
From Start-Up to Grown-Up
One of the top startup coaches in the world, Alisa Cohn, talks to founders, creators, advisors, investors and builders of all kinds about their insights and experiences in growing from Start-up to Grown-up.
Latest episodes

Apr 17, 2023 • 44min
#40: Peter Attia, MD, Founder of Early Medical — improving your lifespan and healthspan, the centenarian decathlon, and the process of making major life changes
Peter Attia, MD, is the founder of Early Medical, a medical practice that applies the principles of Medicine 3.0 to patients with the goal of lengthening their lifespan and simultaneously improving their healthspan.He is the host of The Drive, one of the most popular podcasts covering the topics of health and medicine.Dr. Attia received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine and trained for five years at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in general surgery, where he was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including resident of the year.He spent two years at the National Institutes of Health as a surgical oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute, where his research focused on immune-based therapies for melanoma.Find out more about Peter Attia | WebsiteFor more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.comTo stay up to date on future episodes and learn more from Alisa, sign up for her newsletter.If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast!Connect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Apr 3, 2023 • 1h 16min
#39: Alex Lieberman, Cofounder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew — Mental health for founders, having a framework for decision-making, and deciding when it's time to leave your job to start a company
Alex Lieberman is the Cofounder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, a media brand that empowers modern business leaders with need-to-know content that is engaging and timely. Since its founding in 2015, Morning Brew has provided millions of users with the most important news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.Alex was someone ahead of the curve, thinking about the future of content delivery when he started Morning Brew from his dorm room. In our conversation, we discuss the importance of mental health for founders, what it was like to sell his company, his decision-making framework, and why he left his corporate job to start a new company.Follow Alex Lieberman on Twitter | @businessbaristaFor more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.comTo stay up to date on future episodes and learn more from Alisa, sign up for her newsletter.If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast!Connect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Mar 20, 2023 • 45min
#38: Matthew Scullion, Cofounder and CEO of Matillion — Creating the right company culture, how to know your pivot is working, micro confidence vs. macro confidence, and the biggest obstacle in building a company
Matthew is the Cofounder and CEO of Matillion. He cofounded his first startup at age 18. Before starting Matillion in 2011, Matthew worked in commercial IT and software development for 15 years at a number of British and European systems integrators. A native of Altrincham, England, near Manchester, Matthew now spends half his time in the United States – primarily in Denver (Matillion’s U.S. headquarters), Seattle, New York, and in the Bay Area, at the beating heart of the enterprise software industry.I am a big advocate for developing healthier company culture, and we dive right into this conversation with a framework on just that from Matthew! We also talk about how there’s no one right answer about which culture to create that leads to building a company with staying power, how to determine when your company pivot is working, micro confidence vs. macro confidence, the personal growth you make as a leader, and the biggest obstacle people have in building their companies.Learn more about Matthew and Mattillion | WebsiteFor more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.comTo stay up to date on future episodes and learn more from Alisa, sign up for her newsletter.Connect with Alisa!Follow Alisa Cohn onInstagram: @alisacohnTwitter: @alisacohnFacebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohnLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/Website: http://www.alisacohn.comDownload her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better)Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from AmazonIf you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast!Connect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Mar 6, 2023 • 56min
#37: Robert Glazer, Founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners — the importance of values and purpose, how to build your team's capacity, and why you should start your ideas even if they aren't ready
Robert Glazer is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of global partner marketing agency, Acceleration Partners. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of BrandCycle. A serial entrepreneur, Bob has a passion for helping individuals and organizations build their capacity to elevate.Key highlights:His company, Acceleration Partners (02:53)How Robert ended up building an email list, writing blogs, writing books, podcasting, and how he fits it all together (06:14) Why clarifying values and purpose is important to you and your company (13:53) Activities and exercises to help you clarify your core values (18:27) What prompted Robert to clarify his company’s culture to take into account the importance of values? (21:38)A scenario where he had to make a hard decision in a situation that didn’t align with his values and the company’s values (27:15)Why he decided to step down as CEO to become an Executive Chairman and what the transitioning process looked like (29:00)His book; Elevate Your Team: Empower Your Team To Reach Their Full Potential and Build A Business That Builds Leaders (36:00) What is capacity? (36:20)The capacity building road map (37:18)Robert’s framework for building team capacity and the different categories of capacity (40:17)How Robert has evolved as a leader (47:47)His experience with the impostor syndrome and how he deals with it (49:06)What Robert wishes he had known earlier on his journey (52:10)His advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (53:37) Notable Quotes“I have started a ton of things that have failed, but I have never been successful in anything I didn’t start.” (10:44)” If you are accountable, you can have flexibility.” (22:06)Resources MentionedElevate Your Team: Empower Your Team To Reach Their Full Potential and Build A Business That Builds Leaders: https://bit.ly/40IzbmJFriday Forward: Inspiration & Motivation to End Your Week Stronger Than It Started (Ignite Reads): https://bit.ly/3JUU732How to Make Virtual Teams Work: Manage and Empower a Virtual Team That Thrives While Working from Home: http://bit.ly/3zfp5hwConnect with Robert!Follow Robert Glazer on:Website (Company): https://www.accelerationpartners.com/Website (Personal): https://robertglazer.com/Podcast: https://robertglazer.com/elevate-podcasts/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glazer/Connect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Feb 22, 2023 • 50min
#36: Hubert Palan, Founder and CEO of Productboard — the challenges of scaling leadership, tactics for fundraising, and finding a work/life balance
Hubert is the founder and CEO of Productboard.com, a platform for strategic product design and management headquartered in San Francisco, California. Prior to Productboard, Hubert was the Vice President of Product Management at GoodData, where he managed GoodData’s disruptive platform business, built the whole front-end product management and UX team from the ground up, and established and embodied modern principles of user experience design. Hubert also once worked in management consulting as well as trained 20 national park managers in Vietnam on marketing and strategy.In our conversation, filmed live at Web Summit in Portugal, Hubert dives into the challenges of scaling leadership, which include the conversations you need to have when an executive is unable to scale, the tactics he uses for fundraising, which helped Productboard become a unicorn, and how he finds a work/life balance.Hubert’s company; Productboard (02:15)Definition of empathy (04:08) How empathy helps leaders scale a company (05:23)How Hubert developed the skill of giving negative feedback (07:08) The biggest challenge faced by Founders & CEOs of fast-growing companies (12:35)Markers that show that an executive will not be able to scale and the kind of conversations you should have with executives to identify their ability to scale (15:58) The strategies Hubert uses to fundraise successfully (22:37)Why is it necessary to perform due diligence on investors? (29:00) How he conducts due diligence on investors (30:00)Hubert’s mood meter; why he built it and how he uses it (32:33)How he maintains a work-life balance (39:08) His greatest strength and the weakness he is working on (43:26)What Hubert wishes he had known earlier on his journey (45:11)His advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (47:38)Love the show? Subscribe, Rate, Review, Like, and Share!Let’s Connect!Follow Hubert Palan on:Website: https://www.productboard.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/hpalanFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Productboard/ LinkedIn(Personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/hubertpalan/LinkedIn(Company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/productboard/Connect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Feb 4, 2023 • 1h 6min
#35: Padma Warrior, Founder and CEO of Fable — The reverse journey of grown-up to start-up, what to unlearn to become a founder, how to get your initial hires onboard, and rituals that build culture
Padmasree Warrior is the Founder, President and CEO of Fable, a mobile-first company that brings stories to everyone, anywhere. Previously, Padma was the Chief Executive Officer of NIO U.S., Chief Development Officer and Board Member of NIO Inc., a manufacturer of smart, electric, and autonomous vehicles. In this role, she scaled the company from start-up to a successful IPO NYSE:NIO in 3 years.Our conversation was truly fascinating! We discuss her reverse journey from grown-up to start-up, what she had to unlearn from a large corporation to become a start-up founder, how you can get your initial hires onboard, and the rituals that build a strong company culture.To stay up to date on future episodes and learn more from Alisa, sign up for her newsletter.If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast!What inspired Padma to become an entrepreneur?(03:36)What she had to learn and unlearn when she went from being in a large company to becoming a start-up founder (06:14)Tips to help you when hiring team members for your start-up (09:28)What Fable does (14:45)Why Padma started Fable (15:45)The definition of company culture (22:48)Why investing in company culture is important for your start-up (23:36)The difference between hiring for experience and hiring for expertise (28:37)The ‘Fika’ ritual and why it is a powerful ritual for developing the company culture (33:12)Why she bans talk about work inside the Fika ritual (36:03)What it actually means to bring your whole self to work (40:40)How Padma made a mindset shift from a problem solver to someone who helps other people solve problems (44:35)The decision-making framework she uses in her staff meetings at Fable (49:20)The difference between being on a board and being on a management team (52:30)3 Things you should consider before you become a board member (54:36)What Padma has learned from her board roles at Microsoft and Spotify (56:31)Her experience with the impostor syndrome (59:38)What Padma wishes she had known earlier on her journey (1:02:58)Her advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (1:04:05) Remember to Subscribe, Rate, Review, Like, and Share! Connect with Padma!Follow Padma Warrior on:Website: https://fable.co/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/padmasree-warrior-9917a26b/Twitter: https://twitter.com/PadmasreeConnect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Jan 24, 2023 • 57min
#34: Nick Sonnenberg, Founder and CEO of Leverage — Bootstrapping your business; risk and how to build confidence; how to make your business more efficient, and how to come up for air
Nick Sonnenberg is the Founder and CEO of Leverage, a business efficiency consultant, Inc. columnist, and author of the book, Come Up For Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work. As a serial entrepreneur with a passion for productivity and a background in data science, Nick’s mission is to create companies that disrupt the way people work by leveraging the power of remote teams, digital tools, and automation.His primary focus is to help teams operate more efficiently through his CPR® Business Efficiency Framework, a proven system for leaders, managers, and teams to maximize their performance and reduce overwhelm by using the right tools in the right way, at the right time. This framework consistently results in greater output, less stress, happier employees, and the potential to gain an extra full day per week in productivity per person. Nick has worked with individuals and companies of all sizes including Tony Robbins, Jay Abraham, Facebook, ConsenSys, and more.Nick and I had a rich conversation about the benefits of bootstrapping your business, his thoughts on risk and how to build confidence, and the many ways you can make your business more efficient!Love the show? Subscribe, Rate, Review, Like, and Share!Introducing today’s guest; Nick Sonnenberg (00:22)How Nick co-founded Leverage after a successful career in high-frequency trading (03:00)Nick’s dramatic breakup with his cofounder and the lessons he learned from that (06:24)Why he never gave up on the company and how he managed stress in that period (10:55)The benefits of bootstrapping your business (13:00)Why hiring is the worst way to get more bandwidth (16:04)How to determine when it’s time to hire someone new (17:54)How to get feedback from your team (21:50)Effective strategies for ensuring you get feedback when you are the boss (25:04)Why he authored - Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work. (32:20)Why people are drowning in work and what they can do about it (33:42)The scavenger hunt problem (35:09)Quick win tips & tactics in his book to help you make your business more efficient (38:37)How to build confidence as an entrepreneur (44:30)Nick’s advice for people getting into cofounder relationships (45:00)Nick’s leadership style and how it has evolved (49:59)What Nick wishes he had known earlier on his entrepreneurship journey (51:06)His advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (55:30) Love the show? Subscribe, Rate, Review, Like, and Share!Resources MentionedCome Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work: https://www.amazon.com/Come-Up-Air-Leverage-Drowning/dp/140023672XWorking Backwards: InConnect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Jan 5, 2023 • 1h 14min
#33: Chip Conley, Founder at Modern Elder Academy — Using regret as fuel; how and why founders need to shift their identities; how to manage people older than you; and his favorite interview question
Chip is the founder of the Modern Elder Academy (MEA), where a new roadmap for midlife is offered at a beautiful oceanfront campus in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and forthcoming campuses in Santa Fe, NM. His five books have made him a leading authority at the intersection of psychology and business. Chip had tons of wisdom to share in this talk, including how to use regret as fuel for the future, what founders can learn when they shift their identities, how to manage people older than you, what Chip learned from the people that he mentored, and his favorite interview question. Key highlights in the episodeKnow our guest; Chip Conley (00:30)The identity cleanse and why it is important (03:19)Chip’s near-death experience and how it made him shift his identity when he sold his company (07:30)The Anatomy of a transition; Three stages of transition (14:48)How Chip became a mentor and an intern to Airbnb Co-Founder&CEO Brian Chesky (18:46)Using regret as raw material for the future (19:45)How insights from Airbnb led him to start the Modern Elder Academy (21:55)Ways of scaling your company’s culture & soul as the company grows (26:46)Culture fit vs. Culture add approach to hiring (28:48)His favorite interview questions (31:20)Why Chip has developed a strong personal brand and how it has served him (37:55)His advice to new founders about having a personal brand (41:06)What Chip teaches his mentees (46:37)What he has learned from his mentees (51:10) How to manage people older than you. And how to operate in an environment where your boss is younger than you (56:18)Ways through which founders can find the truth in their companies (1:01:30)The adjustments Chip has made in his leadership style and the feedback he received (1:04:13)What Chip wishes he had known earlier on his entrepreneurship journey (1:08:11)His advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (1:09:41)Love the show? Subscribe, Rate, Review, Like, and Share! Resources MentionedFinish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top: https://bit.ly/3jtlA2NLife Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age: https://amzn.to/3HFPjOaWisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder: https://bit.ly/3YjOxwQLet’s Connect!Follow Chip Conley on:Website: https://chipconley.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChipConleyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chipconleysf/Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/chipconleyauthor Subscribe to MEA Wisdom well: https://wisdomwell.modernelderacademy.com/Connect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Dec 14, 2022 • 41min
#32: Julia Boorstin, Senior Media and Tech Correspondent CNBC — The confidence dial, empathy as a strategic skill, and why playing sports makes for better leaders
Julia Boorstin is CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech correspondent based at the network’s Los Angeles bureau, where she reports and conducts CEO interviews across CNBC programming, and plays a key role on CNBC’s bicoastal tech-focused program TechCheck, delivering reporting, analysis, and interviews around streaming, social, and the convergence of media and technology. She is also the author of When Women Lead. In 2013, she created and launched the CNBC Disruptor 50, an annual list she oversees, highlighting the private companies transforming the economy and challenging companies in established industries. Additionally, she reported a documentary on the future of television for the network, “Stay Tuned...The Future of TV” and helped launch CNBC’s “Closing the Gap” initiative, covering the people and companies closing gender gaps, and leads CNBC’s coverage of studies on this topic. Before joining CNBC, Boorstin was a writer and reporter at Fortune magazine, as well as a contributor to “Street Life,” a live market wrap-up segment on CNN Headline News.This conversation is packed with SO many great topics, including a concept Julia calls the confidence dial, having empathy as a strategic skill, and why people who played sports make for much better leaders. To stay up to date on future episodes and learn more from Alisa, sign up for her newsletter.If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast!Learn more about Julia | WebsiteFor more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.comConnect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Dec 5, 2022 • 1h 1min
#31: Mid-Day Squares - Creating fans and not customers, building a company as a family, and the power of social media
Lezlie Karls, Co-founder, and CEO started MID-DAY SQUARES with her husband Nick Saltarelli, and brother Jake Karls. After being rejected by every major grocery store buyer, she persuaded her husband to leave his tech startup and help her sell online direct to consumers. Together, they wanted to bring delicious tasting, clean, high-protein afternoon snacks to people on the daily life grind.Join in on our conversation as we discuss how they want to create fans instead of customers, how they've leveraged the power of social media, and built a strong startup together as a family of co-founders.To stay up to date on future episodes and learn more from Alisa, sign up for her newsletter.If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast!Learn more about Mid-Day Squares | LinkedInFor more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.comConnect with Alisa! Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohn Twitter: @alisacohn Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/ Website: http://www.alisacohn.com Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon
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