The Cort Brady Podcast

If you told me I could only work eight hours a week in my company, I wouldn’t spend it putting out fires. I wouldn’t review P&Ls. I wouldn’t even meet with clients. I’d spend every second on the only two things that actually scale a business: culture and strategy.

In this episode, I walk you through exactly how I’d lead a company working just one day a week—because I’ve done it, and it works. I break down how to recruit A-players, run high-impact one-on-ones, build a metrics-driven executive team, and use thinking time to evangelize strategy that cascades into every corner of the company.

This episode is for any founder stuck in the weeds, overwhelmed with busy work, and looking for a way to scale profitably without being the hero solving every problem.

A viewer wrote in and said:

“We’re changing the culture, the systems, the way we operate… but we have a long-time employee who’s basically family. He’s been here 35 years. He’s close to retirement. Can we just sideline him and make him an exception? Or will that hurt the culture?”

I’ve lived this. And I’ve learned there’s no easy answer. But there is a right way to navigate it.

In this episode, I walk through the exact framework I’d use to handle this situation—with clarity, compassion, and a backbone. I talk about the cost of keeping someone who’s no longer a fit, why your A-players will leave if you tolerate C performance, and how to set metrics, create a fair system, and give people the opportunity to rise—or opt out.

If you’re trying to scale a business and wrestling with loyalty vs performance, this one’s for you.

In this episode of The Cort Brady Podcast, I break down the 3 hidden archetypes that can destroy your team from the inside out:

• The toxic talent you’re too afraid to fire

• The B-average leader who’s “nice” but stalls growth

• The silent C-player who clogs your culture and never leaves

You’ll learn how to spot each one—and what to do right now to protect your business, your A-players, and your future.

If this helped, leave a review. It’s how other founders find this—and get free from the chaos too.

What if you only had three years to either scale, sell, or systematize your company?

Most founders—myself included—try to fix everything at once. That mindset nearly killed my first attempt at transformation. In today’s episode, I walk you through the exact 3-year roadmap I wish I had followed from the beginning—one that can turn your business into a self-managing, highly profitable machine.

Year 1: People, Execution, Cash

Year 2: Differentiated Strategy

Year 3: Advanced Leadership and Blastoff

I’ll break down each phase, how I went from 80-hour weeks to one hour a week, and why doing things out of order creates chaos instead of growth.

This episode explores why winning doesn’t feel as good as losing hurts… and what to do when the thrill fades. The answer? Shift the focus from success for yourself to success for others.

I tell the story of a note I wrote to myself years ago: “My purpose is to make those around me successful.” I forgot it. Today, I remembered—and everything clicked.

If you’ve been grinding but feeling a little lost, this one’s for you.

If you don’t own a business, skip this one. Seriously.

But if you do—and you’ve ever stressed over payroll, vendor bills, or waiting 60+ days to get paid—this episode might save your business.

Today, I’m walking through the real-world tactics I used to tighten our cash cycle, fund growth, and create a negative working capital business—all without raising a dime.

You’ll learn:

• Why “net 30” is a suggestion (and how to get paid in 7)

• How to use credit cards and vendor terms to create a 30–60 day float

• Subscription, onboarding, and credit-based pricing models that boost cash before delivery

• How we negotiated cash-friendly terms with Bank of America—even when they said “no exceptions”

• What Costco and SaaS businesses teach us about cash-first scaling

This isn’t theory. These are scrappy, founder-tested systems that helped me bootstrap to 80 employees—and exit.

Subscribe if you want the unfiltered playbook I wish I had years ago.

This is The Cort Brady Podcast.

Episode 65 – The Pruning Principle: Why Your Team Is Stalling Your Growth

Most founders don’t have a company problem—they have a people problem.

In this episode, I share a powerful conversation I had over lunch with another founder whose $2M business was stuck in neutral. We walked through a brutally honest exercise: “If none of your current employees worked for you, which ones would you go recruit back?” The answers revealed everything.

I unpack the “wilted plant” analogy—why dousing your team with hype and motivation doesn’t work when the real issue is dead branches draining your resources. If you’re hovering at breakeven with 10–20 employees and feel like you’re drowning in drama, this is the episode you need.

You’ll learn:

• Why most businesses stall between $1M and $5M

• A dead-simple litmus test to evaluate your team

• How pruning underperformers can revive your entire company

• What a moaning dog can teach you about taking action

If you know a founder stuck in the same cycle, send this to them. It’s the conversation I wish someone had with me years ago.

Why is it actually easier to build a $200M company than a $2M one?

In this episode, I break down the mindset shift that separates small-time operators from visionary builders—and I start with a story from NFL legend Chuck Noll that will change how you approach leadership forever.

We’ll talk about:

• Why small thinking leads to average hires and survival-mode decisions

• How big vision attracts A-players with 8-figure ambitions

• Why obsessing over small details is only worth it when you’re building something massive

• And why aiming low might be the most dangerous thing you can do as a founder

If you’ve been stuck trying to scale, this episode will challenge you to raise your standards, ask better questions, and build like you’re headed to the Super Bowl.

AT a certain point in your company, your value stops being how much can I do and starts becoming the quality and speed of your decision making.

As founders we get caught in analysis paralysis. This is my framework to make decisions quickly and stick to those decisions.

Strategy doesn’t need to be complicated.

Define winning, create the plan.

Here’s how I approach strategy between $0–$10M