Founder Unfiltered - What Founders Think But Never Say

What if the biggest threat to your consulting business isn't competition — it's you trying to solve too many problems at once? Bradley Jacobs, founder and CEO of Mylance, shares the real story behind building Mylance from scratch: the bloated first pitch, the advisors who never called him out, and the cycle of adding products instead of cutting them.From a coaching program to bookkeeping to a custom outbound software tool to a done-for-you content agency — Bradley kept stacking solutions on top of solutions, all while drifting further from what actually worked. It took stripping everything back down to a no-code MVP built in Notion and Google Sheets to find real traction. The lesson: going deep on one problem for one customer beats going wide on ten.If you're a founder or independent consultant wondering why your business feels scattered, this episode will help you see the pattern — and give you the clarity to cut what's not working.Learn More:Build your founder brand with Mylance: https://mylance.coConnect with Bradley Jacobs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-r-jacobs/00:00 Welcome & Mylance intro00:45 The original Mylance pitch (Jan 2020)02:10 "HR for Freelancers" — the full vision03:30 Year one: coaching program takes off04:45 Adding bookkeeping to the mix05:30 Raising money, hiring a CTO, building software06:45 The core mistake: solving too much07:30 Advisors who couldn't spot the problem08:45 Emotional attachment to what you've built09:50 Shutting down coaching, pivoting to lead gen11:00 ZoomInfo-style software + done-for-you agency12:00 Repeating the mistake with content creation13:00 The AI reset — starting from scratch13:45 Back to user interviews: LinkedIn clarity14:20 The no-code MVP that actually worked14:50 One sentence rule & wrap-up

Most founders are using AI wrong — and it's quietly burning them out. I sat down with Manuj Aggarwal, founder and Chief Innovation Officer at TetraNoodle Technologies, who has been working in AI since 2005 and now sits at the crossroads of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and psychology. His central argument: unfiltered AI output is like crude oil for the mind — it overwhelms, it bypasses your values, and it makes you busier without making you better.Manuj walks us through his seven-pillar AI Merge framework, designed to help founders engage with AI in a way that's actually aligned with who they are — their purpose, identity, relationships, creativity, time, peace of mind, and embodiment. He references the Japanese concept of ikigai as a practical starting point for purpose discovery, and explains why the founders who truly win in this era will be the ones who know themselves deeply first. He also shares the story of how he literally fired himself as CEO of his own company, replacing that role with an AI-powered digital twin — and why it's working better than he expected.If you're overwhelmed by AI noise, canceling plans to stay home and "just work," or chasing every new tool without a clear reason — this conversation will reframe everything. Manuj's message is counterintuitive but powerful: slow down, go outside, talk to real people, and use AI as a precision instrument rather than a crutch.Learn More: Build your founder brand with Mylance: https://mylance.co Connect with Bradley Jacobs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-r-jacobs/00:00 Welcome & intro: Manuj Aggarwal00:41 Manuj's background & origin story02:23 20 years in AI before ChatGPT03:09 AI's real impact on the founder mind06:56 Outsourcing decisions to AI: the risk07:08 Why AI doesn't know your values09:17 How to use AI the right way09:31 The 7-pillar AI Merge framework13:44 Breaking the addiction of working from home14:37 The evolutionary shift happening right now16:40 AI as the "middle 50%" of the past17:12 What is a digital twin for founders?20:24 How well does it actually work?21:32 Too many AI tools — how to choose22:11 Focus on problems, not tools24:05 Can you clone Elon Musk or Steve Jobs?24:40 Why someone else's nervous system won't help you26:46 How do you actually find your purpose?26:56 Ikigai, purpose, and the new economy