Founder Unfiltered - What Founders Think But Never Say

My guest this week, Robin Daniels has held executive roles at Salesforce, LinkedIn, Box, Matterport, and WeWork, and he's now Chief Business Officer at Zensai. He watched WeWork's valuation swing from $20 billion to $47 billion to nothing in the span of a single year, and what he took from that isn't a war story, it's a way of leading. We get into the delusion that fuels great foun...

This is part four of my four-part series on AI and the founder opportunity, and it's the one that answers the question I get asked the most: once AI makes it easy for anyone to build a product or service, what's actually left to protect? I walk through why AI is a multiplier, not a moat. The technology gets you to market fast, but so does everyone else's. What separates one founder fro...

I sat down with Dr. Ruth Gotian, a success researcher and executive coach who has spent her career studying the world's highest performers, Nobel laureates, NASA astronauts, and Olympic champions, to figure out what they actually do differently when the pressure is real. What surprised me most is how often these elite performers say "I don't know." They're not protecting thei...

This is part three of my four-part series on how AI is reshaping the workforce, and it's the one I promised would be tactical. If you've listened to parts one and two, you know about the macro shift and the inner-game work, this episode is the playbook. I walk through the exact mistake most founders make: they get excited about an idea, build it, then go looking for customers, only to disc...

I sat down with Mark Samuel for an episode that pushed back on a lot of startup gospel. Mark's a serial CPG entrepreneur. He built Iwon Organics into thousands of retail doors before licensing it, had a global brand in Fitmark that was acquired, and he's now building MARK'S, a better-for-you snack company. He also hosts the Let's Eat podcast, where he's interviewed over 250 CPG...

In this episode — part two of my four-part series, AI and the Founder Opportunity — I get into the real stuff that keeps founders stuck. Not the tactics, not the tools. The fear. After talking with thousands of founders, I keep seeing the same patterns. Fear of judgment and rejection. Not knowing which move to make next. And that subtle, quiet thing where you're going through the motions but never...

Most founders I talk to already know what they need to do — they just aren't doing it. In this episode, I find out why. Dr. Angela Kerek is a former professional tennis player, big law finance partner, and now founder of Active Giving — and her framework for sustainable performance completely reframed how I think about fear, self-sabotage, and what it actually means to give your all. We talked...

The AI revolution isn't coming — it's already here. Bradley Jacobs breaks down what the wave of tech layoffs actually signals and why he sees it as a massive opening for founders and solo entrepreneurs. With the cost and complexity of building software plummeting, Bradley argues that anyone with niche expertise can now create tailored solutions for underserved audiences that big companies...

Most founders start their companies with a clear vision — and then accidentally become the biggest obstacle to that vision. Asim Khaliq has built seven companies and generated over $800 million in revenue, and he's seen this pattern play out over and over again. Bradley sits down with Asim to unpack why the founder mindset that launches a company is often the very thing that stalls it. Asim br...

What if the biggest threat to your consulting business isn't competition — it's you trying to solve too many problems at once? Bradley Jacobs, founder and CEO of Mylance, shares the real story behind building Mylance from scratch: the bloated first pitch, the advisors who never called him out, and the cycle of adding products instead of cutting them. From a coaching program to bookkeeping...

Most founders are using AI wrong — and it's quietly burning them out. I sat down with Manuj Aggarwal, founder and Chief Innovation Officer at TetraNoodle Technologies, who has been working in AI since 2005 and now sits at the crossroads of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and psychology. His central argument: unfiltered AI output is like crude oil for the mind — it overwhelms, it bypasses yo...

Most people think the problem with their LinkedIn content is time — but the real issue is fear. In this solo episode, Bradley Jacobs breaks down why generic, AI-generated posts destroy trust with potential clients, and what to do instead. Using a real story from his time on the Uber launch team in Raleigh — a post that earned 700,000 impressions and 22 inbound leads — Bradley shows exactly what ma...

Bradley Jacobs sits down with Jamie Sylvian — a 30-year international communications consultant, author of the Executive Nomad Operating System , and founder of Executive Nomad. Jamie has worked with clients ranging from British Gas and global publishing houses to the British Royal Family, all while calling 13 countries home. He's built a business that sold for $200 million and survived a comp...

Most founders and fractional executives struggle with sales — not because they lack skills, but because they're leading with the wrong message. Bradley Jacobs breaks down how he learned this the hard way, sharing stories from his time at Uber that fundamentally shaped his approach to selling. It started with a rejection. After a successful Uber Eats launch in Miami, Bradley was turned down for...

After three corporate layoffs, Mindy Gibbins-Klein decided she was done playing by someone else's rules. She went out on her own — no business plan, just determination — and built a career that now spans 15 books, two TEDx talks, and coaching over 50,000 leaders across 18 countries. Bradley Jacobs sits down with Mindy to dig into the real stuff: what it actually took to buy out her co-founder,...

Sharing your expertise on LinkedIn might feel uncomfortable — even disingenuous. But what if that discomfort is just fear wearing a disguise? Bradley Jacobs tackles two of the most common mental blocks that hold fractional executives and consultants back from showing up consistently on LinkedIn. The first: the feeling that posting is hollow because "everyone knows" you're just trying...

What if the biggest thing holding you back in sales isn't your pitch — it's your presence? I sat down with Jake Stahl, communication strategist, CEO of Orchestrate, and author of Own the Room: How to Communicate to Be Seen, Heard and Respected , to dig into the psychology behind how founders show up, build trust, and close deals. Jake created NeuroStrategy — a practical framework for readi...

Six years into building Mylance, I'm sharing the messy, unfiltered emotional journey of what it actually takes to go from corporate high-performer to founder — and why the gap between expectation and reality nearly broke me. When I left Uber in 2018, I had launched billion-dollar business lines and convinced myself that building my own company would be a natural next step. I was wrong. What fo...

Most founders have the skills — but not the confidence to sell them. Business coach and author Julee Gracey joins Bradley Jacobs to break down why confidence is the real driver behind sales, visibility, and sustainable business growth. Julee shares her journey from international modeling and TV to selling millions in real estate to coaching founders and executives — and the frameworks she uses to...

What does it actually take to build something that lasts — and what's quietly holding you back? This week Bradley Jacobs sits down with Ty Hammond on the True Leadership Podcast to get real about the mindset and inner work behind Mylance's journey. Bradley opens up about his early days at Uber — including a $20,000 mistake he made in his third week on the job — and what his first boss ther...

Sara Nay didn't walk into Duct Tape Marketing as CEO — she started as an intern. Sixteen years later, she leads the company and has co-authored Unchained: Breaking Free from Broken Marketing Models , a book that challenges the traditional agency model and makes the case for why small businesses should own their marketing rather than outsource it entirely. Bradley Jacobs sits down with Sara to...

I'm making a major shift in this podcast's direction, and I want to bring you along for the journey. After six years of supporting fractional executives and independent consultants, I'm broadening the focus to serve all founders—because the challenges we face are universal. Whether you're selling expertise, building a product, or launching an agency, the emotional journey is remark...

Most entrepreneurs fail because they separate systems from soul, treating purpose and profit as opposing forces instead of complementary partners. Scott Abbott, founder, CEO, best-selling author, and coach with 35 years of experience building and scaling companies worldwide, joins Bradley Jacobs to dismantle this myth. Scott shares hard-earned lessons from raising $15 million in venture capital du...

I'm marking the 100th episode by sharing a candid reflection on the emotional ups and downs of building Mylance over six years. I recently told my business coach something surprising: I wasn't feeling motivated to work on the business. Not burned out, just disconnected from the daily work. The breakthrough came from a simple question he asked: what business activities do you actually love?...

Building a sustainable solopreneur business requires more than just expertise – it demands intentional business development and strategic time management. Business coach Jenni Gritters, author of The Sustainable Solopreneur , joins Bradley Jacobs to discuss the frameworks that prevent the common "year three wobble" that derails many independent professionals. Jenni reveals why successful soloprene...