Playbook Academy

Simple playbooks for massive growth. One powerful growth playbook, delivered every Saturday morning. Acquire the mindset, tools, learnings and habits of elite entrepreneurs.

Writer

Saucey

Saucey is the leading e-commerce, compliance and logistics provider to regulated retailers. Powering safer and more convenient experiences for customers and retailers. 

We work with regulated retailers across 1,200+ cities to drive additional revenues, customers and provide insights/tools to help them manage their store online. 

Saucey also powers some of the world's largest brands to connect with and understand their end consumers, including Diageo, AB-InBev, Bacardi, Coca Cola, Constellation and more.

Highlights:
-Millions of happy customers across the U.S.
-Grown from $0 to hundreds of millions in sales
-Sent customers to the Super Bowl, Olympics, Adult Summer Camp and more
-Driven hundred of millions in incremental revenue to independent retailers 
-Built smart appliances that auto re-order beer
-Channing Tatum, Nick Jonas and more have all been delivery drivers
-Launched dozens of new brands into target markets

Founder & CEO

ROARKE

Roarke is an unlimited Design & Web Development subscription for the world's most ambitious brands.

Used by SaaS companies, Startups, DTC brands, Agencies, Franchises, and high-growth businesses to unlock their potential online. Roarke supercharges the design and development process, helping companies move faster and bring big ideas to life seemingly overnight.

Partner

Hampton

Hampton is a private, highly vetted community of high growth founders, entrepreneurs, and CEO’s.

Founding Member

Emjay

Emjay is a leading omni-channel cannabis technology platform.

In it’s first two years:
-Hundreds of thousands of customers served
-6 M&A transactions
-Grew from $0 to 7-figures/month in 6 months
-First native iOS application to sell cannabis in the app-store

textPlus, Inc.

textPlus is one of the largest texting & calling apps with over 70M users.

I oversaw US marketing/growth, user acquisition and CRM through digital and traditional channels. Including being one of the first/largest advertisers on Facebook's native ads platform (brand new at the time). Acquired millions of new users/month, tracking performance, executing & reporting against key KPI’s, and identifying channels that brought in higher LTV customers.

Helped plan our international launch. Oversaw all creative for advertising, marketing campaigns, and the textPlus brand.

Lead our ad sales platform, securing $millions in ad revenue from some of the world's largest brands.

Separately split out a small 6-person team to build an ultra low-cost international calling platform. Took it from concept / design / telco contracts to launch in 2.5 months.

Marketing Director & Head of Partnerships

Jarvus (Acquired by textPlus)

(Acquired by TextPlus) Jarvus was an iOS app that let people capture life's moments with their friends and family. It would analyze the geo-tags and time-stamps in your iPhone's photo album, match you with Facebook friends that were in the same places at the same time, and easily create group albums using you and your friend's photos. 

You could apply beautiful filters, effects and stickers to your content, and upload/share the collective "memories" / albums on Jarvus or across your social accounts. 

Featured on Jimmy Fallon. Celebrities shared moments with their friends and fans. TextPlus tagged us in a post on Jarvus that they wanted to acquire the platform. The rest is history.

Coupeez Inc

Coupeez was an early online deals platform unlocking customer savings across local businesses.  

-Lead product design and built the iOS and Android applications (very early app-store days). This is what opened my eyes to how mobile was going to change every business in the world.
-Designed our UI & UX for web, iOS, and Android from scratch. 
-Curated categories of deals and onboarded thousands of local businesses throughout California to our marketplace.

Head of Product

Over the past decade, I've built three multimillion-dollar businesses while growing a family and raising four children.

I started with no resources, no connections, and didn’t have access to the playbooks that would have made the journey 10X easier. 

As a kid, I made money garden landscaping for families at church, manufacturing merchandise for private clubs, and then developing websites and running ad campaigns for local companies.

By 21, I was founding companies. In the decade since, I've:

➤ Generated $300M+ in revenue
➤ Built operations in 1,000+ U.S. cities
➤ Served over 3 million customers globally
➤ Helped grow hundreds of small businesses
➤ Raised $30M+ in capital from Angels, VCs, Private Equity, and Family Offices
➤ Successfully navigated both successful and failed multimillion-dollar acquisitions
➤ Been featured in leading publications like Forbes, Bloomberg, Entrepreneur, USA Today and more
➤ Worked with and advised the world's most iconic brands, including Diageo, Mars, Tesco, 7-Eleven, AB-InBev, Molson Coors, and Constellation

BUT, the journey was hard (harder than it needed to be).

I’ve faced many of the things you don't think about when starting a company:

→ Fought off (and won) predatory lawsuits
→ Closed a Seed round days after my wedding
→ Negotiated with demanding government agencies
→ Worked with lobbyists to introduce or change legislation
→ Raised a Series A while in the hospital for my first son's birth
→ Navigated a failed multi-million dollar merger while my daughter was born
→ Survived near-extinction events where we had single-digit weeks or days to save the company

Personal interests: Boxing, strength training, being in the ocean, spending quality time with my wife Danielle and our four little ones.

———

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Chris Vaughn

Medium

Share insights on entrepreneurship, leadership, and personal growth through storytelling and real-world experience. Writing to inform, empower, and inspire forward-thinking professionals.

Contributing Author

Socíale Dispensary

Sociale isn’t just a cannabis store, we’re here to change the game with purpose, fairness, and community impact. What We Do:

1. Top-Quality Products: We offer trusted cannabis products for both health and enjoyment.
2. Play by the Rules: We know the laws, follow them closely, and help lead the way in a complex industry.
3. Smart Growth: We use data and trends to grow in the right way for the long run.
4. Giving Back: We support communities hurt by unfair drug laws and work to make the industry fairer.
5. Spread the Word: We educate people and promote safe, responsible cannabis use.

At Sociale, we believe cannabis can do good, for people, for business, and for the world.

Proprietor

Barrington Plaza Realty

Real estate success isn’t just about owning property, it’s about building systems, scaling smart, and driving long-term value. What We Do:

1. Efficient Operations: Streamlined leasing, maintenance, and tenant support.
2. Smart Tech: Cloud tools for real-time tracking and communication.
3. Market Strategy: Data-led insights to boost value and retention.
4. Tenant Growth: Digital marketing to attract and keep quality renters.
5. Trusted Vendors: Reliable partners for cost-effective property care.
6. Scalable Systems: Built to grow portfolios across Illinois and beyond.

We combine strategy, efficiency, and execution to turn real estate into real returns.

Principal

Rely Services, Inc.

We help businesses and government agencies scale smarter through AI-driven solutions, digital transformation, and operational efficiency. What We Do:

1. AI & Automation: Modernizing workflows with AI, machine learning, and cloud solutions.
2. Custom BPO: Scalable services to optimize customer support, IT, and back-office operations.
3. GovTech Solutions: Helping agencies like IL SOS & AZ DOR digitize and streamline services.
4. Enterprise Innovation: Enabling brands like Marriott & Ulta to cut costs and boost ROI with smart tech.
5. AI-Driven CX: Using bots and predictive tools to improve customer experience and retention.
6. Vendor & Client Success: Building strategic partnerships that ensure compliance and drive results.

From automation to optimization, we build systems that fuel growth and future-proof operations.

Group Managing Partner

Forbes

Forbes Business Council Is an Invitation-Only Community for Successful Business Owners and Leaders.

Contributor

Chief

Joined a private network of executive women focused on leadership development, peer mentorship, and driving impact at the highest levels.
	•	Engaged in thought-provoking salons, roundtables, and curated learning experiences.
	•	Built meaningful relationships with C-suite leaders across industries.
	•	Collaborated on initiatives to elevate women’s leadership and organizational influence.

Member

I arrived in the U.S. in my twenties as a trained international attorney with credentials that didn’t carry over. Instead of restarting in law, I chose a harder, more uncertain path: entrepreneurship.

Over the next two decades, we (along with my husband) built and scaled three businesses in industries most investors and founders shy away from:

→ Global Process Optimization in tech
→ Ground-up Commercial Real Estate
→ Fully Compliant Cannabis Retail in a high-barrier state

No outside capital. No accelerators. Just strategic risk, relentless operational execution, and quiet compounding over years.

Today, we operate as a private equity principal, acquiring and scaling companies across regulated markets. We don’t just deploy capital. We deploy experience.

• Deep operational stewardship
• Disciplined growth in complex environments
• Long-term enterprise value over short-term valuations

We’ve  operated in the industries most avoid. Built where the guardrails are tight and the margins unforgiving. And scaled not for headlines but for durability.

We are not in this for noise. We are in it for outcomes, the kind that hold up under scrutiny, over time.

Anou N Khot

Sunday with David Ghiyam, and one value landed like a brick. 

Shame is not leadership.
Fear is not accountability.
And neither builds anything that lasts.

We’re in a new era where people won’t follow you because you intimidate them, they follow you because your values make them feel safe, seen, and capable.

David put language to something I’ve practiced but never articulated this clearly-

“If you want people to rise, create conditions where rising feels possible.”

That means:
• Accountability without humiliation
• Expectations without fear
• Clarity without condescension
• Feedback without emotional erosion

High standards don’t require harsh tactics.

Great culture doesn’t come from control, it comes from trust.

As a founder, operator, and parent raising a future leader… this hit home.

Shame might produce compliance, but values produce growth.

And growth is the only thing worth building.

Anou N Khot 

Private Equity Principal | Middle-Market Investor–Operator | Driving Cash Flow, Operational Leverage & AI-Enabled Value Creation

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Why are we not celebrating International Men’s Day the way we celebrate International Women’s Day?

I don’t mean in a competitive way. I mean in a human way.

If we’re being honest, men have become the least acknowledged group in the room, especially the men who lead.

Somewhere along the way, we built an expectation that men should absorb everything and ask for nothing.

That their strength is infinite.
That their needs are optional.
That being a man means you don’t require the same empathy you give.

Men are the backbone of stability and the most emotionally under-recognized demographic we have.

I’ve watched it up close:

Men who bear impossible pressure without complaint.
Men who make the hard calls, so others don’t have to.
Men who lead with discipline because that’s what the world expects, even when they’re tired.
Men who love through action, not performance and get overlooked because their language is quieter.

Masculinity, at its best, isn’t dominance.

It’s stewardship.
Responsibility.
Presence.
Follow-through.
Providing without broadcasting it.
Protecting without needing applause.

And yet, those qualities rarely get celebrated.

International Men’s Day should be a moment where we look at the men in our lives with accuracy, not assumption:

To the men who don’t flinch under responsibility - you’re seen.
To the men who carry your families, your teams, your communities - you matter.
To the men who show strength not to impress, but to anchor others - it’s not unnoticed.
To the men who never say “I’m struggling” because you don’t think you’re allowed - you deserve support, too.

Happy International Men’s Day.

AI is brilliant.​
AI is fast.​
AI also hallucinates like it’s trying to win an award.​

From chatbots promising refunds that don’t exist to legal bots inventing entire court cases, one thing’s obvious: automation without oversight becomes a liability very quickly.​

So I decided to put AI on the therapy couch and prescribe a few remedies inspired by these recent incidents - the kind that can actually help your business avoid the same pitfalls.​

Because just like we onboard and train employees with handbooks and culture docs, AI needs direction, structure and guardrails too.​

How are you training yours? Any tricks that help you? ​

#AI #Chatbots #Tricks

A-nou Takes on Trends 

Because of them, the flag still flies. 🇺🇸

America was built by women and men who didn’t ask for ease. 

They answered the call when it was hardest to.

They traded comfort for courage, fear for duty, and built a nation strong enough to hold the dreams of millions.

Our veterans didn’t just defend our borders, they defined our values.

Honor. Grit. Faith. Patriotism.

They carried those values across oceans and battlefields so the rest of us could live, build, and believe freely under one flag.

Today, we pause not just to thank them but to remember who we are because of them.

A country forged in courage.
A people bound by purpose.
A nation that still stands tall because its heroes never bowed.

Here’s to every veteran, every family, every proud American who keeps this dream alive.

May we always be worthy of the freedom they fought for. 🇺🇸

#VeteransDay #ProudAmerican #Patriotism #Honor #Gratitude #AmericaStrong

Walked into my desk this morning and found a pink sticky note from my child that simply said:

“Wings fly. Have a good day.” - with two little wings drawn like he really meant it.

It was such a sweet, quiet reminder that honestly made my whole morning.

A few things it nudged me to remember:

• Sometimes you just need one small lift.
• Your day can shift with one tiny message.
• And yes, your “wings” still work, even on a Tuesday.

Taking this one with me today:
lighter, softer, and maybe flying a little bit too. 💜

Michael Schott once said “I’m not superstitious… but I’m a little-stitious.” 

Honestly? Same.

Growing up in an Indian household, we were taught not to share things before they happened: new jobs, big plans, anything good.

Because what if saying it out loud made it slip away?

So for years, I avoided sharing the messy middle.
No half-done thoughts.
No in-progress moments.

Only the polished endings.

But this year on LinkedIn felt different.
Not bigger.
Just more honest.

I started writing from where I actually was...
in the middle of deals,
in the middle of motherhood,
in the middle of rebuilding myself.

And what surprised me were the responses:
“Same here, I’m learning money late too.”
“Your post made me rethink how I show up as a man.”
“Thank you for saying what the rest of us don’t.”

It reminded me that LinkedIn isn’t just strategy.
It’s people trying, failing, learning, starting again.

So today, no big insight, just gratitude.

For everyone who showed up quietly and consistently this year.

For everyone who made the middle feel less lonely.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

May it be warm, gentle, and exactly what you need.

#HappyThanksgiving #Thanksgiving #Insight #Gratitude

Pricing isn’t a math problem. 

It’s a perception game.

Long before anyone studies your features, their brain has already whispered, “Yeah… this feels about right,” or “Nope, not for me.”

Most of us underestimate how early that decision gets made.

So I pulled together 5 psychological levers companies use to tilt that first impression in their favor, the tiny cues that make someone nod along without even realizing why.

The classic 99 vs 100 trick.
The decoy offer that magically makes the “middle” option irresistible.
The premium item placed right at the entrance so everything else looks like a bargain.

Starbucks nudging you toward the Grande isn’t destiny, it’s design.

Value is rarely absolute. It’s framed.

If you’ve built something great and conversions still suck, the issue might not be pricing. It might be the story your pricing is telling.

Use this. Play with it.

The market’s already running these tricks on you, may as well run them right back. :)

The Price is Right

I’ve always felt that communities aren’t built by the big moments. 

They’re built by the people who keep showing up when no one’s watching.

And small businesses do that for us every single day.

They open early. 
They stay late. 
They remember your order, your kid’s name, your bad week.

They carry the emotional labor of a neighborhood without ever announcing it.

So today, I want to return the favor.

I encourage you to pick one small business that makes your life softer, warmer, or just a little more human.

Give them a moment on your feed — a tag, a sentence, a little spotlight.

To them, that visibility isn’t small.

It’s oxygen.

Drop your favorites below. I’d love to discover the people and places that make your community feel like home.

#Hiring #NowHiring #SmallBusiness #SmallActions #SmallBusinessSaturday

Now Hiring!

Most PE deals don’t collapse because of bad numbers.

They collapse because founder psychology was never part of diligence.

Margins you can fix.
Processes you can rebuild.
Systems you can replace.
Leadership you can upgrade.

But a founder who’s stuck in an identity they’ve outgrown! 

That’s the part you inherit.

And it becomes your problem (or your unfair advantage) on Day One.

Across acquisitions, I keep meeting the same archetypes:

▪️The Nostalgic - negotiating for the business they wish they were buying. 
▪️The Chaos Addict - running on adrenaline instead of structure.
▪️The Ghost - absent for years, suddenly emotional at the exit.
▪️The Unbendable - brilliant operator, zero adaptability.

These profiles create liabilities you’ll never see in a CIM - earn-out blowups, culture erosion, customer slippage, post-close fatigue.

But then there’s the outlier the founder who understands that an exit is an act of stewardship, not surrender.

They prep their team.
They stabilize customers.
They hand over a business with clean governance, not emotional residue.
They leave the company in a condition that compounds value, not chaos.

That’s the founder you want.

Because in PE, you’re not just buying assets, you’re buying the leadership residue that echoes long after closing.

You can model revenue, costs, synergies, and scenarios…

But you cannot model founder psychology.

And that variable is what determines whether Year 1 becomes lift-off or clean-up.

#Founders #Business #Acquisition #Buying #Purchasing

5 Types of Founder Characters 

​Who’s the most important hire for any business and why?

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

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The Battle

Chris Vaughn

Anou N Khot

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The Battle

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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);}Anou N Khot's LinkedIn Performance

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