
Founder's Journal
Alex Lieberman, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, gives you an insider’s look into building businesses. Alex explores the founder’s journey, from the painful challenges of 0-to-1 to the powerful frameworks that help you scale to millions in revenue as well as the emotional rollercoaster that is present throughout.
Latest episodes

33 snips
Oct 18, 2022 • 42min
How Spirit Halloween Makes $600M in 2 Months, The Journey of a CEO & Is a Recession Coming?
Episode 2: Today, hosts Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista), Sophia Amoruso (@sophiaamoruso), and Jesse Pujji (@jspujji) kick off with a discussion of Jamie Dimon’s recent economic predictions and how a possible recession will impact startup founders. Then, we jump into the aspects of Spirit Halloween’s business model that have helped it become wildly successful, the team’s own experience of going from founder to CEO, and finally, for Startup AMA we answer a listener question about how to pay yourself as a founder.00:27 - Jamie Dimon’s prediction about the markets06:06 - Intro06:41 - The Rundown09:58 - Discussion of Spirit Halloween’s wildly successful business model14:02 - Businesses that have capitalized on under-used inventory/resources18:28 - How Spirit Halloween uses licensing to their advantage20:15 - The team discusses their own experiences of going from founder to CEO as their businesses grew20:53 - Jesse’s experience as CEO over the course of his career23:48 - Sophia’s experience as a CEO over the course of her career28:33 - Alex’s experience as CEO 32:40 - Startup AMA - How should you pay yourself as a founder?33:08 - Sophia’s bank statement in 2010, 3 years into starting Nasty GalLinks:
Jamie Dimon says the economy is on the verge of a recession
Morning Brew Shakes Up Leadership Structure
The Role of the CEO: Managing Yourself
Trung Phan newsletter
What’s The Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology
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23 snips
Oct 11, 2022 • 44min
How Liquid Death got a $700 Million Valuation, Making Your Pitch Deck Undeniable & The Hidden Truth of Being a Tech Entrepreneur
Episode 1: Welcome to the FIRST EPISODE of The Crazy Ones, hosted by fellow friends, founders, and builders, Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista), Sophia Amoruso (@sophiaamoruso), and Jesse Pujji (@jspujji). Today, we talk about the rise and the insane $700M evaluation of Liquid Death, then we get into how to make your pitch deck UNDENIABLE to investors, and finally the truths that you need to know as a tech entrepreneur.1:03 - Liquid Death’s $700M Valuation8:15 - Sophia Amoruso on Nasty Gal, her $100 Revenue Business, Girlboss & Business Class8:53 - Jesse Pujji on building the biggest FaceBook marketing business, his venture studio Gateway X11:57 - Bootstrapping as a state of mind vs. Raising money from Venture15:03 - Jesse’s pitch on his e-commerce business Kahani24:38 - Jeff Bezos’ Flywheels on how to make a “defensible” business26:25 - The #1 Question Entrepreneurs need to Ask In A Pitch32:35 - Jesse on the idea of “unfair advantage” for entrepreneurs39:10 - Executive Coaching as a ‘pyramid scheme’ to make $1M in a year41:20 - Startup AMALinks Referenced:
Liquid Death’s Valuation | Bloomberg
Martha Stewart’s Liquid Death Collab
Jesse Pujji’s Tweet Thread on Kahani’s Deck
Sophia Amoruso’s Business Class
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Oct 4, 2022 • 1min
Introducing The Crazy Ones
Announcing the launch of Morning Brew's newest podcast, The Crazy Ones! Hosts Alex Lieberman, Sophia Amoruso, and Jesse Pujji, will be delivering the sharpest insights and unfiltered opinions about the issues affecting founders today, and the information you need to know to build a better business. Episodes release every Tuesday, starting October 11th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 27, 2022 • 55sec
The Future of Founder’s Journal
After more than 300 episodes, Founder’s Journal is taking a little hiatus. We are making some changes to level the show up to create the best possible podcast for business builders. There are really exciting things in the works and I cannot wait to share it with you all.Check out full episode transcripts at https://foundersjournal.morningbrew.com to learn more, and if you have any ideas for our show, email me at alex@morningbrew.com or my DMs are open @businessbarista. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 snips
Jun 24, 2022 • 10min
The Power of Leverage (Classic)
In this classic episode, I break down the different types of leverage you need to understand to make smart career decisions.Check out full episode transcripts at https://foundersjournal.morningbrew.com to learn more, and if you have any ideas for our show, email me at alex@morningbrew.com or my DMs are open @businessbarista. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 22, 2022 • 9min
Considering The Unexpected (Classic)
This week’s miniseries theme is Mental Models. In this episode, I break down why every great entrepreneur, investor, or employee must learn how to become a great second order thinker.Check out full episode transcripts at https://foundersjournal.morningbrew.com to learn more, and if you have any ideas for our show, email me at alex@morningbrew.com or my DMs are open @businessbarista. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 snips
Jun 20, 2022 • 10min
Solving Problems and Making Better Decisions (Classic)
In this classic episode, I talk about why it is essential to understand the mental model known as InversionCheck out full episode transcripts at https://foundersjournal.morningbrew.com to learn more, and if you have any ideas for our show, email me at alex@morningbrew.com or my DMs are open @businessbarista. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 snips
Jun 17, 2022 • 13min
Mimetic Theory & Decision Making (Classic)
In this classic episode, I talk about why it is essential to understand mimetic theory and how it impacts the choices you make every single day.Check out full episode transcripts at https://foundersjournal.morningbrew.com to learn more, and if you have any ideas for our show, email me at alex@morningbrew.com or my DMs are open @businessbarista. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 15, 2022 • 13min
The Right Way to Take Time Off
In this classic episode, I'm discussing the steps you should take to properly set yourself up at work before taking time off.As mentioned in the episode, check out two of my previous episodes, How to Unplug From Work and How To Get Your Shit Together, for more helpful tools related to PTO.Check out full episode transcripts at https://foundersjournal.morningbrew.com to learn more, and if you have any ideas for our show, email me at alex@morningbrew.com or my DMs are open @businessbarista. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 snips
Jun 13, 2022 • 15min
How to Overcome Builder's Block (Classic)
In this classic episode, I talk about a concept that I call Builder’s Block, what I do to remedy it, and why I think Builder’s Block is a good thing.Check out full episode transcripts at https://foundersjournal.morningbrew.com to learn more, and if you have any ideas for our show, email me at alex@morningbrew.com or my DMs are open @businessbarista. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices