Latest news with #founders
Forbes
12 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
AI Just Hit A Paywall As The Web Reacts To Cloudflare's Flip
Stop AI from scraping data for free As someone who has spent years building partnerships between tech innovators and digital creators, I've seen how difficult it can be to balance visibility and value. Every week, I meet with founders and business leaders trying to figure out how to stand out, monetize content, and keep control of their digital assets. They're proud of what they've built but increasingly worried that AI systems are consuming their work without permission, credit, or compensation. That's why Cloudflare's latest announcement hit like a thunderclap. And I wanted to wait to see the responses from companies and creators to really tell this story. Cloudflare, one of the internet's most important infrastructure companies, now blocks AI crawlers by default for all new customers. This flips the longstanding model, where crawlers were allowed unless actively blocked, into something more deliberate: AI must now ask to enter. And not just ask. Pay. Cloudflare wants AI Companies to pay for the data that they use. Alongside that change, Cloudflare has launched Pay‑Per‑Crawl, a new marketplace that allows website owners to charge AI companies per page crawled. If you're running a blog, a digital magazine, a startup product page, or even a knowledge base, you now have the option to set a price for access. AI bots must identify themselves, send payment, and only then can they index your content. This isn't a routine product update. It's a signal that the free ride for AI training data is ending and a new economic framework is beginning. AI Models and Their Training The core issue behind this shift is how AI models are trained. Large language models like OpenAI's GPT or Anthropic's Claude rely on huge amounts of data from the open web. They scrape everything, including articles, FAQs, social posts, documentation, even Reddit threads, to get smarter. But while they benefit, the content creators see none of that upside. Unlike traditional search engines that drive traffic back to the sites they crawl, generative AI tends to provide full answers directly to users, cutting creators out of the loop. According to Cloudflare, the data is telling: OpenAI's crawl-to-referral ratio is around 1,700 to 1. Anthropic's is 73,000 to 1. Compare that to Google, which averages about 14 crawls per referral, and the imbalance becomes clear. In other words, AI isn't just learning from your content but it's monetizing it without ever sending users back your way. Rebalancing the AI Equation Cloudflare's announcement aims to rebalance this equation. From now on, when someone signs up for a new website using Cloudflare's services, AI crawlers are automatically blocked unless explicitly permitted. For existing customers, this is available as an opt-in. More importantly, Cloudflare now enables site owners to monetize their data through Pay‑Per‑Crawl. AI bots must: Only then will the content be served. We have to rebalance the AI equation. This marks a turning point. Instead of AI companies silently harvesting the web, they must now enter into economic relationships with content owners. The model is structured like a digital toll road and this road leads to your ideas, your writing, and your value. Several major publishers are already onboard. According to Neiman Lab, Gannett, Condé Nast, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, Time, and others have joined the system to protect and monetize their work. Cloudflare Isn't The Only One Trying To Protect Creators From AI This isn't happening in a vacuum. A broader wave of startups and platforms are emerging to support a consent-based data ecosystem. CrowdGenAI is focused on assembling ethically sourced, human-labeled data that AI developers can license with confidence. It's designed for the next generation of AI training where the value of quality and consent outweighs quantity. (Note: I am on the advisory board of CrowdGenAI). is a mobile camera app that verifies your photos are real, not AI. The app also verifies where the photo was taken and when. The photo, along with its metadata are hashed so it can't be altered. Each photo is stored on the Base blockchain as an NFT and the photo can be looked up and viewed on a global, public database. Photographers make money by selling rights to their photos. (Note: the founder of is on the board of Unstoppable - my employer) gives artists and creators control over their inclusion in datasets. Their tools let you mark your work as 'do not train,' with the goal of building a system where creators decide whether or not they're part of AI's learning process. helps companies generate synthetic data for safe, customizable model training, bypassing the need to scrape the web altogether. DataDistil is building a monetized, traceable content layer where AI agents can pay for premium insights, with full provenance and accountability. Each of these players is pushing the same idea: your data has value, and you deserve a choice in how it's used. What Are the Pros to Cloudflare's AI Approach? There are real benefits to Cloudflare's new system. First, it gives control back to creators. The default is 'no,' and that alone changes the power dynamic. You no longer have to know how to write a file or hunt for obscure bot names. Cloudflare handles it. Second, it introduces a long-awaited monetization channel. Instead of watching your content get scraped for free, you can now set terms and prices. Third, it promotes transparency. Site owners can see who's crawling, how often, and for what purpose. This turns a shadowy process into a visible, accountable one. Finally, it incentivizes AI developers to treat data respectfully. If access costs money, AI systems may start prioritizing quality, licensing, and consent. And There Are Some Limitations To The AI Approach But there are limitations. Today, all content is priced equally. That means a one-sentence landing page costs the same to crawl as an investigative feature or technical white paper. A more sophisticated pricing model will be needed to reflect actual value. Enforcement could also be tricky. Not all AI companies will follow the rules. Some may spoof bots or route through proxy servers. Without broader adoption or legal backing, the system will still face leakage. There's also a market risk. Cloudflare's approach assumes a future where AI agents have a budget, where they'll pay to access the best data and deliver premium answers. But in reality, free often wins. Unless users are willing to pay for higher-quality responses, AI companies may simply revert to scraping from sources that remain open. And then there's the visibility problem. If you block AI bots from your site, your content may not appear in agent-generated summaries or answers. You're protecting your rights—but possibly disappearing from the next frontier of discovery. I was chatting with Daniel Nestle, Founder of Inquisitive Communications, who told me 'Brands and creators will need to understand that charging bots for content will be the same as blocking the bots: their content will disappear from GEO results and, more importantly, from model training, forfeiting the game now and into the future.' Daniel Nestle, Founder of Inquisitive Communications, on the risks of blocking AI scraping. The AI Fork In The Road What Cloudflare has done is more than just configure a setting. They've triggered a deeper conversation about ownership, consent, and the economics of information. The default mode of the internet with free access, free usage, no questions asked, is being challenged. This is a fork in the road. One path leads to a web where AI systems must build partnerships with creators. Take the partnership of Perplexity with Coinbase on crypto data. The other continues toward unchecked scraping, where the internet becomes an unpaid training ground for increasingly powerful models. Between those extremes lies the gray space we're now entering: a space where some will block, some will charge, and some will opt in for visibility. What matters is that we now have the tools and the leverage to make that decision. For creators, technologists, and companies alike, that changes everything. Did you enjoy this story about AI And Cloudflare? Don't miss my next one: Use the blue follow button at the top of the article near my byline to follow more of my work.
Entrepreneur
a day ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Why Great Leaders Are Master Editors — Not Just Visionaries
Big ideas may inspire teams, but great leadership lies in the edit, refining the vision, simplifying the message and removing what gets in the way of progress. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. When you think of a great leader, it's easy to imagine someone standing in front of a whiteboard, pitching the next big idea. Founders are often celebrated for their creativity and their ability to see what others can't. And yes, vision matters. It inspires people to follow you, attracts customers and opens doors that didn't exist before. But there's a trap in over-indexing on vision: the belief that more ideas equal more progress. In reality, constantly introducing new directions can leave teams overwhelmed, distracted and unclear about where to focus. Without structure and clarity, vision becomes noise. In my time at ButterflyMX, I've learned that the best leaders know when to step back, not to dream up something new, but to make what already exists better. That's where editing comes in. Related: How to Pick Your Best Idea and Leave FOMO Behind What it means to lead like an editor Editing is about sharpening the signal, not about cutting for the sake of it. Just as a great editor refines a story to make its core message stand out, great leaders filter ideas, focus priorities and remove friction to help their teams move forward with confidence. Leading like an editor means asking: What matters most right now? What's getting in the way? How do we make this simpler, faster or clearer? It's not always glamorous, and it rarely comes with applause. But this quiet discipline — the ability to clarify, distill and align — is what turns a good idea into an executable strategy. It's how leaders move from inspiration to impact. Simplification drives momentum A team can only chase so many things at once. When everything feels important, nothing gets done. That's why simplification is a growth strategy. Simplification creates focus. It makes goals easier to understand, communicate and act on. It allows teams to say "no" with confidence and "yes" with full commitment. Most importantly, it clears space for progress. Consider the difference between a leader who says, "Let's try five different approaches and see what sticks," versus one who says, "Here's the one thing we're going to get right this quarter." The second approach is sharper. And sharper cuts through faster. When leaders take the time to edit down their priorities, their teams speed up. Related: How to Find and Refine Valuable Ideas for Your Organization Editing the organization itself Editing doesn't just apply to ideas; it applies to the organization as a whole. Great leaders are constantly scanning for what's slowing things down: unnecessary meetings, bloated processes, duplicated efforts or unclear ownership. A well-edited organization is one where people know what they're responsible for, communication flows efficiently, and decisions don't get stuck in endless loops of approval. It's about cutting friction, not corners. That could mean replacing a weekly all-hands with a tighter, monthly format. It could mean reworking your onboarding process to focus only on what new hires truly need in their first 30 days. Or it could even mean sunsetting an initiative that no longer serves the mission. Leaders who view their company as a living document, something to constantly refine, create environments that are lean, focused and built to scale. Knowing what to cut and when The hardest part of editing? Letting go of something you once believed in. Whether it's a product idea, a team structure or a long-standing tradition, cutting can feel personal. But great leaders develop the courage to walk away from things that no longer serve the team, even if they were once core to the vision. That doesn't mean being ruthless. It means being clear-eyed. Ask yourself: Is this idea helping us move forward or holding us back? Are we maintaining this because it works or because it's familiar? If we started fresh today, would we still choose this? The answers aren't always easy, but they're necessary. Editing is about being intentional. It's how you protect your team's time, energy and focus. Related: How Real Leaders Focus on What Really Matters Editing yourself: The most overlooked leadership skill Great leadership starts with self-awareness. Before you can edit your company or your strategy, you have to edit yourself, your calendar, your communication and even your instincts. Ask: Am I jumping in when I should be stepping back? Am I adding complexity when my team needs clarity? Am I solving for urgency instead of importance? Editing yourself might mean saying less in meetings so others can step up. It might mean blocking off thinking time instead of reacting to every notification. Or it might mean dropping an idea you love because your team isn't ready for it or because it's just not the right time. Vision gets people in the room, and editing keeps them aligned. The best leaders aren't just idea generators; they're curators of clarity. They don't overwhelm their teams with more; they empower them by refining what already exists. When you lead like an editor, you give your team the greatest advantage: focus. You eliminate noise, double down on what matters and create the conditions for real progress. Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
The Hidden Advantage That Separates Thriving Founders From The Rest
The hidden advantage that separates thriving founders from everyone else Millions run their business never discovering their unique strengths, pouring energy into fixing weaknesses while their natural talents remain untapped. They follow conventional paths, checking boxes created by others, wondering why success feels so exhausting. Your greatest competitive advantage isn't some secret strategy or breakthrough idea. It's you. But specifically: the parts of you that shine without effort. For years, I tried to be the perfect all-rounder, stretching myself across every role from content creator to strategist to account manager. The breakthrough came when I finally recognized my natural strengths in simplifying complex concepts and creating systems. Once I built the business around these strengths and hired for my weaknesses, we grew rapidly, and had a successful exit. Don't do more. Do less, but better. Ignore your weaknesses and focus on your strengths Most advice tells you to identify weaknesses and fix them. This approach fundamentally misunderstands how exceptional performance happens. Extraordinary results come from being exceptionally good at a few things. Here's how to get them: Your natural talents feel easy to you. So easy you might dismiss them as unimportant or assume everyone can do what you do. They can't. The abilities that come naturally to you are your ace cards in business. Perhaps you build connections effortlessly while others struggle with networking. Maybe you spot patterns in chaos while others see random events. You might explain complex ideas simply while others complicate simple ideas. These innate abilities are valuable clues about where you'll create your greatest impact. Write down three things people regularly compliment you on or ask for your help with. Look for the patterns. Start leaning into those strengths now, and find out just how unusual they are. Having potential creates responsibility. But responsibility can either feel like a burden or an adventure. Choose adventure. When you think about what you could accomplish with your gifts, approach the question with childlike wonder. Get genuinely excited to discover what you're capable of, rather than pressured by expectations. The difference is subtle but profound. Both paths acknowledge your capabilities. But one creates expansion while the other creates contraction. One feels like play. The other feels like work. Play every day. Your best work happens when you're having fun. Once you identify your unique advantages, create systems that mean they work on autopilot. If you excel at connecting with people but struggle with follow-up, hire an assistant to handle the details. If you generate brilliant ideas but get bored with implementation, partner with someone who loves execution. If you're a gifted writer but hate marketing, find collaborators who complement your talents. Becoming self-sufficient in every area is surplus to requirements. Instead, create a business ecosystem where your strengths can expand at scale. Your weaknesses are opportunities to collaborate with those who have complementary talents. Stop trying to be someone else. Double down on what makes you special. What if your supposed weaknesses actually contain hidden talents? Maybe you're "too sensitive." That sensitivity gives you emotional intelligence others need. Perhaps you're "too obsessive" about details. That precision creates quality that stands out. You might be "too curious." That curiosity asks the questions that find valuable answers. Stop trying to change. The very qualities you've been told to fix are your competitive edge when properly channeled. When I was told I was "too intense" earlier in my career, I stopped fighting it and instead found contexts where intensity created value. Your perceived flaws hide your greatest gifts. Every day you have the choice: use or lose your natural talents. Start each morning by planning your schedule around them. Only do things that leverage them. Delegate everything else. Track when you feel energized versus drained to know more about your strengths over time. Protect your genius zones fiercely. Say no to projects that don't align with your natural talents. Stop doing things that consistently drain your energy. Every hour spent in your zone of genius creates exponentially more value than an hour spent compensating for weaknesses. Visualize yourself operating at your peak. Play your own game: make your strengths known Building success on your unique strengths means finding your unfair advantages, approaching potential with curiosity rather than pressure, creating systems around your natural abilities, turning weaknesses into strengths, and establishing daily habits around your talents. The path to extraordinary results starts with recognizing what already comes naturally to you. Stop wasting energy trying to be someone else. The world needs the one and only version of you. Change your life in 14 days with my step-by-step guide.
Entrepreneur
a day ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Delegation is the Only Way to Scale. But Most CEOs Do It Wrong
One of the biggest barriers to scaling a business is the leader's inability to let go. Founders often become the bottleneck, unable to focus on strategic growth. The solution? Mastering the art of delegation. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Let's be clear: delegation is not optional if you want to grow your company. It's the only way to move from being the operator to becoming the true leader your team needs. The problem is that most leaders don't actually know how to delegate. They either hand over tasks without context or hover so closely that their team can't breathe. True delegation requires structure and clarity: Context: Before anything else, your team must understand why this task matters. What's the bigger picture? How does it connect to the strategy? Without this, they're just checking boxes. this task matters. What's the bigger picture? How does it connect to the strategy? Without this, they're just checking boxes. Priority/KPI: Be specific. What does success look like? Which numbers will we use to measure it? What's the timeline? Meeting cadence: Delegation without follow-up is abdication. Set a rhythm to review progress and coach your team — weekly, biweekly or monthly. If you want people to own their responsibilities, you need to give them direction and frameworks, not just tasks. That's how you develop a team of thinkers, not just doers. The 4 degrees of delegation According to the Value Builder System, the key to effective delegation is recognizing that it's not binary — it's not simply "delegate or don't." Instead, there are four levels of delegation, each offering different degrees of autonomy and control. Related: Why Emotional Branding is Out and Functional Loyalty Is In 1. Follow my lead This is the most basic form of delegation. You provide your team members with a clear Standard Operating Procedure and ask them to follow it step by step. There is no room for improvisation; the task is repeatable and requires no decision-making. This level is ideal for junior team members or routine tasks like entering data into your CRM. It ensures consistency and frees you from micro-managing simple processes. 2. Research and report At this level, you don't have a clear solution, so ask your employees to explore the options. Their job is to analyze and return with a shortlist of intelligent recommendations — but you retain the final decision. Use this when you face a challenge with multiple solutions, such as selecting a new software tool or vendor. You're leveraging your team's thinking but still guiding the final outcome. Related: Learn How to Delegate Now — or Risk Losing Your Business 3. Do it and report Here, you trust the team member to make the decision, but ask them to keep you informed. This is useful when you want to give your team autonomy but also ensure that you're aware of progress or potential risks. For example, you may assign the task of managing receivables to someone and ask them to update you weekly. You're not dictating every move, but you stay close enough to guide if needed. 4. Do it This is full empowerment. You trust your team members to handle the task independently from start to finish, without reporting back unless there's a major issue. You've given them clear goals, a budget and complete authority. This is ideal when the risk is low or when your team member is far more knowledgeable about the task than you are. For instance, you might fully delegate the selection of a carpet cleaning vendor or allow a customer service rep to resolve client complaints within a set budget. Related: You Can't Do Everything. So Do the Best With What You Have. The missing piece in most delegation Delegation without boundaries can lead to confusion or costly mistakes. That's why every degree of delegation should come with a budget, either in money or time. Take the Ritz-Carlton, for example. Every employee is empowered to solve customer problems on the spot with a $2,000 discretionary budget. Why? Because they understand the lifetime value of a happy guest far exceeds the cost of a quick fix. You can apply the same principle. If you're asking a team member to research options for improving event logistics, set a 10-hour time budget. This avoids either an overly superficial or excessively exhaustive approach and helps them prioritize appropriately. What to do when team members get stuck Even with clear delegation and budgets, team members can hit roadblocks. In those moments, they often fall back into the habit of asking: "What should I do?" The goal is not to take the problem back — it's to train your team to think like owners. Encourage them to use "yes-able questions." That means presenting you with a recommendation you can approve or reject quickly. Instead of dumping the issue on your lap, they might say: "Mr. Jones hasn't paid his invoice. I considered three options: write off the debt, send it to collections, or offer a payment plan. I recommend offering the payment plan in three installments. Are you okay with that?" This simple change keeps you from being the bottleneck and develops your team's decision-making skills. The day I delegated my inbox For years, I handled every email myself. After back-to-back consulting sessions, I'd get home and face hundreds of unread messages. I was overwhelmed. So I made a decision that changed everything: I gave my assistant full access to my inbox. Not partial access. Not just scheduling emails. I handed over six email accounts, gave her the green light to answer on my behalf and walked away. People told me I was crazy. "How can someone else answer your emails?" they said. But here's the truth: it was crazier to go two weeks without replying to a client than to have someone I trust to handle it. In 15 years, she's probably made 10 serious mistakes—but she's sent over 30,000 solid responses. The cost of holding on was far greater than the cost of letting go. That day, my company started growing without me. Delegation as a strategy for freedom Delegation is more than a time management tactic; it's a growth strategy. Every time you delegate with clarity and intent, you build a business that depends on systems, not superheroes. That's how you shift from being your company's engine to its guide. The ultimate test? Take a two-week vacation without checking in. If your business can thrive in your absence, you've successfully delegated. If not, you know where to focus your efforts next. Many entrepreneurs wear their business like a badge of honor. But the real mark of success is freedom — freedom to choose, to think, and to grow. To achieve that, start by identifying which tasks you're clinging to and the degree of delegation each requires. Clarify your expectations, set time or financial limits, provide context and coach your team to own their outcomes. When you do, you'll not only build a more valuable business, you'll regain the space to lead it.
Fast Company
a day ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Building consumer-level ease into enterprise-level design
In the current landscape, fragmentation and unnecessary complexity plague technology users in enterprise environments, particularly in sectors like healthcare. Just because the nature of the work may be highly regulated and the underlying technology highly sophisticated doesn't mean the user experience shouldn't be commercialized in a similar manner as intuitively designed consumer technology. To address this, organizations should seek to incorporate consumer-level simplicity into enterprise-level design in order to drive much-needed adoption and scalability. Technology providers need to build a cohesive backbone that bridges the usability gap between personal and professional environments. By requiring minimal training and focusing on ease of use, technology providers transform complex workflows into seamless, efficient processes, redefining operational excellence in the workplace. Enterprise technology is built to solve complex problems. From managing vast supply chains to optimizing IoT connectivity, these solutions handle mission-critical functions. The traditional approach to enterprise tech has been to focus on features rather than usability. During the initial stages of solution engineering, founders want to stand out from competitors with new capabilities and businesses often equate complexity with capability, which leads to bloated systems that require specialized training just to navigate. This focus on functionality over usability results in slow adoption rates, inefficient design, and general frustration in both designers and users. User growth is stunted when users are required to be experts to get value out of the solution. In the past, companies assumed that end users—who often had advanced degrees or specialized expertise—were willing to invest the time required to master these tools. But times have changed. In today's environment, turnover is high, onboarding time is short, and people have an expectation that technology should just work. Different generations—digital migrants and digital natives—need solutions that cater to their unique needs. No one is going to read your user manual. B2B customers don't want complex solutions. They want ease of use. The core technology can be intricate. Yes, it takes great complexity on the back end to produce a simple, effective experience on the front end. Extensive configuration and technical expertise are required to create systems that enable plug-and-play functionality. But all of that must be hidden from the customer. They shouldn't be asked to manipulate or engage with the portions of the solution that function to meet stringent security requirements, ensure compliance with complex regulations, or run the models necessary for advanced analytics capabilities. User experience isn't the only area that requires simplicity. The brand messaging, solution name, and go-to-market strategy all need instantly recognizable clarity. Enterprises should shift their focus from solving complex problems to presenting simple solutions. If they can do this in an authentic, compelling way, they will see significantly more engagement with their sales outreach. WHY SIMPLICITY IS RARE IN B2B SOLUTIONS If simplicity is so valuable, why isn't it the norm in B2B technology? When companies develop enterprise solutions, they typically focus on the sophistication of their capabilities. Feature creep leads to cluttered and unintuitive interfaces. For established solution providers, the prospect of refactoring a complex system into a simple one requires a fundamental shift in how they approach product design. The cost, time, and effort to rethink the user experience keeps less ambitious companies from producing best-in-class solutions. Consumer tech companies like Apple and Samsung have mastered this balance. Apple, for instance, restricts customization to ensure a seamless, controlled experience, while Samsung has introduced templates that allow for both simplicity and flexibility. This approach has started making its way into enterprise solutions, but it requires a cultural shift. Companies that want to embed consumer-level ease into enterprise solutions should follow these strategies using their existing resources: Adopt A User-First Mindset: Conduct usability testing and gather feedback from non-technical employees to ensure accessibility and gain a deeper understanding of the end-user experience. Automate Complexity: Build all machine learning and advanced analytics that handle complex processes in the background, delivering only descriptive insights and appropriate prescriptive guidance to users and eliminating multiple options. Simplify Onboarding: Design systems that require minimal training. If a new user needs a manual, the interface isn't simple enough. Embed Compliance Into The System: Make security and compliance a seamless part of the workflow rather than an extra manual step required of the user. Measure Usability Success: Track adoption rates, user engagement, and customer feedback to continuously refine and simplify the experience. The best technology is the kind you don't have to think—or worry—about. When enterprise solutions mirror the ease of consumer products, adoption soars, operational efficiency increases, and organizations unlock more value from their technology investments. The future of enterprise technology is intuitive, seamless, and invisible, making powerful tools feel effortless.
