Ending Soon! Save 33% on All Access

The Danger of Profitability: It Masks Deeper Problems From the outside, Cogent Entertainment Marketing looked like a success. On the inside, major leadership problems were wreaking havoc on the company.

By Jason Feifer

Cogent

Introducing our new podcast, Problem Solvers with Jason Feifer, which features business owners and CEOs who went through a crippling business problem and came out the other side happy, wealthy, and growing. Feifer, Entrepreneur's editor in chief, spotlights these stories so other business can avoid the same hardships. Listen below or click here to read more shownotes.

From the outside, Cogent Entertainment Marketing looked like a success: It got early into the influencer marketing game, quickly signing big clients and making good money. And because profits were high, founder Mark Zablow was afraid to make any changes -- even as major leadership problems in his company began wreaking havoc.

In this episode of Problem Solvers, we explore how Zablow inally fixed his culture (while still making a profit).

Thanks to our sponsor:

Want to hear more great stories from entrepreneurs, founders, and creative thinkers? Check out the Proposify Biz Chat, hosted by Kyle Racki, co-founder and CEO of Proposify, the business proposal software platform that helps you close more deals, faster. Each week on the Proposify Biz Chat, Kyle interviews other business adventurers about how they're switching things up, figuring things out, and making their businesses grow. You'll learn about sales, marketing, growth, operations, entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology and you'll get to know the people making things happen.

Jason Feifer

Entrepreneur Staff

Editor in Chief

Jason Feifer is the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine and host of the podcast Problem Solvers. Outside of Entrepreneur, he is the author of the book Build For Tomorrow, which helps readers find new opportunities in times of change, and co-hosts the podcast Help Wanted, where he helps solve listeners' work problems. He also writes a newsletter called One Thing Better, which each week gives you one better way to build a career or company you love.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Now that OpenAI's Superalignment Team Has Been Disbanded, Who's Preventing AI from Going Rogue?

We spoke to an AI expert who says safety and innovation are not separate things that must be balanced; they go hand in hand.

Franchise

What Franchising Can Teach The NFL About The Impact of Private Equity

The NFL is smart to take a thoughtful approach before approving institutional capital's investment in teams.

Employee Experience & Recruiting

Beyond the Great Resignation — How to Attract Freelancers and Independent Talent Back to Traditional Work

Discussing the recent workplace exit of employees in search of more meaningful work and ways companies can attract that talent back.

Business News

Scarlett Johansson 'Shocked' That OpenAI Used a Voice 'So Eerily Similar' to Hers After Already Telling the Company 'No'

Johansson asked OpenAI how they created the AI voice that her "closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference."

Business Ideas

Struggling to Balance Your Business and Your Relationship? This Company Says It Has a Solution.

Jessica Holton, co-founder and CEO of Ours, says her company is on a mission to destigmatize couples therapy so that people can be proactive about relationship health.

Marketing

Marketing Campaigns Must Do More than Drive Clicks — Here's How to Craft Landing Pages That Convert Clicks into Customers

Following fundamental design principles will ensure that your landing pages lead potential customers from clicking on an ad to completing a purchase.