Founder's Journal

Alex talks about raising a preseed round for Distro & some takeaways from the process thus far. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex talks about his startup heroes and why they've changed over time. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex tells the story of a wrecking ball he recently hired. What a wrecking ball is, why they're so valuable, and what it looks like in practice. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex shares his thoughts on quitting your business & how he thought about it while building Morning Brew. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex takes you through his 7 tips for pitching early stage investors on a preseed round. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex talks about why agencies are underrated especially in the age of AI. He shares why agencies are considered unsexy (relative to software businesses) & why that's about to change. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex walks you through his new, 5-step process for interviewing potential employees & how he's using AI to improve his approach. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex breaks down the different levels of motivation for entrepreneurs. He shares what motivated him early in his journey (while building Morning Brew) and what motivates him today. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex walks you through his process for building an employee influencer program. — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex breaks down seedstrapping. What it is, why it's in vogue, what the internet thinks, and how you should think about it in the context of your business. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (4:26) Intro to seedstrapping (6:20) Why seedstrapping is in vogue (9:15) Founder take on seedstrapping (12:40) VCs views on seedstrapping (14:00) My take on seedstrapping — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Show links: • HackerNews on seedstrapping: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36508471 • VC on seedstrapping: https://x.com/nikunj/status/1908155930690359437 • Josh Payne Linkedin post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jnpayne_when-i-started-my-first-company-in-2011-activity-7292920969323503617-JJKk?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAuMh6ABe5yrIF2I6gDHnZ3Fpixhetg9Rfg • Zapier CEO interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ36aQDjcC4&t=906s&pp=ygUSd2FkZSBmb3N0ZXIgemFwaWVy0gcJCYQJAYcqIYzv Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex pitches you on Codex, his AI prompt database idea. He gives you the elevator pitch & likely questions a venture investor would have. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (4:00) What is Codex? (4:20) Two truths in prompting (6:05) Elevator pitch (8:50) Biggest investor questions (13:05) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • distro - https://youdistro.com/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex talks through the science of procrastination, his own journey with it, and tools he uses to take charge of it. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:33) Why we procrastinate (5:23) Cognitive biases (6:28) Hyperbolic discounting (7:21) Temptation bundling (8:40) Social commitments (10:00) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Cognitive Biases: https://foundersjournalpod.morningbrew.com/13-dangerous-psychological-biases/ • Pomodoro Method: https://foundersjournalpod.morningbrew.com/my-favorite-productivity-method/ Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex walks through limiting beliefs he’s faced from childhood through entrepreneurship as well as his process for healthily navigating them. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (2:57) Exploring Limiting Beliefs (3:48) High School Limiting Beliefs (5:01) Morning Brew Limiting Beliefs (8:07) Post-Exit Limiting Beliefs (9:13) Understanding and Addressing Limiting Beliefs (16:14) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex breaks down how quarterly offsites are run at his companies & what separates great offsites from royal wastes of time. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:28) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (4:09) General thoughts on offsites (4:48) Well run vs. unproductive offsite (5:29) Key leadership roles (7:25) Sticking to the program (8:50) Item 1: Check-in (9:30) Item 2: Previous quarter review (10:35) Item 3: Review V/TO (12:01) Item 4: Go through EOS tools (12:28) EOS Tool 1: Organizational check-up (13:16) EOS Tool 2: Accountability chart (13:55) EOS Tool 3: People analyzer (16:10): Item 5: Setting next quarter rocks (16:50): Item 6: Identify, discuss, solve (18:58): Item 7: Next steps (19:18): Item 8: Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Visionary vs integrator: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/95591-traction-thoughts-integrators-visionaries • Rocks: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/managing-quarterly-rocks • Scorecard: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/measured-managed#:~:text=The%20Scorecard%20provides%205%E2%80%9315,track%20to%20hit%20its%20goals. • V/TO: hhttps://www.eosworldwide.com/vto-ty • Organizational Check-up: https://organizationalcheckup.com/oc/quiz.php?ucode=anonymous • Accountability chart: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/accountability-chart-or-organizational-chart • People Analyzer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MSVMM6bwCw • GWC: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/difference-between-capacity-and-get-it • Making rocks SMART: https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/tips-writing-smart-rocks • IDS: https://www.eosworldwide.com/implementer-posts/an-eos-implementers-guide-on-how-to-ids-identify-discuss-and-solve Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex breaks down a leaked internal memo by Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify. The memo details Tobi’s view on AI, expectations of how Shopify employees will use AI, and six AI action items for the company, top-down. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:32) Shopify CEO AI interest (4:48) Leaked AI Memo (6:03) AI step function change (8:18) What is reflexive AI? (9:45) Point 1: AI is an expectation (9:05) Point 2: Prototyping requires AI (11:03) Point 3: AI performance reviews (11:40) Point 4: Share AI learnings (12:29) Point 5: AI before human (13:52) Point 6: AI adoption is required to-down (14:08): Use this memo as an instruction manual — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Link: • Shopify CEO memo: https://x.com/tobi/status/1909251946235437514 Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex shares his 6 strategies for identifying business ideas. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:34) Business ideas are everything (5:21) How I find business ideas (6:25) Turning brain off autopilot (7:43) Friction finder (8:10) The why ladder (9:05) Game of ‘what if’ (9:50) Scan for repetition (10:36) Content-based ideas (11:40) Conversation-based ideas (13:32) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Marc Andreessen essay: https://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part4.html Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex breaks down his new business, Distro, the first AI content strategist. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:34) Be a student of AI (5:48) Post-It Note Pitch (7:08) Launch process (9:42) Create clarity before launch (12:18) Moats in AI (14:09) Go-forward plan (16:05) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Distro: https://youdistro.com/ • AI cancer study: https://x.com/PeterDiamandis/status/1905266239720612160 • Replit: https://replit.com/ • Testing the idea: https://x.com/businessbarista/status/1847032386887770326 Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex does a 2-year lookback on his 7-figure B2B content agency, storyarb. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:00) 2-year storyarb review (3:36) Founding story (8:05) The pivot (10:03) Product evolution (13:01) Building the right team (14:51) Financials & path forward — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Original storyarb tweet: https://x.com/businessbarista/status/1638176672485904384 • Abby Murray: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbymurray/ Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex does a SXSW 2025 recap. Here’s what to expect: Why conferences are a waste Two exceptions to the rule 7 stops & lessons — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:35) When conferences aren’t a waste (5:12) SXSW recap (6:05) Founders run club (6:48) Brunch with Lauren Zima (7:38) Lunch with David Perell (9:28) Hampton Dinner (10:18) B2B Creator Panel (11:32) Run with Connor Tomkies (14:05) Chat with Bryan Johnson (16:32) Conclusion — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Lauren Zima: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Zima • David Perell: https://perell.com/ • Connor Tomkies: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connortomkies/ • Founders: https://www.founderspodcast.com/ • Bryan Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/@BryanJohnson Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 142: Alex talks about his do sh*t meter & give a sh*t meter, how to calibrate them properly, and why they’re essential for being a successful founder. — Show Notes: (0:00) A note from our sponsor (2:26) Welcome back to Founder’s Journal (3:36) Being lazy is good (5:13) My do sh*t meter (7:38) My give a sh*t meter (8:02) Tobi from Shopify on Lenny’s pod (12:46) Concluding thoughts — Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Gusto. Head to www.gusto.com/alex — Episode Links: • Tobi on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/podcast • Jesse Pujji: https://www.gateway.xyz/about Check Out Alex’s Stuff: • storyarb - https://www.storyarb.com/ • growthpair - https://www.growthpair.com/ • CTA - https://www.creatortalentagency.co/ • X - https://x.com/businessbarista • Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lieberman/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices