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If you’re only using AI to pump out blog posts or social media content, you’re thinking too small. The real game-changers? They’re building businesses that run on autopilot — using next-gen AI agents to automate sales, operations and marketing around the clock, with zero employees.

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• Revenue-generating agent: Replace entire sales teams with AI that qualifies leads, books calls and handles follow-ups — it’s like having a top-tier sales rep that never takes a day off.
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• Workflow and SOP agent: Automate your SOPs and streamline onboarding with screen-recording AI that turns your processes into step-by-step guides — no more micromanaging.
• Pulse agent for marketing: Analyze sales data, audit content and predict campaign performance before you hit launch — this is the tool that tripled my sales in just 14 days.

Whether you’re a solopreneur or scaling a lean team, these four agents can cut overhead, boost productivity, and give you a serious edge – without the headaches of hiring and managing people. Hit play to see how it’s done.
Download the free “AI Success Kit” (limited time only). And you’ll also get a free chapter from my brand new book, “The Wolf is at The Door – How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World.”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a social media post Thursday that a ransom note arrived via email asking for $20 million in Bitcoin in exchange for not releasing information hackers had obtained on Coinbase’s customers.

“I’m going to respond publicly,” Armstrong said. “We are not going to pay ransom.”

https://t.co/evpIBMFvRW pic.twitter.com/f6UPdkL5R0

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 15, 2025

Armstrong said attackers had found a “weak link” customer service agent outside the U.S. who accepted a “bribe” and gave away personal data on customers.

In a company blog post, Coinbase said it will reimburse customers tricked into sending funds to the attacker. Hackers received access to names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails; masked Social Security numbers (last four digits only); masked bank‑account numbers; and government‑ID images (driver’s licenses, passports). No passwords or private keys were obtained, the company says. The email arrived on Sunday.

Related: Think You Can Hack Into Apple Intelligence Servers? Apple Is Paying Up to $1 Million If You Can.

“(The stolen data) allows them to conduct social engineering attacks where they can call our customers impersonating Coinbase customer support and try to trick them into sending their funds to the attackers,” Armstrong said.

Per the AP, Coinbase estimated in a filing with the SEC that it could end up spending anywhere between $180 million and $400 million “relating to remediation costs and voluntary customer reimbursements relating to this incident.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the SEC is separately investigating Coinbase over whether or not it reported inaccurate numbers during its IPO in 2021. The company claimed to have more than 100 million “verified users” in marketing materials.

Coinbase’s stock dropped 7% on Thursday after the news, per Yahoo.

Related: Over 10 Billion Passwords Have Been Exposed in the Largest Password Hack in History

Longtime “Shark Tank” investor Barbara Corcoran, 76, announced last week that she was putting her beloved New York City penthouse on the market for $12 million — and the apartment almost immediately found a buyer.

According to the latest Olshan Luxury Market Report, Corcoran’s duplex penthouse at 1158 Fifth had multiple bidders and sold for over the asking price within 24 hours of being listed. The final price paid for the unit and the identity of the new owner are still unknown, but will be disclosed as soon as the deal closes.

The property was one of 36 contracts signed last week in Manhattan with a value of $4 million or more, per the Olshan report.

Related: Barbara Corcoran Says the Best Entrepreneurs Are Good at This One Thing

“Real estate is always emotional, but I never thought I’d say goodbye to this beautiful palace in the sky,” Corcoran wrote on Instagram last week. “I’m just hoping the special person who buys it cherishes it as much as I do!”

The 4,600-square-foot, 11-room co-op has four bedrooms, four full baths, and two half baths. Monthly maintenance fees are $11,693.32. Corcoran listed the property with The Corcoran Group, the real estate firm she founded in 1973 and sold in 2001 for $66 million.

Corcoran first spotted the penthouse in 1992, when she was delivering letters for a messenger service as a side hustle. She was impressed by the apartment’s terrace with views of Central Park, and asked the home’s then-owner to call if they ever thought about selling the unit.

Related: Barbara Corcoran Says This Is the One Question to Ask Before Selling Your Home

More than two decades went by without a phone call. Finally, in 2015, the owner was ready to sell. Corcoran bought the property for $10 million and spent an additional $2 million in renovations, designing the home exactly as she imagined it. She added a library with a fireplace, a full kitchen next to the terrace, and a butler’s pantry.

Corcoran is moving out of the duplex penthouse and into a single-story one to save her and her husband, Bill Higgins, 80, the trip up and down the stairs. The duo has already found a single-story apartment in the same Carnegie Hill neighborhood.

Corcoran previously disclosed that she makes $300,000 as a “Shark Tank” investor, but usually invests over $1 million per year in startups that come on the show. She also stated that she makes $4.5 million annually from her stocks, bonds, and other investments.

Corcoran has been on “Shark Tank” for 16 years and has closed 650 deals on the show.

On a busy Saturday afternoon in Mountain View, California, the line at Alexander’s Patisserie — a pastry shop known for its precision and innovation — can stretch out the door. Customers eye a display case of delicacies, from black sesame croissants to more than 20 flavors of macarons. It’s easy to assume the appeal is in the presentation, but beneath the patisserie’s viral popularity is an authentic story: one of team leadership, craftsmanship and a dedication to continuous improvement.

Central to this story is Shuyao Cao, better known as Chef Shu. As the pastry chef behind the Alexander’s menu, she leads with creativity and intention, uniting the business with a collaborative spirit.

Related: Want to Work With Influencers? Here’s What Small Business Owners Need to Know.

“I feel like our whole team, everyone has their own talents,” Cao says. “Each one of them is unique, and I take the string from them, and then I put it together. I can’t come up with [the brunch menu] all by myself.”

The team dynamic is evident from the moment customers walk in the door. Whether staff are managing a packed tea service or catching up with regulars, the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. David Brungard, vice president of operations for Alexander’s Group Corporate, says Cao’s leadership has helped make this work environment possible.

“[Chef Shu] earned every single person’s respect, including the dishwasher, because she does everything,” Brungard says. “She cleans the walk-in, makes the croissants, comes up with ideas and walks around to taste stuff. She makes family meals for our employees so that when they come to work, [they don’t have to eat pastries all day].”

According to Brungard, Cao’s hands-on leadership style has fostered a workplace culture built on trust and appreciation: “The level of quality in your life depends a lot on how you feel when you are at work, and [Chef Shu] knows how to make everyone in our team feel valued,” he says.

Related: 5 Secrets to Success From a Sustainable Business That’s Grown 95% in 3 Years

One of the patisserie’s most talked-about menu items — the famous flat croissant — wasn’t even for customers at first. “I wanted to try it because it went viral in my Asian area,” Cao says. “I wanted to taste it myself, so I made one at the patisserie, and the front and the back of the house really enjoyed it. So I said, ‘Let’s put it on the menu.'”

Since then, Cao’s flat croissants have become a fan favorite, driving traffic in-person and on social media. But trending pastries are only responsible for a portion of the patisserie’s success. What keeps Alexander’s relevant is its commitment to adaptation through customer feedback.

“ We see how customers react and how much we sell every day,” Cao says. “We see how people react on the internet, too. I read every review the customer leaves me, and I mean it. I take opinions, and then I let the whole team taste it. Even [Brungard], when he comes, I pull him.”

For Brungard, reviews function as both valuable feedback and a celebration of the team’s efforts: “When they mention an employee by name in a raving review, it makes me super happy because they deserve the credit,” he says. “I love it when the public recognizes their hard work. And then when they don’t, I take it on. That’s what I’m here for.”

Part of Alexander’s staying power comes from thoughtful sourcing that spares no expense for quality. “We use chocolate imported from France… the best chocolate in the world,” Cao says. “We make sure we use an AOP butter for our croissant. AOP butter is super expensive, and only one region of France makes it.”

And when specialty ingredients aren’t available through traditional vendors, Cao gets creative. “Sometimes I find matcha powder [or] the best sesame paste brand in the supermarket or the Chinese grocery store,” she says. “I can pick out different stuff for myself and then ask my sales guy if he can find me a bulk item.”

Related: How This North Carolina Lawn Care Company Earns Customer Loyalty

From recipe tasting to fixing kitchen equipment, Cao and Brungard run operations like clockwork, but always with heart. “Part of our meeting is to talk about new products, reviews, what’s broken in the kitchen,” Brungard says. “How can I fix it? How can I give you what you need to be successful?”

This behind-the-scenes support reinforces a company-wide policy: Take care of the team, and they’ll take care of the guest.

Ultimately, Alexander’s success comes from the patisserie staying true to its values. Thoughtful leadership and room for experimentation allow the team to chase their passions, resulting in a sweeter experience for the guests. “When you put love into something, it reverberates into the world,” Brungard says.

Consider Alexander’s Patisserie’s guiding principles for creating a thoughtful experience for both customers and staff:

• Lead from within. Respect is earned. Set the tone by working alongside the team and staying hands-on in the operation.
• Innovate with intention. Let curiosity, creativity and customer feedback drive your menu changes, rather than trends alone.
• Feedback helps you pivot and grow. Read and discuss every review to identify areas for refinement and improvement.
• Quality begins with sourcing. Whether it’s imported French butter or the perfect sesame paste, sourcing should be deliberate and can help your business align with its (and customers’) values.
• Culture is the secret ingredient. A welcoming team translates into a positive guest interaction. When your team feels supported, the entire operation succeeds.

Related: She Runs a James Beard Award-Nominated Restaurant. Here’s Her 2-Step Process for Hiring the Best Employees.

Listen to the episode below to hear directly from Cao and Brungard, and subscribe to Behind the Review for more from new business owners and reviewers every Thursday.

Editorial contributions by Alex Miranda and Kristi Lindahl

This article is part of our ongoing America’s Favorite Mom & Pop Shops™ series highlighting family-owned and operated businesses

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the normally robust spring housing market was a “dud” this year, as economic and stock market uncertainty, coupled with mortgage rates hovering around 6.72% at press time, have kept buyers away.

The outlet notes that with more homes hitting the market, demand is not aligning with the rising inventory, and home prices are fluctuating (some areas are seeing drops while others remain high).

But there are some states where you can still find affordable housing.

U.S. News & World Report‘s 2025 Best States list looks at thousands of data points to rank each state on a variety of factors, including crime, economy, education, fiscal stability, health care, infrastructure, natural environment, and opportunity. Using that data, along with statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and factoring in cost of living and other points, the outlet also ranked the best states for housing affordability.

Related: Thinking of Starting a Business? Here Are the 10 Best States for Startups, According to a New Report.

Still, it’s worth noting that many of the top states for housing affordability were ranked near the bottom of the list in categories including poverty rate, food insecurity, and median household income. But if you’re a remote worker looking for more land or the chance to buy a home at a low price, it could be worth checking out.

Here are the five best states for housing affordability, according to data used in U.S. News & World Report‘s “Best States” list.

1. Mississippi

Affordability Ranking: 2

Overall Best States Ranking: 48

According to Zillow, the average Mississippi home value is $189,710.

2. West Virginia

Affordability Ranking: 3

Overall Best States Ranking: 46

According to Zillow, the average West Virginia home value is $167,250.

3. Arkansas

Affordability Ranking: 1

Overall Best States Ranking: 44

According to Zillow, the average Arkansas home value is $217,895.

Related: Here Are the 10 Best States for Working Seniors

4. Alabama

Affordability Ranking: 8

Overall Best States Ranking: 45

According to Redfin, the average home price in Alabama is $281,400.

5. Kentucky

Affordability Ranking: 10

Overall Best States Ranking: 39

According to Redfin, the average home price in Kentucky is $263,400

You can find the full top 10 most affordable states list, here.

Click here for the full Best States list.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership models,” Sarah O’Leary, CEO of femtech company Willow, tells Entrepreneur. “ There’s been a lot of noise and news around, ‘We need more masculine energy in the workplace.’ It makes you question as a leader: What is my style? How effective is my style? I don’t believe that we need more masculine energy.”

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Willow}

O’Leary characterizes her leadership style and the culture at Willow, the brand behind “patented leak-proof” wearable breast pumps and their accessories, as one that centers transparency and empathy to build trust within the workplace. According to the CEO, teams that have trust in each other — and in their leaders — are more likely to function in a way that’s conducive to success.

Related: Strong Leaders Use These 4 Strategies to Build Trust in Their Workplace

“I believe [flexibility in the workplace] makes us more productive.”

Instilling trust within team members means emphasizing a level of autonomy, O’Leary says. Willow is a “very flexible workplace,” O’Leary explains, noting that the company has never given its employees return-to-office mandates. As a mother of two herself, O’Leary is particularly cognizant of the everyday hurdles team members who are also parents face, and she wants to support them in any way possible.

“ If my kids’ elementary school concert is happening at 10 a.m., I’m going to sign off,” O’Leary says. “I’m going to go to that, then come back and keep going with my day. I don’t believe that makes us any less productive. I believe it makes us more productive. I feel very passionately that we can build a tremendously successful business while also operating in ways that feel authentic to our leadership and team.”

Related: This Mother of 6 Created a Hit Children’s Brand Without Any Industry Experience — Here’s Her No. 1 Secret for Entrepreneurial Parents Who Want to Achieve Big Goals

Willow is navigating its next growth chapter with O’Leary at the helm. The company recently announced its acquisition of UK-based femtech innovator Elvie, which is expected to boost revenue by 50%. Willow also continues to partner with organizations that support parents. To kick off its Mother’s Day campaign this year, the company announced a partnership with Canopie, a preventive maternal health care platform, to donate one million hours of maternal mental health support.

“[Being CEO is] a responsibility as much as it is a cool title.”

Prior to stepping into the CEO role at Willow, O’Leary served as the company’s chief commercial officer and “loved” the work. O’Leary has reflected a lot over the past year on her decision to become CEO, and she says that ambition wasn’t her primary motivator; instead, she recognized that she was the right person for the job at this moment.

“I cared deeply about our mission,” O’Leary explains. “I had a vision for where we could go. I understood the commercial operations of the business and could bring that together with our product teams. In some sense, [becoming CEO] has put me in a servant leader kind of role — It’s a responsibility as much as it is a cool title.”

Related: 10 Leadership Lessons From Successful CEOs — An Insightful Guide for the Ambitious Entrepreneur

At the end of the day, O’Leary suggests that leaders make sure their motivation is authentic to them — because that’s what will help them lead through the most difficult times.

“New tariffs are announced, and you’ve got to figure that out,” O’Leary says. “It is challenge after challenge, and the organization looks to you and says, ‘What are we going to do?’ This role is really about being willing to take responsibility for the people, products and customers. It’s not all glitz and glamor. You’re the first person who gets all the tough questions.”

From product stock to office supplies, you can save more on your business expenses when you shop at Sam’s Club. Sam’s Club offers bulk buying options for technology, furniture, groceries, and so much more that can keep your business running for less.

And you can even save more when you get a discount on the cost of your Sam’s Club membership. So take advantage of this deal to lock down a 1-Year Sam’s Club Membership with Auto-Renew for only $20.00 (reg. $50.00).

Shopping at Sam’s Club protects your bottom line

Using a Sam’s Club membership to shop bulk business buys is a smart decision for your bottom line. Whether you’re looking for restaurant quantity rolls of tinfoil or office party disposable plates and utensils, you’ll find some of the best savings to stretch your business budget in the club.

Big items that put pressure on any budget, like cleaning supplies and tools or technology purchases like computers, may have significant discounts at Sam’s Club. And you may find the best savings on items you need to buy frequently by purchasing in bulk throughout the year.

Take advantage of Sam’s Club’s limited-item business model, which brings new, handpicked items to the shelves. Explore items you may not even realize you needed while stocking up on business supplies, party fruit platters, and more.

Plus, as a Sam’s Club member, you also get exclusive member perks. Some of these are travel discounts, such as hotel bookings and car rentals, so that you can save on business travel. Get discounted tickets to live events and movies to gift to your team or clients.

Save smarter when you get the ultimate Sam’s Club discount on a 1-Year Membership with Auto-Renew for just $20.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Most entrepreneurs are still using AI like a sidekick, just scratching the surface with simple prompts and chatbots. But if billion-dollar brands like Klarna and IBM are using AI to replace entire teams, why aren’t you?

Inside this video, I’m revealing three powerful AI tools that let you automate your business, eliminate bottlenecks and scale without hiring a single employee. If you’re ready to run a profitable one-person business without the overhead, this is your step-by-step guide.

Key takeaways:

1. Build your own AI team (without writing a single line of code): Discover how AI agents can act, think and execute like real employees, handling tasks like lead qualification, follow-ups and even decision-making. Forget basic chatbots — this is the next level.

2. Automate your workflow bottlenecks: Free up your time by eliminating the repetitive tasks you’ve learned to tolerate. From email management to SOP creation, these tools turn busywork into business growth.

3. Predict what’s working (before it’s too late): Stop guessing and start optimizing. Learn how to use predictive AI to track what’s actually working, before your funnel breaks. This is how you make data-driven decisions without a million-dollar budget.

I’ll walk you through each tool step-by-step, no tech background needed. If you’re ready to build a high-performance, one-person business that scales while you sleep, this video is your blueprint.

Download the free ‘AI Success Kit’ (limited time only). And you’ll also get a free chapter from Ben’s brand new book, “The Wolf is at The Door – How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World.”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg predicts a future where AI will understand you so well that different AI personas will become your “friends.”

In a new interview with podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, Zuckerberg said that he thinks “the average person wants more connectivity, more connection that they actually have,” and thinks AI chatbots trained to have different personalities could help fill that void.

“The average American, I think, has fewer than three friends, three people they’d consider friends, and the average person has demand for meaningfully more, I think it’s like 15 friends,” Zuckerberg told Patel. (He was likely referring to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, which found that 40% of Americans say they have three or fewer friends, while 38% have five or more.)

Zuckerberg says AI has the opportunity to fill that gap.

Related: Meta Is Building AI That Can Write Code Like a Mid-Level Engineer, According to Mark Zuckerberg

Although he said that AI would “probably” not replace in-person or real-life connections, it could help people feel less alone. He added that users are already tapping into AI to prepare for difficult conversations with people in their lives, and other companies are already offering AI personas as virtual therapists and romantic partners.

“For people who don’t have a therapist, I think everyone will have an AI,” Zuckerberg said in a separate podcast with analyst Ben Thompson last week.

Related: Meta Is Testing AI That Can Catch Teenagers Trying to Get Around Age Rules on Instagram

However, not everyone is on board with having AI “friends,” and social media users criticized Zuckerberg for his comments.

The writer Neil Turkewitz wrote on X that Zuckerberg’s perspective “is what happens when you believe that humanity is reducible to binary data — you think of friendship through the lens of supply & demand.”

Other users questioned if AI friends would tell humans how to vote and what to believe, while another tracked Meta’s evolution from a place to connect with friends in 2006 to a place to connect with “imaginary friends” in 2026.

Some were more optimistic, writing that they “wanted an AI friend.”

Carolyn Rogers, head of marketing at the agency Blokhaus, wrote on X that the next step would be for AI friends to start recommending products, enabling Meta to monetize that friendship.

2006 – Join Facebook to connect with your friends
2026 – Join Facebook to connect with your imaginary friends

— WRLB? (@WRLB2) May 1, 2025

Zuckerberg’s comments arrive as Meta released a standalone Meta AI app last week to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok.

Zuckerberg revealed in an Instagram video about the app’s release that almost a billion people use Meta AI globally across the company’s apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Related: Meta Takes on ChatGPT By Releasing a Standalone AI App: ‘A Long Journey’

Federal Reserve policymakers announced that they were holding the federal funds rate steady after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday. The target range remains unchanged at 4.25% to 4.5%.

The last time the FOMC cut rates was at its December meeting, when it lowered the target range by 25 basis points, or 0.25%.

The federal funds rate is the borrowing rate that banks charge each other for loans. A lower rate ripples out to lower borrowing costs on credit cards and personal loans, though banks individually choose how to respond to rate changes. The average credit card interest rate is currently around 21%, while car loan rates for new vehicles are around 6%.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference following the FOMC meeting that inflation, which was at an annual rate of 2.4% in March, was still above its 2% target and that the Fed was taking a “wait and see” approach to its monetary policy adjustments.

Related: Core Inflation Is at Its Lowest Level in 4 Years — But Will the Fed Cut Rates? Experts Expect the Agency to ‘Stay Humble and Data-Dependent’

“There’s just so much that we don’t know, I think, and we’re in a good position to wait and see, is the thing,” Powell stated at the news conference. “We don’t have to be in a hurry. The economy is resilient and doing fairly well.”

^{Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images}

Industry experts aren’t surprised. Ed Yardeni, head of Yardeni Research consultancy, told NBC News that the best thing for the Fed to do was to wait and see if inflation or unemployment poses more of a problem down the line.

“The evidence so far is that, for now, it’s likely to be more of a cost problem than a labor market problem,” Yardeni told the outlet.

Related: Are Amazon’s Prices Going Up? Here’s How the Company’s CEO Answered Questions About Tariffs.

Last month, President Donald Trump levied a 10% tariff on all trading partners and a tariff as high as 145% on China that could affect consumer prices.

Powell noted at the news conference that there was “a great deal of uncertainty” about tariff policies and stated that the Fed would carefully monitor the effects of tariffs on inflation and unemployment.

The next meeting is on June 17 and 18, and experts are already expecting the Fed to keep rates steady. Barclays estimates that the Fed will keep rates the same in June and make its first rate cut in July, while Morgan Stanley anticipates no rate cuts this year, per USA Today.

What does the Fed’s decision mean for mortgage rates?

Melissa Cohn, regional vice president of William Raveis Mortgage, told Entrepreneur in an email that she predicts mortgage rates should lower this week because the Fed decided to hold rates steady.

“Mortgage rates will drop a bit this week as bonds have cheered the Fed’s decision to leave rates alone,” Cohn stated.

Cohn also noted that May would be “a very telling month” as the Fed gets a better idea of the impact of tariffs on the economy.

“Now, it’s back to data-watching and, of course, to see where the tariff negotiations end up,” Cohn stated.