The Cort Brady Podcast

What got you here won’t get you there. In this episode, I walk through the single biggest mistake sales-driven founders make when trying to scale their company—and how to fix it. I share my personal story of trying to scale and start something new at the same time (spoiler: it cost me six figures). If you’re stuck between growth and distraction, this one’s for you.

Founders—100 days ago I hit record on Episode 1. Tonight we cross the triple-digit mark. In this milestone episode I walk through the four brutal questions that defined the journey so far—and reveal where we’re heading next. You’ll hear: • What shocked me most about posting daily (hint: ideas aren’t the bottleneck). • The core belief that got obliterated—and why knowledge alone never drives change...

Most founders try to scale with blurry roles, messy responsibilities, and unclear expectations. And then they wonder why growth creates chaos. In this episode, I walk you through a game-changing framework I use with every founder I coach. We’ll cover: • The difference between responsibility vs. accountability • How to build a simple accountability chart for your business • What metrics and process...

Most founders think making a million dollars is a big deal—until you ask them how long it took. In today’s episode, I break down why performance is speed to goal realization—and how the fastest teams in business are built on one thing: trust. I share a powerful mental model for evaluating performance, the two types of trust every team needs, and why going fast and far only works if you’re rolling...

This episode is for every ambitious founder wrestling with a quiet tension: Can I build something massive… and still be the dad and husband I want to be? I open up about my personal struggle to balance the drive to dominate in business with the desire to be present, playful, and patient at home. I share five tactical shifts that are helping me integrate the two—including how to trade busyness for...

I just got back from an acquisition conference—and I couldn’t believe what I heard. Every speaker was saying the same thing: if you want to sell your business, you need a great team, a solid system, and clean financials. And I was sitting there thinking… why don’t more founders realize that those same things let you step away without ever selling? Most entrepreneurs are building two things: A hous...

Most founders fall into The Fool’s Choice—thinking they can either speak up and cause drama… or stay silent and avoid conflict. But both lead to dysfunction. In today’s episode, I’ll show you how to use that pit in your stomach as your signal to speak up—and do it in a way that actually builds trust, not tension. We’ll break down: • Why your anxiety is hardwired (and how to reframe it) • The 4 typ...

We love quoting Einstein for things he never said—and “Invert, always invert” is one of them. But the principle still holds. Today, I flip the script on scaling. Instead of asking, How do I scale without chaos?, I ask: What would cause me to fail at scaling drama-free? If you want to grow without losing your mind, you need to eliminate the five self-inflicted wounds that kill most businesses: 1. D...

Most founders stay stuck in low-margin chaos because they try to be all things to all people. In this episode, Cort Brady breaks down the two biggest mistakes that sabotage growth: 1. Refusing to make strategic trade-offs between price, quality, and speed 2. Offering too many services instead of dominating one niche Learn how companies like Apple, Walmart, and In-N-Out became world-class by saying...

In this episode, I share the three sacrifices every founder has to make—and how to tell the difference between what you can afford to lose and what you can’t. I’ll walk through: ​ Why cashflow is a rubber ball—and how I went 3 years without a paycheck ​ Why status doesn’t matter—and how it holds founders back from building again ​ Why relationships are glass—and how I nearly shattered mine Plus: t...

We think building a business is hard because of the strategy, the cash flow, the team—but the real weight? It’s building while life keeps breaking. In today’s episode, I share stories of founders battling grief, depression, cancer, disability, and mental illness—all while scaling companies. This episode is a tribute to the one-third of founders going through something unthinkably hard right now… a...

I sat next to a quiet guy on a flight. Looked like a normal dude. An hour in, I glanced at his phone and saw he was listening to Traction—a book usually meant for companies doing $500K to $1.5M in revenue. I tapped him: “Are you listening to Traction?” He said yeah—and we ended up talking the whole flight. Turns out, he’s doing $850 million in revenue with 2,500 employees. And yet… he’s still read...

Most companies write down values they never live. Enron did too—and it helped destroy $74 billion in wealth. In this episode, I share how I’m guiding a high-growth CEO through building real, enforceable values—not just fluff. If you want a culture that scales, you can’t fake this.

You don’t have a knowledge problem—you have an action problem. In this episode, I share a lesson I learned the hard way: all the books, podcasts, and mentorship in the world mean nothing if they don’t change your behavior. I walk through a daily 3-step framework I learned from high-performance coach Craig Manning—used by NBA champions, Olympians, and elite entrepreneurs—to turn learning into actio...

Most founders are stuck optimizing what should be deleted. In today’s episode, I share the mindset shift that changed everything for me: Don’t fix the symptom—eliminate the cause. From customer service teams to toxic cultures, retention bonuses to redundant meetings, I walk through five real examples where I wasted months trying to improve broken systems… only to realize those problems shouldn’t h...

Got a DM from a founder building booking software—and he asked what advice I’d give. My answer? Get the order right. Because if you take the right action at the wrong time, it can kill your company. I’ve lived this. In today’s episode, I break down the exact phases every startup goes through—from $0 to $1M+—and what your real goal should be at each stage: • Why early-stage founders MUST focus on s...

After a few great hires or a key promotion, founders often feel an intoxicating sense of freedom—finally out of the weeds, finally scaling. But when the honeymoon ends and the new hire drops the ball, most founders either snap back into control mode or let chaos reign. In this episode, I break down what actually causes that breakdown—and the 5-step system we install to prevent it. From 1:1 mentors...

Being the hero feels noble. You’re stepping in, fixing the problem, protecting your team. But beneath the surface, you’ve built a story where you’re the savior, your team is helpless, and the customer is the villain. This is how you stay essential—and how your business stays small. In this episode, I share the moment I realized my need to be needed was holding my company back. You’ll hear the Well...

Anxiety makes us worse at thinking. Which is unfortunate… because being a founder is full of reasons to panic. In this episode, I break down the science of stress and the real reason clarity matters. I share stories, mental models, and systems that help me stay calm—even when things go sideways. This isn’t about pretending everything’s fine. It’s about building a brain that still works when it’s n...

In the early days, you scale on the backs of rock stars—those rare people who thrive in chaos and don’t need a map. But what got you from $0 to $3M will absolutely stall you at $5M. This episode is about the turning point every founder faces: You either evolve from talent-driven execution to systems-driven scale—or you burn out trying to hire your way out of the mess. You’ll learn: • Why great peo...

Most founders obsess over vision. But vision without clarity is useless. In this episode, I break down why the real accelerant to your company’s growth isn’t just a compelling mission—it’s your ability to communicate it clearly. You’ll learn: • Why a confused mind always says no • How uncertainty triggers your brain’s survival response • The 3 clarity moves I use to align my team • And how to tell...

In this episode, I break down why feeling your customer’s pain—deeper than they do—is the unfair advantage no one’s talking about. The founders who win aren’t the ones with the best ideas. They’re the ones who understand pain the best… and communicate that understanding clearly. You’ll learn how to: Flip pain into your most powerful business tool Recruit, sell, and fundraise by out-caring the comp...

This is the final piece of the strategy puzzle. Over the past four episodes, we’ve covered your business’s purpose, values, differentiators, and capabilities. But today, we shift the focus to you—the founder. What happens when your business no longer needs you? What should you do when your time becomes your own again? In this episode, I walk through the exact framework I used once I hit that point...

You’ve defined your market. You’ve set your mission and vision. You’ve broken it all down from 10-year dreams to daily execution. Now it’s time to answer the question that separates stagnant companies from unstoppable ones: What are the capabilities, systems, and unfair advantages that make us uncopyable? In this episode, I walk you through the final layer of strategy: • Why most SWOT analyses are...

Day 3 of Strategy Demystified: From Vision to Execution. You’ve defined your market, your unique value, your mission, and your core values. Now it’s time to make it real. In this episode, I walk you through the execution engine we use to turn long-term strategy into daily action—so every person on your team knows what winning looks like and how to contribute. We’ll cover: • How to cast a vivid 3-y...