← The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan
The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan
618: (Solo) What 5 World-Class Founders Taught Me This Year
00:11:09
Every year I sit down with some of the world’s most fascinating founders — but this year’s interviews hit me harder than most. Reinvention, resilience, copycats, failure, loneliness after exits, scrappy launches, identity crises… these conversations changed the way I think about leadership and what it means to keep building when things get tough.
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Hey, founder fam. I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omnisend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for e commerce founders. We've been recommending Omnisend to founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling to seven figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results. Did you know, on average, OMNISEND customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return. And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code. Founder50. Just head to omnisend.com founder without the e to get started. All right, now let's jump back into the show. Hey, guys, welcome back to another episode of the Founder to Founder podcast, solo style. We are wrapping up the year. I want to do something a little different. I've had the privilege of interviewing some incredible founders this year. People have been through it all. Failure, reinvention, explosive growth, the chaos of copycats, and still showing up for their team's customers. So today, I want to do you a solid and talk through the top five interviews of the year, and more importantly, what I personally learned from each of them. The lessons that I'll be taking into 2026. And I know people always ask me, they say, nathan, what are the number one things you've learned from doing this? Like, who was the best interview over the past 10 years? And to be honest with you, there are so many, it becomes a huge blur. So I've really taken the time to really go back to each interview and episode and really kind of look at where I took notes and be like, yeah, I got to do that. Here are the stories. Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to the Founder podcast with Nathan Chan. So the first one we have is Christina Carlson. She was the founder of Kiki K and her business and her story, this was one you don't want to miss. Really learning to let go of failure. So her story stuck with me because her brand here in Australia, it's an iconic brand. She lost the business not once, but twice, and she still found the strength to show up and rebuild and find meaning. And just her level of positivity was just crazy. Like, after all that she's been through, she was close to selling the company for a hundred million. And then Covid hit, like, literally getting to signing off on the term sheet. Really, really close. And what Hit me hard was how she redefined what failure actually meant for her. And for her, failure was just a path to clarity. And now she's just got a much more solid business model, and what she's building will be bigger than ever. And let's be honest, like, how many of us secretly fear starting over? Like, her resilience taught me that when everything feels like it's falling apart, or even if it literally is falling apart, this does not mean that you cannot rebuild, and it definitely doesn't mean you should give up. And when I look on, reflect on my own journey, some of the greatest challenges that I've had in business or life have been some of the biggest blessings. And the lesson here is, if you're scared to start or you're going through it right now and things are tough with your business, just remember, it's not about what you lose. It's what you gain by being brave enough to go again and not give up. These lessons, these hard lessons that you are going through right now, it is money in the bank. You might not see it that way, but I promise you, it was all meant to be. And I'm not a spiritual person, but I do believe that everything happens for a reason. And. And through my journey, some of the toughest things I've went through, I've been better off for it. And it's been tough at the time, but I promise you, you will get through this. And you do come out the other side. All right, so the next guest I want to talk about, an interview was with Phoebe Gates and how she's really built outside the shadow of her family name like this one. Surprised a lot of people. Like, Phoebe could have easily just coasted on her Gates last name, but she's deliberately been building something of her own. Been building without any help whatsoever. And what stood out to me was her hustle on cold emailing, reaching out to investors, meeting her customers face to face like she is hands on more than anyone who had to start from scratch. And a comment from one of our watches on YouTube really reaffirmed this for me. Let me share. I hate that an immediate initial reaction a few seconds into finding out who her father was was. Of course she's successful, and that is obviously tied to envy, but she is very sharp and clearly takes action and works hard. One of the most notable things she said that resonates with me is that she was allowed to fail and just keep trying different things. A lot of us are driven by fear and have a lot at stake. So much so that we get paralyzed with never taking any action because we're scared of failure. So this interview with Phoebe reminded me that legacy is something you build, not inherent. And no matter what your background, your real credibility comes from what you build yourself. So you need to earn your reputation. I also loved, loved, loved, loved her tip that she gave on AI automation and interns. And make sure you check out that episode. Super cool. When I'm next in New York, I'm going to catch up with Phoebe. And that's what's really cool as well. Like the kind of people that you get to meet. And I'm so lucky for doing this show and the people I get to connect with. And I've come from nothing, guys. Like, literally. I grew up in the suburbs, in Greensboro. My mum was a nurse, my dad was a teacher. I had no connections whatsoever. And I've been able to build this incredible brand and network over the past few years of building founder. All right, the next interview I want to talk about was Jake Cassant and what happens after the exit. So he built mvmt, spelled MVMT into a monster, direct to consumer brand, sold it. They were massive. But the part that people don't talk about is the. The identity crisis and the loneliness that followed. And this really hit home for me, and I think it will for any founder that's chasing a big payday or is listening to this and experience an exit. It's not always what you think it will be. And what it taught me is that money doesn't replace purpose. If you're not building something meaningful, no amount of capital will fill that void. Like, he never has to worry about money again. And he was more depressed than he's ever been. The lesson here is make sure you're building a business that feeds your soul, not just your bank account. And, you know, I've been through this phase as well with founder, where I have gone through phases where I've built, and it's just all about growth, it's all about revenue, it's all about how big we can make this thing and how many people we can serve, but at what cost, at what true cost. And I think sometimes it's easy to get your identity so caught up in your business. And then something that I'm really, really focusing on is Nathan is founder and founder is Nathan. However, how can we build Nathan out of founder? And so that's just me being vulnerable with you guys. That's something that I'm working on at the moment. The next interview I want to talk about is Tori Gill. So launching with scrappy Bootstrap strategies. She's one of our Founder plus members. She's from Melbourne. I invited her into the studio. She won our business grant that we we ran a competition for our Founder plus members and she won. And she submitted an incredible pitch. She won US$10,000 and her story truly inspired me. She had zero experience. She's a barber, local barber here in Melbourne. She won our scholarship and she launched a regulated product in Australia, an incredible sunscreen brand and pulled off $4,000 on launch day. Then she made a hundred thousand dollars in 90 days. Last I checked, it's a million dollar a year brand. And her marketing was scrappy, smart and relentless. And she did it all while navigating red tape most people would quit over. And she reminded me that success isn't about credentials. It's about resourcefulness and following a proven roadmap like we give you in Founder Plus. It's an incredible interview. So inspired that we play a small part in her journey of helping her start, launch and grow her brand. So the lesson here is start with what you have. Execute like crazy but never underestimate the power of belief paired with action and creating a niche product. Right. Her product was Sunscreen for kids. An incredible product and so amazing. She is killing it. Follow her on Instagram. Amazing. The next one I want to talk about is Amy Smile. She talked about how to handle copycats with class, how she's built this massive, massive fashion brand in four years doing $20 million a year. She built Odd Muse. It's a cult brand. And then pretty little thing copied her. And her response was she set out to double down on things that copycats could not replicate from everything to her brand, her community, her originality, always showing up with authenticity online. And this has inspired how we teach inside Founder like because Amy's lesson is one of leadership and conviction. You don't always have to scream louder. Sometimes you just have to build better. So if you stay true to your vision and community, no one can copy that. And I've had copycats in the past when I built Healthish. There's people that copy founder all the time. So if you stay true to your vision and community, no one can copy that. And this is something that comes up a lot for our students where it is so important they can't copy your marketing, they can't copy you should just double down on you. It is so important to build a founder led brand. I loved her interview. She was so vulnerable. She shared so much gold. Incredible. And you have to check out. So, guys, these aren't just great stories. You can use these to be your guide in business. Almost like your North Star. Whether you're just starting out, you're scaling into 2026. These are founders that show us what it really means to lead with courage, to lead with grit, to lead with originality. So if you want to go deeper, I've linked all five interviews in the show notes. Go binge them over the holidays. Tap the links in the show notes. Watch or listen now. Let me know on socials which lesson hit you the hardest at Nathan Chan on Instagram. I promise I do read every single DM and I do respond. Here's to an epic 2026. Let's make this our best year yet. And thank you for listening. Or I'll speak to you soon. Ciao.