Most platforms celebrate companies after they've already made it. We show up at the beginning.
We're a founder first media platform built to give early stage startups the exposure they rarely get when they need it most. The wins, the failures, the pivots, the late nights. The real journey of building from the ground up that never makes it into pitch decks or business school case studies.
Every episode, we spotlight founders in the trenches, share their unfiltered stories, and document what it actually takes to turn an idea into a real business.
We're also building toward something bigger. Connecting standout founders to investors and strategic partners, and hosting live pitch events where founders can get real feedback and compete for funding and exposure.
We root for the underdog. We believe in earned attention over bought attention. And we're building a modern school of hard knocks for the next generation of great companies.
If you're building something, or you want a front row seat to those who are, you're in the right place.
He Could Not Get A Single Internship. Then Harvard And MIT Both Said Yes.
Jack Doughty spent years applying for internships and getting rejected by every single one. Out of options, he took a research job in a physics lab he knew nothing about, learned electromagnetic physics from scratch, and published a paper within four months. When Adobe finally offered him his dream internship he cold emailed a Harvard professor the same week as a half court shot just to see what would happen. Harvard responded. Nobody else did. He spent that summer in Cambridge networking with Harvard and MIT students, applied to both schools that fall, and received offers from both the same week Adobe came back and offered him the internship again. In this episode Jack breaks down what kept him going through every rejection, why the doors that closed were the ones that mattered most, how faith and hard work compounded in ways he never expected, and what every ambitious student or founder needs to hear when they feel like the whole world is telling them no.
31 Jul 2026
The Founder’s Dopamine Trap: How to Hack Your Brain for Scale
Most founders think their productivity problem is a discipline problem. Brad Plumlee says it is actually a chemistry problem. In this episode Brad breaks down how dopamine really works, why cheap hits from social media and junk food are raising your baseline and making real work feel impossible, the dopamine points system that explains why you should always do hard things first, how to get into flow state in fifteen minutes, why boredom is not the enemy but the actual training method for fixing your focus, and what your ancestors can teach you about resetting your brain to its natural baseline. If you have ever sat down to work and immediately reached for your phone, this episode is for you.
23 Jul 2026
The Most Powerful Man In History Chose Humility Over Wealth. Here Is What Founders Can Learn.
Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world. He commanded the largest empire in history, could start wars, end lives, and accumulate unlimited wealth. And he spent his private journals reminding himself that none of it mattered. In this episode Brad and Alex break down Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and what its core philosophy means for founders today, why focusing only on what you can control is the most underrated productivity system ever written, how memento mori reframes risk and ambition, what the seven stoic principles for founders actually look like in practice, and why the obstacle in front of you is not a detour but the actual path.
15 Jul 2026
He Built a YouTube Audience for 5 Years at Starbucks. Then He Grossed $300 Million.
Curry Barker graduated high school wanting to make films, left film school after a year, built a YouTube audience making comedy shorts, pivoted to horror on an $800 budget, and sold his first feature film at the Toronto Film Festival for $15 million while it was still being edited. The catch is that the whole time, he was working at Starbucks. In this episode Brad and Alex break down what Curry's story teaches founders about trusting your instincts over data, why passion compounds in ways numbers cannot predict, what investors were actually looking at when they backed him, and why the obsession story is the most relevant founder parable for any young creator building something from nothing right now.
8 Jul 2026
53 Years Without a Championship. One Unconventional Hire Changed Everything.
The New York Knicks spent fifty-three years without a championship. Then one unconventional hire changed everything. In this episode Brad and Alex break down what that story teaches founders about the difference between being in a drought and just moving slowly, how to identify the missing piece your startup is lacking right now, and why the most counterintuitive hire is sometimes the one that unlocks everything. They also get into the inflection point concept, what a breakthrough actually looks like, why novelty is what keeps founders going through the grind, and how to build the kind of relationship capital that attracts talent even when you have no resources to offer.
1 Jul 2026
She Started Selling Desserts Through Instagram DMs. Now There Are Lines Around the Block.
Klara Han moved from South Korea to Utah without knowing a single person, started baking Korean desserts in her dorm room just to feel less homesick, and ended up building one of Salt Lake City's most talked about dessert brands before she even graduated. In this episode Klara tells us how loneliness became the accidental business idea, how she juggled a full time corporate marketing job while running weekend production days and Sunday deliveries, why a single Instagram reel hit 126,000 views and caused her next pop up to sell out in under an hour, and what made her finally quit her nine to five to go all in. She also shares what she thinks every founder needs to hear before they let fear of failure stop them from starting.
28 Jun 2026
Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset: What Separates Founders Who Make It
Growth mindset and fixed mindset is one of those ideas everyone learns young and then mostly forgets to apply. In this episode Brad and Alex break down what separates founders who bounce back from rejection and what separates the ones who quietly blame the market, the investors, or their team instead. We get into why discomfort is the actual price of entry for building anything real, why your team will always mirror your mindset whether you mean for it to or not, and why the founders who ask for honest feedback instead of protecting their ego are the ones who end up scaling the fastest.
19 Jun 2026
How A College Senior Built A Mobile Barbershop Empire On Campus
Aiden Leone was on the finance track at the University of Utah until a guest speaker's story about walking away from accounting to build a hundred million dollar firm changed everything. In this episode, Aiden tells us how a bad haircut during COVID turned into Leone's Barbershop, a mobile barbershop now operating on campus, why he turned down the safe route his peers were taking, how a single mentor at his university negotiated him a better contract than the school originally offered, and why he believes students have nothing to lose right now that they will never get back. We also get into his plan to scale to over two hundred colleges, what it actually takes to cold call universities into saying yes, and the exact mindset shift that turns a no into a yes.
12 Jun 2026
The Brand Mistake Every Student Founder Makes Before They Even Launch
The conversation delves into the strategies for building credibility on social media, humanizing the business, the impact of controversial content, the importance of vulnerability, and the credibility of influencers and creators. It also explores the significance of long-form content and provides action points for building credibility.
Takeaways
Building credibility requires consistency and authenticity.
Vulnerability and strategic sharing of failures can enhance trust and credibility.
4 Jun 2026
Should Founders Share Their Goals Publicly? We Debated It.
Build in public or stay quiet and grind? We went back and forth on this one. Tune in and let us know where you land. Drop your take in the comments.
4 Jun 2026
Building Alone Is Slowly Destroying Your Startup
If you are building alone right now, this one is for you. We talk about why isolation kills early startups and exactly who you need in your corner before you hit a wall. Doing everything alone is not strength. It is a slow burn. This episode is about building the right people around you before it costs you everything.
4 Jun 2026
The Advice Destroying Student Startups Before They Ever Launch
The safest advice you are getting as a student founder might be the thing holding you back the most. We said what most people will not.
4 Jun 2026
Why Most Startup Ideas Fail Before You Ever Build Them
If you are sitting on a startup idea and not sure if it is worth building, this one is for you. We cover how to pressure test your idea fast and find out if real demand actually exists.
4 Jun 2026
The College Student Who Built a Social App for Skiers
This week on First Pitch we sat down with Brody, founder of Shredder, a ski based social app built by a college student who just saw a gap and went for it. If you are building something niche, this episode is for you.
4 Jun 2026
Why Being Broke and in School Is Actually Your Biggest Edge as a Founder
Being broke, unknown, and in school is not a disadvantage. It is your greatest edge. Episode 3 breaks down why.
4 Jun 2026
The Fake It Phase: Building a Real Startup from Nothing
Imposter syndrome is part of the process. We talk about why every builder goes through it and how to push through before the world knows your name. Drop this in a friend's DMs if they need to hear it.
1 Jun 2026
Why We Started a Podcast for Founders Nobody Knows Yet
Welcome to First Pitch, the show built for founders before they're famous.
This is where up-and-coming entrepreneurs get a platform to share their story, present their ideas, and document the earliest stages of building something meaningful. If you've ever wanted to witness a company from its very first pitch, you're in the right place.
Our mission is to highlight the next generation of entrepreneurs and explore the intersection of health, wealth, and faith in the journey of building a business.
Through interviews, founder spotlights, and raw unfiltered conversations, we create a space where builders are seen, ideas are shared, and future leaders are discovered.
This is Episode 1. Subscribe to follow the journey and witness companies from their very first pitch. You are watching something from the very beginning.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Contact First Pitch Podcast
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of First Pitch Podcast?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
