PODCAST · business
Founder's Journal
by Morning Brew
Alex Lieberman, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, gives you an insider’s look into building businesses. Alex explores the founder’s journey, from the painful challenges of 0-to-1 to the powerful frameworks that help you scale to millions in revenue as well as the emotional rollercoaster that is present throughout.
Episodes
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The secret business weapon
Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) talks about EOS, an operating system for running & scaling your business successfully. In 2019, Morning Brew used EOS to scale the business from 15 people and $3 million in revenue to 300 people and $75 million in revenue. Michael Girdley is an entrepreneur and...
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How to Find Your Zone of Genius
Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) takes you through an exercise to recalibrate and focus on his zone of genius. The zone of genius is work that you do that brings out the best version of yourself. Follow this super easy, super quick 3-step process to find your own zone of genius. — Thanks to our...
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How to Get Your First 1,000 Users
Today’s read is by one of my favorite startup creators, Lenny Rachitsky. The essay, How To Kickstart & Scale a Consumer Business, breaks down the seven proven strategies to acquire your first 1,000 users as a B2C startup. I’m going to read through each of the strategies, share some examples that...
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13 Dangerous Psychological Biases
In 1995, Charlie Munger gave a speech called the Psychology of Human Misjudgment, which contains 25 psychological tendencies by humans that can lead to bad decision making & bad outcomes. Today, Alex shares his 13 favorite & provide examples of how they impact your abilities and success as an...
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How to Crush a Quarterly Offsite
On this episode of Founder’s Journal, I teach you how to crush a quarterly meeting. V/TO: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/whats-in-your-v-to Rocks 101: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/creating-the-best-rocks — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out...
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How to deal with imposter syndrome
Today I share my experiences with imposter syndrome and some techniques I use to cope with it. — 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/ • distro -...
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How to Not F*ck Up Your Meetings
Let’s face it…most meetings suck. Even when they’re set up with all the best intentions, they often end up being a waste of everyone’s time. So what can be done? Alex Lieberman has 7 important lessons to keep your meetings under control. By incorporating these lessons, you’ll know when a meeting…
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Early days building a decacorn
Alex hands the mic to Josh Reeves, co-founder & CEO of Gusto. Josh walks us through major milestones in the first 12 months of building a multibillion dollar people platform. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb -...
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Focus, fresh eyes, and pet psychics
Alex does a Founder's Journal variety show, covering some of his favorite topics from the week: - Building one company vs. many - The power of channel partnerships - Pet psychics exist? - AI audio business idea - Great product thinking — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to...
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I'm raising money
Alex talks about raising a preseed round for Distro & some takeaways from the process thus far. — 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/ • distro -...
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Founder Mt. Rushmore
Alex talks about his startup heroes and why they've changed over time. — 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/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X -...
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Hire wrecking balls
Alex tells the story of a wrecking ball he recently hired. What a wrecking ball is, why they're so valuable, and what it looks like in practice. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair -...
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Should I quit?
Alex shares his thoughts on quitting your business & how he thought about it while building Morning Brew. — 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/ • distro -...
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Pitching preseed investors
Alex takes you through his 7 tips for pitching early stage investors on a preseed round. — 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/ • distro -...
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Agencies are wildly underrated
Alex talks about why agencies are underrated especially in the age of AI. He shares why agencies are considered unsexy (relative to software businesses) & why that's about to change. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb -...
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A better way to interview
Alex walks you through his new, 5-step process for interviewing potential employees & how he's using AI to improve his approach. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair -...
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What motivates entrepreneurs
Alex breaks down the different levels of motivation for entrepreneurs. He shares what motivated him early in his journey (while building Morning Brew) and what motivates him today. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb -...
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Own the internet
Alex walks you through his process for building an employee influencer program. — 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/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X -...
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A primer on seedstrapping
Alex breaks down seedstrapping. What it is, why it's in vogue, what the internet thinks, and how you should think about it in the context of your business. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (4:26) Intro to seedstrapping (6:20) Why seedstrapping is in vogue (9:15) Founder take on...
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Steal my Idea: Stack Overflow for AI Prompts
Alex pitches you on Codex, his AI prompt database idea. He gives you the elevator pitch & likely questions a venture investor would have. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (4:00) What is Codex? (4:20) Two truths in prompting (6:05) Elevator…
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Crush your procrastination
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)...
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Facing your limiting beliefs
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...
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How to run a quarterly offsite
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...
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LEAKED MEMO from Shopify CEO
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...
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How I find business ideas
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...
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I launched an AI agent
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…
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My biz's 6 defining moments
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)...
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Conferences are (mostly) a waste
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…
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Being lazy is good
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...
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$12 billion startup caught spying
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...
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Becoming a multipreneur
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)...
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7 tactics for non-cringy sales
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…
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How Pieter Levels Hit $67k MRR in 3 Weeks
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...
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Why boring work is inevitable
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...
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Can you make your business feel “effortless”?
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...
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Navigating Career Pivots (Kyle Hagge, Chief of Staff to the COO at Morning Brew & Co-Host of Per My Last Email)
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…
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How to Become a Marketing Master (Noah Kagan, Appsumo & Million Dollar Weekend)
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…
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How to Become Relentless as an Entrepreneur (Kian Sadeghi, Nucleus)
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…
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How to Identify Top 1% Talent (Keith Rabois, Investor in Doordash, YouTube, Airbnb & Lyft)
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...
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How to Use Entrepreneurship to Propel Personal Growth (Jesse Pujji, Ampush & Gateway X)
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…
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How to Reverse Engineer Great Business Ideas (Sam Parr, The Hustle & Hampton)
Episode 132: To kick off Founder's Journal's new episode format, I speak with Sam Parr (@thesamparr), founder of The Hustle and Hampton. Sam is an expert at reverse engineering business ideas, and we speak about the tools and frameworks he uses to find and vet the best businesses using examples...
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Founder’s Journal’s Next Chapter
Episode 131: On this episode, I discuss the future of Founder’s Journal and why I think it will be the best entrepreneurship show, full stop. Thanks as always for being on this journey with me and can’t wait for what’s next. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea!...
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My New Business
Episode 130: On today’s episode, I talk about refinding purpose post-exit and launching my new business storyarb. I share the full details on storyarb with no details spared including, ideation, customer acquisition, early challenges, pivots, finding my co-founder, and our biggest lessons. Send…
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Why I Stepped Down As CEO
Episode 129: On today’s episode I discuss my decision to step down as CEO of Morning Brew. I chat about going from a Chapter 1 to a Chapter 2 CEO, the emotional journey after stepping down, and climbing out of the trough of sorrows. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea!...
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Why We Sold Morning Brew
Episode 128: On today’s episode of Founder’s Journal, I talk through the sale of Morning Brew. I chat about how the opportunity came about, why we said no to previous potential deals, why I thought selling the business was the right decision, and if I have any regrets reflecting on the decision...
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Growing Morning Brew from 0 to 10,000 Subscribers
Episode 127: On this episode of Founder’s Journal, I break down the exact strategies we used to acquire our first 10,000 newsletter subscribers and abstractable growth lessons you can apply to your business. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea!...
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Lessons from CMOs, Great Storytelling, Freelance vs. Full-time, Follow Your Energy
Episode 126: Today I discuss my biggest takeaways from a Fortune 500 CMO dinner I hosted, choosing between freelancers vs. full-time employees, lessons in storytelling from Shaan Puri, the importance of following your energy, and joining the board of a non-profit. Send us an email and let us know...
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Feeling Unskilled, Curing Cancer, and Going All-In on Morning Brew
Episode 125: In today’s episode I chat about being in a content creation slump, making an impact as an entrepreneur, and why you never know if it is the right time to go all in on your business. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! [email protected]...
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A Little Throwback
Episode 124: Today we’re throwing it back with a true journal style episode. I talk about the joys of finding product market fit, being a default-trusting founder, and understanding extrinsic vs. intrinsic drivers. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea!...
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Always Be Shipping
Episode 123: On this episode, I share a recent blog post by my friend and former colleague, Tyler Denk. Tyler is the co-founder & CEO of beehiiv, a high-growth email newsletter platform. This post outlines Tyler’s philosophy on building a team and culture that allows your company to ship features...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Alex Lieberman, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, gives you an insider’s look into building businesses. Alex explores the founder’s journey, from the painful challenges of 0-to-1 to the powerful frameworks that help you scale to millions in revenue as well as the emotional rollercoaster that is present throughout.
HOSTED BY
Morning Brew
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Founder's Journal have?
Founder's Journal currently has 637 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Founder's Journal about?
Alex Lieberman, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, gives you an insider’s look into building businesses. Alex explores the founder’s journey, from the painful challenges of 0-to-1 to the powerful frameworks that help you scale to millions in revenue as well as the emotional...
How often does Founder's Journal release new episodes?
Founder's Journal releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 637 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Founder's Journal?
You can listen to Founder's Journal on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Founder's Journal?
Founder's Journal is created and hosted by Morning Brew.
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