Introduction
Pivotal early lessons of today's best startups.
Welcome to the focal podcast where we go deep with some of today's best founders and operators on ONE crucial lessons from their early days.
This podcast is not the usual "highlight reel" startup podcast that goes one inch deep across 20+ topics. Rather, we ask the questions you’d ask if you were sitting across from them. No fluff, just the real, actionable insights you’d get if these founders were mentoring you 1on1.
We cover topics including:
- What worked and why.
- Costly mistakes and how they fixed them.
- Frameworks that truly made a difference.
- Tactics to move faster.
- What they wish they’d known sooner.
- And much more!
"Only a fool learns from their own mistakes. The wise learn from the mistakes of others."
Latest Episode
Why 99% of Startups Get Culture Wrong Until It's Too Late | Culture Is Actions Not Words | Founder Mode Is Not Micromanagement | Why Culture Problems Always Surface Too Late |Abhi Sharma, CEO & Co-Founder of Relyance AI
Most startup founders discover they have a culture problem when things are already breakingToday, we discuss how to build the right culture before the wrong one costs ...
Latest Episodes
Why 99% of Startups Get Culture Wrong Until It's Too Late | Culture Is Actions Not Words | Founder Mode Is Not Micromanagement | Why Culture Problems Always Surface Too Late |Abhi Sharma, CEO & Co-Founder of Relyance AI
Most startup founders discover they have a culture problem when things are already breakingToday, we discuss how to build the right culture before the wrong one costs ...
Why Every SaaS Category Will Die | Why 93% Gross Margins Are Over | Why You Must Be 10x More Ambitious in AI | Why Software Becomes Like Fashion | Jacob Beckerman, CEO of Macro
The software industry's 30-year business model is becoming obsolete - this founder is betting his company on what comes next.Why listen: Jacob Beckerman reveals why th...
How Pump became one of the fastest growing YC companies | Why D1 Athletes Win at Sales | Why Experience is Overrated in Early-Stage Hiring | The 4:30am Cold Call Strategy | Paul Russo, Sales Leader at Pump.co
Pump.co is one of the fastest growing YC companies. They got there partially by building an incredible sales team, stacked with talent that was overlooked by many.In t...
Why "Don't Invest in Marketing Until PMF" is Fatal Advice | Why Production Quality Doesn't Matter | Why Brute Force Beats Strategy in Growth | Why Channels Take 90-120 Days to Work | Serial Founder Paul Veugen / Founder of Detail
Most founders wait too long to invest in marketing—and by the time they realize their mistake, they've already lost the race. That’s why Paul Veugen challenges the con...
Why Your Lowest Performer Sets the Bar | How We Fired Half Our Team and 10x'd Performance | Why You Must Fire Faster | Why Reference Checks Matter More Than You Think with Cat Noone, CEO & Co-founder, Stark
If you don’t enforce the bar, you lower it.This episode tackles the uncomfortable line between being humane and looking out for employees while also being a high-perfo...