A corporate interview is a process you can prepare for. A meeting with the owner is something else entirely — and the things that got you hired before are exactly what will lose you the job now. The Other Side, Episode 3 of Different Rules: what owners actually evaluate, and the five mistakes that sink strong candidates.

Eighty-five percent of more than a thousand respondents chose to pay a consultant ten thousand dollars for a result over five hundred dollars upfront with no guarantees. It looks like financial literacy — until you run the arithmetic. In this episode, Mike Torchinsky unpacks what the poll actually measured: not preferences about payment, but anxiety, mistrust, and an unspoken request candidates rarely put into words.

You updated your LinkedIn, sent your CV to the recruiters you know, answered a few postings. And nothing's happening. The problem isn't you, and it isn't the market — it's that you're searching for a job, when what you actually need to find is an owner.

This episode is about where executive roles in private business really live, and why most of them stay invisible until you're already inside the right circle.

Half of my conversations with corporate executives end the same way: "I've been thinking about going private." Most of them aren't ready. This is The Other Side — an 8-episode series covering every stage of the transition from corporate to private business.

Episode 1 is about the very beginning: figuring out if the idea is real, what's actually driving it, and what you're putting on the line before you take a single step.

Europe has the best working conditions in the world — and the least engaged workforce on earth. Gallup puts it at thirteen percent. Eighty-seven percent of European workers feel nothing about their jobs. They're not miserable. They're not lazy. They just don't care. This episode looks at why the system that was built to protect workers might be the very thing that killed their motivation.

Entry-level jobs are disappearing. Degrees are losing their value. And the safest career move in 2026 might be the one no parent wants to hear. A former programmer quit tech to become an electrician — and now earns more than he ever did in IT. This episode is about what's actually working, and what parents need to rethink before it's too late.

Candidates aren't petitioners—they’re guests. In this episode, Mike Torchinsky challenges the outdated power dynamic of the "employer’s market." If you treat a job offer like a gift you’re "granting" to a candidate, you’ve already lost. Learn how to reframe your final-stage negotiations to treat high-level talent with the respect they deserve and close the deals that matter.

Bots, pods, engagement bait, AI-generated posts — there's a whole industry selling LinkedIn tactics that make senior professionals look desperate.

I break down the worst offenders and explain why the people you're trying to impress see right through it.

There are three types of candidates for every senior role. Two of them are useful. Only one actually changes anything. This episode breaks down the difference — and explains why some people walk away from nine-figure offers to stay where the work feels like theirs.

In 1960, a cargo ship needed 45 crew. Today, the same job takes 13 engineers — and you can't just pick up a replacement at the next port. What happened to shipping over 60 years is happening to companies right now, in about 5 years. As AI automates more, teams shrink and everyone who remains becomes irreplaceable.

So who's actually responsible for keeping those people? Mike Torchinsky on a role that most companies don't have yet — but will need.