Traction Podcast

What if the reason most high-performance careers end early isn’t effort, but how performance is managed over time?In this episode, Dr. Wayne Diesel, elite sports physiologist and long-time performance leader across the NBA, NFL, Premier League, and international rugby, and Ray Walia explore how founders can apply elite athlete principles to build sustainable, long-term performance.After decades inside the world’s most demanding sports organizations, Wayne has seen firsthand why even the most talented athletes break down, and why a small minority build careers that last. His work focuses on load management, recovery, mental resilience, and decision-making under pressure.Wayne has worked with championship teams and elite athletes across three continents, helping design performance systems where longevity is a requirement, not a bonus.He breaks down the exact frameworks used in elite sport to prevent burnout, manage stress, and sustain peak performance, and why founders who ignore these principles pay the price over time.Dr. Wayne Diesel- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-diesel-3012122a/

What if you could extend your healthspan, sharpen your focus, and increase your stress resilience by decoding your DNA?In this powerhouse episode, Dr. Matt Dawson, ER physician and early longevity pioneer turned health tech founder, and Lloyed Lobo discuss how startup founders can optimize their health span while scaling high-impact companies.After years of watching patients suffer from avoidable conditions, Matt left traditional medicine to build companies that keep people healthy before things break.He co-founded and exited Wild Health, a genomics-based performance medicine clinic, and now leads TruDiagnostic, an epigenetics company that helps people measure how fast they are aging and how to reverse it.Matt breaks down the exact systems he uses with elite athletes, founders, and high performers to engineer long-term energy, recovery, and focus. TIMESTAMPS00:00   From ER doctor to healthtech entrepreneur03:12   Why emergency medicine can't fix chronic disease04:49   Treating health as a data problem09:24   Genetics vs epigenetics13:11   Why entrepreneurs age faster than everyone else19:42   Measuring biological aging36:36   Health trends that matter vs ones that don't44:16   Top health hacks you didn't knowDr. Matt Dawson, CEO, TrueDiagnosticTrueDiagnostic: https://www.trudiagnostic.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-dawson-75196040/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trudiagnosticofficial

Building a startup rewards intensity, not longevity.In this episode of Traction, Alex Bruyn joins Lloyed Lobo to challenge the founder playbook. Drawing from repeated burnout and serious health failures, Lloyed argues that hustle is not a badge of honor, it’s a structural flaw in how entrepreneurship is practiced.They examine how stress compounds over time, why founders are treated nothing like elite athletes, and how chasing momentum degrades performance. The conversation reframes success around endurance, relationships, and the shift from achievement to purpose.TIMESTAMPS:01:05 Why environment determines founder outcomes03:13 Early health signals founders miss05:34 Momentum vs gravity 09:32 How hustle culture compounds damage28:47 The role of AI and community30:07 The first mountain and the second44:32 Relationships as the strongest predictorLloyed Lobo- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo/- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lloyedlobo/

Most startup stories focus on the win. Very few talk about what it costs to get there.In this episode, Lloyed Lobo sits down with Alex Bruyn, co-founder of Karak Creative, for a candid conversation about the realities founders rarely say out loud. From taking an unconventional path into tech to building a fast-growing company under constant pressure, Lloyed shares the parts of the journey that don’t show up on pitch decks or LinkedIn posts.They talk about momentum, stress, and the habits that quietly compound over years of building. The conversation explores why things can unravel after success, how founders end up running on empty, and what finally forces a rethink.Lloyed Lobo: https://instagram.com/lloyedloboStay tuned for Part 2. Releasing on January 7th, 2026.

The talent market has shifted in ways that make hiring harder for early-stage teams. In this episode, Melissa Kwan and Lloyed Lobo talk about why salaries jumped, why interviews often look better than the work that follows, and how these gaps slow companies down.They share what they’ve learned from hiring mistakes, how expectations changed after the unicorn wave, and what founders should pay attention to when building teams that can actually deliver.TIMESTAMPS:00:56 The current state of the talent market02:24 Gaps between interviews and actual performance07:22 Compensation expectations vs. capabilities21:23 Organizational impact of early mis-hires34:24 Building a team that delivers consistently45:03 Hiring for trajectory, not tenureLloyed Lobo:- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lloyedlobo

Fake it till you make it is a phrase founders hear early and often. Ambition can drift past honesty faster than most founders realize. This episode looks at how pitching and fundraising expectations shape the stories founders tell and the pressure to appear further along than reality.Lloyed Lobo and Melissa Kwan unpack the pressure behind projections, user claims, and the instinct to present a version of the company that is not fully real yet.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Fake it till you make it and where it breaks04:46 Values, joy, and building the company you actually want11:06 Realistic projections and the truth about TAM33:44 Investor updates that create real accountability35:53 Leading through communication and alignment38:34 The Wizard of Oz phase and early-stage shortcuts39:10 Confidence vs pretending you are further along42:06 Values, consequences, and building without collateral damageLloyed Lobo: - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lloyedlobo

Building a startup together tests everything you believe about trust.In this episode, serial entrepreneur Lloyed Lobo and Melissa Kwan, CEO at eWebinar, unpack the cofounder confessions founders whisper but rarely admit: love turned liability, handshake deals gone wrong, and the quiet resentment that kills partnerships faster than failure itself.From equity fights to emotional burnouts, they dissect why cofounder breakups feel worse than divorces, and the principles that keep the right ones from imploding.00:41 Love, lies, and why 65% of startups fail from conflict02:06 Handshake deals and the myth of “trust over paperwork”05:46 The fairness trap: splitting equity before earning it14:20 Why vesting clauses save friendships and companies17:03 When one founder works harder and starts to resent it32:36 How to rebuild communication when it turns personal38:39 The truth about burnout, buyouts, and walking awayFollow Lloyed:- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lloyedlobo/

Building a startup is like jumping off a plane and assembling the parachute mid-air.In this episode, serial entrepreneur Lloyed Lobo and Melissa Kwan, CEO at eWebinar, break down the reality of scaling: the discipline constraints create, the myths founders chase, and why too many companies lose sight of customers in pursuit of hype.From the unicorn bubble to billion dollar collapses overnight, they explore how venture capital’s incentives shape companies, for better and for worse, and why great businesses come from customers, not inflated valuations.Lloyed Lobo: - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo/- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lloyedlobo/

Most founders don’t need venture capital — they just need the truth about their options. In this episode, Greg Head, Founder of Practical Founders and Gregslist, shares why most founders don’t need to follow the venture capital path to succeed —and how alternative strategies often lead to better outcomes. Greg draws on three decades of software industry experience and his deep network of over 500 founders and investors to challenge the funding-first mindset. Specifically, Greg shares:00:00 Introduction03:30 Founders should not take VC funding without knowing the risks.12:00 Startups were once wild bets — now many founders misread VC expectations.20:06 Software is cheaper now, so VC isn’t needed to launch or grow.25:09 Investors outside Silicon Valley fund traction, not ideas.30:09 Practical companies grow with healthier habits and true independence.35:36 Seven paths to success start with building a profitable company.40:57 PE firms are buying revenue for faster IPO leverage.47:29 Every founder can win in their own way with the path that fits them best.50:16 Founders used to raise millions without taking any money off the table.59:19 Product-market fit requires focus on the right segment and solution.Resources Mentioned:Greg Headhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/gregheadaz/Practical Founders | LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/practical-founders/Practical Founders | Websitehttps://practicalfounders.com/Gregslist | LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/gregslist/Gregslist | Websitehttps://gregslist.com/Practical Founders’ Ebook – “The 7 Success Paths for Practical Founders”https://practicalfounders.com/7-success-paths-to-win-the-startup-end-game/This episode is brought to you by:Leverage community-led growth to skyrocket your business. From Grassroots to Greatness by author Lloyed Lobo will help you master 13 game-changing rules from some of the most iconic brands in the world — like Apple, Atlassian, CrossFit, Harley-Davidson, HubSpot, Red Bull and many more — to attract superfans of your own that will propel you to new heights. Grab your copy today at FromGrassrootsToGreatness.com.Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca.Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com.#Bootstrapping #SaaSFounders #StartupGrowth #Product #Marketing #Innovation #StartUp #GenerativeAI #AI

If you're building before validating the market, you're not a founder — you’re a hopeful builder. In this episode, Bocar Dia, Partner and GM at Forum Ventures, shares how to build a capital-efficient, scalable sales motion in B2B SaaS, from idea to product-market fit and beyond. Drawing from his early days at Hootsuite and advising 30+ founders annually, Bocar unpacks the frameworks and mindsets for growing to $100M ARR without chasing inflated valuations.Specifically, Bocar covers:(03:13) Bocar Dia shifts from engineering to sales at early-stage Hootsuite.(12:09) Validate real pain, then pinpoint key problems to shape your MVP.(20:01) Founders often raise before soul-searching — and end up misaligned.(25:10) Product-market fit is when value drives steady inbound demand.(30:17) Sales has three phases: product fit, GTM fit and scale.(36:57) Don’t scale early traction. Prove one repeatable channel first.(41:57) Hire Customer Success before Sales to drive renewals and growth.(46:30) Founders who sell first know exactly what kind of leaders and reps to hire next.(51:00) AI can help sales, but manual validation is needed before scaling.(57:53) Bocar recommends data-driven, tactical sales books for founders.Resources Mentioned:Bocar Diahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bocardia/Forum Ventures | LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/forumvc/Forum Ventures | Websitehttps://www.forumvc.com/"The Sales Acceleration Formula" by Mark Robergehttps://www.amazon.com/Sales-Acceleration-Formula-Technology-Inbound/dp/1119047072"Founding Sales" by Pete Kazanjyhttps://www.amazon.com/Founding-Sales-Go-Market-Handbook/dp/1734505117Winning by Designhttps://winningbydesign.com/resources/books/This episode is brought to you by:Leverage community-led growth to skyrocket your business. From Grassroots to Greatness by author Lloyed Lobo will help you master 13 game-changing rules from some of the most iconic brands in the world — like Apple, Atlassian, CrossFit, Harley-Davidson, HubSpot, Red Bull and many more — to attract superfans of your own that will propel you to new heights. Grab your copy today at FromGrassrootsToGreatness.comEach year the US and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don’t get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AILaunch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.caContent Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com#ProductMarketFit #CustomerSuccess #VentureCapital #Product #Marketing #Innovation #StartUp #GenerativeAI #AI