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One year. Zero extra budget. Double the revenue.
That’s what Adi Soozin did — and in doing so, she broke a sales record that had stood since Steve Jobs set it.
She was the youngest marketer ever chosen to manage an entire sales channel at Apple. In her first year, she doubled revenue without increasing the marketing budget by a single dollar.
Then she left and proved it wasn’t luck.
She grew a fashion brand by 4,200% in nine weeks. Then built a bootstrapped startup from idea to $108 million in under five years — no paid ads, no external funding, no shortcuts.
In this episode, Adi Soozin breaks down exactly how she thinks about growth, marketing, and building without burning cash.
We cover:
If you’re building something and waiting for more budget — this episode will change how you think forever.
ABOUT ADI SOOZIN
Adi Soozin is a marketing strategist, investor, and bestselling author of Tools of Marketing Titans. She leads Molo9™ and 9x90™ and works with brands and founders across 59 countries on hypergrowth strategy.
Website | https://adisoozin.com/
Book | https://amzn.to/3Jdotl7
Proven Path | https://molo9.co/proven-path/
CONNECT WITH HINA
Website | https://thehinasiddiqui.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/hinawithwings/
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@thehinasiddiqui
Email | m[email protected]
Books | https://amzn.to/3B65Wz7
bootstrapped startup, startup growth without ads, no paid ads marketing, hypergrowth strategy, behavioral economics, Adi Soozin, Tools of Marketing Titans, founder marketing, how to scale a startup, zero budget marketing, The Corporate Life Podcast, Hina Siddiqui, entrepreneur podcast, marketing strategy podcast
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He had the title.
The salary.
The corner office.
Executive Vice President.
And he walked away from all of it.
No plan. No safety net. No income for five years.
Most people would have gone back.
Chris Gibson didn’t.
Instead he built something nobody expected — a 500K-subscriber YouTube channel, his own skincare and supplement product lines, and a book on skin health that was ahead of mainstream science before mainstream science caught up.
But this conversation isn’t really about skincare.
It’s about what happens when a casting agent tells you your skin could end your broadcasting career — and you decide to build an empire around the very thing they said would stop you.
And what five years of zero income actually teaches you about building something that lasts.
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday — The Corporate Life: Billion Dollar Conversations
What you will learn:
Timestamps:
00:00 — Teaser: the 5-year zero income period
01:30 — Who is Chris Gibson
04:40 — The casting agent rejection that changed his career
13:00 — Leaving television and the media frenzy behind
18:44 — The corporate career — EVP to entrepreneur
23:05 — Five years of zero income building the YouTube channel
27:25 — The moment the channel hit 100K — and then 500K
30:54 — Pro-aging vs anti-aging — the industry problem
36:44 — Botox, fillers and what the industry is actually selling
42:35 — This or That rapid fire
44:35 — The one message Chris would leave the world with
Connect with Chris Gibson:
YouTube: search Chris Gibson
TikTok: @skincarewithchris
Facebook community: Skin So Fabulous
Connect with Hina:
Website: https://thehinasiddiqui.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui
Instagram: @hinawithwings
YouTube: @thehinasiddiqui
Email: [email protected]
Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday.
#ChrisGibson #Entrepreneur #Skincare #ProAging #AntiAging #YouTubeGrowth #TheCorporateLifePodcast #HinaSiddiqui #BillionDollarConversations #FounderStory #500KSubscribers #EVPToEntrepreneur #CorporateToCreator
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He was 19 when he threw his first viral Hollywood mansion party.
By his mid-twenties he had co-founded a West Hollywood nightclub generating $4M+ annually and was booking major artists through Universal Music Group.
Then he walked away from all of it.
Not because it failed.
Because he wanted to build something that mattered beyond the weekend.
Connor Treacy’s story is not about Hollywood nightlife.
It’s about what happens when you’re willing to blow up what’s working — to build what lasts.
And the moment a $7,500 public failure almost made him quit everything.
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday — The Corporate Life: Billion Dollar Conversations
What you will learn:
Timestamps:
00:00 — Introduction to Connor Treacy and his LA upbringing
05:30 — The early days of high school promoting and viral parties
12:15 — Facing a $7,500 failure and the lesson of Midas touch
22:45 — Working with Universal Music Group and elite nightlife
35:10 — Transitioning to political events and the Democratic Party
48:20 — The fear of irrelevance and the value of a solid reputation
About Connor Treacy:
Connor Treacy is a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur whose career spans nightlife, music, startups and civic leadership. He went from throwing a viral mansion party at 19 to co-founding a West Hollywood nightclub generating $4M+ annually, then reinvented himself in music, venture building and public leadership. His story is about reinvention, resilience and building spaces where people collide, feel seen and leave changed.
Connect with Connor:
Website: https://connortreacy.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconnortreacy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connortreacy/
Connect with Hina:
Website: https://thehinasiddiqui.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui
Instagram: @hinawithwings
YouTube: @thehinasiddiqui
Email: [email protected]
Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday.
#ConnorTreacy #Entrepreneur #Nightlife #UniversalMusicGroup #EventProducer #TheCorporateLifePodcast #HinaSiddiqui #BillionDollarConversations #Reinvention #StartupFounder #LAEntrepreneur #Resilience #Reputation #CEOMindset #FounderStory
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Most CEOs and entrepreneurs think their biggest problem is strategy.
It isn't.
It's the inherited programming they never questioned.
The temper from a father. The fear from a mother. The scripts from a school system designed to produce employees — not founders.
Robert Wilson spent decades watching brilliant CEOs and entrepreneurs make self-destructive decisions in boardrooms — not because they lacked intelligence — but because hidden pain was dressed up as strategy.
In 2015 he had a moment that changed everything.
He realised that even self-help was a form of outside programming.
And that true freedom — in business and in life — only comes when you stop listening to inherited voices and start listening to your own body's wisdom.
This conversation is not for everyone.
It is for the CEO or entrepreneur who is ready to lead differently.
What you will learn:
Timestamps:
00:00 — Introduction to The Corporate Life
01:30 — Realising the influence of outside programming
04:10 — The difference between scripted and unscripted lives
04:45 — Inheriting a temper and the path to emotional freedom
06:04 — How hidden pain hijacks business strategy
07:12 — Learning to hearken wisdom in the boardroom
12:44 — The power of morning inspiration over desperation
16:48 — Why leaders cling to control instead of creativity
22:55 — Robert's movie title: I Rise of Wisdom and Inspiration
24:11 — This or That rapid fire
About Robert Wilson:
Robert Wilson is a wisdom strategist, philosopher and author who challenges inherited programming and societal scripts that limit leaders. He works with CEOs and entrepreneurs on energetic liberation — moving from outside control to internal sovereignty. His writing style is intentionally unpunctuated to allow natural breath and personal interpretation.
Buy Robert's Book
https://amzn.to/3OgwFjJ
CONNECT WITH ROBERT A. WILSON
Website: http://mycowboywisdom.com
Email: [email protected]
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-A.-Wilson/e/B00C6DFYZK
Balboa Page: http://mywisdombreathes.com
Connect with Hina
Website: https://thehinasiddiqui.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui
Instagram: @hinawithwings
YouTube: @thehinasiddiqui
Email: m[email protected]
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday — The Corporate Life: Billion Dollar Conversations
#RobertWilson #CowboyWisdom #CEOMindset #LeadershipDevelopment #InheritedTrauma #TheCorporateLifePodcast #HinaSiddiqui #BillionDollarConversations #EntrepreneurMindset #UnscriptedLife #BusinessLeadership #FounderMindset
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He was about to quit.
Then Microsoft called.
Peter Swimm built a Slack bot called Howdy — and Microsoft acquired it.
But what happened inside that acquisition is not the story most founders expect to hear.
Because Peter came out the other side with a perspective on AI that most CEOs have never been told.
He is not here to tell you AI will save your business.
He is here to tell you why the way you are using it right now is probably making things worse.
Automating a broken process does not fix the process.
It just runs the problem faster.
And most companies — right now — are integrating AI into exactly the wrong things.
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday — The Corporate Life: Billion Dollar Conversations
What you will learn:
Timestamps:
00:00 — Trailer
01:36 — Peter's unconventional path from library to tech consulting
01:51 — Why starting a career in a library builds better consulting instincts
05:47 — Building automation before it was a buzzword
07:10 — AI and the philosophical question of what work actually means
11:57 — The Slack bot Howdy and how the Microsoft acquisition happened
15:28 — What changes inside a product after a tech giant acquires it
20:44 — Why most companies are automating the wrong problems
23:38 — How to know if your business is actually ready for AI
27:07 — What CEOs need to hear before going AI-first
28:21 — This or That — open source, augmentation, engineers vs product thinkers
37:58 — Peter's life as a movie
39:30 — Where to find Peter
About Peter Swimm:
Peter Swimm is a technology consultant and founder who built Howdy — a Slack bot acquired by Microsoft. He now works with companies on how to think about AI, automation and what it actually means to be ready for what is coming. He is the founder of Toilville.
Connect with Peter:
Website: https://www.toilville.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterswimm/
Connect with Hina:
Website: https://thehinasiddiqui.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui
Instagram: @hinawithwings
YouTube: @thehinasiddiqui
Email: [email protected]
Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday.
#PeterSwimm #Microsoft #Howdy #AIStrategy #AIFounder #StartupAcquisition #TheCorporateLifePodcast #HinaSiddiqui #BillionDollarConversations #AIFirst #Automation #TechFounder #CEOMindset #AIIntegration #StartupToMicrosoft
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He started his first business at 19 on Nantucket Island.
He has never held a job.
Not once. In 69 years.
Over 200 companies built across five decades. More than $1 billion in unsecured funding facilitated for entrepreneurs. Ventures spanning luxury real estate, international government contracts, cannabis and alternative finance.
And the LAPD showed up once.
A $400 million government contract disappeared overnight.
COVID wiped hundreds of millions off the table.
He kept going.
Because here's the thing Peter J. Burns III understood before most founders figure it out:
The only way to lose as an entrepreneur is to quit.
And he never learned how to do that.
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday — The Corporate Life: Billion Dollar Conversations
What you will learn:
Timestamps:
00:00 — Teaser: 200 companies and the personality type behind them
01:30 — Introduction: 50 years of entrepreneurship, never a job
04:16 — Why entrepreneurship is actually about freedom, not money
07:39 — Losing hundreds of millions — and what that actually feels like
14:54 — The Covid wipeout — luxury homes, Vietnam contract, and the LAPD raid
18:09 — The first business: mopeds on Nantucket and the Wall Street Journal
21:48 — How Burns Funding was created and what it does
22:39 — Crossing $1 billion in unsecured funding — what founders misunderstand about capital
25:44 — Instinct vs pattern recognition — how Peter spots opportunities
28:33 — This or That rapid fire
31:34 — What every founder needs to stop lying to themselves about
About Peter J. Burns III:
Peter J. Burns III has founded over 200 companies across five decades and has facilitated more than $1 billion in unsecured funding for entrepreneurs through Burns Funding. He has never held a job, having started his first business at 19 on Nantucket Island after serving in the US Army. His ventures have spanned luxury real estate, international government contracts, cannabis and alternative finance. He holds 30,000 first-degree connections on LinkedIn and fields over 200 inbound emails a day.
Connect with Peter:
Website: https://burnsfunding.com
Book a discovery call: https://burnsfunding.com
Connect with Hina:
Website: https://thehinasiddiqui.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui
Instagram: @hinawithwings
YouTube: @thehinasiddiqui
Email: [email protected]
Books: https://amzn.to/3B65Wz7
Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday.
#PeterJBurns #BurnsFunding #Entrepreneur #200Companies #AlternativeFunding #TheCorporateLifePodcast #HinaSiddiqui #BillionDollarConversations #StartupFunding #NeverGiveUp
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He had the title.
The salary.
The corner office.
Executive Vice President.
And he walked away from all of it.
No plan. No safety net. No income for five years.
Most people would have gone back.
Chris Gibson didn't.
Instead he built something nobody expected — a 500K-subscriber YouTube channel, his own skincare and supplement product lines, and a book on skin health that was ahead of mainstream science before mainstream science caught up.
But this conversation isn't really about skincare.
It's about what happens when a casting agent tells you your skin could end your broadcasting career — and you decide to build an empire around the very thing they said would stop you.
And what five years of zero income actually teaches you about building something that lasts.
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday — The Corporate Life: Billion Dollar Conversations
What you will learn:
Timestamps:
00:00 — Teaser: the 5-year zero income period
01:30 — Who is Chris Gibson
04:40 — The casting agent rejection that changed his career
13:00 — Leaving television and the media frenzy behind
18:44 — The corporate career — EVP to entrepreneur
23:05 — Five years of zero income building the YouTube channel
27:25 — The moment the channel hit 100K — and then 500K
30:54 — Pro-aging vs anti-aging — the industry problem
36:44 — Botox, fillers and what the industry is actually selling
42:35 — This or That rapid fire
44:35 — The one message Chris would leave the world with
About Chris Gibson:
Chris Gibson rose from telephone operator to Executive Vice President before walking away from a corporate career to build independently. He is the founder of a YouTube channel with over 500,000 subscribers focused on skincare, wellness and anti-aging, and the creator of his own skincare and supplement product lines. He is the author of a book on skin health that was adopted ahead of mainstream science on gut health and autophagy.
Connect with Chris Gibson:
YouTube: search Chris Gibson
TikTok: @skincarewithchris
Facebook community: Skin So Fabulous
Connect with Hina:
Website: https://thehinasiddiqui.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui
Instagram: @hinawithwings
YouTube: @thehinasiddiqui
Email: [email protected]
Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday.
#ChrisGibson #Entrepreneur #Skincare #ProAging #AntiAging #YouTubeGrowth #TheCorporateLifePodcast #HinaSiddiqui #BillionDollarConversations #FounderStory #500KSubscribers
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Most people see the title. The platform. The recognition.
Nobody sees the 80% that came before it.
Aditii Handa is the Chairperson of Forttuna Group — one of the most recognisable names in global awards and recognition. But before any of that existed, there were sleepless nights, relentless rejection, and a decision that most people would have walked away from.
This is the story she rarely tells.
From watching her father build his legacy to becoming a female executive in a male-dominated industry — Aditii reveals why failure isn't the opposite of success. It's the foundation of it.
And why the women who make it aren't the ones who avoided the hard moments. They're the ones who stayed in them longest.
What you will learn:
Timestamps:
00:00 — Introduction to Aditii and the essence of failure
05:30 — The reality of entrepreneurship: sleepless nights and coffee jars
12:15 — Navigating societal expectations as a woman in business
18:45 — The importance of delaying gratification for long-term goals
25:00 — Final thoughts on legacy and leaving a mark on the world
Connect with Aditii Handa:
Website: https://www.aditiihanda.com
Forttuna Group: https://forttuna.com/home
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aditiihanda/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditii-handa/
Connect with Hina:
Website: https://thehinasiddiqui.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui
YouTube: @thehinasiddiqui
Email: [email protected]
Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday and Friday.
Send us Fan Mail
He survived a coma. Cancer twice. More than 40 surgeries. His spine is reinforced with titanium.
And then — Michele Brissoni built an AI company.
Together with Alessandro Di Gioia, Michele co-created nWave — an open source AI framework released to the world for free on Valentine's Day 2026. Not because the market told them to. Because after three decades in software — they knew what was broken.
Most companies are adding AI on top of broken systems. Michele and Alessandro are fixing the foundation first.
What you will learn:
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Michele Brissoni is co-founder of nWave, an open source AI-powered software development framework built on nearly three decades of engineering experience across enterprise and startup environments. He has survived a near-fatal accident including a period in a coma, rebuilt from a wheelchair, and brings a human-centred philosophy to AI development that has been tested at Ferrari, Ducati, and across multiple enterprise engagements.
Alessandra Di Gioia is co-founder of nWave and brings a complementary engineering and product background built entirely outside Italy, with a focus on structured, disciplined software delivery. Together they released nWave as open source on Valentine’s Day 2026 with an enterprise tier for organisations requiring governance and advanced features.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Teaser — why they gave 20 years of work away for free
00:13 How Michele and Alessandro found each other — two Italians, same obsession
01:40 What Alessandro sees in Michele that the world doesn’t
04:39 How they challenge each other — the visionary and the craftsman
07:18 Why they released nWave as open source on Valentine’s Day
09:26 What nWave actually does — AI as amplifier, not replacement
14:55 The Renaissance analogy — human-centred software and what it means
17:12 The red pill — the uncomfortable truth most organisations can’t face
20:22 Why putting AI on broken systems makes dysfunction worse
24:08 This or That rapid fire
28:01 The body that failed or the mind that didn’t — Michele’s coma story
34:55 What every founder should do differently tomorrow morning
IMPORTANT LINKS
www.nwave.ai
Book your complimentary Narrative Audit at thehinasiddiqui.com
LinkedIn: Michele Brissoni & Alessandro Di Gioia
Connect with Hina
EMAIL I [email protected]
WEBSITE I https://thehinasiddiqui.com/
LINKEDIN I / hinasiddiqui
INSTAGRAM I @hinawithwings
YOUTUBE I / @thehinasiddiqui
Check out Hina's books: https://amzn.to/3B65Wz7
Send us Fan Mail
Charles Yeomans has raised over $50 million from more than fourteen thousand investors - not a handful of VCs, but a crowdfunded community he communicates with multiple times a week. In this episode, he explains why treating that many backers like a movement instead of a cap table has changed how he builds trust, why he refuses to promise exact dates even when he's confident in the plan, and the one thing he tells every founder pitching for money: nobody cares about your technology.
What You Will Learn
You'll learn how Charles manages investor trust at a scale most founders never encounter, and why he deliberately avoids specific dates even when a milestone is basically locked in. You'll hear the story of the mistake early in his investment banking career that still shapes how carefully he communicates today, and why he believes technical founders lose pitches by talking about how their product works instead of the value it creates. He also breaks down what his AI platform actually does - compressing data so devices can send four times more of it without expensive hardware upgrades - and who's already lining up to use it.
Timestamps
00:00 - How do you manage fourteen thousand investors?
04:38 - Building trust at scale with a crowd, not a boardroom
06:38 - Why Charles never promises an exact date
08:32 - $50M raised and the shift to institutional money
09:11 - Why he came back for one more startup
11:21 - What NerPac actually does, and who needs it
16:19 - The unfair advantage of an investment banking background
17:59 - The story that still keeps him careful
26:43 - The number one mistake founders make when pitching
22:56 - "It's not a straight line" - the title of his story
About the Guest
Charles Yeomans built his career across investment banking, insurance, and Navy intelligence before founding the company behind NerPac and PCM, AI-driven data compression technology used in satellite communications, defense, and connected vehicles. He has raised over $50 million from a crowdfunded base of more than fourteen thousand investors - a structure he manages through frequent, direct communication rather than a traditional handful of board-seat VCs.
Important Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-yeomans-4507a17/?skipRedirect=true
Connect with Hina
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hinasiddiqui
Instagram: @hinawithwings
YouTube: @thehinasiddiqui
Check out Hina's books: https://amzn.to/3B65Wz7
Production Credit: Produced by @the32collective_ / https://www.the32collective.co/
From the publisher's feed
🎬 Every life is a movie - and the Tech CEOs, multimillion-dollar entrepreneurs, and Leading Investors who come here reveal the real story behind their rise.
The…
Every episode uncovers the human story underneath the success - the turning points, reinventions, identity shifts, and billion-dollar decisions that made extraordinary founders, investors, and leaders who they are.
Because the story underneath the success is never the one on the headline. And that story is exactly where real authority lives.
Every life is a movie. Here, we find the scene that changes everything.
Heard in 94 countries · 800+ cities · Top 3% globally · 150+ episodes · 3 seasons.
New episodes every week on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.