Your #1 guide to start a business and grow it the right way…
InSmartBudget
Search
Leadership
Zoom’s Return-To-Office Could Doom The Company
Exceptional leaders often excel as skilled storytellers, and for good reason. Once a company hits a certain level of organizational complexity, one of the most important tasks the CEO has is to craft intellectually coherent and captivating narratives about the firm, its purpose, and its performance. Failure in this task means undermining the very existence of the company; a sin…
Wake up with our popular morning roundup of the day's top military and defense stories
Stay Updated
Get the latest headlines, discounts for the military community, and guides to maximizing your benefits
More Stories
Why More Companies Are Choosing to Stay Private
The evolution of the private marketplace is one of the most significant developments to shape the capital markets in decades.Just consider the statistics. In the late 1990s, there were more than 8,000 publicly listed companies in the United States. By 2008, there were fewer than 5,000. As of 2023, there…
5 Benefits of Scaling Your Startup With Offshore Employees
I've built companies like SetSchedule and Rentastic across proptech, fintech, AI and insurance. I've sold businesses that generated billions in financial products and tens of millions in recurring revenue. I've hired wrong, I've hired right. I've scaled too fast, and I've scaled smart. And I'll tell you this from firsthand…
Why Focusing Only on Profit Is Holding Your Business Back
You need focus to build a business, but my experience has taught me that there's also such a thing as being too single-minded.Financial, environmental and community goals aren't competing objectives; they're interconnected. This is why founders who chase revenue at the expense of value for their customers or broader social…
Her Business Helps Women Earn in a $6.3B Industry: ‘Rewarding’
Moniqueca Sims, owner of SSG Appliance Academy, got her first glimpse into the appliance repair industry while dating a man who worked in the space. "He worked all the time, seven days a week," Sims recalls, "so I used to go out with him just to spend time with him.…
How I Built a Business That Thrives Through Constant Disruption — and How You Can Too
Over the last 10 years, investing in and leading companies, I've wrestled with one big question: How do you build something that lasts in a world that changes faster every day?If you're an entrepreneur, you've probably felt it too. There's always a new AI tool, a new social platform or…
I’ve Scaled Premium Brands Before — Here’s How to Grow Without Compromising Quality
Bigger isn't always better. When scaling a service business, don't make the mistake of focusing on growth for growth's sake, overlooking the personalization, efficiency and trust that today's consumers are looking for — especially in healthcare, wellness and hospitality.Quality isn't the only thing that relentless expansion could cost your business:…
What a Stuffed Giraffe Can Teach You About Scaling Service
A stuffed giraffe named Joshie broke the internet — and taught a masterclass in client service.When a three-year-old boy left his beloved stuffed giraffe, Joshie, behind at a Ritz-Carlton in Florida, the hotel could've done what any service-oriented company might: return the toy.Instead, they gave Joshie a vacation of his…
The Overlooked Leadership Trait That’s Driving Big Results
Despite all the talk about strategy, innovation and growth, one of the most undervalued assets in modern leadership is something deceptively simple: presence.Not stage presence. Not personal branding. But the steady, intentional presence of a leader who knows how to show up. Especially when it's inconvenient, uncomfortable or uncertain. In…
How to Know What Your Boss Really Thinks About You
Exactly 25 years ago, the movie What Women Want starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt was released. After being electrocuted by a hairdryer in his bathtub, Gibson's character suddenly possesses an exceptionally bizarre talent: He can literally hear the private and unedited thoughts of every woman he encounters. Gibson uses…
Quiet Firing: How to Know If You Are Being Quietly Fired
A passive-aggressive form of management is making headlines: quiet firing, the practice where bosses make working conditions so unpleasant for an unwanted employee that the person leaves on their own accord.It's not a new maneuver, but it does seem to be growing in popularity. In a 2025 HRTech survey of…
Most Popular
Creative Ways Startups Can Earn Funding in Tough Economic Times
In a declining economy, startups face an uphill battle when it comes to securing funding.…
I Asked AI to Create a Plan for a Fake Company — The Results Blew Me Away, But Not in the Way You Might Think
With all of the recent news about artificial intelligence (AI), it got me thinking about…
Ideas To Transform You From Good To Better To Best
A while back, I took a couple of my grandchildren on a tour of the…
5 Crucial Challenges Startups Must Overcome
Startups face numerous challenges on their journey to success, and failing to overcome any one…