IN THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER:

• 🚀 AI Haves and Have Nots: What You Need to Know

• ✅ The Startup Mindset: 8 Traits That Define Founders

• 🤧 2025’s Top Lists For Podcasts, Books, and Startups

• 🎙️ This Month’s Clubhouse!

• 🔥 Time to Sell Index

Listen to this newsletter👇

🚀 AI Haves and Have Nots: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know Right Now.

Are you winning in the AI era or are you getting left behind?

Back in the early internet days a few tiny service providers in Toronto patched their gear together in a cramped room and agreed to share bandwidth.

That handshake turned into one of the biggest internet exchanges in North America.

People showed up for the common good.

It felt like the nineties were built on curiosity, community, and a bit of Star Trek optimism.

Then the giants arrived, and the innocence evaporated.

Jump to November 2023.

ChatGPT 3.5 lands and the world lights up.

Finally, a global equalizer.

Education, geography, background none of it mattered.

Anyone could tap into a tool with world changing potential.

OpenAI was still not for profit, and the story was that AI would lift everyone.

Then the giants arrived again.

Microsoft moved in.

OpenAI shifted to a for profit model.

Competitors raced forward…

Grok.

Claude.

Google Gemini.

Innovation exploded.

And right behind it came something less inspiring.

The price of admission started climbing.

People who did not buy in started falling behind. In my book Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat., I talk about Living in the Future.

It means stepping into tomorrow before everyone else so you can spot the trends early. I always chased the fastest internet and the newest tech.

I bought the early HDTVs.

I drove the early Model X. Today I stack paid LLM memberships because they help me launch new companies and accelerate growth.

Living in the future is how I ended up building and exiting more than a dozen tech companies over the past twenty-five years.

So when AI hit, I jumped in full throttle.

Right now, we are sitting on the edge of the biggest technological shift in history. I believe it will mint more millionaires than anything before it.

The winners will be the ones who choose to live inside an AI world instead of watching it from the sidelines. ChatGPT 3.5 was just the spark.

Since then, we have seen leaps in content creation, music, video, research, analysis, and everything in between.

Every month another industry shakes.

And here is what hit me.

I jump between AI tools all day building music videos, commercials, legal reviews, research, and more.

Meanwhile almost no one around me pays for even the basic membership.

Today, real AI tools do not come cheap.

If you want to play the game, you will spend two hundred to five hundred a month. For me the return is endless.

For early-stage entrepreneurs that price can feel like a locked door.

But using AI to launch a business is one of the biggest edges you can get.

A simple example. I wanted to launch a YouTube video with no real experience. In the past I would hire an agency.

This time I used a stack of AI tools and followed their step-by-step guidance.

I bounced from model to model stealing the best of each one even while fighting daily limits.

After a few weeks the video Made in America was ready and within seventy-two hours it crossed one hundred thousand views.

Three months earlier this would have been impossible without a big budget or serious creative chops.

With AI it became accessible.

But only because I paid for the tools.

So here we are.

Are we repeating history?

Are we building a new class of AI haves and AI have nots?

Will big companies keep their edge while scrappy entrepreneurs get priced out?

No one knows how the future shakes out. But one thing is obvious. If you do not pay for it, you will not play with it.

And if you don’t play with it, you won’t build wealth from it.

— Colin C. Campbell

Disclaimer: Startup Club and its AI resources are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for legal matters.

✅ The Startup Mindset: 8 Traits That Define Founders

The startup mindset isn’t just a way of thinking, it’s a competitive edge that often makes the difference between successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs.

Founders operate with immediate urgency and radical thinking, approaching challenges with curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to learn fast. The mind serves as the most vital instrument for startup success.

“I dedicate at least 30 minutes each morning to developing skills that relate to the future needs of my business. The practice of continuous learning serves as an essential requirement for survival.” - Michael Gilmour

The following sections demonstrate how successful startup founders think and achieve success.

1. Be Naively Bold 

Great founders demonstrate naively bold behavior by taking risks that others avoid. This boldness is like a superpower that allows them to recognize opportunities which others have missed, while their naivety propels them forward where others would run in the opposite direction.

2. Learn Relentlessly 

The process of learning stands as the lifeblood of any new venture. The startup mindset requires entrepreneurs to maintain continuous learning because markets transform, technology advances, and outdated knowledge becomes insufficient for future success.

3. Be Optimistic 

A key gift that a founder can bring their team is a positive mindset that speaks of a better future. The optimistic mindset creates such a strong belief in the mission that it attracts additional supporters and reshapes actual circumstances.

4. Turn Fear into Fuel 

The startup mindset requires you to handle your fears instead of trying to eliminate them. The process of using fear as motivation will help you become more alert and push you to work with increased intensity, serving as a launch pad for action.

5. Lead with Passion 

Every successful startup exists because at its core is the founder’s passion. This creates a “spreadable effect which defeats all forms of doubt.” A genuine fire drives passionate leadership which enables leaders to overcome obstacles while inspiring their team members to dedicate their maximum effort.

The startup world demands strong determination from its participants, but the right mindset will help you achieve success while transforming the world.

Your daily work should focus on developing your mindset while you maintain your drive for success.

Your business success starts from the thoughts you create in your mind.

🔥 Read the full 8 traits here

 🔥 AI Tip of the Month

Discover a powerful method for speeding up your creative process: rapid image generation using tools like Google's Nano Banana.

This specialized model is designed for sheer speed, letting you generate a new, unique image every 10 seconds.

Why this speed matters:

• Concept Testing: Quickly visualize and discard dozens of ideas to find the most promising direction.

• Creative Iteration: Maintain a high-energy workflow by eliminating the wait time between prompt and output.

• Inspiration Fuel: Use the rapid flow of visuals to break through creative blocks and explore diverse styles.

Integrate rapid generation into your workflow to instantly fuel your creative pipeline and test ideas at scale.

📖 Top 25 Books for Starting a Business in 2026

This curated list highlights the most influential and practical books for aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs. Selections are based on Amazon bestsellers (4.5+ stars), industry awards (Axiom, FT Business Book Awards, Porchlight), and expert recommendations from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Forbes, Inc., and the New York Times.

The selection emphasizes books with lasting impact and real-world application.

1. The Lean Startup - Eric Ries

2. Zero to One - Peter Thiel with Blake Masters

3. The E-Myth Revisited - Michael E. Gerber

4. Start Your Own Business - Entrepreneur Media Staff

5. Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki

6. The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz

7. Atomic Habits - James Clear

8. Shoe Dog - Phil Knight

9. $100M Offers - Alex Hormozi

10. Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

🚀 Find the full list of 25 books and links here

🎙️Top Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat Podcasts of all Time you Should Listen to in 2026.

Here are the episodes our community couldn’t get enough of this year, packed with insights, strategies, and founder lessons you can put to work right away. Click below to stream on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your episodes!

1. Starting a Business Without Investors — Chris & Dave Sinkinson
Bootstrapping wins. Customer revenue is the strongest form of validation and the fastest way to stay in control of your business.

2. Should You Start with a Franchise? — Alicia Miller

A strong franchise can significantly reduce risk. The key is vetting the brand’s support systems, stability, and overall strength.

3. AI Minor Majors for Startup Growth — Colin C. Campbell & Michele Van Tilborg
Small, easy-to-adopt AI tools can create massive efficiency gains and transform day-to-day operations.

4. Discover, Defend & Scale Your Business Idea — Colin C. Campbell & Michele Van Tilborg
Great businesses begin with problem validation. Build ideas with clear defensibility and a path to scale.

5. Your Business’s Must-Do Startup Checklist — Colin C. Campbell & Michele Van Tilborg
Execution matters. A disciplined checklist helps founders turn vision into action and avoid common early-stage mistakes.

🔥 Top Podcast Episodes For 2026

1. Reebok Founder – Lessons on Building a Billion-Dollar Brand
Build a legacy brand through niche focus and relentless marketing. Purpose drives growth; the money follows.

2. Scaling Up with Verne Harnish
Use disciplined frameworks—people, strategy, execution, and cash—to scale without chaos.

3. Funding Your Startup with Customer’s Money
Customers can finance your early growth through preorders, memberships, and subscription models.

4. Becoming a 7-Figure Entrepreneur in 1 Year
One focused product and one engaged audience beat scattered efforts. Obsession and clarity create scale.

5. Sales Week: Scaling Sales with Jack Daly
Systems, accountability, and repeatable processes make sales scalable; culture fuels performance.

6. Customer-Funded Business Models
Customer-funded business models can replace venture capital through advance payments, subscriptions, and hybrids.

7. Power Talking for Entrepreneurs
Replace weak phrasing with confident language—communication is a business multiplier.

8. Starting a Business On & Off Clubhouse
Engage communities early. Turn listeners and followers into loyal customers.

9. Preparing for an Exit from the Start
Plan your exit strategy from day one; investor readiness compounds valuation.

10. The Right & Wrong Ways to Exit Your Business
Understand the pitfalls and best practices of selling your company to avoid costly mistakes.

📅 This Month’s Clubhouse Schedule!

🎙️ Thursday, December 18, 5pm ET - The Complete Entrepreneur 7 Values of Highly Effective Founders

A live conversation breaking down the core values that top entrepreneurs share—resilience, focus, integrity, adaptability, and more. Learn how to apply these traits to build, scale, and lead with confidence.

🎙️ Friday, December 19th, 2pm ET - Serial Entrepreneur: Secrets Revealed Top Startup Ideas for 2026

Discussing what next year holds for entrepreneurs and how to innovate to win!

🚀 IPO Market Rebounds: Time to Sell Index Climbs to 24.5 from 6.8

The market is recovering, but patience is still the name of the game.

The Time to Sell Index (TTSI) is flat this month at 24.5. IPOs are up 47% over last year but we are still in early recovery mode.

The Reality Check:

• It is still a Buyer’s Market.

• Private valuations are lagging IPOs by roughly 6–12 months.

• We are out of the crash, but not yet at the peak.

Wait and build. Use this recovery phase to polish your business so you are ready when valuations catch up.

The Bottom Line

Use this phase to strengthen your business, improve positioning, and get ready for the next upturn.

We’ll keep tracking the TTSI each month in Startup Club Edge to help you stay ahead when conditions shift.

🔥 Check Me Out on TikTok!

@startupclubhq

Delegation isn’t about offloading tasks; it’s about empowering others with responsibility. As entrepreneurs, we grow by focusing on the bi... See more

🚀 How to Support Startup Club

Thank you for reading along for another issue of the StartUp Club newsletter!

You can further support StartUp.Club by:

1. Sharing it with a friend or fellow entrepreneur! We’ve got a great referral program!

2. Responding to this email and letting me know what you think.

3. Picking up your copy of Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat.

And if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the StartUp.Club Newsletter.

— Colin C. Campbell

Entrepreneur Fact of the Month: 28% of entrepreneurs start businesses primarily to "be their own boss," and 22% do so because they are dissatisfied with corporate life—passion was the primary driver for only 13%.