The Cort Brady Podcast

Founders, we fall into the same trap over and over—what psychologists call fundamental attribution error. We misdiagnose the problem, so we chase the wrong solutions. When we fail, we blame the market. When someone else fails, we blame their character. In business, this mistake kills us because we keep attributing the wrong inputs to the outcomes we want.

In this episode, I share a conversation with a founder doing millions in revenue but stuck with no profit and no freedom. The issue wasn’t revenue, projects, or customers—it was people. Wrong people in the wrong seats. And when asked how much time he spent fixing that? His answer was zero.

If you want growth without chaos, stop misattributing your outcomes. Focus on the only three levers that matter:

• People: Right talent in the right seats

• Strategy: Clarity and direction

• Execution system: Coaching, accountability, and rhythm

Get these right, and everything else gets easier—or unnecessary.

After 200 straight days of recording, I’ve learned one truth: business growth isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing fewer things better. In this milestone episode, I share the biggest lessons from the journey so far:

• Why timing matters in each stage of growth (learning → selling → leading a team).

• The two things every CEO must own—culture and strategy.

• How people, strategy, and execution systems determine your company’s destiny.

If you’re ready to scale with less drama and more freedom, this episode is the playbook.

As founders, we often operate on beliefs that feel true

—but are dead wrong. These logical fallacies quietly limit growth, drain energy, and keep you stuck in founder prison. In this episode, I share the 7 biggest fallacies I believed while building Aspen-and how breaking them unlocked profit, freedom, and balance.

From "If I build it, they will come" to "Success is linear," I'Il show you the lies we tell ourselves and the truths that actually build self-sustaining, profitable companies.

Every founder has heard the advice: “Work on your business, not in your business.” But what does that actually mean in practice? In this episode, I break it down into four clear targets:

1. Build and align the right team (100% A-players in leadership, 90% company-wide).

2. Craft a differentiated, customer-centric strategy that everyone in your company can repeat in one phrase.

3. Install an execution rhythm that drives accountability, accurate data, and consistent coaching.

4. Make emotionally difficult decisions with clarity and conviction.

This is the blueprint for scaling without drama—so you can step out of the weeds and build a business that thrives without you.

Behind every great visionary is an integrator who makes the dream real. In this episode, we break down Gino Wickman’s Rocket Fuel concept with famous examples — Jobs & Cook at Apple, Walt & Roy Disney, Ray Kroc & Fred Turner at McDonald’s, Gates & Ballmer at Microsoft, and more. You’ll see how the right combo of dreamer + doer can transform chaos into unstoppable momentum. If you’ve ever felt like your ideas outpace your systems, this is the episode you need.

Have you ever promoted your top performer—only to watch them and their team crash? That’s the Peter Principle in action. In this episode, I break down what it is, where it came from, and why it quietly kills morale, performance, and culture in growing companies. More importantly, I’ll give you the four steps to avoid it—so your best people keep winning and your business keeps scaling. This is the episode I wish I had at 8, 20, and 40 employees.

Why do we keep bad hires, bad clients, or bad strategies alive long after they’ve failed us? It’s the sunk cost fallacy—our brain’s trick that makes us double down just because we’ve already invested time, money, and energy. In this episode of The Cort Brady Podcast, I break down what the sunk cost fallacy is, how it keeps founders stuck, and the exact framework I use to cut losses, pivot faster, and make clean decisions. If you’re holding onto something just because of what you’ve already spent, this episode will help you let it go—and free your business to grow.

Every CEO struggles with the same tension: how do you hold your team accountable without turning into an interrogator—and still show up as a supportive coach? In this episode, I share the biggest mistakes I’ve made, like failing to define success up front or letting weeks go by without looking at the metrics. I’ll walk through a simple prevention system: set clear definitions of great, good, and poor performance from the start, track the numbers weekly (even when it feels boring), and use that consistency to coach instead of react. The goal isn’t catching problems after the fact—it’s building a rhythm that lets you support your people and avoid blindsides. This one is just as much for me as it is for you.

Most founders I meet want to avoid selling. They’ll spend thousands on venues, food, consultants—then shrug and say, “I’m just not good at sales.” Here’s the truth: if you’re under $3M in revenue, you must be the one who sells. Customers, employees, investors—it’s your job to win them over. In this episode, I’ll break down why outsourcing sales early kills companies and the only two viable paths forward.

I was doing millions in revenue before I even knew who my core customer was. Sounds insane, right?

Here’s the truth: if you don’t know your core customer, you’re building your business on sand. You’ll end up trying to please everyone and serving no one. That’s exactly what happened to me—until I got clear.

In this episode, I’ll share:

• How we accidentally built for the wrong customer and created the perfect product nobody wanted.

• The moment a coach forced me to answer the hard question: “Who do you actually serve best?”

• Stories from Jeff Bezos and Shannon Susko that will change how you think about strategy forever.

• Why Amazon’s first value is customer obsession—and why yours should be too.

If you want revenue growth, profitability, and a team that knows exactly who they’re serving—start with your core customer.