Backstage w/ Matt Stone

It’s Friday the 13th, and Matt’s greeting you with ski mask energy as he reflects on a very good week. After sharing some trivia about Tycho Brahe mapping the solar system in 1588 and Novocaine getting patented in 1906 (imagine dentistry before that—yikes), he dives into what’s making this week feel so different: the ratio of time spent actually talking to clients versus everything else.

He’s now spending most of his time diving into clients’ actual worlds, understanding their real needs, and figuring out how to help—even if that means bringing in someone else. And that shift has filled him up in ways that sustain him through the inevitable challenges. When you’re aligned and focused on genuinely serving others, everything gets more joyful. That’s the gratitude he’s carrying into a busy weekend. Also, the show’s growing on Substack, so if you’re listening on Apple or Spotify, pop over there and say hi—he’d love to hear from you.

After dropping some Lincoln birthday trivia (plus a fun fact about The Scream heist), Matt tackles a pattern he’s noticed over decades of watching public discourse: everyone’s yearning for “normal,” but normal doesn’t exist. Bodies change, society changes, art changes—we live in a dynamic reality, yet we keep searching for solid ground. The danger isn’t change itself; it’s getting myopic and settling into the illusion that anything stays constant.

So what’s the play when building a business? Never stop innovating. Every client interaction is a chance to learn and pressure-test your assumptions. He’s experimenting with Claude AI after time with ChatGPT, prepping for a client video session with one goal—complete presence—and gearing up to launch The Bigger Stage brand plus a new LinkedIn show in late March. The question: What are you learning today that’ll make you more adaptable tomorrow? Because the world’s changing whether you like it or not.

After kicking off with some quirky February 11th trivia—including the birth of the La-Z-Boy recliner and a 44-pound lobster worth roughly a grand—our host dives into a confession: he doesn’t fact-check everything, and that’s okay. Because as a former history major and lawyer turned entrepreneur, he’s learned the most valuable skill of all: knowing where to invest your time.

Fresh off a late-night coding session with Claude (the AI, not a developer friend), he reflects on how his video production venture has evolved from “let’s make cool videos with CEOs” to something deeper: helping founders step onto bigger stages. The journey required moving past the activity he could visualize and into the psychology of transformation his clients actually need.

Along the way, he shares hard-won communication wisdom born from editing too many videos of himself—slow down, lose the filler words, and connect your heart to what you’re saying. Think clean line edits in writing, not frantic scratching out.

The punchline? AI tools are making solo entrepreneurs 1,000 times more productive. His new website, TheBiggerStage.com, went from concept to live in one evening—no awful templates required. It’s placeholder-level now, but it does the job while he preps for the next-level design. And that’s the point: we’re entering an era where humans get to do the more human stuff. The question is: what are you learning today that’ll matter tomorrow?

As winter drags on and exhaustion quietly sets in, Matt reflects on a familiar danger point in building something new: early traction without enough discipline. With a few clients secured and more opportunities emerging, he notices how easy it is to drift toward “busy” work — events, side projects, and clever ideas that feel productive but don’t actually scale. This episode is about learning to separate core function from distraction, using scalability as a hard filter for decision-making, and staying accountable when momentum is uneven. A candid look at the fragile middle stage of entrepreneurship, where clarity, focus, and restraint matter more than enthusiasm alone.

On a long, frozen Friday heading into Super Bowl weekend, Matt reflects on a familiar pre-interview ritual — and the quiet realization that preparation isn’t about filling a knowledge gap. As he gets ready to sit down with author and entrepreneur David Kalinowski, he notices the shift that always matters most: letting go of the need to sound smart and leaning into genuine curiosity. This episode explores why the best conversations — in interviews, meetings, and business — don’t come from perfectly scripted questions, but from presence, imagination, and the willingness to follow what’s interesting in real time. A meditation on trust, curiosity, and why being prepared enough is often exactly what creates the most meaningful outcomes.

On a bright but icy February morning, Matt reflects on the hidden discipline of growth: deciding what not to pursue. As new conversations, ideas, and potential opportunities appear, he explores the ongoing work of staying true to a business’s core purpose while remaining curious and open to learning. From meeting founders solving real marketplace problems to reflecting on the decline and rebirth of industries, this episode is a meditation on pruning distractions, embracing lifelong learning, and protecting the essence of what you’re building. Real progress, he reminds himself, comes not from chasing everything — but from tending the garden with care.

On a midweek February morning, Matt reflects on what separates the ventures that endure from those that quietly disappear. Looking at the long arc of companies like Facebook — and the sobering statistics on business failure — he explores a hard-earned lesson: most things in a business must remain flexible, but values cannot. From branding and positioning to services and structure, this episode makes the case for embracing change early, iterating fast, and staying radically open to feedback. A thoughtful reminder that survival isn’t about stubbornness — it’s about adaptability, humility, and staying anchored to why you started in the first place.

On a bitterly cold February morning, Matt reflects on what it really means to choose a path — and stay on it. As he prepares for a long-form interview with David Kalinowski and revisits The Sacrifice Paradox, he explores why meaningful work almost always requires letting something go. From building a company piece by piece to resisting the pull of comparison, this episode is about honoring your own timeline, accepting the trade-offs that come with purpose, and trusting that the road you’re on doesn’t have to be universal to be right. A thoughtful meditation on sacrifice, alignment, and the quiet confidence that comes from knowing, this path is mine.

As February begins in the grip of deep winter, Matt reflects on a quieter but more powerful form of momentum: intentional design. With new clients, evolving shows, and creative opportunities multiplying, he shares why refining his calendar became essential — not to do more, but to think better. This episode explores the discipline of protecting deep work, narrowing focus, and building business infrastructure that supports clarity rather than fragmentation. A meditation on refining the aperture, doing less to accomplish more, and putting the pillars in place before the pace accelerates.

As January draws to a close, Matt reflects on a truth that shows up in every meaningful build: growth always asks something in return. Preparing for a conversation with an author and rereading a short story from The Sacrifice Paradox, he explores the quiet decisions founders and creators face — when to hold on, when to let go, and how to invest something precious in service of a larger future. This episode weaves together business design, personal intention, and the discipline of choosing trade-offs consciously, not reactively. A meditation on building with wisdom, protecting what matters most, and deciding when sacrifice is actually an investment.