You can’t master your business until you first master your mindset.

My first mentor taught me that.

And I was reminded of it again during my interview with Maria Konnikova. Her story blew me away. (No bluffing.)

Maria was born in Moscow & came to the United States when she was 4. She became a New York Times best-selling author, journalist, and professional poker player.

But her trip is a fascinating one.

She decided to take a journey into the world of high-stakes poker –and find out what role luck plays in our lives, and what it truly means to take control of our own destinies.

When Maria first entered the world of poker in 2017, it was tough to predict that, within a year, she would have won a major title, made multiple final tables, and amassed close to $300,000 live tournament winnings.

In her third New York Times bestselling book The Biggest Bluff, she explains how she convinced a world champion player to teach her the game, and what she learned about herself and luck and decision-making.

If you lead people, you should follow Maria’s lead.

She’s all in.

You’ve probably seen Sarah Frier, since she’s been an award-winning tech reporter with Bloomberg News for 9 years.

But have you read her thrilling new book “No Filter” ?

It’s the inside story of how Instagram became the most culturally defining app of the decade.

And how this 13-person company sold to Facebook for a Billion dollars.

Sarah had unprecedented access… from the founders of Instagram, as well as employees, executives, and competitors; Anna Wintour of Vogue; Kris Jenner of the Kardashian-Jenner empire; and a ton of Instagram influencers worldwide.

In 2010, Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger released a photo-sharing app called Instagram, with 1 simple but irresistible feature: it would make anything you captured look more beautiful.

After the acquisition by Facebook, Kevin & Mike stayed on, trying to maintain Instagram’s beauty, brand, and cachet. They considered their app a separate company within the social networking giant.

They urged their employees to make changes only when necessary, resisting Facebook’s grow-at-all-costs philosophy in favor of a strategy that highlighted creativity & celebrity.

But… Just as Instagram was about to reach a billion users, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg —once supportive of the founders’ autonomy— began to feel threatened by Instagram’s success.

And that’s where the story really gets interesting.

It’s ALL about the culture of your company. Sarah shares the story behind Instagram’s & Facebook’s cultures.

This episode is guaranteed to help you sleep more soundly.

Because ettitude (with offices in LA & Melbourne) is selling so much of its bamboo-based bedding, it’s landed on the Inc5000 list of fastest-growing companies.

Bamboo? Isn’t that hard?

Yes, but turns out it makes incredibly soft sheets, bedding, and jammies.

So Co-Founders Kat Day & Phoebe Yu have scaled a team of 15 to make it soft on the skin, yet gentle on the planet.

Bamboo doesn’t need much water to grow, or chemicals. It’s a closed loop production system, using recycled water & solution to extract the fiber.

Kat & Phoebe recently raised a round of venture capital from Drumbeat Ventures and TA Ventures.

And in this 20-minute episode, they’ll reveal how they’re scaling the team that’ll help you sleep like a baby.

If ever there was a role that’s a nightmare to hire, it’s the Rockstar salesperson.

Most companies try. But fail.

And for good reason.

Salespeople are good talkers. So the typical interview can be highly-misleading. Not to mention, most sales managers haven’t agreed-upon what makes a great sales rep.

Plus, there are 14 million full-time US salespeople, and most have never been formally trained.

So when Bruce - tall, dark, handsome - walks into the room, it’s no wonder the sales manager hires him. He’s straight out of central casting.

Brian Bar knows better. And he created Victory Lap to help you avoid this whole mess.

Based in Chicago, Victory Lap is the 4-year-old Sales Bootcamp. They find, train, and match great sales reps with deserving companies.

He’s well-suited to do it, having been a top sales leader and Head of Sales Onboarding at Groupon for 4 years. He systemized how to select, interview, assess, and onboard the best.

Now, Victory Lap helps other 150 growth companies do the same. And over 600 sales reps have graduated from its Bootcamp.

In this 20-minute conversation, Brian shares how to avoid the biggest mistakes when building your sales organization. And when you do finally find a great sales rep, how you can close the deal every time.

At Amazon, “Day One” is code for inventing like a startup, with little regard for legacy.

Day Two is, in Jeff Bezos’s own words, “stasis, followed by irrelevance, followed by an excruciating, painful decline, followed by death.”

Sadly, most companies today are set up for Day Two.

They build advantages & then defend them fiercely, rather than invent the future. But Amazon and fellow tech titans Facebook, Google, and Microsoft operate in Day One: they prioritize reinvention over tradition and collaboration over ownership.

To dig in, I just interviewed Alex Kantrowitz, author of the fascinating new book “Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay on Top Forever.”

After years as a reporter for Advertising Age, Forbes, and Buzzfeed, Alex stepped out on his own to launch Big Technology where he covers the Big Tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google.

Through 130 interviews with insiders (from Mark Zuckerberg to hourly workers) Always Day One reveals the tech giants’ blueprint for sustainable success in a business world where no advantage is safe.

Even if you’re not in tech (aren’t we all?), you’ll find this 20-minute conversation fascinating.

Last year, the SaaS company Curemint was just 1 person in Los Angeles. Now, it’s 15 people in Durham North Carolina.

Brandon McCarty is CEO & Co-Founder.

Curemint is the procurement solution for dental practices. Its intuitive ordering experience is optimized specifically for that sector. And the software increases spend visibility, automates workflows, and realizes increased operational efficiency.

Its venture investors include Jumpstart Foundry and Cofounders Capital

In this 20-minute conversation, Brandon shares how he’s scaled the team that’s drilling into the dental market.

Clearly, there’s a movement afoot.

The more companies announce they’re going virtual/remote, the more it doesn’t matter where you live.

So, companies can now hire the best talent in the world, not just in town.

Everything is turned upside-down. I wanted to find an expert to help us make sense of it all.

Patrick O’Brien is Chairman & Co-Founder of Patina Solutions, based in Milwaukee & serving clients nationally.
It’s the leading professional services firm that provides executive experience on-demand, and has appeared 5 times on the Inc5000 list of fastest-growing companies in US.

Prior, Patrick served as CEO of Paris Presents, a leading provider of cosmetic accessories. And spent 29 years working within the SC Johnson family of companies - most recently as President.

In this 20-minute conversation, Patrick shares what he sees the smartest executives & sharpest companies doing to adapt to the new landscape of careers.