
Spinning Gold into Hay
“That’s a palace?” my daughters exclaimed. Their eyes were declaring what their mouths were too polite to say. That’s complete ***t. So they weren’t impressed
End Burnout — Fall in Love with Your Business. Full Access and all calls $997. Get Your Spot

“That’s a palace?” my daughters exclaimed. Their eyes were declaring what their mouths were too polite to say. That’s complete ***t. So they weren’t impressed

“Wisdom is worth more than silver; it makes you much richer than gold. Wisdom is more valuable than precious jewels; nothing you want compares with

I have been out of touch for a week or so. Not because I am blowing you all off but just to step back and

Friday was fun. I organised an afternoon lunch and then happy hour with over a dozen business owners and service providers. We didn’t have an

“I learned more from a 3 minute record than I ever learned in school” Bruce Springsteen – “No Retreat, No Surrender” In the mid 80s

You know what’s funny about my business? The wide variety of industries and situations I get called into that differ significantly on the surface but

Last day of FAQ week. And this one is the question that separates the owners who end up with options from those who end up

Day 2 of FAQ week. Today’s question hits a nerve with almost every owner I talk to. “You talk about building a business that runs

It’s a holiday week all across the globe with bank holidays in the West and US, Eid here in the Mideast, and Pentecost both last

I recently met a business owner generating nine figures in revenue. Multiple suitors circling. The kind of interest most owners dream about. And none of

Paul and David both started logistics companies around the same time. Both built them to roughly $8 million in revenue with teams of about 30

Yesterday I told you about the blind man and the Pharisees and how the experts who were supposed to see most clearly were the ones

In the Gospel of John there’s a scene that has always stuck with me. Jesus encounters a man who has been blind since birth and

Yesterday I ran an intimate M&A deep dive breakfast with eight professionals who all touch mergers and acquisitions from different angles and what came out

Last night I attended a hosted dinner featuring Gaston Hochar, the third-generation family owner of Chateau Musar, one of Lebanon’s most iconic wineries.Twenty-four of us

Met a guy called Adam at the gym this week. We got talking between sets and he mentioned he’d recently exited a cybersecurity firm here

Over the weekend one of my email subscribers asked if he could get in on the Pioneer deal because he didn’t have time to sign

She nailed it. So I agreed to having Mitch Martina Cleaning Company come to our house for a deep cleaning of the apartment even though

The other day I took my youngest to a new café while we waited for her sister to finish school. When we sat down the

Monday’s business growth cohort call for Fall in Love with Your Business Again went somewhere I didn’t plan. What was supposed to be a walkthrough

A carpet cleaner in Baltimore charges double what everyone else charges. He has a waiting list. His competitors slash prices to win jobs and wonder

The Answer Changed the Wine Industry. A few years ago when I was working as a Value Builder Advisor with John Warrillow’s Built to Sell

Today is St George’s Day. My namesake and patron saint. Legend has him on a horse slaying a dragon. Well forget the dragon because the

Who do you think won my business? Met a wealth advisor at a networking event a while back. Seemed sharp. We agreed to grab a

Before leaving for RAK with the family, I sat down and made sure three different client milestones were completed and delivered, so that nothing left

Before heading to Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) with the family for a couple of days I had to stay home for the LG technicians to

A digital agency owner I’ll call David lost a pitch last year to a competitor who charged nearly double his price. Same scope. Same deliverables.

There’s a documentary called Jiro Dreams of Sushi about a man named Jiro Ono who runs a ten-seat sushi restaurant in a Tokyo subway station.

After my post of Sophia on a horse, I received the following email. Hi George, I went to that polo club on Monday. My daughter

You know what SFB is? It’s a virus that forces school boards to cancel holidays as well as make business owners waste time and money going down rabbit holes. Find out all about SFB and how you can ensure it doesn’t poison you…

He almost didn’t make it. Worked through his 60s. Heartburn, fatigue, resentment.
But somehow, he rebuilt.
And at 70…He finally sold the business that once owned him.
Most don’t get that far.
This is the rare story of the guy who clawed his way out to get something….
but still left a vast majority of his lifetime of cash at the table.
It’s not a blueprint.
It’s a warning.

He opened the offer And felt sick.
There was a digit missing.
And when the broker explained why—it was a punch to the throat.
Not a finance issue.
Not a recession.
Just one painful truth:
If you’ve ever wondered what your company’s really worth…
This story might sting.

He spent three decades building it.
When it was finally time to walk away… no one wanted it.
He made one fatal mistake—one that 7-figure founders make every day without realizing it.
The worst part?
He didn’t even see it coming.
This isn’t a story about business.
It’s about the blind spot that kills exits before they even start.

He built the company.
Closed the biggest deal of his life.
Finally made it.
But instead of celebration, he got silence.
Cold dinners. Missed memories.
And one question from his daughter that nearly broke him.
This isn’t about revenue.
It’s about what success costs when you build it wrong.
I wrote this for the founder who thought the grind would end—but it didn’t.
It just got worse.

Most business owners don’t realize it…
But there’s a silent shift that happens somewhere between year 3 and year 10.
It doesn’t show up on the P&L.
It doesn’t get mentioned in strategy sessions.
But it kills freedom, ruins families, and traps even the most successful founders.
I wrote this for the ones who feel it—but can’t name it yet.
Read it. Then ask yourself:
Is this already happening to me?
Sometimes the truism is in front of you face to face.. last night it was the idea that who you spend your time with can play a big part of how successful you become. I saw the power of that in Sophia Moulin’s Epicon Iftar where I spent 5 hours speaking with successful family offices and investors and enjoyed the amazing conversations… I

Three years ago, a business owner had millions on the table. He wasn’t quite investor-ready, but with a few smart moves, he could have been.
We mapped out a plan. He didn’t say yes. He didn’t say no. He just disappeared.
Now? His numbers have dropped, and the best offer he can get is pennies on the dollar.
Opportunity doesn’t wait. It knocks—once.
Are you ready when it does?