OnlyFounders

In this episode, Anne and Matt sit down with Orly Zeewy, brand strategist and author of the upcoming book Why NOT Me? The Female Guide for Entrepreneurship, to unpack the unique challenges women face when building a business. Orly shares the story of her book's title—born from the universal imposter syndrome of "Why me?"—and explains why female founders need to embrace failure as feedback rather than a reflection of their self-worth. They also explore the dangers of "ugly babies" in business, including the surprising origins of bubble wrap. The group discusses why over-coaching can paralyze your progress and the flawed pricing mentalities that hold so many female entrepreneurs back. Whether you are navigating product-market fit or learning how to stand firmly in your zone of genius, this conversation is a masterclass in pivoting with purpose and finding your community.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"Perfection is the enemy of good. This is what I hear from women all the time." — Orly"Do not let coaching stall the doing." — Anne"Failure is the whole, is the backbone of entrepreneurship. Because if you don't fail, you don't grow." — Orly"Just because it comes easily to you does not mean it has no value." — Orly📡 Where to Find UsOrly Zeewy → Zeewy Brands - LinkedInAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt and Anne dive deep into the rapidly shifting landscape of software development and how AI is empowering non-technical founders to build their own bespoke solutions. They discuss the current headwinds facing the SaaS market , the addictive nature of the "builder bug" , and why relying on common sense and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) can bridge the coding experience gap. Finally, they explore the ultimate dividing line in business today: why those who execute and ship quickly will outpace those who get stuck in endless loops of overthinking and planning.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"For the folks that know what they're doing, AI is is an accelerator. And for the folks that have no no idea, AI is a detriment to their future." — Matt"At the core minimum, you need common sense to build up the experience gap that you have." — Matt"Don't let coaching stall the doing... you don't need coaching. You don't need more thinking. You need to just go do and go execute." — Anne"That information value is gone now. So what is remaining? Your ability to execute." — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt and Anne debate the looming impact of the "silver tsunami" and what it actually means for the future of business and the workforce. While Anne argues that older generations provide irreplaceable human mentorship, culture, and relationship-building skills that AI cannot replicate, Matt contends that task-based AI tools and video tutorials are already replacing the need for traditional corporate guidance. They explore whether the real generational business opportunity lies with the tech-savvy, well-capitalized 45-to-55 demographic, and how declining birth rates will force a massive shift in corporate productivity over the next two decades. Oh, and they also compare their coffee routines and how they use caffeine for peak productivity versus socializing.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"The generation between 45 and 55. In my opinion, that's the silver tsunami wave..." — Matt"What you can't get when you type in a prompt to AI... is the mentorship from a human being that has personal stories and lived experiences." — Anne"I argue that promotions and excelling in your career happens from relationship building skills, which I don't believe you can learn on AI." — Anne"It's not exiting, there's less people entering. That's actually more scarier than the people exiting." — Matt📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this inspiring episode, Anne and Matt are joined live from Los Angeles by Mojo, the founder and executive producer of Rainbow Creative. Mojo opens up about his incredible founder's journey, tracing his roots from customer service at Apple and marketing at Disney to launching coworking spaces for WeWork during their hyper-growth phase. He shares the raw truth about the physical and mental toll of scaling a mission-driven podcast agency to 25 shows while surviving on just four hours of sleep a night. Realizing he couldn't do it all, Mojo breaks down his crucial pivot to hiring a CFO, embracing executive coaching, and learning the true mechanics of profit and sustainable growth. Packed with lessons on leveraging your Rolodex as an "unfair advantage," this episode is a masterclass in rebounding from setbacks, owning your role as a true CEO, and leading with radical empathy.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"What's a 10 in your life? Imagine if that's a 1—how do you make that into a 10? That 10, I try to make into another 10." — Mojo"...failing is, is an end successes are just metrics on a line." — Matt 📡 Where to Find UsMojo → Rainbow Creative - InstagramAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Anne and Matt sit down with PR veteran and brand strategist Adrienne Arieff to discuss her journey from running a successful firm for a decade to launching a brand-new, mission-driven venture. Adrienne gets real about the harsh realities of industry shifts and job loss, sharing why she firmly believes that age and experience are actually professional superpowers rather than liabilities. The group dives into how Adrienne successfully integrated AI into her consulting workflow to stay highly competitive, the compounding value of a strong professional network, and she gives an exclusive first look at her "Next Chapter Shift" program—an eight-week cohort designed to help midlife women navigate major personal and professional transitions to build their ultimate "life resume."🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"If you're coming from a place of fear, you are not going to be as creative and you are certainly not going to be as productive." — Adrienne"The older you are, I do feel that you have the ability to say no comfortably, which allows you to filter out the things that you are more aligned on." — Anne "Anytime you're going zero to one, it's impossible to figure out where you're going in one year anyway, right? Because you don't even know if your hypothesis is right." — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedInAdrienne → Instagram - YouTube

In this episode, Matt and Anne dive into how AI is drastically accelerating the founder's journey, cutting the traditional six-month software go-to-market cycle down to just two months. Matt shares his insights on using AI tools to build a fully functional MVP in mere weeks, shifting a founder's focus from heavy development to rapid distribution. They also explore the changing landscape of SEO in the age of AI search and why showing up "live" to interact with your audience is becoming the ultimate differentiator to prove your brand's human authenticity. Finally, Matt drops a reality check on why soundboarding with the actual market—through sales or cancellations—beats relying solely on early supporters.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"Showing up live is actually a bigger signal than anything because you can't AI-fi being live." — Matt "So instead of SEO, right, you're actually backing into the actual content of the website to make sure that AI can crawl it. And then also it's keyword rich for exactly what those search terms are that you want AI to find." — Anne"I like soundboarding with the market. That's the best way. Cause it's not, there's no better feeling than a sale or, or people even canceling the service..." — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt and Anne tackle the murky world of social media vanity metrics, debating whether a high follower count is a valuable business asset or just a digital mirage. Anne shares her temptation to artificially inflate her audience to serve as a resume for her speaking career, while Matt strongly cautions against the ethical and algorithmic consequences of buying bot followers. They also explore the strategic differences between B2B and personal branding, why boosting top-performing organic posts works for some but not others, and how understanding platform "buckets" can help you predict a video's virality.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"If you're not posting every day, someone else is. And social media is a numbers game. It eats data. So you have to feed it." — Matt📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne kick off this episode debating the merits of the "mental health day" versus the classic grit of powering through an illness. Anne shares her philosophy on working intuitively and trusting your energy to get tasks done faster , while Matt questions how that fluidity applies to the rigid demands of a startup. The conversation then takes a sharp turn into the realities of leadership and control. Matt passionately explains why he believes equal partnerships and co-CEOs are a recipe for a standstill , and why trying to run your company like a family can actually be a disservice to both your team and your bottom line.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"I think that there is no separation between work and life. And I think work-life balance, you are the same person, whole person." — Anne "If everyone has equal equity, you don't have authority on paper. You can only persuade. You can never enforce." — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Anne and Matt sit down with color specialist, artist, and former DIY Network TV host Shannon Kaye to explore her unconventional and highly creative career path. From starting as a decorative painter focused on making others' work shine to being unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight as a reality TV host, Shannon unpacks the hidden complexities of the design and television industries. She shares profound lessons on how tight constraints fuel creativity, why avoiding trends in favor of "personal joy" creates timeless appeal, and how she transitioned her artistic skills into a corporate role as a Color Marketing Manager. Through stories of painting stripes on 200 feet of molding to revolutionizing how a 75-year-old paint brand sells its color samples online, Shannon proves that genuine connection and an unyielding focus on the end-user are the ultimate drivers of brand success.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"Well, I mean, that's the end goal of every business exchange, every sales journey, every brand strategy, right, is for the end user to make a confident decision." — Shannon"If you think about the genuine connection between you and the end user, then you're going to come up with something that not only identifies the need of that end user... but you're going to start to see more opportunity within that need." — Shannon📡 Where to Find Us Shannon → Website - LinkedInAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt and Anne welcome guest Ben Whitehair, a unique "actor-preneur" who has mastered the art of building businesses alongside a career in Hollywood. Ben shares the journey of his college-founded startup that saved students $30 million and discusses how his current role at the feminist nonprofit Calling All Crows utilizes the same "CEO mindset" required for creative success. The trio explores the counter-intuitive power of "intentional procrastination," the reality that 86% of jobs come from personal referrals, and Ben’s upcoming shift toward entrepreneurship through acquisition. Whether you are balancing a side hustle or leading a major organization, Ben’s insights on why the who always matters more than the what provide a powerful framework for sustainable growth.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"The specific job or what our company was doing mattered almost not at all compared to who we were working with." — Ben"It's only procrastination if you actually don't fulfill your goal... if you did finish, the idea of procrastination never existed." — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedInBen → Website - Working Actor - Calling All Crows - Socials (@BenWhitehair)

Everyone thinks wedding planning is just pretty flowers and cake tasting. In this episode, industry veteran Carly Rae (founder of Carly Rae Weddings & High Noon Floral) joins Anne and Matt to reveal the gritty reality of managing high-stakes events, from "burning" medical records to burning the midnight oil for Hollywood celebrities.Carly breaks down her journey from undercutting the competition to commanding luxury pricing, sharing why "raising your prices" is often a test of nerve rather than value. We discuss the critical role of a "Bridal Concierge" to protect your sanity, why video "vibe checks" are the new standard for hiring vendors, and how to maintain margin without blowing up your business. Whether you’re in events or SaaS, this conversation is a masterclass in evolving your business model before you burn out.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"I really struggled with my creative identity and someone else's business and their portfolio. So I rebranded it to be High Noon Floral." — Carly"If you're not physically there, then chances are they're upset. It's like the minute you walk out the door... it's like a baby crying." — Carly"There's no nervous, not nervous, they're just stressed... So if you look at it the other way, what if you only win? It's kind of boring." — Matt"I think that’s why I’ve tried to understand you, Matt... because when you say, 'Well, I like to fail and I like struggle,' I am still healing and recovering from a very conditionally formatted home where performance equals love." — Anne📡 Where to Find Us Carly → Carly Rae Weddings - High Noon Floral - InstagramAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

The duo explores the critical shift from billing for time to billing for impact, with Anne explaining how she now ruthlessly deletes tasks that don't directly serve her top three yearly goals. Matt argues that the job market is evolving into a landscape of "mini venture capitalists," where employees are hired not for a specific role, but to own an outcome entirely using AI tools. The episode wraps with a reality check on perfectionism: you have the right to change your mind personally, but in business, the market—and your revenue growth—are the only things that get to decide if you're right.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"I measure marketing in a very simple metric. Did revenue grow or not? ... I don't think [AI] made us necessarily better marketers... it just made us fulfill the work that was already required." — Matt 📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne explore the argument that politics is often just a "metagame" that distracts founders from the hard work of building a business. They discuss the dangers of rigidity—suggesting that if you are inflexible in your political beliefs, you are likely inflexible in your business strategy as well. Anne shares her perspective on overcoming a "people-pleaser" mentality to find a middle ground , while Matt breaks down why alienating half your customer base is rarely a winning strategy for survival.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"The game of business is already really hard... Then you add politics in business and both games are destructive." — Matt📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne discuss the delicate balance of founder energy and the obligation to "show up" for clients, even when Friday feels like a Sunday. The conversation moves to Anne's strategic pivot with Fix & Form, targeting high-stakes M&A and healthcare companies rather than solopreneurs. Matt identifies a dangerous gap in her focus: prioritizing operations and fundraising over active selling. They break down the sobering timeline of enterprise sales—where "starting today" means getting paid in nine months—and why Anne needs to stop networking in startup circles and start "changing rooms" to find the right decision-makers.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"I need to change my room. I need to keep talking to people, but the rooms I'm talking to aren't working." — Anne 📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt breaks down the discipline required to manage technical debt, explaining why ChipBot rejects nearly 90% of feature requests to prevent the product from becoming bloated. The conversation shifts to the rapid evolution of AI video, where Matt highlights how open-source models are beginning to challenge restricted platforms like Sora. Finally, Anne and Matt discuss the strategy of "flooding" social media with experimental content, using a gun range analogy to illustrate why "pulling the trigger" repeatedly is the only way to eventually find your target.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"You got to pull the trigger. And the expectation is you're not going to hit a bullseye. There's no way... But you got to pull the trigger anyway." — Matt📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Anne and Matt discuss the fallout from X’s Grok and the disturbing rise of AI-generated exploitation. They argue that while the tools themselves—like Photoshop before them—are just instruments, the true burden of safety lies with the social media giants who control distribution. The discussion covers the futility of federal regulation in the US, the potential for state-based solutions, and the overwhelming challenge parents face in teaching children to discern real from fake in an unregulated digital world.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"Parents have to do so much regulating with children nowadays in all of the access that we give them to really dangerous things... we have to use our logic to discern what kind of content we're allowing to affect and impact us." — Anne "If you want to use it ethically, you already have ethics in mind. If you are using it with no ethics, you are going to continue using it with no ethics." — Matt "It's up to the gatekeepers that enable distribution to actually say, should we distribute this or not? Why should the responsibility be on you?" — Matt 📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt and Anne explore how to kickstart momentum when the team is lagging behind the founder's energy. While Anne emphasizes the importance of social connection and viewing the team as a "second family" to build identity and engagement , Matt pushes back, arguing that viewing business as family is a mask that hides the reality of business mechanics. The two compare their personal drivers for 2026: Anne’s service-focused goal of delivering 12 deep brand makeovers versus Matt’s product-led "North Star" of powering one million websites. They discuss how having a singular, massive goal simplifies decision-making and makes it easier to wake up "ready to go" every morning.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"You just need one North star and you just go for it, whatever it takes to hit that North star, whatever... It's very easy to wake up... and that's easy to control." — Matt📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne return from the holiday break battling "January brain fog" and a wave of post-vacation sickness to tackle the myth of the "10X Revenue" goal. They discuss why setting revenue targets is often a recipe for failure because revenue is a lagging indicator you cannot control. Instead, they argue for 10Xing the "unsexy" inputs—activity, outreach, and product quality—that actually drive growth. The conversation explores how this mindset applies to everything from weight loss to parenting and concludes with a nostalgic look back at their early jobs in banking, from cleaning cash to automating reconciliation.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"If I just say all the boring things I did day to day that made me where I am today, no one would listen to me. It's not sexy... Everybody wants results. They don't want to do the work." — Matt📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Anne reveals how saying "no" to traditional holiday travel unlocked her most productive week of the year. While Matt joins from the road in Chicago, the two discuss the power of "breaking the cycle" of family obligations and the necessity of advocating for your own schedule—introducing the non-negotiable concept of "Anne's Time". From drafting a new book to finalizing a full company rebrand, listen in to learn how setting hard boundaries can drastically transform your work-life output and protect your peace during the chaos of the holidays.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"The best flight is the one you don't even know you were flying." — Matt  "I didn't advocate for the time I wanted and needed away from the home to use my brain in work, which actually fulfilled me more in motherhood." — Anne "There's more intentionality in the work that you're doing as you age." — Anne📡 Where to Find Us:Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt and Anne dive deep into the often misunderstood dynamic of setting boundaries. While Anne advocates for boundaries as a critical tool for self-worth and ensuring others feel seen, Matt challenges the traditional view with a goal-oriented approach where unwavering directness is often just efficiency in disguise. From Matt’s six-week table tennis training blocks to Anne’s decision to break her own rules for a breakthrough client session, they explore the constant negotiation between time, energy, and the sacrifices required to truly hit your targets.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"If you don't hold solid boundaries at home, you won't at work and vice versa." — Anne "It's not just for my own interest, but it's for everyone else's interest... I just want to cut through really fast." — Matt "The sacrifice defines the boundary." — Matt "Boundaries are never rigid... because they have to move like a lot." — Matt "You need to actually make the decision of what this boundary is giving you. And do you want it? Do you choose it?" — Anne 📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt joins from the US Open in Las Vegas to break down how a loss in table tennis revealed a critical lesson in business strategy: the importance of sticking to your plan even when the opponent adapts. The conversation then pivots to the volatile landscape of Artificial Intelligence, where Matt argues that OpenAI is facing a "survival issue" as Google’s Gemini and open-source models catch up in quality and price. Matt demystifies how LLMs actually work—explaining they are mathematical maps rather than sentient beings—while Anne explores using AI for personal strategy. The episode concludes with an unscripted, real-time lesson in "asking for forgiveness, not permission" as Anne navigates a run-in with hotel security.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"Even though he adapted, his weakness is still there. He just made it one step more difficult... I just needed to say, keep with the plan." — Matt  "You're paying the most amount of money for a mid-tier large language model... That raises the survivability of OpenAI." — Matt  "It is just a mathematical... 'oh, this information is close to this word or this phrase or this context.' Let's pull that in and use it as a reference point." — Matt"I always ask for forgiveness instead of permission." — Anne📡 Where to Find Us Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedIn Matt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne unpack one of the hardest mental shifts founders face: moving from trading time for money to building something outcome-driven. What starts as a casual conversation about coffee and creatine quickly turns into a deep dive on pricing ethics, discount traps, burnout, pivoting (aka quitting), and why so many service businesses struggle to ever become real products.They explore why content, personal brands, and SaaS all live in a gray area where effort doesn’t equal immediate payoff—and how obsessing over linear paths, revenue too early, or “fair” pricing can quietly stall growth. If you’ve ever felt stuck between passion and practicality, or torn between white-glove service and scalable products, this one will hit close to home.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Pivot is just a polite word for quitting.” — Matt“If you discount to win the work, you usually pay for it later.” — Anne“Service is time-bound. Product is outcome-bound.” — Matt“Burnout is often the real signal that it’s time to pivot.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne dig into what it really looks like to step into a new identity before you feel ready. Anne shares a major personal and business shift—repositioning Fix & Form as a Denver branding firm, committing to local growth, and finally claiming “speaker” as part of her professional identity.The conversation goes deep on integrity versus shortcuts, why faking momentum rarely matters, and how real traction often comes from doing the uncomfortable, unscalable work—applying, asking, pitching, and showing up. Matt challenges the idea that perfection or polish creates opportunity, while Anne walks through narrowing her focus to just two goals: booking a keynote and selling brand therapy sessions as a standalone offer.If you’ve been stuck between knowing what you want to do and actually doing it, this episode is a reminder that clarity often follows action—not the other way around.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“If it works, are you going to be proud of how you got there?” — Anne“Most things don’t matter. Measure by impact.” — Matt“You don’t become the thing by thinking about it—you become it by doing it.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt Lo and Anne Gillaspie unpack a deceptively simple idea with massive implications for founders: your environment dictates your mindset — and your mindset dictates outcomes.This episode starts with content creation vulnerability and ends somewhere much deeper: how founders survive chaos, context switch without burnout, and build momentum when everything they do pulls them in different directions. From coffee shops as productivity hacks, to separating “play mode” from “win mode,” to why content creation cannot be measured like billable hours, this is a raw, practical conversation about doing hard things without losing yourself in the process.If you’ve ever struggled to show up on camera, felt guilty for needing a change of scenery, or wondered why forcing consistency keeps killing creativity — this one will hit.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Change your environment, change your mindset.” — Anne Gillaspie“Winning and playing are two completely different modes.” — Matt Lo📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Some episodes wander into gold on accident—this is one of them. On a snowy Denver morning, Matt and Anne fall into a raw, surprising conversation about early-career scrappiness, ego in your 20s, asking “dumb” questions as a superpower, and why distilling chaos into a single clear droplet is the mark of a strong founder. They unpack how emotional maturity shapes work dynamics, why some leaders stop learning, and the difference between wartime vs. peacetime CEOs. It’s an unexpectedly deep dive into confidence, humility, and how to grow without losing your edge. 🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember“If you can distill the ocean into a single droplet, you can lead anything.” — Matt“Asking the ‘dumb’ question is how you give everyone permission to learn.” — Anne“When times are tough, crack the whip. When times are easy, be deeply empathetic.” — Matt“Your emotional age shows up at work more than your resume ever will.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

December feels like a graveyard month for most founders, but in this episode Matt and Anne unpack why that mindset can quietly sabotage momentum — and how different business models create different “earned” slow seasons. They dive into founder psychology, burnout avoidance, backlog guilt, why product companies and service companies have opposite Q4 realities, and how to think about “impact windows” instead of the calendar. From Matt’s January sprint philosophy to Anne’s relationship-driven pipeline cycles, this episode clarifies why no two founders should approach December the same way.They also go deep on chaos vs. order inside a company, why founders must be the chaos (and why no one else should be), how team stability shapes whether you can rest, and why ChipBot’s business model creates a default-survival flywheel. If you've ever wondered whether to grind through December or intentionally downshift, this might be the mindset reset you needed.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember“You can’t hire chaos — the founder has to be the chaos.” — Matt“December is still a long month. The work ethic can’t die just because the world says the year is over.” — Anne“If marketing impact is minimal, shift to where impact does matter.” — Matt“Service companies can’t disappear in December. Pipeline is built through conversations.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

When founders say, “We’re ready to grow — now what?” they’re usually staring at a cold engine with no momentum. In this episode, Matt and Anne unpack why early-stage marketing feels impossible, why 90–95% of ideas fail, and why A/B testing is useless before you have volume. They dig into the real levers a small business can control: consistent output, memorable creative, and accepting that momentum is built — not predicted. From paid tests to guerrilla tactics to simply talking to someone about your idea, this conversation reframes how to think about growth when the engine hasn’t started yet. 🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Marketing works when you actually like doing it.” — Matt“Ideas start from conversation. Go talk to someone.” — Anne“You can control your creative, not the outcome.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

We sit down with marketing strategist and podcast host Kristi Mitchell, whose journey from corporate burnout to seven years of thriving entrepreneurship is anything but ordinary. Kristi opens up about her rocky exit from corporate life, the unexpected push from her husband that reignited her business, and the uncomfortable-but-transformative leap into full-time ownership.We get into the messy reality of early clients, learning to trust yourself, surviving (and evolving through) a pandemic, and why “living in the gray” might be the most powerful skill a founder can build. Kristi shares how she shifted from doing all the marketing “things” to helping founders fall in love with marketing — by embracing authenticity, clarity, and a whole lot of inner work.From boundaries and burnout to inbound strategies and personal evolution, this conversation is packed with insights on building a business and a self you’re proud of. And yes… Anne and Kristi absolutely go all-in on the fraud-filled world of SEO.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“You have to get comfortable in the gray — that’s business ownership.” — Kristi Mitchell“Marketing starts working the moment you stop forcing it.” — Kristi Mitchell“People do business with people. Just be yourself.” — Kristi Mitchell📡 Where to Find UsKristi → UNF*DGE Your Marketing PodcastAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne dive into the strange tension between being wildly busy yet weirdly unfazed by it. Matt’s been running on four to six hours of sleep while juggling new ChipBot features, US Open training, and a schedule only a “partial nomad worker” could maintain — yet insists he’s not brain-dead, just operating in “GPT-5 Thinking Mode.” Anne challenges him on how he stays functional, which leads them both into a conversation about adrenaline, flow, burnout, and why table tennis gives Matt something business never can.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Hard decisions are the easiest ones — it’s the small ones that stop you in your tracks.” — Matt“Your kids’ memories are built from the input you give them.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne sit down for a wide-open conversation about one of the biggest questions hovering over today’s tech world: Are we living in an AI bubble? They break down the trillion-dollar AI contracts, why enterprise AI pilots are failing at staggering rates, and how data pipelines—not the models—are the real bottleneck. From trust, regulation, and bias inside the weights… to AI as a household tool… to whether companies have already squeezed as much juice out of AI hype as possible, they pull the thread all the way through.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember“AI isn’t failing because the models are bad — it’s failing because companies don’t know how to execute.” — Matt“The world is one big test case right now.” — Anne“We reward AI for looking right. That’s the dangerous part.” — Matt“Raising a family today isn’t just expensive — it’s a cultural tug-of-war.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne strip away the motivational-poster clichés and unpack the uncomfortable reality behind the phrase founders love to use but rarely define honestly. Anne opens up about the tension between ambition and parenthood, the limits of her available time, and how she’s restructuring her days to protect her flow state. Matt breaks down why “all in” is less about hours and more about output — and why you can’t be fully committed to two things at once without sacrificing quality.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“All in means you stand by your cards regardless of the outcome.” — Matt“You can’t be fully committed to two things and expect full-quality output.” — Matt“Flow state happens when your body isn’t in the way and your mind is clear.” — Matt“We control how we spend our time. That’s the reminder.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne go deep into the real psychological engine behind entrepreneurship — the difference between being driven and being ambitious, why founders often operate on little sleep, and how creativity hits at 2 A.M. when you’re chasing a breakthrough. Matt breaks down how he finally cracked Reddit ads after 20 days of failures, why pattern-breaking beats templates, and how AI-powered manga-style creatives unexpectedly outperformed everything else.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Once you’re in the creative space, you’re on your own.” — Matt“We hire for vibe and compatibility, not talent alone.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne go deep into one of the most uncomfortable truths of entrepreneurship: realizing you might be the bottleneck. Anne shares a massive breakthrough about her role inside Fix & Form, why she's stepping out of day-to-day operations, and how she’s restructuring the entire business to scale. From hiring a Director of Ops (or chief-of-staff-type generalist) to rethinking deliverables, deadlines, and client flow, Anne walks through the mental shift that got her here.She also reveals Fix & Form’s bold new direction — going all-in on becoming Denver’s premier luxury branding agency, ditching national virtual work, niching into the Denver metro experience, and redefining the internal systems needed to support bigger, longer, more transformational brand projects. Matt challenges her thinking along the way, pressure-tests assumptions, and highlights the make-or-break points for competing locally.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“If you stop to fix ops, it’s really hard to kick back up in biz dev — it’s left-brain vs. right-brain.” — Matt“I’ve been trying to be a person I’m not. And it’s been holding us back.” — Anne“Don’t wait for the perfect hire. One big client can fund the next step.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne dive into what it really feels like to run a company while juggling detail-oriented work, shifting identities, marketing experiments, and the constant pressure of “the one task that keeps everything alive.”Anne breaks down her complete overhaul of November — canceling commitments, resetting availability, rebuilding boundaries, and finally owning how her energy, cycle, and creative demands shape her productivity. Matt shares the three buckets he uses every single morning to survive ChipBot’s dynamic chaos, plus the real emotional cost of ignoring the one thing that truly moves the business forward.If you’re a founder juggling vision, execution, burnout prevention, and the guilt of needing more flow-state time… this one is going to hit deep.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“What is the least amount of hours for the greatest amount of outcome today?” — Matt“I control the energy of my calendar — that’s mine.” — Anne“Detail-oriented mode only matters if it serves the burning problem.” — Matt“Canceling is clarity — not failure.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

What happens when a website stops being a static brochure and starts saying “hi”? In this episode, Anne flips the script and interviews Matt about ChipBot, his AI-powered video and chat platform that helps businesses connect with visitors in a more human way.Matt breaks down the psychology behind short-form video on websites, how agencies are using ChipBot to white-label and resell it, and why this “TikTok-style” experience is transforming the way people shop for services online. Anne and Matt also explore how businesses can create real connection by showing the people behind the brand—and why the future of digital engagement isn’t just AI, it’s authenticity.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Businesses aren’t unique—the people behind them are.” — Anne“Your website should say hi.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - ChipBot White Label - LinkedIn

When Anne nearly missed a major presentation deadline, she turned to an AI tool and what happened next changed how she thinks about building anything online. In this episode, Matt and Anne dive into how AI tools (Lovable, Bolt, Repl.it, etc...) are reshaping website creation, from five-minute pitch decks to fully launched personal brands. Anne shares her first-hand experience using AI to design, write, and publish her new website without a developer—and how that experience sparked a debate about whether agencies (and CMS platforms) even make sense anymore.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“AI finally matched my storytelling capability—and did the brunt work for me.” — Anne“The idea of WordPress-style interfaces is gone. People will just prompt their sites into existence.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne pull back the curtain on their own creative process—debating whether founders should keep pushing out content for the sake of visibility or slow down to preserve authenticity and impact.From podcast planning to business growth, they wrestle with the balance between showing up and showing off, breaking down what “quality control” really means when your name and energy are the brand.They also touch on Matt’s billion-view vision for ChipBot, Anne’s pivot from Share Your Freak to Share Your Fear, and how both are redefining what it means to build something real in a world flooded with AI slop.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Let's just keep shipping because we want to get new audiences.” — Anne“So when we're creating content, we shouldn't just be doing it to fill a quota. Because if we're doing that, I would just say, why?” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne dive deep into the realities of modern marketing — from short-form videos and organic reach to why the best campaigns are equal parts science and creativity. They debate whether customers really need multiple touch points before converting, explore what makes an “aha” moment irresistible, and share the emotional grind of testing, failing, and iterating until something sticks. This episode is all about grit — the consistency, courage, and curiosity required to turn experiments into growth.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“If the product has an aha moment built in, it’s all you really need.” — Matt“Marketing is mixing the message, who it’s for, where they live, and how it’s delivered.” — Anne“Marketing grit is doing the same thing with different messaging in different places.” — Anne“The best marketing is the most simple marketing.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne and Matt get raw about the power of threes—in marketing, creativity, and even table tennis. From Anne’s late-night steroid-fueled “just ship it” breakthrough to Matt’s system for staying in flow three days a week, they break down why doing something three times—not once, not twice—turns it from effort into habit. The duo also dives into social scheduling hacks, the “OnlyFans” branding origin story of OnlyFounders, and how to beat analysis paralysis by embracing imperfection.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“If you have an idea, just ship it.” — Anne“Once you hit three, it’s no longer a quota—it’s who you are.” — Matt“Businesses aren’t unique. The people behind them are.” — Anne“Marketing and sales are like beating a drum—you have to be consistent.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt and Anne break down the real difference between a startup and a lifestyle business. Matt shares how ChipBot evolved from 110% startup grind to a sustainable, founder-led company—and why effort, not just capital, defines the startup mindset. They discuss growth pressure, investor expectations, personal sacrifices, and even how companies like OpenAI are still startups despite their size. If you’ve ever wondered what kind of business you’re building (or want to build), this episode will give you clarity and perspective.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Startups are growth at all costs. Lifestyle businesses are growth by choice.” — Matt Lo“I started ChipBot knowing I wasn’t strapping a rocket to my back.” — Matt Lo“It’s wild to think OpenAI is still a startup—thousands of employees, billions in revenue—but still growth at all cost.” — Anne“A lifestyle business is a reflection of the founder. It moves as you move.” — Matt Lo“Startups are painful. Very painful.” — Matt Lo📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne and Matt sit down with Katherine Sorensen — entrepreneur, recovery advocate, and founder of multiple multimillion-dollar behavioral health facilities — for a raw and deeply human conversation about transformation, faith, and building purpose-driven success from rock bottom.Katherine opens up about her journey from a double life in high school, to addiction and self-destruction, to discovering faith, recovery, and eventually founding Laguna Shores Behavioral Health in California. Together, the trio explores what it really means to do “the work,” how pain becomes purpose, and why real success comes from building a life you no longer need to escape.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:"I pray every morning, 'God, just let me help one person today.' H-O-P-E — Help One Person Everyday." — Katherine"Addiction isn't about quantity — it's about obsession." — Katherine"You can't just get sober. You have to build a life you no longer want to escape." — Katherine"More income equals more impact — but proximity is power." — Katherine"I always try to be the B-player in the room because that's where you grow the fastest." — Matt"You have to find your A-players — the ones who feed you, not just take from you." — Anne"You have to be desperate enough to change your life." — Katherine📡 Where to Find Us:Katherine → Laguna Shores RecoveryAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Matt admits he could never work for anyone else — the moment he’s told to “just agree,” he checks out. That sparks a debate with Anne about ownership, leadership, and how every company mirrors its founder’s effort. Anne shares how her best collaborations click when people stay in their “working genius,” while Matt explains why a team without a captain can’t steer anywhere.The two dive into Anne’s pause on Ten to Launch, the struggle of bandwidth across multiple ventures, and why consulting can quietly delay your vision by years. From AI’s role in agencies to the myth of “hands-off” businesses, they unpack what it really takes to grow something that doesn’t fall apart the second you look away.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“The company you run reflects your behavior — if you half-ass it, everyone else will too.” – Matt“It’s all about finding good people who match your energy and work within their gifts.” – Anne“You can have a great team, but without a captain, it doesn’t work.” – Matt“We’re moonlighting hardcore — every founder knows that stretch.” – Anne“If you walk away from a startup too early, it always goes down.” – Matt“We built Ten to Launch for the future, but bandwidth is everything.” – Anne“AI isn’t taking jobs — bad adaptation is.” – Matt“You still need a robot wrangler — someone connecting all the dots between people and AI.” – Anne“Consulting feels safe, but it delays your vision by five to ten years.” – Matt“Sometimes, revenue today is the very thing holding you back from the future you want.” – Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne opens up about her recent battle with nerve pain and how it’s forced her to rethink recovery — both physically and professionally. Matt draws a parallel between nerve pain and startup pain, sharing one of his hardest moments as a founder when investor pressure nearly derailed everything. The conversation unfolds into an honest discussion about client abuse, knowing when to walk away, and why some business pain teaches lessons no success ever could.The episode then takes a surprising turn as Anne considers investing in a wellness franchise for cold plunges and infrared saunas — sparking a deep dive into the pros and cons of franchises, local market ceilings, and what it really takes to own versus create.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Nerve pain is no joke. It’s worse than labor — I just lost it on Tuesday.” – Anne“When you have an investor saying, ‘What are you doing with my money?’ — you drop everything.” – Matt“I sat in an abusive client relationship way too long because I didn’t recognize it as gaslighting.” – Anne“If there’s pain, it’s usually a good thing. That’s the signal I listen for.” – Matt“Referrals are gold — you’ll do anything for that business.” – Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne reveals her newest venture — the business of Anne — and introduces her bold new brand, Share Your Freak. It’s a raw conversation about embracing the quirks we hide, turning vulnerability into connection, and creating a brand rooted in authenticity. Matt digs into how she makes massive pivots seem effortless, the signals that drive those changes, and how Anne plans to scale her personal brand into something global — without chasing money as the end goal.🚨 Stuff You'll Want to Remember:“The things that make you a freak are actually the things that set you free.” — Anne“Businesses aren’t unique. People are.” — Anne“If you invest energy into something that elevates everything else, that’s never wasted.” — Anne“Signals converge. That’s when you know it’s time to pivot.” — Matt“The real clarity comes from testing in public.” — Matt“Focus on the input, not the result. The money follows the meaning.” — Anne“If you wake up and haven’t hit your goal yet, it just means it’s time for new ideas.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

In this episode, Matt and Anne sit down with entrepreneur Sandra Graves, founder of Innova Industries and founder of Hub HTX. Sandra shares her journey from a initial role in the intermodal shipping world to running two different businesses—one in ISO tanks and another in community coworking.We talk about navigating bespoke industries, the realities of starting a company during a recession, how coworking spaces survived COVID, and why resilience and intuition matter as much as strategy. Sandra’s perspective on growth, balance, and trusting your cycles is a refreshing reminder that entrepreneurship is as much about personal evolution as business tactics.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Starting a business during a recession makes you a leaner, more resilient founder.” — Sandra“At some point you have to trust the foundation you’ve built and lean into your expertise.” — Sandra“You can’t force creativity every day. Trust your cycles — the energy always comes back.” — Matt“Sometimes laying the groundwork feels like failure, but really it’s setting the stage for future growth.” — Anne📡 Where to Find Us:Sandra → Instagram (HubHTX) - Innova IndustriesAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne and Matt dig into how founders think about money, growth, and energy. Anne shares her recent dive into bonds, T-bills, and high-yield savings accounts—and why she treats checking accounts as “dead money.” Matt contrasts by explaining why almost every dollar he earns goes right back into ChipBot, including how shareholder loans work without changing a cap table.The two also unpack what it means to run a consulting agency versus a product company, how networking can be reframed as marketing, and why side passions like dancing or table tennis aren’t just hobbies—they’re fuel for business longevity.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Checking accounts are just dead money unless they’re earning interest.” — Anne“Even a $200 return from bonds pays for real business expenses.” — Anne“I lost half a million in crypto in two weeks, but I can always make it back through building.” — Matt“For me, the best ROI is reinvesting in ChipBot—it’s the one thing I control.” — Matt“In consulting, the client relationship dies if you let it go stale. Meetings aren’t just meetings, they’re connection points.” — Anne“Everything in business is cycles: invest, execute, wait six months, adjust, repeat.” — Matt“Table tennis is my energy source, the same way dancing is yours—it’s better than coffee.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne and Matt compare two founder mindsets: Anne thrives on preparation and systems, while Matt embraces last-minute decisions and unpredictability. From hunting flight deals to playing high-stakes poker, they unpack how different approaches to stress and planning reveal much deeper truths about entrepreneurship.This isn’t just about travel—it’s about the psychology of pressure, the art of controlling what you can, and learning when to let go.🚨 Stuff You’ll Want to Remember:“Having a go-bag and pre-packed toiletries makes travel feel effortless.” — Anne “I’d rather book last minute and keep the mental clutter out of my head.” — Matt “Food routines matter on the road—bringing your own keeps you at peak performance.” — Anne “Poker is the best example of how people react under pressure.” — Matt “I love the anticipation of a trip—it’s a positive stress for me.” — Anne “For me, there’s no such thing as positive stress—if it’s stress, it’s bad.” — Matt “Both preparation and improvisation get you to the same destination—it just depends on your style.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne checks in from rainy Times Square with stories of DIY travel hacks and pitching her new workshop to New York business owners. Along the way, she and Matt get into what it really takes to prepare a business for acquisition — from valuations and tax strategies to branding, systems, and the human side of customer transitions.What starts as a conversation about packing Ziploc bags quickly turns into a candid look at exits gone right, exits gone wrong, and why most founders underestimate the time, planning, and mindset shifts required to walk away on their terms.🚨 Stuff You'll Want to Remember:“Exit planning isn’t just for retirement — it’s part of your strategy even when you’re young.” — Anne“Most business owners don’t realize an exit can take five to seven years of prep.” — Anne“Golden handcuffs usually mean the founder coasts until the contract runs out.” — Matt“An acquisition without strong brand handoff is just a fast way to lose loyal customers.” — Anne“Consulting businesses often sell with strings attached — you’re really selling yourself for a few years.” — Matt📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne and Matt dive deep into the messy, thrilling, and often contradictory world of growth hacking. From coworking space partnerships and unscalable local plays to billboard-style ads with QR codes, Matt shares how he’s testing ChipBot’s fall go-to-market plan with bold, creative experiments.The conversation goes further, unpacking the fine line between persuasion and manipulation, the hidden bias of five-star reviews, and why true customer feedback often lives in the “messy middle” of three and four stars. Together, they explore what it means to market with ethics, intuition, and human connection in a world overrun by algorithms and automation.If you’ve ever wondered how to balance risk, creativity, and integrity in your marketing — this one’s for you.🚨 Stuff You'll Want to Remember:“Growth hacking is just breaking the rules in ways that grab attention — even if it doesn’t scale.” — Matt“Cold emails feel safe, but they rarely build long-term trust. A phone call or in-person visit is human-centered marketing.” — Anne“Five-star reviews often hide the truth. The 3s and 4s are where the real feedback lives.” — Matt“Marketing sits on a fine line between persuasion and manipulation — ethics decide which side you’re on.” — Anne“Creative marketing is the hunt for the one thing that makes all the difference.” — Matt“Automated tactics are just noise. Human-centered marketing stands out because it carries intuition and emotional intelligence.” — Anne📡 Where to Find UsAnne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn

Anne and Matt dive into the unspoken cost of being the momentum driver in your business. They wrestle with boundaries, burnout, and what it really means to keep growth alive when you’re the one with skin in the game.Anne opens up about shifting 75% of her energy from running her businesses into building her personal thought leadership brand, while Matt challenges the idea of slowing down and explains why he believes maintaining constant momentum is survival. Together, they explore the tension between vision and execution, the sacrifices founders make, and why separating your identity from your business is harder than it looks.This is a raw conversation about risk, resilience, and redefining what “next level” actually means when the founder is still the engine.🚨 Stuff You'll Want to Remember:"When you stop or slow down as a founder, getting that traction back is a heavy lift." — Anne "To do something extraordinary, you have to make extraordinary sacrifices." — Matt"Momentum is oxygen for a business—you can’t afford to dip below a certain level." — Matt"You can do all the things, but not at the same time." — Anne📡 Where to Find Us:Anne → Fix & Form - LinkedInMatt → ChipBot - LinkedIn