We Live to Build

Could your team's desire to be "nice" be its biggest weakness? This interview explains How a 'Nice' Company Culture Leads to Bad Products. Design agency CEO Dennis Lenard breaks down how the fear of upsetting people creates groupthink, stifles critical feedback, and results in failure. Learn the secrets to building a company culture that values honesty over harmony and avoids this deadly trap. Che...

This is one of the wildest founder stories you will ever hear. It’s the story of How We Faked a Factory to Win a $1.2 Billion Government Contract. With just four days until a government inspection, Omri Shafran had no factory, just a 5,000 sq ft office. From renting a tent and hiring workers off Facebook to pitching his dream in an empty Sam's Club, this is the ultimate story of audacity and landi...

How do you scale from a single startup to a portfolio of companies? This interview is a masterclass in How to Build and Manage a 15-Company Business Empire. Founder Irakli Litanishvili shares his unique strategy for empowering leaders with equity, his ruthless 3-year rule for shutting down unprofitable ventures, and the management system he uses to oversee his entire business empire. Check out the...

Many men want to support their female and marginalized colleagues but are afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. This interview with Ray Arata is A Man's Guide to Being an Effective Ally at Work. With over 15,000 hours of experience in men's work, Ray provides a clear playbook on how to listen without defensiveness, use your privilege to elevate others, and become a truly effective ally. This...

Why do so many change initiatives fail? According to top CEO coach Erika Andersen, it's because leaders don't have a plan for the people side of change. This video is A 4-Step Playbook for Leading Your Team Through Change. Learn the four critical levers—Understanding, Priorities, Control, and Support—that will help you guide your employees through the difficult process of transformation . This is...

How do you take a company from a simple concept to a massive exit? Serial entrepreneur Rom Lakritz (with a $250M exit and $150M IPO) has a simple framework that explains The 4 Stages of a Startup (From Idea to IPO). In this masterclass, he breaks down the goals, obstacles, and the CEO's evolving role in each phase: Idea, Customer Discovery, Customer Validation, and Customer Creation. This is a mus...

What does it actually take to get a psychedelic drug approved by the FDA? In this interview, A Drug Development Expert Explains the FDA's Psychedelic Trials. With over 35 years of experience, Dr. Linda Strause breaks down the entire "long and arduous" process. Learn about the pre-clinical requirements, the different phases of human testing, and what the FDA looks for before approving a new medicin...

Are you prepared for the tax implications of a successful funding round or exit? This interview with founder Patricia Recarte reveals The Tax Secret Every Founder Needs to Know. Learn the simple holding company structure that can save you a fortune on capital gains taxes, a crucial piece of advice for any founder. We also cover the realities of underestimating timelines and the pros and cons of re...

What starts as an interview with a clean energy founder quickly turns into a powerful, honest discussion about the future. This episode is a deep dive into the question: Is It Irresponsible to Have Kids in a Climate Crisis? A Debate. The host shares his pessimistic view, while guest Yaron Ben Nun makes the case for fighting for a better future. This is a must-watch conversation for anyone grapplin...

What is the metaverse really for? Early Google and OpenSea investor Martin Tobias has a simple but powerful thesis: AR is for Productivity, VR is for Fun: The Future of Work. In this deep dive, he explains why Augmented Reality (AR) will dominate enterprise tasks like troubleshooting, while Virtual Reality (VR) will solve remote culture with social experiences. Discover the use cases for each tech...

Design Systems are used to create a standardized UI/UX, so setting one up early on will help your company make less mistakes and speed up releasing new versions.  00:00 - Opener  00:56 - Intro  02:39 - What is a Design System  03:35 - Parts of a Design System  09:05 - Prototyping  11:40 - Final Thoughts  ✅ Subscribe if you liked this interview: https://youtube.c...

What is actually happening in your brain during a psychedelic experience? This interview is a deep dive into How Psychedelics Rewire Your Brain's "Default Mode Network". Tyler Strause, VP of Product Development at a psychedelic research company, explains the science. Learn how the Default Mode Network—the part of your brain responsible for your sense of self—is quieted by psychedelics, allowing fo...

How can an ancient martial art make you a better entrepreneur? For Ray Blakney, it’s all about The Kendo Philosophy of a 7-Figure Bootstrapper. In this deep dive, the successful founder explains how the discipline and long-term mindset of Kendo (Japanese fencing) are the secret to his success. Learn why there are no shortcuts to the top of the mountain and how this unique philosophy can transform...

Could the worst period of your life make you better at your job? For founder Paige Arnof-Fenn, navigating the loss of seven family members in six years forced a complete shift in her business strategy—and made her a better CEO. In this raw and powerful interview, Paige shares how personal tragedy taught her the "less is more" lesson that led to a more profitable and sustainable business. Learn how...

Recently, I was thinking of ways to make my team more engaged, and since I’ve been using VR for awhile, I thought it would be great to bring them together in a VR setting. This episode talks about our experience.  00:00 – Intro  01:19 – My Interest  04:21 – The Event  05:56 – Pros and Cons  08:20 – Final Thoughts  ✅ Subscribe if you liked this interview: https://yout...

Ever wonder why you self-sabotage, even when you know what you should be doing? In this raw and vulnerable conversation, hypnotherapist Sara Raymond explains the fundamental reason: emotion always beats logic. Learn how emotional beliefs formed in childhood override our adult rational minds, leading to everything from founder burnout to the feeling of "never being enough". This is a deep dive into...

2021 has been a really tough year with my divorce, the pandemic, and not launching my product yet. In this episode, I talk about what I’ve been through, where I am, and where I’m heading in 2022.  00:00 – Intro  00:56 – Beginning  03:15 – Goal Review  05:12 – How I lost the weight  09:48 – 2022 Goals  12:00 – Additional Goals  14:10 – Final Thoughts  ✅ Subs...

How to Hire Your First Virtual Assistant (A CEO's Complete Playbook). Feeling overwhelmed as a founder? This is your complete guide to hiring your first virtual assistant and buying back your time. Pavel Stepanov, CEO of a company with over 600 full-time VAs, shares his expert playbook. Learn the biggest mistake founders make when delegating, the exact interview questions to ask to find a great vi...

How to Get a VC Partner (Without Giving Up Equity). What if you could get the strategic benefits of a top-tier VC partner—access to their network, help with expansion, and introductions to future investors—all without giving up equity in your startup? That's the power of venture debt. In this deep dive, Paul Ong of Innoven Capital explains how this funding model works, who it's for, and how his fi...

My 10-Year-Old Son is My Customer Success Associate | A Family Business Story. After leaving his role running a $14B business at Cisco, Rajat Mishra decided to build a startup differently. This is the story of his incredible journey building a true family business, where the company is considered the "third child." Learn his brilliant strategy for de-risking a startup and hear how he integrates hi...

Why Your Business Needs a Podcast in 2025. If you're a founder or marketer, this is your sign to finally launch that company show. In this masterclass, award-winning CEO and former NPR producer Anthony Frasier breaks down exactly why your business needs a podcast in 2025. Learn why a business podcast is one of the most effective ways to build trust, establish your brand as an expert, and increase...

I Couldn't Empathize With Anyone. Then I Tried Microdosing. For CEO Mark Beneke, a lifelong struggle to empathize with others was holding him back as a leader and a person . In this raw, honest interview, he shares the full story of his year-long microdosing experiment with LSD. Discover how microdosing unlocked a state of 100x focus, but more importantly, how it taught him the empathy he needed t...

Why Drive-Thrus Failed in China (And Other Insane Localization Stories). Ever wonder why drive-thrus failed in China, a country where most people don't own cars? Or how a major airline accidentally translated its "Fly in Leather" campaign to "Fly Naked"? This interview with GoLocalise CEO David Garcia-Gonzalez is packed with insane localization stories that serve as critical lessons for any founde...

Our Revenue Went to Zero Overnight. This is How We Survived. This founder story is a masterclass in business survival. In this interview, Coding Nomads Co-Founder Kim Desmond shares how they survived after their in-person travel business revenue went to zero overnight due to the pandemic. Learn about the dramatic decision to evacuate their students from Bali and the strategic business pivot to an...

How do you make sure you're building a product people actually want? You need The Founder's UX Playbook to Prevent Product Failure. In this interview, PlaybookUX CEO and former product manager Lindsay Allard shares her complete playbook for user research. Learn how to ask unbiased questions, the secret to getting brutally honest feedback (even when it's scary), and how to turn messy qualitative da...