Robert Glazer is the founder of Acceleration Partners, a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, and a leading voice on how values shape leadership. In this episode, Bob shares why stepping down from the company he built triggered a surprising crisis of meaning, how that experience led him to write The Compass Within, and how helping people clarify their core values has become his new personal mission.

Bob opens up about the link between pain and passion, the power of writing and brand-building for impact, and why success often leaves high achievers feeling empty until they redefine what it means. He also discusses parenting through a values-first lens, the danger of protecting kids from disappointment, and what happens when founders skip the inner work.

Whether you're a founder, leader, or someone navigating your next chapter, this episode offers a clear, grounded path toward meaning, alignment, and better decision-making.

Where to find Bob:

• robertglazer.com
• The Compass Within (book)
• X
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

Timestamps:

(00:00) Redefining success after stepping down as CEO
 (04:00) Why overachievement never feels like enough
 (05:20) Lessons from Strength to Strength by Arthur Brooks
(06:30) Building a life around one core value
(08:18) The ripple effect of leadership
(10:24) Bob’s daily dashboard and time-blocking system
(13:45) How to focus in a world full of distraction
(15:32) Why building a platform matters
(17:00) Imposter syndrome and the long game of brand-building
(19:06) Parenting with purpose and avoiding overprotection
(22:26) A story of failure, transfer, and self-advocacy
(26:52) Bob’s new book, The Compass Within
 (29:37) Making the big three life decisions with values in mind
 (32:45) The power of identifying your values through pain
 (35:35) Trust, self-awareness, and leading from values
 (38:30) The six questions to uncover your personal core values
 (41:34) Why one-word values fall short
 (43:43) Bonus question: tracing childhood roots of values
 (47:23) Company values that are lived, not laminated
 (49:26) Mission to Mars and value DNA extraction
 (52:22) Behavioral interviews that screen for culture fit
 (55:48) Rituals and rewards that reinforce company values
 (57:43) The J&J Tylenol recall and values in hard decisions
 (58:32) What Bob hopes readers take from The Compass Within
 (01:00:22) What Bob wishes he knew earlier
 (01:02:59) Founders need mentors, masterminds, and a few steps ahead

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Nick Huber is an entrepreneur and real estate investor who resides in Athens, Georgia, with his wife and three children. He owns Somewhere.com, Bolt Storage, RE Cost Seg, and several other businesses. His real estate portfolio currently includes sixty-eight self-storage properties, covering two million square feet. His portfolio of companies employs over 325 people and makes over $35 million annually. He’s the author of “The Sweaty Startup: How to Get Rich Doing Boring Things.” 

Where to find Nick:

Sweaty Startup

LinkedIn

X

Instagram

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction to Boring Businesses

(02:46) The Value of Boring Startups

(05:59) The Journey of Entrepreneurship

(08:58) Understanding Stress in Entrepreneurship

(11:53) Sales as a Core Skill

(14:57) Building Resilience in Kids and Employees

(17:57) Effective Delegation and Decision Making

(20:50) The Importance of Self-Awareness in Leadership

23:59) Navigating Employee Dynamics

(26:44) The Role of Mentorship in Growth

(29:37) Sales Strategies for Entrepreneurs

(36:07) Mastering Sales Through Practice

(40:56) Hiring Strategies for Entrepreneurs

(49:20) Understanding Financial Goals

(55:05) Balancing Ambition and Personal Life

(01:00:12) Building Your Brand on Social Media

(01:07:41) Advice for Aspiring Founders

Connect with Alisa!

Follow Alisa Cohn on

• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Arvind Jain is the founder and CEO of Glean, the Work AI platform that connects to all your company’s data so you can find, create, and automate anything. In this episode, Arvind shares his journey as a second-time founder and first-time CEO, reflecting on the challenges of moving from a deeply technical role into leading an organization.

He talks about why selling is one of the most important skills for founders, the importance of hiring for desire and cultural fit, and how company culture and values shape everything from attracting talent to making tough decisions. Arvind also shares how persistence helps founders push through moments of market indifference, and why self-reflection is one of the most powerful tools for becoming an effective leader.

Whether you’re a first-time founder, a seasoned operator, or simply curious about the human side of leadership, this episode offers a grounded look at what it takes to grow both a company and yourself along the way.

Where to find Naveen:

• Glean
• X
• LinkedIn
  
  

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How a CEO needs to adapt 
• The crucial skill for founders. 
• The most important traits to look for when hiring. 
• How company culture leads to attracting talent.
• Self-reflection is vital for effective leadership.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction and Context Setting

(01:32) Transitioning from Founder to CEO

(05:47) Learning to Sell and Collaborate

(10:08) Hiring for Growth and Culture

(18:18) The Vision Behind Glean and AI Integration

(25:19) The Importance of Company Culture

(26:40) The Challenges of the Startup Journey

(31:02) Building a Strong Company Culture

(37:51) Navigating Early Struggles and Market Challenges

(44:43) Self-Reflection and Leadership Growth

(53:26) Lessons Learned and Advice for Founders

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• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Naveen Verma is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Princeton and the co-founder and CEO of EnCharge AI, a startup building radically energy-efficient computers for artificial intelligence. In this episode, Naveen shares how his academic research into in-memory computing evolved over six years into a venture-backed company that’s rethinking the physical limits of AI computers.

Naveen explains why traditional computing models can’t keep up with the energy demands of AI, how in-memory architectures unlock new efficiency, and what it means to transition from professor to startup CEO. He also opens up about how failure shaped his leadership style, why co-founder alignment is more important than titles, and what academia taught him about being an empathetic manager.

Whether you’re in deep tech, academia, or just curious how foundational innovation becomes a company, this episode offers a grounded and honest look at what it takes to build from the lab up.

Where to find Naveen:

• EnCharge AI
• X
• LinkedIn
  
  

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to turn academic research into a real-world company
• How to find and align with the right co-founders
• What good conflict looks like in early-stage teams
• How to fundraise as a professor-turned-founder
• Why being self-aware matters more than fitting a role
• How to build culture through actions, not statements
• What it means to lead with empathy in high-stakes environments

Timestamps:

(00:00) Why Naveen almost quit engineering
 (03:50) From PhD to professor to founder
 (07:04) What EnCharge actually builds
 (10:56) The six-year journey to a spinout
 (13:20) Why incubation matters in deep tech
 (15:53) Inspiration, practicality, and real-world impact
 (17:28) Choosing the right co-founders
 (20:33) Why Naveen became CEO
 (23:00) Conflict as a strength
 (24:21) Vision, perspective, and pushing back
 (25:49) Advice on co-founder relationships
 (27:59) Fundraising lessons from a first-time founder
 (34:19) Growing to 70+ people
 (35:51) Hiring for culture and long-term vision
 (37:01) Talking about culture without naming it
 (38:16) Letting go and empowering the team
 (41:41) Hiring non-technical leaders
 (43:17) What Naveen found easy and hard as a manager
 (45:56) How he learned to give difficult feedback
 (48:56) Managing stress through abstraction and presence
 (51:23) Academic mentors who shaped his thinking
 (53:08) Leadership as enabling others
 (55:08) Impostor syndrome and comfort with failure
 (58:00) Early rejections and how he bounced back
 (01:01:00) What everyone should know about AI
 (01:02:43) What Naveen wishes he knew earlier
 (01:04:27) Final advice to founders: normalize failure

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• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Craig Walker is the founder and CEO of Dialpad, a business communications platform powered by AI. A former M&A lawyer turned serial entrepreneur, Craig previously co-founded GrandCentral (acquired by Google and relaunched as Google Voice) and sold his prior company to Yahoo. In this episode, Craig shares how his career unfolded from door-to-door dictation sales to running a 1,500-person company, and how AI became central to Dialpad’s strategy long before the hype cycle.

Craig opens up about the loneliness of leadership, his bet-the-company acquisition of TalkIQ, and the hardest day of his career when four high-stakes deals all hinged on one phone call. He also explains why he still avoids hiring a COO, how he evaluates executive talent, and why long-term trust is his leadership superpower.

Whether you’re building in AI, navigating founder-operator transitions, or learning to scale without burning out, Craig’s story is packed with hard-earned lessons and honest insights.

Where to find Craig:

• Dialpad
• LinkedIn

Timestamps:

(00:00) Starting in door-to-door sales
 (02:54) What Craig learned about grit from early sales jobs
 (04:42) From Apple to law school to M&A at Wilson Sonsini
 (07:22) How Cisco influenced his approach to acquisitions
 (08:32) The founding of GrandCentral and acquisition by Google
 (09:12) Leaving Google to build again
 (13:22) Why Craig couldn’t stay a middle manager
 (14:53) What Dialpad is and how it started
 (17:36) Google Ventures’ support and early Dialpad funding
 (21:03) What startup life looked like in the pool house
 (24:17) Family trade-offs and how Craig stayed connected
 (28:23) Acquiring TalkIQ and the AI unlock
 (33:37) Why Dialpad was years ahead in AI
 (35:09) Lessons from integrating an early-stage acquisition
 (37:43) What tech reveals about culture
 (39:39) How Craig grew from scrappy founder to CEO
 (42:20) Delegating to operators while staying strategic
 (43:30) Why hiring executives is so hard
 (47:23) How he evaluates cultural fit and long-term potential
 (49:26) Loyalty, longevity, and building a trusted leadership team
 (50:57) Craig’s moment of truth and the most stressful day of his career
 (55:48) What he wishes he knew earlier
 (57:46) His advice for founders in the AI era

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to evaluate and integrate an early-stage acquisition
• Why trust and long-term relationships build company resilience
• What most founders get wrong about hiring senior executives
• Why naivete is an advantage in fast-changing markets
• How to stay optimistic in the face of startup volatility
• Why Craig empowers teams with autonomy, not layers
• How a founder mindset helps navigate economic shocks
• What it takes to lead through multiple tech transitions
• How to pick colleagues  and partners you can grow with for decades

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• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Brad Feld has spent over 40 years building companies, mentoring founders, and investing in the startup ecosystem. He’s the co-founder of Techstars, a prolific venture capitalist, and the author of nine books. 

In this episode, Brad opens up about the mental reset that came with turning 60, why he stopped chasing “more,” and what led him to dust off a book draft about mentorship that had been sitting on the shelf. We go deep into his new book Give First, his belief in non-transactional generosity, and why he thinks founders should lead from curiosity, not ego.

Brad also shares what went wrong at Techstars, what it taught him about founder empathy, and how he thinks about legacy in a world where everything is temporary.

Where to find Brad:

• feld.com
• Give First (book) 

Timestamps:
 (00:00) Why Brad chose to go into hibernation
 (03:36) How stepping back gave him a 9-to-5 for the first time
 (06:58) Returning to code and reading 3 books a week
 (08:05) The four things Brad actually loves
 (10:11) Not striving, not optimizing: a new mindset for a new decade
 (13:14) The messy journey of writing Give First
 (15:08) Feedback that reshaped the book
 (17:34) Techstars’ awkward teenage years
 (19:59) Coming out of hibernation, temporarily
 (23:32) Alter egos: Brad the Book Salesman, Vlad, and Spike
 (29:14) The pain of watching Techstars struggle publicly
 (34:30) How founder empathy deepened after Techstars’ turbulence
 (36:28) What Give First really means and what it does not
(38:49) Positive-sum, multi-turn thinking
(41:34) Why tennis is the perfect metaphor for long-term success
(45:00) Give First as the startup community engine
(48:21) Mentorship without expectations
(50:07) Socratic questioning and the five whys
(54:00) Diagnosing startup fundraising problems
(56:32) Being open to randomness
(58:57) The power of short assignments and low-stakes access
(01:04:28) Why Brad keeps writing: to learn
(01:07:14) What he wishes he knew earlier
(01:10:34) Advice for founders stepping into leadership
(01:12:38) Mortality, meaning, and option value

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Give First evolved from a Techstars mantra into a movement
• The difference between mentorship and advice
• Why and how being a giver pays off 
• How to set boundaries while still being responsive
• What makes founder relationships thrive or break
• Why being open to randomness can change everything
• How to navigate difficult company phases with empathy
• What Brad believes really matters in the third act of life

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• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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David is the creator of Ruby on Rails, Co-Owner of 37signals, best-selling author, Le Mans class-winning racing driver, antitrust advocate, investor in Danish startups, frequent podcast guest, and family man.

He writes regularly on HEY World and speaks on The REWORK Podcast. 

Hundreds of thousands of programmers around the world have built amazing applications using Ruby on Rails, an open-source web framework he created in 2003, and continues to develop to this day. Some of the more famous include Github, Shopify, Airbnb, Square, Coinbase, and Zendesk.

For my newest episode of From Start-Up to Grown-Up, I talk with David Heinemeier Hansson, Co-Founder of 37signals, to explore his journey of innovation, remote work, and unconventional management.

Learn more about DHH | Website
https://dhh.dk/

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• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Bob Young co-founded Red Hat, the first company to build a successful business around open source software, and helped shape the modern internet in the process. In this episode, Bob shares the story of how Red Hat went from a CD in a Ziploc bag to a billion-dollar business that inspired GitHub, Coinbase, and much of the cloud infrastructure we use today.

But this conversation is about more than just software. Bob opens up about betting his family’s finances on Red Hat, the moment he realized he wasn’t meant to be a public company CEO, and why he believes capitalism, when done right, can be a powerful force for good.

He also shares what he's building now (including a needlepoint company), how he thinks about failure, and the one principle he thinks every founder should live by.

Where to find Bob:

Lulu.com

Needlepoint.com

Timestamps:

(00:00) The challenge of fragmented attention and overbooked schedules

(05:09) Red Hat’s founding story and the philosophy behind open source

(08:56) Why the internet is the world’s largest open source project

(13:34) From newsletter publishing to reinventing Linux

(19:49) Why customers chose Red Hat: control, not cost

(22:12) The business model insight that changed everything

(24:44) How IBM’s services model inspired Red Hat’s structure

(27:36) Scaling Linux for enterprise and dealing with constant updates

(36:24) Proprietary software as a modern feudal system

(43:33) Racking up $50K in credit card debt to keep Red Hat alive

(49:01) Trust, marriage, and startup risk

(55:05) Leaving Red Hat and why Bob stepped down as CEO

(59:23) What sleep taught Bob about optimism and recovery

(01:06:10) Red Hat’s culture of ownership and accountability

(01:14:24) Why Bob still builds: making the world a better place through business

(01:15:02) The importance of discipline and organization

(01:17:08) Founders’ advice: serve customer needs, not just wants

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Red Hat became the first successful open source company
• Why control—not price—is the real value of open source software
• What makes transparency a business strategy, not just a virtue
• How capitalism and idealism can actually align
• Why understanding customer needs matters more than their wants
• The difference between proprietary and democratic tech systems
• How to build culture that owns mistakes and learns out loud
• What it really means to commit to your co-founder and spouse
• How to navigate failure, burnout, and your own limitations as a leader
• What keeps Bob starting new companies in his third and fourth acts

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• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Jonathan Wolf is the co-founder and CEO of ZOE, the science-based nutrition company using data to transform how people eat. In this candid conversation, he joins Alisa to explore what it takes to build a mission-driven company, how to lead with more clarity and transparency, and why the way we eat is more broken and more fixable than most people think.

ZOE’s origin story is as unconventional as it is inspiring. After scaling Critéo into a billion-dollar business, Jonathan stepped away with no plan and plenty of questions. That wandering period led him to microbiome researcher Tim Spector, and from there, to the bold idea of using AI and big data to personalize nutrition at scale. Eight years and 250,000 microbiome samples later, ZOE is running the world’s largest nutrition science study and has launched a free app to help people assess their food in real time.

In this episode:

• Why Jonathan left the world of adtech in search of purpose
• His sabbatical was a challenging period of self-discovery.
• The importance of relationships over ideas became clear to him.
• How he navigated the founder’s journey
• The scientific gaps in mainstream nutrition advice
• What most people misunderstand about ultra-processed food
• How ZOE turned a research project into a product that helps millions
• What coffee can reveal about your gut microbiome
• Why leadership gets easier when you stop trying to be liked
• How Jonathan uses one key question to make sure he’s actually being heard
• Why ZOE launched a free tool to put science into people’s hands
• How to communicate clearly as a CEO without over-explaining
• Why repeating your message 100 times is part of the job
• How to hire people who care more about the mission than the resume
• What coaching and therapy taught Jonathan about being an effective leader
• Why ZOE’s shift to a free app was a strategic business decision
• How to scale without losing sight of your company’s purpose

Jonathan also shares the emotional and psychological journey of leadership: learning to make hard calls without sugarcoating, building teams that stick, and staying grounded while leading a fast-growing company.

ZOE’s new free app is now available in the US. It uses AI to analyze any food item or meal for its processing risk and nutritional quality, helping people make smarter choices instantly. If you care about your energy, mood, and long-term health, this episode will change how you think about food and leadership.

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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Kass and Mike Lazerow are serial entrepreneurs, seasoned investors, and co-authors of the upcoming book Shoveling Sh!t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur’s Messy Path to Success. They join Alisa to share an unfiltered look at what it really takes to build companies, navigate chaos, and stay married through it all.

Known for founding Golf.com and Buddy Media, which they sold to Salesforce for $745 million, Kass and Mike have also backed more than 100 early-stage startups. Their portfolio includes Scopely, acquired for $5 billion, and Liquid Death. In this conversation, they recount the wild highs and lows of startup life, from raising three kids while raising capital to walking away from a higher offer because it came with too much risk.

You’ll hear about:

• The dot-com crash that nearly killed Golf.com and how they raised money to buy it back from bankruptcy
  
  
• The early bet they placed on Facebook that became Buddy Media
  
  
• Why did they choose Salesforce over a larger offer from Google
  
  
• How they built a radically transparent culture that kept employees during a 3-month no-pay period
  
  
• What it's really like to sell a company for hundreds of millions, then stay on as an employee
  
  
• How ego, secrecy, and shiny-object syndrome kill founders
  
  
• What it takes to choose the right co-founder and build a business that lasts
  
  

They also share what it's like to run companies as a married couple, including how they divide responsibilities, handle stress, and maintain date nights through multiple exits and pivots.

Also in this episode:

• The story behind Mike’s near-death health crisis and how it changed his entire mindset
  
  
• Why Kass believes in minivans and Mike believes in showing up for everything
  
  
• The advice they give to every founder they backed
  
  
• How their kids learned more from watching than listening
  
  

Their new book, Shoveling Sh!t, hits shelves on June 3, 2025. It captures 50 hard-earned lessons that can help any founder become a better leader and build a life that actually works.

About Kass & Mike:
 Kass and Mike Lazerow are entrepreneurs and investors best known for building and selling Buddy Media, a leading social media marketing platform, to Salesforce for $745 million. They co-founded Golf.com early in their careers and have since supported more than 100 startups as investors and advisors. Notable investments include Scopely and Liquid Death. They are also sought-after speakers, writers, and podcast guests. Their book Shoveling Sh!t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur’s Messy Path to Success is out June 3, 2025.

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• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better)

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