Founder's Framework

Mark Abbott sits down with Ninety’s head of product, Audra Stanton to discuss how founders should think about AI in their products and operations.

As AI becomes part of nearly every business conversation, founders are facing real pressure from investors, customers, and competitors to incorporate it. The question is not whether AI matters. The question is how to approach it thoughtfully without losing focus on what actually makes a company strong.

This episode explores the tension between innovation and discipline. It is a conversation about judgment, timing, change management, and keeping humans at the center of the company.

They reference examples including Netflix and Blockbuster, Intercom’s decision to lean heavily into AI despite short term pain, and Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology as a reminder that innovation does not always equal product market fit.

In this episode:

• How founders should think about AI in product versus operations
• The fear of being left behind and how to evaluate that risk
• Why most companies using AI are not yet seeing meaningful ROI
• How to navigate change without losing your core customer

If you are building a company meant to endure, this conversation will help you think more clearly about how and when to evolve.

Resources
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JiAaXT
→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter: https://www.ninety.io/impact-moments
→ Try Ninety free:  https://www.ninety.io/?utm_source=you…

Connect:
→ Follow Mark on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/MarkAbbott
→ Follow Audra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audra-stanton/

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

Mark Abbott sits down with Kris Snyder and Christine Watts to introduce Impact Moments, a new podcast from the team at Ninety, the EOS software platform companies have come to know, love, and trust for the past ten years.

This show is all about the real stories that shape culture, build clarity, and test leadership. These are the turning points inside EOS sessions and quarterlies that reveal what teams actually believe.

Created for EOS leaders, implementers, and teams, Impact Moments brings to life the moments that challenge alignment and strengthen culture when handled well.

Why now?
After years of working with more than 18,000 clients, the Ninety team wanted to share what they’ve seen up close. This podcast is a way to share those stories and support the broader EOS community.

In this episode:

• What an “impact moment” looks like in the room
• Why EOS success depends on how teams handle truth and tension
• How storytelling preserves culture and accelerates growth
• What to expect from the new show and who it’s built for

If you're running on EOS or helping others do it well, this is a podcast you’ll want to add to your queue. .

Resources
→ Subscribe to Impact Moments
→ Explore EOS support at Ninety: https://www.ninety.io/professional-services
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JiAaXT
→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter: https://www.ninety.io/impact-moments
→ Try Ninety free:  https://www.ninety.io/?utm_source=you…

Connect:
→ Follow Mark on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/MarkAbbott
→ Follow Kris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krsnyder
→ Follow Christine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinemwatts 

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

AI is changing how we work, but not by replacing people. It’s raising the bar for how we think.

In this Founder’s Framework episode, Mark Abbott explores what AI reveals about our habits, clarity, and decision-making. It doesn’t remove the need for good judgment. It makes the gaps more obvious.

This isn’t about fear or hype. It’s about learning how to think with AI in the loop and what that means for founders, teams, and culture.

You’ll hear:

• Why founders are still responsible for making hard calls
• How clear inputs lead to better AI outputs
• What it takes to build thinking teams in an AI-driven world

If AI feels destabilizing, it might not be the tech, but what it’s showing us about how we work.

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.

Connect:

→ Follow Mark on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/MarkAbbott

→ Follow Cole on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ColeAbbott

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

What happens when growth slows and leaders are forced to make decisions they hoped they could avoid?

In this episode, Mark Abbott reflects on the hard lessons of 2025, a year that forced difficult decisions, exposed cultural misalignment, and pushed leadership maturity to the forefront. From navigating high care versus high performance to making one-way door decisions under pressure, this conversation breaks down what founders must confront when uncertainty reveals what is really happening inside the company.

You’ll hear:

-Why ambiguity strains teams more than most founders expect
-What “succeed or escalate” looks like in real leadership moments
-Why accountability, ownership, and meeting size matter more as you scale

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.

Connect:

→ Follow Mark on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/MarkAbbott

→ Follow Cole on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ColeAbbott

Resources:
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JiAaXT

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

What does it take to build a brand that actually scales?

In this episode, Mark Abbott talks with Jed Morley, founder of Backstory Branding and author of Building a Brand That Scales. They dive deep into the role founders play in shaping brand and culture, and why alignment across both is non-negotiable if you want to build something that lasts.

Jed shares how Nike first sparked his obsession with branding, why most founders delay the hard brand work for too long, and how he helps companies turn insight into real, compounding impact.

You’ll hear:

• Why a brand is not your logo and what it actually is
• How founder alignment drives both culture and brand
• The questions leaders must answer to attract like-minded talent

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every week.

Connect:
→ Follow Jed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jedmorley/
→ Follow Mark on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/MarkAbbott

Resources:
 → Learn more about Backstory Branding: https://www.backstorybranding.com/
→ Read Building a Brand That Scales: https://www.backstorybranding.com/books/building-a-brand-that-scales
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JiAaXT 

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

What does it take to turn a five-acre crop into a national brand?

In this episode, Mark Abbott talks with Jessie and Adrian Capote of J&C Tropicals, a third-generation family business built on their father’s vision and grit. They open up about the near-collapse that nearly ended it all, the decisions that turned things around, and how they’ve evolved from surviving to leading with clarity, culture, and structure.

You’ll hear:

• How their father’s hustle created a produce legacy
• What it took to rebuild after hitting rock bottom
• How generational leadership keeps the company strong

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every week.

Connect:

→ Follow Jessie on LinkedIn: : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessiecapote/
→Follow Adrian on LinkedIn: : https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriancapote/

→ Follow Mark on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/MarkAbbott

Subscribe for more founder-first insight every week.

Resources:
→ Learn more about J&C Tropicals: https://www.jctropicals.us/
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JiAaXT 

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

Founders can delegate a lot, but not everything.

Mark Abbott sits down with Audra Stanton, Head of Product at Ninety, for a candid conversation about the work founders must own. From team drift to cultural misalignment, they explore how leadership shows up in the hard moments.

In this episode:

• Why escalation is a leadership signal, not a handoff
• What happens when people avoid friction instead of facing it
• How to model alignment without micromanaging

Connect:
→ Follow Mark on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/MarkAbbott
→ Follow Audra on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4qHhhyC

Subscribe for more founder-first insight every week.

Resources:
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JiAaXT 

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

AI isn’t just changing how we work, it’s reshaping what it means to work. In this episode, Mark and Cole explore how AI is impacting small and mid-sized businesses, leadership, and culture.
They discuss:

• How AI is organically transforming teams and tools inside Ninety
• Why some organizations embrace AI while others resist it
• The role of employee archetypes in understanding how people adopt new tech
• The ethical and human implications of automation and job shifts
• How leaders can guide their teams through massive technological change

Whether you’re a founder, team leader, or simply curious about the future of work, this conversation will challenge how you think about technology, culture, and leadership.

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

Emotional intelligence is not learned in a seminar. It is trained like a muscle.

In this Founder’s Framework Podcast episode, Mark Abbott talks with Theran Knighton-Fitt, Co-Founder of MyGrow, about what they call the “EQ Gym,” a practical way for people to grow emotional intelligence inside companies.
The conversation covers:

• Why most leadership training fails to create lasting change
• The difference between fixing systems and empowering people
• How emotional intelligence shapes culture and performance
• MyGrow’s ten-year founder journey and the lessons along the way

For founders trying to scale culture while building systems, this conversation shows why emotional fitness is just as critical as operational efficiency.

Learn more about MyGrow: https://mygrow.me
Connect with Theran on LinkedIn: https://za.linkedin.com/in/theranknighton-fitt

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations.

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!

Everyone talks about freedom as the ultimate goal of entrepreneurship, but for most founders, it’s not that simple.
In this episode of the Founder’s Framework podcast, Mark Abbott sits down with serial entrepreneur and bestselling author Bob Glazer to unpack the real truth about freedom in the founder’s journey.
They explore:

• Why most founders feel less free after starting a business
• The mental shifts required to escape the trap of “building yourself a job”
• How to delegate, build trust, and scale without burning out
• What true freedom looks like and how to design your business to support it

If you’re a founder wrestling with how to get out of the weeds and back to your vision, this conversation is for you.

Subscribe for more founder-first conversations every other week.
→ Subscribe to Mark’s Founder’s Framework Newsletter

→ Subscribe to Ninety’s EOS Newsletter  

→ Try Ninety free for 30 days!