Épisodes

  • It Took 25 Years to Get Here

    It Took 25 Years to Get Here
    Mar 24 2026
    Given everything going on in the world, you might expect a rough start to the year. But for Paul Downs, Jennifer Kerhin, and Jaci Russo, 2026 has actually begun quite well. In fact, Jennifer and Jaci say they’re finally climbing out of what many owners call the Valley of Death—that long stretch when the business depends on you for everything and when it starts to outgrow your people and your systems. Exiting the valley can take a lot longer than people expect. Jennifer is seeing daylight in year 17. Paul says it took him 25 years, a quarter of a century. “Most of that time,” he admits, “I was just wallowing in ignorance.” One lesson they’ve learned the hard way: growing too fast can do real damage. “You burn out your employees,” Jennifer says. “You provide poor quality control to your clients. You make everybody upset and angry.”

    Along the way, the three owners cover a lot of ground: what actually makes trade shows worth the investment (hint: it’s what you do before and after), why you may not be able to copyright that graphic design, why your logo needs a trademark, why Paul’s Google traffic is holding up but his Middle East expansion is on hold, what Jaci has uncovered about the shocking cost gap in health insurance for her female employees, and why it’s insane that business owners have to manage their employees’ health insurance in the first place. It’s a wide-ranging conversation—but underneath it all is a theme most owners will recognize: Progress doesn’t always come from big breakthroughs. Sometimes it comes from surviving long enough to figure things out.
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    50 min
  • Dashboard: The Case Against Pay for Performance

    Dashboard: The Case Against Pay for Performance
    Mar 20 2026
    For most business owners, rewarding employees for doing their jobs well is just common sense. Hit your numbers, get a bonus. Sell more, earn more. Perform better, get paid more. That’s how motivation works…right?This week, management consultant Kelly Allan asks owners to reconsider that assumption. Allan is steeped in the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, the management thinker widely credited with inspiring Japan’s post–World War II industrial revival. Deming argued that pay-for-performance systems don’t actually improve performance. Instead, they create unintended consequences—encouraging people to chase metrics, compete with colleagues, and optimize the wrong things.In Deming’s view—and in Allan’s—performance isn’t primarily about individuals at all. It’s about the system they work in. In our conversation, Kelly explains why incentives often backfire and how owners who are curious can begin experimenting with a different approach.
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    45 min
  • For Business Owners, It’s One Battle After Another

    For Business Owners, It’s One Battle After Another
    Mar 17 2026
    It’s already been quite a decade for owners: a pandemic, inflation, tariffs, and now, suddenly, war with Iran—bringing with it the biggest spike in oil prices ever. And looming over everything is the still-uncertain impact of artificial intelligence. This week, David C. Barnett, Jay Goltz, and Ted Wolf talk about how all that uncertainty is shaping the decisions owners are making right now—from whether it’s wise to invest in new equipment to how some lenders are demanding that would-be borrowers articulate their AI strategy before obtaining a loan.

    The implications of all of this vary by industry, but Dave says some sectors suddenly look a lot riskier than they did a year ago. “I don't know if I'd want to get a 90-percent loan to buy a marketing agency today,” he says. At the same time, the economics of AI could push owners to move faster than they might otherwise. As Dave notes, if a $10,000 or $20,000 investment in AI can quickly replace two positions, that’s the kind of return many owners will find hard to ignore when expenses are rising.

    Along the way, the three discuss why periods like this can also create unexpected opportunities. Keep your eyes open, Dave advises. “A lot of those opportunities may come from a competitor stumbling.”Plus: what happens when business owners suddenly realize they should have been collecting sales tax all along. Do you pay the back taxes yourself? Start collecting now and hope for the best? Or is there a smarter way to fix the problem?
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    46 min
  • Dashboard: Does Entrepreneurship Have a Perception Problem?

    Dashboard: Does Entrepreneurship Have a Perception Problem?
    Mar 13 2026
    It does in this sense, says Victor Hwang, founder of Right to Start, an advocacy group that works to expand entrepreneurial opportunity: While starting a business can be daunting, many Americans assume it’s even more daunting than it actually is. For six years, Victor and his organization have tried to address that concern by removing barriers to entry and spreading awareness of entrepreneurial opportunities. In this episode, Victor discusses the progress Right to Start has made, including significant recent steps in Oklahoma. He also has big plans for the 250th celebration of what he likes to call America’s startup.
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    22 min
  • What’s Harder Now: Getting a Job or Starting a Business?

    What’s Harder Now: Getting a Job or Starting a Business?
    Mar 10 2026
    Despite the waves of uncertainty crashing across the economy, this week we hear from three owners who feel cautiously good about how their year has started. David C. Barnett budgeted for slightly less revenue in 2026, but he’s operating more efficiently and expects to turn a bigger profit. Jaci Russo is hitting her revenue projections—and after implementing a profit-first accounting system, she says the results have been “eye-opening.” And while Lena McGuire isn’t quite on track to meet her aggressive goal of doubling her business this year, she’s doing far better than she did a year ago.

    Along the way, we talk about getting runaway software subscriptions under control, figuring out how businesses get discovered in an AI world, and why Jaci’s health plan charges almost three times as much to cover female employees as it does comparable male employees. And we consider a question that might have sounded ridiculous not long ago: Has it become harder to get a job than it is to start a business?
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    43 min
  • Dashboard: Can a Digital Bank Deliver for Business Owners?

    Dashboard: Can a Digital Bank Deliver for Business Owners?
    Mar 6 2026
    In this sponsored conversation, Mike Butler, CEO of Grasshopper Bank, argues that business owners shouldn’t have to choose between speed and stability when it comes to their bank. Grasshopper has no branches, but it does offer full-service lending — with the quick decisions you might expect from an alternative lender and the rates you’d expect from a traditional one.Butler also explains how the bank is using AI to simplify everyday tasks — like finding a specific transaction in seconds instead of digging through statements — and we talk about a question many owners still wonder about: Do you lose something when you give up the local banker relationship? Along the way, we discuss which businesses are the best fit for Grasshopper, what customers actually value most, and why Butler decided to merge the bank with a larger company, Enova.
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    32 min
  • When Your Business and Your Values Collide

    When Your Business and Your Values Collide
    Mar 3 2026
    For the past six years, we’ve done our best to avoid talking politics on this podcast. By focusing on the business realities owners confront every day, we’ve tried to create a space where people with very different perspectives—from different industries and different parts of the country—can still learn from one another. That’s something we take seriously. But we also live in the real world. And lately, the real world has been making that separation harder.

    On this episode, Paul Downs, Kate Morgan, and Liz Picarazzi talk about those moments when business and personal beliefs collide—and when staying silent may not feel like an option. They’ve each faced uncomfortable questions: What do you do when an employee says something you find objectionable? Are there customers you simply won’t work with? How do you stay true to your values without putting your company at risk? There are no easy answers here. And not everyone will agree on where the line should be drawn. But as always, there’s real value in seeing how other owners handle tricky situations.
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    42 min
  • We Can’t Afford to Wait on AI

    We Can’t Afford to Wait on AI
    Feb 26 2026
    A lot of business owners are taking a wait-and-see approach with artificial intelligence. They’ve heard the hype—but they’ve also heard about the slop, the hallucinations, and the research suggesting many AI projects fail to deliver. For plenty of owners, that’s reason enough to assume this might be another passing obsession—like Y2K, Clubhouse, or the metaverse—and to sit back until the dust settles.

    But not these three owners: David C. Barnett, Jaci Russo, and William Vanderbloemen have decided that waiting is the bigger risk. They’re taking courses, they’re teaching courses, they’re building agents, and they’re rethinking processes and workflows—all in search of an edge that may not be available forever. And they’re already seeing results.

    In this episode, they share what’s actually working so far, including some early experiments that could reduce their reliance on Google AdWords. They also talk candidly about what they won’t do with AI, how they sidestep the slop, and why each of them believes this is one of those rare moments when experimentation isn’t optional.
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    44 min