Founder's Journal

Alex talks through the science of procrastination, his own journey with it, and tools he uses to take charge of it. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:33) Why we procrastinate (5:23) Cognitive biases (6:28) Hyperbolic discounting (7:21) Temptation bundling (8:40) Social commitments (10:00) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Cognitive Biases: https://foundersjournalpod.morningbrew.com/13-dangerous-psychological-biases/ • Pomodoro Method: https://foundersjournalpod.morningbrew.com/my-favorite-productivity-method/ Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex walks through limiting beliefs he’s faced from childhood through entrepreneurship as well as his process for healthily navigating them. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (2:57) Exploring Limiting Beliefs (3:48) High School Limiting Beliefs (5:01) Morning Brew Limiting Beliefs (8:07) Post-Exit Limiting Beliefs (9:13) Understanding and Addressing Limiting Beliefs (16:14) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex breaks down how quarterly offsites are run at his companies & what separates great offsites from royal wastes of time. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (4:09) General thoughts on offsites (4:48) Well run vs. unproductive offsite (5:29) Key leadership roles (7:25) Sticking to the program (8:50) Item 1: Check-in (9:30) Item 2: Previous quarter review (10:35) Item 3: Review V/TO (12:01) Item 4: Go through EOS tools (12:28) EOS Tool 1: Organizational check-up (13:16) EOS Tool 2: Accountability chart (13:55) EOS Tool 3: People analyzer (16:10): Item 5: Setting next quarter rocks (16:50): Item 6: Identify, discuss, solve (18:58): Item 7: Next steps (19:18): Item 8: Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Visionary vs integrator: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/95591-traction-thoughts-integrators-visionaries • Rocks: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/managing-quarterly-rocks • Scorecard: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/measured-managed#:~:text=The%20Scorecard%20provides%205%E2%80%9315,track%20to%20hit%20its%20goals. • V/TO: hhttps://www.eosworldwide.com/vto-ty • Organizational Check-up: https://organizationalcheckup.com/oc/quiz.php?ucode=anonymous • Accountability chart: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/accountability-chart-or-organizational-chart • People Analyzer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MSVMM6bwCw • GWC: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/difference-between-capacity-and-get-it • Making rocks SMART: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/tips-writing-smart-rocks • IDS: https://www.eosworldwide.com/implementer-posts/an-eos-implementers-guide-on-how-to-ids-identify-discuss-and-solve Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex breaks down a leaked internal memo by Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify. The memo details Tobi’s view on AI, expectations of how Shopify employees will use AI, and six AI action items for the company, top-down. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:32) Shopify CEO AI interest (4:48) Leaked AI Memo (6:03) AI step function change (8:18) What is reflexive AI? (9:45) Point 1: AI is an expectation (9:05) Point 2: Prototyping requires AI (11:03) Point 3: AI performance reviews (11:40) Point 4: Share AI learnings (12:29) Point 5: AI before human (13:52) Point 6: AI adoption is required to-down (14:08): Use this memo as an instruction manual — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Link: • Shopify CEO memo: https://x.com/tobi/status/1909251946235437514 Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex shares his 6 strategies for identifying business ideas. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:34) Business ideas are everything (5:21) How I find business ideas (6:25) Turning brain off autopilot (7:43) Friction finder (8:10) The why ladder (9:05) Game of ‘what if’ (9:50) Scan for repetition (10:36) Content-based ideas (11:40) Conversation-based ideas (13:32) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Marc Andreessen essay: https://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part4.html Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex breaks down his new business, Distro, the first AI content strategist. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:34) Be a student of AI (5:48) Post-It Note Pitch (7:08) Launch process (9:42) Create clarity before launch (12:18) Moats in AI (14:09) Go-forward plan (16:05) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Distro: https://youdistro.com/ • AI cancer study: https://x.com/PeterDiamandis/status/1905266239720612160 • Replit: https://replit.com/ • Testing the idea: https://x.com/businessbarista/status/1847032386887770326 Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex does a 2-year lookback on his 7-figure B2B content agency, storyarb. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:00) 2-year storyarb review (3:36) Founding story (8:05) The pivot (10:03) Product evolution (13:01) Building the right team (14:51) Financials & path forward — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Original storyarb tweet: https://x.com/businessbarista/status/1638176672485904384 • Abby Murray: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbymurray/ Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex does a SXSW 2025 recap. Here’s what to expect: Why conferences are a waste Two exceptions to the rule 7 stops & lessons — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:35) When conferences aren’t a waste (5:12) SXSW recap (6:05) Founders run club (6:48) Brunch with Lauren Zima (7:38) Lunch with David Perell (9:28) Hampton Dinner (10:18) B2B Creator Panel (11:32) Run with Connor Tomkies (14:05) Chat with Bryan Johnson (16:32) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Lauren Zima: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Zima • David Perell: https://perell.com/ • Connor Tomkies: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connortomkies/ • Founders: https://www.founderspodcast.com/ • Bryan Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/@BryanJohnson Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 142: Alex talks about his do sh*t meter & give a sh*t meter, how to calibrate them properly, and why they’re essential for being a successful founder. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:36) Being lazy is good (5:13) My do sh*t meter (7:38) My give a sh*t meter (8:02) Tobi from Shopify on Lenny’s pod (12:46) Concluding thoughts — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Tobi on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/podcast • Jesse Pujji: https://www.gateway.xyz/about Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 142: Alex breaks down the drama between Deel & Ripping, the VC-backed HR software giants. Here’s what to expect: Why Rippling is suing Deel for corporate espionage The timeline of events A lawyers analysis of the case 3 founder lessons from the saga — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:15) Timeline of alleged espionage (8:00) Impact on Rippling’s business (9:30) Rippling’s honeypot (11:30) Takeaways for entrepreneurs (15:30) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Parker Conrad’s tweet: https://x.com/parkerconrad/status/1901615179718406276 • ChatGPT with legal complaint: https://chatgpt.com/share/67da0154-8524-800a-89b5-af992530fec0 Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 141: Alex breaks down his 2-year journey as a multipreneurHere’s what to expect: What is multipreneurship? Why did Alex pick this path 2 years into storyarb 6 lessons from multipreneurship — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:30) Post-Morning Brew journey (5:20) What is multipreneurship? (8:00) My plan as a multipreneur (9:20) Case study: storyarb (10:10) 6 lessons as a multipreneur (16:40) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Best Stuff exercise: https://conscious.is/excercises-guides/the-best-stuff • Greg Isenberg multipreneur post: https://x.com/gregisenberg/status/1680670141632196609 • Initial storyarb tweet: https://x.com/businessbarista/status/1638176672485904384Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 141: Alex shares why sales is king of the hill in entrepreneurship & how you can be great at it.Here’s what to expect: Why sales is misbranded Why sales is a founder’s most important skill 7 tactics Alex used to sell at Morning Brew Tactics from 3 startup sales experts — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:03) The Misconception of Sales (4:21) The Role of Sales in Entrepreneurship (7:50) Seven Effective Sales Tactics (17:26) Expert Sales Tips (20:40) Conclusion and Listener Engagement — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Naval tweet: https://x.com/naval/status/1002104154737684480 • Jen Abel X thread: https://x.com/jjen_abel/status/1869530668054564866 • Jason Lemkin article: https://www.saastr.com/what-is-the-best-sales-advice-you-can-give/Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 140: Alex breaks down Pieter Levels’ AI-coded flying game, which hit $67,000 in monthly revenue in just 3 weeks. Here’s what to expect: The stats & story behind Levels’ flying game Key lessons to take from this business Understanding critiques of the game — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:09) Peter Levels’ AI-coded flying game (6:17) The power of AI in game development (8:00) The value of trusted distribution (13:24) Vibe marketing explained (15:58) Addressing critiques (20:15) Conclusion— Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Flying game - https://fly.pieter.com/ • Levels on X - https://x.com/levelsio • Andrej Karpathy - https://www.youtube.com/@AndrejKarpathyCheck Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 139: Alex talks about the unsung hero of startups: boring work. He shares how society forgets that much of entrepreneurship involves doing boring work privately, to become celebrated publicly. He also breaks down three under-discussed aspects of boring work: It’s an unavoidable part of building a business, especially in the early days. Some founders stay in boring work for far too long, even when they no longer need to. Boring work is a gift that every entrepreneur should feel grateful for. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:15) Danger of celebritizing entrepreneurship (5:38) Boring work is unavoidable (8:57) Staying in boring work too long (13:00) Boring work is a gift — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 138: Alex Lieberman, host of Founder’s Journal, announces the relaunch of the show. He shares what you can expect from Founder’s Journal & how he thinks about shifting his businesses from off-course to on-course, using the pirate ship approach. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:58) Effortless vs. effortful (5:38) Your business as a pirate ship (10:12) Ship example: storyarb — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - www.storyarb.com • CTA - www.creatortalentagency.co • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 137: This week, Kyle Hagge, Chief of Staff to the COO at Morning Brew and co-host of the podcast Per My Last Email is guest hosting Founder’s Journal to chat about career pivots. Kyle shares his own experience with career changes and discusses the importance of utilizing side projects, weak ties, and storytelling. Want to hear more of Kyle's career advice? Check out his podcast, Per My Last Email, here: https://link.chtbl.com/uMGkoryq Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W Watch Founder’s Journal here: https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersJournal/ Subscribe to Morning Brew! Sign up for free today: https://bit.ly/morningbrewyt Follow The Brew! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MorningBrew Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew Follow Alex! Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 136: In today’s episode, I chat with marketing master Noah Kagan, the founder and CEO of Appsumo and New York Times bestselling author of Million Dollar Weekend. Noah shares his repeatable marketing playbook, and I have him rip apart my marketing strategy for Storyarb. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W Watch Founder’s Journal here: https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersJournal/ Subscribe to Morning Brew! Sign up for free today: https://bit.ly/morningbrewyt Follow The Brew! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MorningBrew Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew Follow Alex! Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 135: Today, I speak with Kian Sadeghi, one of the most impressive early-stage founders I have ever met. Kian's genetic testing company, Nucleus, has attracted investment from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Alexis Ohanian's 776, and he shares how he has employed relentlessness to build his company after dropping out of the University of Pennsylvania. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W Watch Founder’s Journal here: https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersJournal/ Subscribe to Morning Brew! Sign up for free today: https://bit.ly/morningbrewyt Follow The Brew! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MorningBrew Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew Follow Alex! Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 134: Today, I speak to legendary executive and investor Keith Rabois about his ability to identify top 1% founders and employees. Keith has invested in a billion-dollar business every year for the last 20 years, including Doordash, YouTube, and Lyft. Previously, he held senior leadership roles at Paypal, LinkedIn, and Square. We chat about how to find undiscovered talent, hiring barrels, and the two traits of 10X founders. Episode Transcript: https://foundersjournalpod.morningbrew.com/blog/how-to-identify-top-1-talent-keith-rabois-investor-in-doordash-youtube-airbnb-lyft Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W Watch Founder’s Journal here: https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersJournal/ Subscribe to Morning Brew! Sign up for free today: https://bit.ly/morningbrewyt Follow The Brew! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MorningBrew Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew Follow Alex! Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 133: In today’s episode I chat with Jesse Pujji (@jspujji), co-founder of Ampush and founder of startup studio Gateway X. Jesse has used entrepreneurship as a vehicle for personal and professional growth, and we talk about the tools and tactics he's found valuable including, Zone of Genius, five levels of motivation, and context versus content. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W Watch Founder’s Journal here: https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersJournal/ Subscribe to Morning Brew! Sign up for free today: https://bit.ly/morningbrewyt Follow The Brew! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MorningBrew Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew Follow Alex! Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices