The Entrepreneur DNA

FREE RESOURCE FROM BRAD SUGARS
DM Brad on Instagram @BradleySugars the word "PLAYBOOK" and he'll send you his free business playbook on how to succeed in business.

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In this episode, I sit down with Brad Sugars — the Founder and Chairman of ActionCOACH, the world's #1 business coaching firm with over 1,000 offices in 85 countries — to break down exactly what separates the entrepreneurs who scale from the ones who stay stuck. Brad calls out what he sees as the biggest epidemic in business right now: wimpy goals.

We dig into the three stages of business growth (0 to $1M, $1M to $10M, $10M to $100M), why the skills that get you to your first million will actually hold you back from your next ten, and why most business owners have built themselves a job with overheads instead of a real business. Brad also gets honest about his own failures — from team members who liked his money more than he did, to reinvesting $4M right before COVID hit — and shares the mindset shifts that let him operate his companies in just one hour a week. We also get into work-life harmony, the epidemic of loneliness among male entrepreneurs, and why Brad believes the most expensive advice in the world is free advice from a poor person.

GUEST BIO

Brad Sugars is the Founder, Chairman, and President of ActionCOACH — the world's #1 business coaching firm with more than 1,000 offices in 85 countries. Internationally recognized as one of the most influential entrepreneurs alive, Brad is a bestselling author, sought-after keynote speaker, and has been called the Godfather of Business Coaching for over 30 years. He started his entrepreneurial journey at age 7 and founded ActionCOACH in Brisbane, Australia in 1993 — when business coaching as a profession barely existed. He has since become the CEO of 9+ companies and helped hundreds of thousands of business owners across the globe scale, systematize, and ultimately exit their businesses. Brad lives in Las Vegas with his wife Lauren and their five children.
 

GUEST SOCIAL LINKS

Instagram: @BradSugars
Facebook: Brad Sugars ActionCOACH

X (Twitter): @BradSugars

LinkedIn: Brad Sugars

YouTube: Brad Sugars ActionCOACH

Website: actioncoach.com

About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

LinkedIn: Justin Colby

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Get your free copy of Allison's book 'Scale or Fail' - https://pinnacleglobalnetwork.com/dna

In this episode I sit down with Allison Maslan, founder and CEO of Pinnacle Global Network and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Scale or Fail, who has personally built ten companies and helped her team mentor over 150,000 founders. We talk about why the business owner is so often the thing standing in the way of their own growth, and Allison walks me through her five phases of scaling, from the seeker all the way through what she calls the ringleader phase, the chaotic circus stage where most businesses get stuck for years. We get into how to build a team of what she calls scale multipliers instead of people who just complete tasks, why tracking your return on employee matters as much as any other business metric, and how her own burnout and health scare early in her career led her to build a completely different way of running a business. We also dig into her morning vision crafting practice and how she uses alignment to make faster, clearer decisions as a CEO. If you've ever felt like your business can't run without you, this conversation will change how you think about that.

Main Topics Covered

Why the founder is often the biggest bottleneck to growth

The five phases of scaling a business

Building a team of scale multipliers instead of task-doers

Tracking return on employee (ROE)

How to let go of control without losing quality

Vision crafting and morning routines for clarity

Using alignment to guide business decisions

Why investing in mentors and masterminds speeds up growth

About Allison:

Allison Maslan is the founder and CEO of Pinnacle Global Network, a global business mentoring company that has helped more than 150,000 founders scale their companies from seven to nine figures. She has built ten successful companies from the ground up starting at age 19, with past clients including Ben & Jerry's, Supercuts, and Charlotte Russe. Allison is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Scale or Fail, endorsed by Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran, and has been featured in Forbes, Success, Fortune, and Entrepreneur Magazine. She was named one of Forbes' Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs to Watch.

Website: https://pinnacleglobalnetwork.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonmaslan

About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

 LinkedIn: Justin Colby

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Are you ready to stop treating your startup like a side project and start building a scalable business? In this episode, Dr. Michael Burcham shares the hard-earned wisdom of a veteran who has transitioned from a physical therapist to a multi-million dollar private equity investor.

We dive deep into the mindset shifts required to go from a day job to a full-time founder, the critical importance of customer discovery, and why most investors won't touch your project until you have skin in the game. Michael breaks down the common mistakes technical founders make and how to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of anxiety and frustration that comes with the territory. You will learn how to differentiate your brand in a noisy market, the power of personal touches in networking, and how to align your vision with what investors are actually looking for.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Why most early-stage businesses are still just “projects”
● The biggest mistake founders make before launching
● Why investors care about paying customers more than perfect decks
● How to build awareness without wasting money
● Why failure is part of the entrepreneur DNA
● How to avoid chasing every opportunity
● Why your network can become your biggest growth engine
● How anxiety, insecurity, and frustration show up in business
● What investors see that founders often miss
● Why selling your company can trigger an identity crisis

About Justin:
 

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The Science of Flipping podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

 

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

 

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

LinkedIn: Justin Colby

About Michael Burcham

Dr. Michael Burcham is an investor, author, business strategist, and private equity operator who has spent decades building, scaling, and advising high-growth companies.
After starting his career in healthcare, he went on to build and grow multiple companies before transitioning into venture capital and private equity, where he now helps founders navigate growth, fundraising, leadership, and long-term business strategy. He is also the author of multiple books focused on startups, scaling, failure, and investor relationships.

Connect with Dr. Michael Burcham:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelburcham

Instagram: instagram.com/dr.michaelburcham 

Website: www.michaelburcham.com

Chapters

0:00 Intro and meeting Dr. Michael Burcham

3:15 The journey from physical therapy to private equity

6:30 Why relationships and local ecosystems matter

9:45 The biggest misconception for early stage founders

13:10 Diversifying your offerings and solving customer pain

16:20 The framework for launching a successful venture

19:40 Building awareness and the sales pipeline

23:05 How to differentiate your brand in a noisy market

26:30 The power of handwritten notes and networking

30:00 Projects vs businesses and getting investor attention

33:50 Learning from failure and the importance of grit

37:20 Managing the seven deadly emotions of entrepreneurship

41:00 Identity shifts and the new book Blood Sweat and Equity

44:49 Final thoughts and where to find Michael

#entrepreneurship #startupgrowth #venturecapital #businessstrategy #entrepreneurmindset

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Get Mauricio's book 'Tackling Toxicity' on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/08uHkZag

In this episode I sit down with Mauricio Velasquez, a worldwide conflict resolution and emotional intelligence consultant who has trained in over seventy five countries, from Guantanamo Bay to the White House to professional sports organizations like the MLS. We get into why most people are conflict averse and what happens when you ignore toxic behavior instead of addressing it. Mauricio breaks down the difference between reacting and responding, how to spot your own triggers before they take over, and the exact language he teaches leaders to use when someone is coming in hot. We talk through real stories from his thirty year career, from coaching a CEO who nearly destroyed his company's culture in fifteen seconds to a moment in the stands at his daughter's basketball game where he chose to stand up instead of stay silent. This conversation is about moving from bystander to upstander, in your business, your family, and your life.

Main Topics Covered

Why most people avoid conflict instead of resolving it

The difference between reacting and responding

How to identify your own emotional triggers

What to say when someone is coming in hot

Moving from bystander to upstander

Holding leaders and toxic employees accountable

Building psychological safety for honest feedback

Standing up for others in the moment

About Mauricio:

Mauricio Velasquez is the founder and president of Diversity Training Group and the author of Tackling Toxicity: A Skill-Based Guide to Addressing Toxicity. Over his thirty year career, he has worked as a management consultant, workplace investigator, executive coach, trainer, and expert witness specializing in bias, prejudice, and hate, training more than one million employees, managers, and executives. He has worked in nearly every U.S. state and traveled to more than seventy five countries, coaching organizations ranging from the White House and Guantanamo Bay to Native American tribes, law enforcement agencies, and professional sports organizations like the MLS. Mauricio holds a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia and an MBA in Human Resource Management from George Washington University.

Connect with Mauricio:

Website: https://www.diversitydtg.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mauricio-velasquez-mba/

About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

LinkedIn: Justin Colby

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode I sit down with Brett Gilliland, founder and CEO of Elite Entrepreneurs, who has spent the last fourteen years helping business owners make the leap from hustler to real CEO. We dig into why so many founders get stuck right before the ten million dollar mark, and why it almost always comes down to control. Brett walks me through the four systems his company teaches to build a business that doesn't depend on the founder for everything, what a CEO's real job becomes once a leadership team is in place, and how to know when you're still holding onto something you should have let go of months ago. We also get personal, talking about the daily disciplines that keep us both grounded, including his fourteen "I am" statements that he's repeated every single morning for over a decade, and why taking care of yourself first isn't selfish, it's what makes you capable of showing up for everyone else. If you've built something real but feel like you're the bottleneck holding it back, this conversation is for you.

Topics Covered

Why founders need to change in order to grow their business

Letting go of control as a business owner

The difference between a hustler and a real CEO

What changes once a business hits $10 million

Building a full leadership team

The CEO's real job: vision, team, resources

The four systems Elite Entrepreneurs teaches to scale a business

Why founders unknowingly sabotage their own growth

Daily disciplines and morning routines

Putting yourself first to show up better for others

About Brett Gilliland:

Brett Gilliland is the founder and CEO of Elite Entrepreneurs, a company that gives seven figure business owners the knowledge, systems, and coaching to grow to ten million dollars and beyond. For over a decade, Brett helped lead Infusionsoft's growth from seven million to more than one hundred million dollars in revenue, where he was involved in building the company's Purpose, Values, and Mission, co-created the Elite Forum, and served as VP of Leadership Development. He has spent fourteen-plus years coaching founders and executives on how to move from hands-on hustler to confident, capable CEO. Brett has been married to his wife Sharon for thirty years, and together they have eight children.

Connect with Brett:

Website: https://growwithelite.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/built2lastchamp/

 

About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

LinkedIn: Justin Colby

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.