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Is Your Startup a Painkiller or a Vitamin? According to Alchemist Accelerator, this is the most important question a B2B founder can ask. In this interview, Autify CEO Ryo Chikazawa shares the #1 lesson he learned in his accelerator: B2B customers don't buy "vitamins" (nice-to-haves), they only buy "painkillers" that solve a burning need. Learn the process they used to pivot from a vitamin to a painkiller, which involved talking to 80 customers and creating a spreadsheet of their pain points to find their $2.5M seed round idea. Check out the company: https://autify.com

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🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - The Accelerator Mindset

04:00 - The Grind: Applying to YC 3 Times

07:28 - The #1 Lesson: Create a Painkiller, Not a Vitamin

08:30 - What is a "Burning Need"?

10:56 - The Process: How to Find Your Customer's Pain

12:00 - The Pivot: From "Looks Cool" to "I'll Buy It"

14:18 - Preparing for Demo Day

16:00 - The Power of the Accelerator Network

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This is How We Bootstrapped a Marketplace to $20M/Year. It's a rare feat, especially for a two-sided marketplace, but it can be done. In this interview, GreenPal CEO Bryan Clayton shares his complete playbook. Learn why he bootstrapped the business, how he solved the "chicken and egg" problem by "faking the chicken," and why he focused on just one neighborhood in one city for years before expanding. This is a masterclass in pragmatic, profitable growth. Check out the company: https://yourgreenpal.com

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🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - The $20M/Year Lawn Mowing App

05:30 - Why You MUST Bootstrap Your Marketplace First

07:58 - The Playbook: Start in ONE Neighborhood

10:25 - The Only Metric That Matters (Transactions Per Week)

12:54 - How to Solve the "Chicken & Egg" Problem

15:32 - Don't Expand Until You Have 40% Retention

20:40 - The "Get Out of the Building" Philosophy

27:50 - How to Hand-Crank Your First Expansion Market

35:26 - Your Living Room MUST Become a Classroom

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Most founders think selling shares is the only way to get liquidity. There's a better way. Don't Sell Your Stock, Borrow Against It: A Founder's Tax-Free Strategy. After getting "smacked on tax" from selling shares post-IPO, serial entrepreneur Stephen Keighery reveals his new strategy: using a margin loan. Learn how you can borrow against your company stock to access cash without creating a taxable event, and use that capital to diversify into other assets like real estate. We also cover the risks, like margin calls, and how to manage them. Check out the company: https://homebuyerlouisiana.com

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🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - The Founder's Journey: From Broke to IPO

06:04 - Taking Profit: The Decision to Sell Your First Shares

15:13 - Wealth Isn't Money, It's TIME

17:38 - How Entrepreneurs Can Live Rent-Free (The FHA Loan Hack)

19:56 - Why the Government WANTS Inflation

22:18 - The Big Mistake: I Got "Smacked on Tax" After My IPO

22:27 - The Tax-Free Strategy: How Margin Loans Work

23:33 - The #1 Risk of Margin Loans (And How to Avoid It)

26:51 - Real Estate Tax Loopholes (The 1031 Exchange)

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Is The Future of E-Commerce is Inside Video Games? With the gaming industry now worth over $180 billion, brands are finding new ways to reach a massive and engaged audience. In this interview, Shlomi Ben Atar, VP of Marketing for Sayollo, unveils "G-Commerce" (Gaming Commerce). Learn how his company is building in-game shops where players can use achievements to buy real-world products, turning a purchase into a "trophy". This is a look into the next frontier of advertising and online retail. Check out the company: https://sayollo.com

Book a 1-on-1 advisory session with me to apply these principles to your business: https://calendly.com/wltb/advisory

Guest: Matt Barnett, Founder of Bonjoro

Website: https://bonjoro.com

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🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - The Next Frontier: Gaming + E-Commerce

03:28 - What is "G-Commerce"?

06:23 - The Psychology: Turning a Purchase into a "Trophy"

09:25 - Why Gamers Spend 15 Hours Watching Others Play

12:04 - The Future of Advertising is In-Game Billboards

17:32 - Gaming as Therapy: The Social Side of Gaming

20:19 - Why Gaming & E-commerce Exploded During the Pandemic

25:56 - Why eSports are The New Super Bowl

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Most people think having kids is a disadvantage for a founder. This interview explains How Having Kids Forces You to Be a Better Founder. Serial entrepreneur and father of two, Julien Salinas, shares his biggest insight: kids force you to stop working. Those mandatory breaks are when your brain does its best work, leading to better ideas and strategies. Learn how the constraints of parenting can make you more productive and focused, and why it's "totally possible" to launch a business and be a great parent at the same time. Check out the company: https://nlpcloud.com

Book a 1-on-1 advisory session with me to apply these principles to your business: https://calendly.com/wltb/advisory

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🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - Can You Be a Parent AND a Founder?

04:57 - Why Having Kids Motivated Me to Start a Business

07:26 - Planning Your Day Around Your Kids (Not Your Work)

08:09 - The Deal I Made With My Partner

12:26 - Can Your Kids Understand You Need to Work?

16:31 - The #1 Benefit of Having Kids as an Entrepreneur

18:30 - The Danger of Your Brain Never Stopping

20:53 - The Worst Thing About Being a Parent Founder

25:29 - You Don't Have to Quit Your Job to Start

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Here's How to Become an Entrepreneur (When You Feel Stuck in Your Job). For our guest, Alex Armitage, being told he was "unhirable" was the best thing that ever happened to him. That rejection became the "gateway drug" to entrepreneurship, leading him to a life of freedom he never could have found in a corporate job. If you've ever felt trapped and are looking for a way out, this story is for you. Check out the company: https://nectarinecredit.com

Book a 1-on-1 advisory session with me to apply these principles to your business: https://calendly.com/wltb/advisory

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Inquiries: [email protected]

🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - Feeling "Stuck" in a Great Corporate Job

03:00 - The Moment I Became "Unhirable"

04:30 - The Gateway Drug to Entrepreneurship

06:00 - The Truth: Entrepreneurship is Just Managing Problems

08:00 - Why a 9-to-5 Job is "Prison" for Entrepreneurs

10:07 - How a Pair of Stinky Shoes Became My First Business

14:47 - The High-Octane Lifestyle of a Founder

16:07 - Why Entrepreneurs Love to Fix Broken Systems

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What does it really take to go on A Founder's Journey from Pitch Deck to $80 Million? It's a long road with different challenges at every stage. In this interview, Benn Stancil, CEO of Mode Analytics, breaks down his entire fundraising story. Learn why his Series A was the hardest round to raise , how a well-organized "Data Room" can impress VCs and streamline the process , and how taking venture capital puts your company on a "difficult train to stop." Check out the company: https://modeanalytics.com

Book a 1-on-1 advisory session with me to apply these principles to your business: https://calendly.com/wltb/advisory

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Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@seanweisbrot

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Inquiries: [email protected]

🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - How Raising $80M Changes Everything

03:28 - The Seed Round: Raising Money on a Pitch Deck

06:00 - The Hardest Round: Why Series A is a Different Game

10:16 - Later Rounds: The Process Becomes "Mechanical"

13:30 - The "Data Room" Hack That Impresses VCs

17:06 - How to Do Due Diligence on Your Investors

23:06 - The Unstoppable Train of Venture Capital

25:36 - How to Manage Your Board of Directors

33:48 - What I Wish I Knew Before Raising Money

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2021 has been a pretty rough year so far, but I’m finally able to start focusing on what’s coming next because I’ve worked through what has already happened.

00:00 – Intro 

01:11 – A Deep Recap 

04:03 – Changing Habits 

05:04 – Results 

08:20 – Book #1 

09:33 – Book #2 

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#entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #psychology #business #startup #interview #podcast #welivetobuild

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Most startups fail for one reason: they build a great solution to the wrong problem. The secret to product management is to Fall in Love With The Problem, Not Your Solution.In this interview, serial founder and product expert Matt Barnett explains his process for building products that win. Learn why you must go wide on all possible solutions before building anything, how to find the 80% solution with the least amount of work , and his 3-step framework (Necessity, Expansion, Delight) for conceptualizing new features. This is a masterclass in achieving product-market fit. Check out the company: https://bonjoro.com

Book a 1-on-1 advisory session with me to apply these principles to your business: https://calendly.com/wltb/advisory

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Inquiries: [email protected]

🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - The Same Process for Physical & Digital Products

05:40 - The #1 Rule: Start With the Problem, Not the Solution

09:31 - Why "Thinking Slow" Helps You Build Faster

15:17 - The 3 Stages of Feature Conceptualization

18:03 - Why You MUST Charge for Your Product ASAP

27:40 - A Founder's Guide to Hiring a Product Team

33:06 - The "Dream Team" for Product Ideation

41:35 - Protect Your Best Brain: The Founder's #1 Productivity Hack

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Have you ever wondered Why I Joined the 5 AM Club (And How to Start Your Own)? For CEO Anthony Mongeluzo, it was a game-changer that made him more productive, happier, and gave him more mental clarity. In this interview, Anthony shares his simple method for waking up earlier without failing: just set your alarm 15 minutes earlier each week. Learn what to do with your newfound time, why your calendar is your most powerful tool, and how he built a mobile office in his car to reclaim 4 hours a day. Our guest is Anthony Mongeluzo, the founder and CEO of PCS LLC, a 150-person IT consulting firm. Check out the company: https://helpmepcs.com

Book a 1-on-1 advisory session with me to apply these principles to your business: https://calendly.com/wltb/advisory

👀 CONNECT WITH SEAN

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@seanweisbrot

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Inquiries: [email protected]

🕒 CHAPTERS

00:00 - The Most Important Resource in Life (It's Not Money)

06:29 - The #1 Time Management Mistake

09:30 - Why I Joined the 5 AM Club

11:58 - The Unbelievable Productivity of 5 AM

14:00 - How to Start Your Own 5 AM Routine (The 15-Minute Rule)

16:12 - What to Do With Your Extra Time

18:40 - Living By Your Calendar: The Key to Accountability

20:33 - The CEO Who Built an Office in His Car

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