What does it really mean to build an extraordinary life?
There isn’t one definition of success—or one meaning of life. We create both through the choices we make.
Each month, I sit down with founders, creators, investors, artists, and other remarkable people to look beyond what they’ve built and understand who they choose to become, what drives them, and what gives their life meaning.
You’ll leave each episode feeling like you’ve genuinely met another human being, expanded your view of what’s possible, and become your own greatest inspiration.
Why This 5x Founder Ditched Assistants and Let AI Run His Life
This episode of the Kristina Subbotina show is for the builders. Jody Glidden started coding at 7, launched his first business at 9, and bought a car at 14 (two years before he could actually drive it.) Now on his fifth company, Jody has raised close to $200M across his career, built and exited multiple startups (including IntroHive at $400M+), and is currently running Postalize, a legal tech company valued at nearly $100M with just 20 employees.
In this episode, Kristina and Jody go deep on:
Why raising less money leads to bigger exits and how he built a $100M company on just $7.7M raised
The real math of dilution: how he owned under 10% by the time he left his biggest company
The all-stock deal that crashed 16x during the dot-com bust and the lockup that trapped him
How BlackBerry acquired his company on the drive home from a fundraising meeting — during the 2008 crash
Running a 20-person team with the output of 150 by using AI to actually do work, not just answer questions
Building automated code reviews with a "model council" that doubled developer productivity
Why he has no assistant — and how AI skills for travel, CRM, and sales pipeline replaced the need for one
Board dynamics, voting control, and what happens when investors vote against you
The COVID playbook: CEO takes 50% pay cut, lowest-paid employees take zero — and Glassdoor ratings hit all-time highs
Why "I don't know how to code" is no longer an excuse to raise money before building a product
His take on AI adoption: we're at 1998-level internet adoption — only 2% of the world is using AI to actually do work
Jody is one of those founders who doesn’t prioritize delegation. He still codes, still sells, still does post-sale himself. This conversation will change how you think about building, raising, and scaling.
Follow Kristina Subbotina for more conversations with founders, investors, and operators building extraordinary companies and extraordinary lives.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinasubbotina.esq
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinasubbotina/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristinasubbotina
Subscribe for new conversations every week.
7 Aug 2026
He bootstrapped his startup sold it for $500m from going viral content l Yosef Martin
Yosef Martin is the founder of BoxyCharm, the beauty subscription company he bootstrapped from scratch into a business generating more than $500 million in annual revenue before selling it to Ipsy in a deal worth over $500 million. Without raising venture capital or having any experience in the beauty industry, Yosef built one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer brands by mastering organic growth, influencer marketing, and community-driven customer acquisition. Today, he's building PepNow, a longevity company focused on peptide-based health products, where he's applying the same founder playbook to an entirely new industry.
In this conversation, Yosef shares why he believes founders should stop following their passion and start chasing opportunity, how he built a business that reached hundreds of millions in revenue almost entirely through organic marketing, why he never raised venture capital, and the lessons he learned from selling his company.
They also discuss what Yosef believes is the meaning of his life. Beyond the businesses he’s built and the money he’s mad—because why bother striving for longevity if you’re living a meaningless life?
Follow Kristina Subbotina for more conversations with founders, investors, and operators building extraordinary companies and extraordinary lives.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinasubbotina.esq
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinasubbotina/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristinasubbotina
Subscribe so you don’t miss a conversation.
7 Aug 2026
Introducing: The Kristina Subbotina Show
What does it really mean to build an extraordinary life?
There isn’t one definition of success—or one meaning of life. We create both through the choices we make.
Each month, I sit down with founders, creators, investors, artists, and other remarkable people to look beyond what they’ve built and understand who they choose to become, what drives them, and what gives their life meaning.
You’ll leave each episode feeling like you’ve genuinely met another human being, expanded your view of what’s possible, and become your own greatest inspiration.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
62
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
60
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