Home Podcasts Startup Hustle
Startup Hustle

Startup Hustle

Startup Hustle 1373 Episodes Aug 20, 2026

Startup Hustle is a podcast for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. It aims to tell the real story of startups and entrepreneurs, covering topics from funding to failure and beyond. The show is designed for anyone who wants to start, own, or build a business.

Episodes

Nothing to Lose: What Really Drives Entrepreneurs
Nothing to Lose: What Really Drives Entrepreneurs Aug 20, 2026 26:17 "There's no magical growth lever. You just do a good job, every day, for 23 years, and the referrals do the rest."I talked with Matt Watts, founder of MWA Projects and author of Made With Ambition, on Startup Hustle this week. Matt designs and builds some of the most striking commercial spaces in the world, from Jimmy Choo's London HQ to Nike showrooms, Net-a-Porter, and a new lounge for Netflix.H
The 2026 State of IT Staffing: Trends in Hiring, AI, and Offshore
The 2026 State of IT Staffing: Trends in Hiring, AI, and Offshore Aug 13, 2026 48:08 "Both things are true. Software jobs are projected to grow 15%, and 74% of employers say they can't fill the roles. That's the whole story of IT staffing in 2026."This week on Startup Hustle, Matt Brown, Full Scale's head of marketing, put me in the guest chair to walk through our new State of IT Staffing report, a data-heavy look at where tech hiring actually stands heading into 2026.Here's what
Why AI Made Software Engineers More Human
Why AI Made Software Engineers More Human Aug 6, 2026 36:26 "AI scribes are just a feature. The record of clinical judgment is the moat."I talked with Kush Shah, founder and CEO of Noted Dent, on Startup Hustle this week. Noted Dent uses AI to handle clinical documentation for dentists, so practitioners aren't stuck writing notes at 11pm or on the weekend, and so they're covered when the auditors and health funds come knocking.Here's what you'll get out of
LeadershipOS Decoded: Building Teams That Run Without You in the Room
LeadershipOS Decoded: Building Teams That Run Without You in the Room Jul 30, 2026 29:49 "Back in the 1900s when I was crossing the Great Plains in a covered wagon, programming in the back, the cover headline was: Software Development is Dead."I talked with Anthony Jackson, a CTO with 30 years across healthcare tech and enterprise software and author of the Architecture Protocol series, on Startup Hustle this week. Anthony is the creator of LeadershipOS, a framework for building teams
It's Not About the Code. It's About the Problem.
It's Not About the Code. It's About the Problem. Jul 23, 2026 28:36 I don't view engineers being out of a job. I view software engineers finally coming back to a real job."I talked with Adrian Gutierrez, co-founder of Ledgre, on Startup Hustle this week. Ledgre is an AI-native accounting platform built specifically for real estate investors, putting agentic AI to work doing the bookkeeping instead of handing you one more piece of software to manage.Here's what you
The Speed of Context: Why AI Changed What Engineers Actually Do
The Speed of Context: Why AI Changed What Engineers Actually Do Jun 25, 2026 25:18 Most engineering teams are still optimizing for the wrong thing. They chase the speed of code when the real bottleneck is the speed of context. Matt Watson and Eban Bisong, founder and CEO of Senvi, get into what actually changes when AI moves from a coding tool to a teammate.Eban has spent his career as a founding engineer, and his approach is hands-on: don't tell skeptical engineers AI works, sh
AI, Protein, and GLP-1s: What's Actually Working in Health Tech
AI, Protein, and GLP-1s: What's Actually Working in Health Tech Jun 18, 2026 29:12 Most people are already asking AI about their health. Almost none of them believe the answers. Around 40% use it to make wellness choices, but fewer than 5% trust what it says. Matt Watson and Josh Anthony, CEO of Nlumn, dig into why.Josh has spent 25 years in food and nutrition, and his take is blunt: trust drops fast as the question gets serious, from a recipe to a diagnosis, and the fix isn't a
Building Software Solo with Beth Epperson of Legacy Purposed
Building Software Solo with Beth Epperson of Legacy Purposed Jun 11, 2026 31:47 Matt Watson sits down with Beth Epperson, founder and CEO of Legacy Purposed, here in the Kansas City area. Beth came up through marketing and branding, including the brand launch for Hyvee Arena, before deciding to build something of her own.Her company is built around two products. Aligned Legacy measures how people think in real time and helps teams see how aware, connected, and aligned they ac
Geothermal Energy and the Future of Data Center Power
Geothermal Energy and the Future of Data Center Power Jun 4, 2026 24:35 Data centers are multiplying fast, and the energy demands are staggering. Matt Watson sits down with Tim Tarver, founder and CEO of Exceed Geo Energy, to talk about one of the most underrated power sources in the conversation: geothermal. Tim breaks down how his company is adapting drilling technology from the oil and gas industry to generate clean, baseload energy almost anywhere in the country,
From Excel Sheet to 13,000 Customers: How Sean Tepper Built Tykr
From Excel Sheet to 13,000 Customers: How Sean Tepper Built Tykr May 28, 2026 28:14 Most retail investors don't know what to do after they open a brokerage account. Sean Tepper was one of them until he built a traffic light rating system for stocks and turned it into a SaaS platform used by 13,000 customers across 50 countries.In this episode of Startup Hustle, Matt Watson sits down with Sean Tepper, founder and CEO of Tykr, to break down the real story behind building a B2C SaaS
Eric Ries: Why Good Companies Go Bad
Eric Ries: Why Good Companies Go Bad May 21, 2026 36:06 Eric Ries wrote The Lean Startup. Sold 2 million copies. Helped hundreds of people build companies from nothing. Now he's back with a harder question: why do so many of those companies eventually go bad?In this episode, Matt Watson sits down with Eric to talk about his new book Incorruptible—a deep dive into the invisible forces that corrupt organizations, why profit-maximization becomes pathologi
The Non-Technical Founder Who Beat the Developers
The Non-Technical Founder Who Beat the Developers May 7, 2026 35:39 Most founders get the order wrong. They build for two years, then ask a marketer how to sell it. Connie Lund flipped the script. She started Zaboom with no dev team, no code background, and no VC funding. What she had was 50+ years of combined marketing and product experience, a GoHighLevel account, and a willingness to break things at 2 a.m. on a Sunday. In this episode, Connie walks Matt through

Recommended