The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Over 12 years of interviewing more than 100 billionaires, I started asking every one of them the same question: if you lost everything tomorrow, the money, the brand, the team, and you had to start completely from scratch, what would you do first? Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Drew Houston, Kendra Scott, people who built billion dollar companies from nothing.

Here is what struck me: ten billionaires, ten different industries, ten completely different answers on the surface. But underneath every single one was the exact same thing, and it is probably not what you would expect.

In this episode, I share all ten answers, from Kendra Scott turning $500 into a billion dollar empire to Jamie Kern Lima betting on the thing everyone saw as her weakness, and the one pattern that connects them all.

Here's what you'll take away:

• Why Richard Branson's instant answer was "find the right people," and how that is exactly how Virgin was built across a hundred industries
• Drew Houston on why founders have to be learning machines, and why the gap between where you are and where you want to be is almost always a knowledge gap
• Mark Cuban's counterintuitive advice to follow your effort, not your passion, and why the distinction matters
• How Jamie Kern Lima wiped off her makeup on live TV and turned the thing she was hiding into the reason customers trusted her
• Tony Robbins on why 80% of success is psychology and only 20% is mechanics
• The single pattern underneath all ten answers, and the one question to ask yourself if you are stuck spinning your wheels on tactics

If you are stuck on funnels, tools, and tactics right now, this episode will reframe where your real starting line actually is, because the answer is almost never another tool. It is always another person.

If you're loving this solo series, I'd love to hear your feedback. Email me directly at nathan@foundr.com — I read every reply. Hope you enjoy it.

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CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN

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FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES

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Ari Meisel spent 15 years teaching founders to do less. He's worked with over 300 assistants and once ran his business on a single hour of work a day after Crohn's disease nearly took him out. Now AI has changed the game entirely. He's running 32 AI agents across six different companies, has two agents that have been working nonstop for over 160 days, and rebuilt an entire DTC customer service operation with agents - taking first response time from 25 minutes to 44 seconds while cutting costs from over $20,000 a month to under $4,000. He's already cancelled rounds of hiring because the agents got there first.

In this interview, Ari breaks down exactly how he builds and deploys autonomous AI agents, why delegation - not prompting - is the only skill that matters, and the operational principle that survives even when every tool you use becomes obsolete.

What you'll learn in this interview:
• Why delegation, not prompting, is the real skill - and why "the 25-word prompt that 10x's your business" is nonsense
• The AI chief of staff blueprint: the 17-page framework Ari gives every agent before it does anything
• The full customer service rebuild: from 25-minute response times to 44 seconds, and $20K a month to under $4K
• The roles he's stopped hiring for entirely - and how agents cancelled a stack of project management interviews
• How he splits one overloaded agent into a supervisor and a frontend CSR when performance drops - just like managing people
• Why he gives every agent 18 foundational rules to stop it hallucinating or going off the rails
• How to actually see what your agents are doing: the Trello Kanban system that turns 32 agents into ten-second decisions
• The self-improving sales agent: how it rewrote its own script through seven versions in ten minutes across eight testers
• Why the "nightly knowledge card" is the one thing that makes every tool replaceable
• How an agent handled his kid's camp waiver from a text message while he sat in a meeting

If you're a founder trying to reclaim your time, an operator curious about deploying AI agents without breaking things, or anyone who wants the real technical playbook behind autonomous AI, this conversation will fundamentally change how you think about delegation, systems, and what "work" even means going forward.

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SAVE 95% ON XERO FOR 6 MONTHS
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HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER
Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+
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CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN
Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CONNECT WITH ARI MEISEL
Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/arimeisel/
LinkedIn → ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/productivity-coach-entrepreneur
Website → https://lessdoingacademy.com/

FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES
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Every stage of business breaks you in a different way, and nobody warns you which thing is about to break. So it always feels like you are the only one who cannot figure it out. You are not. The game just changed and nobody told you.

Here is the pattern I have seen after building Foundr for over a decade and interviewing 700 founders: the person who gets you to $1 million is not the same person who gets you to $10 million. Each milestone demands you become someone new, and the hardest part is never the strategy. It is the identity shift.

In this episode, I break down the three revenue walls, the million dollar wall, the five million wall, and the ten million wall, and exactly what changes and what breaks at each one.

Here's what you'll take away:

• The million dollar wall: why revenue plateaus because there is only one of you, and why letting go is emotionally brutal
• The five million wall: the boring systems nobody wants to build, and why culture becomes a choice you make every day or it decays
• The hire I tolerated for 18 months because I wanted to be liked, and how "what you walk past, you endorse" poisoned the whole team
• The ten million wall: why the thing that breaks is not the business, it is your identity, and the transition from founder to CEO
• Why imposter syndrome gets louder at eight figures, not quieter, and the cruel paradox that growing faster means doing less
• The one piece of advice from a founder at peace with his business: only sell if you have something else you actually want to do

If you are hitting a ceiling right now and cannot work out why, this episode will help you identify which wall you are approaching and who you need to become to get through it.

If you're loving this solo series, I'd love to hear your feedback. Email me directly at nathan@foundr.com — I read every reply. Hope you enjoy it.

SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS

Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend using the code FOUNDR50.
Start here → ⁠⁠https://your.omnisend.com/foundr⁠⁠

SAVE 95% ON XERO FOR 6 MONTHS
Simplify your business finances with 95% off Xero for your first 6
months. Start here →⁠⁠ https://foundr.com/xero⁠⁠

WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS?
Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/operators⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER

Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+

Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING?

→ Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN

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FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES

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Website → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Athan Didaskalou had bet everything on a one-year-old suitcase brand called July. Then Covid wiped out travel and nearly took the business with it. What happened next turned it into a nine-figure global company. Athan came from the agency world and sold out of two businesses to go all in; his co-founder Richard Li brought the manufacturing and supply chain muscle. They chose luggage precisely because it was hard to make and dominated by a single global player. They survived lockdown on drink bottles, kept every team member, and came out the other side with a two-year head start no competitor dared to challenge. Today July has 15 tier-one retail stores in Australia, is the official luggage of the Australian Olympic Team, and is pushing into Asia, the US and beyond.

In this interview, Athan breaks down his theory of why founder-led brands beat private-equity ones, the "irrational spend" that built July's brand equity from day one, and the counterintuitive reason physical retail became their cheapest customer acquisition channel.

What you'll learn in this interview:
• Why July was their "15th race" - and how years of prior businesses made them lethal from day one
• The irrational spend theory: why founder-led brands beat PE brands by overspending in emotional areas
• How they landed the four-letter July domain and sub-five-letter social handles - and why it signals trust
• Why luggage is a trust business - and how brand became their moat against the dominant global player
• How drink bottles and personalization kept the wheels turning when Covid wiped out travel overnight
• Why the two-year Covid shutdown handed them a head start no competitor was willing to challenge
• The investor who wrote a cheque with zero due diligence - after they drove out to fix a customer's lock
• Why retail became their cheapest customer acquisition channel - and the rent-to-revenue math behind it
• Why the US rewards short-domain, free-returns DTC brands - and why the UK has been so much harder to crack
• Why staying deliberately small is getting harder - and the first year they stopped knowing every employee's name

If you're building a DTC or consumer brand, trying to compete against a dominant incumbent, or rethinking whether retail belongs in your growth plan, this conversation will fundamentally change how you think about brand equity, resilience, and building something people actually trust.

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HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER
Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+
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CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN
Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CONNECT WITH ATHAN DIDASKALOU
Instagram → ⁠https://www.instagram.com/july/
LinkedIn → ⁠https://au.linkedin.com/in/athand
Website → ⁠https://july.com/

FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES
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Jay Haddad hated being a plumber. He lived for the weekends - free diving, waterfalls, surfing, the beach - and when he and his wife had their first daughter at 23, the outdoor life they'd promised each other suddenly got hard. On his first Father's Day, they bought some fabric from Spotlight, watched a YouTube tutorial on how to thread his mother-in-law's dusty sewing machine, and made a waterproof beach pool so their daughter had somewhere safe to play. Strangers on the beach kept stopping to ask where they could buy one. That was the moment Sunny Seekers began - with zero e-commerce experience and a first sewing attempt Jay describes as shocking.

In this episode, Jay is unusually raw about the whole grind: a year of failed fabric testing, three supplier disasters in a row, the brutal reality of a seasonal product, and the personal toll of three hours of sleep a night that nearly broke him before he learned to build sustainably.

What you'll learn in this interview:

How the product idea came straight from Jay and his wife's own friction as new parents - and why being your own target customer can be its own form of validation

The scrappiest possible start: a first prototype sewn on a borrowed machine, tested at the beach, validated by strangers walking past asking where to buy one

Why sewing in a circle nearly defeated them - and how the DIY version proved the concept before a single dollar went to a factory

The year lost to fabric testing: sourcing waterproof fabric on Alibaba, missing an entire summer season, and why Jay is still glad they waited to get it right

How he used Alibaba's "request for quotation" feature to find a manufacturer for a product nobody had made before - and didn't even know what search terms to use

The unit economics that made it a real business: fabric alone cost $130+ per pool in Australia, but a finished unit from overseas landed at ~$25 and sold for $115

Selling out the first 200 units in a month before Christmas 2024 - and the nagging question that haunted the whole next year: do people buy this after the holidays, or only as gifts?

Three separate supplier nightmares - loose threads on 200 units, a botched print at the wrong scale, leaking carry bags ironed shut by hand - and how he pushed through each one right before peak season

The Black Friday scaling playbook: starting at $10/day on meta, doubling ad spend as orders doubled, reaching $1,000/day, and hitting a record $50K month in December 2025

The hardest lesson of a seasonal brand: how post-Christmas ads got expensive fast, why he was left holding stock and no cash through winter, and what he changed about looking after himself mentally to survive the off-season

If you've boxed yourself into an identity - your trade, your job title, the industry you happen to be in - and quietly wonder whether you could build something of your own, this episode is for you. Jay had no network, no experience, and no idea how to sew. His story is a grounded reminder that the unglamorous grind of prototypes, supplier failures, and slow seasons is exactly what turns someone from "a guy sewing in the back of the house" into a founder.

SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS

Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend using the code FOUNDR50.
Start here → ⁠⁠⁠https://your.omnisend.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠

SAVE 95% ON XERO FOR 6 MONTHS
Simplify your business finances with 95% off Xero for your first 6
months. Start here →⁠⁠⁠ https://foundr.com/xero⁠⁠⁠

WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS?
Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/operators⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER
Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+
Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING?
→ Starting from scratch? Apply here →
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
→ Already have a store? Apply here →
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CONNECT WITH BY JAY HADDAD
Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/sunnyseekers_/
Website →⁠ ⁠https://sunnyseekers.com.au/

FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES
YouTube → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Podcast → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/podcast⁠