About Ready, Set, Startup! - Strategies from Founders, Funders, and Beyond
Let’s pull back the curtain on what really goes down in the Startup world. Every episode offers honest, off-the-cuff chats with founders, investors, analysts, and other Startup insiders as they share the hard-earned wisdom you can't find in a business textbook. We break down the wins, the disasters, the risky bets, and the lessons learned along the way, delivered with zero intimidation and a lot of practical takeaways. If you’re building, dreaming, or just curious about how Startups actually work, you’re in the right place. Ready? Set…let’s get STARTed!
Clarity Over Control: How the Founder Becomes the Bottleneck w/ Kyle Mercer
Kyle Mercer, founder of Inquiry Method, has spent more than 25 years as a private advisor to founders, and he is deliberate about that word. Not coach, not consultant, not guru. The pattern he sees over and over is that the bottleneck in a growing business is rarely the market, the software, or the hire that hasn’t been made yet. It’s the founder, and specifically what Kyle calls the point of greatest contraction, the belief or fear quietly choking off the energy in the whole system. In this episode, we unpack why the founder’s mood and clarity trickle down to every employee and customer, how founders slowly defer their authority as doubt creeps in, and why hiring senior people can make the bottleneck worse instead of better. Kyle explains the difference between a control process and an authoring process, why resistance in someone else is a signal that you’re being controlling, how to transfer real accountability instead of oversight, and the simple daily practice he’d ask every founder to start this week.
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Episode Resources
“Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business” by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters (https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Fuel-Essential-Combination-Business/dp/1941631150)
“Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business” by Gino Wickman (https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837)
Kyle’s Free Point of Greatest Contraction Inquiry (https://mercerkyle.com)
Inquiry Method (https://kylemercer.com)
“How I Built This” with Guy Raz (https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this)
Stephen Covey’s Habit 5, “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood” (https://www.franklincovey.com/habit-5/)
13 Apr 2026
From Reactive to Relational: The Biology of Better, More Connected Leadership w/ Aya Jokub
Aya Jacob, a business psychologist researching connected leadership, believes most founders misunderstand what actually makes them effective under pressure. After a decade in high-stress digital marketing, she saw how a leader’s internal chaos quietly ripples through a team, shaping trust, performance, and culture. That experience led her to study the link between self-connection and leadership impact, and what she’s finding challenges the idea that so-called soft skills are optional. In this episode, we unpack why urgency often masks reactivity, how nervous system regulation influences decision-making, and why psychological safety is a strategic advantage in fast-moving startups. Aya explains what self-connection really looks like in practice, how presence changes communication even over Slack and email, and how leaders can create conditions where people feel safe, clear, and motivated to perform at a high level.
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Episode Resources
“The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder - Brandon references this biography while discussing the power of compounding and applying lessons early rather than staying stuck in the learning phase. (https://a.co/d/09ioHR6h)
Relational Leadership Theory - Aya references this academic framework that views leadership as a dynamic social process emerging from interactions, rather than a function of hierarchy or title. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984306001135)
Psychological Safety - A key concept discussed in relation to trust, performance, and team effectiveness. Often associated with Amy Edmondson’s research on teams and workplace culture. (https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54809)
“Where your attention goes, results show,” - Aya’s closing quote emphasizing focus and intentionality as drivers of outcomes. This idea aligns with the broader focus principle often phrased as “Where focus goes, energy flows.” (https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/focus.html)
30 Mar 2026
From Freelancer to Founder: Building a Full-Cycle Growth Agency w/ Artem Kuzmych of Applica
Artem Kuzmych, co-founder of Applica, went from freelancing in marketing to building a philosophy-infused mental health app that started scaling fast, until the App Store suddenly removed it and he spent the next two years fighting to get it back. That chaos forced a pivot that shaped everything he does now. Artem now helps mobile app founders grow with a full-cycle approach that goes way beyond paid ads, focusing on activation, monetization, retention, and the product experience that makes growth actually stick. We unpack how he validated early demand on Reddit, what it takes to hire people who can deliver value and communicate it, why he’d rather hire too late than too early, and how he keeps building a company while living through the war in Ukraine.
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Episode Resources
“I am immortal until God’s work for me to do is done. The Lord reigns,” Artem references a quote commonly attributed to Henry Martyn (https://www.azquotes.com/author/32976-Henry_Martyn; https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/immortal-till-his-work-was-done)
Notion - An all-in-one workspace for notes, docs, databases, and internal “wikis.” Artem mentioned saving the above quote in his personal Notion wiki. (https://www.notion.com/)
Reddit - A network of topic-based communities (subreddits) where people discuss niche interests and share feedback. Artem used Reddit to validate the app’s idea and content with real users before scaling paid acquisition. (https://www.reddit.com/)
Inside a recent episode
Finding Your Funding Fit w/ Cheryl Kellond of Play Money Studios
Published 10 Nov 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Who we were selling to and what we were solving for was different. And that was really tough for me because of the kind of leader I am. It's not a business for the sake of a business. And I see founders out there that are like, this is the smartest business and we're going to do this thing. And it's a little more academic. It's a little more intelligent. And I admire those founders. I'm not that kind of founder. I've got to like, this has got to be the next problem up on my list I want to see solved in the world. And that makes it tough. It's great at times because then it's just contagious. But if you split from that, you're stuck. […]
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