Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Your CTA is the reveal, not the pitch — if you have not earned trust and built curiosity before you ask, even the strongest offer lands flat. Every piece of communication should pass three tests before it goes out: does the opening show you understand the audience’s world, does the middle make them curious rather than just informed, and does the ask feel like a natural progression instead of a leap? I spent 25 years performing magic on stages of every size. Every show, my job was to walk in…
Author: Staff Writer
Student loan defaults have surged to 9.2 million borrowers, representing roughly one in every five people with student debt. What is astonishing is the speed of the deterioration. There were approximately 6 million borrowers in default last August. That figure jumped to 7.7 million by December. By April it had reached 9.2 million. Another 3 million borrowers are reportedly at least 90 days delinquent and appear headed in the same direction. The government suspended reality for years through payment pauses, forbearance programs, and emergency measures that temporarily masked the problem. Now collections have resumed. Wage garnishment is returning and borrowers…
Key Takeaways Henry co-founded Stord when he was an 18-year-old college student at Georgia Tech. He dropped out at 19 to focus on the company, which hit a $3 billion valuation earlier this year. Stord delivered to nearly 20% of U.S. households in 2025 alone and is on track for $1 billion in annual revenue. This first-person, as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sean Henry, CEO and co-founder of Stord, a commerce enablement platform providing independent brands with the operational intelligence they need to compete with Amazon. Henry started Stord with co-founder and CTO Jacob Boudreau in 2015…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways The gap between a $300,000 exit and a $900,000 exit isn’t how good your business is — it’s whether you’ve built the asset buyers actually pay for. Stop optimizing for taxes and start optimizing for clean books: the pennies you save in April cost you millions at exit. Many entrepreneurs see building a company and eventually selling it as the ultimate achievement. My first exit happened by accident, and I didn’t even know I’d had one. I was 19, mowing lawns because I’d bought a mower, and walking to jobs…
Key Takeaways Abhi Thanendran is the cofounder and CEO of Tilt, a live commerce platform. On Tilt, shoppers log into a stream of live auctions and flash sales hosted by sellers. Thanendran says that what unites successful sellers is not audience size but attitude — they are all extremely “hard workers.” Tilt cofounder and CEO Abhi Thanendran likes to point out that none of the 13 people who did $1 million in sales on his live commerce platform last year were influencers — and that is exactly the point. Thanendran created Tilt for people willing to start from nothing, learn…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Personalization requires data, so track and organize your contacts. Personalization starts with meeting prospects where they are. Simplify your personalization process using automation technology. It’s 6 p.m. on a Tuesday, and you just got home. Toto, your dog, jumps up to greet you, and you think, “Wow, Toto needs a bath and a trim.” But then you’re on to the next thing, because dinner needs prepping, your kids are coming at you with weekend plans already, and — as we all know — life is busy. Two days later, a…
Key Takeaways Major brands like Target and American Eagle are increasingly tapping everyday social media users with as few as 500 followers to create branded content. These programs are often gamified, offering tiers, challenges and small rewards such as gift cards, discounts and free products instead of substantial cash payments. Emarketer forecasts that social media spending on influencers with small followings will surge this year. The bar for getting a brand deal has never been lower as major brands court content creators with small audiences. According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, over the past year, major…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Live streaming is one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience and build a real, lasting connection — and therefore a loyal customer or viewer. Ever since I started going live on YouTube, I’ve built relationships with entrepreneurs around the world, connected with amazing clients and created opportunities that simply wouldn’t have existed otherwise. As a business owner, I’ve spent years helping entrepreneurs, brands and professionals increase their online visibility. Recently, one of the most effective tools I’ve added to my strategy has been going live on…
ASIA: The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: • NIKKEI 225 decreased 2,566.27 points or -3.95% to 62,364.92 • Shanghai decreased 44.93 points or -1.16% to 3,813.315 • Hang Seng increased 103.67 points or 0.41% to 25,310.85 • ASX 200 increased 53.80 points or 0.60% to 8,947.80 • SENSEX decreased 69.86 points or -0.09% to 76,765.92 • Nifty50 decreased 10.60 points or -0.04% to 23,985.35 The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today: • AUDUSD decreased 0.00088 or -0.13% to 0.69818 • NZDUSD increased 0.00201 or 0.35% to 0.57931 • USDJPY decreased 0.016 or -0.01%…
You might want to refill your coffee mug before you dive in here. While coffee consumption has long been linked to improved liver health, a team of researchers has uncovered new biological evidence that explains why it can lower your risk of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver-related death. According to the study, published earlier this month in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, a team of researchers at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University concluded that “higher coffee intake” was associated with favorable indicators of liver health. The team of researchers zeroed in people who drank five or more cups of coffee…