I invited Graham Barlow onto The Real Bottom Line because his founder journey is one of the wildest I’ve ever heard. He started out as a teenager selling virtual game items on eBay, scaled that “hobby” into almost six figures a month, and eventually went on to build and exit multiple companies.

In our conversation, Graham and I dig into

How he and a group of friends used bots to farm virtual currency long before in-app purchases were normal
Why cash flow, projections, and financial discipline matter far more than top-line revenue
The painful lessons he learned building a game studio and raising money
How ego and “I’m the only one who can do this right” thinking quietly caps your business
Why community and the rooms you put yourself in can dramatically change your sense of what’s possible
The two strategic gaps he sees in most businesses right now… outbound sales and how teams use AI

We also talk about Founder Link, the community he never planned to build, and why so many founders desperately need a place where they can ask real questions, drop the armour, and get guidance from people who’ve already walked the path.

If you’ve ever hit a ceiling, questioned your next move, or wondered what it actually takes to build something someone would buy, you’ll get a lot from this conversation.

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Episode 156 - The Wildest Founder Origin Story I’ve Ever Heard