Elie Khoury

🛫 Runway panic leads to revenue desperation. Smart owners engineer velocity instead. The math that matters: Monthly Burn ÷ Available Cash = Runway Crisis Timeline Two paths to extension: Path A (Desperate): Chase more revenue, wait 60+ days for collections Path B (Strategic): Optimize velocity, get immediate results The velocity multipliers: → Cut collection time from 45 to 25 days = 44% more cash velocity → Extend vendor terms from 15 to 30 days = 2x payment timing flexibility → Audit recurring subscriptions = $2K-5K monthly burn reduction → Implement deposits = Eliminate funding gap for new projects Real case: $50K burn optimized to $35K through systems, not sales. 8-month runway became 13 months—zero new customers needed. Your runway isn't short because revenue is low. It's short because systems are slow. #RunwayExtension #CashOptimization #BusinessVelocity

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💡 A business is not a product. And a product is not a business. In this episode of The CTO Show With Mehmet Gonullu, Mohamed (Mo) Ahmed, Ph.D. broke it down simply: “A business is a machine—you feed it $2, and it gives you back $3. A product? That’s just a piece of the machine.” Too many engineers (my past self included) believe that building something elegant is enough. It’s not. Customers don’t pay for elegance—they pay for value. And value only matters when it turns into revenue. 🎧 In Episode 488, we dive into: — The product trap most technical founders fall into — Why mental conditioning matters more than pitch decks — And how Mohamed built, pivoted, and eventually exited his startup Listen on all podcast platforms + YouTube (links in comments)

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Agentic commerce just hit its first real failure mode. Walmart pulled back from ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout after conversions came in ~3× lower than its own site. That’s not a UX bug. That’s a trust architecture failure. We assumed: “Remove friction → increase conversion.” Reality: “Remove control → kill conversion.” Commerce isn’t just discovery. It’s confidence, context, and control at the moment of payment. Chat interfaces collapse: multi item reasoning comparison loops trust signals merchant controlled context And most importantly: they break the authorization layer between user intent and execution. What this actually shows: The transaction layer is the power layer. Retailers won’t give it up. Users won’t trust it blindly. Agents can’t abstract it away. Agentic commerce won’t be won by better chat. It will be won by whoever controls authorization, verification, and execution of every action. #agents #agentic #AI #cybersecurity #ciso #startups

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More proof assets do not equal credibility. When proof is thin, don't make loud claims. Use a repeatable way to prove what you’re saying. The failure mode is simple. Startups makes claims without evidence and buyers can see the guess work As a PMM fix it with stacked proof One layer per core claim and standardizes it- claim → proof → measurement. Level 1: Mechanism proof Share screen flow, workflow diagram, demo steps that customers can relate to Level 2: Workflow proof Show steps removed, steps added, handoffs changed in the customer's process Level 3: Early signal proof Activation, time-to-first-value, usage frequency, retention trend, pilot completion. Level 4: Outcome proof Show potential win rate, conversion, cycle time, costs saved, revenue impact. Only if you can attribute it. Operating rule: Do not publish a claim above your highest proof level. If you don’t have outcomes, you still have options. Run a pilot to validate what is sticking and that can be the proof point Define the pilot user and workflow. Define one success metric tied to the workflow. Define one adoption metric tied to usage. Define the time window. Show what “good” looks like. At Awvent when we had no customer we applied this process with countless potential customer..refined it with every feedback...eventually landing our first customer ( always a sweet feeling) As early stages startup this is one way you stay credible while the product is still earning outcomes.

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Initially tested on over 50,000 sites via a feature plugin, speculative loading has shown measurable performance improvements, including a ~1.9% boost in Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) passing rates. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Akral #SpeculativeLoading #CloudflareSpeedBrain #LatestAdvancements #WebPerformance #UnlockBlazingFastExperiences #LargestContentfulPaint

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Testing a new format: 1-minute takes on startup news! Here, I break down the new $100k H-1B visa fee and why founders should use the O-1 visa instead. We need your feedback: Do you like these quick video breakdowns? Is this format useful? Please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

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Been testing out a bunch of CRMs lately. You know what’s worse than bad UX? Bad UX 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 confusing, deceptive pricing. You think you’re getting something for $X/month. But then: • Want basic automation? That’s an add-on. • Want reporting? Another add-on. • Want support? Only at the “Enterprise” tier. You end up paying 5x what you expected, just to get the core product working. Why even bother posting pricing if it’s meaningless? With everything we do, I’m making a simple promise: 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱. 𝗡𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀. And when you need help, you get a human being, not an AI or support doc page. Apparently, that’s a radical idea in 2025. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

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Elementor vs Beaver Builder: The Features That Actually Matter for Agencies After my recent posts on page builder performance generated significant discussion, the most frequent pushback was: "Performance is one thing, but what about features?" Fair question. So I conducted a systematic feature analysis focused specifically on what agencies need for client work. The comparison covers: Themes and flexibility Performance and code output Long-term maintenance considerations Workflow integration Client handoff and training Full transparency: my testing confirmed my decision to standardize on Beaver Builder for agency work. But I wanted to document the complete feature comparison so agencies can evaluate the trade-offs for themselves. This completes my three-part research series documenting the testing process and results that informed my decision. Full feature analysis: https://lnkd.in/eQ-rAV5a For agency owners and development leads: What features are non-negotiable in your page builder choice? #WordPress #WebDevelopment #AgencyOperations

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GTM Heresy: “Yeah, we used to stitch data in Clay. Now we use Claude + a page full of prompts. So much better.” Is it, though? If your GTM still depends on a Notion page of workflows, three Zapier zaps, and one person who “just knows how it all works,” you haven’t solved the problem. Sounds more like job security for a different kind of GTM Engineer. Clearly i missed the meeting where it was decided that engineering is a prerequisite for marketing and selling. #GTM #AIforGTM #AI Pristine Data AI Mea culpa - I was more focused on outcomes than tools.

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The fastest way to build a high-converting Shopify store in 2026 Most people overthink store design. Themes. Apps. Endless tweaks. But speed + structure beats perfection early on. Here’s the 2-minute framework I use 👇 Step 1: Use an AI store builder Go to Debutify AI Open the AI Store Builder. Step 2: Let AI structure the store Paste a clear prompt from ChatGPT describing: • Your product • Your audience • Your brand tone Click continue → complete → upload the theme. Step 3: Focus on conversion fundamentals The builder automatically handles: • Homepage structure • Product page layout • Trust sections • Mobile optimization This removes decision fatigue so you can focus on marketing. Why this works A clean, conversion-first structure matters more than custom design early on. One of my brands built this way on Shopify generated: • $74,000 in the last 30 days • $3,000+ in a single day Not because it was “pretty” — but because it was clear. Speed to market > perfection. 👍 Like + 💬 Comment “COURSE”, and I’ll send you the exact prompt + setup steps 🤝 Make sure to connect with me so I can DM you #shopifydropship #dropshipping #dropshippingforbeginners #dropshippingbusiness #shopify #shopifyapps #shopifybeginner #cro #ecommercegrowth #viral

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