The First Play w/ Matt Stone

Matt’s long-form founder interviews have always been the aspirational top of the Bigger Stage — proof of what’s possible after years of building something real. Now he’s adding the layer he’d always planned to: a sharper, more useful YouTube track aimed upstream, helping experienced professionals launch themselves as their own company and sell their story, their why, to win clients on their own terms. Same channel, same mission, deeper reach. The refinement (insiders hear it first) extends the strategy rather than replacing it — meet people where they’re searching for answers, and the path to working with founder-CEOs opens up naturally downstream.Underneath the platform tactics is the principle that’s been guiding the whole build: what you do is fungible, but why you do it isn’t. The meaning beneath the work is what survives layoffs, lost titles, and the day an “orange meteor” comes for your business — and it’s the thread that lets one channel serve very different audiences at once. There’s also a summer weather check, a very honest gripe about World Cup traffic through the Lincoln Tunnel, and a candid note on staying disciplined when results lag behind the effort. A focused one for anyone refining what they’re already building. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattstone.substack.com

It’s Monday, June 22nd — 92 days to fall, the World Cup is quietly turning NYC and Northern NJ into a parking lot, and Matt is back behind the mic with a confession: summer is a recession. Not the scary kind — the calendar kind. Fewer appointments, more out-of-offices, the slow exhale most businesses feel once the kids are out of school. And the smartest move in a recession, as a fellow named Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood when he signed the GI Bill in 1944, is to invest. Matt threads together that bill, a muttering Galileo, and the quiet art of planting now so you can harvest later.From there it gets personal. Matt digs into why growth always starts with letting go — even when the thing you’re letting go of is your baby — why process beats results on the days you’ve completely lost the plot, and what he’s putting in the ground this season, from a health reset to a reading stack with some uncomfortable parallels to right now. Oh, and one more thing: the daily journal is officially back. So what are you going to take a shot at today? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattstone.substack.com

Sixty-nine days until summer, still feeling winter-ish at night (upper 30s, lower 40s), but a glorious weekend—Saturday sitting in the sun on the Upper West Side talking with a friend, much warmer than expected. After sharing trivia about the Apollo 13 explosion (1970) and Barry Bonds hitting his 661st home run (2004), Matt dives into a moment that made him feel very old: recounting a story about meeting Coolio in a Tokyo club to a guy in his early 20s at the cell phone store—who’d never heard of Coolio or Cypress Hill.Here’s the thing: things pass. Eras pass. Most people, even celebrities and musicians, have a moment and then it’s over. Phil Donahue helped define a whole genre of television, but ask young people today and they’ve never heard of him. Television’s almost gone. Things move quickly. But the opportunity in all that? Reinvention. Something new. If you can look at the next thing and aim for that, that’s where the value is.That’s what he’s doing with The Bigger Stage—aiming for the next thing. Because AI is continuing to change everything (he uses it every day), but the human experience around mission-driven work, building something bigger than yourself? That’s going to take an Olympic-style human development process to really stand out. To be iconic—and he doesn’t mean famous, he means being known for something you defined, something bigger than you that has meaning beyond you but that you’re the vessel for. Even if people don’t remember your name but they’re aware of what you did—that’s iconic.He’s exploring what this means, doing some writing on it, launching a new website today at thebiggerstage.com (check it out by end of day). It’s getting clearer, and clearer is good. This week: interesting meetings, preparing for a presentation, dialing into his sales process after spending the weekend getting even clearer about the business, his goals, what kind of company he wants to build. Higher definition helps you move forward. The question: What are you excited about this week? What are you building? What vision gives you inspiration, and how do you stay connected to it as things come up? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattstone.substack.com

Seventy-three days until summer, 34 degrees overnight (still freezing), but by Monday it’s hitting the 70s and 80s for good—so get ready for Matt complaining about the heat. After sharing trivia about King Henry I getting reprimanded for long hair (1105), LaSalle claiming Louisiana for France (1682), and Jumbo the circus elephant arriving in the U.S. (1882), he dives into yesterday’s 7:30 AM networking event near Grand Central.He’s a huge extrovert, but every time he shows up to these things, there’s that moment right outside—the cold start problem. Do I belong? Will I feel excluded? It’s like going to the gym when you don’t want to, but once you’re in, it’s better than great. He started talking to the guy at the coffee station who was super friendly—later learned he’d lost his father a few weeks prior but gave no indication of the grief he was carrying. The woman running the event? Number two employee at WeWork years ago, incredible personality, made him feel more welcomed than anywhere he didn’t technically belong.Here’s the reminder: we connect on a human level, regardless of profession or background. The sooner you get one notch deeper than weather and traffic, the more opportunity for real affinity. And when he introduced himself, the head of the group asked him to speak at a different meeting on April 21st—depending on how that goes, maybe at this one too. Now he’s got a date certain to prep a short version of what will become a longer talk. That’s the game: create moments that force you to do the work. Even if he doesn’t join, the value is there.The theme: doing things in spite of feelings to the contrary. When you know all it takes is getting your mind right and connecting, you’ll belong. And when you put yourself out there, opportunity comes. The question: What’s your opportunity that’s going to move you closer to where you want to be? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattstone.substack.com

Eighty-three days until summer, heading into the 70s today (upper 80s in Oklahoma where he’s flying tomorrow), and Matt’s making it quick before a client meeting. After sharing trivia about Washington proclaiming the boundary of the new capital city (1791) and Jeopardy’s TV debut (1964—didn’t realize it was that old), he reflects on a weekend that was productive but exhausting.Saturday hit the gym and worked, then Sunday ran errands in Manhattan—B&H for equipment, Apple Store to replace his iPhone battery. Turns out Apple never put two screws back when they fixed it years ago, so they refused to service it. He wanted to just swap the battery and go another couple years, but the system funneled him into upgrading and locking in for three more years with Verizon. Congratulations to them. The lesson: if you’re committing to errands on a Sunday, brace yourself—it won’t be relaxing, and you won’t feel refreshed. That’s okay, but it caught them both off guard.But here’s what really landed: Sunday morning, early, he woke up anxious to finish a client project. Got on his computer, worked on it, and his heart was full of joy. When you wake up early on a Sunday morning excited to get to client work and you actually enjoy it—that’s a signal. Amongst all the stress and anxiety of building a new business, those signals matter. You can’t manufacture that kind of joy. So the question: What kind of work do you enjoy doing any day of the week? That’s the signal that you’re in the right lane. He’s off to Tulsa tomorrow, working with great people, capturing stories, helping folks move from operator to icon. Back Friday with hopefully some good stories to share.Sonnet 4.5 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattstone.substack.com

Eighty-seven days until summer, 73 degrees today (23 Celsius for the global crowd), and Matt’s feeling it. After sharing trivia about the UN Security Council’s first meeting in NYC (1946) and Jonas Salk announcing the polio vaccine (1953—though we’re apparently bringing back measles now), he touches on the absurdity of TSA chaos for his Tulsa trip next week before diving into what’s really on his mind.He’s getting requests for ancillary services from new clients, forcing him to test his strategy. But mostly he’s focused on today—specifically, building a community around The Bigger Stage. Not just another weekly cohort or group everyone’s launching, but something creative, different, exciting, probably leveraging New York City. Starting with 100 people, growing to thousands. The dream is forming, but he doesn’t know what it looks like yet. And that’s okay.Here’s the pattern he’s noticed over the years: when he puts the call out—whether it’s for writing or strategy—he doesn’t know the answer and thinks it’ll never come. But it always does. It’s like working in a restaurant: you write the order on a ticket, stick it in the metal structure above the plates. “I want an order of a community building strategy.” Then as you move forward, view what others are doing, take in information, it becomes clearer. You get great advice and make it your own.Yesterday they did their first LinkedIn Live—30 minutes with Kait. People came early, left comments, then dropped off. They need to make it highly relevant early and give people a reason to stick around. Not sure LinkedIn is the right habitat long-term, but there’s only one way to find out. In the process, he figured out StreamYard, successfully streamed to both LinkedIn and YouTube. The recording’s on The Bigger Stage channel if you’re curious. The question: What’s the call you need to put in? What answer are you waiting for? Start with the call—the answer will come. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattstone.substack.com