He Ran OpenAI for Two Days. Now He's Betting the Industry's Whole Approach to AI Is Wrong.
Emmett Shear spent two days as OpenAI's interim CEO during the Sam Altman crisis. In 2025 he founded Softmax to build AI alignment a different way entirely.
1043 stories
Future Sharks
She Quit as Bumble's CEO in 2024. She Came Back in 2025 to Cut 30% of the Company.
Whitney Wolfe Herd stepped down as Bumble's CEO in 2024. She returned in 2025, cut a third of the company, and is now retiring the swipe itself.
23andMe Went Bankrupt. Its Founder Bought It Back for $305 Million.
23andMe fell from a $6 billion market cap to Chapter 11. Anne Wojcicki won it back at a bankruptcy auction for $305 million through a nonprofit she formed.
Adobe's $20 Billion Bid for Figma Collapsed. Dylan Field's IPO Made It Worth $68 Billion.
Regulators killed Adobe's $20B bid for Figma in 2023. Nineteen months later, Dylan Field's IPO valued the company at $68 billion.
The Founder-Led Sales Playbook: How to Sell Before You Hire a Rep
Founder-led sales isn't a phase to rush through — it's how you learn what customers actually pay for. How to run it deliberately and know when to hand it off.
5 Best Franchise Books for First-Time Buyers (2026)
Five franchise books for first-time buyers, covering whether franchising fits you, evaluating a brand, running the real numbers and reading the FDD.
Founder Equity Splits and Vesting Schedules: 2026 Guide
A 2026 guide to founder equity splits and vesting schedules, covering how to split equity fairly, how vesting works and how to read your cap table.
QSBS Explained: How Founders Can Exclude Up to $15M in Startup Gains
QSBS explained: how Section 1202 lets founders exclude up to $15M in startup gains, what changed in 2025 and where the exclusion stops applying.
Quarterly Estimated Taxes for Founders: The 2026 Safe Harbor Math
A founder's guide to quarterly estimated taxes in 2026, covering who has to pay, when, how much and the safe harbor rules that help you avoid penalties.
Solo 401(k) vs. SEP IRA: The Self-Employed Retirement Math
A comparison of the Solo 401(k) and SEP IRA for self-employed founders, explaining how each account's contribution buckets work and the math behind choosing.
How Much Should Startup Founders Pay Themselves in 2026
What startup founders should pay themselves in 2026, using Kruze Consulting payroll data and a Pilot survey of 1,844 founders by stage and funding source.
B2B SaaS Benchmarks by ARR Stage in 2026
Growth rate, CAC payback, and NRR by ARR stage, sourced from SaaS Capital's 2025 growth survey and High Alpha's 800-company benchmarks report.
Best Accounting Software for Startups in 2026
Mercury or a traditional bank? Ramp or Brex? QuickBooks or Xero? A stage-by-stage guide to the finance stack founders actually run their startup on in 2026.
Melanie Perkins Collected 100 Rejections Before Canva Was Worth $42 Billion
Melanie Perkins pitched Canva to over 100 investors before one said yes. It's now valued at $42 billion with 240 million monthly users.
Tope Awotona Bootstrapped Calendly Until He No Longer Needed the Money
Tope Awotona bootstrapped Calendly with his own savings for years before taking a $350 million investment at a $3 billion valuation in 2021.
Tobi Lütke Keeps Giving Away the Business Everyone Else Would Have Kept
How Tobi Lütke turned the Snowdevil snowboard shop into Shopify and kept giving up the part that looked like the business for the layer underneath it.
Eric Yuan Left Cisco to Rebuild Software Cisco Already Owned
How Eric Yuan spent fourteen years at WebEx and Cisco before leaving in 2011 to build Zoom, and why that incumbent experience mattered more than the pandemic.
Des Traynor Spent a Decade Publishing Product Doctrine. Then Intercom Had to Obey It.
Intercom co-founder Des Traynor spent over a decade publishing product doctrine. When ChatGPT landed, Intercom followed it and built Fin, an AI support agent.
Payal Kadakia Failed Twice Before ClassPass. Her Users Wrote the Third Version
How Payal Kadakia failed twice, with Classtivity and Passport, before the way users behaved on her product shaped its third version, ClassPass.
Kathryn Petralia Built a Lending Machine. American Express Bought the Machine.
Kathryn Petralia co-founded Kabbage in Atlanta in 2009 and built an automated lending engine, which American Express bought without the loans.
Rand Fishkin Didn't Swear Off Investors. He Rewrote Their Contract.
Rand Fishkin raised venture money for Moz and took outside capital again for his second company, but this time he rewrote the investor contract.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski Attacked Credit Cards. Then Klarna Started Charging Interest
How Klarna co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski built a business criticizing credit card debt, and why Klarna's fastest-growing product in 2026 charges interest.
Highest-Paying Self-Employed Jobs in 2026
Most 'best self-employed jobs' lists are guesses. This one is ranked by real BLS median wage data, from bookkeeping to financial advising.
Nicolas Julia Raised $680 Million on a Premise That Stopped Being True
Nicolas Julia raised $680 million for Sorare, the fantasy football game with tradable player cards, and how the company adapted when its premise changed.
7 Best Productivity Books for Entrepreneurs in 2026 (That Address the Real Problems)
Seven productivity books for entrepreneurs, including Cal Newport's Deep Work, that tackle context-switching, priority creep, procrastination and systems.
6 Best Sales Books for Founders (From First Customer to Repeatable Pipeline)
Most sales books assume you already have a sales team. These 6 don't, covering first deals, better discovery and building an outbound pipeline.
Unit Economics for Startups: The Founder's Guide to LTV, CAC, and the 3:1 Ratio (2026)
LTV, CAC, and the 3:1 ratio explained for startup founders — with real formulas, benchmarks by business model, and a practical playbook for improving them.
5 Best Pricing and Finance Books for Founders (Beyond Profit First)
Five pricing and finance books for founders beyond Profit First, covering what to charge, which clients to keep and how to actually read your numbers.
How to Value Your Startup in 2026: The Methods That Actually Matter
The startup valuation methods that matter in 2026, before and after revenue, plus the VC math behind term sheets and how valuation drives dilution.
How to Turn Your Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Business in 2026
The financial benchmarks, legal steps, and transition plan every founder needs before quitting their day job. A practical guide for 2026.
How to Start a Consulting Business in 2026
How to start a consulting business in 2026, from choosing a narrow niche and pricing at a premium to landing clients and building a repeatable pipeline.
How to Build a Startup Pitch Deck That Gets Funded in 2026
How to build a startup pitch deck that gets funded in 2026, including the 10 slides that matter and how to frame your deck as an investment thesis.
How to Start a Paid Newsletter Business in 2026: The Complete Guide
A complete guide to starting a paid newsletter business in 2026 on platforms like Substack and beehiiv, and why owning your email list matters.
How to Build a Micro-SaaS in 2026 (With or Without Coding Experience)
A step-by-step guide to building a micro-SaaS in 2026, with or without coding experience, from finding a niche problem worth solving to recurring revenue.
LLC vs. S-Corp: The Tax Math Every Founder Should Run
LLC vs. S-Corp explained: when an S-Corp tax election can cut self-employment tax for your LLC, and how founders should run the numbers.
Pickleland Founder Alejandro Rioja Is Building an AI-First Operating System for Clubs — Starting With His Own
Pickleland founder Alejandro Rioja is building Courtlines, an AI-first club operating system for pickleball, tennis and other court-sport facilities.
How to Get Your First 100 Customers: The 2026 Founder's Playbook
A 2026 founder's playbook for getting your first 100 customers through manual, unscalable work, and why 100 is the right first goal for a startup.
Alejandro Rioja Built a Pickleball Court Directory That Refuses to Go Stale
Pickleland founder Alejandro Rioja built The Court Scout, a pickleball, padel, tennis and badminton court directory that AI agents re-check weekly.
How to Validate Your Startup Idea (Before You Waste Your Savings): A 2026 Playbook
A 2026 playbook for validating your startup idea before you spend your savings, starting with your riskiest assumption and talking to real people.
5 Best Negotiation Books for Entrepreneurs (Matched to the Deals You're Actually Doing)
Five negotiation books for entrepreneurs, from Chris Voss's Never Split the Difference onward, each matched to deals like hiring, fundraising and pricing.
How to Become a Solopreneur in 2026: The Complete Guide
29.8M Americans are already solopreneurs. Choose a business model, price your work, build your AI-powered stack, and reach profitability on your own.
How to Raise a Seed Round in 2026: The Founder's Complete Guide
A guide for first-time founders raising a seed round in 2026: when to raise, how much to ask for, which structure to use and how to close the round.
7 Best Business Books for Entrepreneurs in 2026 (That Actually Change How You Think)
The 7 best business books for entrepreneurs in 2026, from Alex Hormozi's $100M Offers to books on negotiation, leadership, habits and knowing when to exit.
The Profit First Method: How Founders Stop Going Broke While Making Money
You can grow revenue every quarter and still run out of cash. The Profit First method flips the accounting formula so profit is a habit, not a hope.
Bootstrapping vs. Venture Capital in 2026: The Honest Math
Bootstrapping vs. venture capital in 2026, run through the real numbers: dilution, ownership at exit, growth speed, and which path makes you more money.
The Gen Z Founder's Guide to Raising Your First $500K
A no-nonsense 2026 guide for Gen Z founders raising their first $500K: angels vs. pre-seed funds, SAFEs, valuation, the deck, and how to actually close.
How Founders Use AI Agents to Run Leaner Companies in 2026
How real founders deploy AI agents in 2026 to cut headcount cost, automate ops, and lift revenue-per-employee — the workflows and guardrails that work.
How to Build a $10M Brand Without Tech: Lessons from Consumer Founders
A practical playbook for building a $10M consumer brand with no app or software: product, margins, distribution, retention, and the channels that scale in 2026.
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