Beyond A Million

Today, Cameron Herold (Founder of COO Alliance) is back on the podcast to talk about one of the biggest reasons companies stop scaling: bad hiring. We get into why impressive resumes can be misleading, how to tell if someone has actually done the work, and the hiring mistakes that quietly cost companies years of progress. Cameron also breaks down why most entrepreneurs are never properly trained to interview, how he thinks about screening for culture, and what founders miss when they rely too heavily on resumes, references, and gut feel. We also talk about the side of entrepreneurship people rarely admit in real time: burnout, loneliness, identity, alcohol, retirement, and what happens when the business stops giving you the same hit it used to. Watch on YouTube: Let's Connect: Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook

Today I'm talking to Bill Tyndall, who helped build Electric AI from an idea into a company approaching a billion-dollar valuation, raised $211M across eight funding rounds, and now serves as CEO of Techvera. Bill has spent his career building companies around automation, IT, cybersecurity, and digital transformation. But his biggest lesson isn't just about AI. It's about capacity. We get into why AI is a capacity multiplier—not a magic fix—how companies create artificial bottlenecks inside their own operations, and why clean data, better routing, strong documentation, and faster adoption may matter more than simply throwing new tools at the problem. Bill also opens up about the founder side of the journey: what it felt like to take money off the table, why a big exit didn't create the happiness he expected, and how he now thinks about purpose, delegation, acquisitions, identity, and building a healthier company. Key Takeaways with Bill Tyndall (01:55) Business vs. Purpose (03:07) Will AI Kill Managed Service Providers? (04:40) Running a Business Like a Football Team (06:44) The Injury That Ended the NFL Dream (09:21) Why a "Boring" Industry Attracted $211M (14:50) What an MSP Actually Does (Plain English) (19:32) Artificial Capacity Constraints - $17M to $38M in 1 Year (23:22) Building Faster With AI Tools (26:38) Why He Walked Away From a $1 Billion Company (31:09) When Money Doesn't Fix Happiness (37:25) How to Avoid Regret After An Exit (39:17) Effective Delegation (41:55) The Problem with Roll-Ups (46:12) Acquisition Integration Challenges (49:28) The First 120 Days After an Acquisition (51:22) Returning To The CEO Seat (54:38) AI As A Capacity Multiplier (58:11) AI Governance & Control (01:00:10) Advice For Young Entrepreneurs Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oB-X1bAyF80 Let's Connect: Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook

John Lee Dumas has published a podcast episode every single day for 14 years, leading to more than 5,000 episodes of Entrepreneurs on Fire. He records seven interviews in a single day each week, built a multimillion-dollar media business around the show, and put together 12 straight years of $100K+ months in net profit. But when I asked him what he'd do if he were starting a podcast today, he didn't hesitate. He said he would never launch an interview show. In fact, he called interview podcasts a waste of time for 99% of people making them today. Bold statement from someone who built his entire empire on one. So what would he do instead? He already tested it. John launched a second show built around a completely different model, and within months it was generating 5-figures a month while dominating a highly specific niche audience. In this episode, he breaks down exactly how he built it, and why he thinks it's the only kind of show worth starting in 2026. Key Takeaways with John Lee Dumas (00:47) Daily Podcasting for 14 Years (02:22) Creating a Great Interview Using AI (04:31) Publishing His Monthly Revenue for Years (07:20) The One Word Most Entrepreneurs Never Learn (10:11) Compare And Despair (12:01) Why Most Podcasts Are Garbage (13:31) Advice for Starting a Podcast 2026 (21:27) How Have His Monetization Channels Changed? (22:39) A $39 Journal Did $453K In 33 Days (24:45) F.O.C.U.S. — His Framework For Everything (27:25) Advantages of Living in Puerto Rico (30:43) What He Learned from the Military (32:50) His #1 Advice For New Entrepreneurs Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6Mqu2jtox9c Let's Connect: Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook

Today, I'm talking with Tom Patterson, founder of Tommy John, the underwear brand that turned a frustrating problem into a 9-figure business. Tom started the company after getting tired of undershirts constantly coming untucked while working in medical sales. What began as a simple fix turned into one of the biggest direct-to-consumer apparel success stories of the last 15 years. In this conversation, we break down how Tommy John bootstrapped its way to over $100M in revenue before taking meaningful outside capital, why Howard Stern and Kevin Hart became game-changing growth channels, and what founders misunderstand about building premium consumer brands today. Tom also shares lessons on raising capital, balancing wholesale with direct-to-consumer, building a company with your spouse, and why experience can actually become a disadvantage in fast-changing markets. Key Takeaways (01:27) Leveraging Howard Stern's Audience (03:08) Pioneering Podcast/Radio Marketing (04:25) Starting Tommy John with $100 and a Sketch (07:27) How Useful is a Patent? (11:12) Evolve and Innovate (13:49) AI's Future In Product Development (15:04) How to Defend Against Knockoffs (18:01) Wholesale Vs DTC Margins Explained (21:33) Why Women Became 30% of Sales (26:26) How Tommy John Financed Growth (30:47) Kevin Hart's Unexpected Partnership (33:08) The Kobe Bryant Deal That Fell Apart (36:05) Selling A Minority Stake (38:20) Running A Business With Your Spouse (42:36) Experience Can Be Your Worst Enemy (44:38) Handing Off The CEO Role (46:53) Avoiding The Post-Exit Crisis (48:24) Lifestyle Businesses Are Changing (50:23) The Truth About Raising Venture Capital (52:06) Advice For New Entrepreneurs Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/879q12wejtw Let's Connect: Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook

If you're running content and ads without proof of what converts, you're gambling. Today I'm talking with Pedro Jerez, an entrepreneur and growth strategist who's led marketing for multiple 8- and 9-figure companies and spent years as a top 1% sales closer inside Tony Robbins' organization. Pedro breaks down how a single, well-built offer can scale past 9-figures — and how to validate it in days, not months — instead of burning time and money on ideas that don't convert. We get into the biggest content mistakes entrepreneurs make, the one metric algorithms use to decide what gets distribution, and how to use organic content to pressure-test creative before you ever spend on paid. Then we go deeper — what working for Tony Robbins was really like, the inner work most founders avoid, and how to shift from just making money to building businesses that align with how you want to live and lead. Key Takeaways with Pedro Jerez 01:45 Launching Too Many Offers Kills Scale 02:47 Validate Offers In Days, Not Months 03:51 Creative Is The Real Growth Lever 05:38 Media Buying Is Losing Its Edge 07:39 How Algorithms Decide What Content Wins 10:21 Which Platforms Should You Be On? 11:31 The Real Customer Buying Journey 14:00 Use AI To Pressure-Test Your Priorities 15:32 Reverse Engineer Where Demand Already Exists 18:17 Organic Content Predicts Paid Performance 19:25 How Targeting Actually Works In 2026 22:02 Fast Experiments Create Real Leverage 24:32 Consciously Rewire Your Reality 39:06 Tony Robbins Gave Him Frameworks, But Not Identity 44:27 Most People Underestimate What Mastery Takes 48:53 Obsessing Over Making Things Better 53:09 Move At The Speed Of Alignment 59:31 Miserable Millions to a Business that has Soul 01:05:37 What is Hum? 01:10:06 Advice for New Entrepreneurs Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZdwDxovY1q8 Let's Connect: Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook

For a long time, being in rooms (masterminds, events, paid groups) were incredibly valuable for me. That's where relationships were built, perspective expanded, and a lot of growth came from. But lately, I've been wrestling with whether that value still outweighs the cost—time, energy, relationships, broken routines, stepping away from the business, and more. And I know I'm not the only entrepreneur who struggles with this. That's why I'm sharing this unreleased, behind-the-scenes footage from my interview with Stu McLaren. In it, Stu explains the exact rules he's put in place to keep himself from being pulled in a hundred different directions when everything looks like a good opportunity. For him, this was critical, because without those rules, he knew he'd end up making WAY more money as an entrepreneur, but only at the cost of his family. This conversation completely reframed how I decide what to say yes to. And I think it'll resonate if you're wrestling with the same thing. Enjoy! Key Takeaways (00:00) Intro (01:00) Is Being In the Room Still Worth It? (01:47) The Cost of Being Away from Family (04:45) Why Travel Breaks Productivity (06:01) Calling BS On Nomad Efficiency (09:03) Stu's Framework for Deciding What to Say YES to (14:26) Why Rules Create Freedom Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mCwcdH_Kpus Let's Connect: Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook

Physical security is a brutally competitive, commoditized industry. Most companies look the same, act the same, and sell for the same. Will Duke did things differently. And when it came time to sell, buyers lined up. He didn't just exit the core business. Along the way, Will built an internal software platform to manage and track thousands of security devices for customers. That platform eventually became its own SaaS company, and both businesses were sold as part of the same exit, at roughly double market value. In this episode, we break down how he differentiated in a crowded market, what actually mattered during the sale, and his repeatable process for investing smartly after an exit. If you want to understand what actually drives valuation, and why buyers were willing to pay a premium for Will's business, this episode is definitely worth your time. Key Takeaways (00:00) Intro (00:45) Building a Business Over 20 Years (03:00) Selling Outcomes, Not Security Hardware (08:19) Using Data to Differentiate (14:00) The SaaS Tool that Became a Competitive Advantage (21:45) Video Surveillance for Small Business Owners (26:20) Advice for Entrepreneurs Exiting a Business (31:02) Exiting Two Companies at the Same Time (33:46) How to Use AI Before Talking to Attorneys (35:39) Maximizing Exit Value Through Culture & Core Values (43:07) Learning How to Invest Post-Exit (46:12) A Repeatable System for Vetting Investments Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XhpaE31zOg0 Let's Connect: Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook