Tom Freiling

As a book publisher, my primary focus today is books about business, leadership and professional development. But for the better part of two decades, I built my career at the intersection of faith, politics and the news cycle. I published books that tackled issues and controversies. These were books driven by passion and conviction, written by authors who believed they had something important to say about where the world was heading. It was meaningful work.

Tom Freiling, publishing industry C-suite veteran, 3X founder, former CEO of NASDAQ-listed publisher, Chairman & CEO, Freiling Agency. getty As a ghostwriter for CEOs and C-suite executives across industries, I spend my days inside the minds of leaders running organizations worth millions, even billions of dollars. I hear what they say publicly and, more importantly, what they admit privately.

As a three-time founder, I’ve made this mistake more than once, and I’ve also seen other entrepreneurs make it too: Falling so in love with the big vision that we try to build the entire dream at launch. Then we run out of runway before creating anything users actually want. On a rare occasion, it works. One of my publishing product concepts skyrocketed from zero to over $1 million in annual revenue in under twelve months. However, I’ve also experienced the opposite.