Today, I share my podcast conversation with Mark Mears—an author, consultant, and enlightened leader.

After a career in senior marketing roles such as Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and The Cheesecake Factory, Mark turned a major disappointment into an opportunity to fully follow his calling.

He shares inspiring messages about the best behavior of team leaders and provides insights on his shift from C-level VIP to consulting solopreneur.

No one starts a company expecting to be sued by their biggest competitor. Maybe we should…

Almost no one publicly shares what it’s like to go through it when it happens. But today, I’m opening the vault to share my experience defending against a punch below the belt.

Just push play to hear the whole story…

And if you have a moment, please share this post with an entrepreneur you know. Small business owners need all the help they can get against competitors lacking honor. My story might come in handy when a lawsuit lands in their laps.

“Allergies are a secret plague to millions of people. We deserve to breathe, and we founded Wyndly to help you.”

It's a pretty darn good elevator speech.

Today, I share my podcast conversation with Aakash Shah, a first-time founder who is building a startup in an enlightened way. There are at least three reasons why I think you’re going to enjoy this episode:

If you’re early in your career or thinking about launching your own business, Aakash shares a journey and tips that might help you get a head start.

Wyndly is a fascinating example of a tech-enabled service that re-thinks the typical business model.

Aakash reminds us that our companies have a greater responsibility to their customers, especially in healthcare.

We agreed that success looks like reaching just one person. Maybe that’s you!

I’ve been sitting on a couple of posts that I am particularly excited about—but I’m stopping everything to share a story from a friend that motivates the hell out of me.

There are jerk bosses, and there are really awful, horrible bosses. This is about the latter.

Business philosopher Naval describes our purpose in life: “To reverse local entropy.” That’s a short and fancy way of saying: “The world is always going to s**t, so grab a shovel and do your part to improve it while you’re here.”

Jerk bosses are just one of the many ways that things can seem to turn to s**t. Those of us in business can reverse local entropy. Be a great leader—and put the jerks out of business.

You ARE significant, and we need you to keep reaching for that shovel each day.

The biennial BLINK light show returned to Cincinnati last weekend. It’s a time when our city literally shines, and we are united in a love for the town and its creativity.

The event reminded me of the time my team took the initiative to boost our startup culture by painting our office walls during a dark time.

Whether it’s a struggling company or a city with challenges, investing to spruce things up is not necessarily painting over problems.

Problems cannot be solved overnight and are often out of our control. But taking action to improve our surroundings can spark feelings of pride. Pride can give us the confidence and energy to move past fear and dig into solving our problems.

Celebrating success is essential, as is celebrating our existence together.

Today I've got a special treat: a discussion with Evan LaPointe, a 5x company founder who is on a mission to help us bring a better mental game to the workplace. His current company, CORE Sciences, is a modern, science-driven way of training and coaching your team to be their best.

We had a wide-ranging and fast-moving discussion about a new mental model for leadership. Some teasers from our conversation:

“I served a 3.5-year sentence at Adobe.”

“You can be the best”

“Modern leadership is mental-first.”

“Manager: First, do no harm.”

Just push play and enjoy!

Don't let your assumptions about others' greatness kick you in the ass.

My story of the Big Agency pitch and learning that everyone is making things up as they go along.

Ever heard of The Costanza Principle? It’s another piece of genius from Seinfeld. As you might recall, it’s the realization that when every decision you make fails, the right path might be to do the opposite.

I learned this the hard way in my first startup experience.

We did everything our investors, peers, and industry stars said we should do—and we completely sh*t the bed.

This is my story of learning an even more profound lesson in the writing process—that my Fear prevented me from seeing reality and doing the right thing…

Yes, I am a nerd. But I also care about inspiring entrepreneurs.

After watching a promising founder give up on their dream before giving it a try, I thought about the stories that will now never be told.

And I wondered...Where would we be without stories of the Hero’s Journey?

So, this is a short sort of fan fiction—an alternative story of The Hobbit in which Bilbo refuses the call to adventure.

Apologies to JRR, but perhaps an inspiration for you.

This is a guest post by my friend Paul Koop, a father who recently founded his first software startup.

What started with a text exchange led to Paul taking me up on the idea of sharing his early impressions of the startup journey—and its similarity with early parenthood.

A key theme: You’re never really “ready.”

Check out Paul’s post. As a bonus, in this podcast version, we have a sit-down conversation that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.