
Think Like an Owner
Exploring how the most ambitious CEOs grow great companies. Each week we dive into the strategies and tactics that build transformative businesses with the operators doing it firsthand. Learn more at https://tlaopodcast.com/
Latest episodes

Apr 2, 2024 • 37min
Mike Stone - Growing a $1B+ Painting Company - Ep.217
Mike Stone, CEO of CertaPro Painters, talks about the $60B painting industry, their goal to become a $1B+ company, and the fragmented nature of the market. They discuss evolving to hit growth goals, building a unique playbook in home services, and the challenges of competition scaling.

75 snips
Mar 26, 2024 • 1h 8min
Ayman Al-Abdullah - How Companies Scale to $100M and Beyond - Ep.215
Former Appsumo CEO turned executive coach, Ayman Al-Abdullah, discusses overcoming growth challenges, success habits, leadership decisions, and strategies for scaling companies past $100M. Insights on leaving Appsumo, informative CEO experiences, and effective leadership for ambitious CEOs are shared in an engaging conversation.

5 snips
Mar 12, 2024 • 37min
Dennis Dresser - High Performing SaaS Sales Orgs - Ep.214
Explore insights from Dennis Dresser on developing high-performing sales teams, hiring great sales leaders, scaling sales organizations, and sales qualification methodologies. Discover the characteristics of successful salespeople, the impact of churn, and the high-performance sales framework. Dive into evolving sales teams, talent management, and implementing better processes in sales organizations.

Mar 5, 2024 • 48min
Transforming Data at Coalesce - Armon Petrossian - Ep.213
Listen to Armon Petrossian talk about his experiences in China, founding Coalesce, data transformation with Snowflake, selling to enterprises, opportunities in data, investing capital, sales team evolution, and navigating sales cycles.

38 snips
Feb 27, 2024 • 1h 14min
Sieva Kozinsky - Long-Term Thinking is an Advantage - Ep.212 [TLAO Replay]
Sieva Kozinsky discusses the advantage of long-term thinking and compounding in business. He prefers buying over building, studies successful companies, and emphasizes documenting beliefs. The shift to long-term investments, optimizing incentives, and lessons on owning businesses are explored. Operational experience, effective learning strategies, and successful business tactics like Costco's pricing strategy are also discussed.

Feb 20, 2024 • 1h 1min
Eric Jorgenson - The Power of Writing Books - Ep.211
Eric Jorgenson, author of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant and The Anthology of Balaji, discusses the power of writing books, the publishing business, his new role as CEO of Scribe Media, and the impact of books vs. other creative mediums. He also talks about unexpected events leading to his CEO position, the rise of self-publishing, and lessons in team resilience.

20 snips
Feb 13, 2024 • 1h 1min
Studying CEO's, Data Businesses, and Chief of Staff Roles - Alex Bridgeman and Chris Powers Ep,210
Alex Bridgeman, Studying CEO's and Chief of Staff Roles, discusses his background, interest in data, and weird theories about restaurants. They also talk about the impact of his podcast, the Chief of Staff role in companies, and the structures of data companies.

22 snips
Feb 6, 2024 • 1h 15min
Roland Lessard - The M&A Value Creation Playbook - Ep.209
Roland Lessard, former Co-CEO of Morningside, talks about M&A value creation. They discuss the 'why' of M&A, avoiding value destruction, assembling and leading an integration team, planning for integration, the role of debt, and common pitfalls to avoid.

22 snips
Jan 30, 2024 • 54min
[Re-Run] Richard Reese - Designing Incentives at Iron Mountain - Ep.208
Richard Reese, former CEO of Iron Mountain, discusses incentivizing teams with cash and stock, developing compensation plans, working with private and public investors, and shares stories from the early years of running Iron Mountain.

52 snips
Jan 23, 2024 • 49min
Savneet Singh - Leading a Public Turnaround at PAR Technology - Ep.207
Savneet Singh, CEO of PAR Technology, discusses turning around teams, management techniques, and his views on software businesses. He shares his experience joining PAR and saving it from bankruptcy. Topics include retaining speed over time and stages of structural changes.