in ahead of what could be the next global entertainment boom. With patented technology, their first park in the works, and licensing traction accelerating, this company has the potential to dominate.

That’s why surfing legends and proven business leaders are coming aboard. A-list celebrities are even chiming in—Chris Hemsworth, Hollywood actor and avid surfer, called Surf Lakes an “incredibly surreal experience.”

The brand is already global. This is an opportunity for investors to join at a pivotal moment before their expansion. Learn more and invest in Surf Lakes by 9/12 to get up to 15% bonus shares.

This is a paid advertisement for Surf Lakes’ Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.surflakes.com