Coordinator hired for northern defence project - Northern Ontario Business

Oleksandr Matsiuk hired outspoken employees and a board member who would challenge him to get honest feedback as a CEO. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Oleksandr "Alex" Matsiuk, cofounder and CEO of RiseGuide, an expert-powered microlearning app. The company has grown to 110 employees across 12 countries since its founding in 2024. The essay has been edited for length and clarity. Becoming the CEO of a fast-growing company created a problem I hadn't anticipated: Nobody was responsible for telling me how to improve. I decided that if honest feedback wasn't reaching me naturally, I needed to build a system that would deliver it. That included hiring outspoken employees and bringing someone onto my board specifically to argue with me. I felt stuck in my progress as a CEOAs CEO, I don't have a formal manager, performance reviews, or a personal development plan. My performance is largely judged by the company's performance, but that isn't always the right approach. A CEO can be doing something wrong or have plenty of room for improvement. If the business is growing, few people will say, "This could have been better.

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Home sellers cut asking prices on more than 3,000 properties a day on average in Britain during September, according to figures from Rightmove shared exclusively with the BBC. The property website said the total was the highest of any month for 15 years and was driven, in part, by a glut of homes on the market and some sellers setting unrealistic expectations. The proportion of listed homes that eventually had a price cut peaked in 2023 and has remained relatively high since. Property portals say buyers are now having to be choosy, with many working to a tight budget as mortgage rates have risen to three-year highs. "Once a home has been on the market for a while and then has a price reduction, some buyers start asking questions, even when there is nothing wrong with the property," said Colleen Babcock of Rightmove. "In a market with so much choice, first impressions matter. "Rightmove data said the average price reduction was nearly 7% - the equivalent of nearly £21,000 cut from a typically valued home. Its data showed that homes that had a price reduction typically took 119 days to find a buyer, compared with 39 days for those listed at one price.

Soaring freight is forcing oil producers into discounts, pushing delivered prices towards $140/bbl in China and prompting producers to absorb more transport costs to secure buyers. India is attracting more Brazilian and West African barrels as shorter voyages improve sellers’ returns, while Chinese refiners hold out for cheaper deliveries.