Entrepreneurs United

Do you promote and pay people so they will step up, or do you promote the ones who are already stepping up? If you are an entrepreneur or leader trying to grow a team of independent thinkers instead of employees who only do what is in their job description, this conversation is for you. John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann tackle the chicken-or-egg question behind every raise and promotion, and share...

Your CRM probably doesn't suck because of the software. It sucks because of the messy data, undocumented processes, and constant change around it. In EP 320, John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann talk with Christopher Smith, President and Founder of Empellor CRM, author of CRM Shouldn't Suck, and host of Sales Lead Dog. After two decades of rescuing CRMs, Chris explains what he checks first, h...

Charlie Chase on Tough Feedback, Trust, Partners vs Maximizers, and Leading Through Uncertainty This episode is for entrepreneurs and leaders who want to build a high performing culture without getting distracted by noise, ego, or short term profit grabs. John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann sit down with Charlie Chase, Chair of the International Franchise Association, CEO of FirstService Brands, and...

When the math says one thing and your life says another, which one do you follow? Hosts John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann take on a decision every entrepreneur and leader faces: when to follow the wealth calculator and when to make the lifestyle decision. Inspired by the book Die with Zero by Bill Perkins, John explains why the idea keeps coming up in his conversations with entrepreneurs and leade...

What if the real problem with your workday isn't that you're not working hard enough; it's that you never stop? John Briggs is the CEO of Incite Tax and the author of Take Breaks, Work Better, and he joins John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann to make the case that rest isn't a luxury; it's a requirement backed by science. Studies show the average worker is only productive 2 hours...

What if the biggest limit on your business is how you see yourself? David Meltzer is the chairman of the Napoleon Hill Institute, an entrepreneur, author, and former CEO of Leigh Steinberg Sports and Entertainment. He built 33 properties, a golf course, and a ski mountain, then lost more than $100 million and rebuilt his life around a very different definition of success. In this episode, David jo...

Isolation is the real cost of entrepreneurship, and most founders never say it out loud. John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann sit down for a host-only episode to break down the top reasons entrepreneurs need to be at the Entrepreneurs United Empowerment Experience 2026 , happening this November in Puerto Rico. From the hands-on AI and technology workshop to a measurable $40K ROI, this episode covers...

You can hit every number and still feel trapped. Why? Ryan Tansom is the founder of Independence by Design, where he helps business owners get rewarded for the value they create instead of trapped by it. He rebuilt his family's copier and IT business from a 940,000 dollar loss to an eight figure sale by age 27, then spent 60 days in the buyer's office with no idea who he was without the co...

What if the goal you're not setting is exactly what's keeping your business stuck? Blake Erickson is the founder of Scaling.com, a New York Times best-selling author, and a TEDx speaker on The Secret to Achieving Impossible Goals. He's advised over 500 companies and took his own company from $0 to $10 million in annual recurring revenue in eight months. In this episode, Blake breaks do...

Caring about people is a key, and in this episode, John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann just riff on what that actually looks like. They share the small, specific habits they actually use: DoorDash deliveries for someone having a rough day, handwritten cards (one a week adds up to 52 a year), TSP feedback, truthful, specific, positive, instead of a vague compliment, and time-delayed texts that follow...

Do you need better salespeople, or a better system? Morné Smit is the founder and CEO of Emerse Sales. Before that, he took a commercial construction company from $18 million to $180 million in five years, without outside funding or a single acquisition. He now helps businesses build the same kind of predictable, repeatable revenue engine. In this episode, Morné walks John St. Pierre and Rich Hoff...

Is your bank quietly saying no to the growth capital your business needs? Trevor Barran has started over a dozen companies, worked in venture capital and investment banking, and began his career in small business lending. Today he's the CEO of FNCR, a platform that connects growing businesses to financing that's increasingly hard to find, especially in the $1 million to $30 million range....

Would you let your kid fail on purpose? John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann dig into a book called Raising an Entrepreneur and its 10 rules for parenting future founders, then talk through which ones actually hold up in real life. From a hockey injury that taught a bigger lesson than the scoreboard to an 11 year old selling car washes and protein balls door to door, they get into why letting kids lo...

What if 98% of people are just winging life, and don't even know it? We don't do book episodes often on Entrepreneurs United, but Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People earned one. We brought back returning guest John Mitchell, founder of the Center for Advanced Leadership of Self at the University of Texas at Austin, to go through the book habit by habit with hosts Jo...

Most founders think they have a lead generation problem. What if the real problem starts after the sale closes? Bradley Rausch is a client experience architect, strategic advisor, and founder of Level Up Influence, the go-to backend profit partner for founder-led coaching and group programs. Over six years, he has helped dozens of founders turn chaotic growth into durable, higher-margin revenue wi...

Are you managing AI adoption on your team, or is it managing you? In this episode, hosts John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann tackle one of the biggest leadership challenges right now: helping employees embrace AI instead of fearing it. They dig into why change resistance almost always comes down to a perceived loss of privacy, trust, individuality, or job security, and why leaders need to name that...

What if your best salesperson never took a day off? On the Entrepreneurs United Podcast, hosts John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann talk with book strategist Jill Clair, co-founder of Erin Marie Books, about why a book is a 24/7 credibility asset and one of the most powerful sales tools an entrepreneur, expert, or business owner will ever create. Jill explains how to rise above the crowded everyone h...

What if your money problems were never about money? Doug Lynam has had three careers: Marine, Benedictine monk, and financial advisor. That path led him to one insight most financial professionals never arrive at. Your Enneagram personality type has been driving your financial decisions since childhood. He calls these patterns Money Monsters, and every one of us has them. In this episode, Doug wal...

What would it look like if every leader in your business actually had clarity? In this episode, John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann do something different: they build a clarity checklist live on air, with no script and no prep. What comes out of it is a set of principles any entrepreneur or leadership team can use immediately to pressure-test where clarity actually exists in their business and where...

What if your AI could function like a team of specialists who already know everything about your business? Jason Van Orden has spent two decades helping coaches and consultants turn their expertise into scalable businesses. In this episode, he joins John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann to break down how he builds custom AI systems using Claude that function like a real team. A system that knows your...

Do you actually know what your business is worth? Most entrepreneurs think they do. Eric Coonrod is a 22-year investment banker and author of The Preparation Principle. He specializes in helping business owners get the maximum value from their exits. In this episode, he breaks down the pattern he sees most often: owners who go to market underprepared, find out their financials don't match thei...

Are you actually holding people accountable, or are you just making them nervous? In this milestone 300th episode of Entrepreneurs United, co-hosts John St. Pierre and Rich Hoffmann go deep on one of the most misunderstood leadership skills: accountability. Rich has been coaching leaders and entrepreneurs on this for years, and what he finds is consistent: most leaders have inherited a definition...

What if you could detect Alzheimer's years before any symptoms appeared and stop it? Dr. Yogesh Shah is a Board-Certified Geriatrician and Mayo Clinic-trained memory specialist who has spent 25 years focused entirely on the early detection and prevention of dementia. In this episode, he makes a case that every entrepreneur in their 40s and 50s needs to hear: the window to protect your brain is...

Are you building a business or building yourself a job? Cliff Nonnenmacher is the founder of Franocity, a franchise consulting firm that has spent 25 years helping investors and displaced executives identify scalable franchise brands with real liquidity and exit potential. His core message is simple: the owner who still works in the business after year one almost never builds an empire. In this ep...

Most entrepreneurs are great at making money. Keeping it is where things fall apart. Tom Malesic is the founder and CEO of EZSolution, EZMarketing, and EZComputer, three businesses built at the intersection of digital marketing, IT support, and operational systems. He is also a certified EOS implementer who came to EOS after struggling with profitability in his own companies and realizing that gen...