Startups With Stu

Stuart Draper
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Stu Draper, a serial entrepreneur, knows just how exhilarating it is to launch a startup to the moon. He is a 9-time Inc. 5000 honoree before age 40 with tens of millions generated in revenue from his startups and an angel investor in 8 businesses. He's also the co-author of the bestselling textbook Digital Marketing Essentials. Stu knows just what it takes to transform an innovative idea into a thriving business. Inspired by the creators of groundbreaking ventures, Startups With Stu is an illuminating podcast that dives into the trials and triumphs of startup founders and investors who have committed their lives to reaching financial freedom through entrepreneurship. Podcast guests will be seeking advice on how to overcome the obstacles they're facing. Expect motivating stories as Stu spotlights the hard-fought victories that reveal the inner workings of entrepreneurship. By demystifying the startup process, Startups With Stu aims to equip aspiring founders with the grit and know-how to transform visionary concepts into startup success. Startups With Stu is produced using PodUp podcasting software.

  1. 3d ago

    Glowball and Life as a Youth Baseball Entrepreneur

    Aaron Pridmore watched a kid rip his shirt off, climb the backstop to the song "Rodeo,"  and dance for the entire crowd at his first Banana Ball youth tournament. 75 teams had  shown up from 48 different states. Parents were cheering for both sides. Kids who were  about to quit baseball said they were coming back next season. He knew right then he'd  found his life's work. Aaron Pridmore spent 26 years at Best Buy as a district manager and territory manager,  ran the youth Banana Ball tournament operation for the Savannah Bananas, hosts The Slide  Podcast (700+ youth baseball and softball players interviewed), and is now VP at Global  Nation — bringing black light sporting events to complexes and stadiums across the country,  including the first-ever black light event at the Field of Dreams MLB stadium in September. What he covers: → 700 kids interviewed on The Slide Podcast — and what you learn when you actually let kids talk → Why more kids said they'd rather play with their friends than win a championship — every single time → The Field Reporter program: 22 kids, 11 states, retired jersey numbers, and a kid named Banana Jake who went from robotic intros to interviewing coaches at major tournaments → Getting invited to Grayson Stadium in August 2022, watching a Bananas game, and telling his wife he wanted to move to Savannah — she was already calling realtors when he got home → Writing a "future resume" as his Bananas job application: not what he'd done, but what his dream role would look like in 5 years → Running the first Banana Ball youth tournament in Cincinnati/Cleveland — 75 teams, 48 states, voted #1 youth tournament of 2025 by Newsweek (beating Cooperstown, Triple Crown, and PG) → The tournament that got hit by weather every single day in Savannah — and still beat all the competition in the Newsweek poll → A kid who said "this was going to be my last season ever, but now I'm coming back" — because there was no pressure → Stu's DoorDash driver who walked up to the front desk and asked where to apply — and is still there 6 years later → Pivoting from Bananas to Global Nation: black lights, experiential sports events, Field of Dreams → The Field of Dreams event: first-ever black light event at the new MLB stadium, home run derby, celebrity softball game, and a country music artist opening the night → Why the future resume is a "cheat code for hiring" — and what Best Buy taught him about putting people where their hearts are 🔗 CONNECT WITH AARON PRIDMORE Podcast: The Slide Podcast (YouTube, Apple, Spotify — search "Slide Podcast") Business: globalnation.com 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Aaron intro: VP at Global Nation and host of The Slide Podcast 03:00 – What 700 youth baseball interviews taught him about what kids actually want 07:00 – Why kids choose friends over championships — every time 10:00 – The genesis of The Slide Podcast and the Field Reporter program 14:00 – Banana Jake: from robotic intro video to interviewing coaches at Prospect Wire 17:30 – The Savannah Bananas game, the wife calling realtors, and the future resume application 22:00 – The future resume explained: dream role, 5-year plan, and what Jared Orton said 26:00 – First Banana Ball youth tournament: 75 teams, 48 states, Cincinnati/Cleveland 2022 30:00 – The kid who climbed the backstop dancing to "Rodeo" 33:00 – 2025 Savannah tournament: weather chaos, damage control — then #1 in the Newsweek poll 37:00 – Pivoting to Global Nation and what black light sports events look like 40:00 – Field of Dreams: first-ever black light event, September 26, Eric Sim, Rachel Garcia, and barbecue chefs with 6M followers 44:00 – Founder takeaways: future resume, building culture people want to join, spousal support 47:00 – National Parks Baseball Resort + Global Nation crossover possibilities ⚠️ Note: Timestamps are estimated from transcript flow — swap to actual timecodes before publishing. #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #baseball #savannnahbananas #youthsports #bananball #globalnation #slidepodcast #founderstory

  2. Aug 12

    The AI Startup Solving Mental Healthcare's Biggest Hidden Problem | Episode 70

    Ty Palmer built an app that plays a donkey sound when you're being an ass in an argument.  It detects 48 emotions, analyzes tone of voice in real time, and even catches you being passive  aggressive over text. Therapists loved it. Then they told him what they actually needed help with. Ty Palmer is the co-founder of Clary AI — an AI-powered admin platform for mental health  clinics — and Donkey Chats, the couples communication app that nearly went on Shark Tank.  He's bootstrapped multiple companies (including a translation company that hit $2M in its  first two years), raised $1.2M for Clary at a $10M valuation in just a few days, and sat down  with Stu to go deep on fundraising strategy, hiring salespeople, and why the warehouse manager  outsold the Macmillan President's Club guy 4 to 1. What he covers: → Building Donkey Chats: an app that plays a donkey sound at "criticism detected: .87" — and texts you a better way to say what you just said → Getting to the last interview round on Shark Tank — then pivoting the whole company anyway → Why therapists who loved Donkey Chats kept asking for something else entirely: someone to fight the insurance companies for them → How Donkey Chats got acquired and rolled into Clary AI — and why Ty and co-founder Nathan Gunther said no to being a dev shop → Bootstrapping a translation company to $2M revenue with 10 employees as its first employee — then leaving → A VR company in 2019, sold before owning equipment — how he convinced his entrepreneur-averse wife one small bet at a time → Closing a $500K raise in "a few days" through angels only, at a $10M valuation → Stu's breakdown on valuation math: why raising at 5M vs. 10M changes when investors will let you exit → The warehouse manager from Target who outsold a Macmillan President's Club rep 4 to 1 — and what that means for hiring salespeople → Why Stu says never hire one sales rep — always hire two (if you can't tell if it's you or them, you learn nothing) → The "dating game" hiring test: give a candidate a script, a phone, and a directory — and see if they book appointments before they're even hired → Peak Capital (Silicon Slopes VC) telling Stu his TAM was too small — and why he now thinks that was the best thing that ever happened to him 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Stu's update: National Parks Baseball Resort sold out all 2027 spots in 7 weeks 02:30 – Ty introduces Clary AI: AI admin for mental health clinics 06:00 – Donkey Chats origin: catching tone-of-voice problems in real-time couples arguments 10:00 – How the app works: 48 emotions, text message analysis, "criticism detected: .87" 13:30 – Getting to Shark Tank's last interview round — then pivoting anyway 17:00 – Why therapists loved Donkey Chats but needed insurance billing help more 20:00 – Corbin Church, the roll-up, and how Donkey Chats became Clary 24:00 – Ty's entrepreneur origin story: catering company, VR rentals, translation company 28:30 – Bootstrapping vs. raising: closing $1.2M at $10M valuation in days 32:00 – Stu on valuation math: the goalpost problem every founder ignores 37:00 – Angels vs. VCs — Stu's experience with Silicon Slopes and why seed rounds worked better 41:00 – Hiring sales: warehouse manager outsells President's Club rep 4 to 1 45:00 – The "dating game" hiring test and why you should always hire two reps, never one 48:30 – CRMs, follow-up culture, and why Stu's team had "F.U." on the whiteboard ⚠️ Note: Timestamps are estimated from transcript flow — swap to actual timecodes before publishing. #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #mentalhealth #aitools #saas #fundraising #startuplife #donkeychats #claryai

  3. May 27

    From Cop to $17.6M Entrepreneur | Sam DiMeo’s Startup Journey | Episode 69

    Sam DeMaio taught himself construction from a $34.95 Home Depot book. He was working full-time as a correctional officer, then a police officer — and running a side hustle the entire time. Nobody knew. He didn't need them to. Sam is the founder of Showcase Remodels out of New Jersey, a remodeling company he scaled to $17.6 million in gross revenue. He also owns 48 rental properties, has done 17+ house flips using a repeatable buy-for-30-sell-for-125 model, and just launched his own product line — Signature Reflections — after a national brand told him no. He joined Stu at a Startups with Stu retreat and covered the whole road: blue-collar upbringing, Army service, a decade in law enforcement, a divorce that lit a fire, and a business philosophy built on one simple rule: get it, give it. What he covers: → Joining the Army at 17 as a cavalry scout — with a 13-second life expectancy on the battlefield → Getting charged $100/week rent by his dad on his 18th birthday, then going out and buying a duplex at 19 → Running a construction side hustle, a flooring business, and rental properties — all while working full-time as a police officer → Learning construction from scratch using a $34.95 Home Depot book (no YouTube, no ChatGPT) → Leaving the police force with $20,000 to his name and $90K/year walking out the door → Buying a hoarder house in Glendora, NJ for $30,000 — poop stains, broken tools, the whole thing — and flipping it for $125K → Running his flip formula for two years straight: buy for $70K, put in $30K, sell for $170K — 17 houses → Building a portfolio of 48 rental properties that covers every bill he has, including the beach house → Scaling Showcase Remodels to $17.6 million in annual gross revenue → Buying a hotel in North Wildwood for $1 million, putting $700K into it in 12 weeks, converting it to condos, and selling for $3.2 million → Getting rejected by a national bathroom brand — then writing back to tell them they made the biggest mistake of their life, and launching his own competing product line → His employee who made $350,000 in his first year — and the people who used to cheer for him that are now hating → Giving a woman's entire kitchen to a woman who adopted 8 kids with special needs, which turned into a chain of other contractors donating materials for free 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Introduction: Who is Sam DeMaio? 02:15 – Blue-collar roots: Chuck in a truck, Catholic school, Army at 17 05:30 – The $100 birthday bill and the duplex at 19 08:45 – Correctional officer by day, contractor by night 12:00 – The $34.95 Home Depot book that started it all 15:20 – Building the side hustle: flooring, flips, rentals 18:40 – Why he stayed in the police force for 10 years before going all in 21:30 – The divorce, the $20K, and the leap 24:15 – The hoarder house flip: $30K in, $125K out 27:00 – The flip formula: 17 houses, same model 30:10 – Scaling Showcase Remodels to $17.6M 33:45 – The hotel flip: $1M in, $3.2M out in 12 weeks 37:00 – Getting rejected by a national brand and starting Signature Reflections 40:20 – Culture over spreadsheets — and the employee making $350K 43:00 – The woman who adopted 8 kids and the kitchen that became a community 45:30 – What "taking your startup to the moon" means to Sam #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #realestateinvesting #remodeling #contractor #sidehustle #bluecollarbusiness #buildingwealth #smallbusiness

  4. May 25

    How a Twenty-Something Entrepreneur Landed 35% Equity | Episode 68

    When her business partner asked how he should pay her, AnnaMarie Davis said she didn't want  an hourly rate. She wanted equity. She was a college student who had been working in his studio  for months, had never been paid a dollar, and didn't entirely know what equity meant. She ended  up with 35%. AnnaMarie Davis is a partner at Audio and Recording, a commercial recording studio in Salt Lake  City. She got there through competitive dance, door-to-door solar sales, two shipping containers  she bought and returned, an investor dinner she walked into not knowing what an investor was,  and a 2.5-hour phone call with a stranger named Eric. She is in her 20s. What she covers: → Age 12: dad lost his job, dance was too expensive — so she walked into the studio owner's office and negotiated her own free tuition by teaching tap and ballet and cleaning every studio after hours, without telling her parents → Knocking doors in Utah selling solar at 18, offering Girl Scout cookies as part of her pitch (she actually bought them) → Buying two shipping containers for $6,000 to build a DIY recording studio — then discovering that soundproofing and equipment would cost a fortune → Getting the prompting: "Don't bury your talents and don't let your friends bury theirs" — and realizing the music world was full of audio engineers who couldn't get jobs and artists who couldn't afford studios → A little girl at a dance recital, a dad who ran investor dinners, and the chain reaction that changed everything → Walking into Tyler Jennings' investor dinner, saying "I have no idea how to do this" — and getting put in 10 group chats and invited to four more lunches → A 2.5-hour first phone call with her future business partner Eric, not even remembering he owned a studio → Working in Eric's studio for three months for free before he offered to pay her — and saying no, she wanted equity instead → Earning equity benchmarks tied to revenue milestones, working her way to 35% ownership while still dancing at BYU → Vibe coding a custom booking system because no good scheduling software exists for music studios → Monthly jam sessions — poets, musicians, audiobook narrators, a random violinist, and one unforgettable rendition of Don't Stop Believin' — as the free event that drove all their word-of-mouth → Big artists signing the wall behind a mirror (so the signatures exist but can't be posted anywhere) — and the time she had a full conversation with a major artist and didn't know who he was until after 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Intro and growing up with four older brothers 02:30 – Age 12: dad loses his job, dance is too expensive, AnnaMarie negotiates her own tuition 06:00 – Dad stops being a lawyer and becomes an entrepreneur — what watching that taught her 09:30 – High school deal: get your associates, parents pay for everything; graduate, you're on your own 12:00 – Door-to-door solar sales at 18 with Girl Scout cookies as backup 15:30 – BYU, competitive dance, declaring entrepreneurship as a major on a whim 19:00 – The prompting: don't bury your talents, don't let your friends bury theirs 22:30 – Two shipping containers, $6,000, and the moment she realized she had no idea what she was doing 26:00 – The little girl at the recital, Tyler Jennings, and the investor dinner 30:00 – Walking in with nothing but a dream — and getting 10 group chats and four follow-up lunches 34:00 – The 2.5-hour first call with Eric Low, her future business partner 38:00 – Three months working for free, then: "Do you want me to pay you?" — "No, I want equity." 42:00 – Earning her way to 35% through revenue benchmarks 45:00 – Vibe coding a custom booking system and building word-of-mouth through jam sessions 49:00 – Big artists, hidden signatures, and the celebrity conversation she didn't know she was having 52:30 – Advice for aspiring college-age entrepreneurs #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #youngentrepreneur #recordingstudio #musicbusiness #womeninbusiness #saltlakecity #collegeentrepreneur #audioengineering

  5. May 20

    Mom of 5 Builds Million-Dollar Apparel Brands | Episode 67

    Chynna Hansen was taping boxes for a cross-state move when she turned to her husband and said  she was starting a business. He asked if they could maybe just get moved first. She said she  didn't think they could wait. Chynna is the founder and CEO of Vast Apparel and Little Mama Shirt Shop — both seven-figure  businesses built in Idaho Falls. She started with a $400 seed fund from a unicorn birthday  invitation that went viral on Etsy, bootstrapped Little Mama Shirt Shop into a seven-figure DTC  brand, and then built Vast Apparel from scratch when the DTC market shifted. Vast is now up  300% year over year. What she covers: → A unicorn birthday party invitation that went viral on Etsy — selling thousands of copies, one name-swap at a time, staying up nights changing the birthday girl's name by hand (long before AI) → Starting Little Mama Shirt Shop with $400, a Facebook Live to five friends and her grandma, and selling out that first night → Meeting her screen printer in his "little dark basement" — long beard, covered in tattoos, rode a Harley — with total confidence from a small-town girl who didn't know what she didn't know → Building a team of 30 moms who close at 2pm every day so everyone can pick up their kids from school → Working only Tuesdays and Wednesdays — and getting a full week's work done in two days → Taking a deliberate dip in Little Mama revenue to simplify the launch schedule when the team started burning out → A spiritual impression so strong she stopped the business mid-planning: "Give it away" — two weeks before a major campaign launch → Starting The Heart of It Foundation and giving back hundreds of thousands of dollars through Little Mama Shirt Shop over the years → $30,000–$35,000 raised in 24 hours for Texas flood relief through a single launch → Building Vast Apparel when equipment was sitting idle — and watching it hit 300% year-over-year growth → The $270 naming contest for Vast (Phil Knight paid $30 for the Nike swoosh — she did the math and matched it in today's dollars) → Why she named her flagship backpack after her dad and what that legacy-building means to her 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Intro and where the name Chynna comes from 02:30 – Growing up in Salmon, Idaho (3,000 people, two stoplights, 86 kids in her graduating class) 05:00 – The $200 gap that started everything: staying home with her first son 08:00 – The viral unicorn birthday invitation and saving $400 to start Little Mama Shirt Shop 12:00 – Taping boxes in Utah, telling her husband she was starting a business right now 15:30 – Selling out on Facebook Live to five friends and her grandma 18:00 – Meeting the screen printer in his dark basement (and why her husband was nervous) 21:00 – Running the business in the cracks of motherhood: late nights, early mornings, never trading motherhood for ambition 25:00 – Building a team of 30 moms — closed at 2pm, no Saturdays 28:30 – Working only Tuesdays and Wednesdays and still growing 32:00 – Little Mama hits seven figures, then the DTC market shifts 36:00 – Vast Apparel is born out of idle equipment and necessity — now up 300% year over year 40:00 – The Phil Knight naming contest and the moment "Vast" gave everyone chills 43:30 – The spiritual impression three weeks before launch: "Give it away" 47:00 – The Heart of It Foundation, $35K in 24 hours for Texas floods, and giving back locally 51:00 – The charter plane and the rocket ship: Little Mama and Vast, side by side #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #womeninbusiness #mompreneur #ecommerce #vastapparel #idahofalls #bootstrapped #ladyboss

  6. May 18

    Building a National Outdoor Brand from Scratch | Episode 66

    Scott Jensen liquidated his 401k, maxed out a HELOC, and spent six years burning through  his corporate savings to build a backpacking company. He's in Costco, Scheels, Walmart,  Macy's, and Amazon. And he's still almost out of money. Scott Jensen is the founder of Near Zero — a company on a mission to demystify backpacking  with a complete, bundled, patented kit that gets you trail-ready in 30 minutes. He spent 15 years  in corporate supply chain at Honeywell, Tyco Electronics, and Carlisle, learned Mandarin Chinese,  lived in China as an expat with five kids, and used every bit of it to build something no one else  could easily copy. What he covers: → Starting a snow cone business at age 8, making $20/hour with a hand-cranked machine — then saving $500 to upgrade to electric → Becoming a balloon artist at 15 after a classmate said he was making $30/hour on weekends → Working for free for an import-export mentor who told him: "Go work for corporate first, then come back to me" → Honeywell sponsoring him through Thunderbird — the #1 international business school in the world → Living in China with five kids as an expat from 2018 to 2020, then evacuating when Covid hit → Quitting his director-level job in 2021 with zero retail experience and all-in on Near Zero → The Dean backpack: named after his dad, 11 prototypes, an 80-page tech pack, three years of development before the first sale → Getting into Scheels, Walmart, Macy's, Amazon, Boy Scouts of America, and Costco — all while burning personal savings → Raising $100K through a SAFE on WeFunder, with a $100 minimum investment for future equity → Why his Chinese supply chain background creates barriers to entry nobody can easily copy → The cash crunch every founder hits — and what Josh James (Omniture, sold to Adobe) says about how to get through it → Learning Mandarin on a mission to Taiwan after expecting to go Spanish-speaking — and how that single surprise assignment changed his entire career 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 – What "Near Zero" means and Scott's moon landing 03:00 – 15 years in corporate: Honeywell, Tyco Electronics, Carlisle, and living in China 07:00 – Snow cones at 8, balloon art at 15, palm trees, vending machines, wedding videos 11:00 – The decision to quit: depleting the 401k and maxing the HELOC 14:00 – What Near Zero is: 100+ SKUs, the Dean backpack, and the all-in-one bundle 18:30 – How he built the Dean: 11 prototypes, 80-page tech pack, three years of development 23:00 – Getting into Scheels, Costco, Walmart, and Amazon — and the cash flow problem that followed 27:00 – Raising on WeFunder: $100 minimum, SAFE structure, investor perks including a backpacking trip 31:00 – The barriers to entry: patents, supply chain complexity, and why big brands won't copy this easily 35:00 – Stu's advice: focus on sales, build the right team, treat investor money as sacred 39:00 – Taiwan mission, Mandarin Chinese, and how a devastating assignment became a career launchpad 43:00 – What's next for Near Zero #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #backpacking #outdoors #ecommerce #bootstrapped #nearzero #supplychain #smallbusiness

  7. May 13

    25 Years in Fitness, 2 Big Exits, Zero Investors | Episode 65

    At 21, Todd Kuhn signed a $120,000-a-year lease. Everyone thought he was mad.  Twenty years and two exits later, he's never taken a dollar from a bank or an investor. Todd Kuhn is an Australian founder who built and sold two fitness businesses — the first a  multi-location gym group, the second a 20-studio boutique Pilates chain acquired by an  ASX-listed company. Now he's building Core Lab, bringing premium Pilates equipment to  the US market, and doing it the same way he's always done it: bootstrap first, scale smart,  exit with a plan. What he covers: → Signing a $120,000/year lease at age 21 — and everyone telling him he was mad → Running Pilates mat classes in 40 scout halls and town halls across the city (400 students per term) → Amassing $150,000 cash in six months before ever opening a physical studio → A 5-day mastermind in Hawaii that got him off 95% of his own classes and changed the whole trajectory → Going from 1 studio to 10 in three years, then 20 just before Covid hit → Selling to an ASX-listed company — and watching every one of his locations convert to Club Pilates → His grandfather building the original Pilates equipment by hand in a garage under his house → Flying to China 4-5 times a year, walking into factories with no translator, using sign language to get the product right → Why he's never taken a bank loan or outside investment across two full business cycles → The "minimize startup costs, maximize profitability" principle he applies to every studio he opens → Why delegation is the one thing he'd tell his younger self to do faster → Launching a new Dallas studio with Australian franchisees who followed him to the US 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Todd's background: rugby recruit to business founder 03:30 – Leaving corporate after six months and pivoting to fitness 06:00 – 40 locations in scout halls and $150K cash before opening a studio 09:00 – Signing the $120K lease at age 21: "just have a go" 12:00 – Exiting Pure Health Clubs in 2012 and starting over smaller 15:30 – The Hawaii mastermind that unlocked the scale-up 19:00 – 10 locations in 3 years, 20 before Covid, then the exit 23:00 – Being acquired by an ASX company and watching the brand become Club Pilates 26:30 – Building Core Lab: equipment, method, training academy 30:00 – Why he's never taken outside money — and what he thinks about it now 34:00 – His grandfather, a friend with a welder, and the origin of Core Lab's equipment 38:00 – Flying to China 4-5x a year with no translator to source parts 41:30 – Advice for aspiring founders: persistence, vision, and giving away hats 45:00 – The Dallas launch and what's next #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #fitness #pilates #bootstrapped #businessexit #australianfounder #corelabusa #smallbusiness

  8. May 11

    Why High Performers Still Feel Empty | Episode 64

    Stu wired his whole career chasing recognition. He didn't know it until a live coaching session on camera revealed the exact lie running underneath everything. Dallin Harmon left a high-paying angel investing role to coach founders full-time — and in this episode, he does it live with Stu. What came up wasn't what either of them expected. What he covers: → Discovering the subconscious belief: "The only way to be valued is to be seen and recognized by the world's standards" → The day Stu's big payday hit his bank account — and his family already had Saturday plans → Calling CFO Mike Andrus and screaming at the top of their lungs on the phone (ten years of work, finally done) → Why reframing thoughts almost never creates permanent change — and what actually does → Two truths that changed Dallin's life: every belief that drives you to suffering is a lie, and your best moments are who you really are → Stu's daughter's four-year health battle, spending 40 days in the hospital, and the moment he snapped at the mold specialist → Three emotional memories used to rewire a belief live on air — including Stu's dad hugging him after a wrestling match → Sending a son off on a mission at the airport and why that moment hit harder than any business win → The Chad Willard quote that landed differently after the coaching: "I don't inhale the compliments, so I don't spiral over the criticism" → Why Dallin says he learned more about himself in 3 years of coaching than in the previous 3 decades combined → The difference between "useful" and "powerful" — and why Stu's drive got him far but couldn't take him further 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 – How Dallin went from building companies to coaching them 02:30 – The cost of building with stress, shame, and overwhelm for a decade 05:00 – "You can have it all — you just have to reclaim your time from suffering" 08:00 – The mold specialist story: Stu's worst self, caught live 13:00 – Two truths that change how you see every hard moment 18:30 – Uncovering the lie Stu didn't know he believed 24:00 – Shocking the brain out of a false belief 28:30 – Three emotional memories used to rewire the belief live 36:00 – The payday, the normal Saturday, and the wake-up call 42:00 – Chad Willard quote + the shift in how Stu will operate now #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #mindset #coaching #selfawareness #founders #personaldevelopment #leadership #businesspodcast

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5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Stu Draper, a serial entrepreneur, knows just how exhilarating it is to launch a startup to the moon. He is a 9-time Inc. 5000 honoree before age 40 with tens of millions generated in revenue from his startups and an angel investor in 8 businesses. He's also the co-author of the bestselling textbook Digital Marketing Essentials. Stu knows just what it takes to transform an innovative idea into a thriving business. Inspired by the creators of groundbreaking ventures, Startups With Stu is an illuminating podcast that dives into the trials and triumphs of startup founders and investors who have committed their lives to reaching financial freedom through entrepreneurship. Podcast guests will be seeking advice on how to overcome the obstacles they're facing. Expect motivating stories as Stu spotlights the hard-fought victories that reveal the inner workings of entrepreneurship. By demystifying the startup process, Startups With Stu aims to equip aspiring founders with the grit and know-how to transform visionary concepts into startup success. Startups With Stu is produced using PodUp podcasting software.

Information

  • Creator
    Stuart Draper
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    71
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    Copyright © 2026 Stuart Draper. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Startups With Stu

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