I once worked with a startup that offered incredible perks: free lunches, gym memberships, and even unlimited vacation days.

Yet, employee turnover was alarmingly high.

The root cause?

Poor leadership.

This experience taught me that no amount of perks can compensate for ineffective leadership.

In this post, I’ll share insights from Deel’s meteoric rise to a $12 billion valuation in just five years.

You’ll discover actionable strategies to propel your startup to new heights.

What you’ll learn

• The importance of a clear mission and vision
• How to prioritize product-market fit
• The role of strategic acquisitions
• Building a strong company culture
• Leveraging global talent
• Creating a thriving workplace
• Adapting to remote work

1. A clear mission and vision

Deel’s founders, Alex Bouaziz and Shuo Wang, envisioned a platform that simplifies global hiring and payroll.

This clear mission guided their decisions and attracted over 25,000 companies, including Nike and Shopify, to their services.

A well-defined mission not only aligns your team but also resonates with customers.

2. Prioritize product-market fit

Deel’s initial focus was on international contractor management, addressing a significant pain point for businesses.

By solving a real and pressing problem, they experienced explosive growth, quickly reaching $500 million in annual recurring revenue.

As Chenell Basilio put it, “The fastest-growing startups in the world figure out how to leverage connections to scale.”

Deel’s success underscores the power of identifying your market’s pain points and building solutions that truly resonate.

3. Strategic acquisitions

To enhance their offerings, Deel strategically acquired companies like Assemble, a compensation management startup.

CEO Alex Bouaziz emphasizes evaluating product quality, people, and technology when considering acquisitions.

This approach has expanded Deel’s capabilities and market reach.

Thoughtful acquisitions can accelerate growth and fill gaps in your product suite.

4. Building a strong company culture

Operating as a remote-first company with over 4000+ employees worldwide, Deel fosters a culture of innovation and inclusivity.

A positive culture attracts top talent and encourages employee retention.

As Lenny Rachitsky notes, “Quality + consistency = all that matters.”

Investing in your team’s well-being and maintaining high standards are essential traits of a successful entrepreneur.

5. Leveraging global talent

Deel’s platform enables companies to hire talent from over 150 countries, democratizing access to top jobs.

Embracing a diverse workforce brings varied perspectives and fosters innovation.

By tapping into global talent pools, you can build a high-growth startup with a competitive edge.

6. Building a thriving workplace

Deel’s success isn’t solely based on their business model; it’s also about their internal culture.

By fostering an environment of trust, autonomy, and continuous learning, they’ve built a team that’s aligned with their mission.

As a leader, prioritizing your team’s well-being and professional growth leads to higher engagement and productivity.

Remember, perks are nice, but genuine leadership and a supportive culture are irreplaceable.

7. Embracing remote work

Deel didn’t just provide remote work solutions; they embodied them.

Operating as a fully remote company allowed them to tap into a global talent pool and understand their customers’ needs intimately.

This approach also demonstrated the manifestation of their mission in their operations, showcasing authenticity and building trust with their audience.

Lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs

From Deel’s journey, several key lessons emerge:

• Prioritize purposeful leadership — Align your team with a clear mission to drive cohesive action.
• Foster a trusting culture — Empower employees with autonomy to boost innovation.
• Be strategic in scaling -Use acquisitions thoughtfully to enhance capabilities and market reach.
• Leverage global talent — Expand your horizons to include diverse skills and perspectives.

In my experience, startups that embody these traits not only grow faster but also build sustainable success.

By focusing on purposeful leadership and strategic growth, you can navigate the challenges of scaling and creating a thriving workplace.

Remember, perks might attract talent, but it’s purposeful leadership that retains and nurtures it.

If you found these insights valuable, I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Thank you for reading.

Feel free to join founders, CEOs, and business leaders in navigating challenges, avoiding costly mistakes, and creating thriving workplaces. Click here to Join now!

What Deel’s Success Taught Me About Growing the Fastest-Growing Startup was originally published in The Startup on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Yes, only one made me say, “Holy shit… that’s ME,” even after multiple tries.

Let me be honest — most AI headshot generators often generate fake headshots.

I’ve personally tried over 20 AI headshot generators, and some made me look like a cartoon, added strange lighting, or changed my face completely.

It makes no sense, right?

And that’s why I wrote a super-informative post on the best AI headshot generator available online by testing it myself.

That post went viral, and readers started asking me about the one AI headshot generator I liked the most.

Well, to be honest, I liked several of them — they were way better in quality and realism.

But only one made me say, “Holy shit… that’s ME,” even after multiple tries. It felt like they were taken by a professional photographer.

I’m talking about Aragon AI.

And today, I want to talk specifically about Aragon AI — how to try it out, its features, and more.

The problem with most AI headshot generators

If you follow me, you may know that I always recommend free AI and non-AI tools to my audience.

And I never wanted to suggest expensive tools when free options were available just to make affiliate income.

But when I tried some of the cheap and free AI headshot generators, I thought, this isn’t me.

The AI models used for free headshots weren’t great, and the results weren’t either.

That’s what made me try out some paid AI headshot generators — because it doesn’t make sense to use a free AI headshot tool that generates someone else’s face.

You don’t want to add a stranger’s photo to your profile.

No doubt, even some paid AI headshot generators produced headshots with the same poses, poor quality, and bad lighting.

And then there were AI headshot tools that were super fast — you upload your photo and get a headshot instantly.

But after trying them, I learned that speed doesn’t equal quality since the results were useless.

Why Aragon AI crushes every competitor

Now, since this is not a promotional post, I will simply get to the point about why I think it’s one of the best.

First of all, Aragon AI is one of the most popular AI headshot generators, and when I was searching the internet for “AI Headshot Generator,” this was the one I saw ranking at the top on Google.

When I visited their website, they claimed to be the #1 ranked AI headshot company. They even have great reviews and are recommended by almost every post on the internet.

So I made up my mind to at least give it a try.

Here are some examples generated by Aragon AI:

You see, the results are surprisingly good with insane quality.

They look just like high-end LinkedIn profile pictures shot by a professional photographer.

Sure, the process has multiple steps because it asks for every minute detail that I want in my AI headshots.

The best part?

You can generate different types of AI headshots based on what you need — from professional ones to healthcare, dating, and more.

And lastly, they even provide AI editing features so you can further edit your headshots however you want.

Yes, it’s that customizable.

How to get started?

Now, after seeing the output, most of you may be interested in trying out Aragon AI.

So here’s the getting started process:

First of all, you need to visit their website and click on the button “Create your headshots now.”

Then, proceed by agreeing to the terms and conditions and click on the button “Create headshots.”

It will then ask a number of questions about your gender, age, hair color, ethnicity, body type, and more, and finally, you need to upload at least six images of yourself.

Note that the better the images you upload, the better the headshots you get.

Lastly, select the package you want, and make the payment.

And then you will receive your AI headshots within an hour or two, depending on the package you choose.

How I tested Aragon AI for AI headshots

Well, I’m a content creator, and I needed some of the best AI headshots for my social media profiles.

And so, I’ve tried 20+ AI headshot tools to find the best one and even to write a post so that everyday people get to know the best AI headshot generator.

In that process, I tried Aragon AI.

The process was simple, as I’ve explained above, and it generated some high-quality AI headshots.

I learned that it actually resonated with the images I uploaded, and the quality and realism were insane.

But I was not completely sure about writing this post simply by trying it once since I want to recommend one of the best AI headshot generators to my readers.

And so, I tried it once again by uploading some of my old photos when I was a bit slim.

Here are the outputs generated by Aragon AI:

To be honest, I actually looked like this in my old days, and seeing such realistic AI headshots made me confident in its accuracy.

Do you really need Aragon AI?

Well, if you need professional, high-quality headshots without hiring a photographer, you should use Aragon AI.

After using it myself and seeing the outputs from Aragon AI, I can say with confidence that it’s a lot better than most AI headshot generators out there.

Talking about pricing, if you select the Starter package, you get 40 headshots for just $39.

So, each headshot costs less than $1.

And if you choose a higher plan, you get more features along with a better price per headshot.

Also, it’s fast (creates headshots in one or two hours), affordable, and looks real — better than 95% of other AI generators.

Hope you like it.

That’s it — thanks.

If you’ve found this post helpful, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter, AI Made Simple where I dive deeper into practical AI strategies for everyday people.

I Tested 20+ AI Headshot Generators — Here’s the Only One That Looks 100% Real was originally published in The Startup on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.