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Every episode
Founder's Journal
30 episodes
The secret business weapon
Jun 30, 2025 · 28 min
Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) talks about EOS, an operating system for running & scaling your business successfully. In 2019, Morning Brew used EOS to scale the business from 15 people and $3 million in revenue to 300 people and $75 million in revenue. Michael Girdley is an entrepreneur and content creator who has a holding company of 12 businesses that do $100m in annual revenue. Michael is an EOS expert, having read Traction (which is the Bible of EOS dozens of times) and applied EOS to al…
How to Find Your Zone of Genius
Jun 25, 2025 · 13 min
Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) takes you through an exercise to recalibrate and focus on his zone of genius. The zone of genius is work that you do that brings out the best version of yourself. Follow this super easy, super quick 3-step process to find your own zone of genius. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - h…
How to Get Your First 1,000 Users
Jun 23, 2025 · 35 min
Today’s read is by one of my favorite startup creators, Lenny Rachitsky. The essay, How To Kickstart & Scale a Consumer Business, breaks down the seven proven strategies to acquire your first 1,000 users as a B2C startup. I’m going to read through each of the strategies, share some examples that Lenny provides, and provide some of my own thoughts on early growth. Original essay: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/consumer-business-find-first-users — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head…
13 Dangerous Psychological Biases
Jun 18, 2025 · 25 min
In 1995, Charlie Munger gave a speech called the Psychology of Human Misjudgment, which contains 25 psychological tendencies by humans that can lead to bad decision making & bad outcomes. Today, Alex shares his 13 favorite & provide examples of how they impact your abilities and success as an entrepreneur. Link to the original speech: https://fs.blog/great-talks/psychology-human-misjudgment/ Link to Poor Charlie’s Almanack: https://www.amazon.com/Poor-Charlies-Almanack-Charles-Expanded/dp/157864…
How to Crush a Quarterly Offsite
Jun 16, 2025 · 15 min
On this episode of Founder’s Journal, I teach you how to crush a quarterly meeting. V/TO: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/whats-in-your-v-to Rocks 101: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/creating-the-best-rocks — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in…
How to deal with imposter syndrome
Jun 11, 2025 · 25 min
Today I share my experiences with imposter syndrome and some techniques I use to cope with it. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
How to Not F*ck Up Your Meetings
Jun 9, 2025 · 17 min
Let’s face it…most meetings suck. Even when they’re set up with all the best intentions, they often end up being a waste of everyone’s time. So what can be done? Alex Lieberman has 7 important lessons to keep your meetings under control. By incorporating these lessons, you’ll know when a meeting is needed or not (Hint: most of the time, it’s not). — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair -…
Early days building a decacorn
Jun 4, 2025 · 26 min
Alex hands the mic to Josh Reeves, co-founder & CEO of Gusto. Josh walks us through major milestones in the first 12 months of building a multibillion dollar people platform. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
Focus, fresh eyes, and pet psychics
Jun 2, 2025 · 23 min
Alex does a Founder's Journal variety show, covering some of his favorite topics from the week: - Building one company vs. many - The power of channel partnerships - Pet psychics exist? - AI audio business idea - Great product thinking — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - htt…
I'm raising money
May 28, 2025 · 18 min
Alex talks about raising a preseed round for Distro & some takeaways from the process thus far. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
Founder Mt. Rushmore
May 27, 2025 · 15 min
Alex talks about his startup heroes and why they've changed over time. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
Hire wrecking balls
May 21, 2025 · 12 min
Alex tells the story of a wrecking ball he recently hired. What a wrecking ball is, why they're so valuable, and what it looks like in practice. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
Should I quit?
May 19, 2025 · 20 min
Alex shares his thoughts on quitting your business & how he thought about it while building Morning Brew. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
Pitching preseed investors
May 14, 2025 · 24 min
Alex takes you through his 7 tips for pitching early stage investors on a preseed round. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
Agencies are wildly underrated
May 12, 2025 · 21 min
Alex talks about why agencies are underrated especially in the age of AI. He shares why agencies are considered unsexy (relative to software businesses) & why that's about to change. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
A better way to interview
May 7, 2025 · 14 min
Alex walks you through his new, 5-step process for interviewing potential employees & how he's using AI to improve his approach. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
What motivates entrepreneurs
May 5, 2025 · 23 min
Alex breaks down the different levels of motivation for entrepreneurs. He shares what motivated him early in his journey (while building Morning Brew) and what motivates him today. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
Own the internet
Apr 30, 2025 · 20 min
Alex walks you through his process for building an employee influencer program. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/
A primer on seedstrapping
Apr 28, 2025 · 20 min
Alex breaks down seedstrapping. What it is, why it's in vogue, what the internet thinks, and how you should think about it in the context of your business. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (4:26) Intro to seedstrapping (6:20) Why seedstrapping is in vogue (9:15) Founder take on seedstrapping (12:40) VCs views on seedstrapping (14:00) My take on seedstrapping — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Show links: • HackerNews on seedstrapping: https://news…
Steal my Idea: Stack Overflow for AI Prompts
Apr 23, 2025 · 14 min
Alex pitches you on Codex, his AI prompt database idea. He gives you the elevator pitch & likely questions a venture investor would have. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (4:00) What is Codex? (4:20) Two truths in prompting (6:05) Elevator pitch (8:50) Biggest investor questions (13:05) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair…
Crush your procrastination
Apr 21, 2025 · 11 min
Alex talks through the science of procrastination, his own journey with it, and tools he uses to take charge of it. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:33) Why we procrastinate (5:23) Cognitive biases (6:28) Hyperbolic discounting (7:21) Temptation bundling (8:40) Social commitments (10:00) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Cognitive Biases: https://foundersjournalpod.morningbre…
Facing your limiting beliefs
Apr 16, 2025 · 17 min
Alex walks through limiting beliefs he’s faced from childhood through entrepreneurship as well as his process for healthily navigating them. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (2:57) Exploring Limiting Beliefs (3:48) High School Limiting Beliefs (5:01) Morning Brew Limiting Beliefs (8:07) Post-Exit Limiting Beliefs (9:13) Understanding and Addressing Limiting Beliefs (16:14) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto…
How to run a quarterly offsite
Apr 14, 2025 · 21 min
Alex breaks down how quarterly offsites are run at his companies & what separates great offsites from royal wastes of time. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (4:09) General thoughts on offsites (4:48) Well run vs. unproductive offsite (5:29) Key leadership roles (7:25) Sticking to the program (8:50) Item 1: Check-in (9:30) Item 2: Previous quarter review (10:35) Item 3: Review V/TO (12:01) Item 4: Go through EOS tools (12:28) EOS Tool 1: Organi…
LEAKED MEMO from Shopify CEO
Apr 9, 2025 · 16 min
Alex breaks down a leaked internal memo by Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify. The memo details Tobi’s view on AI, expectations of how Shopify employees will use AI, and six AI action items for the company, top-down. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:32) Shopify CEO AI interest (4:48) Leaked AI Memo (6:03) AI step function change (8:18) What is reflexive AI? (9:45) Point 1: AI is an expectation (9:05) Point 2: Prototyping requires AI (11:03) Point 3…
How I find business ideas
Apr 7, 2025 · 15 min
Alex shares his 6 strategies for identifying business ideas. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:34) Business ideas are everything (5:21) How I find business ideas (6:25) Turning brain off autopilot (7:43) Friction finder (8:10) The why ladder (9:05) Game of ‘what if’ (9:50) Scan for repetition (10:36) Content-based ideas (11:40) Conversation-based ideas (13:32) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex —…
I launched an AI agent
Apr 2, 2025 · 18 min
Alex breaks down his new business, Distro, the first AI content strategist. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:34) Be a student of AI (5:48) Post-It Note Pitch (7:08) Launch process (9:42) Create clarity before launch (12:18) Moats in AI (14:09) Go-forward plan (16:05) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Distro: https://youdistro.com/ • AI cancer study: https://x.com/PeterDiamand…
My biz's 6 defining moments
Mar 31, 2025 · 18 min
Alex does a 2-year lookback on his 7-figure B2B content agency, storyarb. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:00) 2-year storyarb review (3:36) Founding story (8:05) The pivot (10:03) Product evolution (13:01) Building the right team (14:51) Financials & path forward — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Original storyarb tweet: https://x.com/businessbarista/status/1638176672485904384 • Abby M…
Conferences are (mostly) a waste
Mar 26, 2025 · 17 min
Alex does a SXSW 2025 recap. Here’s what to expect: Why conferences are a waste Two exceptions to the rule 7 stops & lessons — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:35) When conferences aren’t a waste (5:12) SXSW recap (6:05) Founders run club (6:48) Brunch with Lauren Zima (7:38) Lunch with David Perell (9:28) Hampton Dinner (10:18) B2B Creator Panel (11:32) Run with Connor Tomkies (14:05) Chat with Bryan Johnson (16:32) Conclusion — Thanks to ou…
Being lazy is good
Mar 24, 2025 · 13 min
Episode 142: Alex talks about his do sh*t meter & give a sh*t meter, how to calibrate them properly, and why they’re essential for being a successful founder. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:36) Being lazy is good (5:13) My do sh*t meter (7:38) My give a sh*t meter (8:02) Tobi from Shopify on Lenny’s pod (12:46) Concluding thoughts — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Tobi on Lenny’s Podc…
$12 billion startup caught spying
Mar 19, 2025 · 17 min
Episode 142: Alex breaks down the drama between Deel & Ripping, the VC-backed HR software giants. Here’s what to expect: Why Rippling is suing Deel for corporate espionage The timeline of events A lawyers analysis of the case 3 founder lessons from the saga — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:15) Timeline of alleged espionage (8:00) Impact on Rippling’s business (9:30) Rippling’s honeypot (11:30) Takeaways for entrepreneurs (15:30) Conclusion…
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