Seth Yakatan

Raising & Selling 📈 $1B+ Raised 💰 22 Companies Sold 🤝

Are you struggling to communicate your vision to the capital gatekeepers?

Are you exploring selling your business but don’t know anything about:
✘ Due diligence
✘ Term sheets
✘ Earnouts

Friend, you're lucky you found me...

I'm Seth Yakatan.

I have 30-odd years experience as a corporate finance professional.

My specialties are:
💰 Raising money
🤝 Selling companies

And I’m f**king good at it.

I’ve raised over $1B and sold 22 businesses.

My career has mostly been supporting small-cap and major corporations seeking capital to grow, or
to find strategic acquirers.

Most of these companies are in: 
— biotech
— cannabis
— pharmaceuticals
— DTC consumer goods

I’ve been on boards, taken companies public, gone up against multinational corporations, raised from VC and PE funds.

All of it. 
Many times over.
Whatever your problem is, I’ve seen it before.

But let me level with you:

What I REALLY love is helping people to get to the finish line.

Talking to entrepreneurs excites me.

But in my experience, entrepreneurs are mostly s**t at raising capital and selling companies.

** They just don’t understand investors **

And that’s where I come in.

Together, we workshop: 
✔ Your pitch
✔ Your deck
✔ Your strategy 

And help you raise the capital to GROW and SELL your business.

If you need this help—and almost every business does—send me a DM.

Like, now.

Don't lose another potential investor or acquirer with the wrong pitch.

Seth ✌️

Co-Founder

Merchant Bank / Advisory / Family Office

While politicians are arguing about hemp, Kratom is being sold as a “natural wellness supplement.”

But let’s STOP pretending.

This is NOT chamomile tea.

This is NOT “plant-based stress relief.”

This is an unregulated opioid analogue with street-corner quality control.

And it’s ending up in gas stations, smoke shops, and TikTok “self-care” feeds.


>> Whats Happening?

Kratom is being sold everywhere with little to no restrictions.

And, IMO, it is DANGEROUS.

It contains mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, compounds that we know:

→ Bind to mu-opioid receptors
→ Produce opioid-like euphoria and sedation

And it creates tolerance and withdrawal patterns basically indistinguishable from low-grade opioid dependence.

California’s Department of Public Health just issued a formal advisory (NR25-016) warning that:

Kratom products are ILLEGAL to manufacture and sell in the state.

Claims about pain, anxiety, or withdrawal treatment are unproven.

And that multiple fatal overdoses have already been linked to kratom in Los Angeles County

This is not “maybe dangerous.”…this is DOCUMENTED harm.


>> Why This Matters?

OxyContin addiction didn’t start because people wanted to get high.

It started because people were in pain, desperate & were told something was safe and “less addictive.”

We have seen this movie before and I know exactly how it plays out.

Kratom is unregulated, inconsistently dosed and frequently adulterated.

And marketed using the same language pattern that launched the opioid epidemic:

“Natural”, “Safer than pharmaceuticals”, “Helps with withdrawal”

The result is people self-dosing their way straight into dependency.

Not because they’re reckless.

But because the product is designed to look harmless.

And the supply chain knows exactly what it’s doing....


>> What Am I Watching?

The pattern is repeating: 

Normalization via wellness marketing (“It’s just a plant.”)

Distribution concentrated in deregulated retail (Vape shops, convenience stores, social media DMs.)

Dependence masked as “daily routine" (Users don’t realize they’re sick until they stop.)

Regulators reacting only after deaths accumulate.

If we wait for “more data,” we are doing nothing more than running the Purdue Pharma playbook in slow motion.

This is not a supplement it’s an unregulated opioid with branding.

Kratom should not be sold.
Kratom should not be normalized.
Kratom should not be framed as “self-care.”
Kratom should be STOPPED.

When you want to push the boundary, what do you do?

TRY HARDER.
 
So I am honored to announce my latest collaboration with Fat Nugs Magazine x Seth Yakatan: A New Live Industry Series

>>> WHAT ?
I'm teaming up with Fat Nugs Magazine to launch a brand-new live discussion series spotlighting cannabis products and brands. 
 
And to start we're tackling pre-rolls - a category whose growth cannot be denied.

>>> WHO ?
Andrew Wells
Cesar Angobaldo
Courtney Zalewski
Fernando Bent-Mullings
Mei-Ling Campbell
Timeka Drew
Catherine Sidman
Luna Stower, MAT, CG ✨

>>> WHEN ? 

The series kicks off with its first episode Thursday, November 20th at 11AM EST/ 8AM PST.

FNM Presents: Voices of the Plant w/ Seth Yakatan
Preroll Edition 
Business. Culture. Community.

 
Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/geV4jVmy 

& MARK YOU CALENDARS for Thursday, November 20th at 11AM EST/ 8AM PST.

You want your 15 minutes of fame?

Then find me and my man Lance C. Lambert ✓ in VEGAS....

My friends at Fat Nugs Magazine have made the questionable decision of giving me a camera and a microphone (LOOK OUT!!!)

Fat Nugs Magazine  x PufCreativ event, Light Up Las Vegas, is going to be 🔥 

Me + Lance, badass activations, the food, infused beverages, live art, live music from John Shute's band, Bubala, the Faces of Cannabis, and I GOT A MIC!!!

Fat Nugs Magazine
John Shute, MBA
PufCreativ

Well folks, I have to admit that I was WRONG… I know, SHOCKER 😱

About 3 months ago I put up a post on AYR Wellness.

I said RIP…

But suddenly, AYR has come back from the dead…

Last week AYR Wellness Inc. announced that it was going to initiate CCAA proceedings. 


>> What's Happening?

On November 17, core assets of AYR’s subsidiaries will be transitioned to a newly formed acquisition vehicle (NewCo) owned by certain AYR senior note holders.

Basically this means that the lenders are going to run the company to try to get a recovery.

This is the same thing we’ve seen with several other companies…


>> Why is it Relevant?

1. Note trend
2. See #1

Just another case of investors taking the keys and trying to operate…


>> What Am I Watching?

This is about the fourth version of this flavor, will see if it tastes any different.

This industry has now become an SOP for the ‘equitization of debt and operate’ strategy…

Grabbing popcorn….

Hit the Debt Wall Jokes in the comments please.

Getting pumped for earnings season ???

WELL I AM...

Talking about Q2 a while back with the squad from 

The Dales Report

How do you think that that Q3 is going to look ???

Hit me in the Comments....

and thank you Shadd Dales + Anthony Varrell

You enjoy your freedom ?

Then thank a VETERAN...

I am honored that members of my family have proudly served to ensure that my butt can. go get a burger fries and a coke...

Lets give it up for a REAL AMERICAN HERO...

Evan Hunt

Evan is a:

— Decorated 20-year veteran and combat aviator
— Community and business leader
— Texas family man
and has NO AGENDA other than his SERVICE !

He's running for U.S. Congress in Texas as a Democrat. 

He's taking on MAGA extremism and wants to recapture the House in 2026.

You can donate to help his cause here: https://lnkd.in/gQana6Wu

Who keeps me bullish?

Wyld & Aaron Morris

In ANY other industry, THAT'S A ROLL-UP PLATFORM.

General Catalyst (CALL ME)

Thanks to the gents From the Weeds to the Clouds - Michael Krefman + Michael Peterson

Do you have a functioning company?

i.e. Are you generating CASH FLOW??

Then consider yourself SUCCESSFUL, because you are in the MINORITY
in c@nnabis.

So what advice do I give you....???

Well with 5 companies over $150M in revenue in receivership...

1. STAY IN IT
2. STAY IN IT
3. STAY IN IT!!!

And thanks to my friend Scott Greiper for moderating a great panel....

The 5 Stages of Grief: Cannabis Edition


Stage 1: Denial

For everyone: The initial shock and disbelief that loss has occurred, acting as a buffer against overwhelming emotions.

For us: The initial shock that prices are NOT going to stay high forever and act as a buffer against the mountain of debt raised.


Stage 2: Anger

For everyone: A natural reaction to loss, where one may feel frustration, resentment, or rage at the situation.

For us: Manifests in yelling at A/R collections, city counsel meetings, boardrooms, or in the comments on LinkedIn.


Stage 3: Bargaining

For everyone: Negotiate with fate or a higher power to undo the loss, often involving phrases like "If only..." or "What if...".

For us: “Well I can just SELL the license, not pay taxes, not pay suppliers, vendors, employees or investors and get my creditors to amend and extend, plus FEDERAL HAS TO come soon, right??”


Stage 4: Depression

For everyone: Feelings of sadness, despair, and hopelessness set in as the reality of the loss becomes clearer.

For us: This market SUCKS, this industry SUCKS, these people SUCK, this government SUCKS. 


Stage 5: Acceptance

For everyone: Reach a point where the loss is acknowledged and understood, and one begins to adapt to the new reality.

For us: Lower prices, market volatility, hope for “catalysts” and a maybe we never get a Federal “save”.

Plus, all this s**t I’m eating is making my stomach stronger!

Did this resonate with anyone??

Hit those comments.

Want to see me in a SUIT???

Well if you are Inside the Beltway today there is a CHANCE...

You'll find me in my clown suit, all dressed up for my crew at IgniteIt Cannabis.

See you today in the District for my photo opp.

Use my link and get in at a discount: https://lnkd.in/e45zHKrW

I Failed As An Odds Maker
And almost got run out of Vegas as a result !!!

What I Thought ??? 
I used to believe I could predict things. 
I thought outcomes were logical: 
Markets mature THEN prices stabilize 
Regulators see tax revenue AND regulation eases 
Consumers migrate to legal markets WHILE illicit fades 
Capital flows to efficiency LETTING good operators win 
None of that happened.

What I Learned ??? 
Regulation became politics: NOT economics 
Taxation became punishment: NOT policy 
Consumers followed availability: NOT governance 
And capital flowed to the loudest or biggest: NOT the best
So, I tried to be an odds maker and failed..

What Did I Learn ??? 
The cannabis and hemp space is not a market it's a game of unlocks: 
Access unlocks: Who can sell where 
Distribution unlocks: Who gets shelf space 
On-Premise unlocks: Who gets to shape consumer behavior 
Regulatory unlocks: Which side of the line you operate on

The people who win are not the ones with the best products
They're the ones with the best positioning when the unlock happens
I wasn’t wrong about the demand…I was wrong about the sequencing

So I failed as an odds maker, and changed my lens 

I stopped predicting when something will change 
I started positioning for what happens when it does 

I don’t need to guess the date Congress wakes up 
I just need to be on the board when they do
You don’t have to be an oddsmaker… 
You just have to be aligned when the unlock hits. 
And that’s a game I like my odds in.

Today I give THANKS...

That I am not a Turkey...although some of you might beg to differ....

Thats it...

Happy Holidays !!!

And make sure you tell someone you love them today....

Here’s the big thing I learned from the hemp ban:

First, NO ONE has been louder than me about the coming “inflection.”

Well…maybe I’m the dumbest guy on the internet…

Let’s break down why:


>> The Good

The Farm Bill allowed for the ubiquitous distribution of these molecules.

Loophole/Grey Area/ Unintended consequence, I don’t care what you think about that.

Putting the MOLECULES on Main Street and in the mail was NOT the intent.

But guess what, the consumer chose….the MOLECULES. 


>> The Bad

Cannabis is demonized, marginalized and constrained.

Produce, manufacture and sell in limited silos in specific areas in selected states.

Want to purchase? Go to the crappiest part of town where they put airports, chop shops and strip clubs.

Banking? Forget it. Normalization? Sure as soon as there is a dispensary on Rodeo Drive.


>> The Ugly

Once the Farm Bill allowed for the democratization of cannabis to occur, the consumer made a clear choice.

THEY CHOSE THE MOLECULES.

In the mail, in grocery stores, in liquor stores, in big box retail.

When you put the MOLECULES in the normal consumer purchase cycle they CHOSE IT.

and then what happened? Retail adopted. 

And that SCARED THE SH$T OUTTA: 
— ALCOHOL
— BEVERAGE
— CPG
— TOBACCO
— PHARMA

End of the day whether its Hemp or THC we are talking about the same MOLECULES.

The public WANTS it. So let’s keep making that case and stay united.

I’m in a New York State of Mind right now.

I’ve been spending some time in the Empire State recently.

I’ve put together a few observations and suggestions…

Take them with a grain of salt.


>> Lessons From The Future

New York is currently a $1.7B market and will certainly grow.

But price compression has not yet begun to occur…

Jarred 1/8ths are amongst the highest price per gram of any legal state.

Most pure retail operators are not businesses but borderline not-for-profits.


>> Where the Pitfalls Are

Regulators in New York have already showed their hand, so HOPEFULLY they won’t continue the clown games.

A/R issues are coming, bank on it.

More brands are coming, and so is more high quality flower.

Retailers are going to feel the pinch of high rent, overbuilt stores and lack of profitability.


>> Who Can Win?

1. Those willing to study and learn from the past to avoid the inevitable future

2. Brands and those who are both entrenched and currently profitable

3. Anyone with one of the 10 RO licenses

4. Those currently there and in the lead


>> Who Can Lose? 

1. Consumers and investors

2. Anyone who is currently unprofitable - because it AIN’T gonna get easier.

3. Anyone without one of the 10 RO licenses.

4. Those eyeing the market from other states thinking it’s a gold mine...

Agree? Disagree?

Hit those comments.

When something that NEEDS to exist but doesn't, what do you do?

YOU CREATE IT.
 
So I am honored to announce my latest collaboration with Fat Nugs Magazine

A new series of LinkedIn Live sessions to educate, spotlight and discuss critical issues around PRODUCTS.

Why? 

Because Instagram is NOT a safe space and LinkedIn seems to have critical mass for OUR INDUSTY.
 
I'm teaming up with Fat Nugs Magazine to launch a brand-new live discussion series spotlighting cannabis products and brands. 

Expect we will amplify voices from every corner, deeply knowledgeable professionals to everyday consumers.

Episodes will stream across multiple platforms, giving an unfiltered look at the products, stories, and people behind them.
 
And to start we're tackling pre-rolls - a category whose growth cannot be denied.

Expect 8 panelists to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly of pre-rolls,

Panelists will also get the chance to sample prerolls LIVE, bringing real-time reactions and insights to the conversation.

This isn’t just another panel, it’s the start of an honest, wide-open dialogue about the products that define our industry.

The series kicks off with its first episode Thursday, November 20th at 11AM EST/ 8AM PST.

FNM Presents: Voices of the Plant w/ Seth Yakatan
Preroll Edition 

Business. Culture. Community.
Welcome to Voices of the Plant - the new Fat Nugs Magazine LinkedIn Live series that brings real conversations from the heart of cannabis.
 
Sign up here: https://bit.ly/3LpTDXd

& MARK YOU CALENDARS for Thursday, November 20th at 11AM EST/ 8AM PST.

You doing anything today??
 
Fat Nugs Magazine x Seth Yakatan present: The Plant Panel

We're hosting a new LinkedIn live with some of the sharpest minds working in cannabis.

Andrew Wells
Cesar Angobaldo
Courtney Zalewski
Fernando Bent-Mullings
Mei-Ling Campbell
Timeka Drew
Catherine Sidman
Luna Stower, MAT, CG ✨

TODAY: November 20th at 11AM EST/ 8AM PST.

FNM Presents: The Plant Panel w/ Seth Yakatan

Episode one is the Preroll Edition 

Business. Culture. Community.

Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/geV4jVmy

Believe it or not, I continue to hear from people that c@nnabis is NOT efficacious.

“Cannabis doesn’t really work for pain, sleep, or anxiety.”

I hear this from people who have:
— Never read a single clinical data table
— Never treated a patient
— Still think weed = teenagers + Bob Marley poster

Meanwhile, the SCIENCE is right there.


>> What’s Happening?

Recent clinical evaluations show consistent, measurable benefits:

Pain: 
→ Patients report statistically significant reductions about 0.5cm on a 10cm scale across populations. 
→ No placebo, that’s real analgesic effect at scale.

Sleep: 
→ Cannabis improves subjective sleep quality. 
→ If you’ve ever actually not slept, you know that you feel in the morning matters more than what your polysomnography printout says.

Anxiety: 
→ At appropriate dose and context, cannabinoids produce reliable anxiolytic effects, especially CBD.
→ THC requires respect and calibration yes. But to pretend it “doesn’t work” is just LAZY.

These effects are real, repeatable, clinically observed, and patient-reported across thousands of data points.

This is evidence!!!


>> Why Does This Matter?

There is a massive cultural blind spot around what counts as “meaningful efficacy.”

We are conditioned to think only in miracle outcomes:

— Erase all pain
— Cure insomnia
— Eliminate all anxiety

That’s not how real medicine works.

Real medicine is incremental improvement that accumulates into quality of life.

And cannabis delivers exactly that.


>> What Am I Watching?

The brands, operators, clinicians, and researchers who will win the next decade are the ones who:

1. Respect the evidence
2. Respect individual response and dosing
3. Position cannabis as a meaningful tool in the therapeutic toolkit
4. Communicate in clinical, human terms

Because here’s the TRUTH:

Cannabis works. It’s medicine. PERIOD.

So when someone dismisses cannabis because it’s not a miracle cure…

They’re telling you they don’t understand patients, medicine, or reality.

(and if you don’t know who is with me in the picture DO YOUR HOMEWORK)

So Ohio just issued a BAN on THC drinks, gummies, other hemp products…

Is this just another domino to fall in the ever changing Hemp landscape?

I’ve seen this movie before, pretty sure I now how it is going to end…

Alcohol lobby keeps making it RAIN!!


>> What’s Happening?

Ohio Gov. DeWine just dropped a 90-day ban on intoxicating hemp products — drinks, gummies, the whole lot.

The justification? Predictably it was to “protect the children…”

The reality is this is just another political move after months of legislative inaction.


>> Why It Matters?

Let’s be clear: This isn’t about safety. It’s about control.

Hemp beverages have been sitting on shelves for years — in gas stations, grocery stores, and yes, maybe even in a few PTA moms’ purses. 

But now they’re suddenly dangerous candy? Please.

What’s really happening is that regulators are scrambling because hemp is moving faster than their tax codes and licensing frameworks.

Meanwhile, the consumer is left wondering why they can buy 1.5L of vodka at Target but not a 5mg seltzer.


>> What Am I Watching?

I’m watching who profits from the pause. Follow the money and, more importantly, the LOBBYING.

Does this becomes a blueprint: ban first, regulate later? (n=2 Ohio and California?)

How do brands now pivot? On-premise and licensed retail just became the only legal outlets for 90 days.

I hate watching growth and innovation get punished for outpacing bureaucracy.

And Ohio just told every hemp company: “Thanks for the R&D, we’ll take it from here.”

So your cannabis company “got international distribution?”

Well….let’s look a little more closely here shall we:


THE REASON PEOPLE ARE RUNNING OVERSEAS

Domestic cannabis margins are garbage right now.

Wholesale prices down 40–70% in key markets in 24 months.

Effective tax rates north of 60% because 280E is the IRS’s medieval torture device.

45%+ of “multi-state operators” are over-levered and drowning in debt like college kids with their student loans.

So everyone says the same thing:

“We’ll just go international. Less competition. More upside. Cleaner markets.”

Yes. But also NO.

International IS an opportunity… it’s just not the one you think it is.


THE ACTUAL RISKS (THESE ARE NOT THEORIES)

Currency risk
— Mexico, Colombia, Israel, Thailand have all experienced 5–35% currency swings in the last 18 months. Your “15% margin” becomes a rounding error.

Political volatility
— Governments change & cannabis policy gets rewritten in the hallway on the way to the vote.

No brand memory
— Your U.S. brand means nothing to a consumer who has never seen THC sold legally… ever.

Supply Chain Reality
— “We have a distributor” ≠ you have distribution. You have a person with a PDF and enthusiasm. Ask anyone who has done cross-border THC/GMP transport.
The paperwork alone can send a grown adult into silent prayer.


SO WHEN DOES INTERNATIONAL WORK?

When you stop trying to export identity and start importing infrastructure.

The winners will be the ones who:

1. Partner with local operators who already own distribution
2. Don’t show up loud but show up boring
3. Aren’t dependent on the U.S. capital mood swings
4. Understand on-premise unlocks will take years, not quarters
5. Oh and you know…have a grown-up strategy!


WHEN DOES IT FAIL?

When you think: “We found a supplier and a buyer… we’re global now.”

No, you’re not.

You just created a customs liability and a future LinkedIn apology tour.

I am bullish on international markets. 

There is real opportunity.

But don’t confuse “different” risk with “less” risk.

International is not your lifeboat.

It’s a rope bridge in a windstorm.

Still walkable.

Just don’t do cartwheels on it….

Big revealing news NO ONE was talking about:

This entrenched strategic jumped form factor and doubled down on the industry.


>> What Happened? 

The Boston Beer Company is expanding its “beyond beer” play.

Its brand Emerald Hour is launching THC gummies in Canada. 

These vegan gummies contain 5 mg THC, and the product is hitting dispensaries in Ontario and Alberta.


>> Why Does This Matter?

This is major because Boston Beer is signaling serious commitment to cannabis AND NOT just beverages (well, after the Hemp ban…pffft).

They are leveraging Bev/Alc cred into a new category, attempting to transfer brand equity from “beer & seltzer” into THC edibles.

The REAL question: Are they poised to win, or is this just a land grab without the operational muscle of a cannabis native?


>> What Am I Watching?

Will Boston Beer ramp distribution quickly (600+ dispensaries for the beverages already) and build meaningful shelf-presence?

How will Boston Beer execute operationally: supply chain, compliance, packaging, vegan/clean-label positioning?

Will this move prompt other major beverage players to accelerate into cannabis edibles, or has Farm Bill repeal made everyone gun-shy??

Success will be visible when margin expands, repeat consumer behavior is high, and the brand becomes credible not just in beer.

If you’re playing the game, EYES WIDE OPEN…this is a flanking move worth tracking. 

If you’re counting on it to drive immediate growth or dominance, chill.

Either way we just moved to DEFCON 2… 

And if you needed any further examples that alcohol was Donald Ducked then here you go.

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AJ Harbinger

I became a father this year.

Everything changed.

Not in some profound movie moment way.

In the quiet, terrifying, beautiful way things change when you hold a life you made and realize you get one shot at this.

I recentered everything around family.

The clients who drain me? Gone.

The projects that sound good but feel wrong? No.

The opportunities that would impress people but steal time from my daughter? Not worth it.

I spent years saying yes because I thought I had to.

Building a business. Building a brand. Building what I thought success looked like.

Then I held her for the first time and understood what I was building toward.

We dialed in our core values as a family.

Not some corporate exercise with sticky notes.

Real conversations about what matters when she asks us in ten years why we made the choices we made.

Those values gave me permission to say no.

To clients. To colleagues. To people I respect.

Saying no used to feel like failure.

Now it feels like protection.

I am not the father I want to be yet.

Not even close.

I lose my patience. I check my phone when I should be present. I think about work when I should be thinking about her.

But I know the gap now.

I see the father I want to become.

The one who shows up. Who listens. Who chooses her over everything else that screams for attention.

That clarity is the gift.

Not perfection. Direction.

This year taught me that success is not what you build for other people to see.

Success is what you protect when no one is watching.

The time. The attention. The presence.

I am grateful for my daughter.

For my wife who chose me for this.

For the clarity that comes from knowing what you would give up everything else to keep.

That is what I am thankful for this year.

No alternative text description for this image

You're the person everyone goes to when they need something done right.

Competent. Reliable. Always available.

And you just got passed over for the promotion again.

"I need to be more visible. Speak up more in meetings."

So you volunteer for more projects. You make yourself even MORE available.

It doesn't work.

Here's what's happening.

You fell into The Availability Trap.

You're so good at your job that you've trained everyone to see you as the person who executes, not the person who leads.

When you're always available, you signal something you don't intend to signal:

Low demand.

One client came to me after being passed over twice for a director role. 

Top performer. Always available. Always solving problems.

We changed one behavior.

Next time someone asked for his time on something non-urgent:

"I'm locked in on the Q3 analysis until Thursday. Can we connect Friday morning?"

Three things happened:

He signaled he's working on something important enough to protect.

He made his attention scarce.

He created a future touchpoint on his terms.

Within six months, he was invited into strategy conversations he'd never been part of before. Within nine months, he got the promotion.

Nothing changed about his technical skills. Everything changed about how people valued his time.

Here's the principle:

Behavioral economics shows people assign higher value to scarce resources.

When you're always available, you signal low demand.

When you're strategically unavailable, people start wondering: 

"What is he working on that's more important than this?"

That question creates status.

The formula:

Protect your calendar. 

Make your time scarce. 

They value your attention. 

Perceived authority without saying a word.

High-value people don't chase opportunities. They create demand for their time.

This week, practice strategic withdrawal once.

When someone asks for something non-urgent, protect your focus and offer a specific alternative time.

Watch how the dynamic shifts.

Be honest—how many great ideas have you talked yourself out of this week?

Top performers aren’t successful because they have better ideas.

They’re successful because they act on the ideas they already have.

The longer you think about acting, the harder it becomes to act.

Here’s how to break that cycle:

1. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
When an idea shows up, move on it right away—send the message, write the outline, start the draft. Action builds momentum before doubt shows up.

2. 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬
You can’t hit a target you haven’t defined. Clarity creates direction, and direction gives you something to run toward.

3. 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬
Big goals feel overwhelming. Small steps feel doable. One micro-action at a time creates consistency.

4. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞
 Leaders aren’t built by motivation. They’re built by rhythm. Give action a place in your daily routine.

5. 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
If it steals your focus, it steals your progress. Remove the noise so your mind can stay on what matters.

6. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬
Urgency turns intention into action. A simple deadline can do more than hours of planning.

7. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞
Share your goals with someone who will actually check in. Accountability turns “I’ll try” into “I will.”

8. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞
Failure isn’t the opposite of success—it’s the process of success. Each misstep sharpens your approach.

9. 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬
Progress compounds when you acknowledge it. Small wins keep the momentum alive.

Act now.

Success isn’t waiting for a perfect plan—just your first step.

Most people talk more when they want attention.

This is wrong.

I coached a founder who couldn't get investor meetings. She sent emails explaining her entire business: the problem, the solution, the revenue model, the traction.

People read them. They didn't respond.

We changed one thing.

Her new email said: "We solved the problem that killed your last portfolio company."

Then nothing else. No explanation. No deck attached.

Her inbox filled with replies within 48 hours.

The difference?

She understood the Curiosity Gap.

When you present complete information, you close the loop.

The brain has no reason to stay engaged.

When you create a gap between what people know and what they want to know, their brain chases the answer.

I tested this approach with three clients last quarter. All of them struggled to start conversations with senior executives.

We stopped explaining. We started creating tension.

One client changed from "We help companies reduce cloud costs by 40%" to "Your finance team is missing something before Q4."

Response rates went from 2% to 18% in 30 days.

Here's what the best communicators do differently:

They open loops instead of closing them:

"I learned something in Madrid that changed how I approach negotiations."

"There's a pattern I noticed in every failing team."

They let silence do the work:

After the statement, they pause.

They let the gap create tension.

They wait for the other person to lean in.

They reveal strategically:

The answer comes later. The conversation earns it.

Most people fill every gap with words. Their anxiety drives over-explanation.

People with presence use gaps like a tool.

They know tension creates attention.

They know curiosity creates pursuit.

They know withholding creates value.

Stop trying to explain everything in the first 30 seconds.

Start trying to create one question in their mind.

Your conversations will change.

I never took a leadership course.

Here's how I built a 17-Year coaching career instead.

After coaching leaders at Google, Microsoft, and Meta, I discovered something counterintuitive:

The best leaders aren't trained. They're forged through failure.

When I started Art of Charm, I had zero formal leadership education.

No MBA.

No executive training.

Just a willingness to fail spectacularly in front of paying clients.

My first corporate workshop?

A disaster.

I tried to sound like every leadership guru I'd read.

Used buzzwords I didn't believe.

Delivered frameworks I'd never tested.

The feedback was brutal: "You sound like you're reading from a textbook."

That failure taught me what no course could:

Leadership isn't about knowing the right answers.

It's about asking the right questions.

So I changed everything.

Instead of teaching theory, I started sharing failures.

Instead of perfect frameworks, I offered messy experiments.

Instead of polished presentations, I had raw conversations.

The results shocked everyone, including me.

Here's what building a coaching career without formal training taught me:

• Real expertise comes from pattern recognition across thousands of interactions, not from case studies

• Vulnerability creates more influence than authority ever could

• The leaders who transform organizations are the ones who admit they're still figuring it out

• Your biggest failures become your most valuable teaching moments

Credentials impress HR. Results impress executives.

Today, after 17 years and over 11,000 clients served, I still don't have a leadership certification.

What I do have: A methodology built from real failures, real recoveries, and real transformations.

The executives who hire me don't care about my missing MBA.

They care that I've helped thousands of leaders navigate the exact challenges they're facing.

Your formal education gets you in the room.

Your battle scars keep you there.

Stop chasing credentials. Start collecting experiences.

The market rewards practitioners, not theorists.

Great advice is worthless if no one listens.

This one shift makes people actually care.

Someone mentions a problem.

You jump in with the solution.

Smart answer. Valuable insight.

And they completely ignore it.

My analytical clients do this most. They hear a problem and immediately offer the fix.

But here's what they miss:

People don't value advice they didn't work for.

I learned this watching how interrogators extract information. 

They never give answers first. They make you earn clarity through articulation.

Here's the psychology:

When someone works before receiving value, you trigger effort justification. Their brain decides: "I invested in this answer, so it must be worth hearing."

You just made your advice 10x more valuable without changing a word.

Over the last 17 years, I've taught this to executives who wondered why their teams ignored their guidance.

The problem wasn't the advice. It was the sequence.

Most people give solutions before establishing cost. Your brain devalues anything that comes free.

Understanding that changes how you mentor, coach, and lead.

The pattern I use:

Before offering advice, extract their constraint. Make them articulate what's not working. Let them reveal their gap.

Then deliver.

When you make someone work to frame their problem, three things happen:

They clarify their actual issue (not the surface symptom). They invest attention into the conversation. They value whatever comes next.

This applies everywhere. Client meetings. Team discussions. Networking conversations.

The advice that gets ignored? The advice that came too easy.

The advice that transforms people? The advice they had to work to receive.

Stop giving away your best insights for free.

Make people pay the attention tax first.

You're networking wrong.

Most people work the room all night. Shake every hand. Stay until the lights come on.

Then nobody remembers them.

High-value operators do this instead:

Show up.

Have 3 quality conversations.

Leave early.

You were there. 

But you didn't stay until the end collecting cards.

Next event, people notice when you arrive. 

They remember you left last time.

You created scarcity around your presence.

Your time became something to compete for.

Here's why this works:

When you're at every event until midnight, you become furniture. People stop tracking your movements. Your presence loses meaning.

Strategic absence makes people ask: Where did he go? What's he working on?

The formula:

Quality conversations over quantity contacts.

Early exit over marathon attendance.

Scarcity over availability.

Your presence becomes an event.

I've watched this pattern repeat. 

The executives who attend fewer events get more opportunities.

The founders who leave early get more follow-ups.

Availability kills intrigue.

Scarcity builds value.

Stop maximizing face time.

Start maximizing impact per appearance.

You light up when someone compliments your work.

That reaction costs you status.

Watch what happens: 

Someone says "Great presentation." 

You smile. 

"Thank you so much! I spent hours on the data analysis and refining the visuals..."

You told them you needed their approval.

I've noticed the opposite pattern in people with influence.

They do something I call validation immunity.

Same scenario. "Great presentation."

Response: "I appreciate that."

Neutral expression. 

No expansion.

Then they shift: "What questions do you have about the timeline?"

They moved forward because their internal assessment didn't change based on someone else's opinion.

Here's what's happening underneath:

When you expand on compliments, you signal their opinion determines your value.

When you receive neutrally and redirect, you signal you already know what you did. 

Their agreement is noted. Not needed.

The formula is simple.

Compliment received. 

"I appreciate that." Shift topic.

People with influence don't need your validation.

They validated themselves before you showed up.

Your biggest career wins can become your biggest life losses.

I've coached successful professionals for 17 years.

The pattern repeats.

Someone reaches Director level. VP. C-suite.

Launches the dream business.

Then realizes—no one to celebrate with.

Three months without investing in relationships. Six without new faces. Years without friends that mattered.

The circle closes. The world shrinks.

One client made Partner at 34. His wife left at 35. Not because of affairs. Not because of conflict.

But from choosing isolation for success.

Another built a $5M+ company by 40. Ate alone at the celebration dinner.
College friends stopped calling. Family kept distance. His network lived on LinkedIn.

He said, “I spent 15 years climbing. Nobody was there at the top.”

This isn’t rare. It’s the default for high performers.

You were rewarded for independence. Promoted for grinding harder.

The system taught you: success requires isolation.

And you got good at it. Isolation became comfort.

You normalize skipping friends.

You rationalize skipping the third place because work matters more.

One weekend becomes one month becomes three years without real talk.

The health research is brutal.

Loneliness has the same impact as smoking 20 cigarettes per day. More damaging than obesity or high blood pressure.

But you don't get to 20 cigarettes overnight. You start with one.

Then two.

Loneliness works the same way. One missed dinner. One skipped event. One "too busy" text.

The choices compound. The isolation becomes habit.

Then something breaks. A divorce. A job change. A friend gets married and chooses their family over your relationship.

That's when you notice. The social ties disappeared. The support system vanished.

The connection you postponed for "someday" never materialized.

I see this with my clients who relocated for promotions or launched startups. 

They prioritized external validation over internal fulfillment.

They built everything. They kept nothing.

The former Surgeon General called it an epidemic. Rising drug use. Mental health crises. Physical deterioration.

All traced back to the same root: we chose accomplishment over connection.

We collapsed our lives into one place. We focused on external outcomes to the detriment of our wellbeing.

Two questions will tell you if you're on this path:

When did you last invest time in building a friendship?

When did you last meet someone new outside work?

If your answer involves months or years, you're already isolated. You just haven't felt the consequences yet.

Your next promotion won't fix this. Your next revenue milestone won't solve it. Your next achievement will only make it worse.

Because the more you succeed using isolation as your strategy, the deeper you dig the hole.

Stop waiting for a major life event to force the change.

The price of external success should never be internal emptiness.

The body language cue that reveals more than words ever will.

Most people think reading body language means watching for crossed arms or eye contact.

Wrong.

FBI counterintelligence expert Joe Navarro taught me the one signal that trumps everything else.

It's called the freeze response.

Here's what it looks like:

You're delivering feedback. Negotiating. Sharing news that matters.

The person across from you suddenly goes still.

Their hands stop moving mid-gesture.

Breathing pauses.

They lock up for 2-3 seconds.

That's their limbic system taking over. You just hit something real.

Most people miss this completely because they're focused on what to say next. They keep talking, filling space, moving past the moment.

Wrong move.

The freeze is your oldest threat response. Older than fight or flight. When someone freezes, their primitive brain just overrode their conscious control.

Whatever you said landed deep.

FBI research confirms the freeze appears before any other defensive behavior. Catch it early and you understand what's actually happening beneath the surface.

Here's the play:

Deliver your point.

Spot the freeze.

Stay silent.

Let them sit in it.

They'll fill the space and reveal what actually matters.

Most professionals are terrified of silence. They rush to smooth things over, clarify, soften the blow.

That's exactly when you need to shut up and wait.

The truth emerges in those 5-10 seconds of discomfort. Not through interrogation. Through strategic silence.

You don't need to be an FBI agent to spot the freeze.

You just need to stop talking long enough to see it.

Ever feel guilty for your own success? 

That’s not an accident.

Someone took a shot at you recently.

A coworker saying "must be nice" when you mentioned your vacation.

A friend going "wow, you've changed" when you talked about something you're excited about.

And before you realized what happened, you were explaining yourself.

Justifying. Defending.

I used to do this constantly. Someone would throw a dig my way and I'd go into "let me prove I'm not the bad guy" mode.

It took me years to figure out what was happening.

They weren't attacking me. They were trying to pull me into their frame.

When someone goes low. When they get passive-aggressive or dismissive or condescending. They're setting a trap.

If you defend yourself, you're playing on their court. They're steering the interaction. And somehow you feel like the one who did something wrong.

The most influential people I've studied do something different.

Instead of defending or attacking back, they name what's happening.

"Sounds like my schedule is frustrating for you."
"Seems like this project landing bothered you."
"Feels like you're worried I'm pulling away."

Then they ask what the other person needs.

This short-circuits the emotional trap. You're not defending. You're leading.

After coaching over 10,000 clients on communication, I've watched this pattern play out hundreds of times.

Most people spend their lives bouncing between justifying and attacking back.

Both are low-value responses.

The third path is defining the moment instead of reacting to it.

Stop letting other people set the terms of your conversations.

You’re one question away from being unforgettable.

Most conversations die because nobody shifts the depth.

You meet someone. Exchange pleasantries. Talk about work. Then nothing.

Here's what changes everything:

Listen for care signals.

When someone mentions what they're trying to do, don't respond with surface questions.

Ask about motivation instead.

They say: "I've been mentoring junior engineers."

Most people: "Oh, how's that going?"

You: "What made you want to do that?"

Watch them pause.

Then they tell you something real.

"Nobody did that for me. I don't want them to figure it out the hard way."

You just went from small talk to substance.

This is identity-level disclosure. You're asking WHO they are, not WHAT they do.

People remember the person who sees them.

The formula: Care signal → Motivation question → Let them go deep.

Try it this week.

You'll be the conversation they remember.

Most networking conversations die the moment they end.

You exchange cards. Promise to “stay in touch.”

Then nothing.

After coaching over 10,000 clients, I’ve learned the real problem:

You never created anything worth following up on.

Here’s what I mean:

When someone says “I’m building AI capabilities, but finding engineers who understand business is impossible” — most people respond with sympathy.

“That’s tough.”

“Yeah, hiring is brutal.”

Wrong move.

What just happened? They revealed their goal AND their constraint in one sentence.

Goal: AI capabilities.

Constraint: talent gap.

Now instead of offering to “pick your brain sometime,” do this:

“I know someone who just left a similar role. Want me to make an introduction?”

Three things just happened:

→ You proved you were listening

→ You demonstrated relevant relationships

→ You created a concrete reason to follow up

This is genuine reciprocity. Not manipulation. Just specific help that matters.

Harvard Negotiation Project research confirms it: micro-help builds trust faster than grand promises.

When you prove value within 48 hours, the relationship shifts.

They text you back.

They think of you when opportunities surface.

They actually want to stay connected.

The formula:

1. Spot their goal
2. Spot their constraint
3. Offer one specific action within two days

Not “let me think about it.”

One introduction. One article. One suggestion they can use tomorrow.

Most people leave events with cards and no next steps.

You can leave with three people who remember exactly how you helped them.

That’s the difference between collecting contacts and building relationships.

You've been climbing the wrong pyramid your entire career.

Maslow's hierarchy promised that if you checked the boxes (basic needs, safety, belonging, esteem) you'd reach self-actualization and feel complete.

The National Institutes of Health calls this "one of the most pernicious ideas in the social sciences."

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans from Stanford explain exactly why on this week's podcast.

Listen to this.

You contain more aliveness than one lifetime permits you to live.

If there's more potential inside you than you could possibly express in 80 years, and fulfillment requires living all of it, then you're chasing something mathematically impossible.

You were designed to feel incomplete.

Bill and Dave call this the "achieving brain." The mode most people operate in 99.7% of the time. Always optimizing. Always asking what else do I need to do?

Meanwhile, you miss the meaning that's already here.

Bill stopped on his way to class last week. A bush covered in blue flowers, blooming in late fall when it shouldn't. He took a picture. Tucked a flower in his notebook.

That was a meaning-making moment. Not because it was profound. Because he noticed.

Dave calls this the difference between the "transactional world" and the "flow world." Same reality, different lens. One keeps you stuck performing. The other lets you experience your life.

The shift that changes everything: Got to versus get to.

Bill used to drag himself to staff meetings he created. "I gotta go to this meeting."

Then he flipped it: "I get to work with some of the smartest people in the world trying to make the planet better."

Same meeting. Different experience.

Where you look is where you go.

Motorcycle riders know this. Stare at the ditch and you drive right into it.

Same with your career, your relationships, your entire life.

Stop climbing the pyramid.

Start noticing what's already here.

Most people think AI will kill conversation skills.

They're dead wrong.

A CEO I work with shocked me with what he now looks for in candidates:

"I don't hire based on resumes anymore. I hire based on how people handle conversation."

This matches what we've seen coaching technical professionals across Fortune 500 companies.

As AI handles more technical work, your conversation skills become your most valuable career asset.

Most professionals focus on the wrong thing. They worry AI will replace human connection when it's doing the opposite.

AI isn't eliminating conversation. It's elevating it.

Here's what happens when you understand this shift:

• AI handles data analysis while you build relationships

• Technical tasks get automated while interpersonal skills become premium

• Your ability to connect becomes your competitive advantage

A client came to me last month - brilliant software engineer, terrible at workplace communication.

We developed a framework for him to leverage AI tools to prepare for critical conversations. Instead of spending hours researching talking points, AI helped him identify connection opportunities in seconds.

Result? He navigated a promotion discussion with unprecedented confidence.

Three months later: 22% salary increase.

The professionals who thrive in the AI era understand a fundamental truth:

Technology doesn't replace human connection. It amplifies it.

Your competitive edge isn't technical expertise alone. It's how you convert that expertise into meaningful conversation.

The machines aren't coming for your job. They're coming for the parts of your job that prevent you from doing what humans do best - connect.

Stop fighting against AI. Start using it to supercharge your conversation skills.

The professionals who master this combination won't just survive.

They'll dominate.

Why do some leaders get loyalty while others get excuses?

It comes down to one thing: authority versus influence.

Authority comes from your position.
Influence comes from connection.

Authority can demand action.
Influence inspires commitment.

This difference explains why:

• Some managers get bare minimum effort, while others get discretionary energy
• Some parents get compliance while others get genuine cooperation
• Some salespeople get reluctant purchases while others get enthusiastic referrals

True influence isn’t about techniques or tactics. It’s built on a foundation of genuine connection.

And the counterintuitive key to that connection? Appropriate vulnerability.

Not oversharing. Not manufactured weakness.

But sharing your human experience authentically—enough to create bridges, not walls.

I’ve seen executives transform their leadership simply by explaining the thought process behind decisions instead of just announcing outcomes.

I’ve watched professionals strengthen client relationships by acknowledging the limits of their expertise rather than pretending to know everything.

The most influential people understand this: genuine vulnerability doesn’t diminish your impact—it amplifies it.

Because influence doesn’t come from appearing perfect.
It comes from being human in a way that allows others to connect with you authentically.

The question isn’t whether you have authority—it’s whether you’re creating the kind of connection that builds lasting influence.

What kind of connection are you creating today?

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