Two entrepreneurs, Kendall Card and Jordan Avner, joined me in Daytona to share raw lessons from building, scaling, and exiting companies. From knowing when to pivot away from what once worked to re-anchoring yourself in your “why” every year, this episode dives into how founders avoid traps and stay aligned.

Hiring is one of the fastest ways to either accelerate or kill your company’s growth.

Here’s the trap most founders fall into:

They hire for experience way too early—and end up burning cash on people who can’t actually move the needle. Or, they only hire for potential—and stall out because no one on the team has been where they’re trying to go.

I’ve lived both mistakes. I’ve built my first company by betting almost entirely on potential—people who were smart, scrappy, and hungry. It worked for a while. But once we hit challenges I’d never faced before, I couldn’t train people into skills I didn’t have myself. That’s when the wheels started to come off.

In this episode, I’ll give you the exact framework I use today—and now teach other CEOs—on when to hire for potential and when to hire for experience. You’ll learn:

• Why potential is the only way to win in the early stages (and how it saves you cash).

• The one scenario where hiring for experience is non-negotiable.

• How to avoid overpaying for talent that looks impressive on paper but won’t deliver results.

• The founder’s rule of thumb for replacing yourself in any role without slowing down growth.

If you’ve ever asked, “Should I bet on this hungry young gun, or pay up for the proven pro?”—this episode gives you the answer.

Most founders waste hours obsessing over competition and market trends. But if your business is under $5M in revenue, that stuff doesn’t move the needle. What does? The hard, simple, internal work—building an A-player team, setting a rhythm, and executing relentlessly. In this episode, I break down the 5 levers that will actually scale your business.

Entrepreneurs everywhere are losing their minds over the same problem:

They can’t get their people to act like owners—and they’re afraid to hold them accountable because they don’t want to lose a “good” employee.

In this episode, I share:

• A surprising WWII story about colorblind cadets that shows how to cut through the noise.

• The #1 system you can put in place tomorrow to spot underperformance instantly.

• Why employees are not entrepreneurs—and why expecting them to “figure it out” is a trap.

• How to balance real relationships with accountability so your team actually performs.

If you’re tired of guessing why your people aren’t delivering, this will give you the clarity and confidence to build a team that wins.

Founders love to believe that commission-only or volunteer hires are harmless.

“They’re free. They can only help.”

Wrong.

They destroy your culture, drive away your A-players, and eat your mental bandwidth. In this episode, I’ll break down why “free” people are actually the most expensive mistake you can make—and the simple filter I use to know exactly who to keep and who to cut.

Every stage of building a company requires a different playbook.

• Startup ($0–$250K): Your job is to learn. Do everything yourself. Don’t outsource. The goal isn’t efficiency—it’s understanding.

• Sell ($250K–$1M): Your job is to sell. Strip away everything that keeps you from closing deals. Outsource everything except sales and product.

• Scale ($1M+): Your job is to build. Build the team, the strategy, and the execution system that makes growth sustainable.

Most founders miss this. They scale too soon—or they never scale at all. In this session, I’ll show you how to recognize which playbook you’re in, avoid the wrong activities, and make the hard shifts that actually move your company forward.

Most founders set goals based on outside pressure—what investors, books, or podcasts say they should want. But real freedom comes when you define what you actually want, and then give it a clear definition of “done.”

In this episode, I share a simple framework to set bold, inspiring goals that also come with measurable outcomes and deadlines. You’ll learn:

• How to choose goals that are yours—not someone else’s

• Why shortening timelines forces clarity and focus

• The exact process to turn your big, audacious vision into something your team can rally behind

If you’ve ever felt trapped in a business that was supposed to set you free, this framework is your way out.

I’ve been on both extremes of the morning routine game—hours of journaling, supplements, “touching grass”… and the opposite, rolling out of bed and diving straight into work. Both had benefits. Both had costs.

What I’ve landed on is a routine that’s simple, grounded, and actually drives performance. In this episode, I break down the exact structure of my mornings—from prayer and scripture study, to reviewing my personal constitution and future-self letter, to aligning my daily plan with my long-term vision, to recording this very podcast.

The big lesson? You don’t need hype or hacks. You need a repeatable anchor that keeps you from drifting.

Everyone talks about the morning routine. Few talk about the wind down. But here’s the truth: how you end your day determines how you show up tomorrow—for your team and your family.

In this episode, I share the wind down routine that saved me from chronic stress as a founder, helped me sleep deeper, gave me more energy, and made me a better husband and dad.

I’ll walk you step by step through the 20-minute process I used to:

• Clear my mind and inbox so I could fully unplug

• Reconnect to my goals and reset after chaotic days

• Plan tomorrow with intention (instead of waking up reactive)

• Practice presence so I could give my best to my family

• Protect my energy by setting real boundaries with my phone

If you’re a founder doing over $1M in revenue but not yet hitting $1M in profit—and you’re always “on”—this routine is a game changer.

Being a CEO is one of the loneliest jobs in the world. You try to share the load—hire a co-founder, bring key people into your inner circle—but the truth is, your risk profile, investment, and incentives are different from everyone else’s. In this episode, I break down why involving employees in big decisions almost always backfires, the step-by-step process I use to make tough calls, and how to present them in a way that keeps your team aligned and motivated. If you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying the weight of your business alone, this one’s for you.