Episode 19: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) was never trained in sales, yet forced to become a salesperson through the journey of his business building. Why? Because it’s the skill that will ultimately grow your business. Here are 8 strategies that any person can use regardless of your sales level. Timestamps: (01:55): Tip #1 - Do your homework (03:08): Tip #2 - Offense vs. defense (04:07): Tip #3 - Use weaknesses to your advantage (05:22): Tip #4 - Anticipate questions or concern (07:02): Tip...
Jul 24, 2023•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 18: When it comes to an idea, we naturally try to identify the solution to any problems we inevitably encounter. In the world of Chess, amateur players tend to resort to this solution-centric thought process. However, grandmasters spend time falsifying their idea before they make their next move. This is called the falsification ratio. Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) breaks down what the ratio is and how it can relate to the world of business, but also why it can be impractical in real...
Jul 21, 2023•9 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 17: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) runs through 10 startup ideas and determines why he would (or wouldn’t) take an investor meeting. These are real ideas that’s been pitched to him, and while some seem like viable businesses, he has to consider if they are solving a problem and have a substantial market. This is a great exercise to get into the minds of investors…it’s Startup Crossfit! Timestamps: (01:14): Idea #1 - 1 million kids climbing (02:21): Idea #2 - Business coaching firm by ...
Jul 19, 2023•22 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 16: Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) share the story of how they started Our Future, the #1 source of business for GenZ. After building a massive following on TikTok and garnering millions of views on their short-form explainers, they were acquired by Morning Brew. But post-acquisition life only brought a new set of challenges. Learn about the considerations and consequences of selling your business from these young and talented entrepreneurs. Timestamps: (03:...
Jul 17, 2023•25 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 15: It’s our first ever mailbag episode! Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) answers questions that cover whether you should be worried about someone stealing your idea, what to do in the first 90 days of starting a business, how to leverage your network whether big or small, and knowing when to pivot. Timestamps: (01:01): Intro (02:21): How quickly should you have investor convos? (09:25): Do you have a playbook in your first 90 days? (16:42): Can you build a business without a big networ...
Jul 14, 2023•27 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 14: So you’ve just hired your first employee. You’re excited. It’s a big milestone for your business. Now what? Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) shares his tips to making sure your first (and future) employee is bought-in from day one. He’ll be sharing how you can establish the “why” and solidifying the “how” in your onboarding process so that they can hit the ground running. Timestamps: (01:01): What’s wrong with onboarding today (04:21): What does good onboarding look like (06:15): Es...
Jul 12, 2023•12 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 13: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) gives an update on his ghostwriting content agency business, Storyarb. Perhaps the biggest step in any business is hiring its first employee and Storyarb will have a new content strategist. The most important next step is onboarding – which is the stage that can set the standard for both the employee and company. Next, Alex shares some of the initial numbers of Storyarb to give you a clear picture of the progress he’s making. Timestamps: (01:30): The...
Jul 10, 2023•16 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 12: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) breaks down the biggest news of the Internet: Threads. It’s been dubbed the “Twitter-killer”, but did you know Threads existed and failed the first time? Here are the 4 takeaways you can think about when you’re building your business. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W Watch Founder’s Jou...
Jul 07, 2023•14 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 11: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) shares the inevitable throughout your career: getting advice. Whether you’re starting your journey or a seasoned veteran, you’ll likely be receiving advice from other professionals along your career path. And while seeking advice is generally a good thing, not all advice can be helpful. Here are the 4 types of advice you’ll get and how to identify them. Timestamps: (01:30): Advice coming in from everywhere (03:11): Getting advice about Morning Brew (...
Jul 05, 2023•13 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 10: It’s a Founder’s Journal takeover! Bolt Storage founder Nick Huber (@sweatystartup) talks about how he built his business and the biggest lessons to take home for entrepreneurs. The biggest mistake founders make is trying to do everything when they should be reframing their minds to trying to find people to do the necessary tasks for your business. Timestamps: (01:30): Intro (04:01): Reframing your mind (06:06): Take small steps (09:15): Surround yourself with the right people Send u...
Jul 03, 2023•15 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 09: Ryan Seacrest has been named the new host of ‘Wheel of Fortune’. If you haven’t been paying attention, Ryan Seacrest is an example of the entrepreneur who stops at nothing to achieve success. Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) shares 3 lessons founders can learn from his career, but also the costs it takes. Timestamps: (01:30): Ryan Seacrest’s career (05:56): Lesson 1 - Focus on one thing (08:33): Lesson 2 - Prepare for the trade-offs (11:02): Lesson 3 - Be smart about diversifying Se...
Jun 30, 2023•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 08: When you’re ready to hire an employee for your business, you might feel accomplished that you’ve reached the level to build a team. However, that means hiring the wrong person could potentially set your business back. Evaluating talent is one of the hardest functions of a business at every size. Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) shares 5 little known tips to interviewing to find the right person for the job. Timestamps: (02:30): Rule #1 - send questions in advance (03:56): Rule #2 - ...
Jun 28, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 07: Clock it. It’s time to lay The Plunge to rest. Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) closes the books on the backyard plunger game. Any entrepreneur knows, it’s not easy making the tough decision to end a business. You end up questioning your ability, your confidence, and your vision. But Alex is here to walk you through all of it and why it shouldn’t discourage you from your next venture. Timestamps: (01:54): When is it the right time to quit? (05:20): Why didn’t The Plunge work (09:52:...
Jun 26, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 06: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) shares a free business idea. Yes, that means it’s up for grabs for you to take it and make it your own. It’s a deep dive into European Wax Center. Chances are, you’ve passed by one as they have 850+ locations across the US. It’s quietly growing and a very successful chain, which means there’s an opportunity to take its business model and apply it to another service. Timestamps: (02:00): Free business idea (03:30): A look at European Wax Center (09:52...
Jun 23, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 05: For this week’s temperature check, Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) talks about how great business operators have to be incredibly disciplined in every aspect of their lives. Then, a realization where business minds have paranoid brains because they’re constantly analyzing for every potential crack or gap in their business. Lastly, what didn’t go well for the week. As Storyarb picks up, Alex has concerns about his ability to meet his obligations in his personal life. Timestamps: (01...
Jun 21, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 04: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) is disgusted at the phrase “standard operating procedure”. Yet, for lack of a better phrase, SOP is crucial for documenting the necessary steps to completing a process or running a business. Let’s be real, creating SOPs can be tedious. Luckily, Alex has some tips and templates that can help you get started. Links: A Step-By-Step Guide to Making Sops 230523 SOP Template Twitter List Curation SOP - Founders Journal Timestamps: (00:57): Don’t be the sol...
Jun 19, 2023•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 03: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) admits he’s not the smartest person in the room…and that’s the point. This episode is about not being ashamed to raise your hand to say, “I don’t understand.” Because the truth is, there’s a high probability that someone else in the room doesn’t quite understand too. Links: How great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek The Truth about Being the "Stupidest" in the Room | Simon Sinek Timestamps: (00:56): It’s ok to raise your hand (06:53): The irony o...
Jun 16, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 02: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) announces the name of his content agency business, Storyarb. While sharing updates on the new startup, he admits his latest troubles being distracted by social media. Then he talks about a pivot for The Plunge that should save the business. Timestamps: (01:17): What’s feeling good this week (06:24): What’s not feeling so good (09:03): Plunge pivot Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJo...
Jun 14, 2023•17 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 01: Have you heard about the Morning Brew Daily? It’s like the living, breathing version of the newsletter. Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) analyzes why the show has been successful and breaks down lessons any business-builder or content-creator can take home. Link: Listen to the Morning Brew Daily podcast here Timestamps: (03:36): Lesson 1 - Chemistry is everything (04:13): Lesson 2 - Only change one variable when moving audience (05:18): Lesson 3 - Build product as if you have no dis...
Jun 12, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) has a special announcement: Founder’s Journal is back. If you’re a long-time listener, you’ll know FJ is one of Alex’s earlier shows that served as an audio journal during his time as CEO of Morning Brew. Now, in this returned version, Alex has a new sense of identity and purpose, ready to share a plethora of perspectives to share for founders. We're back, yall. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #Founder...
Jun 09, 2023•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) walks through his thought process of hiring a CEO for his content agency business. The issue is, is it too early to bring on a CEO? Hiring a CEO early on gives the opportunity to shape the mission and vision of the business. But hiring a CEO before product-market fit can put the business in a precarious situation. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com #FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur Listen to Founde...
Jun 08, 2023•13 min•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 56: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) talks about how to pick the right co-founder for your business. Do you really need one? How should the equity be split? How do you know you’ve found the right one? These are questions that so many founders encounter through the course of their business. We’ve got the answers for you here. Links: Full episode with Matt Mochary and Alexis d’Amecourt The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary Mochary Coaching Method Timestamps: (01:59): Intro (03:36): Meeting...
Jun 06, 2023•18 min•Ep 56•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 55: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) talks about the mirage of corporate stability. Something he experienced during his time at Morgan Stanley, which he thought was a dream job. It turns out that job security isn’t that secure when your company goes through layoffs. Having a corporate job isn’t bad, but it should be noted that loyalty to a company is often a one-way street. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! thecrazyones@morningbrew.com #TheCrazyOnes #Startups ...
Jun 01, 2023•9 min•Ep 55•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 54: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) gives the latest update on his content agency that started with a tweet that resonated with so many founders. As the business is in its infancy, he shares his top priorities at this stage, taking lessons he’s learned from Morning Brew and other ventures. If you’re in the early stages of your startup, this is for you. Links: Alex's first content agency tweet Timestamps: (00:45): Intro (06:09): Priority #1 - Create scalability (08:03): Priority #2 - Bu...
May 30, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 53: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) talks about being uncomfortable with being comfortable. Yup, that’s right. Sometimes being too comfortable can mean being complacent. Taking risks and stepping outside of your comfort zone can be scary but calculated discomfort can turn into fruitful opportunities and areas of growth. Founders, it’s time you seek measured discomfort. Timestamps: (00:49): Intro (04:53): What is measured discomfort? Links: Alex Lieberman on LinkedIn: Found this puppy i...
May 25, 2023•9 min•Ep 53•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 52: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) chats with Brett Adcock (@adcock_brett), founder of Vettery, Archer, and Figure. Figure is a cutting edge AI robotics company developing a general purpose humanoid robot to provide labor for undesirable and unsafe jobs. From the successes of his former businesses, Brett continues his entrepreneurial venture towards fixing the human labor shortage. There are many assumptions about AI robotics and Brett disspells some of them, namely, general purpose r...
May 23, 2023•52 min•Ep 52•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 51: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) shares his 9 lessons from Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. From its scrappy start to its forced restructuring from the pandemic, these are lessons you can use to build your own empire. Timestamps: (01:11): Lesson 1 - Stay alive (03:14): Lesson 2 - Stay obsessed with the customer (05:59): Lesson 3 - Org design is a must (09:32): Lesson 4 - Create an elite culture (10:42): Lesson 5 - Intuition is an art (12:50): Lesson 6 - 3 roles within a product (14:16): Les...
May 18, 2023•20 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 50: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) and Jesse Pujji (@jspujji) are in-studio for the first time ever! They riff on the hottest topic in business today: generative AI. They imagine how it could be integrated into different businesses and how it could be as common as electricity or the internet. Then, Jesse shares his process of how he started his latest venture of a school for growth marketing. Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! thecrazyones@morningbrew.com Lin...
May 16, 2023•53 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 49: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) opens up about his innate need to compare himself to other founders, namely his co-founder at Morning Brew. The lesson here is realizing that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and that we are often comparing ourselves to the best version of others, but not seeing the lowlights that go unseen. Links: Accessing your ‘Zone of Genius’ episode Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! thecrazyones@morningbrew.com #TheCraz...
May 11, 2023•9 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 48: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) and Jesse Pujji (@jspujji) discuss if it’s too early to pivot on The Plunge after realizing the game might be too difficult for people. Alex thinks about whether he should double-down or bail on his backyard game venture. Then Jesse questions how much entrepreneurs should sacrifice their vision vs. being true to themselves, even in the face of doubt. Plus, Startup AMA: How to give feedback to your boss. Send us an email and let us know what you think...
May 09, 2023•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
