Built from Scratch

This is my monthly Founder Journal. A personal record documenting the decisions, lessons, and adjustments as I build toward a $1M business by the end of 2027. In this episode, I’m capturing five lessons from May 2026 , recorded in real time while building a mid-six-figure service business. Lessons from May 2026: It ran without me, but running isn't growing A strategy without a process is just...

Concept: This is my monthly Founder Journal. A personal record documenting the decisions, lessons, and adjustments as I build toward a $1M business by the end of 2027. In this episode, I’m capturing five lessons from April 2026, recorded in real time while building a mid–six-figure service business. Lessons from April 2026: Partner With People Who Are Ahead of You Get the House in Order Before You...

This is my monthly Founder Journal. A personal record documenting the decisions, lessons, and adjustments as I build toward a $1M business by the end of 2027. In this episode, I’m capturing five lessons from March 2026 , recorded in real time while building a mid-six-figure service business. Lessons from March 2026: Effort Is a Deposit, Even When You Don’t See the Return Having One Focus Moves the...

Description: This is my monthly Founder Journal. A personal record documenting the decisions, lessons, and adjustments as I build toward a $1M business by the end of 2027. In this episode, I’m capturing five lessons from February 2026 , recorded in real time while building a mid-six-figure service business. Lessons from February 2026: Consistency Will Teach and Reward You It Must Be Explainable to...

This is my monthly Founder Journal. A personal record documenting the decisions, lessons, and adjustments as I build toward a $1M business by the end of 2027. In this episode, I’m capturing six lessons from January 2026 , recorded in real time while building a mid–six-figure service business. Lessons from January 2026: Scarcity works when trust already exists Breaking beliefs unlocks faster progre...

After hiring over 150 people, I’ve learned one powerful truth: when someone doesn’t work out, it’s usually our fault. In this episode, I’m unpacking what truly makes (or breaks) a team member’s success.. your onboarding process. We’ll cover:1️⃣ The onboarding experience that sets people up to win2️⃣ How to make those first days on the job actually matter3️⃣ And how to retain your best talent long-...

When we started The To-Do Dudes, people didn’t buy into us, they bought into the idea: students showing up, working hard, and helping their community. We charged just $18 an hour and still got plenty of “no’s.” But every stage of growth came with a lesson. From pricing struggles and pushback to finally earning the trust and loyalty of our customers. In this episode, we break down the full journey...

In this episode, I share how one of my biggest mistake ended up becoming one of my greatest advantages years later. This episode is all about trusting the process, learning from what feels like failure, and understanding that sometimes the dots only make sense when you look back.

One year after Olivia’s first appearance on  Built From Scratch , we sat down again to reflect on how much can change in twelve months. We revisited her original quotes, talked about the growth of  OG’s Bakery  (including the story of how she got into her first grocery store), and explored why she’s so passionate about encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs. And just when it seemed like...

Ever get to the end of the month and wonder, “Where did all the money go?” In this episode of Built From Scratch , Erik Libby (Founder & CEO of To-Do Dudes) breaks down the 7 financial metrics that completely changed the way he runs his business. From cost per lead and customer acquisition cost, to lifetime gross profit, retention, and margins, these are the numbers that turned confusion into...

Originally from Egypt, Youssef moved to Dubai at age 3 and later came to the US in 2021 to study Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Future Technology on a full ride scholarship at Boston University . A serial founder: his first startup failed dramatically—but his second venture was a successful exit, which led him to join a VC firm as a partner. He was a TEDx speaker , who spoke about the importan...

This episode is part lesson, part documentary to take a real look into where I’m spending my time as a CEO and the adjustments I’m actively making. There are constant challenges around setting the right priorities, and in this episode, I share what’s working, what isn’t, and where my head is at right now. Here’s what I cover: Deciding whether to prioritize sales or product first Why business feels...

Originally from Dubai and raised in Phoenix, Shaun studied Economics & History at Vanderbilt University. While at Vanderbilt, and after leading United Nations linked projects like Imagine Land 2040, he co-founded Atlog , an AI voice agent for physical retail (starting with furniture) that handles customer service and collections calls. In 2025, Atlog was accepted into Y Combinator’s first spri...

Originally from New Jersey, Jake earned a B.A. in Economics (with a minor in Computer Science) from Vanderbilt University. As COVID-19 shut the world down and his work environment changed, he saved up a six-month nest egg to go all-in on his startup, Pepper—a social-cooking app he co-founded with childhood friend in September 2021. What began as a group-chat experiment sharing homemade meals has g...

Do you ever finish an interview and still wonder, “Should I hire them?” I’ve been confident one moment, second-guessing the next. In this episode, I walk through the 5-step process we now follow at To-Do Dudes to confidently choose the right team members. Starting from application and going all the way through their first week on the job. You’ll learn: How to evaluate candidates before the intervi...

In this episode, I walk through the real-world framework I use to build and launch internal systems from scratch. We’re covering: Defining the actual goal (and not doing too much at once) Creating without scope creep Testing before delegating How to document clearly Why delegation ≠ abdication If you're building anything that involves people, process, or automation, this will save you time, e...

Andrew is an Ohio native and the founder of dcdx, a branding agency he went all‑in on in 2020 when his senior‑year internship at Vanderbilt was canceled. In the five years since, he’s helped build magnetic, Gen Z‑focused brands for Spotify, Chipotle, Crocs, Eventbrite and more. He made Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, was an Ad Age Gen Zers to Watch in 2025, and was even featured in FastCompany publica...

I finally did it! After nearly two months of late nights, caffeine runs, and endless tabs, our “holy grail” data sheet is live. In this episode, I pull back the curtain on how I wrestled scattered spreadsheets, CRMs, and support tickets into one single, living dashboard and the three “N”s that made it all click. Niching : I used to believe we had to be everything to everyone. But once we focused i...

In this episode, I share raw entrepreneurial reflections from memos I kept in April, May, and June. You’ll hear unfiltered thoughts on: How coffee has surprisingly affected me Choosing between logical and emotional decisions Why authoritarian leadership can diminish buy-in Pushing through moments when you’re on the verge of tears Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. My hope is that these lessons,...

Originally from St. Pete, Florida, Cole is the founder of Opal , a mental health AI platform built to support therapists and patients. He began his career in machine learning after earning a Master’s in Computer Science from NYU. From there, he joined Morgan Stanley, then moved to Asapp, where he led the core AI team focused on improving communication efficiency for call centers. That experience s...

“You gave a great pitch… but did anyone actually buy?” After 22 live presentations in just 6 months, I realized there’s a big difference between presenting and converting. In this episode of Built From Scratch , I’m sharing 5 adjustments I’ve made to my pitch that helped me gain more traction — whether I’m in front of real estate agents, potential partners, or a room full of prospects. From cuttin...

After five mentor sessions, I committed to morning deep-work sprints and uncovered three key insights: It always takes longer than you plan (Hofstadter’s Law in action) A cleared calendar is the fastest route to focus Big projects demand big time blocks Plus a look at how a trusted team lets you disappear into focus work without everything else falling apart. No fluff—just practical steps to carve...

How blocking full days for deep work—like my ongoing Excel sprint—beats endless multitasking. How Adam Grant, Kobe Bryant, and Steve Jobs eliminated distractions and embraced the process. I’ll share my Wednesday deep-focus routine, kitchen-timer sprints, and the prep (sleep, nutrition, team updates) that makes it all possible. Ready to move your “big rock” forward? Find Built From Scratch updates...

Originally from Ontario, Canada, Leo’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2020 when he co-founded a nonprofit called Notzr while still in high school. During that time, he scaled to over 50 classes internationally and brought the platform into 20 schools. In 2024, Leo joined Enttor as an unpaid intern and quickly rose to become its co-founder and CTO. He dropped out of UCLA to go all in, helping clo...

Originally from Montreal, Canada, Charles began his entrepreneurial journey in 2020 when he founded a platform for buying and selling crypto mining hardware—just two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. His interest in crypto mining started in 2016, when a friend introduced him to the Ethereum and Bitcoin. Four years later, Charles turned that curiosity into a Asic Jungle that has since grossed...