Entrepreneur Business Strategy Blog | Steve Simonson & Catalyst88

Scraping Off the Operational Barnacles

There’s a moment every entrepreneur hits.

April 16, 2026

Why Most Founders Get Stuck: Working IN Your Business vs ON Your Business.

If you’re running around answering customer emails, printing shipping labels, and playing whack-a-mole with problems all day… congratulations—you didn’t build a business.

April 14, 2026

Q2 2026 eCommerce Report

Let’s take a walk through what’s going on in eCommerce right now, because there’s a lot of noise, a lot of hype… and a few very real signals hiding underneath it all.

April 1, 2026

Field Notes8 min read

The AI Tech Stack of 2026 (or: “Wait… this thing runs my business now?”)

1. The Confession (aka why I ignored AI way too long)

March 30, 2026

The Mentor That Built Empires and Fortunes

Let me start with a simple observation from a few decades of building companies and hanging around entrepreneurs.

March 12, 2026

The Rise of Agentic Commerce: Why AI Agents Are About to Flip Ecommerce Upside Down in 2026

In the fast-moving world of ecommerce, 2026 isn’t just another year—it’s the tipping point. Shoppers are no longer scrolling through websites or clicking ads the way they used to. Instead, they’re delegating the entire process to **AI agents** : autonomous digital assistants that research, compare,

March 9, 2026

Are You Building a Brand… or Just Another Clown Brand in the Circus?

Let’s start with a slightly uncomfortable question.

March 5, 2026

The Ultimate CEO Superpower: Mentorship Isn’t Optional — It’s Oxygen

A 13-year-old kid sits under a tree in ancient Macedonia. He’s not scrolling TikTok. He’s not building a Shopify store. He’s sitting with the smartest guy in the known world, absorbing philosophy, ethics, strategy, and the mechanics of human behavior.

March 4, 2026

The Stoic Inventor: How Steve Simonson Defies the “All-Rounder” Myth through Cognitive Depth

Steve Simonson defies the all-rounder myth through cognitive depth. The most high-impact leaders are rarely well-rounded — they are deeply specialized and strategically complemented.

March 3, 2026

The Leadership DNA of Steve Simonson: Why Entrepreneurs Trust Him to Lead

Entrepreneurship attracts big personalities. Visionaries. Risk takers. Relentless optimists.

February 16, 2026

5 Surprising Truths Behind TikTok Shop’s Explosive Growth

The rapid ascent of TikTok Shop has dominated conversations in social commerce, with headlines touting its meteoric rise. For sellers, marketers, and analysts, it represents a new frontier—a powerful channel that blends entertainment with instant transactions. But beyond the hype, the platform’s mec

January 1, 2026

Field Notes6 min read

Your To-Do List Is Sabotaging Your Growth: 4 Counter-Intuitive Strategies for Scaling Your Business

For most entrepreneurs, the daily reality is a relentless grind. The day starts with a to-do list that feels a mile long and ends with the unsettling feeling that you’re still behind. You’re the chief problem-solver, the lead tactician, and the one carrying the entire world on your shoulders. This c

December 17, 2025

You’re the Reason Your Business Can’t Scale—We Know How to Fix It

Every CEO reaches a critical inflection point where the strategies that got them to their current level won’t take them to the next. The gap between running a successful business and building a scalable enterprise isn’t about working harder—it’s about addressing the core issues that either propel gr

October 27, 2025

Field Notes11 min read

AI Agents for Business: 8 Tools That Actually Work (Real ROI Examples + Implementation Guide)

_How smart companies are using AI agents to cut costs, boost efficiency, and stay on brand—without buying into the hype._

September 15, 2025

Why Systems Beat Hustle Culture: How I Escaped 7-Day Work Weeks and Built a Scalable Business

_A hard-earned lesson about why hustle culture is a trap, and systems are your only path to sustainable growth._

September 10, 2025

Field Notes17 min read

China Sourcing in 2026: Why the Old Playbook Will Kill Your Business (New Strategies Inside)

Look, if you think you can still play the 2018 Alibaba copy-paste sourcing game in 2026 and win, you might as well be selling fidget spinners at a mall kiosk. The game _has changed_. Dramatically.

September 4, 2025

Field Notes16 min read

How to Escape Amazon Dependency: 3 Proven Steps to Build a Real Brand and Take Back Control

_A tactical guide for entrepreneurs ready to break free from Amazon dependency and build a real brand_

September 1, 2025

Field Notes16 min read

How AI Tools Can Finally Make Your Business Operations Run Without You

_By[Steve Simonson](https://stevensimonson.com), CEO [Catalyst88](https://catalyst88.com)_

September 17, 2024