The Exit Gal. Follow for posts on business and leadership. Helping entrepreneurs turn their business into wealth & legacy. [3x CEO, 1x Exit, SMU lecturer, author & speaker, ex private equity consultant.]

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. Our pre seed SAFE round is now open.

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

Operate smart. Value accurately. Exit well.
Chief Rebel.

Kinza Azmat

High-EQ leaders build high-performance teams.

Here are 13 reasons why: 

1/ They regulate, not react.
↳ When the leader stays steady, the team does too.

2/ They do not micromanage.
↳ High performers do not need hand-holding, they need space and clarity.

3/ They make honesty safe.
↳ No guessing, no walking on eggshells, real talk is welcome.

4/ They ask how you are first.
↳ People show up better when they feel seen.

5/ They give tough feedback with respect.
↳ Direct lands better when the person still feels valued.

6/ They do not take everything personally.
↳ Not every bump is an attack, sometimes it is just business.

7/ They protect focus.
↳ No random fires just because someone raised their voice.

8/ They own their part when things break.
↳ Accountability at the top sets the tone for everyone else.

9/ They stay calm in the messy moments.
↳ Emotional stability spreads fast through a team.

10/ They do not punish smart risks.
↳ Innovation needs room for mistakes and learning.

11/ They respect different communication styles.
↳ Not everyone talks or processes the same and that is okay.

12/ They are willing to say when they are not okay.
↳ Real honesty builds trust faster than pretending everything is perfect.

13/ They build teams that can run without them.
↳ Real leadership is not being the hero, it is creating a system that works even when you step away.

Emotional intelligence is not soft.

It is practical.
It is strategic.
It is how you build a team that does not fall apart the moment you take a week off.

Which one hits you today? 
Drop it below 👇

♻ Repost this if it resonated with you.
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for more on building a business that grows without you.

Strong leaders are not threatened by pushback.

They grow because of it.

Real talk,
The best leaders I know are not the loudest in the room
They are the ones who make space for ideas, 
even the ideas that challenge them.

They do not shut people down.
They do not flex their title.
They do not pretend they have all the answers.

They do this instead:

1️⃣ They listen before they react
2️⃣ They ask for clarity, not comfort
3️⃣ They treat feedback like data, not drama
4️⃣ They guide the team, not control it
5️⃣ They make decisions that serve the entire organization, not their ego
6️⃣ They help people grow, even when it requires patience
7️⃣ They stay steady when things get messy
8️⃣ They inspire through their actions every single day

Strong leaders do not fear pushback

They use it to become:
- Better
- Sharper
- Clearer

If you want a team that trusts you,

Let them challenge you
Let them speak
Let them think

That is how real leadership happens.

What is one quality you think every leader needs right now?
Drop it below 👇

♻️ Repost to help more leaders build teams
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for more on growing, leading, and scaling smarter.

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

Recognition costs nothing.

But it drives results like nothing else.

People wanna feel seen.
It is a basic human need.
And when folks feel valued, they just work differently.

More effort. 
More trust. 
Less stress all around.

Here are 7 simple ways to show real appreciation that actually lands:

1/ Say their win out loud
↳ Call out the exact thing they did
↳ Keep it short so it feels natural

2/ Notice the small stuff
↳ Mention the thing they thought no one saw
↳ Tie it back to how it helped the team

3/ Send a quick note
↳ Two sentences max, so it feels real
↳ Be specific, not generic

4/ Ask for their take
↳ Give them space to talk without rushing
↳ Apply at least one thing they suggest

5/ Give credit fast
↳ Name the person in the room, not after the meeting
↳ Tell others how their work helped you

6/ Celebrate progress
↳ Call out effort, not perfection
↳ Highlight how far they came

7/ Do the real check in
↳ Put your phone down and listen
↳ Ask one simple question: “What do you need right now?”

People do their best work when they feel recognized, not ignored.
A team that feels valued stays longer, shows up better, and works with more heart.

Which one are you trying this week?
Share it in the comments 👇

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

7 Simple Ways To Appreciate Your Team

Most people wait for the perfect moment.
I moved because there isn’t one.

Fresh off the immigrant boat.
No family capital.
No favors to call in.

Just the sense that staying put meant shrinking.

I could’ve waited for the “right time.”
I could’ve convinced myself I needed more experience.
I could’ve played it safe.

But comfort is what keeps us stuck.

The traps:

❌ Thinking you need to feel ready.
Readiness comes after you start.

❌ Treating uncertainty like danger.
Most of the risk exists in your head.

❌ Waiting for confidence.
Confidence shows up once you do.

The reality:
✅ You learn faster under pressure.
✅ The bar is lower than you think.
✅ Motion creates opportunities.

Here's the 3 shifts you need to make:
1/ Take the smallest uncomfortable step.
2/ Leverage what you already know.
3/ Develop your "figure it out" muscle.

You don’t get handed certainty.
You earn it by moving.

If someone you know is waiting to be “ready,” send this to them.
They’ll get the point.

Follow Kinza Azmat for more founder truths.

LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn

li_at

JSESSIONID

Sales Navigator

Katie Ng-Mak - Private eCommerce Business in Air & Water Purification | LinkedIn

How to Delegate Like a Fortune 500 CEO

(Without Burning Out Your Team)

Delegation is the basics of running and scaling a business.
If you want your company to grow, 
You cannot be the only one holding the steering wheel.

If you want delegation that actually works in real life…

Here are the practical Do’s and Don’ts:

✅ Tell them exactly what you want
❌ Don’t give confusing tasks that feel like a puzzle
Eg: “Send me a 1-page update on deadlines by 3pm.”

✅ Explain why the task matters
❌ Don’t say “just do it” and walk away
Eg: “This helps us plan the launch properly.”

✅ Show you trust them
❌ Don’t check every minute like you are waiting for bad news
Eg: “Ping me only if something blocks you.”

✅ Let them do it their way
❌ Don’t force your way every single time
Eg: “Use whatever format works best for you.”

✅ Ask what they think
❌ Don’t act like you know everything in the room
Eg: “What do you suggest we do next?”

✅ Let them make small decisions
❌ Don’t make them wait for approval on every tiny choice
Eg: “Choose the design you prefer.”

✅ Praise good work
❌ Don’t take the credit yourself
Eg: “You nailed this, well done.”

✅ Give chances to grow
❌ Don’t keep all the big work for yourself
Eg: “You lead the client call this time.”

✅ Allow mistakes
❌ Don’t get angry when they are trying to improve
Eg: “Good try, what’s the improvement for the next round?”

✅ Help when they truly need it
❌Don’t jump in the moment that looks messy
Eg: “Tell me if you need backup.”

✅ Tell them the goal clearly
❌ Don’t control every step
Eg: “Target: 10% increase by Friday.”

✅ Support them through challenges
❌ Don’t rescue them from every problem
Eg: “What options do you see to fix this?”

✅ Give real responsibility
❌ Don’t give only boring or easy tasks
Eg: “You own delivery and timeline.”

✅ Step back once you assign it
❌ Don’t stand over their shoulder like a spotlight
Eg: “Show me when you have the first version.”

Delegation is not about pushing work onto others.
It is about building people who can help the business grow without you doing everything.

Which one do you need to work on next?
Tell me in the comments 👇

♻ Repost this to help someone who wants to scale
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter.

66% of employees would quit tomorrow.
Not for more money.
But for more appreciation.

Every exit sets your systems back months.

Knowledge lost.
Projects stalled.
Clients unsettled.
Momentum gone.

Most founders think retention sits with HR.
But it’s a leadership responsibility.

Because underappreciated people don’t just leave jobs.
They leave leaders.

Appreciation isn’t pizza Fridays or gift cards.
It’s how you treat your best people when no one’s watching.

Here’s what strong founders do instead 👇

1️⃣ Pay them what they’ve earned without waiting to be asked.
2️⃣ Ask for their input on big calls, not just updates.
3️⃣ Celebrate wins their way, some want quiet, some want spotlight.
4️⃣ Give space for their ideas, not just the loudest voices.
5️⃣ Protect them from burnout before they even mention it.

Your best people don’t want constant praise.

They want to feel - 

↳ Seen.
↳ Valued.
↳ Trusted.

Appreciation costs nothing.
Losing them costs everything.

What’s one way you make your team feel valued?
Drop it below 👇

♻️ Repost if this hit home.
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for posts on building businesses that grow without you.

What does it take to build a strong team?

Start by understanding what your people need.

Here is the breakdown:

1/ Basic Needs
↳ Fair pay, safe space, steady hours
↳ When this is met, people stop missing work from stress

2/ Security
↳ Clear roles, job stability, and honest communication
↳ People work better when they are not worried about sudden changes

3/ Belonging
↳ Real connection, trust, feeling included
↳ This is when people begin to enjoy the work and each other

4/ Recognition + Growth
↳ Appreciation, development, and clear next steps
↳ Motivation stays strong when people feel seen and supported

5/ Purpose
↳ Why the work matters, why the team exists
↳ This is where loyalty grows and good people stay long term

When these needs are met at work:

✅ They feel happier.
✅ Motivation stays high.
✅ Hiring becomes easier.
✅ People miss fewer days.
✅ Good employees stay longer.

And with the right tools and remote support, everyone gets more done with less stress.

Strong teams are not built by accident.

They are built by leaders who understand what people need, 
Not just what the job requires.

Which level do you think most workplaces skip?
Drop it below 👇

♻ Repost if you believe strong teams start with real human needs.
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter.

Motivation is a scam.
That’s not how you build a great company.

When things get hard, motivation disappears.
What keeps you going is mindset... the kind forged in repetition, not adrenaline.

Three lessons that changed how I build:

1. Discipline beats motivation.
 -> Motivation is mood-based. Systems are survival.
 -> If your business depends on inspiration, it’s already unstable.

2. Hard choices make an easier life.
 -> Every shortcut becomes tomorrow’s crisis.
 -> Do the hard thing now. It costs less later.

3. Done beats perfect.
 -> Perfection is fear in disguise.
 -> Progress happens when you ship, learn, and adjust.

The founders who last don’t chase motivation.
They build companies that run when they’re tired.

Follow Kinza Azmat for lessons from the trenches.
Repost if you’re building something that outlasts motivation.

Most micromanagers are just scared.

Scared of things slipping.
Scared of looking irrelevant.
Scared that if they step back, everything falls apart.

A business owner told me this week,
“Look, if I don’t double-check the work, my crew’s gonna mess it up.”
And honestly? I get it.

Most founders don’t wake up wanting to hover.
They just don’t trust the system to catch mistakes yet.

Micromanagement usually isn’t about control.
It’s about fear and unclear expectations.

You hover when:
 → You haven’t defined what “done right” looks like.
 → You’re sprinting without time to teach.
 → You secretly believe, no one will do it like I would.

The fix isn’t to “let go.”
It’s to build clarity so tight you don’t have to.

Start with this:
1) Write down what “good” actually means.
2) Share how decisions get made when you’re not around.
3) Let people learn through small failures instead of big disasters.

You’ll stop micromanaging the minute your team can predict what you’d want without asking.

Follow Kinza Azmat for more leadership truths. 
Repost if you forgive a leader's mistakes.

AI is the new unfair advantage for entrepreneurs. 

Use these 9 free resources to level up.

Founders keep chasing shiny tools
But AI is not about tools.

It is about learning the skills that help you:

- Improve margins
- Tighten operations
- Make faster decisions
- Reduce founder dependence
- Build a business that feels smoother and calmer

Here are 9 free AI resources worth your time:

1/ OpenAI Academy (Self paced)
↳ Learn directly from the team behind ChatGpt
↳ Helps you think in systems so your operations do not rely on you

2/ Google AI Essentials (5 hours)
↳ Remove wasted steps across your team with simple automations
↳ Perfect for founders who switch tasks a hundred times a day

3/ AWS Prompt Engineering Course (4 hours)
↳ Teaches you how to structure prompts that get real results
↳ Helpful if you want faster decisions without endless back and forth

4/ MIT Introduction to Generative AI (Self paced)
↳ Makes AI strategy easy to understand
↳ Helps you build a smoother business without adding stress

5/ Y Combinator AI Talks (Self paced)
↳ Insights from founders actually using AI
↳ Helps you avoid early mistakes while building a business that slow growth

6/ Perplexity Academy (2 hours)
↳ Teaches you how to research much faster
↳ A strong resource for founders overwhelmed by information

7/ Ideabrowser AI Case Studies (Self paced)
↳ Real examples of AI inside small businesses
↳ Cuts months of trial and error and steal what already works

8/ Google AI Business Applications (3 hours)
↳ Shows how AI improves operations inside large companies
↳ Use the same ideas to tighten workflows in your own business

9/ Microsoft AI Fundamentals (3 hours)
↳ Strong foundation without the technical overload
↳ Great for cleaner handoffs and stronger systems

AI is not here to replace your team.
It is here to make your business smoother, calmer, and more profitable.

Which one are you starting with?
Share it below 👇

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

9 Free AI Resources Every Founders Should Master

Not everyone is built for business acquisition.

But the ones who win share these 12 traits:

1/ They stay coachable
↳ They take feedback quickly and apply it without letting pride get in the way.

2/ They work past the clock
↳ Deals fall apart when effort stops the moment the workday ends.

3/ They search for the right business, not just any
↳ The wrong fit drains money, energy, and time faster than expected.

4/ They make decisions before doubt builds up
↳ Winners understand that hesitation can cost them the entire opportunity.

5/ They adjust quickly when markets shift
↳ They stay flexible so changes do not throw their plans off track.

6/ They run operations with real discipline
↳ Strong systems and steady leadership keep a business healthy long term.

7/ They protect their downside at every step
↳ Smart deal structure shields them when unexpected problems show up.

8/ They understand their numbers fully
↳ Clear financial insight helps them avoid surprises after the deal closes.

9/ They build dependable relationships
↳ Trust with brokers and sellers leads to better deals and smoother talks.

10/ They rely on systems, not endless effort
↳ Clear processes allow growth without burning out the entire team.

11/ They think far beyond the short term
↳ Real wealth comes from choices that compound over many years.

12/ They lead with confidence instead of ego
↳ Calm leadership allows the deal to move forward even in tough moments.

Buying a business is not just buying a business.
It is taking on pressure, people, and problems.
The ones who win know how to handle all of it.

Which trait lands the hardest for you today?
Let’s discuss in the comments 👇

♻️ Repost if this resonated
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for more on growing, leading, and scaling smarter.

10 AI Skills Every Founder Must Learn

(If you want to scale faster in 2026)

Most founders still treat AI like a nice-to-have skill.
But forget it’s the easiest way to save time, cut stress, and run your biz smoother.

If you want cleaner decisions and lighter days in 2026; 
Start with these 10 AI skills.

1️⃣ AI for Decision Support
↳ Ask AI to compare options with clear pros and cons.
↳ Check blind spots before you commit to a choice.

2️⃣ AI for Problem Solving
↳ Break tough problems into small, doable steps.
↳ Find faster paths instead of spinning your wheels.

3️⃣ Prompt Engineering
↳ Give AI context and examples so output stays sharp.
↳ Communicate clearly to get exactly what you need.

4️⃣ AI for Workflow Building
↳ Link tools so tasks run quietly in the background.
↳ Build routines that work even when you’re offline.

5️⃣ AI for Automation
↳ Remove repetitive tasks that drain your day.
↳ Free up time so you can focus on real growth.

6️⃣ AI for Customer Comms
↳ Draft support replies that keep your tone consistent.
↳ Build response templates so your team answers faster.

7️⃣ AI for Content Repurposing
↳ Turn one idea into a full week of content.
↳ Stay consistent without constant brainstorming.

8️⃣ AI for Research
↳ Pull insights and trends without long searches.
↳ Compare options quicker so decisions feel easy.

9️⃣ AI for Writing
↳ Turn rough drafts into clean, ready-to-send copy.
↳ Save hours by letting AI rewrite instead of you.

🔟 AI for Planning & Structuring
↳ Turn chaos into simple plans you can execute.
↳ Break big ideas into clear steps fast. 

Your days get lighter.
Your decisions get cleaner.
Your growth stops feeling like chaos.

Founders who use AI are not cutting corners.
They’re building smarter systems that scale w/o burning them out.

So founder to founder…

Which AI skill are you learning next?
Drop it below. 👇

♻ Repost to help another founder get their time back
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter.

You think messy books mean “I need better accounting.”
Buyers think it means “What else is broken?”

A business buyer I was coaching said this reviewing a seven-figure business: “It's just bank statements and vibes.”

No categorization.
No financial review cadence.
No real visibility…aside from bank balance.

I teach buyers how to interpret risk:
- Sloppy books signal sloppy operations
- Vague math means hidden problems
- If owners can’t explain numbers, surprises are guaranteed

But here’s the catch.
Messy books don’t kill deals.
They just give buyers ammo to cut price and shift risk to you.

Business owners, the message is clear.

Tighten your financials now: monthly closes, clean categories, clear docs.

And if not, take haircuts on price, terms, and let someone play with your legacy.

If a buyer can understand your books fast, they pay faster.

This is the first thing we fix in our exit readiness process for owners preparing to sell.

Repost to help more founders stop losing value over preventable chaos.

Follow Kinza for more

70% of small businesses can't sell. 
The market isn't the problem.

Investors see it constantly: 
 ⤷ unclear financials
 ⤷ owner dependency
 ⤷ businesses managed by bank balances

Most small businesses don't fail from lack of demand. 
They fail because owners operate without clean numbers, systems, or benchmarks. That creates risk investors won't touch.

It shows up three ways:
 1/ Financials that break down under scrutiny
 2/ Revenue that's concentrated, inconsistent, or tied to the owner
 3/ No repeatable processes, making growth impossible

What investors actually need:
 ⤷ Clean data & real answers
 ⤷ Teams & systems without the owner
 ⤷ Durable revenue & defensible brand

🏴‍☠ Chief Rebel fixes this at the source.

We make founder-led companies scalable and investable. 

Not consulting, a course, or another marketplace. 

But a platform for clarity and execution.

Backed by Antler in three weeks. Nearly $100M in business value on the platform since launch.

What we deliver:
 ⤷ Valuation in seconds, not weeks
 ⤷ A diagnostic that surfaces risk immediately
 ⤷ Strategic planning & tools to build a premium exit

The small business economy is huge, fragmented, and mispriced. 

Investors need better signals. Founders need control. 

Chief Rebel is the infrastructure for both.

This model comes from years on every side of the table: buying, operating, exiting, and coaching other owners through it.

Now we're raising our pre-seed.
Clean terms, strong pipeline, clear roadmap.

DM or reach out to investor@thechiefrebel.com.
Links in profile.

♻️ Share if you think American small business deserves better.

👉 Follow Kinza Azmat and stay tuned on Chief Rebel's raise.

Small Business America needs the truth.
And the tools to build with it.

Growth isn’t about speed. It’s about people. 

Profit follows when purpose leads. 

Because you can’t scale what your team doesn’t believe in.

Here are 7 ways people-first founders grow stronger businesses:

1️⃣ Listen before you fix
↳ When people feel heard, they go all in.

2️⃣ Give trust early
↳ Ownership builds faster than control ever will.

3️⃣ Celebrate small wins
↳ Progress beats perfection every time.

4️⃣ Make space for rest
↳ You don’t grow a company by burning out its builders.

5️⃣ Lead with context
↳ When people understand the “why,” they move with purpose.

6️⃣ Coach more than you correct
↳ Growth sticks when people feel guided, not judged.

7️⃣ Hire for heart, then skill
↳ You can teach skills. You can’t teach care.

The more founders lead with empathy and intention,
the stronger their culture... and the longer their growth lasts.

Because when people grow, the business follows.

Who’s one founder you’ve seen lead with people first?
Tag them below 👇

♻️ Repost this if it resonated with you.
✚ Follow Kinza Azmat for exit prep that builds businesses built to last.

Saying yes to everything is just a slow way to say no to yourself.

If you do not set the rules, everyone else will.

Real talk,

The strongest people I know are not the ones who say yes to every request.
They are the ones who know what matters
And protect it without guilt.

They do not rush to agree.
They do not give away their time to avoid tension.
They do not treat their schedule like it belongs to everyone else.

They do this instead:

1️⃣ They define their non-negotiables
↳ The things that stay on the calendar no matter what

2️⃣ They set clear office hours
↳ No late-night replies, no constant availability

3️⃣ They say “Let me check” before committing
↳ A pause that protects them from automatic yeses

4️⃣ They block focus time
↳ If it is not blocked, it gets taken

5️⃣ They create a simple no-script
↳ Clear, kind, and firm, without over-explaining.

6️⃣ They choose opportunities based on return, not pressure
↳ Only say yes to what clearly moves them forward.

7️⃣ They delegate what drains their energy
↳ Refuse to carry what others can own.

8️⃣ They protect their weekends
↳ Rest is scheduled as fuel, not treated as a luxury.

Strong people do not avoid boundaries.
They build them so they can think, grow, and lead with clarity.

If you want a life that feels lighter,

Let people adjust.
Let people wait.
Let people figure things out without you.

You cannot build your future if everyone else is writing your schedule.

What is one boundary you are learning to hold right now?
Share it below 👇

♻️ Repost to help someone protect their time
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for more on growing, leading, and scaling smarter.

Sellers try to lock in a number.
Banks decide whether it holds.

A friend trying to buy a business shared her frustrations with the seller:
“He insisted no more price changes. ”

A week later, updated financials changed the whole deal.
Buyers can’t protect your price from new facts.
They inherit the consequences.

So she told him what he didn't expect to hear:
“I can’t promise I’ll protect your price. New information changes the deal.”
Price confidence means nothing if the numbers shift under pressure.

Stress-test your numbers now.
If you can’t explain a fluctuation simply, you need to fix it before diligence...
not during it.

And if you want your future price to hold through bank diligence, our exit readiness process is built for that.

Repost this so more founders understand how deals actually get priced.
Follow Kinza for grounded advice on building sellable companies.

Profit ≠ Success.

Unless you want to be scaling losses.

I see founders celebrate profit...
While their cash quietly bleeds out the back door.

The P&L says growth.
The bank balance says otherwise.

Here’s what’s really happening 

1. OpEx: what it costs to run the business
↳ Salaries, rent, software. These are the essentials that keep operations alive.
↳ Cut too deep, and your systems, people, and productivity can collapse overnight.

2. CapEx: what it costs to build the business
↳ New equipment, infrastructure, or assets that strengthen your long-term foundation.
↳ They can become strategic bets that compound over years or heavy drains if timing or execution is off.

3. RevEx: what it costs to earn revenue
↳ Ads, commissions and delivery costs. All the moving parts that bring money in the door.
↳ When this category spikes faster than revenue, your “profit” on paper hides a dangerous cash illusion..

4. FinEx: what it costs to borrow money
↳ Loan interest, investor payouts and bank fees. The silent taxes of scaling through leverage.
↳ Ignore them too long, and your growing debt quietly consumes every bit of real cash you earn.

One founder I worked with had 30% margins on paper...
But was losing $18K a month in RevEx and FinEx leaks.
Same revenue, negative cash flow.

We rebuilt their expense model.
Six months later, same top line, positive cash.

That’s real profit.

3 reminders for every founder chasing “growth”:

→ Cash flow is truth.
→ Know your 4 expense buckets.
→ Scale cash, not chaos.

So founder to founder,

When was the last time you checked where your money actually goes?
Let’s discuss in the comments. 👇

♻ Repost this to help another founder spot their cash leaks.
✅ Follow Kinza Azmat for real strategies to grow, scale, and sell smarter.

Your business is not your retirement plan.

It’s your leverage to build one.

A business can change fast.

Markets shift.
Clients pause.
Cash flow dips.

But here’s what most founders forget…

Your business gives you income.
Your financial plan gives you freedom.

Two different jobs.
Same mission.

Most folks I meet aren’t struggling with growth.
But, they struggle with concentration risk.

They pour everything back into the business…

Ride the highs…
Absorb the lows…
And hope it all pays off someday.

But hope is not a plan.
Especially when your whole life sits on one source of income.

Here’s what the smartest founders do instead:

1️⃣ They treat saving like payroll.
2️⃣They build wealth outside the business.
3️⃣ They keep their lifestyle safe even when revenue wobbles.

Your business can fund your future.
But it shouldn’t be the only future you have.

Make money in the business.
Build wealth outside it.

What’s one thing you’re doing now to take pressure off your business income?
Drop it below 👇

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

10 EBITDA mistakes most CEOs still make.

And they do not realize how risky they are.

EBITDA looks, 

→ Clean.
→ Simple.
→ Comforting even.

But it can fool you so fast if you treat it like the full story.

Here are the mistakes that get CEOs into trouble:

1️⃣ Treating EBITDA like cash
↳ A company can show strong EBITDA and still have very little money.
Fix: Check cash flow first. Then check EBITDA.

2️⃣ Ignoring one time gains
↳ A random boost makes the number look better than it really is.
Fix: Strip out anything that does not happen every month.

3️⃣ Forgetting upcoming big costs
↳ Repairs, taxes, upgrades... EBITDA does not warn you at all.
Fix: Build a simple list of future cash hits and review it weekly.

4️⃣ Taking on more debt because EBITDA looks solid
↳ The number stays pretty while debt climbs all the way up.
Fix: Track debt payments and interest as real cash outflows.

5️⃣ Adding back everything
↳ If every cost becomes an “add back,” the number stops being real.
Fix: Only add back items that truly are non recurring.

6️⃣ Ignoring margin drop
↳ Flat EBITDA with falling margins is a quiet red flag.
Fix: Watch margin trend every month, not just the final number.

7️⃣ Comparing to companies that do not match
↳ Bad comparisons create bad decisions.
Fix: Compare only to similar size, industry, and model.

8️⃣ Forgetting working capital
↳ Inventory, receivables, payables... EBITDA misses all of it.
Fix: Track working capital like it is vital. Because it is.

9️⃣ Thinking EBITDA equals valuation
↳ Buyers look at cash, debt, and risk. Not just one clean number.
Fix: Use EBITDA as a signal, not a final price.

🔟 Trusting EBITDA as the truth
↳ It is a tool. Not the full picture.
Fix: Pair EBITDA with cash flow, margins, and debt health.

EBITDA is helpful, but it is only one piece.

Smart CEOs check the parts of the business that actually move money.

Which of these mistakes do you see founders make the most?
Drop it below. 👇

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

Brian Dordevic

Delivering profitable web design with SEO first approach. Official Google partner.

I started as a $4/hr offshore virtual assistant and became a USA citizen & business owner.

I help you generate more profit with your existing traffic efforts by optimizing conversion rates, improving your site speed & content strategy.

Chief Executive Officer

As the CEO of Alpha Efficiency, I steer the strategic direction of the company while managing an expanding team of 30+ professionals, spearheading growth initiatives, and driving operational efficiency.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) & Achievements:

Team Leadership & Management: Championed a culture of performance and accountability that led to a 35% boost in operational efficiency. Regularly oversee talent acquisition and retention strategies to ensure our team is well-equipped for success.

SEO & Content Management: Supervised the creation and execution of our SEO strategy, which saw a remarkable 60% surge in organic website traffic within six months, augmenting our brand's digital visibility.

Paid Media Strategies: Pioneered the deployment of innovative paid media campaigns, resulting in a 50% increase in brand awareness and a 30% rise in customer acquisition, significantly expanding our market footprint.

Performance Benchmarking: Developed and implemented performance benchmarks to ensure constant progress. The systematic monitoring of these metrics brought about a 20% improvement in overall productivity.

Stakeholder Management: Successfully maintained robust relationships with key stakeholders, attaining a 90% satisfaction rate, testament to our commitment to delivering value and fostering transparency.

Financial Management: Maintained stringent control over fiscal operations, consistently delivering profitability and surpassing financial objectives by 15% in the previous year, solidifying our position in the market.

This multifaceted role requires a delicate balance of leadership, strategic thinking, and operational excellence. It's my mission to continue propelling Alpha Efficiency forward, driving sustainable growth, and adding value for our stakeholders.

Most web devs ship the site and disappear.

Client is left with:

• Title tag: “Just another WordPress site”
• /wp-admin begging to get hacked
• No favicon, no brand memory

Client never checks this stuff.
But Google and bots do.

Amateurs build pages.
Pros protect assets.

Be the dev who makes them money and keeps them safe.

Helping Law Firms increase local AI SEO visibility and maximize perceived reputation | Hubspot, Google & SEMRush Partner | View my portfolio for inspiration

Here is how my web design agency hit $500,000 this year (without burning out and drowning in sales calls):

1. Build an infinitely recurring offer

We stopped selling random projects.
We focused on three core outcomes:

• Tech stack we can support for years
• Clear care plan attached to each client
• Design that loads fast and CONVERTS

Every new website came with maintenance baked in, not as an optional extra.

This moved us from 80% one time revenue to 80% RECURRING revenue. 

Life gets easier when you know where your next payment is coming from.

2. Then we stacked layered recurring revenue

Instead of pitching “full service marketing” up front, we did:

• Website first
• Then Local SEO
• Then email automations
• Then grow into ads management

One win at a time.

Clients stayed because each layer made their funnel more profitable, not more complicated.

3. Make recurring work feel like a product, not chaos

We treated retainers like products:

• Fixed deliverables
• Fixed reporting rhythm
• Fixed weekly meeting cadence

Clients knew what was happening every month.
Team knew what to ship every week.
This killed most of the “emergency” calls.

4. Do the hard things competitors avoid

While others chased AI short term tactics to avoid hard work, we:

• Fixed technical SEO properly
• Cleaned tracking and analytics
• Optimized page speed and UX
• Talked to clients’ intake teams about lead quality

Unsexy work.

But it is what moved revenue for clients and made our retainers untouchable.

5. Turn happy clients into a referral engine

We did not beg for referrals.
We engineered them:

• Case studies that show revenue growth
• Simple “Who do you know like X?” asks
• Partner deals with vendors already serving our clients

Result: referrals drove more revenue than cold outreach.

6. Protect energy, not just profit

To avoid dying on sales calls, we:

• Had short, focused discovery calls
• Said “no” to clients who wanted chaos
• Used templates and checklists to scope fast
• Pre qualified leads through forms and content

Fewer calls.
Better clients.
More energy for actually building.

If you run a service business and want to turn it into a recurring revenue machine without living on sales calls, reply “SYSTEM” and I will send you a breakdown you can implement in your agency.

Corporate HATES remote work.

That's why my team loves our 100% remote agency (and ZERO commute).

Yet that doesn't stop us from:

• Driving around $2,000,000 in revenue for a disability law firm
• Shipping enterprise grade web development for a major non profit
• Adding over $4,000,000 in revenue for a home improvement business

All delivered from laptops in Ibiza, Paris, Palma de Mallorca and Chicago.

No HQ. No fancy boardroom. No glass tower with a logo on it.

Just:

• A MacBook
• Nitro cold brew
• Blazing fast internet
• Senior operators who care more about results than clocking in

Here is what we do not have:

• Office politics
• Pointless water cooler talk
• Commutes that drain everyone before work even starts

Here is what we do have:

• Deep work
• Fast shipping cycles
• Clients who measure us on revenue, not timesheets

Remote is not an excuse for lower standards.
For us it is the reason we can focus on the only thing that matters: 

RESULTS.

Want to see what this kind of fully remote operation produces?

Check out our portfolio!

No alternative text description for this image

People flex with watches.
But owning your time is the real flex.

Most people signal status with what is on their wrist.
I use mine to remember I never want to sell my time again.

I own three watches:

• A $1,000 Apple Watch Ultra
• A $5,000 Breitling
• A $500 Tissot

You would think I wear the Breitling the most.

I do not.

The Apple Watch used to run my life.
Notifications. Activity rings. Constant pressure to do more.

It made me productive.
It did not make me free.

Then two clients came along.

We built and scaled their crypto platform.
Those projects alone brought over $200,000 for Alpha Efficiency.

As a thank you, they sent me the Tissot.
Paid for in crypto. (reminder that tech moves fast)

That watch did something the Apple Watch never could:

It disconnected my self worth from the clock.

I stopped timing my workouts.
Stopped checking messages every few minutes.
Stopped living by notifications.

Every time I look at that Tissot, it reminds me:

• Technology should serve you, not own you
• One right deal can buy you years of optionality
• Your time is a reflection of the clients you choose

Later I bought the Breitling to prove something.
To myself. To the industry. To people who play status games.

It mostly sits at home now.

Because the real status upgrade was not the luxury brand. It was a regulated nervous system.

Learning how to get clients that pay you so well that you stop trading hours for money.

That is the game I care about teaching.

If you want more clients like that, and fewer that drain your energy and calendar,
I broke down my systems inside Infinite Deals.

It is where I document how I:

• Attract high ticket clients online
• Buy back more of my own time each year
• Turn a few great projects into multiple six figures

The watch is just a reminder.

The real asset is the skill of getting the right deals.

Developer made $3,246 mistake that blew up our advertising budget. (And the easy fix no one talks about)

When I worked at eTech, the SEO team pushed a site update in the middle of the day...

• No warning
• No coordination
• Just a routine update

Except it crashed the website.

And our Google Ads kept spending.

For three straight hours, every click went to a dead page.

By the time the site came back up, we burned $3,246 on nothing.

That one screw-up taught me a rule I still follow today:

Never send PPC traffic to your main website.
Ever.

Use a landing page platform that doesn’t break when someone edits a menu, updates a plugin, or pushes a deploy.

That’s why I run everything on HubSpot landing pages now.

Cleaner. Faster. Safer. Built for conversion, not chaos.

Here’s what it gives you:

• Your ads keep running even if your site goes down
• Predictable performance while others burn money
• A/B tests without asking a dev to push code
• Tracking that doesn’t leak data
• No SEO signal pollution
• Faster load speeds
• No team collisions

Three hours.
Three thousand two hundred forty six dollars.

One rule that never fails me.

If you're running paid traffic, book a call with me on ways I can setup your Google and Meta Ads for success. (Link in comments)

Landed in Chicago 12 years ago (photo from THE South Side)

Rented room
Cracked laptop 
Safety Net ZERO

No investors. No agency mastermind.
Just wifi and the decision to figure it out.

Fast forward.
Last quarter my agency helped clients add multiple seven figures in revenue.

Concrete wins, not theory:

• Around $2,000,000 in revenue for a disability law firm
• Over $4,000,000 in revenue for a home improvement company
• Enterprise grade web development shipped for a major non profit

None of that happened by accident.

Here is the operating system behind it:

Pick a painful problem

I focused on lawyers and local pros.
When their leads stop, payroll hurts.
Solve that consistently and they remember your name.

Sell the smallest real win

Not a massive “done for you everything” promise.
Just one clear outcome: Website + Local SEO sprint.

Easy yes.

Once they see it working, bigger checks make sense.

Create proof in public

Endless hundreds of proposals on Upwork
Daily posts on X and LinkedIn
Documenting what works

The content brings people in already half sold.

Let systems do the follow up

HubSpot workflows, intent data, and simple pipelines.
No “just checking in” energy.

Prospects move through a process whether I am online or not.

Stack rare skills

AI, technical SEO, CRO, local search.
Enough depth to solve hard problems.
Enough range to connect the whole funnel.

Treat cash like oxygen

Weekly money reviews.
Profit targets.
I built for boring predictability instead of viral spikes.

Borrow other people’s trust

Partner with vendors who already serve attorneys.
They send us their clients.
We send them better performing websites.

Everyone wins.

If you are in a new city, with no network and nothing but a laptop, you do not need permission.

Steal one of these.
Stack all seven.

Then let the internet do what it does best:
Turn specific skills into an agency that quietly prints results.

Your pal, Brian
P.S. I'm getting that hairline BACK.

The first time I “celebrated” Thanksgiving, I was not even in America.
I was in a small apartment in Serbia.

Cracked laptop. Weak WiFi.
Working remotely for an American tech company for $700 per month.

On my screen I saw what Thanksgiving was supposed to look like.

Big tables. Big families. Big bird in the middle.
Football on TV. Warm light. Full plates.

On my side of the screen?

Cheap food.
Cold apartment.
Trying to make the numbers work so I could get to that country one day.

Back then, Thanksgiving felt like another planet.

And here is what always fascinated me about it:

On Thursday, everyone is grateful.
On Friday, everyone loses their mind over fake discounts.

• Same people
• Same houses
• Different tabs open

They say a prayer over the turkey, then twenty four hours later they fight over televisions that were “discounted” after the price was quietly increased.

While that was happening, I was grinding for $700, trying to answer a much simpler question:

“How do I build a life where gratitude is not a costume I wear once a year?”

So I did the only thing I could control.
I stopped waiting for a good break.
I started becoming more valuable.

SEO. Content. Design. Systems.
Anything that made me harder to replace than the next resume in the pile.

One skill at a time.
One client at a time.
One small win at a time.

Then came the leap.

• I moved to the U.S.
• Built a 20 person SEO team.
• Drove over a million dollars in organic calls.
• Started my own agency.
• Hit consistent six figure months.

The plates at Thanksgiving look very different now.

But here is the part most people miss:

Gratitude is not what you post on Thursday.
Gratitude is the work your past self did when nobody watched.
The sacrifices nobody clapped for.

The discipline that did not get likes and comments.

Your former self paid the price.
You live the upside.

So the real question is not “What are you thankful for this year?”

The real question is:
Are you living in a way that makes your past sacrifices worth it?

This Thanksgiving I am giving back.

While many throw out Fake Discounts and hope you won’t notice.
I am running my best sale yet. One that will change your life if you act on it.

My Substack yearly plan includes my two best selling courses - (people valued them at $349). Link to my substack is in the comments.

Infinite Deals - That teaches you how to get clients on repeat.
Profitable Websites from Scratch - That teaches you how to build websites that convince AI and Google that your website is the real deal.

Add the community, and you’ll get all of this for $99. I am pulling this offer 23:59 EST. And won’t run it again. Sign up on my Substack profile and DM me your email for the bonuses.

A decade-old SEO is sold as an AI breakthrough.

And somehow, everyone’s acting like they’ve uncovered a hidden variable.

• 90% of “AI visibility” is just SEO.
• One lucky mention doesn’t make you relevant.
• The “new tactics” are just retrieval doing it's thing.

5 pieces last week shattered the illusion that AI changed everything:

1. Your "AI Strategy" is "Just SEO" with Better Marketing

Behind the hype, AI visibility still depends on the same technical foundations that power traditional search. Most supposed breakthroughs are just old SEO principles dressed as something new. 
https://hubs.la/Q03WywpV0

2. ChatGPT Turns Shopping Into a Personalized Research Engine

ChatGPT now adapts to your product preferences in real time. Shopping becomes a guided conversation powered by real-time data and personalized context. 
https://hubs.la/Q03WyCl10

3. The Hidden Cost Behind “Fast and Cheap” SEO

SEO still runs on the same triangle of time, cost, and quality, and cutting corners always comes back as rework and lost visibility. 
https://hubs.la/Q03Wyy5s0

4. A 50% Deletion Test Boosted Traffic Instead of Killing It

Deleting over half a site’s content sounds reckless, but this audit proved the opposite. Removing 1,000 outdated, low-value pages boosted organic traffic, tightened funnel performance, and raised conversions.
https://hubs.la/Q03WyzRR0

5. $227M Went Into the Wrong AI SEO Trend

Investors poured millions into LLM monitoring while the real defensibility sat in agentic SEO tools. The competitive edge is in shipping faster, better, and across more channels.  
https://hubs.la/Q03Wyv050

Clarity and structure have carried brands for years.

But the pressure to use them is rising...

If you want yours to hold up, join me on a quick call: https://hubs.la/Q03Wyvqh0

Why 99% Stay Addicted and 1% Get Rich

When I was a kid, technology was a TV in the living room and a plastic shovel in the sandbox.

Today I walked past my old kindergarten and remembered how we used to dig holes in the playground.

• No apps
• No screens
• No notifications

Just dirt, tiny shovels, and a group of kids trying to reach the center of the earth.

Now look around.

Heads down. Blue light. Infinite scroll.

We removed boredom from life, and with it a lot of real growth.

Yet your entire financial future depends on attention.

If you cannot capture and direct attention, you are invisible.
If you can, you are playing a different game.

When I quit my job, it was not bravery. It was math.

I knew I could take a stranger from the internet and turn them into a paying client often enough that I would be fine.

• Not warm leads
• Not referrals

Cold traffic.

That one skill quietly funded my life:

• Training without guilt
• Travel without panic about money
• Good restaurants instead of counting every bill
• Time to think while my team and AI agents do the boring parts

None of that came from hacks.
It came from learning how to turn cold to closed.

Most people treat Black Friday as a chance to buy another screen.

New gadget
Same income
Same calendar
Same problems

If I could only buy one thing on Black Friday, it would not be hardware.
It would be the skill of converting cold attention into buyers.

Once you can turn:

Stranger to visitor
Visitor to booked call
Call resulting in a paying client

You stop worrying about opportunity. You decide when to turn it on.

That is what I am teaching in alphaOS.

How I think about attention.
How I structure offers so strangers get it in seconds.
How I turn cold traffic into booked calls.
How I run most of it from my phone with a lean team.
How doctors, lawyers, dentists and other local businesses can plug this into what they already sell.

For Black Friday I opened a short presale on Substack (on yearly plan).

You get included with Substack annual subscription:

• Access to a community for a full year (where you can ask me questions)
• Profitable Websites from Scratch (my web design course)
• Infinite Deals (how to turn prospects into clients)

You are already surrounded by overstimulated attention.

The only real question is whether you keep donating yours, or turn it into income.

There is a 44% chance your lawyer is an addict.
Not to alcohol, but to “no new cases” at 1:13 AM.

36% of attorneys screen positive as problem drinkers.
9% report prescription drug misuse.
And no stats for illegal drugs use...

That is one in two.

What pushes them there?

Not the hours
Not the verdicts
Not even the clients

It is the gap between running their own practice vs. being burnt down by corporate management.

Those that went solo suffer when: 

• The phone does not ring
• There is no next case in sight
• Payroll is coming and cash is not

Those that are in corporate are drinking through: 

• Persuasive arguments
• Worrying about the appointed judge
• Client that lied to them in disposition

Those that left Big Law for freedom, quietly count credit karma drops and debt.

Those that stayed worry about their spouse secretly despising them for being absent. (and filing divorce paperwork)

If only they could pick and choose their cases...

The best source of new cases is already decided for them:

• AI Search
• Google Ads
• Google Maps
• Local Service Ads

When someone prompts “disability lawyer New York” or “estate planning attorney Chicago” they are not looking for content...

They are looking for a lawyer.
NOW.

Yet most firms are barely investing into these channels. Or they tried once, burned money, and walked away.

It's not that search doesn't work..
But their investment in it is not.

• No call tracking
• No real lead magnet
• No intake automation

Just a generic homepage and a lonely “Contact us” button that doesn't get any clicks.

So even when Google actually sends them a live prospect, the visitor bounces, gets distracted, or calls a competitor with a better offer, clearer next step, or faster intake.

If half of the energy spent worrying about money went into building one predictable search engine pipeline, a lot of partners would sleep better and drink less.

Here is what the calm firms do differently:

• Treat AI, Google Maps, LSAs and Ads like rent, not a lottery ticket
• Use a clear lead magnet that filters and warms up prospects
• Track every call and form so they know what works
• Turn that data into a repeatable acquisition system

Predictability is the real antidote.
And no engine creates more predictable intent than AI & search.

If you are a lawyer and want to see why your firm is not getting a steady flow of cases from Google Maps, Local Service Ads and Google Ads, comment AUDIT and I will show you exactly where the leaks are in your funnel.

16 years in SEO. 

This is the biggest opportunity I’ve seen.

AI pushed the industry into a reset.

And the advantage moved with it.

These are 5 signals from last week redefining the landscape:

1. You’re Late to SEO. That’s Your Advantage in 2025

If you're only starting now, you get to skip unlearning a decade of tricks. Ride AI tools, and go straight to long-tail keywords that will actually bring you customers. 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNLs70
 
2. AI Sends 1% of Traffic and Controls Most Customers

The new Conductor report reveals AI referrals are tiny in volume but huge in influence, shaping which brands customers trust before they even think about clicking through. 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNBqs0

3. The Smartest Brands Use AI Like a Scalpel, Not a Firehose 
 
If most of your AI effort vanished, would your customers feel the difference, or would your marketing still sound like everyone else’s? That’s your real AI strategy audit. 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNGWB0 

4. Google’s AI Now Shops for Your Customers, Are You Still on the Shelf?

With Search and Gemini comparing options and closing purchases, the brands that earn the spot are the ones the AI sees as the safest, smartest “yes.” 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNFlG0

5. AI Is Killing Data Silos and Forcing Your Team to Share One Customer Reality

As AI connects signals across every system, it also pushes you from tool-centric reporting to a single shared view of the customer that no team can dodge. 
https://hubs.la/Q03TNymt0

Your brand has a split second to make sense. Let's use it wisely. 

Pick a time and upgrade the moment: https://hubs.la/Q03TNLrj0

alpha-efficiency

act-leadership

fleetwoodlimousineworldwide

cult-of-traffic

digitalcash2go

web-design-chicago-agency

Talks about #ppc, #seo, #webdesign, #ppcmarketing, and #webdevelopment

Add $60,247 per month for your law practice with AI-driven local SEO (without blowing up your Advertising budget). | Hubspot, Google & SEMRush Partner | View my portfolio for inspiration and revenue-generating ideas.

taplio

The Battle

Kinza Azmat

Brian Dordevic

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreKinza Azmat's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreBrian Dordevic's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Kinza Azmat

Brian Dordevic

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Kinza Azmat's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreBrian Dordevic's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreKinza Azmat's LinkedIn Performance