199 episodes

100% of Entrepreneurs will eventually be the bottleneck in their business. Not just once, but several times!

The hardest bit? Identifying you're being one. The easy bit? Getting out of it. And that's all about awareness.

This podcast is dedicated to getting you unstuck as an entrepreneur. In each episode, I invite seasoned entrepreneurs to speak candidly about how they overcame being the bottleneck in their business.

I don't just hype up their success. I ask the questions you want the answers to but wouldn't dare ask!

By listening to these episodes, you'll discover what it means to be a bottleneck, how it manifests, and most importantly, how to get out of it.

This isn't fluff. We dive deep, get under the hood, and learn what it really takes to blast through the bottlenecks and scale a business.

Join me every week; subscribe now.

How much of the bottleneck in your business are you? Take the Bottleneck Index scorecard to find out https://www.laurentnotin.com/the-bottleneck-index

Inter:views | Cracking The Entrepreneur Bottleneck Laurent Notin

    • Business

100% of Entrepreneurs will eventually be the bottleneck in their business. Not just once, but several times!

The hardest bit? Identifying you're being one. The easy bit? Getting out of it. And that's all about awareness.

This podcast is dedicated to getting you unstuck as an entrepreneur. In each episode, I invite seasoned entrepreneurs to speak candidly about how they overcame being the bottleneck in their business.

I don't just hype up their success. I ask the questions you want the answers to but wouldn't dare ask!

By listening to these episodes, you'll discover what it means to be a bottleneck, how it manifests, and most importantly, how to get out of it.

This isn't fluff. We dive deep, get under the hood, and learn what it really takes to blast through the bottlenecks and scale a business.

Join me every week; subscribe now.

How much of the bottleneck in your business are you? Take the Bottleneck Index scorecard to find out https://www.laurentnotin.com/the-bottleneck-index

    Cracking the Bottleneck of Scaling a Business with Riggs Eckelberry

    Cracking the Bottleneck of Scaling a Business with Riggs Eckelberry

    Have you ever faced difficulties scaling your business, even with adequate funding and a strong foundation? If so, you might be experiencing a bottleneck. Reaching the next level often requires significant shifts like mindset changes, new working strategies, or adopting different frameworks.  
     
    It could also involve taking on a new leadership role or seeking specific training or coaching. All these factors, combined with the challenge of integrating them, can lead to stagnation and become a bottleneck for your business growth. In this episode, we are joined by Riggs Eckelberry, an entrepreneur who successfully navigated and overcame such a bottleneck in his own journey. 
     
    Riggs Eckelberry, CEO and Chairman of the Board of OriginClear is a seasoned disruptor in the tech industry who transitioned into the "green" space by co-founding OriginClear's predecessor in 2008 and taking it public.  
     
    Leveraging his background in commercializing breakthrough technologies, including notable successes during the dotcom era, he spearheaded OriginClear's mission to address growing water supply issues by providing compact on-site systems and revolutionary offerings for   With experience in management, sailing, and skiing, Eckelberry is dedicated to enabling the water industry to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. 
     
    Tune in.  
     
    Key Highlights from The Show 
    [03:29] Episode intro and why scaling up is Riggs Eckelberry’s current bottleneck 
    [05:37] Great expectations of a CEO 
    [06:49] Things you can do to put your company in a position that is easy to scale 
    [09:21] The 2018 realization of growing with a team 
    [14:37] The most difficult parts of growing the business 
    [18:04] Riggs’ shift from entrepreneurship to corporate and back to entrepreneurship  
    [23:51] Indicators that you need to shift from entrepreneurship to corporate 
    [28:25] Why Riggs is an entrepreneur 
    [30:16] What Riggs foresees beyond his retirement 
    [33:17] Riggs’ recommendation to entrepreneurs from his years of experience  
    [36:12] Best ways to reach out and connect with Riggs Eckelberry 
    [37:52] Wrap up and calls to action 
     
    Notable Quotes 
    ·        Tackling a business bottleneck must start with the entrepreneur. 
    ·        Scaling a business is an operational bottleneck. 
    ·        Customer service is driven from a company's top leadership to the bottom. 
     
    Connect With Riggs Eckelberry 
    Website: https://www.originclear.com/ 
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/riggs/ 
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/riggseck/ 
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riggseck/ 
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riggseck/ 
     
     
      -----
    How much of the bottleneck in your business are you? Don’t underestimate the bottleneck’s impact. Take the Bottleneck Index and find out your bottleneck score now! 

    • 38 min
    Beyond Bottlenecks: When a Business Outgrows You with Josh Nielsen

    Beyond Bottlenecks: When a Business Outgrows You with Josh Nielsen

    We all start a business with a goal in mind. Sometimes, it may only be to have enough for you and your family, and other times, it may be to grow it into a prosperous company that will last for generations.  
     
    In the first case, the entrepreneur could be a solopreneur with few or no plans to delegate some tasks. They become the bottlenecks, handling every aspect of the business. But that could be overturned. What if the business outgrows? What if the demand becomes too enormous than what you currently supply? Would you close the business, chase away clients, and remain at your level? How would you navigate that growth, set new goals, and make readjustments to fit the growth? With so much need for outsourcing and delegation of duties, how will you ensure everything runs smoothly?  
     
    Join this conversation with Josh Nielsen, who has undergone exact growth with his podcasting company. He has seen the growth, gone through the pain of transition, and grown the company in ways he never imagined. This episode is packed with tips, insights, and valuable information to help you go through the unprecedented growth turbulence in a business.  
     
    Josh Nielsen founded Zencastr, a company that makes it easier to record high-quality audio for podcast interviewees based anywhere in the world. Before working at Zencastr, Nielsen was a software developer at Missouri Star Quilt Co., co-founded Soundkeep, and led frontend engineer at Mahalo.  
     
    Tune in.  
     
    Key Highlights from The Show: 
    [02:58] Josh Nielsen’s journey from a digital nomad to the founder of Zencastr 
    [05:48] What was difficult in transitioning when the company outgrew him 
    [07:19] Big goals with the company 
    [10:33] Key milestones of Josh’s company since he started it as a solopreneur 
    [13:47] The most difficult parts of growing the business 
    [15:39] Josh’s current bottleneck as an entrepreneur 
    [23:40] What he has learned about himself as an entrepreneur 
    [29:56] Josh’s recommendation to entrepreneurs from his experience  
    [31:35] Best ways to reach out and connect with Josh 
    [31:50] Wrap up and calls to action 
     
    Notable Quotes: 
    ·        As entrepreneurs, we must constantly evolve with our businesses or risk being left behind by our own success. 
    ·        Transitioning from handling every aspect to delegating tasks is not just about growth. It is about survival in a competitive market. 
    ·        The most difficult part of growth is not the demand but the internal adjustments required to meet it effectively. 
     
    Connect With Josh Nielsen: 
    Website: https://zencastr.com/ 
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshnielsen/ 
     
     -----
    How much of the bottleneck in your business are you? Don’t underestimate the bottleneck’s impact. Take the Bottleneck Index and find out your bottleneck score now! 

    • 32 min
    Harnessing the True Potential of AI in Business with Garik Tate

    Harnessing the True Potential of AI in Business with Garik Tate

    AI is rapidly changing how we do business, and entrepreneurs stand to benefit immensely from its potential.
     
    AI is not something that caught us by surprise. It is an expected trajectory of where we have always been going: a utopic society of more creativity and productivity. Entrepreneurs can apply AI in five key business areas: prospecting, sales, onboarding, HR, and data manipulation. AI can analyze customer data to provide personalized recommendations and targeted advertising, leading to better engagement and conversion rates. It can also provide insights and recommendations, helping you make faster decisions and avoid common pitfalls.
     
    In this episode with Garik Tate, we talk about AI and how entrepreneurs can harness its potential for growth, efficiency, and overcoming bottlenecks. Garik makes companies more valuable to institutional buyers and increases profits through AI development/integration, hiring elite talent, and operational automation.
     
    With over a decade of experience as a successful entrepreneur, Garik has founded companies spanning Software Development, Outsourcing, and Publishing. Notably, he has led and nurtured organizations and teams of up to 75 employees.
     
    Tune in.
     
     
    Key Highlights from The Show
    [02:21] How entrepreneurs can harness the true essence of AI
    [04:22] The evolution of AI for over 15 years and Garik’s take on it
    [05:59] The five key business areas entrepreneurs can apply AI
    [08:30] Practical examples of how you can use AI for the five areas
    [13:15] How to personalize AI for your specific business
    [17:06] Laurent’s reflection on his AI experience
    [21:56] Why Garik is an entrepreneur
    [24:12] His most current bottlenecks
    [30:15] Garik’s recommendation from his experience in AI and entrepreneurship
    [31:45] Best ways to reach out and connect with Garik
    [32:25] Wrap up and calls to action
     
     
    Notable Quotes
    ● AI is a trajectory of where we have always been going—a utopic society of more creativity and productivity.
    ● Whatever you are looking for, there’s probably an open-source tool out there that you can plug into their API without knowing how to code.
    ● Prompt engineering is the most current way of training AI to fit your business needs.
    ● Empowering the teams, letting go, and delegating are the most common bottlenecks among entrepreneurs.
    ● How we spend our days is how we spend our lives, and life isn’t something that will happen later but something that is happening now.
    ● Everybody has two lives. The second life starts when you realize that you only have one.
     
     
    Connect With Garik Tate 
    Website: https://www.valhalla.team/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garik-tate/
     
     
     
     -----
    How much of the bottleneck in your business are you? Don’t underestimate the bottleneck’s impact. Take the Bottleneck Index and find out your bottleneck score now! 

    • 33 min
    Why Giving Up Makes You the Bottleneck with Ari Tulla

    Why Giving Up Makes You the Bottleneck with Ari Tulla

    Most founders get stuck with bottlenecks when they cannot delegate responsibilities to their team. The satisfaction of labels and not letting the ego go away could be detrimental. You have to let others play the game because, in most cases, the founder is not as skilled as his team of dedicated experts.  
     
    Entrepreneurs will also always use their networks as a benefit when building something new. However, they never connect their team to these networks, which is still another source of bottleneck.  
     
    Ari Tulla, who joins us in this episode, shares more of his entrepreneurship journey from age 18 and how he became stronger and never gave up despite the adversities along the journey. He also admits that despite having over 25 years of successful entrepreneurship, he still struggles with finding himself as the bottleneck of his business. 
     
    Ari Tulla is a San Francisco-based entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Elo, an AI personalisation engine delivering the exact nutrients to live better. After years of family health struggles, Ari has dedicated his life to building companies that help people live better.  His companies, BetterDoctor, Quest Analytics, and Elo Health, have helped over a hundred million people gain better access to healthcare. 
     
    Tune in.  
     
    Key Highlights from The Show 
    [03:47] A short summary of Ari Tulla’s entrepreneurship journey since 18 years of age 
    [06:02] The US hustle culture of never giving up 
    [08:16] His secret of never giving up on business 
    [13:41] When do you know it’s time to give up on a business 
    [23:03] How his experience working at Nokia was 
    [27:55] Determining the breaking point of a business 
    [31:40] One of Ari’s current entrepreneur bottlenecks 
    [35:45] Why it is not possible to have 100% bottleneck-free business 
    [39:34] Best ways to reach out and connect with Ari 
    [41:32] Wrap up and calls to action 
     
    Notable Quotes 
    ·        When you get into adversity and things don’t go your way, the best antidote is just to keep going. 
    ·        The secret weapon of never giving up in business is your right mindset. 
    ·        Entrepreneurship is all about mindset. The most successful entrepreneurs are not so because they have better skills. They have a better mindset. 
    ·        Always use your networks as a benefit when you are building something new. 
    ·        Leaders are not born; they are made. 
    ·        Founders become company bottlenecks when they cannot delegate responsibilities to their teams. 
     
    Connect With Ari Tulla 
    Company’s Website: https://www.elo.health/ 
    Personal Website: https://www.aritulla.com/ 
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aritulla/ 
     
     
      -----
    How much of the bottleneck in your business are you? Don’t underestimate the bottleneck’s impact. Take the Bottleneck Index and find out your bottleneck score now! 

    • 41 min
    Navigating Bottlenecks in Manufacturing with Eli Packouz

    Navigating Bottlenecks in Manufacturing with Eli Packouz

    The core of entrepreneurship is getting out to solve problems through offering services or manufacturing products.  
     
    And as it goes, no one knows the product better than the manufacturer who has the original idea. This implies that an inventor will most likely become a bottleneck to the manufacturing process. Delegation can be difficult, but with the right mindset and skills, you can grow exponentially. Eli Packouz, who joins us in this episode, reveals his secrets.  
     
    He advises entrepreneurs to chase only what brings a great impact and delegate what does not to others. He firmly believes that efficiency is based on what you do and what you don’t do. 
     
    Eli is a serial inventor and two-time founder. In 2013, he and his brother initiated their first venture, Singular Sound, which has introduced eight highly successful products. Collaborating with Dr. Ralf Raud and Dr. Ana Mascarenhas in 2017, Eli embarked on a new project to develop Instafloss, the world's first device designed to floss all teeth automatically within 10 seconds. Following five years of dedicated research and development, Instafloss is poised to revolutionize dental care, aiming to transform smiles across the globe, one tooth at a time. 
     
    Tune in.  
     
    Key Highlights from The Show 
    [02:49] What Eli’s bottleneck index score of 38% reveal to him  
    [04:25] The manufacturing process - from an idea to a product 
    [08:01] Heavy manufacturing expenses and ways to seek investments 
    [09:05] How to get your customers excited by your product and even pre-order 
    [12:23] How the dental floss product idea came about 
    [13:52] Why patience is paramount in business 
    [17:50] Prototypes Eli produced before reaching a final product 
    [23:39] Eli’s motivation to become an entrepreneur 
    [24:05] Why do you need to choose only what works and chase after it 
    [28:34] How Eli can use his manufacturing creativity to create a solution to any want 
    [32:36] The most important consideration of an entrepreneur 
    [34:26] Best ways to reach out and connect with Eli 
    [35:20] Wrap up and calls to action 
     
    Notable Quotes 
    ·        Choose one that has the highest impact and chase after it.    
    ·        In manufacturing, products are meant to solve problems. If not, the whole thing collapses. 
    ·        At the core, an entrepreneur goes out to solve a problem. The success lies in actually solving it. 
    ·        It’s always possible to change your marketing strategies, learn more, or become a smarter entrepreneur, but changing something you offer is not fundamentally possible. 
     
    Connect With Eli Packouz 
    Website: https://instafloss.com/ 
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eli-packouz-390701149/ 
     
     
     -----
    How much of the bottleneck in your business are you? Don’t underestimate the bottleneck’s impact. Take the Bottleneck Index and find out your bottleneck score now! 

    • 35 min
    People-first as a business strategy with Nancy Lyons

    People-first as a business strategy with Nancy Lyons

    It might feel crazy not to get involved in every operation of your business, but the more you let go, the better it performs. However, many entrepreneurs struggle with this bottleneck of hoarding and not letting go.  
     
    Nancy Lyons, who joins us in this episode, has been in business for over 22 years, and her exponential growth happened the moment she stopped being the bottleneck of the business. She shares with us how she managed that setback of letting go, the significant milestones as an effective leader in inspiring her teams to success and shares valuable tips for entrepreneurs. 
     
    Nancy Lyons has led employees and clients through thousands of business-teams, and work culture challenges. She is the author of "Interactive Project Management" and "Work Like a Boss," which provides a concise guide for individuals, highlighting actions, attitudes, and attributes crucial for improving the workplace for oneself and those around.  
     
    Nancy's remarkable contributions have earned her numerous accolades and recognitions, including induction into the National Association of Women Business Owners' MN Hall of Fame, recognition among the "100 People to Know" by Twin Cities Business, and acknowledgment as one of the "101 most influential people in the world of work, management, and career" by Ladder magazine. She has been honored as the "Most Admired CEO" by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal and received the "Business Owner of the Year" award from the National Association for Women Business Owners. 
     
    Tune in.  
     
    Key Highlights from The Show 
    [03:05] Why Nancy Lyon feels crazy for not being involved fully in her business 
    [05:18] Major bottlenecks she encountered as an entrepreneur and how she managed them 
    [07:08] Entrepreneurship challenges she has faced 
    [10:11] Significant milestones in her 22 years of business 
    [14:52] Nancy's effective communication as the business CEO 
    [18:43] What's next for Nancy in the business career 
    [23:36] Reasons why Nancy became an entrepreneur 
    [29:46] Practical recommendations to other entrepreneurs based on her experience 
    [33:24] Best ways to reach out and connect with Nancy 
    [33:58] Wrap up and calls to action 
     
    Notable Quotes 
    ·        Adequate outside funding is critical to getting any product out of the ground. 
    ·        Success comes from knowing when to say yes or no. The more we narrow down things, the better and more successful we become. 
    ·        Embrace mistakes and failures. Failure in practice is how you get better. 
    ·        It might feel crazy to not get involved in every operation of your business, but letting go makes it grow exponentially. 
     
     
    Connect With Nancy Lyons 
    Personal Website: https://www.nancylyons.com/ 
    Business: https://www.clockwork.com/ 
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nylons/ 
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancylyons/ 
     
     -----
    How much of the bottleneck in your business are you? Don’t underestimate the bottleneck’s impact. Take the Bottleneck Index and find out your bottleneck score now! 

    • 34 min

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