Ferenc Fekete

Helping non-tech Founders transform Ideas into SaaS products @ VeryCreatives | Product Agency, SaaS & MVP Development | Startups

I've watched many startup founders fail at the same exact point: turning their validated idea into actual software.

They waste months (or even years):
→ Trying to hire the right developers
→ Burning cash on poor planning and execution
→ Second-guessing every technical decision along the way

Meanwhile, competitors move faster, investors demand traction, and the pressure to deliver keeps building more and more.

After watching this pattern destroy countless promising startups, we built VeryCreatives to fix it.

But here's what makes us different:

We don't just build your MVP and disappear. We're product people who think like founders, not just developers who code to spec.

👉 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵: We start by pressure-testing your assumptions before writing a single line of code. If the market doesn't want it, we'll tell you straight.

👉 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲: We build like it's our own startup, obsessing over user experience, scalability, and investor readiness from the first sprint.

👉 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱: Whether you're at napkin sketch or Series B, we've been there. We've helped founders go from zero to acquisition, and we stick around for the entire journey.

For the past 14 years, we've built products for venture-backed startups, fast-growing scale-ups, and globally recognized brands like Red Bull, Nestlé, and Philips.

The startups we work with have:
✅ Launched investor-ready MVPs in under 90 days
✅ Secured funding from top-tier investors and VCs
✅ Scaled from first users to thousands of paying customers
✅ Successfully exited to strategic acquirers

Got a SaaS idea that's been sitting in your head for months? 
Let's map out your 90-day path to launch → https://verycreatives.com/book-a-call

Co-Founder

At VeryCreatives, we are a team of expert developers who create powerful SaaS apps that solve problems and drive growth for founders with initial funding. We believe in empowering our clients with innovative software that helps them achieve their goals and stand out in their industry.

Our audience consists of driven and ambitious founders who have just received initial funding for their startup. They are looking for a software development partner who understands their vision, can help bring their ideas to life, and deliver results that will help them achieve their business goals.

Founders with initial funding have a pressing need to build their product quickly and efficiently to maximize their chances of success. At VeryCreatives, we understand this need and are dedicated to creating high-quality SaaS apps that not only meet their requirements but also exceed their expectations. We are committed to delivering value and results that help our clients succeed.

VeryCreatives stands out in the market for our ability to deliver high-quality, innovative solutions that meet the needs of our clients. Our unique approach to software development, coupled with our expertise and commitment to excellence, is what drives us to provide outstanding results to our clients.

Industries our clients operate in, using the SaaS products we've built: 
- Digital marketing, Event marketing & Influencer marketing SaaS
- Foodtech & Delivery 
- Fintech, Banking & Investments
- 2-sided marketplace platforms
- Agriculture & Livestock management
- Packaging compliance & Waste

Markets we cover: UAE, EU, UK, US.

The UK is shipping world-class SaaS 🇬🇧

Here's 20 UK startups and the core feature that makes each one worth watching:

Attio (Nicolas Sharp) → AI-native CRM that auto-enriches contacts in real time. ARR quadrupling YoY.

Synthesia (Victor Riparbelli) → Text-to-video with 230+ AI avatars in 140+ languages. $180M Series D.

PolyAI (Nikola Mrkšić) → Voice AI that handles live customer calls in 45 languages. Backed by Nvidia.

Xelix (Paul Roiter) → AI agents for Accounts Payable. Processes 115M+ invoices per year.

Granola (Christopher Pedregal) → AI meeting notepad. Auto-generates structured notes and action items from calls.

Vertice (Eldar Tuvey) → SaaS spend platform that auto-negotiates your renewals. 437% growth rate.

Signal AI (David Benigson) → Real-time monitoring across millions of sources for reputation and regulatory risk.

Plain (Simon Rohrbach) → API-first support where AI agents resolve tickets autonomously. Used by Vercel and Cursor.

Griffin (David Jarvis) → UK's first full-stack Banking-as-a-Service with a full banking license.

Primer (@Paul Anthony) → Single API connecting 100+ payment processors with no-code routing.

hyperexponential (​Amrit Santhirasenan) → No-code pricing models for commercial insurers. Backed by a16z.

Raycast (Thomas Paul Mann) → Keyboard-first productivity launcher. 800+ app integrations with built-in AI.

StackOne (Romain Sestier) → One API to connect 200+ enterprise SaaS integrations. Built for AI agents.

Lindus Health (Meri Beckwith) → Runs full clinical trials 3x faster than traditional CROs.

Metaview (Siadhal Magos) → Auto-generates structured interview notes from live conversations. Used by Sony and Brex.

Sylvera (Allister Furey) → Satellite imagery and ML to rate the actual quality of carbon credits.

Robin AI (Richard Robinson) → LLM trained on 2M+ contracts. Reviews and negotiates legal docs for UBS and Pfizer.

BVNK (Jesse Hemson-Struthers) → Stablecoin payment infrastructure for cross-border business transactions.

Shop Circle (Luca Cartechini) → AI-powered suite for Shopify merchants. Inventory, SEO, analytics in one dashboard.

Tessl (Guy Podjarny) → Forces AI coding agents to write specs before generating code. Prevents hallucinations.

Every one of these started with a sharp product decision: solve one problem exceptionally well, then expand.

What UK startup has caught your eye recently?

Launch products customers love, then exit | 5x exits, $100M ARR created for founders

I’ve developed products for 5x exits

Shock: Don't hire a developer in 2026

Every week, a non-technical founder asks me: "Where do I find good developers?"

My answer: "Why do you need one?"

Usually they don't. Not yet.

Before you hire a developer, you need:

1. Validated problem

→ Real people willing to pay. Not just "interested."


2. Clear scope

→ What are you building? What are you NOT building?


3. User journey mapped

→ Every screen. Every interaction. Every edge case.


4. Prioritized features

→ What's V1 vs V2 vs never?

Without these, you'll waste $15-20k per month while you "figure it out."

If you DO need a developer:

Red flags:

→ Promises fast/cheap (you'll pay later)
→ Doesn't ask about your business model
→ Jumps straight to coding
→ Can't explain trade-offs in plain English

Green flags:

→ Asks more questions than you expect
→ Pushes back on features
→ Talks about users, not just tech
→ Shows similar work (not just "we can do that")

The best developers will tell you what NOT to build.

"The project will cost $50k." - Developer
 
3 months later: $120k. Sh*t. What happened?

Every non-technical founder has heard this: "It will take longer than expected."

But you can prevent it (with some high-school math)

Here's how to build an accurate cost forecast:

Step 1: Break it down absurdly small

Not "user authentication: $5k"

But:

→ Login page design: $500
→ Login backend: $1k
→ Password reset flow: $1.5k
→ OAuth integration: $2k
→ Security testing: $500


Step 2: Add complexity multipliers

→ Simple feature: 1x
→ Medium complexity: 1.5x
→ Complex/uncertain: 2x
→ Integration with third parties: 2.5x


Step 3: Add the "unknown unknowns" buffer

→ New team: +30%
→ Existing team, new domain: +20%
→ Experienced team, known domain: +10%


Step 4: Phase the budget

→ Phase 1: Core features (40% of budget)
→ Phase 2: Secondary features (30% of budget)
→ Phase 3: Polish and optimization (20% of budget)
→ Buffer: (10% of budget)


Step 5: Define cut points

If Phase 1 goes over, what do you cut from Phase 2?

Decide BEFORE you're in crisis mode.


The rule:

If you haven't scoped it in detail, you haven't scoped it.

And if you haven't scoped it, any number is a guess.

So…

Maybe pause that developer project.

Mixpanel is the only company I've seen do this 🔥

They’re putting client logos directly on each pricing tier. 

I think this is smart for a few reasons:

1. Trust at the decision point

You're comparing plans. You're about to pick one.

That's exactly when you see the logos. Trust increases right when it matters most.


2. Self-comparison kicks in

When you see "Uber uses the Growth plan" and "CNN uses Enterprise," you start asking yourself:

→ Which companies are like mine?
→ What plan are they on?
→ Should I be on that too?


3. The proof matches the buyer

→ Startups see startup logos on the Starter tier.
→ Enterprises see enterprise logos on the Enterprise tier.
→ Each plan has its own social proof. Not one generic "10,000 companies trust us" claim.

Small detail. Probably moves conversions more than most people realize.

Have you seen other SaaS companies doing this?

I've been part of 5 SaaS acquisitions.

Here's what buyers discuss privately:

When a company gets acquired, founders focus on revenue, growth metrics, and the pitch.

But after the presentation, when the acquirer's technical team goes back to their office, the conversation shifts completely.

I've seen this happen five times now. The questions they ask each other are almost always the same:

→ "Can we maintain this code without them?"

If the answer is no, the price drops or the deal dies. One of our clients got acquired by Adesso ($1.3B IT company) and one of the deciding factors was code quality. Their team reviewed the codebase and actually kept us as the development partner post-acquisition.


→ "How much technical debt are we inheriting?"

Every shortcut the original team took becomes a line item on a spreadsheet. They calculate what it costs to fix and deduct it from the offer. This can knock six figures off valuations.


→ "Can this handle 10x the current load right now?"

Not after a rebuild. Right now, as-is. If the answer requires re-architecting, that's another cost they subtract.


→ "Is the data clean enough to migrate?"

Messy data means months of integration work on their side. They price that in aggressively.


→ "What happens when the founders walk away?"

If all the product knowledge lives in two people's heads with nothing documented, the acquirer just bought a risk.


Most non-technical founders don't think about any of this until they're already in due diligence. By then the damage is done.

Build like someone's reviewing your codebase tomorrow. After 13 years, I've watched acquisition offers show up when founders least expect them.

What would you want to clean up in your tech stack before a buyer looked at it?

I run a 28-person agency. I used to feel guilty about an ‘empty calendar’ on a Monday. Now I try cancel all of my meetings:

And it’s helped us grow revenue 30%+.

Previously I was in every delivery meeting, every project review, every standup at VeryCreatives.

I thought I had to be in the room for things to run.

Now, our fantastic Head of Delivery meets with the PMs directly. 

And an ‘empty calendar’ means brain space to strategise on growth.

Here's what my Monday looks like now:

1. Strategy session with my co-founder Mate
→ Previous week, pipeline, finances, what's planned
→ Keeps us both aligned so neither of us needs to check in again all week

2. Sales sync
→ New leads, who handles what, timing

3. Afternoon: wide open
→ This is the whole point
→ We use that time to plan new internal tools, shape future services, figure out where we're going next

By lunchtime, the operational part of my day is done.

Everything after that is thinking time.

What's one meeting you could delete from your Monday to create space?

I've helped 5 SaaS products exit. 

Here's what acquirers actually looked at:

5 years ago, a product we developed sold to Adesso ($1.3BN/year IT business).

One of the things they noted was that technical build was a factor in acquisition.

Main problem:

Non-technical founders MOSTLY don’t think about how to build the technical foundation for exit from day 1.

Then in the event of acquisition they scramble to make the product "acquirable" and wonder why due diligence takes forever.

Here's what acquirers evaluate:

1. Code quality

Can they maintain it without you?

I've seen acquirers keep the original dev team post-acquisition specifically because the code was clean. 

Red flags they look for:

→ No documentation
→ No tests
→ Spaghetti architecture
→ Single points of failure


2. Technical debt

How much will it cost to fix?

Every shortcut you take today becomes a negotiating chip against you later.


3. Scalability

Can it handle 10x users?

Not "can we rebuild it to handle 10x." Can it handle 10x NOW?


4. Data integrity

Is the data clean? Structured? Portable?

Messy data = massive integration costs = lower valuation.


5. Team dependency

What happens if founders leave? Is knowledge in heads or in docs?

My ‘exit-ready’ lesson;

Build like someone's going to buy your company tomorrow.

Because if you do it right, they might.

Think about this while building the roadmap for your v1.

My 6-year old son tells $100M private equity firms if product ideas are ‘good’ (I’m serious).

If you can't explain your product to a 6-year old, I’ve got $100,000 on the fact that no one else will get it either.

I sit through dozens of product pitches every year.

The pattern is always the same:

Founder: "So basically, we're building a platform that leverages AI to optimize cross-functional workflows while integrating with existing enterprise systems to enable seamless collaboration and data-driven decision making."

Me: "What does it actually do?"

Founder: "...It helps teams share files."

The 6-year old test:

Can someone who has never heard of your product understand:

1. WHO it's for
2. WHAT problem it solves
3. WHY they should care

In 5 seconds?

If not, here's the formula that works:

"We help [specific person] [do specific thing] so they can [achieve specific outcome]."

Examples:

→ "We help freelancers send invoices so they get paid faster." 
→ "We help HR teams track applicants so they hire better candidates."

Trust me… my 6-year old is a great product idea validation filter.

Can you explain your product in one sentence?

Clay is one of the only companies I’ve seen do this 🔥

When you open the dashboard:

→ There's an AI chat text box.
→ It asks: "What do you want to build?"
→ You type your goal. It takes you to a chat screen. 
→ Then their AI (Sculptor) builds the workflow for you.

I think this solves three problems at once:


1. The blank canvas problem

Clay is powerful but notoriously hard to start with (lot’s of features).

Beginner users will open it, see an empty table, and don't know where to begin.

This prompt box removes that moment. 


2. Slow learning curve

A lot of tools teach you their features via an onboarding. 

But then over a few years they launch 10+ other features you have no clue how to use.

This Clay feature speeds up the learning curve:

→ You describe the outcome
→ The product figures out which features to use
→ You learn by watching it build


3. HUGE time and cost savings. 

For a lot of large products such as Clay, there are off shoots of service based agencies that build with the product for you.

Now you literally do not need to hire an agency.

The product builds what you need for you.

Making it more fun to use.

-

Have you seen other tools do this?

Why US innovation labs pay $500K for what Hungarian teams build for $100K (and get better results):

I just watched an enterprise innovation lab spend $500K on a product that never saw a single real user.

Then in same quarter, we shipped a similar concept for a German client. 

It took six weeks, it cost much less…. and in the end was live and taking payments vs the US one (zero payments).

The problem is US labs have been trained to solve every problem with a 20-person team.

Think about what happens when you have a massive budget:

→ You hire a product manager.
→ You hire three designers.
→ You hire a scrum master.
→ You hire eight developers.
→ You hire two QA engineers
→ And a DevOps team.

Everyone needs to justify their role. So they build. And build. And build.

👉 The PM adds features to show progress
👉 Designers polish screens nobody asked for
👉 Developers architect for scale you don't have
👉 QA tests edge cases that won't exist for years

Six months later, you have a beautiful product that solves nothing particularly well.

OR-

With that same $500k budget, you could run 10 separate validation sprints at $50k each. Even if 8 fail completely, you still walk away with 2 validated concepts to scale.

Compare that to putting the budget on one product that takes six months to discover nobody wants.

Agree or disagree?

Fireflies.ai hit a $1B valuation.

How to copy their MVP strategy:

Founders Sam Udotong and Krish Ramineni would dial into calls as "Fred from Fireflies.ai", sit silently, take notes by hand, and send them 10 minutes later.

They did 100+ meetings like this. Completely manual. 🤯

→ Zero development cost to validate
→ Learned exactly what users needed (by doing the job themselves)
→ Proved people would pay $100/month BEFORE investing in code
→ Only automated after hitting $750/month revenue

What I take from this:

Before you scope features, before you wireframe, before you hire anyone:

Can you deliver the core value manually? Without hiring any developers?

If yes, do that first. Talk to those customers. Understand the problem deeply.

Then build.

-

P.s.

We use Fireflies.ai at VeryCreatives.

We switched from Fathom because it felt more complete and could even log our internal calls in Hungarian. 🇭🇺

Could you imagine Fred joining your call to take notes?

What's stopping you from delivering your product's value manually this week?

Most launches fail in the handoffs. Here's the 20-minute test that catches them.

If we work together on a launch, I will ask you to do one thing that feels annoying:

Close Figma.

Forget your test accounts.

Take a brand new signup and do one complete job in one sitting:

👉Invite the teammates you expect them to invite.

👉Import the messy file they will actually import.

👉Hit the permission edges you are secretly hoping they never hit.

What I keep seeing is the same:

Teams test features in isolation because it feels faster.

Users live in journeys.

Journeys fail in the handoffs.

So, pick one job that really matters.

Time yourself doing it end to end on a fresh account.

Write down every time you pause, swear, or ping someone for help.

Fix the three worst moments before you celebrate anything.

It is not glamorous work, but it has saved more launches for us than any marketing campaign.

When's the last time you did a full journey test on a fresh account?

Hiring a developer is the most expensive mistake a non-technical founder can make. Do these 7 things to save $50k+ for your MVP (avoid Upwork/Fiverr):

1. Define your product strategy first

→ Spend 2-3 days defining exactly what you're building and why. 
→ Don’t scroll Upwork/Fiver for a developer.


2. Create detailed user journeys

→ Every screen. Every interaction. Every edge case.
→ If you can't draw it, you can't build it.
→ Otherwise you’ll end up trusting a developer with the entire thing.


3. Prioritize features ruthlessly

→ What's your V1? V2? Never?
→ Cut 50% of what you think you need.


4. Wireframe everything

→ Before design and before code. Do wireframes.
→ It’s cheap to change (trust me on that one). 


5. Weekly demos with the developer

→ See progress. Catch misunderstandings early.
→ Fast feedback loops save thousands.


6. Fixed scope, not fixed time

→ Tell the developer "Build these 10 features" not "work for 3 months."
→ Not "work for 3 months." or "work for 10 hours this week."


7. Kill features that aren't working

→ Sunk cost fallacy kills startups.


The math:

A few days of product strategy work upfront can prevent $50k-$100k in wrong features.

I've seen founders spend $80k building the wrong thing. Then start over.

Don't be that founder.

The fastest way to make $100k MRR with SaaS 

Copy all of your competitors features:

No, seriously.

But only once you take this into account.

Your competitor has 50 features. 
They’re proven over 5+ years.
They’re clearly making revenue.

Just copy them all right?

Here's the problem:

Your competitor built those 50 features over 5 years.

They added most of them because:

→ A big customer asked for it
→ Someone on the team thought it was cool
→ They were trying to justify a price increase

They probably regret half of them.

What to do instead:

1. Identify their core value proposition (usually 2-3 features)
2. Find which features their customers actually use (check G2 reviews, Reddit, support forums)
3. Identify what they do poorly (read 1-star reviews)
4. Build that. Better.

Don't compete on feature count. 

You'll lose.

Compete on solving one problem exceptionally well.

What's the one thing your competitor does that you could do 10x better?

Sales and Marketing at CBF Labels

I'm passionate about sharing content & ideas on sales + marketing to help you level up your professional knowledge.

Outside my main role, I've been helping Ecommerce SaaS and AI companies with distribution and promotion.

If you’re looking to advertise to my audience, please send me a message so we can chat further. Thanks!

Jamie Dimond

Many people feel scared when this moment comes:

Someone joins your team who is better than you.

The higher the position, the bigger the fear.

Yes, it can feel like a threat.

But think again.

Having access to smarter people is a blessing.

Which company will achieve more:

The one where the manager hires mediocre people,

or the one that hires just top stars?

Doers, believers, and hungry to learn and work.

The answer is clear.

The top people:

Bring new ideas and fresh perspectives.

Can teach you so much.

Drive companies to new heights.

Their strengths can lift the whole team.

You grow when you surround yourself with talent.

It’s an opportunity to learn and improve.

Embrace their skills.

Together, you can achieve more.

Remember, success is not a competition.

It’s about collaboration and growth.

So, don’t be afraid.
Celebrate their talent.
We’re all on the same journey.
Welcome them with open arms.
Help them thrive; one day, they will help you.

Credit: Igor Buinevici

Surround yourself with ambition.

It changes you.

Fast.

The line “Surround yourself with people who have bigger goals than you. Ambition is contagious” is not hype.

It is a career strategy.

Because your goals do not live in a vacuum.

They live inside your calendar.
Your standards.
Your daily conversations.
Your sense of what is normal.

And nothing shapes “normal” faster than the people around you.

When you sit near big goals long enough,

You start to borrow them.

Not by copying.
By upgrading.

Here is how influential networks quietly drive professional growth:

1. Ambition resets your baseline
 → In a low-aim room, average feels safe 
 → In a high-aim room, average feels expensive 
 → You stop asking for permission to grow

2. High performers create healthy pressure
 → Not toxic pressure 
 → Clear pressure 
 → The kind that makes you ship work, not talk about it

3. Mentors compress time
 → Mentorship is not motivation 
 → It is direction 
 → A good mentor helps you skip avoidable mistakes 
 → And raises your standards without raising your stress

4. Peers shape your pace
 → Your peers decide what “normal effort” looks like 
 → If your circle learns, you learn 
 → If your circle builds, you build 
 → If your circle settles, you settle

5. Culture multiplies behavior
 → In ambitious cultures, high expectations are not personal 
 → They are the air 
 → People plan better 
 → Communicate clearer 
 → And take ownership faster

6. Social proof does the heavy lifting
 → Humans copy what works 
 → When you watch someone set a high goal and hit it, your brain files it as possible 
 → You start to act like it is possible too 
 → Because now it feels real

7. Strategic networking opens hidden doors
 → Not “collecting contacts” 
 → Building real relationships with people who move 
 → Ambitious people share opportunities 
 → They spot talent 
 → They connect dots 
 → They pull you into rooms you did not know existed

8. Ambition spreads through language
 → Big-goal people talk in plans 
 → Not excuses 
 → They talk in timelines 
 → Not someday 
 → That language rewires how you think about your own work

9. You gain better feedback, not more praise
 → Influential networks do not clap for everything 
 → They sharpen you 
 → They challenge your thinking 
 → They raise the quality of your decisions

10. You start playing the long game
 ↳ Ambitious circles respect consistency 
 ↳ They reward craft 
 ↳ They build reputations 
 ↳ They understand that real growth compounds

This is the real point.

Your network is not just who you know.

It is what you start to believe is possible.

Choose circles that stretch you.

Because ambition is contagious.

And so is settling.


Image credit: Colby Kultgen

I’ll choose remote work > higher salary.

It’s really simple.

More rest, less stress.

I’ve been remote ever since COVID but up until that point, I prioritized $.

Now, I prioritize my mental health, peace of mind, and well being. 

WFH has personally made me:

✔️ Richer
✔️ Happier
✔️ Healthier
✔️ More Productive

It’s about flexibility and choice.

Give people an OPTION to choose what works for them.

Credit: Jean Kang

Ever notice who claps when you win?

And who goes quiet?

Here’s something I’ve learned the hard way:

People who truly want to see you win
don’t compete with you.
They contribute to you.

They send the intro.
They share the opportunity.
They recommend your name in rooms you’re not in.

Real support isn’t loud.
It’s consistent.

And it shows up in actions, not emojis.

The right people don’t just celebrate your success.
They help build it.

Image credit: Itsletters_ on Twitter/X

Be delusional about your potential.
Be delusional about your potential.
Be delusional about your potential.
Be delusional about your potential.
Be delusional about your potential.
Be delusional about your potential.
Be delusional about your potential.

Credit: readswithravi on Twitter/X

Most people quit right before it works.

Because effort and reward do not move at the same speed.

Years 1 to 2:

You are bad.
You know it.
Everyone else knows it.

Good.

You are building muscle.

Year 3:

You are decent.
Still invisible.
Doubt gets louder.

This is the danger zone.
Most people exit here.

Year 4:

Your skill is real.
Your voice is clear.
Your network trusts you.

Now one catalyst matters.

A post.
A partnership.
A product launch.

And it looks sudden.

But here’s what really happened:

You compressed 4 years of learning into 30 days of output.

Example:

Builder ships 50 small tools over 4 years.
None break 1k users.

Tool #51 solves the right pain at the right time.
Hits 100k users in 2 months.

People call it overnight.

They did not see the first 50.

The playbook:

1. Treat early years as paid training.
2. Ship in public.
3. Build assets, not moments.
4. Stay until the math flips.

The lag is the price.

Pay it.

If you are in year 2 or 3, this is your sign to keep going.

Mission statements can inspire.
Core values can guide.
But only your daily decisions build real culture.

Eric Partaker's post on healthy company culture got me thinking about what actually builds strong teams.

I've noticed all 7 of these patterns in teams with healthy cultures:

(Credit: Amy Gibson)

1️⃣ They address toxic behavior, even from top performers

• Talent doesn't excuse toxicity when it harms the team
• One bad person can poison the entire team

2️⃣ They promote based on merit, not politics

• Wrong promotions make your best people start looking
• Performance and values should both matter

3️⃣ They don't play favorites

• Everyone sees it, even when no one says it
• Favoritism makes trust start to break down

4️⃣ They grow people-first leaders

• Technical skills matter but aren't enough alone
• Leaders who can't grow people shouldn't lead them

5️⃣ They make it safe to speak up

• When people fear feedback, problems grow
• Feeling safe to speak isn't optional

6️⃣ They give recognition regularly

• People don't leave because of the work
• They leave when they don't feel valued

7️⃣ They apply values consistently

• Not just to some people but to everyone
• No exceptions for title, time, or revenue

Culture isn't built in the big moments.

It's built in the daily decisions about who you protect, who you promote, and what you tolerate.

That's where trust lives or dies.

Track all the KPIs you want.

If your team doesn't care, they won't move.

I talk a lot about KPIs.

They drive alignment, focus, accountability, scalability.

But numbers alone don’t build high-performing teams.

Behind every metric is a manager.
And if you’re leading people, not just tracking progress,
you need a second layer of KPIs:

Keep People...

1️⃣ Interested → Work should challenge, not just occupy.
2️⃣ Informed → Context drives better decisions.
3️⃣ Involved → Ownership beats compliance.
4️⃣ Inspired → Energy creates velocity.

Obviously KPIs don’t literally stand for these. 

But it’s a reminder that the numbers only tell you the what. People decide the how - and most importantly, the why.

It’s easy to measure output.

Harder to keep your team engaged enough to deliver it.

That’s the real work.

That’s how leadership becomes growth.

Credit: David Manela

I used to think winning meant feeling confident all the time.

It doesn’t.

Most days, confidence shows up after you act.
Not before.

What actually makes the difference is learning how to sit with your emotions
without letting them drive the wheel.

Fear shows up?
You keep going.

Doubt gets loud?
You slow down but you don’t quit.

Bad days happen.
Strong minds aren’t emotionless.
They’re practiced.

They pause.
They choose.
They respond.

That’s where progress lives.

Not in pretending you’re okay.
But in moving forward anyway.

Image credit: _SuccessMinded_ on Twitter/X

I don’t believe in dream jobs.

But I believe in healthy cultures.

Here are 5 🟢 Signs You’re in a Healthy Workplace:

(Credit: Jean Kang)

☝🏼 Work-life balance is expected.

↳ Flexible schedules, real PTO, and no guilt for having a life outside of work.

✌🏼 Mental health is respected.

↳ You can take a mental health day without judgment (it’s seen as part of being human)

🤟🏼 Feedback flows both ways.

↳ You feel safe sharing ideas, concerns, or mistakes without fear of backlash (yes, this is psychological safety).

🖖🏼 Growth is prioritized.

↳ You’re given opportunities to develop, whether it’s new skills, projects, or career growth.

🖐🏼 Your work is valued.

↳ Your work is recognized and you receive incentives with raises, bonuses, impactful projects, and flexibility.

When praying for a job, also pray for a workplace that values you too 🙏🏼

Because trust me, when you believe you’re worth it, the universe will make it possible for you.

That’s exactly how I landed dream jobs after being fired and found compassionate leaders after dealing with awful bosses.

It’s because I never settled for anything less.

Life as a marketer:

Credit: Rana Bassiouni

"Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department."

And David Packard was right.

Because marketing is not a department.

Most companies treat marketing like a team that “makes things look good.”

That is the fastest way to build a brand that feels fake.

Real marketing is the full customer experience.
From first touch to last invoice.

When marketing sits in one corner of the org, this happens:

- Sales promises things the product cannot deliver
- Product ships features nobody asked for
- Support fights fires that should not exist
- Finance cuts “brand spend” and kills demand
- Leaders chase short-term wins and lose trust

The fix is simple.

Make marketing everyone’s job.

Not by asking every team to post on LinkedIn.
Not by turning engineers into copywriters.

By making every team own the customer story.

Here is the playbook.

7 Ways To Integrate Marketing Across Your Whole Company:

1. Start with one shared customer truth
↳ Define who you serve, what they want, and why they choose you.
↳ Put it on one page and make it the source of truth for every team.

2. Build a single message system
↳ Lock in your positioning, your key claims, and your proof.
↳ Use the same language in sales calls, product screens, support replies, and job posts.

3. Turn sales into a marketing channel
↳ Sales hears the real objections first.
↳ Capture objections, wins, and lost deals weekly and feed them into content, ads, and product.

4. Turn support into a brand builder
↳ Support is where loyalty is won or lost.
↳ Track the top issues, fix the root cause, and publish the answers as help docs and content.

5. Pull product into the market, not just the roadmap
↳ Product teams win when they ship what customers value.
↳ Use customer interviews, churn reasons, and usage data to guide what gets built and what gets cut.

6. Use data like a shared language
↳ Digital transformation makes every team touch marketing data.
↳ Align on a few metrics that matter across teams, like activation, retention, referrals, and pipeline quality.

7. Run cross-team “go-to-market” like a habit
↳ Launches fail when teams work in silos.
↳ Create a simple rhythm: plan together, ship together, review together, improve together.

This is what it creates:

→ A unified brand message
→ Faster response to market changes
→ Better customer experience
→ Stronger loyalty and word of mouth
→ Smarter decisions with data and tech
→ A company that moves as one team

Marketing is not a function.

Marketing is the business.

Build it into everything.

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The Battle

Ferenc Fekete

Jamie Dimond

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taplio

The Battle

Ferenc Fekete

Jamie Dimond

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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);}Ferenc Fekete's LinkedIn Performance

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