Just Get Started

Feeling “successful” on paper but quietly miserable inside?

In this episode, I sit down with no BS success coach Lauren Hannon to talk about what happens when you blow up the life everyone else envies — the big house, the big paycheck, the in-ground pool — because you’re disgusted with how misaligned it feels.

Lauren and I get into the real inner work behind change: listening to your gut, noticing disgust instead of numbing it, re-writing brutal self-talk, and taking the very first small step when you don’t know “what’s next” yet.

If you’ve ever stayed in a high-paying role because you’re the breadwinner, afraid to start over, or unsure what else you’d even do, this one’s for you.

00:00 – Introductions

01:20 – Blowing up a “perfect” life: money, house, pool, status 02:05 – What a “no BS success coach” really does

05:28 – Rapid Fire intros

05:50 – Quit vs. push through: listening to your gut and your body

10:29 – The 9-option whiteboard for big decisions

15:25 – How Lauren talks to herself when things go badly 21:14 – Books that rewired her view of success, money & greatness

24:54 – Morning routines, auto-drip coffee, and protecting your energy

31:36 – The slow build to disgust: 2020, remote work & misalignment

38:19 – Why high earners stay stuck in jobs they’ve outgrown 42:45 – Breaking the doom-scroll cycle & why paying for help matters

47:18 – Step one if you’re quietly miserable in a “good” life 49:31 – How to connect with Lauren + closing thoughts

👋 Say hi to Lauren:

In this episode, Jeremie Kubicek returns for his third appearance to talk about his new book The Voice-Driven Leader and what it actually takes to develop people, not just manage them. We get into personality-driven onboarding, how to hire your first few team members, why equity is so often misallocated, and when to prune a business that isn’t working. Jeremie also shares humbling stories from the dot-com era, his favorite interview question, and why Elon Musk is the perfect example of intent plus relentless action.

If you’re an early-stage founder trying to build a real team (not just a product), this one’s for you.

Key Discussion Points:

- Why “hyper-personalized” development beats one-size-fits-all training

- The four stages of development: onboarding, immersion, empowerment, and multiplication

- Speaking your team’s “voice language” so you can actually influence themJeremie's decision filter for saying “yes”

- Why starting is way more mental than most founders expect

- Why he admires Elon Musk’s mix of intent, action, and empowerment

- How to find your early “Persons of Peace” instead of just filling roles

- Jeremie's favorite hiring question: “Who are you?” (being vs doing)

- Using pruning (not sunk costs) as a framework for tough founder decisions

00:00 – Introduction

02:32 – Building a roadmap for developing people by personality type

03:25 – Speaking your team’s language: the five-voices metaphor & café-in-France example

05:03 – Five Voices AI: tone checks, onboarding prompts, and “no excuses” leadership

06:07 – Rapid Fire Q1: Jeremie's decision filter – True North, DNA / skeleton / skin test

08:53 – Rapid Fire Q2: What people misunderstand about starting – belief, mindset & self-doubt

10:31 – Rapid Fire Q3: When Jeremie wanted to give up – pruning portfolio companies

13:01 – How Jeremie thinks about equity: hired guns vs co-founders, earn-ins, sweat equity & phantom stock

18:12 – Rapid Fire Q4: Humbling dot-com failure in African-American haircare & not knowing your customer

20:00 – Apprenticeship, African-American haircare, and why startup fundamentals travel across industries

21:38 – Rapid Fire Q5: Why Elon Musk embodies intent + action and empowered leadership

24:21 – Past vs present vs future: feeling responsible for what you built vs pruning for what’s next

27:40 – Listening like a founder: best-idea-wins, MVP thinking & the pressure of early hires

31:26 – “Persons of Peace,” culture-first hiring, and why your first teammates can’t just want a J-O-B

34:25 – Jeremie's favorite interview question: “Who are you?” (being vs doing)

37:33 – Do founders need leadership coaching? Org clarity, financial plans & Sherpa team leaders

41:22 – Resilience vs sunk cost: using pruning instead of “I have to see this through”

44:45 – Jeremie's next chapter: future of work, AI, forced diversification & entrepreneurship under pressure

46:32 – Wrapping up and where to find Jeremie online

Connect with Jeremie

AI used to feel like a “someday” technology. Now it’s a power tool founders can use this weekend to build real products, validate ideas, and even qualify leads while they sleep. In this episode, I’m joined by Cooper Simson of Martell Ventures to talk about the real front lines of AI: shutting down a profitable AI startup, spotting bad ideas in a hype cycle, and using AI to build, sell, and iterate faster—without getting lost in the noise.

Topics we cover:

• When AI actually “caught fire” and why development is becoming commoditized

• How Cooper turned grant writing into an AI startup (and why he shut it down even though it was working)

• Practical signals it might be time to wind down your product or pivot

• The difference between product validation and true product–market fit

• What Martell Ventures looks for in founders (domain expertise + speed of action)

• Common AI founder mistakes: copycat products, no defensibility, and one-and-done tools

• Why so many founders struggle with sales (and how to sell problems, not features)

• How to use AI to 10x your output: system prompts, voice-to-text tools, and AI lead qualifiers

• A simple 2-step playbook to go from idea → customer conversations → weekend MVP

• Cooper’s own “just get started” moment building a Shopify sales-tax tool for his fiancée’s business
  

Chapters:

0:00 – Introduction

1:30 – Cooper’s first AI startup: grant-writing software in the “GPT 1.0” days

5:30 – Knowing when to shut down a ‘working’ business (government risk, sunk cost, AI catching up)

10:10 – Rapid Fire Q1: The Post-It note he’d give the next generation (“Just go sell”)

11:35 – Rapid Fire Q2: Mantra when things get hard (glass-half-full & keep the sail up)

12:30 – Rapid Fire Q3: Priorities when everything feels urgent (Eisenhower Matrix in real life)

14:15 – Rapid Fire Q4: Staying motivated when the wins are slow to come

16:10 – Rapid Fire Q5: Cooper’s next Just Get Started moment (Shopify sales-tax tool for his fiancée)

20:45 – What makes an AI idea worth building vs “because we can build it”

24:00 – Common founder mistakes: copycat AI, no defensibility, one-time-use tools & ignoring churn

29:15 – Why founders struggle with sales (and how to sell the problem, not the product)

33:30 – Practical AI for founders: voice tools, system prompts, AI callers & weekend MVPs

39:07 – Two concrete steps to go from idea → conversations → AI-built product

Find Cooper Online:

In this conversation, Chris LaFay (Founder, Classic City Consulting) shares a decade of hard-won lessons on staying profitable, avoiding bloat, and building an agency that lasts. We dig into “one-glass focus,” why not niching can still be strategic, when to pass on work, partnerships without finders fees, pricing and retainers, and the KPI that quietly compounds new business: intentional outreach.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• Why “one glass” focus beats scattered growth

• Project variety vs. “niching down” (and how to niche by systems, not industry)

• The comparison trap: learning from peers without copy-pasting their playbook

• When referral partnerships work without commissions—and when they don’t

• The 4 R’s growth engine: Retain → Reactivate → Referral → Recruit (new)

• Don’t hire on a hope: catching operational bloat before it sinks marginsPricing, retainers, and the “help agencies look great” strategy

• The single KPI Chris tracks in good seasons: weekly intentional check-ins

00:00 Intro

09:04 One-Glass Focus: creator energy, momentum, and why projects stay interesting

11:29 Project Variety > Burnout: why new client problems keep the work fresh

14:15 Do You Need a Niche? Niching by WordPress/Shopify & repeatable frameworks

15:32 Peer Comparison Without Copy-Paste: learning from others, keeping identity

18:44 Outreach > Everything: how early agencies stall without consistent relationship-building

25:24 Partnerships Sans Finder Fees: when passing leads is the value (and exceptions)

31:10 Adding Value to Your Agency Network: beyond referrals; community & support

32:17 Risk You’re Glad You Took: the hiring lesson that reshaped the business

37:51 Silencing the Inner Critic: external processing & mentor mirrors

41:22 Most Valuable KPI: weekly intentional reach-outs (and why they compound)

46:55 Action Taker You Admire: David Feldman & decisive leadership

51:49 Sunk Costs & When to Quit: “fans-first” filter + staying lean on OPEX

Connect with Chris:

Founder – Classic City Consulting

In this engaging conversation, professional cyclist Alison Tetrick shares her journey from a competitive tennis player to a successful cyclist, discussing the importance of mental health, the joy of sports, and the need for community support. She emphasizes the significance of encouraging youth, especially girls, to stay in sports and find joy in their pursuits rather than focusing solely on competition. Alison also opens up about her personal challenges, including overcoming fear and anxiety after traumatic experiences, and the importance of surrounding oneself with supportive individuals. The discussion highlights the value of enjoying the process and finding personal inspiration in one's goals.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

02:50 Current Projects and Initiatives

05:43 The Journey of a Cyclist

11:42 Overcoming Challenges and Mental Health

14:38 Rapid Fire Questions

23:10 The Importance of Enjoying the Process

28:55 Navigating Fear and Anxiety

36:44 The Role of Sports in Personal Development

43:40 Encouraging Youth in Sports

51:33 Final Thoughts and Advice

Find Alison Online: