Building Systems That Actually Solve the Right Problem

What happens when a smart leader builds the wrong solution? Preston Zeller found out the hard way, and the story he shares in this episode might save you from making the same expensive mistake. Preston and I dig into the messy, honest side of problem-solving that most leaders never talk about. Why your first instinct about what's broken is almost always wrong. How asking one overlooked question can change the entire direction of a project. And what Preston learned from a failure that looked like progress until it wasn't. The Question Most Leaders Forget to Ask Preston has a simple approach to solving problems that most leaders skip entirely. It has nothing to do with tools, frameworks, or fancy software. It starts with a conversation most people rush through. You'll hear exactly how he uses it and why it changes everything. A Costly Mistake You'll Want to Avoid Preston opens up about a project that went sideways. Not because the team was bad or the idea was wrong, but because of one critical step he skipped at the beginning. This story alone is worth the listen if you've ever launched something and wondered why it didn't land the way you expected. Why Your Pricing Strategy Is Probably Backwards If you've ever looked at your competitors' prices and thought "we'll just charge a little less," Preston has some words for you. He introduces a research technique most small business owners have never heard of that takes the guesswork out of pricing entirely. The Habit That Separates Good Operators from Great Ones Karl and Preston land on a practice that most leaders know they should do but almost nobody actually does consistently. If you build this one habit into your business, everything else starts to improve on its own. Timestamps • 0:00 — Introductions and small talk • 3:46 — Podcast format and goals • 6:16 — Approach to problem-solving and systems • 12:15 — Lessons from past mistakes • 34:15 — Pricing strategy and research • 41:30 — Recap and next steps About the Guest Preston Zeller is an operations and product leader with deep experience in building systems, pricing strategy, and cross-functional problem-solving.