STARTUPS CENTRAL

A father and son who returned to grassroots lawn care built Epic3 into Weed Man’s biggest multi-unit operator, growing a single-market start-up into a seven-figure regional powerhouse. Terry Kurth re-entered the lawn-care business in 2001 after a multi-year non-compete ended, opening a Weed Man franchise in Madison with a family member. That first year the operation brought in roughly $110,000. Two and a half decades later, Epic3 — the holding company he founded — posted abou

Tint World founder sells part of business to Susquehanna Growth Equity after scaling brand from half a dozen shops to roughly 150 and keeping the CEO post Charles Bonfiglio finalized a deal with Susquehanna Growth Equity on July 4, 2025, after more than 140 private-equity suitors signaled interest in his automotive-accessories franchise. Bonfiglio, now in his 60s, retained the chief executive role and said the new investor has added senior operators to help accelerate expansi

Small businesses should define the problem first, demand clear outcomes and choose tools that produce results fast Nearly four of every five companies now say they use some form of artificial intelligence, but that doesn’t mean every app on the market will help your bottom line. Business leaders face a flood of new offerings, many of which promise dramatic gains but deliver little. To avoid wasting time and money, start by deciding what you need fixed, demand transparent clai

A single image of a pastry sent waves of customers to a small London restaurant, illustrating how steady, unvarnished online posts can translate into real-world sales. Fallow, the eatery co-founded by Will Murray and Jack Croft, saw one photo of a laminated croissant draw about 1.6 million views and keep Saturday brunches busy for four months. The owners say that their channels now pull in tens of millions of views every month — roughly 85 million to 110 million — and that th

Across industries, networks of interoperable artificial intelligence tools are quietly remaking how companies serve customers, design products and run day-to-day operations. By linking data streams, analytics engines and delivery platforms, these connected AI systems promise faster innovation and lower costs, but they also introduce hard choices about privacy, security and who controls critical infrastructure. Industry advisers say companies that move early — while also inves