My CEO Weekly feature back in 2025 dug into why love is still the killer app in business. Tim Sanders made that case 23 years ago in his book Love Is the Killer App. He was right then, and he's more right now. What's changed is that we have the neuroscience to prove it.

What the Neuroscience Shows

Dr. Helen Fisher at Rutgers found that when you're in love, your brain floods with dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Love isn't just nice to have. It's a biological necessity.

UCLA did a study that followed people for seven years. The ones who had strong, loving relationships lived longer.

Dr. Antonio Damasio at USC found that "when people feel truly seen, heard, and remembered, their brains light up like a Christmas tree."

Founders Built on Love

Henry Ford loved the idea of every family having a car. Walt Disney loved bringing joy to children. Bill Gates loved the idea of a personal computer in every home. James Dyson spent 15 years creating 5,126 failed prototypes because he loved engineering perfection more than he hated failure. The businesses that last are built on love, and the ones that die forgot why they started.

Lessons From Running a Restaurant

I learned this the hard way. I was running a restaurant with 103 employees and 75,000 customers a month. It was chaos. Then I figured out something that changed everything. When I made everyone feel important, when I started loving them, magic happened.

Orders got filled faster. Complaints went down. Tips went up. People started referring their friends.

And it went deeper than operational efficiency. Love is creative. Once you love people, a difficult customer becomes someone having a bad day, and an employee who keeps messing up becomes someone who needs training and encouragement. Your perspective changes, and then everything changes.

Love as a Verb

Love isn't a feeling. It's a verb. It's something you do. Start with radical caring, then double down and triple down. The more love you give, the more you get.

I've got 37 years of sobriety, a transformed life, and countless successful love-centered business relationships to prove it. Tim Sanders was right: Love is the killer app. It's the heart of my forthcoming book, Love Like Crazy… Then Love More.

Love is the killer app, and the neuroscience finally proves it.

Want to read more? Read my CEO Weekly feature.