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Most entrepreneurs think they’re using AI the right way — asking ChatGPT for catchy headlines, content ideas or maybe even a basic funnel outline.

But here’s the truth: That surface-level use? It’s holding you back.

What if you could train ChatGPT to think like a $100,000 business strategist — and audit your business like a pro? This video reveals the real reason your content isn’t converting, your email campaigns are underperforming, and your revenue is plateauing — even though you’re working harder than ever.

You’ll discover:

• The one prompt that turned ChatGPT into a full-time business advisor — helping triple revenue in just 30 days.
• A setup that transforms AI into a decision-making machine — not a glorified assistant.
• The exact system that uncovers what’s actually working (and what’s quietly sabotaging your growth).

If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing all the right things and still falling behind, this video might just be the turning point.

Watch now — before you waste another month stuck in the cycle of overthinking, overwhelm, and underperformance.

The AI Success Kit is available to download for free, along with a chapter from my new book, The Wolf is at The Door.

Many ask me, “Why focus your business growth on referrals?” My answer is simple: referrals are the fastest and most effective way to bring the right people on board while minimizing risk.

In the rush to hire quickly or cut costs, companies often bypass referrals in favor of cold applications or mass job boards. While casting a wide net might seem efficient, it actually exposes your business to significant risks. This approach can create dangerous blind spots that put your company’s most valuable assets — security, data and intellectual property — at risk.

Referrals are more than convenience — they’re a critical layer of security

Building and nurturing professional networks isn’t just good career advice; it’s essential for business security. When someone refers a candidate, they’re putting their own reputation on the line. This inherent accountability acts as a first line of defense. In contrast, applicants from job boards or open applications often come without shared connections or any built-in accountability. That increases risks ranging from candidates misrepresenting themselves to malicious insiders or even competitors planting infiltrators.

Related: 5 Surprising Benefits of Professional Networking That You Need to Know About

Insider threats are a real and costly danger

Studies show that insider threats account for over 34% of data breaches. These threats aren’t always malicious — many stem from negligent hires unfamiliar with security protocols. Cold hires are harder to vet thoroughly. Referrals, however, come with firsthand insights into a candidate’s professionalism and ethical standards. This added context can be the difference between a secure organization and one vulnerable to expensive intellectual property theft, data leaks or reputational damage.

How to maximize referrals in your hiring strategy:

1. Nurture your professional network: Build genuine relationships by engaging with others and understanding their experiences. Benefit: Trusted connections lead to higher-quality referrals with built-in credibility.

2. Set clear hiring goals: Define the culture and skills you want in your team to ensure referral candidates align well. Benefit: Referrals come with insights into character and fit, backed by trusted networks.

3. Maintain regular, thoughtful communication: Connect consistently — not just when you need something. Benefit: Active relationships keep your network engaged and ready to support mutual referrals.

4. Leverage online platforms that facilitate referrals: Use tools designed to streamline referral-based hiring and expand your reach. Benefit: Discover more qualified candidates through trusted, structured referral channels.

Related: How to Lower the Risks to Your Brand Reputation (and Build an Image that Wins New Business)

A smarter, safer hiring strategy

In today’s high-risk business environment, hiring through referrals is more than a cultural advantage — it’s a vital security strategy. Building your team through trusted networks adds accountability and trust that anonymous hires simply can’t provide. This approach protects your company’s brand, reputation and long-term growth.

If you want to grow securely, safeguard your intellectual property, and minimize avoidable risks, centering your hiring strategy on trusted referrals isn’t just smart — it’s necessary.

Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.

Venus Williams, 45, hadn’t played professional tennis in a year and a half. But she played in the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C. this week, and for a surprising reason.

“I had to come back for the insurance,” Williams said after winning the first round. (She lost in the second round on Thursday.)

Related: Serena Williams Launches a New Company That She’s Been Working on for 6 Years

“They informed me this year that I’m on COBRA, so it’s like, I got to get my benefits on,” Williams added.

The crowd laughed, but Williams appeared to be serious.

Venus Williams after becoming the oldest WTA match winner since 2004:

“I had to come back for the insurance, because they informed me this year that I’m on cobra. So it’s like, I got to get my benefits on” ????

pic.twitter.com/Npu7d6c5Wt

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 23, 2025

“I’m always at the doctor, so I need this insurance,” she said.

Williams has been open about her struggle with uterine fibroids, telling NBC News Now earlier this month that the condition has affected her for 30 years.

MarketWatch reports that Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) players are offered insurance plans that provide global coverage for the tour’s extensive travel requirements, but athletes need to meet certain requirements to qualify.

“Player members that are eligible for such access to health insurance must be inside the rankings of 500 in singles or 175 in doubles and have played a minimum of three WTA 250-level and above events, including Grand Slams, in the last year,” a WTA spokesperson told MarketWatch.

Related: Alexis Ohanian Says This Is His Best Investment So Far: $10,000 Turned Into More Than $17 Million

This means we could see Williams on the professional court again soon. It’s also raised many questions and comments, especially on Reddit, which was co-founded by Venus’s brother-in-law, Alexis Ohanian, about the price of health care in the U.S.

According to ESPN, Williams made more than $42 million playing professional tennis, during which she won 49 singles titles, including five Wimbledon and two U.S. Open Championships. Williams also won four Olympic gold medals.

^{Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.}

Your iPhone screen will look a lot different after Apple releases its new iOS 26 update this fall.

That’s why the tech giant is giving customers a preview of its new operating system, iOS 26, which will be the biggest change to the iPhone’s user interface design since 2013.

Related: Apple’s Next Big Launch Is Reportedly Foldable iPhones. Here’s When It Will Be Revealed.

The redesign, called “Liquid Glass,” changes the look of the iPhone, replacing the buttons and user experience with translucent designs and more animated features. The concept lets the user see under the buttons while using them.

Expressive. Delightful. But still instantly familiar.

Introducing our new software design with Liquid Glass. pic.twitter.com/8hA0q2aCTf

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 9, 2025

But the update isn’t fully ready to go. Apple wants public feedback on the design changes and user experience before the update is fully released.

How to try Apple’s new iOS 26

The public beta version was made available for preview on Thursday.

To begin, iPhone users sign up for Apple’s beta program on the company’s website.

Then open your iPhone and go to the Settings menu. Select General and look for Software Updates. There should now be an option for Beta Updates below it.

Select iOS 26 Beta and download.

Related: Apple Is Finally Offering AppleCare Coverage for Multiple Devices on One Plan. Here’s How It Works.

The largest trial ever conducted of a four-day workweek found that the schedule had a positive and noticeable impact on employee well-being.

The global study was published on Monday in the journal Nature Human Behaviour and led by Boston College researchers Wen Fan and Juliet Schor. The researchers found that four-day workweeks, where employees work 32 hours a week instead of the traditional 40 hours with no reduction in pay, markedly improved employee health. Workers reported feeling happier, healthier, and higher-performing.

Related: This Country Just Implemented a 6-Day Workweek for Employees

For example, nearly 70% of employees reported less burnout, over 40% said their mental health improved, and 38% experienced better sleep.

“Beyond maintaining productivity, people just feel so much better,” Schor told CNBC about the study findings on Thursday. “They feel on top of their work and their life, and they’re not stressed out.”

The researchers followed 2,896 employees on a four-day workweek for six months, spanning 141 companies in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. A control group of 300 employees on a standard five-day workweek was used to compare.

Two weeks before the four-day workweek began, employees were asked questions like, “How would you rate your mental health?” and then they were asked again after six months on a four-day workweek schedule. The control group was asked the same questions in the same timeframe, but without starting a shorter workweek.

Fan, an associate professor of sociology at Boston College, was initially worried that worker well-being would “worsen” because employees would feel pressure to be more productive on a schedule with a reduced number of days. But the findings showed that worker stress levels fell. After six months, employees working four days a week instead of five reported an improved ability to complete their work and decreased fatigue. The control group, meanwhile, did not report any significant changes.

“The results indicate that income-preserving four-day workweeks are an effective organizational intervention for enhancing workers’ well-being,” the researchers wrote in the study.

Related: ‘Love It!’: A Town in Connecticut Is Experimenting with a 4-Day Workweek — and It Seems to Be Working

Companies are opting to stick to the four-day workweek once they try it. The researchers stated that over 90% of the companies in the experiment kept the four-day work week after the six-month trial period.

Schor wrote in The Wall Street Journal last month that on the employer side, organizations that piloted a four-day workweek found it noticeably improved their bottom line, with revenue increasing and resignations decreasing.

Related: Kevin O’Leary Thinks a Four-Day Workweek Is the ‘Stupidest Idea’ He’s Ever Heard

Over 245 global businesses and nonprofit organizations have trialed a four-day workweek over the past three years, reaching 8,700 employees around the world, Schor noted.

One major company that utilizes a four-day workweek is crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, which started its shortened workweek as a pilot program in 2021. Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor told investor Kevin O’Leary last year that employees are “very productive’ within the four-day week structure.

“I love the fact that the people at our company have [other] interests,” Taylor said.

^{Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.}

Gen Z is obsessed with eating more protein (at least on TikTok), and now brands from Pepsi to Starbucks are adding it to foods and changing packaging to cash in on the trend. Some are even adding a whole new product.

David Protein, which sells a line of popular high-protein snack bars (and claims it has more protein per calorie than any bar on the market), now sells something with even more protein — cod.

Related: Starbucks Is Looking to Remove Seed Oils From Some of Its Food Products

After hearing feedback from customers who were trying to avoid processed foods, David Protein CEO and co-founder Peter Rahal told the Wall Street Journal that the company was looking to do “something bold that sparks the conversation” while finding a new product.

Rahal, who previously founded Rxbar, which sold to Kellogg for $600 million, said they found it with cod. The 6-ounce frozen fillets have 23 grams of protein.

David Protein’s wild-caught Pacific cod is sourced from a sustainable fishing company, according to the company. It sells in a four-pack for $55 online and is marketed as having “slightly more protein per calorie than a David bar.” The fillets need to be boiled before consuming.

Keagan Tigges, chief of staff at David, told National Fisherman that the price “reflects direct, traceable sourcing and peak freshness.”

Related: Coca-Cola Is Releasing Coke Made with Cane Sugar. Here’s When It’s Expected in Stores.

“Most of our customers are in the continental U.S., where high-quality cod is harder to find and often more expensive and expensive to ship from Alaska,” Tigges said. “This is a premium, ultra-lean protein source for people serious about building muscle and reducing fat.”

How much protein you actually need depends on your weight and lifestyle factors, according to the Mayo Clinic.

On average, protein should account for 10% to 35% of your calories. If taking in 2,000 calories a day, it averages to around 200 to 700 calories from protein, or approximately 50 to 175 grams.

^{Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.}

Despite Microsoft’s position as the No. 2 most valuable company in the world, behind Nvidia, with a market value of $3.8 trillion, the tech giant has laid off more than 15,000 people this year.

In a memo to staff on Thursday morning, released publicly on Microsoft’s corporate blog, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed the recent job cuts, calling the decisions some of “the most difficult” that he had to make.

“Before anything else, I want to speak to what’s been weighing heavily on me, and what I know many of you are thinking about: the recent job eliminations,” Nadella wrote.

Related: Microsoft Is Laying Off More Workers as AI Continues to Trim Workforces

Nadella acknowledged “the uncertainty and seeming incongruence of the times we’re in” but noted that Microsoft is “thriving,” with exceptional market performance, strategy, and growth. For example, Microsoft’s stock price rose to an all-time high, hitting a closing price above $500 for the first time earlier this month.

Nadella also stated that the company is investing more in AI infrastructure than ever before, pouring over $80 billion into AI in the fiscal year that ended in June.

“Microsoft is being recognized and rewarded at levels never seen before,” Nadella wrote. “And yet, at the same time, we’ve undergone layoffs. This is the enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value.”

Nadella explained the disconnect between thriving financials and layoffs by stating that “progress isn’t linear” and that it is “sometimes dissonant, and always demanding.” He noted that headcount at Microsoft “is relatively unchanged” as the company continues to hire new workers, and he doesn’t promise that there won’t be more layoffs in the future. Microsoft reported employing 228,000 workers as of June 2024.

^{Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photographer: Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg via Getty Images}

In the memo, Nadella also redefined Microsoft’s mission from a “software factory” to an “intelligence engine.” He said that the company’s future opportunity was to bring AI to all eight billion people on the planet.

Related: Microsoft Executive Says Using AI Has Saved $500 Million in Productivity Costs, as the Company Conducts Mass Layoffs

Meanwhile, Microsoft has made huge profits recently, with its net income equaling about $75 billion across its last three fiscal quarters. For the first three months of 2025, the company’s profit rose to $25.8 billion, up 18% from the previous year, beating Wall Street expectations.

Microsoft stock is up 22% year-to-date.

^{Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.}

At Abercrombie & Fitch and Starbucks, CEOs made over 6,000 times more than what the median worker earned last year.

According to the AFL-CIO’s annual Executive Paywatch report, released Wednesday, Abercrombie & Fitch and Starbucks were the two companies with the highest pay differences between CEOs and median workers in 2024. The report was based on filings the companies submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Related: ‘We’re Not Effective’: Starbucks CEO Tells Corporate Employees to ‘Own Whether or Not This Place Grows’

Abercrombie & Fitch topped the list, with the median worker making $2,531 in 2024. That was 6,731 times less than the $17 million compensation received by the company’s CEO, Fran Horowitz, 61, that year. Meanwhile, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, 50, earned $95.8 million in 2024, or 6,666 times more than the median worker, who made $14,674 that same year.

^{Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Fran Horowitz. Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images}

Both companies employ thousands of hourly employees, which is the reason for the wide pay gap. Abercrombie employs approximately 32,600 hourly workers out of 39,200 associates globally, with hourly workers making anywhere from minimum wage to $37.47 per hour. Starbucks employs 400,000 global employees, the majority of whom are hourly workers making an average of $19 per hour.

These pay differences are outside the norm, especially when including companies that don’t have hourly workers. The report noted that for S&P 500 companies, the average CEO made 285 times more than the median worker in 2024.

Overall, the highest-paid CEO last year was Brad Jacobs, the founder and CEO of roofing company QXO, who received over $189 million in compensation. Peter Gassner of software company Veeva Systems and Patrick Smith of technology and weapons company Axon Enterprise followed on the highest-paid list, with compensation of over $172 million and $164 million, respectively.

^{Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images}

Do CEO pay ratios matter?

The report claims that high CEO-to-worker pay ratios, which indicate a greater income gap, can “undermine employee morale and productivity.” The Madison Trust Company, an investment firm with $5.5 billion in assets, agrees with this assessment, pointing out that high pay ratios can lead to a “demoralized workforce” and raise questions about “fairness, equity, and corporate oversight.”

Related: ‘Feels Like a Slap in the Face’: Some JPMorgan Employees Reportedly Aren’t Happy With Their Bonuses

The Executive Paywatch report found that the average CEO also received a $1.24 million raise last year, a 7% increase from 2023, for an average total compensation of $18.9 million. Meanwhile, the median U.S. worker received a 3% raise from 2023 to 2024, with earnings reaching $49,500 in 2024.

Overall, CEOs are compensated better than ever. Across the past decade, average CEO pay among S&P 500 companies has increased by $6.5 million.

^{Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.}

For decades, companies have concentrated their resources on full-time employees. But that model is overdue for an update. New data shows that part-time workers and independent contractors aren’t just filling gaps — they’re fueling growth, boosting productivity and helping businesses adapt faster than traditional employment structures allow.

In a recent study conducted by my company FORE, we analyzed workforce performance at an IT firm and uncovered a surprising truth: part-time and contingent workers consistently outperformed full-time staff across key metrics — including revenue per head and speed of delivery. In fact, losing one of these high-performing contractors often costs more than replacing a full-time hire. In today’s economy, where agility is critical, flexible talent might be your most underappreciated asset.

Related: Ask the Right First Question When You Hire Part-Time Employees

Why part-time talent delivers more

Part-time workers operate like precision tools. They bring ready-made expertise, deliver clear outcomes quickly and integrate without disrupting the broader team. When speed matters, waiting weeks to hire or upskill full-timers isn’t viable — but part-time specialists can start contributing immediately.

They also bring a fresh perspective. Many part-time professionals work across industries and companies, which sharpens their creativity and ability to challenge assumptions. Without being entrenched in company politics or legacy systems, they often identify smarter ways of working.

Their efficiency is another edge. With fewer meetings and less bureaucracy, part-time contributors tend to stay focused, outcome-driven and error-resistant. At FORE, we’ve seen this concentrated approach consistently lead to faster execution and lower costs.

And when you’re scaling — launching a new initiative, entering a market or testing a product, contingent talent offers flexibility. You can scale up or down without long-term overhead, giving your company agility in unpredictable markets.

Financially, their value holds. While hourly rates may seem higher, the savings on benefits, bonuses and infrastructure typically make up for it. What you gain in precision and speed often outweighs the upfront investment.

Loyalty is a two-way street

Just because someone isn’t a full-time employee doesn’t mean they should be treated as expendable. The companies that get the most from part-time workers are the ones that invest in them.

Treat them like part of the team — include them in key meetings, recognize their contributions and offer access to relevant tools. When they feel valued, they’re more likely to return and deliver at a high level.

Building a bench of trusted freelancers also pays off. A go-to roster saves ramp-up time and allows you to leverage their growing familiarity with your systems and culture.

And don’t overlook compensation. Independent workers face greater financial risks and fewer protections. Paying fair and timely rates shows respect, and keeps your projects top of mind.

Most importantly, ask what they want. More hours? More autonomy? A path to full-time work? Don’t assume. Ask, listen and adapt when you can.

Use data to drive better decisions

Smarter workforce strategies start with data. AI and analytics can help pinpoint exactly where flexible talent will have the greatest impact — from clearing recurring bottlenecks to bridging skills gaps or filling roles with high churn.

Look for patterns: Are hybrid part-time workers more engaged? Are certain conditions triggering burnout? These insights not only help manage contractors more effectively but can also improve full-time retention and productivity.

Related: Hiring This Type of Employee Can Protect Your Business From a Volatile Market

Rethink what “workforce” means

Part-time workers aren’t just stopgaps — they’re a strategic, scalable layer of your workforce. In a business landscape shaped by speed, specialization and constant change, they offer adaptability that full-time models often can’t match.

Companies that embrace flexible talent can build more agile teams, foster resilient cultures and set themselves up for long-term success. Because when you invest in people — regardless of contract type — you’re investing in the future of your business.

Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.