Founder Mode

EPISODE 14 In this episode of Founder Mode, we hit the gym with legendary trainer Coach Lou Perrotta—who's spent decades working with elite entrepreneurs, celebrities, and top performers. Coach Lou shares how fitness, mindset, and consistency create compounding results—both in the gym and in business. From towel pull-ups in hotel rooms to 15-minute daily routines, Kevin, Jason, and Coach Lou talk...

EPISODE 13 Kevin Henrikson and Jason Shafton sit down with serial entrepreneur Dennis Mortensen (IndexTools, Visual Revenue, x.ai, and now LaunchBrightly) to unpack what it was really like to build an AI company years before large-language models existed. Dennis recounts owning the x.ai domain before Elon Musk, hand-labeling 32 million emails to train an early scheduling agent, and the costly prod...

EPISODE 12 From building gravity-defying camera rigs for Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity to sending drones into live nuclear reactors and, most recently, designing job-site robots that can survive the dust and chaos of construction, Asa Hammond’s career shows how precision engineering and artistic vision can coexist. In this conversation, Asa explains how the exacting pixel-perfect discipline of Hollywoo...

EPISODE 11 From hand-carving a single silicone spatula in her kitchen to running a portfolio of revived consumer brands, Sam Rose walks Kevin and Jason through the through-line of her career: obsess over the customer, build a brand (not just a product), and make logistics as lovable as design. She explains how a “collision with the customer” on Kickstarter forced her into customer-service mode bef...

EPISODE 10 Serial CTO and Acompli co-founder JJ Zhuang joins Kevin and Jason to explain why the next generation of great products will be built by tiny, AI-super-powered teams. He unpacks lessons from taking Acompli’s first line of code to a $200 million Microsoft exit, steering Instacart through pandemic hyper-growth, and relearning to code with tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor and Devin now wri...

EPISODE 9 Megan Berry—architect, pop-up pioneer, and Mentors Fund partner—shows DTC founders how to move from clicks to bricks without torching cash. She explains her 8-foot-by-50-square-foot kiosk “permit hack,” the KPIs (unaided brand awareness, repeat engagement, dwell-time hot spots) that justify a multimillion-dollar flagship, and why post-COVID stores should feel like friction-free showrooms...

EPISODE 8 In this episode, serial entrepreneur Ritwik Pavan joins Kevin Henrikson and Jason Shafton to explore the rise of AI-first product design and its profound implications on consumer hardware, smart cities, and modular construction. They discuss the essential strategies founders need to adopt, including the importance of hyper-personalization, overcoming challenges in training data, untapped...

EPISODE 7 In this episode, seasoned marketing leader Peter Farago shares zero-to-one marketing insights for early-stage startups, emphasizing empathy, iterative messaging, and organic inbound strategies. Drawing on experiences from Flurry, Acompli, and RunLLM, Peter highlights the importance of a clear value proposition, building brand credibility, and leveraging customer feedback loops. He also a...

EPISODE 6 In this episode, Viktor Petersson shares how saying “no” can be a superpower for founders managing remote teams. He discusses practical strategies for email triage, boundary-setting to avoid burnout, and why in-person retreats are key to trust and alignment. Learn how Viktor’s approach to documentation, intrinsic motivation, and selective communication helps him preserve energy for what...

EPISODE 5 In this episode of Founder Mode, Jason and Kevin sit down with Andreas Homer—startup founder, former BD leader at Microsoft, and now Head of Product Partnerships at Shopify—to explore the underrated superpower of asking. They unpack how a single well-phrased request can unlock jobs, capital, and high-leverage relationships. Andreas shares how he’s built a career by asking with clarity, f...

Episode 4: In this episode of Founder Mode, Jason and Kevin kick things off with an unexpected Bill Russell story—revealing how the legendary NBA center threw up before every single game, including the easiest matchups. It becomes a perfect parallel for founders grappling with anxieties that simply won’t go away. They argue that anxiety, if handled properly, can be the secret sauce of drive and re...

Episode 3: In this episode of Founder Mode, Jason and Kevin dive into how AI is transforming startup life—from supercharging everyday workflows to enabling solo entrepreneurs to build fully functional SaaS products in record time. They share personal anecdotes on using AI tools for email summarization, research, marketing campaigns, and even multimillion-dollar licensing negotiations. The highligh...

Episode 2: In this episode, Jason Shafton and Kevin Henrikson discuss balancing health and hustle as a founder, exploring why many entrepreneurs struggle to maintain their health and relationships while building businesses. They highlight the importance of recognizing the phase you're in, using tools and AI to simplify health management, and proactively communicating with family and colleagues to...

Episode 1: In this first episode of Founder Mode, hosts Jason Shafton (Google, Headspace) and Kevin Henrikson (Acompli, Outlook, Instacart) break down the idea that luck isn't random—it's a skill you can manufacture. Through candid stories from their experiences at Google, Microsoft, and early-stage startups, Jason and Kevin reveal how successful founders intentionally create their own opportuniti...