Dan shares the loop that's quietly shaped his career over the last 12 years: ask someone you trust for one thing to work on, find a book on it, and go back to thank them. Simple in theory. Hard in practice when your ego is in the way.

In this episode:

• Why the best feedback comes when everyone's in a good mood — not at a review
• How Dan turned "you leave dead bodies everywhere" into a real lesson
• The book that changed how he thinks about people: The Anatomy of Peace
• Why thanking the person who gave you hard feedback is the whole point

Chapters:

00:00 | Intro: What happens when a growth mindset collides with an ego that hates feedback

00:33 | How to ask for feedback in a way that actually gets you a real answer

00:53 | Why timing matters: asking when things are good versus when you're already upset

01:43 | What to do after you get the feedback: find the book, find the expert

02:30 | The blind spot Dan keeps hitting: forgetting how human everyone around him is

03:23 | What Ryan Smith meant when he told Dan "you leave dead bodies everywhere you go"

04:15 | Why The Anatomy of Peace changed how Dan thinks about people in his organization

05:02 | The full loop: ask, receive, read, apply, and thank the person who told you the truth

Submit a topic

If you're walking into a meeting and leading with "the CEO said we need to do this" — you're not leading. Dan breaks down why quoting authority that isn't in the room is one of the fastest ways to lose your team's respect, and what to say instead.

In this episode:

• Why name-dropping your boss undermines your own authority
• How to take ownership of a message even when it came from above you
• The difference between inspiring your team and just enforcing someone else's rules
• What your team is actually thinking when you hide behind someone else's name

Chapters

00:00 | Intro: The habit that quietly kills your authority as a leader

00:35 | Why quoting an absent leader signals you don't trust your own opinion

01:04 | What it sounds like when you hide behind the CEO instead of owning the message

01:33 | How to say the same thing in your own voice and actually lead

02:22 | What changes when your team knows you have an opinion worth considering

03:03 | The worst version of this: undercutting others in group meetings

03:57 | How your team reads a leader who relies on someone else's authority

04:19 | The one way quoting up is actually fine and what it sounds like

Submit a topic

Dan's been thinking about this one all day. AI is already changing parts of his business — but most of his team hasn't touched it yet. This episode is his challenge to every founder and leader to stop watching and start building.

In this episode:

• Why Dan is making AI application-building an OKR for every team member
• No-code tools you can use today for under $1,000 — or free
• Real use cases: dashboards, project management, proposals, fundraising, recruiting
• How Dan built his own pipeline forecasting app for $20/month

Chapters:

00:00 | Intro: The AI opportunity most companies are only halfway using

00:32 | The OKR Dan is rolling out: every team member builds one AI application this quarter

01:30 | No code, low cost: what's now available for under $1,000

01:49 | The tools Dan recommends for marketing, dashboarding, and business apps

02:32 | Use case one: building a custom business dashboard without buying new software

03:13 | Use case two: project management with red, yellow, green tracking built your way

04:17 | Use case three: proposals, fundraising, event planning, and recruiting pipelines

05:00 | The challenge: go build one AI application this quarter and see what it changes

Submit a topic

⁠⁠⁠Suggest a topic here.

Dan's walking through Lehigh before his next meeting, sharing something that happened with his son the day before. A simple admission changed everything between them.

In this episode:

• Why telling your kid "I don't know what I'm doing" is one of the most powerful things you can say
• How dropping the need to have all the answers opened up a real conversation
• What happened that night that made it one of Dan's best days as a dad

Chapters:

00:00 | Intro: A moment with his son that hit differently

00:35 | Dan's story: six kids, two marriages, and what fatherhood actually looks like

01:47 | The conversation he decided to have with Ethan before going into his next meeting

02:08 | Telling a 16-year-old: I don't know what I'm doing and that's okay

02:53 | Why Dan stopped expecting his son to do things his way

03:17 | Opening the door: giving your kid permission to push back

04:01 | What happened that night that made it all worth it

__

This podcast is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DataBased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Book a meeting.

🧠 Are you a me, a we, or an it? Take the test → https://content.databased.com/me-we-it-type-quiz

Dan's driving back from Las Vegas — car on autopilot, honest mode on. He's sharing a mistake he's repeated more than once: getting so locked into solving the business problem that he forgot to bring people along with him.

In this episode:

• The me/we/it framework that changed how Dan thinks about teams
• Why being great at the work isn't enough if you're losing the room
• How neglecting cross-functional relationships ended consulting projects early
• What Dan is actively doing now to close that gap

Work with DataBased → DataBased Recruiting⁠ | ⁠DataBased Consulting⁠Chapters:

00:00 | Intro: A repeat failure Dan is still working to fix

00:34 | The three types: Me, We, and It — and where Dan lands

01:38 | How being an "It" person shows up in client work and why it costs him

02:55 | The cross-functional blind spot: where Dan does it well and where he struggles

03:18 | What happens when you fix the process but skip the relationships

03:45 | What Dan is doing differently now: gratitude, recognition, and slowing down to build

04:55 | How to build a team that balances all three types

Most founders hit Series A and make the same hire: a VP of Sales. It feels like the right move. It's usually not. Dan breaks down exactly how that decision turns into a $1M+ mistake — and what to do instead.

In this episode:

• Why hiring a VP of Sales before you're ready costs you far more than their salary
• The 75% failure rate founders keep ignoring
• How losing one VP can take $1.5M in quota with them
• What the right hire actually looks like at your stage

📄 See what overhiring a senior leader actually costs you → https://content.databased.com/lp/vp-of-sales-hiring-mistake

Work with DataBased → DataBased Recruiting | DataBased ConsultingChapters:

00:00 Intro: The million dollar mistake founders and CEOs keep making

00:36 Why hiring a VP of sales too early costs you more than you think

01:41 The true cost of a top VP: $750K salary plus significant equity dilution

02:24 Why a sales manager does the job better at half the price

03:13 The 75% failure rate on early VP of sales hires and what it triggers

03:40 The loyalty problem: when the VP leaves, their reps leave with them

04:00 The quota math: what fully ramped reps walking out the door actually costs

05:13 How DataBased helps founders hire the right seniority from the start

⁠⁠⁠Suggest a topic here.

The right blend is the one that actually fits your life, your relationships, and what you're building right now.

Dan shares how his own blend has shifted over the years and why the version that works today looks nothing like the one that worked fifteen years ago.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: What work-life blend actually means and why it looks different for everyone

00:34 The first 15 years: flying out Sunday, coming back Friday, and why that worked then

01:17 What changed after remarrying and why the 7AM start no longer fits

02:27 What a team member noticed when Dan's family started showing up at the office

03:06 How to find your own blend instead of borrowing someone else's version

04:37 Why taking less money for the right blend will make you happier than chasing the number

Don't take someone else's prescription. Find the blend that fits you and build around it.

This podcast is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DataBased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform.

⁠⁠⁠Suggest a topic here.

Two interactions in one night reminded Dan of something that never stops being true: the businesses and salespeople who actually care about the customer always win, and the ones chasing the deal always wonder why they keep losing it.

This one is for anyone in sales or customer success who wants a reminder that genuine care is still the sharpest competitive edge you have, especially as AI takes over everything else.

Chapters:

00:00 | Intro: Cold Stone, O'Reilly Auto Parts, and what both got right tonight

00:39 | Why too many salespeople focus on the deal instead of the customer

01:24 | The O'Reilly effect: recommending the cheaper product and earning a customer for life

02:40 | The Cold Stone moment that made Dan think about what actually differentiates a business

03:27 | The Qualtrics story: promising Mariana he would not stop until she won

04:38 | The $5K deal that turned into a quarter-million dollar customer over three years

05:23 | Why caring is the last differentiator AI cannot replicate

If you differentiate by caring, you will win the day.

This podcast is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DataBased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Book a meeting.

⁠⁠Suggest a topic here.⁠⁠⁠

Dan's in Henderson, Nevada thinking about one of the simplest productivity shifts he's made as a leader: replacing sitting-down meetings with walking meetings, and stacking virtual one-on-ones with errands, school drop-offs, and low-intensity cardio.

If you're running eight one-on-ones a week and dreading every Zoom call, this one is for you. And if you're a leader who wants a more energized, present team, the move is simple: stop requiring people to sit at a desk for every internal meeting and let them move instead.

Chapters:

00:00 | Intro: Why sitting through back-to-back virtual meetings is killing your energy

00:55 | How walk and talk 1:1s led to more creativity and more presence

01:34 | Real examples: school drop-offs, grocery runs, and treadmill cardio as meeting time

02:25 | How to audit your own week for low-cardio or errand windows you can stack with meetings

03:10 | What leaders gain when they enable their teams to do the same thing

04:03 | The one non-negotiable when doing walking meetings: cameras on

04:44 | Why moving during a meeting actually increases focus, not decreases it

You had the meeting anyway. You might as well be moving.

This podcast is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DataBased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Book a meeting.

⁠⁠Suggest a topic here.⁠⁠

Dan's at the Grand America in Salt Lake for an annual investment conference, and what's on his mind is something most high performers never slow down to think about: what do you actually do with the money you're earning?

This episode is Dan's personal playbook for building financial stability and diversifying risk, from paying off his first home in two years to the two investment firms he trusts with his own money.

Chapters:

00:00 | Intro: An investment conference and why Dan wanted to share this one

00:39 | The core commitment: bet on people and your own work ethic, not on your ability to pick assets

01:28 | Why Dan paid off his first home in two years and what that unlocked

02:09 | The five-year rule for every property he buys, investment or otherwise

02:44 | How Dan moved from his first home to a fourplex, and the budget discipline behind it

03:14 | Millburn and Company: what Dan looks for in an investment firm before trusting them with anything

04:18 | Sumit Guthrie and Original Capital: investing with people whose incentives are fully aligned with yours

Pick the right people. Let them do what they're great at. Focus on what you're great at.

This podcast is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠DataBased⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform.

⁠⁠⁠⁠Book a meeting.