The Exit Gal | Founder of Chief Rebel | The Ops Co-Pilot for Main Street SMBs | 3x CEO 1x Exit | SMU Lecturer & Speaker | Follow for Business, Exits, Leadership

Chief Rebel began because small business owners were left to figure everything out alone.

7 out of 10 SMBs fail to sell. Buyers walk away. Owners burn out. 

And the systems that should help them were built for another world.

Most founders do not have a valuation problem.
They have an operations problem.
They have a clarity problem.
They have a business that only works when they do.

I lived this across acquisitions, turnarounds, and exits.

I know what it feels like to run a company that performs well on paper but falls apart the moment you step away.

And I know what it takes to rebuild a business into an asset someone else actually wants to own.

AI made analysis faster.
It did not make decisions better.
And it did not make selling a business any easier.

Founders do not need more noise.
They need visibility.
They need a co pilot.
They need a path from chaos to a premium exit.

So I built Chief Rebel.

We experimented, learned, iterated, and now the platform is live with real owners, real valuations, and real pull from the market.

Chief Rebel is the first platform built to help owners
• understand what their business is worth in real time
• fix the operational blockers that drag value down
• model their dream exit with actual data
• become exit ready long before they think about selling
• operate like someone who owns an asset, not someone trapped inside a job

What we do not have
• generic AI advice
• one size fits all coaching
• hype, noise, or empty promises

Just a straighter path to a business that runs without the owner and sells for what it’s truly worth.

We are onboarding founders, expanding integrations, and building the default ops and exit platform for 33 million SMBs.

If you want more information, message investor@thechiefrebel.com

Operate smart. Value accurately. Exit well.

Chief Rebel.

Kinza Azmat

6 habits high-performing leaders repeat

The small actions that drive real results

Most people think leadership shows up in big moments.

The promotion announcement.
The all-hands speech.
The crisis response.

In reality, it shows up in habits.

When no one’s watching.
What you do on a random Tuesday.
When it would be easier to control than trust.

Here are 6 habits of high-performing leaders I see actually work in the wild.

Not vibes.
Not theory.
Just behavior.

1️⃣ They listen before they talk
Do: Let people finish their thoughts. Ask one clear question before responding.
Don’t: Interrupt. Jump straight to fixing. Assume you already know.

When people feel heard, they tell you the truth.

2️⃣ They give people real responsibility
Do: Tell someone what needs to be done and let them decide how to do it.
Don’t: Hover. Redo their work. Take control the moment it feels messy.

If you don’t trust them, don’t pretend you do.

3️⃣ They explain what “good” looks like
Do: Be clear about priorities, goals, and deadlines. Say it more than once.
Don’t: Assume people can read your mind. Change rules without saying so.

Most mistakes come from confusion, not laziness.

4️⃣ They deal with problems early
Do: Talk one-on-one as soon as something feels off. Stay calm and direct.
Don’t: Ignore it. Gossip about it. Hope it goes away.

Small problems get big when avoided.

5️⃣ They help people grow
Do: Give feedback right away. Teach while the work is happening.
Don’t: Wait months to say something. Expect people to just “figure it out.”

People stay where they feel they’re learning.

6️⃣ They act the way they expect others to act
Do: Show up prepared. Keep promises. Own mistakes.
Don’t: Set rules you don’t follow. Make excuses you wouldn’t accept.

None of this is fancy.
All of it works.

Leadership isn’t about being the boss.
It’s about being consistent.

Which habit are you solid on and which one are you avoiding?
Share it in comment 👇

♻️ Repost for any founder or manager building a real team
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real ways to grow, scale, and sell smarter

I’ve read plenty of leadership advice.

Brené Brown is different.

After studying her path from researcher to global movement builder, a few things became clear. 

Not soft ideas. 
But practical ones that actually work.

Here are 10 leadership lessons from her journey that every founder needs:

1/ Authenticity beats perfection. 
People trust leaders who are real, not polished.

2/ Simple ideas spread.
Her work stuck because anyone could grasp it.

3/ Make your knowledge useful. 
Brilliant concepts mean nothing if people can't apply them.

4/ Consistency builds credibility. 
She never changed her message to chase trends.

5/ Boundaries protect your ability to lead. 
Burnout doesn't serve anyone.

6/ Growth requires discomfort. 
She walked toward hard moments instead of avoiding them.

7/ Transparency creates trust. 
When you own your story, people stop speculating.

8/ Emotions exist at work whether you acknowledge them or not. 
Strong leaders address them head on.

9/ Depth beats speed. 
She focused on meaningful impact over quick wins.

10/ Your growth shapes your company. 
Leadership development isn't separate from business results.

The strongest leaders aren't the loudest. 
They're the clearest and most consistent.

They earn trust first. Everything else follows.

Follow Kinza Azmat for every day leadership lessons.

Repost this if someone on your team needs to see it.

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Associate Coaching Certificate - Candidate

Real Estate Broker/Sales Agent

Startup Executive | Business Coach | Acquisition & Exit Expert

Feeling burnt out from constant firefighting? Exhausted by long hours with little to show for it? You're not alone. Many leaders are trapped in a cycle of reactivity, never getting ahead.

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The outcome?

- 6% boost in gross margins
- 62% reduction in operating expenses
- 4x lead conversion rates
- 80% reduction in real estate footprint

Now, I'm offering two game-changers for leaders ready to stop spinning their wheels:

1:1 High Performance Leadership Coaching: Navigate the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship or elevate your leadership game. We'll tackle strategic pivots, mindset shifts, and practical skills to thrive in your new role.

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Ready to stop wasting time and start seeing real progress? Send your biggest challenge in a DM.

Opinions are my own :)

Ready to break free from the corporate machine and forge your own path? Get the ultimate guide to disrupting your career and creating a future that screams "YOU."

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4x'd conversion by rebranding 10 real estate brands into 1 modernized brand

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University of Houston + University of Texas at Austin | Researcher. Storyteller. Courage-builder.

Tara Giambrone

Phil Knight didn’t sound like a leader when he started. 

But Shoe Dog changed how I think about building a company.

After studying Phil Knight’s journey from unsure runner to building Nike, a few things became painfully clear.

Here are 10 leadership lessons from Shoe Dog every founder needs to internalize:

1/ Start before you’re ready.
↳ Knight didn’t have a perfect plan, only willingness to move.

2/ Obsession beats confidence.
 ↳ He wasn’t loud or charismatic. But he cared more than everyone else.

3/ Most breakthroughs look irresponsible at first.
 ↳ Selling shoes out of a trunk doesn’t look like a strategy until it works.

4/ Cash flow matters more than headlines.
 ↳ Nike nearly died multiple times because growth outran cash.

5/ Loyalty compounds.
 ↳ The early team believed in the mission. They didn't join for perks.

6/ The founder carries fear behind-the-scenes.
 ↳ Knight absorbed uncertainty so others could execute.

7/ Banks don’t build great companies. Founders do.
 ↳ Debt almost crushed Nike, but it forced discipline.

8/ You will doubt yourself longer than anyone admits.
 ↳ Even after success, Knight questioned whether he belonged.

9/ Culture is built in the ugly years, not the winning ones.
 ↳ Nike’s identity formed when survival was the goal.

10/ You don’t “arrive.” You endure.
 ↳ The work doesn’t get easier. You just get more resilient.

Most founders don’t fail because they lack ideas.

They fail because they expect certainty too early.

Real leadership is staying in the game when quitting would make sense.

If you want to understand what kind of leader you actually are, take the Owner Quiz at ownerquiz.com.

Follow Kinza Azmat for real founder stories.

 Repost this if someone building something hard needs to hear it.

AI will 10x your business or kill it.

Here are 10 free courses to master it first: 

Most founders I talk to know AI matters.
They hear news about tools, prompts, and trends.

They are aware of: 
→ What to use.
→ What to ignore.
→ What they actually need is judgment.
→ Where AI truly changes how money is made.

These aren’t inspirational courses.
They’re practical education you can use this month.

Start with one.
Finish it.
Then change how you work.

Here’s a clean list you can start using today: 

1️⃣ AI for Everyone by Andrew Ng
This teaches how AI creates value, where it fails, and how leaders should think about it.

https://lnkd.in/e8xxs3u9

2️⃣ Introduction to Generative AI by Google
This explains what generative AI actually does in real workflows.

https://lnkd.in/eW34tb76

3️⃣ AI for Business Leaders (LinkedIn Learning)
This is for owners and executives, not engineers.

https://lnkd.in/eTWrmEph

4️⃣ Elements of AI (University of Helsinki)
This builds real understanding of AI concepts and ethics.

https://lnkd.in/e9Hmsww8

5️⃣ Google AI Essentials
This focuses on everyday tools you already use.

https://grow.google/ai/

6️⃣ Microsoft AI for Business Users
This is practical if your company runs on Microsoft tools.

https://lnkd.in/eXJByR8j

7️⃣ Free AI Training for Small Business (US Chamber)
This is built for real operators, not theory.

https://lnkd.in/e98s2VsW

8️⃣ GenAI Basics... How LLMs Work
This explains how large language models actually think and respond.

https://lnkd.in/evr9sNuT

9️⃣ AI in Marketing (University of Virginia)
This focuses on campaigns, testing, and performance.

https://lnkd.in/e2jYe9ki

🔟 Free AI for Small Businesses (Digital Boost)
This is a structured three week program with an application built in.

https://lnkd.in/eu-ibqT5

You don’t need all ten.
You just need one.

Start there.
Build confidence.
Then stack them skills. 

Which one are you starting with?
Tell me in the comments 👇

♻ Repost if this helps someone who feels behind
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter

I’ve spent years advising founders through exits.

12 lessons on money everyone needs to hear: 

1. A big exit doesn’t automatically mean a better life
↳ Decide what “better” looks like before the deal, not after it closes

2. Freedom matters more than the number
↳ Design your calendar first, then decide how much money supports it

3. Liquidity feels boring until you need it
↳ Keep enough cash to solve problems without selling or begging

4. The best ROI is time, not another deal
↳ Buy back hours you never want to give again

5. Wealth without structure creates anxiety
↳ Build clear rules for spending, investing, and saying no

6. Cash flow beats net worth for peace of mind
↳ Set up income you can rely on without refreshing a balance sheet

7. Alignment at home matters more after an exit
↳ Talk through lifestyle changes before money forces the conversation

8. Identity adjustment takes longer than expected
↳ Separate who you are from what you just sold

9. How you make money follows you
↳ Choose paths you would be proud to explain to your kids later

10. Lifestyle creep starts with expectations
↳ Lock your baseline before upgrading anything

11. Avoiding help is the most expensive mistake
↳ Pay for advice early instead of fixing mistakes later

12. Legacy is built with intention
↳ Decide what the money is for, or it will decide for you

Wealth is leverage.

If you don’t aim it, it pulls you somewhere anyway.

Which one are you thinking about right now?
Share it in comment👇

♻ Repost this to help your network.
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter

Brad Jacobs didn’t build a $1B company.
He built multiple.
...in completely different industries...using the same playbook.

That’s not luck or timing.
It’s systems, discipline, and repeatable decision-making.

Most founders believe great companies are built by vision.
Big ideas, personalities, or energy.

Jacobs proves something far less romantic and far more useful:

Durable companies are built to work without the founder.

That’s what makes people uncomfortable.

Clean financials.
Clear accountability.
Boring execution.

No saving the day required.

I see the opposite every week.

Revenue looks impressive, but sales live in the founder’s head, financials need interpretation, and decisions bottleneck at the top.

Under the hood, the business is fragile.

Brad built companies that could be understood, trusted, and transferred.

That’s the difference between running a business and building one.

I unpacked this in this week’s newsletter, including how to apply this mindset now, not someday before an exit.

Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/g-vUSu-2

Vision starts businesses.

Systems make them valuable.

subscribe to the full newsletter here: https://chiefrebel.beehiiv.com/ The myth most founders believe Most founders think great companies are built by

Open article: 🏴‍☠️ What building billion-dollar companies actually looks like (the Brad Jacobs playbook) by Kinza Azmat • 3 min read

🏴‍☠️ What building billion-dollar companies actually looks like (the Brad Jacobs playbook)

The future of sales leadership is here.
Here's how we're doubling sales without adding headcount:

The Old School Playbook (Time Sink)
• 3 hours building prospect lists
• 2 hours crafting "personalized" emails
• 1 hour updating CRM notes
• Endless follow-up tasks
• Weekly reporting nightmare

The New School Reality (F1 race car)
• 500 qualified leads in 10 minutes with Clay
• 200 truly personalized emails sent while you sleep
• Auto-logged customer interactions in Hubspot
• 3X email response rates with AI personalization
• AI-flagged deal signals from every call using Gong

The Evolution Is Clear:
→ Basic sales = AI-driven automation
→ Strategic deals = AI + human expertise

This isn't about replacing sales leaders.
It's about evolving into Revenue Strategy Architects who:
• Focus on trust relationships
• Leverage AI for repetitive tasks
• Scale without headcount inflation

The coffee-fueled cold caller is becoming extinct.
And the AI-powered Revenue Strategist is rising.

Are you building your Phase 2? 
Share your journey 👇

♻ Repost this to help others planning 2026.
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter

Most people don't need more information. 

They need higher standards.

That's the real takeaway from Never Finished by David Goggins.

Here are 10 lessons that translate directly to leadership and business:

1/ You don't rise to your potential 
↳ You only perform at the level of what you consistently train.

2/ Comfort is the real enemy 
↳ It quietly erodes discipline long before failure or trauma ever does.

3/ Discipline isn't a personality trait 
↳ It's a decision you make daily, especially when nothing is forcing you to act.

4/ Your past explains how you got here 
↳ It doesn't excuse staying where you are.

5/ Motivation is unreliable 
↳ Systems keep progress moving when energy fades.

6/ You are either getting harder or getting softer 
↳ There is no neutral state. Maintenance eventually turns into decline.

7/ Winning happens in seconds 
↳ Most outcomes are decided in small moments where discomfort asks you to choose.

8/ Self respect is built through follow through 
↳ It comes from doing hard things you said you would do, even when no one is watching.

9/ The work never announces itself 
↳ The most important progress happens quietly, through repetition and consistency.

10/ You are never finished 
↳ The moment you believe you've arrived is usually when you start moving backward.

This book isn't about extremes.
It's about holding yourself to a standard you don't negotiate with.

If this resonates, follow Kinza Azmat for leadership, business, and exits.

Repost this if you believe discipline still matters more than motivation.

This week's newsletter covers what I learned after a year of writing for business owners. https://lnkd.in/esVFJWKP

The emotional crash isn’t the biggest risk after an exit.

The lack of systems is.

Business owners prepare for the day the deal closes.
But almost no one prepares for the day after.

I learned this in my own exit.
The transaction wasn’t the hard part.
The transition was.

Most small-business founders think structure is a nice-to-have.
But skipping it quietly drains your valuation and wrecks your exit.

Here are the four systems I wish more owners built early:

1️⃣ Documented Systems
↳ Write down how every part of your business runs so others can repeat it
Create SOPs, playbooks, and checklists for sales, delivery, ops, and finance

2️⃣ Leadership Team
↳ Build a team that can make decisions and move work without your approval
Assign clear responsibilities and let leaders own the outcome

3️⃣ Operational Clarity
↳ Show how performance is measured so the team stays aligned without you
Use scorecards, dashboards, and defined KPIs that run week to week

4️⃣ Financial Controls
↳ Run your books like an acquirer is already watching
Separate accounts, automate reports, and review numbers monthly with discipline

If you skip these, two things will happen:


→ Your valuation will be lower
→ The handover will be harder

Founders think systems are a cost.
But they are the investment that protects your payday.

It’s penny rich, pound foolish, 
The most expensive mistake across SMBs.

Once your business runs without you,
Then you can deal with the emotional crash.
Not before.

Where are you at in your exit prep?
Drop it in the comments 👇

♻️ Repost for any founder who’s thinking about selling
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for more on growth, exits, and building without burnout

Leadership isn’t loud.

It’s relentless.

I recently read The Art of Winning, and one thing became painfully clear.

Bill Belichick didn’t chase vibes or confuse popularity with performance.

Winning isn’t about big moments.
It’s about consistency under pressure.

Here are 10 leadership lessons from the man who built the Patriots dynasty:

1/ Winning is built in the details.
 ➝ Games are decided by preparation long before kickoff.

2/ Preparation beats inspiration.
 ➝ You don’t rise to the occasion. You fall to your training.

3/ Everyone is replaceable.
 ➝ No role, title, or résumé is bigger than the system.

4/ Do your job. Nothing more. Nothing less.
 ➝ Clarity eliminates excuses and finger-pointing.

5/ Consistency wins championships.
 ➝ Small advantages, repeated daily, compound.

6/ Eliminate self-inflicted mistakes.
 ➝ Most losses come from poor execution, not competitors.

7/ Leadership isn't loud.
 ➝ Authority comes from results, not volume.

8/ Pressure exposes weak systems.
 ➝ Big moments don’t create problems. They reveal them.

9/ Accountability is non-negotiable.
 ➝ Praise and criticism were applied evenly, without emotion.

10/ Winning requires detachment from ego.
 ➝ Decisions were made for the team, not personal legacy.

Most leaders struggle not from lack of intelligence, but by tolerating behavior that erodes standards.

Real leadership builds systems that perform under pressure.

Discover your leadership style. Take the Owner Quiz at ownerquiz.com.

Follow Kinza Azmat for lessons from real life moments.

This is the simplest way to explain AI to business owners.

(Hint: It's not what you think)

AI isn’t one single thing.
And it’s definitely not just content or productivity hacks.

Think of AI as layers.

Each layer changes how your business runs.
More importantly, how dependent it is on you.

Here’s the breakdown I use with business owners:
 
1️⃣ AI & Machine Learning
Turn historical data into repeatable decisions.
This layer helps the business make the same smart choice every time.

→ Spot unusual activity without manual checks
→ Forecast demand instead of reacting late
→ Flag churn before clients disappear
→ Catch pricing leaks early

This is where decisions stop living in your head.

Tools: AWS SageMaker, Google Vertex AI, Azure ML

2️⃣ Neural Networks
Process complex, unstructured information at scale.
This layer handles data humans struggle to review consistently or at speed.

→ Transcribe calls and surface issues
→ Scan docs for gaps and risks
→ Read invoices and contracts
→ Classify images, audio, text

Less review. Fewer bottlenecks.

Tools: TensorFlow, PyTorch, AWS Rekognition

3️⃣ Generative AI
Increase speed and output across day-to-day work.
This layer helps teams produce faster. 

→ Summarize meetings
→ Draft emails and reports
→ Answer basic team questions
→ Prep content and internal docs

Extremely useful with some guidance.

Tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini

4️⃣ AI Agents
Connect decisions directly to execution.
This layer connects thinking to action automatically.

→ Route tickets and tasks
→ Follow up and close loops
→ Update systems automatically
→ Handle repeat requests end to end

Now things don’t wait on you.

Tools: LangChain, CrewAI, Microsoft Copilot

5️⃣ Agentic AI
Orchestrate entire workflows from start to finish.
This layer helps the business work even when you step away.

→ Seamless hiring process
→ Finance checks that run daily
→ Delivery that stays consistent
→ Ops that escalate only when needed

The business keeps moving even if you step away.

Tools: OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, Devin

The biggest mistake I see:

Most business owners use AI to save time.
But the smart ones use it to remove themselves from the workflow.

Same tools. Completely different outcome.

Where are you using AI today?
Share it in comments 👇

♻ Repost if you’re building a business that can grow without you
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter

The more decisions you keep, the less it scales.

I've been studying Built From Scratch by the Home Depot founders, and one pattern stands out: they designed themselves out of daily operations from day one.

Not because they wanted to be hands-off. 
Because they understood something most founders learn too late.

The decisions you keep making are the decisions your business can't make without you.

Home Depot pushed pricing, staffing, and customer issues down to store managers early. It was messy at first. But it meant the business could scale without Marcus and Blank approving everything.

Here's what I keep seeing with founders:

They delay delegation until they're exhausted. 

By then, the entire organization has learned to wait for them. Every decision flows upward. Growth stalls. Exit value drops.

The businesses that scale well do the opposite. They push authority down before it feels comfortable. They build knowledge into the organization, not just the founder's head. They create systems that work without heros.

This isn't about working less. 

It's about building a business that can grow without you being the system.

Where are you still the default decision-maker? That's your signal.

Full breakdown in this week's newsletter.

(that most founders learn too late) Read more here: https://chiefrebel.beehiiv.com/subscribe I've been spending time with Built From Scratch by Bernie

Open article: What Home Depot's founders understood about scale by Kinza Azmat • 4 min read

What Home Depot's founders understood about scale

44% of businesses fail because they run out of cash.

Here are 7 proven fixes:

These are not theories, but actions that small business owners can actually start taking this week, especially if you are a service provider. 

1/ Invoice the same day, every time
→ If the work is done, the invoice goes out before the day ends.
→ Not tomorrow. Not next week.

2/ Stop being flexible about getting paid
→ Set payment terms and stick to them.
→ Add reminders before the due date, not after.

3/ Work begins once commitment is in place
→ Break projects into clear stages.
→ Collect a deposit before you begin.

4/ Cut costs you no longer question
→ Open your bank feed.
→ Highlight anything that hasn’t helped you earn in the last 60 days.

5/ Separate business money from personal money
→ One business account.
→ One business card.

6/ Use credit with rules, not stress
→ Credit is for short gaps, not long problems.
→ Know exactly how it gets paid back before you use it.

7/ Look ahead every single week
→ Write down what cash is coming in and when.
→ Write down what must go out and when.

Cash flow does not fix itself with hope or revenue.
You have to get the habits and timing right. 

Which one are you fixing first?
Comment the number below 👇

♻ Repost if cash pressure has ever slowed you down
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for clear thinking on growth, value, and exits

7 Ways To Fix Cash Flow 

“The rich don’t work for money. 

They make money work for them.”
(Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad). 

A lot of money advice gets passed down like facts.
People repeat it.
But no one checks it.

Here are 5 money beliefs people grow up hearing,
and why they break down once you’re dealing with real money.

1️⃣ Your house is your biggest asset
Myth: Owning a house makes you wealthy.
→ Most houses take money every month instead of giving money back.
Action: Add up what your house costs you in a year. Mortgage, taxes, repairs. Ask if it pays you anything.

2️⃣ A high income makes you rich
Myth: If you earn more then you will be fine.
→ Spending usually grows as income grows. More money can still mean stress.
Action: Look at how much money you saved or invested last year, not what you earned.

3️⃣ Rich people are just lucky.
Myth: Wealth comes from one big lucky break.
→ Most build wealth by making the same smart moves over and over.
Action: Pick one wealthy person and notice what they did again and again, not once.

4️⃣ All debt is bad
Myth: Every type of debt should be avoided.
→ Some debt buys things you use once. Some debt helps buy things that earn money.
Action: Write down your debts and what each one gives you back, if anything.

5️⃣ Job security equals financial security
Myth: A stable job means you’re financially safe.
→ One paycheck means one problem can stop all income.
Action: Find one small way to earn money outside your job, even a little.

A pattern I’ve seen repeatedly:

I’ve watched people earning a lot still feel tense every month.
I’ve watched others earn less, but stay calm because they had options.

Same world.
Different beliefs.
Different results.

Which one sounds most familiar to you?
Share it in comments 👇

♻ Repost this if it resonated with you.
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter

5 Money Myths to Unlearn

“Profitable” businesses go bankrupt every day.

This is why: 

A founder hits 5M in revenue.
The accountant says “you’re profitable”.

Then one client pays late,
Cash drops to one payroll cycle
and suddenly the business is in panic mode

This happens more than people admit.

Thinking like a CFO is not about fancy reports.
It is about not getting surprised.

Here is what that actually looks like in real life 👇

1/ Profit is not cash
↳ Check your bank balance before you celebrate anything.

2/ Cash is everything
↳ Know how many months the business survives if sales slow tomorrow.

3/ Protect margins
↳ Raise prices, cut low margin work, or fix costs before volume hides the problem.

4/ Track real drivers
↳ Be clear on what creates sales, collects cash, and burns time.

5/ Look forward, not backward
↳ Build a simple 90 day cash view and update it every week.

6/ Plan scenarios
↳ Write down what you will do if revenue drops or spikes.

7/ Balance growth with survival
↳ Do not hire or spend until cash can carry the risk.

8/ Cut smart
↳ Remove things that feel good but do not pay you back

9/ Connect numbers to decisions
↳ If a metric does not change your next move, stop tracking it

10/ Act on data
↳ Waiting for more clarity usually just burns cash

Thinking like a CFO does not make you cautious.

It makes you harder to kill.

Which one would help you most right now?
Drop the number 👇

♻ Repost if this saves someone a future headache
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real ways to grow, scale, and sell smarter

I spent the last week reading How to Make a Few Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs. 

It is not a startup book. 
It is not motivational. 

It is a case study in how real scale is built across multiple industries over decades. 

The book breaks down how Jacobs repeatedly built multi-billion-dollar companies through acquisitions, integration, and systems. 

The biggest misconception about scale is that it comes from ideas. 

This book makes it clear it comes from structure. 

Here are 10 principles that drive outsized outcomes: 

1/ Choose markets that can support scale 
↳ Small markets cap results no matter how good execution is 

2/ Target fragmented industries 
↳ Fragmentation creates roll-up opportunity 

3/ Make scale the strategy 
↳ Size unlocks pricing power and efficiency 

4/ Treat acquisitions as a system 
↳ One deal changes nothing. Repetition does. 

5/ Integrate immediately and aggressively 
↳ Value comes after the close, not at it 

6/ Centralize what does not need to be unique 
↳ Shared services improve margins and control 

7/ Invest in top-tier leadership early 
↳ Average leaders stall compounding 

8/ Use data to run the business 
↳ Metrics replace intuition at scale 

9/ Be bold with capital, strict with discipline
↳ Speed matters, but controls matter more 

10/ Operate like the business will be much larger 
↳ Build systems for where you are going, not where you are 

Big outcomes are not creative accidents. 

They are engineered through repeatable execution. 

Which one of these are you overlooking right now? 

Comment below 👇 

♻ Repost this if you found it useful 

✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter

If you're interested in the full teardown, read the newsletter on Tuesday. 

https://lnkd.in/g-vUSu-2

10 principles from How To Make a Few Billion Dollars

I spent a year writing a newsletter for small business owners.

I thought I’d be teaching exit prep.

Valuations. Buyers. Deal structure.

Turns out that wasn’t the real problem.

After 600+ convos, it became clear that most owners didn’t need exit advice yet. They needed to understand how they operate and why everything still runs through them.

Most were acting like quarterbacks.
Very few were running the business like head coaches.

My mind was blow. It’s why my newsletter is now called The Sideline.

This week’s issue breaks down:
 - Why scale requires removing the owner
 - Why buyers pay for independence, not effort
 - The operating style that defines your business’s future

If you run sales, ops, people, money, and strategy, this is written for you.

You can read the full issue or if you want to see where you stand as an owner, take the free quiz at Ownerquiz.com.

That’s where most of this started.

So many business owners misunderstand their numbers. 

They have an accountant.
They get monthly reports.
They know their revenue and EBITDA.

But that’s not the same as running a financially controlled business.

You need to understand: 
Operating finance keeps you alive.
Strategic finance determines what your business is worth.

Here are 5 blind spots that show up when owners stop at reports and profit.

1/ Misunderstanding reports for control
↳ You review the P&L after the month ends.
↳ Decisions are based on what already happened.

2/ Profit growing while cash shrinks
↳ Sales increase but invoices sit unpaid.
↳ Inventory and projects absorb cash.

3/ No forward view of cash pressure
↳ Hiring happens before cash arrives.
↳ Growth plans ignore timing gaps.

4/ Owner as the financial backstop
↳ You step in to approve spends and fixes.
↳ Cash gaps rely on your judgment.

5/ Numbers that can’t explain value
↳ You can state revenue, not drivers.
↳ You can show profit, not durability.

Here’s the real distinction that changes outcomes.

Operating finance tracks survival.
Strategic finance links decisions to future value.

Profit keeps the doors open.
Clarity raises valuation.

Which blind spot feels closest right now?

Comment the number below 👇

♻ Repost if you’re building a business that stands up without you
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5 financial blind spots killing SMB valuations

I spent the last week reading The Nvidia Way by Tae Kim.

It's not an AI hype book.
Nor is it a Silicon Valley myth story.

It is a detailed look at how Jensen Huang built Nvidia over three decades through focus, pressure, and long-term bets.

The book makes one thing clear very quickly.

Nvidia did not win by being comfortable.
It won by being deliberate under constant tension.

Here are 10 principles that explain Nvidia’s rise:

1/ Commit to a long-term technical vision
 ↳ Short-term wins did not drive strategy

2/ Build for future demand, not current markets
 ↳ Nvidia invested years ahead of revenue

3/ Make speed a cultural requirement
 ↳ Decisions moved fast, even when imperfect

4/ Hold teams to very high standards
 ↳ Pressure was intentional, not accidental

5/ Obsess over performance advantages
 ↳ Incremental gains were not enough

6/ Invest deeply in core platforms
 ↳ CUDA became a foundation, not a feature

7/ Stay vertically integrated where it matters
 ↳ Control enabled differentiation

8/ Tolerate discomfort to maintain edge
 ↳ Stability was never the goal

9/ Reallocate resources aggressively
 ↳ Capital followed conviction, not tradition

10/ Keep leadership directly involved
 ↳ Strategy stayed close to execution

Nvidia’s success was not luck or timing.

It was the result of sustained conviction, discipline, and pressure applied over decades.

Which one of these feels hardest to maintain in your business?

Comment below 👇

♻ Repost this if you found it useful

 ✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter

Are you willing to be seen as "too much"
 
Even if it means saving someone's business?

Problems show up early.
Way before they become disasters.

You feel it when:

→ Decisions slow down
→ The team goes quiet
→ Numbers start slipping
→ Everyone stays nice but nothing gets better

And still, no one says anything.

Because pushing back feels risky.
Because saying it might upset someone.
Because being liked feels safer than being right.

That silence costs more than people think.

Most businesses don’t fail overnight.
They fade because small truths stayed unsaid.

Like this:

→ Survival matters more than approval
→ Polite agreement can hide bad decisions
→ Quiet leaders don’t stop damage, they delay it

This isn’t about being harsh.
It’s about caring enough to speak early, while there’s still time to fix things.

If you see the risk and stay quiet, the damage keeps growing.
If you speak up now, you might feel uncomfortable.
But the business has a chance.

Being “too much” early often prevents a total mess later.

Which one of these felt a little too real?
Drop a comment 👇

♻ Repost if this made you think
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real ways to grow, scale, and sell smarter

B. Lane Carrick, M.Sc.

With over 30 years of experience buying, selling, and building businesses, I help owners of middle-market companies ($10-100M enterprise value) navigate the complex journey of selling their life's work. 

At Optima, we bridge the gap between sophisticated institutional buyers and business owners looking to monetize their most valuable asset.

Unlike typical business brokers or high-fee investment banks, we provide the strategic guidance, market expertise, and professional representation business owners need when facing institutional buyers with teams of lawyers and accountants. 

Our process delivers results. 

We've maintained a high close rate by carefully screening clients, providing honest valuations, creating professional presentation materials, and guiding clients through the intense due diligence process. We take pride in positioning our clients’ businesses with their ideal strategic buyers (the ones that pay the highest price for their business). 

As someone who has personally exited businesses, I understand the challenges and emotional roller coaster of selling your company. For many owners, this transaction will fund their retirement. 

The stakes couldn't be higher.

I also share my expertise as an instructor at Southern Methodist University, teaching the next generation of business leaders the mechanics of mergers and acquisitions.

Let's talk about how we can help position your business for a successful exit.

Senior M&A Advisor

B. Carrick

We brought a client eleven offers.

Not two. Not three. Not five.

Eleven.

We had 120 NDAs signed by prospective buyers. The biggest response we’ve ever had.

It’s a recurring revenue services business, which happens to be very popular right now.

We completed a front end valuation and told the client where we thought the business would trade. When the offers came in, they were meaningfully higher than our valuation.

We created real competitive tension and ran a disciplined auction process.

One family office was willing to pay up because the business was highly synergistic.

They already had a presence in Texas. This expanded them geographically and allowed them to spread overhead across a larger platform.

Then the client said he needed the price increased by the amount of taxes due on the sale plus our success fee.

That translated into roughly a 25% increase over the best offer we received.

That number wasn’t grounded in lifestyle needs or long-term planning. It wasn’t based on what he needed to live on. It was simply, “I need to cover your fees and my taxes, so I net that number.”

Here’s the reality.

If you own a 2020 Ford Escape and eleven people show up and make offers, that’s the market. Every rational seller takes the highest and best offer and hands over the keys.

But when you substitute a business for that vehicle, receive eleven offers, and still refuse to accept the best offer from the marketplace, you’re saying something very specific.

You’re saying fair market value is unacceptable to you.

That’s what it is. Fair market value.

I’m not immune to this psychology. I’m a founder-owner-operator myself. I have the same emotional attachment. But when it was time for me to sell, the decision was simple. I decided to sell. I ran a process. I determined fair market value. I transacted with the best buyer.

Misalignment between valuation and seller expectations around net proceeds, especially when there’s no clear agreement between advisor and client, is the number one killer of deals.

Not buyers. Not markets.

Expectations.

B. Lane Carrick

I had an antique grandfather clock in the foyer of my office at Sovereign Wealth Management. When it broke, we hired a clock repairman to fix it.

Mike showed up in threadbare clothes, scruffy and unassuming. He drove a school bus for a living and repaired clocks on the side. His wife was a nurse. 

They were simple people who made a modest living and never asked for much.

After fixing the clock, Mike sat down and asked what we did. At the time, I was running a wealth management firm with a million dollar minimum account size. 

I tried to be polite without encouraging the conversation, assuming I would not be able to help. Mike mentioned that he had saved some money but was not confident in how it was being managed. His wife had health issues, and they were worried about the future.

I told him to bring me his information. If I could help, I would. If not, I would refer him to someone who could.

Mike had just over a million dollars. Given their discipline, he should have had closer to two. 

His broker had been churning the account for years. In one of the best bull markets in history, the account had gone nowhere.

When I asked how they accumulated what they had, Mike shrugged and said, “We spent less than we made for forty years.”

Their goal was simple. They wanted to buy an RV and travel the United States together, collecting something from every state, before his wife’s illness progressed too far.

We rebuilt the portfolio. Markets cooperated. Eventually my team told me they could buy the RV and comfortably live on Social Security and portfolio returns. When I told Mike, the meeting became emotional. I told him to go buy it.

They did. They traveled. 

Not long after, his wife passed away.

At her funeral, Mike hugged me and cried. He told me he could never fully explain what that time meant to them.

I did not give them a gift. I just helped them along the way. But it was the most meaningful professional experience of my life.

Today, at Optima, I feel that same pull. I help business owners monetize the value of what they have built so they can step into the next chapter of their lives, sometimes the final chapter.

This work is not about squeezing out a little more money. It is about outcomes that truly matter.

Jerry Peters coached basketball at Memphis University School for 52 years. Over that span, he won more than one thousand games.

Pause on that for a moment. That is the equivalent of winning roughly twenty games a season for more than five decades. 

We were not playing forty game schedules. We played maybe 25 or 27 games a year. That is an extraordinary winning percentage sustained over an entire career.

He was one of fewer than ten high school coaches in the country to win one thousand games at the same school. And he was very much a Bobby Knight type. 

I never saw him throw a chair, but he was demanding, relentless, and often hypercritical. Compliments were rare. You lived for the one you might get every few weeks. 

A compliment sounded like, “That wasn’t bad.”

I had the privilege of playing for Coach Peters from 1973 to 1976. At the time, his style was hard. In hindsight, it was formative.

What set Jerry Peters apart was not just intensity. It was preparation.

We studied film. We ran offensive and defensive schemes most high school teams had never seen. We scouted opponents in detail. Shot charts. Tendencies. Who went right, who went left, who could handle pressure and who could not.

We ran track. We ran cross country. We finished practices with conditioning drills that left kids throwing up. We were in better physical condition than anyone we played. We were more prepared than anyone we played.

We routinely beat teams with far more raw talent because we understood how to disrupt them and pull them out of their comfort zone.

Before games, he would walk us through it player by player. Where shots would come from. Who we would pressure. Where traps would work.

During those years, I was the eighth or ninth man in the rotation. I watched a lot of basketball from the bench, and it was an honor to be there.

Looking back, the lesson has only grown stronger. 

Preparation matters more than talent.

We are constantly evaluating every part of our process and asking a simple question. Are we using best practices?

In an AI world, what was best practice yesterday may be very different today.

One area we have been focused on is how we identify potential buyers for our clients.

A lot of deals in our industry are exclusively marketed through listing platforms. You post it. You wait for the phone to ring.

We take a different approach. We use listing platforms, but we also build targeted buyer lists. We look for strategic buyers who are ideal candidates to acquire our client’s business. Then we reach out directly.

But that is easier said than done.

Say we have an electrical contractor client. The most logical buyer is often a larger electrical contractor in a five state region looking to expand. Similar services. Adjacent geography. Clear synergies.

So where do you find the data on private companies? What database has it? 

How do you sort and screen the information so you are not sending noise to your client?

We have gone through several iterations of different tools. Trial and error. We paid for solutions that did not deliver. Then we had to decide whether to try again with improvements or pivot entirely.

We are now on iteration number four. And we believe we finally have the right tool.

But the world is changing fast. The right solution today may not be the right one tomorrow.

So I asked the most tech savvy person on our team, someone who needed this tool to solve a real buyer list problem for a real client, to take ownership.

Ahmad Farooqi is now leading our AI assisted buyer list preparation.

He did the demos. He built the workflows. He runs the system. And because of that, we are using our team and resources at the highest level.

We are putting our money where our mouth is. There is a better way to do what we have always done. It costs money. 

But it produces better outcomes for our clients.

Pleased to share this new episode of The Deal Table featuring Dan Hunt, President of FC Dallas and Co Chair of the North Texas FIFA World Cup 2026 Organizing Committee Board.

Dan brings a rare, long horizon ownership perspective. Along with his siblings, he is an owner of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bulls, and he is the son of Lamar Hunt, one of the most influential figures in modern American sports.

We discuss the business logic behind FC Dallas, disciplined capital allocation, continuous stadium reinvestment, and how infrastructure decisions translate into durable economic impact. Dan also shares thoughtful insight on World Cup 2026 and what it means for North Texas from both an economic and civic standpoint.

As co host of the podcast, I especially appreciated the emphasis on integrity, patience, and building value over decades rather than chasing short term wins.

If you are interested in sports ownership, infrastructure, or long term investing, this episode is well worth your time.

Listen here
YouTube https://lnkd.in/grn-i5ST

Spotify https://lnkd.in/gEZjkx7H

NEW EPISODE: World Cup 2026 & Stadium Economics | Dan Hunt on FC Dallas and Long-Term Sports Investing

Dan Hunt outlines the business logic behind FC Dallas, continuous stadium reinvestment, and North Texas’ World Cup 2026 strategy. He explains how capital allocation, infrastructure upgrades, and market integrity translate into durable economic impact.

Dan Hunt | President, FC Dallas; Co-Chair, North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee Board

Available on:⁠
Youtube: https://lnkd.in/grn-i5ST
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gEZjkx7H

The Deal Table is brought to you by Harper Belmont Media & Optima Mergers & Acquisitions | Proudly sponsored by Capital Southwest

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