Why are seasoned founders walking away from massive markets to tackle overlooked problems?
Tag Archive for Entrepreneurs
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Global Business Starts with Smoother Communication
by Entrepreneur Store • • 0 Comments
Hot Business News Today
You Make Enough Decisions Every Day — Here’s a Simple Meal System Built for Your Busy Schedule
by Elizabeth Rider • • 0 Comments
Meal planning is supposed to save entrepreneurs time and money, and support better energy and focus — but most plans fail because they’re built for ideal weeks instead of real schedules. Here’s how to design a plan that actually holds up.
Hot Business News Today
Take It From Me: This Easy Habit Earns Turns Customers Into Loyal Fans
by Jason Feifer • • 0 Comments
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This Cult Filmmaker Learned Something About Audiences Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know‘Make Them Feel Something’
by Jason Feifer • • 0 Comments
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5 Desk Upgrades That Just ‘Click’
by Mario Armstrong • • 0 Comments
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Daymond John’s Secret to Standing Out In Crowded Markets
by Jason Feifer • • 0 Comments
The Shark Tank star says it starts with knowing, “There really is nothing new in this world.”
Hot Business News Today
Why the Payments Industry Needs to Be Rebuilt From the Inside
by Sandeep Nailwal • • 0 Comments
The payments industry is being rebuilt at the infrastructure layer as money finally begins to move like software, not instructions.
Hot Business News Today
How to Stop Publishing Content Nobody Cares About and Create Content Your Audience Loves
by Aytekin Tank • • 0 Comments
Key Takeaways
- Understanding your audience and being genuine are crucial for creating content that resonates and establishes trust.
- High-quality content with consistent delivery paves the way for brand loyalty, especially among millennial and Gen Z consumers.
- Content is a strategic asset in a world flooded with noise; it’s vital for differentiation and engaging consumers with your brand story.
There’s a reason you’re reading this post right now. Maybe you follow me on social media because you’re familiar with my business. Maybe you were scrolling through your newsfeed and the headline caught your eye. Or maybe you’re a founder researching ways to write content that sticks, and this was one of the top results in the queue.
I may be a tech guy at heart, but writing articles like these is a part of my job that I take very seriously. My journey as a bootstrapped founder has been pretty unique, and I love to share my insights and lessons learned with others who may be traveling along a similar path.
But there’s another dimension, too. I want to be embedded in the communities that I think Jotform should reach. If you know me, and my product feels familiar, you’re more likely to think of us the next time you need an online form builder.
To pose a slightly modified version of the classic question: If you build a world-class product that no one knows about, does it even exist? The answer is simple — no.
Producing high-quality content is a great way for users to get to know you and what makes your business unique. Millennial and Gen Z consumers in particular want to understand a company’s values, motivations and intentions before they’re willing to spend their money. Brands that consistently publish thoughtful, well-crafted content are more likely to earn trust and long-term loyalty than those that simply push products or promotions.
But while there’s certainly no shortage of corporate content, many businesses fall short of hitting the “high-quality” mark. There’s a lot of bad writing and AI slop out there these days — some researchers place that figure as high as 50%. If you really want your voice to stand out, you have to offer something people can’t get anywhere else. Here’s how to do it.
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Know your audience
Before you begin building a product, you want to understand who’s likely to use it. The same goes for your writing. Who is your target audience? What insights do you specifically have to offer, and why should they care?
I’ll use myself as an example. I’m a voracious reader, and I spend a lot of time consuming both traditional publications and posts in online forums. I love to get a sense of the conversations happening in the tech world. Spending time in these communities gives me a window into current trends, shared frustrations and the kinds of problems people are trying to solve.
I’ve long posted on forums like Reddit and Indie Hackers, a habit that became even more ingrained as I prepared to release my first book. Not only was I able to figure out what subjects resonated with my target audience, but being an involved part of these online communities meant that once the book was done, I could share it there, knowing I’d have at least a small instant readership. Going back even further, actively participating in various startup forums allowed me to build relationships with people who would later become Jotform users.
Be genuine
If you follow my work, you probably know quite a bit about my life. You know I’m a husband, a father and that I love spending time on my family’s olive farm in my native Turkey. You probably also know that one of my life’s missions is to eliminate all forms of busywork and create more time and space for the sorts of ambitious projects that give us purpose.
But you also know that the process of building my company has not been a straight line. I’ve written extensively about my missteps, struggles and the things I wish I had done differently. I share these insights both because I want others to learn from my mistakes, and also because I don’t want to create the impression that building my business has been easy — it hasn’t. I’ve always loved Shoe Dog, the memoir by Nike founder Phil Knight, because it charts the tough road from Nike’s unglamorous early days to its current status as a global sportswear superpower. It’s hard to imagine anyone as successful as Knight having undergone prolonged periods of struggle. And yet that’s exactly what makes his story so compelling.
Being willing to share the less-than glamorous aspects of your journey isn’t showing weakness; it’s showing vulnerability. If you want your readers — and customers — to understand where you’re coming from, you have to be willing to reveal the ugly along with the good.
Be consistent
As much as everyone loves a viral moment, that isn’t where real impact comes from. Instead, think of content as a long-term investment. Winning the SEO game requires consistently producing genuinely useful, well-written posts that spark interest and earn backlinks from other sites. It won’t happen overnight — patience and persistence are key.
It’s also prudent to start generating content before you actually release your product to build excitement. In the past, founders had to rely on paid advertising and media placements to get eyeballs on their businesses. Today, social platforms, forums and self-publishing tools make it possible for anyone to grow a substantial audience if they’re willing to put in the effort. If you already have an audience — even a small one — you have an engaged group of readers you can point toward your product the moment it launches.
For the tech-minded, it’s easy to dismiss content as frivolous. But take it from me: Your product, no matter how useful or innovative, will not speak for itself. You don’t have to be a professional writer or producer. But being able to communicate your story and your “why” will set you apart in a world crowded with noise.
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Hot Business News Today
This 60-Minute Founder Ritual Prevented Me From Burning Out
by Malte Kramer • • 0 Comments
Key Takeaways
- Every quarter, I spend one hour writing down what truly matters — a simple reset that keeps me focused.
- That one-page ritual guides my decisions, protects my priorities and prevents burnout.
Most founders don’t burn out because they work too hard. They burn out because they never stop to decide what actually matters.
When you’re running a company, urgency becomes your operating system. There’s always another hire to make, product to ship, fire to put out or metric to improve. If you’re not careful, you wake up one day successful — but not necessarily building the life you intended.
For nearly 10 years running Luxury Presence, I’ve relied on a simple quarterly ritual to prevent that drift. It takes one hour. One sheet of paper. And it’s been the single most stabilizing habit in my career.
I call it the “One-Page Plan.”
What goes on the page
The structure is simple:
- Purpose: Why you do what you do
- Values: What matters most
- BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal): Your long-term moonshot
- Five-year vision: Who you want to become across five themes (health, relationships, career, learning, contribution)
- One-year goals: The habits and outcomes that move you forward
- Quarterly goals: The specific commitments for the next 90 days
Most of the document doesn’t change much. Your purpose shouldn’t shift every quarter. Your five-year direction might evolve slightly, but it remains steady.
The quarterly section is where reality meets ambition. That’s where big ideas turn into measurable commitments.
Why most founders skip this — and why that’s a mistake
Many founders resist this kind of planning because they equate structure with rigidity. They want to stay opportunistic. Flexible. Open.
But here’s the problem: if you don’t decide what matters in advance, the market decides for you.
Without intentionality, you default to:
- What’s loudest
- What’s newest
- What feels urgent
- What boosts short-term metrics
That’s how founders drift — not from lack of ambition, but from lack of alignment.
Why the one-page plan works
This exercise does three things most founders never make time for.
It forces reflection
Founders are wired to chase what’s next. Very few stop to recognize progress. Writing this plan every quarter forces me to look back before I look forward. It creates space to acknowledge wins instead of constantly moving the goalpost.
That alone reduces burnout.
It creates honest accountability
It’s easy to say something is important. It’s harder to write it down and review it 90 days later.
Every quarter, I pull out the previous plan and confront the truth: Did I prioritize what I said mattered? Or did I let the urgent crowd out the important?
The paper doesn’t lie.
It protects balance
Business is one category on my page. It doesn’t come first.
Family and friends do.
There have been quarters where I exceeded revenue targets but ignored personal commitments. The review process exposes that imbalance early — before success in one area silently erodes another.
Without this system, I wouldn’t notice the tradeoffs until they were costly.
What this looks like in practice
One of the identities in my five-year vision is simple: become a writer.
Not “write occasionally.” Not “post when inspired.” Become a writer.
To support that, my one-year goal is to publish consistently on LinkedIn and launch a personal newsletter. My quarterly goal for Q4 2025 is straightforward: write and send the first three editions.
That’s the commitment.
If January arrives and those newsletters aren’t sent, I don’t get to blame busyness. I get clarity. I chose other priorities.
That awareness is powerful.
The real benefit: deciding in advance
The biggest benefit of the One-Page Plan isn’t productivity. It’s pre-decision.
You define success before you’re tired, reactive or overwhelmed.
You choose your priorities before the quarter begins.
That way, when opportunities show up — new partnerships, new initiatives, new distractions — you can evaluate them against something stable.
Does this move me toward what I said matters? Or is it just exciting?
That filter alone has saved me from misaligned growth more than once.
How to start
At the end of this quarter, block one uninterrupted hour.
Turn off your phone. Close your laptop. Grab a blank sheet of paper.
Start big:
- Why do you do what you do?
- What kind of person are you trying to become?
- What does five years from now look like across health, relationships, career and contribution?
Then narrow:
- Three to five goals for the next year
- Concrete commitments for the next 90 days
When the quarter ends, review it honestly. Celebrate what you achieved. Learn from what you didn’t. Then write the next one.
Final thought
Running a company is hard. Running one while staying healthy, grounded and connected to the people you care about is harder.
The One-Page Plan won’t eliminate chaos. It won’t prevent hard quarters, layoffs or market corrections.
But it will make sure you’re building on purpose.
And in a world where everything is urgent, that clarity might be the highest-leverage hour you invest all quarter.
