Tyler Maldonado
Stories by Tyler Maldonado
FINANCE
Burn Rate and Runway, Explained
Every startup is spending its way toward one of two outcomes: profitability or a dead bank account. Burn rate tells you how…
GROW
Christmas tree farms make $38 a tree, not $80
USDA data puts the average US Christmas tree near $38 at the farm gate, not the $80 on the lot. Here is…
FINANCE
How Much Should a Founder Pay Themselves? What the 2026 Data Actually Shows
Ask five founders what they pay themselves and you will get five different answers, from nothing at all to a market-rate executive…
GROW
How to Build a Personal Board of Advisors When You Have No Board
Most early founders have no board of directors, no investors with seats, and no one who is professionally obligated to tell them…
TECH
Pigment’s $250M Bet on Making Enterprise Planning Run Itself
The least glamorous software in the enterprise keeps attracting serious money. Pigment, the Paris-based AI business planning platform, raised a $250 million…
GROW
What a Memoir Ghostwriter Costs in 2026, and Why Executives Keep Hiring Them
Somewhere between the third funding round and the first gray hair, a lot of founders and executives arrive at the same thought:…
FINANCE
Value-Based Pricing for Freelancers: How to Quote the Outcome, Not the Hour
Every freelancer hits the same ceiling: there are only so many hours in a week, so hourly billing caps what you can…
FINANCE
WNBA Franchise Valuations 2026 Disagree by $220M
Forbes says the Golden State Valkyries are worth $780 million. Sportico says $850 million. CNBC says $1 billion. The gap is methodology,…
GROW
The Weekly Client Update: A Five-Minute Email That Protects Your Retainer
The cheapest insurance on any retainer is not a contract clause. It is a short email, sent every week, in the same…
FINANCE
Who Owns Fenty Beauty Now That LVMH Wants Out
Rihanna still owns half. LVMH is trying to sell the other half to Jay-Z's MarcyPen Capital Partners, and the price being discussed…
GROW
How Much Do Haunted Houses Make And Why Most Make $105K
The average US haunt grossed $105,501.52 in 2025 sales, up 8.43% from the year before. Here is the real cost structure behind…
TECH
Time Tracking Software Fails for a Reason That Has Nothing to Do With the Software
Most small-business time tracking rollouts die the same death. The owner buys a tool to find out where the hours go, announces…
FINANCE
Travis Kelce’s Swiftarc Ponzi Scheme Had a Public Warning
Sid Jawahar took in $35.6 million and put 99% of it into a single Pakistani tobacco stock. Texas regulators found the fraud…
GROW
Before You Sell a Retainer, Write Down What the Month Can Hold
Define included work, capacity, response times, overflow and unused hours before offering a monthly retainer. Includes a hypothetical time budget.
GROW
How Much Indie Hackers Make in 2026 and the 97% Drop
Marc Lou's ShipFast went from about $135,000 a month to $3,537, and his own Stripe-connected dashboard shows it. Here is what solo…
GROW
A Client Asked for One More Thing. Is It a Revision or a Scope Change?
Classify a client revision, compare its effect on cost and timing, and record approval before changing the project. Includes a decision log…
GROW
Before You Quote a New Client, Answer These Five Questions
Clarify scope, approvals, budget and deadlines before quoting a service project. Use a five-question worksheet and a fictional client-reply example.
INSPIRE
Edwin Chen net worth 2026 and the 75% stake behind it
Forbes puts the Surge AI founder at $18 billion. The number comes from one private valuation and a stake he has never…
GROW
AI Workflow Testing Checklist: What to Check Before Launch
Test an AI workflow before launch. Use this checklist to define outputs, catch errors, set approval rules, and record pass/fail results.
FINANCE
Startup Tender Offer Windows Can Now Be 10 Days
The SEC halved the minimum offer period in April 2026, right as tender offer volume hit a six-year high. Here is how…