Peer Effect

Ali Schwanke is the founder of Simple Strat, a diamond HubSpot partner and the team behind the HubSpot hacks channel with over 1 million views.

Today, Ali takes us to a time we’re familiar with — March 2020. 

Ali had applied to receive PPP funds through her bank to support them through this time. 

But within the space of an hour, the bank decided not to participate. 

Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Ali took action.  She focused on elements she could control to fix the problem.

In this episode, we dive into the various strategies that she used to do this, and what she learned about mindset along the way.

We discuss

• Mindset coaching, mental fitness, and the importance of maintaining it
• Ways therapy has helped her to reach her potential as a founder
• The camouflage that founders often wear

Ali took an experience that she had no control over and transformed it into an opportunity to learn and grow to better serve her business. 

Tune in to hear how she did it. 

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

Ali Schwanke is the founder of Simple Strat, a diamond HubSpot partner and the team behind the HubSpot hacks channel with over 1 million views.

Today, Ali takes us to a time we’re familiar with — March 2020. 

Ali had applied to receive PPP funds through her bank to support them through this time. 

But within the space of an hour, the bank decided not to participate. 

Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Ali took action.  She focused on elements she could control to fix the problem.

In this episode, we dive into the various strategies that she used to do this, and what she learned about mindset along the way.

We discuss

• Mindset coaching, mental fitness, and the importance of maintaining it
• Ways therapy has helped her to reach her potential as a founder
• The camouflage that founders often wear

Ali took an experience that she had no control over and transformed it into an opportunity to learn and grow to better serve her business. 

Tune in to hear how she did it. 

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

When times are tough — are you focusing on what’s important, or what you think is urgent?

This is the urgency trap.

When your horizons have shrunk from the long-term vision to short-term goals... that are too short.

And in this episode, I share 3 examples of what this looks like. 

And how you can get yourself out of the urgency trap, even when you don’t notice that you’re in it.

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

When times are tough — are you focusing on what’s important, or what you think is urgent?

This is the urgency trap.

When your horizons have shrunk from the long-term vision to short-term goals... that are too short.

And in this episode, I share 3 examples of what this looks like. 

And how you can get yourself out of the urgency trap, even when you don’t notice that you’re in it.

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

Simon Barbato is the founder of Mr. B & Friends, which has been going for 17 years and has a major client base such as Lego and Intercontinental Hotel Group. 

What do you do when your biggest client industry grinds to a halt?

It’s 2004. And after news of a SARS outbreak across Asia. 

That’s exactly what happened to Simon's first business. 

Without knowing how long it would last, would his business survive?

He had 10 people to support with dramatically reduced revenue. He was burning cash at an alarming rate. For him to continue, he knew would bankrupt himself. 

In this episode, Simon talks through his options in this moment, and the timeline that he gave himself before he had to pull the plug. 

We discuss

• His thought process and mindset at this time
• The importance of resourcing and having a broader perspective
• His learnings from what was a very new situation at the time

Tune in as Simon shares how he planned to save the business and what his final actions were. 

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

Simon Barbato is the founder of Mr. B & Friends, which has been going for 17 years and has a major client base such as Lego and Intercontinental Hotel Group. 

What do you do when your biggest client industry grinds to a halt?

It’s 2004. And after news of a SARS outbreak across Asia. 

That’s exactly what happened to Simon's first business. 

Without knowing how long it would last, would his business survive?

He had 10 people to support with dramatically reduced revenue. He was burning cash at an alarming rate. For him to continue, he knew would bankrupt himself. 

In this episode, Simon talks through his options in this moment, and the timeline that he gave himself before he had to pull the plug. 

We discuss

• His thought process and mindset at this time
• The importance of resourcing and having a broader perspective
• His learnings from what was a very new situation at the time

Tune in as Simon shares how he planned to save the business and what his final actions were. 

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

Tim Tutt is the cofounder of Nightshift Development. They bootstrapped themselves up to 160% year-on-year growth — this year they’re estimated to do $15 million turnover. 

And today, Tim takes us to booth 203 at his local restaurant, Earl’s. 

He’s about to bring up the equity split with his co-founder and how they should move forward. 

His co-founder is a very good friend. So much so, he was the officiant at Tim’s wedding. 

But after a few years in business, the 50-50 equity split they originally agreed on, no longer made sense.

Tim is nervous. He’s spent 6 months questioning whether or not he should have this conversation. 

But it had got to the point where, for the business to continue growing, the dynamic needed to change. 

In this episode, we discuss

• The importance of having a co-founder
• What happened after that conversation
• The impact putting off this conversation had on Tim’s life

Tune in, as Tim reflects on how he would deal with the situation if it happened again, and insights on whether a 50-50 equity split can ever work.

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

Tim Tutt is the cofounder of Nightshift Development. They bootstrapped themselves up to 160% year-on-year growth — this year they’re estimated to do $15 million turnover. 

And today, Tim takes us to booth 203 at his local restaurant, Earl’s. 

He’s about to bring up the equity split with his co-founder and how they should move forward. 

His co-founder is a very good friend. So much so, he was the officiant at Tim’s wedding. 

But after a few years in business, the 50-50 equity split they originally agreed on, no longer made sense.

Tim is nervous. He’s spent 6 months questioning whether or not he should have this conversation. 

But it had got to the point where, for the business to continue growing, the dynamic needed to change. 

In this episode, we discuss

• The importance of having a co-founder
• What happened after that conversation
• The impact putting off this conversation had on Tim’s life

Tune in, as Tim reflects on how he would deal with the situation if it happened again, and insights on whether a 50-50 equity split can ever work.

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

Vince has been recognised by Adobe as one of the top 50 marketers in the world, is a best-selling author and also has a great podcast called “Chasing the Insights”. 

And today, he takes us back to 1996. 

He was sitting on a bench with a friend, and his business had just failed. It’s what he recalls as a bit of a pity party.

But his friend didn’t see it that way. And after a stern talking to, Vince realise that what he needed to change was his mentality. 

Of course, this didn’t happen overnight. 

In what is a very in-depth and honest conversation. Vince looks back on his personal transformation of the victim mentality with a very clear perspective. He breaks it down into two parts.

We compare ourselves to 

1.  Others — even though it's our perspective of the person, not necessarily what they have achieved

2.  Where we want to be — which initiates a vicious cycle of never feeling successful, even when we are

Tune in, as Vince shares some simple tools that helped him to keep a broad perspective on the impact he’s making on others, rather than what he hasn’t done yet!

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

Vince has been recognised by Adobe as one of the top 50 marketers in the world, is a best-selling author and also has a great podcast called “Chasing the Insights”. 

And today, he takes us back to 1996. 

He was sitting on a bench with a friend, and his business had just failed. It’s what he recalls as a bit of a pity party.

But his friend didn’t see it that way. And after a stern talking to, Vince realise that what he needed to change was his mentality. 

Of course, this didn’t happen overnight. 

In what is a very in-depth and honest conversation. Vince looks back on his personal transformation of the victim mentality with a very clear perspective. He breaks it down into two parts.

We compare ourselves to 

1.  Others — even though it's our perspective of the person, not necessarily what they have achieved

2.  Where we want to be — which initiates a vicious cycle of never feeling successful, even when we are

Tune in, as Vince shares some simple tools that helped him to keep a broad perspective on the impact he’s making on others, rather than what he hasn’t done yet!

Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps!

Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.