Ready, Set, Startup! - Strategies from Founders, Funders, and Beyond copertina

Ready, Set, Startup! - Strategies from Founders, Funders, and Beyond

Ready, Set, Startup! - Strategies from Founders, Funders, and Beyond

Di: Brandon Reed
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Let’s pull back the curtain on what really goes down in the Startup world. Every episode offers honest, off-the-cuff chats with founders, investors, analysts, and other Startup insiders as they share the hard-earned wisdom you can't find in a business textbook. We break down the wins, the disasters, the risky bets, and the lessons learned along the way, delivered with zero intimidation and a lot of practical takeaways. If you’re building, dreaming, or just curious about how Startups actually work, you’re in the right place. Ready? Set…let’s get STARTed! Economia Gestione e leadership Leadership
Episodi
  • Built to Be Bought Out: A Founder-First Alternative to VC w/ Erica Wassinger of Proven Ventures

    Built to Be Bought Out: A Founder-First Alternative to VC w/ Erica Wassinger of Proven Ventures
    Oct 26 2026
    Erica Wassinger, co-founder of Proven Ventures, began her career in PR, and while working with venture firms as their agency, she kept watching the same pattern play out. Founders raised money, owned a smaller slice of a bigger pie, gave up control, and too often saw very little from an exit while their investors got paid. With Debt Equity, founders use a percentage of their monthly revenue to buy back the equity they sold, so the more valuable the company becomes, the more of it they own. In this episode, we break down how Debt Equity works and how it compares to traditional venture capital, why selling equity to solve a temporary problem means giving up a permanent piece of your company, and how one founder bought back her shares for $225K, only to see them valued at $2.5 million a few weeks later. Erica explains how to give your capital a job, what a smart capital stack looks like, why she backs honest founders over polished pitches, and where to look for this kind of funding outside Nebraska. --- Episode Resources Proven Ventures (https://www.proven.ventures) Proven Ventures Debt Equity Calculator (https://www.proven.ventures/debt-equity-calculator) “Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth” by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares (https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer/dp/1591848369) “Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business” by Gino Wickman (https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837) “Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life” by Mike Krzyzewski and Donald T. Phillips (https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Heart-Successful-Strategies-Basketball/dp/153874161X)
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    53 min
  • Clarity Over Control: How the Founder Becomes the Bottleneck w/ Kyle Mercer

    Clarity Over Control: How the Founder Becomes the Bottleneck w/ Kyle Mercer
    Oct 12 2026
    Kyle Mercer, founder of Inquiry Method, has spent more than 25 years as a private advisor to founders, and he is deliberate about that word. Not coach, not consultant, not guru. The pattern he sees over and over is that the bottleneck in a growing business is rarely the market, the software, or the hire that hasn’t been made yet. It’s the founder, and specifically what Kyle calls the point of greatest contraction, the belief or fear quietly choking off the energy in the whole system. In this episode, we unpack why the founder’s mood and clarity trickle down to every employee and customer, how founders slowly defer their authority as doubt creeps in, and why hiring senior people can make the bottleneck worse instead of better. Kyle explains the difference between a control process and an authoring process, why resistance in someone else is a signal that you’re being controlling, how to transfer real accountability instead of oversight, and the simple daily practice he’d ask every founder to start this week. --- Episode Resources “Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business” by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters (https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Fuel-Essential-Combination-Business/dp/1941631150) “Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business” by Gino Wickman (https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837) Kyle’s Free Point of Greatest Contraction Inquiry (https://mercerkyle.com) Inquiry Method (https://kylemercer.com) “How I Built This” with Guy Raz (https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this) Stephen Covey’s Habit 5, “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood” (https://www.franklincovey.com/habit-5/)
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    47 min
  • From Reactive to Relational: The Biology of Better, More Connected Leadership w/ Aya Jokub

    From Reactive to Relational: The Biology of Better, More Connected Leadership w/ Aya Jokub
    Aug 10 2026
    Aya Jacob, a business psychologist researching connected leadership, believes most founders misunderstand what actually makes them effective under pressure. After a decade in high-stress digital marketing, she saw how a leader’s internal chaos quietly ripples through a team, shaping trust, performance, and culture. That experience led her to study the link between self-connection and leadership impact, and what she’s finding challenges the idea that so-called soft skills are optional. In this episode, we unpack why urgency often masks reactivity, how nervous system regulation influences decision-making, and why psychological safety is a strategic advantage in fast-moving startups. Aya explains what self-connection really looks like in practice, how presence changes communication even over Slack and email, and how leaders can create conditions where people feel safe, clear, and motivated to perform at a high level. --- Episode Resources “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder - Brandon references this biography while discussing the power of compounding and applying lessons early rather than staying stuck in the learning phase. (⁠https://a.co/d/09ioHR6h⁠) Relational Leadership Theory - Aya references this academic framework that views leadership as a dynamic social process emerging from interactions, rather than a function of hierarchy or title. (⁠https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984306001135⁠) Psychological Safety - A key concept discussed in relation to trust, performance, and team effectiveness. Often associated with Amy Edmondson’s research on teams and workplace culture. (⁠https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54809⁠) “Where your attention goes, results show,” - Aya’s closing quote emphasizing focus and intentionality as drivers of outcomes. This idea aligns with the broader focus principle often phrased as “Where focus goes, energy flows.” (⁠https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/focus.html⁠)
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    49 min
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