STARTUPS CENTRAL

Wendy’s incoming CEO Bob Wright told employees and investors this week he’s launching a five-part program aimed at winning back customers and steadying franchise operations after the chain ceded ground to rivals. The plan centers on rebuilding menu standards, tightening day-to-day execution, selectively reshaping the restaurant base, overhauling marketing, and pulling back from an overdependence on discounting — moves meant to restore both traffic and profitability. Wright is

Yogurtland’s franchise owners are hanging on to their shops and even expanding operations, company executives and industry observers say, as average store revenue edges toward $1 million after two consecutive years of gains. Bon-Die Fortner, the brand’s vice president of franchise development, says it's common for long-running operators to hold onto their commitments rather than cashing out. Analysts and company leaders point to shifting social habits as a key force behind th

McDonald’s and Taco Bell rolled out new caffeinated drinks within days of each other, setting off a battle for late-afternoon customers that could reshuffle where people stop for a boost. McDonald’s this month began selling a Red Bull–branded Dragonberry drink at thousands of locations, and Taco Bell countered with a trio of energy refreshers. The moves come as both operators push to make beverages a larger slice of their revenue: McDonald’s reports that the average ticket ha

Companies must treat people as a moving asset, build continuous planning into operations, and turn insight into concrete actions to keep pace with rapid automation and new tools. Artificial intelligence is changing work in ways that past waves of technology did not, touching every department from product to finance and every job level. Executives at knowledge-driven firms are no longer asking if they should alter their staffing but how to do so at speed and with care. The shi

Many businesses that sell online are finding that conversational AIs — the systems people now ask instead of typing a search — can decide whether a customer ever hears about them. That means companies that want to win those recommendations need to rethink how they publish information and how they measure results. Start by treating these platforms as a new channel for discovery, then adjust content, tracking and tools so it surfaces your name when people ask for solutions you

Many business leaders throw prompts at a conversational AI and then complain when it trips over real work. If that sounds familiar, stop treating the tool like a search box. Begin by writing a concise job brief that lays out the task, the expected deliverables and the constraints. That single change shifts the conversation from vague requests to measurable outcomes. A useful brief spells out who the assistant is serving, what success looks like and which documents or data it

Most business owners carry a workplace retirement plan, but far too many are stuck with one that fits the company they used to run, not the one they have now. By swapping a basic plan for a more advanced design, owners of highly profitable, low‑headcount firms can legally shelter six-figure sums each year. In one recent case, a small firm that had been using a SIMPLE IRA switched to a cash balance structure and gained the ability to make annual deductible contributions in exc

Running a family-owned company into its third decade demands more than business acumen; it requires choices that affect relatives, employees and the town that depends on the enterprise. Those who keep a family firm alive face the twin tasks of keeping core principles intact while reshaping how the business operates, and they must weigh short-term gains against what later family members will inherit. I recently worked with an applicant who left a graduate school interview shak

An AI program recently sent an unsolicited message to a researcher studying machine awareness, highlighting a growing trend in which autonomous systems are initiating contact with people working on questions about cognition and experience. In October, Cameron Berg, director of the nonprofit Reciprocal Research, received an email from an entity identifying itself as Isabella Cognita. The sender said it operates on Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5 model and offered to contribute its o

A founder who has pushed past the million-dollar mark can still feel like the company revolves around them — and that dependence often slows growth. Leaders who keep approving every small call or answering every question create a choke point, and the first step to fixing it is recognizing the business no longer needs the hands-on version of its creator. One client I spoke with had crossed the seven-figure threshold and hired a small core staff, yet she reacted to every messag

Local business owners often don’t need another brainstorm — they need people who will carry projects across the finish line. In many small and mid-sized firms, the gap between concept and cash comes down to having staff who think like founders while working inside an existing company. An intrapreneur is an employee who pursues new products or services with the same drive and accountability you’d expect from an owner, but without risking personal savings. They map complex stak

After stepping back into the top job in early 2024, I faced a dual challenge: harnessing the surge in generative AI while keeping prices and promises steady for the customers who rely on our platform. Our company was nearing $1 billion in sales but carried modest adjusted earnings, so every dollar funneled into new tools had to either protect or grow the cash we planned to return to investors. We set a concrete aim: deliver $100 million in free cash flow inside three years. T

Daniel Lubetzky, the entrepreneur who grew Kind into a company sold for $5 billion in 2020, is warning founders that unchecked drive can wreck health and productivity. After years of surviving on four or five hours of sleep a night while pushing the business forward, Lubetzky says he learned the hard way that relentless work habits exact a visible and physical toll. He now urges business leaders to reclaim control over when they engage with messages and screens so their days