Graphic showing a hand holding a smartphone labeled "Apps," a bookshelf labeled "Books," a handwritten note titled "New Habits," and a central red hexagon with the text "CEO Hacks.

CEO Hacks: App, Books, Resources & Habits

Be a more effective & efficient CEO, entrepreneur & business owner

During our I AM CEO Podcast, we ask each guest for a CEO Hack that makes them more effective and efficient. We decided to share some of our best hacks.

What are CEO Hacks? They are books, apps, habits, tools, platforms or things that we believe you should incorporate into your business that will make you more efficient, effective, or successful (and maybe save money) as a CEO, entrepreneur or business owner.

Take a look at some of the CEO Hacks that have been recommended below, check out a different CEO Hack on our daily, laser focused I AM CEO Podcast with Gresh and feel free to look through the CEO Hacks by categories or just browse the list. For CBNation members, you will find more “how-to” and deeper tricks and strategy for many of these hacks.

If you need help implementing these CEO Hacks into your organization contact Blue 16 Tech.

Lastly, don't forget to grab your free download.

– Gresh

Please note in the sake of transparency our sites do contain affiliate links that pay us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read our Affiliate Disclaimer.

P.S. If you want to contact us or have any CEO Hacks to recommend, please let us know HERE.

Smartphone screen showing a navigation menu for CEO Hacks. Menu options include Free, Apps, Supplies, Books, Podcast, Web, Video, Deals, Habits, and Marketing.
Instacart logo with a stylized orange carrot and green leaves to the left of the brand name, set against a dark green background.
Business Name
Business Genre
Long Business Description

Instacart Driver: Earn Flexible Income While Building Your Business

Business Website Address : ceohack.co/refer/instacart

What is Instacart?

Instacart is a grocery delivery and pickup platform that connects customers with personal shoppers who shop for and deliver groceries from local retailers. Customers can order groceries online from participating stores and receive same-day delivery or pickup. Instacart helps shoppers earn flexible income by completing grocery shopping and delivery requests through its platform.

Instacart Driver: Earn Flexible Income While Building Your Business

The Problem

Building a business often requires financial sacrifices before meaningful rewards appear.

Whether you're launching a consulting practice, growing an agency, creating an online brand, or developing a startup, there is usually a period where revenue is inconsistent. Clients come and go. Sales fluctuate. New opportunities take time to generate returns. Meanwhile, personal expenses, software subscriptions, marketing costs, and operational expenses continue to grow.

Many entrepreneurs find themselves trapped between two difficult choices. They can either dedicate all their time to their business while dealing with financial uncertainty, or they can take a traditional job that provides stability but limits their ability to grow their business.

Neither option is ideal.

What Builders often need is a flexible way to generate income without giving up the freedom required to build something bigger. They need a solution that supports their entrepreneurial journey rather than competing with it.

That's where opportunities like Instacart Driver can help create breathing room while long-term business goals continue moving forward.

What Is Instacart?

Instacart is an online grocery delivery and pickup platform that connects customers with personal shoppers who fulfill grocery orders from local retailers. Customers place orders through the platform, and shoppers select, pack, and deliver those groceries directly to customers or prepare them for pickup.

The platform works with thousands of retail locations across North America, creating opportunities for shoppers to earn income while maintaining control over their schedules.

For entrepreneurs and business owners, Instacart can provide a flexible income stream that fits around business-building activities instead of replacing them.

Why It Matters for Builders

Most entrepreneurs underestimate the impact financial pressure has on decision-making.

When cash flow becomes uncertain, business owners often make short-term decisions that hurt long-term growth. They delay investments, stop marketing efforts, avoid strategic opportunities, and focus entirely on immediate survival.

Flexible earning opportunities can help reduce that pressure.

The value isn't simply earning extra money. The value is creating enough stability to make better business decisions.

When Builders have more control over their finances, they gain more control over their future. They can focus on improving systems, serving customers, building marketing assets, and developing scalable processes instead of constantly worrying about where the next dollar will come from.

The result is more leverage, more clarity, and more confidence.

Practical Use Case #1: Funding a New Business Launch

Problem

A consultant launches a new business but has not yet established a predictable client acquisition system. Revenue is inconsistent, and the early months create financial pressure.

How Instacart Helps

The entrepreneur uses flexible delivery opportunities during available hours to generate supplemental income while continuing to build marketing campaigns, network with prospects, and improve service delivery.

Business Outcome

Instead of rushing into poor business decisions due to financial stress, the entrepreneur gains additional time to establish a sustainable client pipeline and grow the business strategically.

Practical Use Case #2: Managing Seasonal Revenue Fluctuations

Problem

Many businesses experience seasonal slowdowns that temporarily reduce revenue. These fluctuations can make budgeting and forecasting difficult.

How Instacart Helps

During slower periods, business owners can supplement their income with flexible delivery work without committing to a second full-time job.

Business Outcome

The business owner maintains stability during slower seasons while preserving the flexibility needed to focus on long-term growth initiatives.

Practical Use Case #3: Building a Side Business Before Going Full-Time

Problem

An employee wants to transition into entrepreneurship but cannot immediately replace their current income.

How Instacart Helps

Flexible earning opportunities create an additional financial cushion while the entrepreneur validates ideas, acquires customers, and builds operational systems.

Business Outcome

The entrepreneur can make a gradual transition into business ownership with less risk and greater confidence.

CEO Growth Hack

Most entrepreneurs focus exclusively on increasing revenue.

Smart entrepreneurs focus on increasing flexibility.

Flexibility creates options. Options create leverage. Leverage creates growth.

The strategic lesson behind Instacart isn't grocery delivery. It's understanding that temporary income solutions can support long-term business objectives when used intentionally.

Many founders fail because they run out of cash before they run out of potential.

The goal is not to stay dependent on supplemental income forever. The goal is to create enough stability to build systems that eventually replace active income altogether.

This mindset shift helps entrepreneurs move:

  • From operator to owner
  • From reactive to proactive
  • From financial stress to strategic thinking
  • From survival mode to growth mode
  • From short-term decisions to long-term planning

Builders become Architects when they create systems that give them more control over both time and money.

Key Benefits

  • Flexible earning opportunities that fit around business schedules
  • Supplemental income during business growth phases
  • Reduced financial pressure and uncertainty
  • Greater control over work hours
  • Ability to support entrepreneurial projects
  • More flexibility than traditional part-time employment
  • Opportunity to maintain focus on long-term business goals
  • Additional cash flow without sacrificing independence

Best For

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Startup founders
  • Consultants
  • Coaches
  • Agency owners
  • Freelancers
  • Side-hustle builders
  • Small business owners
  • Solopreneurs
  • Independent professionals

CEO Nugget

Financial flexibility isn't the destination. It's the runway that helps your business take off.

Ready to Simplify This?

If you're spending too much time worrying about cash flow while building your business, Instacart Driver can help create a more flexible income stream so you can spend more time growing the business and less time stressing about short-term revenue.

Business Website Address
A laptop and various mobile devices display screens of the Basecamp project management software interface against a purple background. The Basecamp logo is centered below the devices.
Business Name
Long Business Description

Basecamp is a project management app that you can access in your browser and on your phone. It gives you the tools you need to set up to-dos, a schedule, create and upload documents and files, message and chat with your colleagues, and check in regularly with your group—all in one place!

Whether you are working alone and need to get organized with your work or use it to collaborate on a project, with work or something personal, Basecamp makes it easy. It’s quick to set up and if you are consistent in using it it should make communication with your team a lot easier. Especially teams that are virtual.

An additional feature with an upgrade is the ability to deal with clients within Basecamp. You can add them in and give them limited viewing/editing rights, but make them an integral part of your work.

Business Website Address
Logo for Mighty Networks with a stylized white letter "M" on the left and the words "mighty networks" in lowercase next to it, on a dark gray background.
Business Name
Business Genre
Long Business Description

Mighty Networks: Build a Community That Grows Your Business Beyond Social Media

Business Website Address : ceohack.co/refer/mighty-networks

What Is Mighty Networks?

Mighty Networks is a community platform that enables entrepreneurs, creators, coaches, educators, and businesses to build branded online communities. It combines community features with courses, events, memberships, and content in one platform, helping businesses create stronger relationships with their audiences.

Mighty Networks: Build a Community That Grows Your Business Beyond Social Media

The Problem

Most entrepreneurs spend years building audiences they don't own.

Followers on social media.

Subscribers on third-party platforms.

Viewers on video sites.

The problem?

Algorithms change.

Organic reach declines.

Platforms introduce new rules.

An audience you've worked years to build can become harder to reach overnight.

The smartest businesses eventually realize they don't just need attention.

They need connection.

And they need a place where those relationships can grow without depending entirely on someone else's platform.

The challenge isn't attracting an audience.

It's creating a community.

What Is Mighty Networks?

Mighty Networks is a community platform designed to help businesses build branded online communities.

It combines community discussions, memberships, online courses, events, and other engagement experiences into one platform where members can connect directly with each other and with the business.

For Builders, Mighty Networks creates an owned ecosystem where relationships become long-term business assets.

Why It Matters for Builders

Builders often measure success by audience size.

The smartest entrepreneurs measure engagement.

An audience watches.

A community participates.

Communities create conversations.

Conversations create trust.

Trust creates loyalty.

Loyal customers stay longer.

Refer others.

Purchase more often.

Mighty Networks helps entrepreneurs strengthen those relationships.

This creates leverage.

Instead of constantly paying to reacquire attention, businesses build an environment where members continue engaging with each other and the brand.

The result is stronger retention, deeper customer relationships, and more sustainable growth.

3 Practical Use Cases

Use Case #1: Creating Membership Communities

Problem

Businesses want recurring customer engagement beyond one-time purchases.

How Mighty Networks Helps

Members can participate in a dedicated branded community.

Business Outcome

Greater customer loyalty and stronger recurring relationships.

Use Case #2: Delivering Courses and Education

Problem

Entrepreneurs need a centralized environment for teaching and community interaction.

How Mighty Networks Helps

Courses and community experiences can exist together.

Business Outcome

Higher engagement and improved learning experiences.

Use Case #3: Hosting Events and Discussions

Problem

Businesses struggle to maintain meaningful conversations with their audiences.

How Mighty Networks Helps

Community spaces encourage ongoing interaction between members.

Business Outcome

More active participation and stronger brand affinity.

CEO Growth Hack

Most entrepreneurs focus on building audiences.

The smartest entrepreneurs build ecosystems.

An audience consumes.

A community contributes.

That's the difference.

The mindset shift Mighty Networks enables is moving from broadcasting to belonging.

Instead of asking:

"How do I reach more people?"

Ask:

"How do I create a place where people want to stay?"

This is how Builders become Architects.

Builders chase followers.

Architects cultivate members.

Builders focus on visibility.

Architects focus on relationships.

The businesses that endure aren't always the loudest.

They're the ones that create communities customers don't want to leave.

Key Benefits

  • Builds branded online communities
  • Supports memberships and recurring engagement
  • Combines community with online learning
  • Strengthens customer relationships
  • Increases member participation
  • Creates owned audience channels
  • Supports long-term customer retention
  • Reduces dependence on social media platforms

Best For

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Founders
  • CEOs
  • Coaches
  • Consultants
  • Course Creators
  • Membership Businesses
  • Community Builders
  • Educators
  • Personal Brands

CEO Nugget

Followers create reach. Communities create resilience.

Ready to Simplify This?

If you're relying on social media to keep your audience engaged, Mighty Networks can help you build a branded community where relationships grow stronger over time—so you can spend more time serving your members and less time chasing algorithms.

Business Tags
Blue Zoom logo featuring a white video camera icon inside a circle with the word "Zoom" written below it.
Business Name
Business Genre
Long Business Description

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, conference, huddle, and training rooms, as well as executive offices and classrooms. Founded in 2011, Zoom helps businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless environment to get more done.

Business Website Address
A cartoon beaver wearing a construction hat stands next to the text "beaverbuilder" on an orange background.
Business Name
Business Genre
Long Business Description

Beaver Builder is a flexible drag and drop page builder that works on the front end of your WordPress website. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, you’re going to love taking control of your website. Stop writing HTML or wrestling with confusing shortcodes. With Beaver Builder, building beautiful, professional WordPress pages is as easy as dragging and dropping.

Business Tags
Logo of Zync with a stylized "Z" in purple, blue, and orange, followed by "zync" in lowercase gray letters.
Business Name
Business Genre
Long Business Description

Zync AI: Turn One Recording Into an Entire Content Marketing System

Business Website Address : ceohack.co/refer/zync

What Is Zync AI?

Zync AI is an AI-powered recording and content creation platform that helps entrepreneurs create video content, generate scripts, record, edit, and publish from a single workflow. It also helps transform recordings into multiple content assets, enabling businesses to scale content production without increasing complexity.

Zync AI: Turn One Recording Into an Entire Content Marketing System

The Problem

Most entrepreneurs know they should be creating more content.

The challenge is everything that comes after the idea.

Recording videos requires preparation. Editing requires time. Distribution requires consistency. Social media promotion requires additional assets. Publishing requires coordination across multiple channels.

For many founders, the content process becomes so overwhelming that great ideas never make it into the market.

This creates a visibility problem.

Customers cannot buy from businesses they do not know exist.

Prospects cannot trust expertise they never see.

And businesses cannot build authority if their knowledge remains trapped inside their heads.

The issue is rarely a lack of expertise.

The issue is the operational burden of turning expertise into content.

What Is Zync AI?

Zync AI is an AI-powered recording studio and content creation platform designed to simplify the process of creating and distributing video content. It combines recording, script generation, editing, publishing, and content repurposing into a single workflow.

The platform helps entrepreneurs create short-form videos and generate supporting content assets from their recordings, making it easier to maintain a consistent content presence without a large production team.

Why It Matters for Builders

Builders often become content bottlenecks.

Every piece of content requires their attention, approval, creativity, and time. Eventually, content creation starts competing with sales, leadership, hiring, customer service, and strategic planning.

Something gets neglected.

Often, it is marketing.

Zync AI helps reduce the friction between having an idea and publishing content.

Instead of managing multiple tools and workflows, entrepreneurs can focus on sharing their expertise while creating more leverage from every recording.

This creates a powerful advantage.

When content production becomes easier, consistency improves.

When consistency improves, visibility grows.

And when visibility grows, opportunities multiply.

3 Practical Use Cases

Use Case #1: Building a Personal Brand

Problem

Founders often know they should be creating content but struggle to maintain a regular publishing schedule.

How Zync AI Helps

The platform streamlines recording and content creation workflows, making it easier to turn ideas into publishable assets.

Business Outcome

Increased visibility, stronger authority, and greater brand recognition.

Use Case #2: Repurposing Business Expertise

Problem

Many entrepreneurs create valuable content that only gets used once.

How Zync AI Helps

Recordings can be transformed into multiple supporting assets, extending the value of every piece of content.

Business Outcome

Improved content ROI and greater reach from existing efforts.

Use Case #3: Launching a Video Podcast

Problem

Podcast production often requires multiple tools and significant manual work.

How Zync AI Helps

The platform supports recording, production workflows, and content generation from a single environment.

Business Outcome

Faster podcast production and more content assets generated from every episode.

CEO Growth Hack

Most entrepreneurs think they need more content.

What they actually need is a better content system.

The biggest mistake founders make is treating every piece of content as a separate project.

A smarter approach is treating every recording as a content asset factory.

One recording becomes:

  • Social content
  • Marketing content
  • Educational content
  • Authority-building content
  • Lead-generation content

The mindset shift Zync AI enables is moving from content creation to content multiplication.

This is how Builders become Architects.

Builders ask:

"How do I create my next piece of content?"

Architects ask:

"How do I maximize the value of every piece of content I create?"

When a single recording generates multiple business assets, growth becomes far more scalable.

Key Benefits

  • Simplifies video creation workflows
  • Supports content repurposing
  • Reduces production bottlenecks
  • Helps maintain publishing consistency
  • Increases content output
  • Creates leverage from existing expertise
  • Supports personal brand growth
  • Improves content marketing efficiency

Best For

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Founders
  • CEOs
  • Consultants
  • Coaches
  • Agency Owners
  • Podcasters
  • Content Creators
  • Educators
  • Marketing Teams

CEO Nugget

The most scalable content strategy is not creating more content—it's creating more value from every piece of content you already produce.

Ready to Simplify This?

If you're spending too much time recording, editing, and publishing content, Zync AI can help create a more efficient content system so you can spend more time growing the business and less time managing production workflows.

Check out the Solo Studio - https://ceohack.co/refer/zync/solostudio

Business Website Address
A purple banner with a neon cactus icon and the word "lasso" in white cursive. Below, text reads "The All-In-One WordPress Plugin for Affiliate Marketing.
Business Name
Business Genre
Long Business Description

Lasso: Turn Affiliate Links Into a Revenue System Instead of a Maintenance Headache

Business Website Address : ceohack.co/refer/lasso

What Is Lasso?

Lasso is an affiliate marketing and link management platform designed to help publishers, bloggers, content creators, and businesses organize affiliate links, create product displays, track monetization opportunities, and optimize affiliate revenue. It helps entrepreneurs build more effective affiliate marketing systems without relying on manual processes.

Lasso: Turn Affiliate Links Into a Revenue System Instead of a Maintenance Headache

The Problem

Affiliate marketing sounds simple.

Add a link.

Get a commission.

Make money.

Reality is different.

As content grows, affiliate management becomes increasingly complicated.

Links break.

Products change.

Programs disappear.

Opportunities get missed.

Old content becomes outdated.

Revenue leaks occur without anyone noticing.

Many entrepreneurs spend years creating valuable content but never build the systems necessary to maximize monetization.

The result is inconsistent affiliate income and countless missed opportunities.

The challenge isn't creating content.

The challenge is managing monetization at scale.

What Is Lasso?

Lasso is an affiliate marketing platform built to help publishers and content creators manage affiliate links, discover monetization opportunities, and optimize affiliate-driven revenue.

The platform provides tools that help organize affiliate assets, improve link management, and create more structured affiliate marketing workflows.

For Builders, Lasso transforms affiliate marketing from a collection of scattered links into a revenue-generating system.

Why It Matters for Builders

Most entrepreneurs think affiliate marketing is about recommendations.

The smartest entrepreneurs understand affiliate marketing is about infrastructure.

A great article may attract traffic for years.

A great recommendation may drive purchases for years.

But only if the monetization system remains functional.

Without systems, affiliate revenue becomes fragile.

Links break.

Products disappear.

Content loses effectiveness.

Lasso helps entrepreneurs create operational structure around affiliate marketing.

This creates leverage.

Instead of manually managing hundreds of links and opportunities, businesses gain a centralized process that supports growth and scalability.

The result is more reliable monetization and greater revenue potential from existing content assets.

3 Practical Use Cases

Use Case #1: Managing Affiliate Links at Scale

Problem

Entrepreneurs struggle to track and manage affiliate links across large content libraries.

How Lasso Helps

Affiliate assets can be organized and managed through a centralized system.

Business Outcome

Reduced maintenance workload and improved operational efficiency.

Use Case #2: Improving Content Monetization

Problem

Existing content often contains untapped revenue opportunities.

How Lasso Helps

Affiliate opportunities become easier to identify and manage.

Business Outcome

Increased earning potential from existing traffic.

Use Case #3: Building a Sustainable Affiliate Business

Problem

Affiliate revenue becomes difficult to manage as content and partnerships expand.

How Lasso Helps

The platform creates a structured framework for affiliate operations.

Business Outcome

More scalable monetization and long-term growth.

CEO Growth Hack

Most entrepreneurs focus on creating assets.

The smartest entrepreneurs focus on monetizing assets.

Traffic is valuable.

Content is valuable.

Audience attention is valuable.

But value only becomes revenue when systems exist to capture it.

The mindset shift Lasso enables is moving from affiliate marketing as a tactic to affiliate marketing as a business system.

Instead of asking:

"Where should I place affiliate links?"

Ask:

"How do I create a monetization engine that scales with my content?"

This is how Builders become Architects.

Builders publish content.

Architects build revenue infrastructure.

Builders create opportunities.

Architects create systems that capture opportunities.

The businesses that generate meaningful affiliate revenue are often not producing more content.

They're extracting more value from the content they already have.

Key Benefits

  • Centralizes affiliate link management
  • Improves monetization opportunities
  • Reduces maintenance workload
  • Supports scalable affiliate operations
  • Helps maximize content revenue
  • Improves operational efficiency
  • Creates stronger monetization systems
  • Supports long-term affiliate growth

Best For

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Founders
  • CEOs
  • Bloggers
  • Content Creators
  • Affiliate Marketers
  • Niche Website Owners
  • Publishers
  • Media Companies
  • Digital Entrepreneurs

CEO Nugget

The most profitable content isn't always the content with the most traffic. It's the content backed by the best monetization system.

Ready to Simplify This?

If you're managing affiliate links manually or struggling to maximize revenue from your content, Lasso can help create a scalable monetization system so you can spend more time growing your audience and less time maintaining links.

Business Website Address
Animoto logo featuring a geometric triangle with overlapping sections in beige, yellow, and blue, alongside the text "ANIMOTO.
Business Name
Long Business Description

Create and share videos for free with Animoto's video maker. Combine your photos and video clips with music to make professional videos that'll impress.

Business Website Address
Business Tags
Insperity logo with the tagline "HR that Makes a Difference" underneath. The logo features blue and green text with a green geometric design on the left.
Business Name
Long Business Description

Insperity’s mission is to help businesses succeed so communities prosper. So, it was a natural fit that we
would join forces with them for expertise in human resources administration. Insperity will take on your time-
consuming HR tasks so you have more time for what matters most to you and your business.

No matter your human resources needs – payroll, recruiting, workers’ compensation, benefits, performance
management or retirement – Insperity has HR specialists with the expertise to advise and support you.

Blog Post: https://ceoblognation.com/2019/11/announcing-our-new-partnership-with-insperity-sponsored-post/

Business Website Address
Business Tags
The image shows the logo of 123RF, comprising a yellow icon of a person inside a camera outline, positioned next to the text "123RF" in white on a black background.
Business Name
Business Genre
Long Business Description

123rf is a stock content agency founded in 2005 which sells royalty-free images. In the past few years, 123RF expanded the portfolio to serve the growing market of the web-based content industry.

Business Website Address
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