The Story of Scale

Harris III + Chad Cannon
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Entrepreneurship

Most business owners hit a ceiling and have no idea why. The Story of Scale is a conversation between Harris III, a creative entrepreneur who has built businesses across entertainment, events, and coaching, and Chad Cannon, a business growth strategist who has helped companies scale from seven figures into the mid-eight figures. They've been friends for almost 20 years. One is driven by story. The other by numbers. That tension is the whole point. This isn't for Fortune 500 executives. It's for the founder stuck between $300K and $10M who knows they're capable of more but can't figure out what's in the way. Expect honest conversations, practical frameworks, and stories that make you realize you're not alone. New episodes every other week. A production of Istoria Studio. Visit istoria.com/scale for more.

  1. 4d ago

    At first we could only do what we could afford. Then we had to decide what was the right thing to do

    Shane McKenzie went from sharing one computer at a folding table in Spartanburg to leading a 109-person, $32M company. He's the first outside guest in Story of Scale history — and for good reason. He's also the COO of Istoria Collective and the author of The Healthy How. Harris and Chad sit down with Shane for Part 1 of a four-part series on what actually changes as you scale, what never does, and why the leadership playbook most of us were handed no longer works. In this episode: The three seasons every scaling business moves through, and why the decisions get harder The three things people actually want at work Why the middle management layer is disappearing The hardest thing Shane learned in 20 years of building a company Why people are the solution, not the problem Grab Start With Wow and The Healthy How together at startwithwow.com. More at istoria.com/scale.

  2. Sep 1

    The Information Age Is Over. Wisdom Is the New Currency.

    The information age is over. The imagination age is here. And the currency that used to make you valuable — information, expertise, knowledge — just got commoditized for $20 a month. In this episode, Harris and Chad sit down for a full behind-the-scenes on Harris's new book Start With Wow (out September 22) and the framework at the center of it: the shift from an economy that rewards answers to one that rewards the right questions. They get into why Google took the quest out of the question, why "how" asked too early kills great ideas, the wow/how loop that fuels real innovation, and the moment on stage where kids on the front row started Googling the levitation trick before Harris had even finished it. They also tee up the next four-part series — The Healthy How with COO Shane McKenzie — the leadership companion to Start With Wow. Grab a copy of Start With Wow (or the Start With Wow + Healthy How bundle) → startwithwow.com For more on how to scale a business worth scaling → istoria.com/scale Follow Harris: @harrisiii Follow Chad: @chadwick.cannon Follow Istoria: @istoria_collective The Story of Scale is a production of Istoria Studio, recorded in Chattanooga, TN.

  3. Aug 26

    We Cut Our AI Costs by 90% and 10x'd the ROI (Here's What Changed)

    Two months in. Harris's AI agent stack has grown from 27 to 29 — and the monthly cost has dropped from $7,000 to $700. In this episode, Harris walks Chad through what's actually changed since the four-part AI Architecture series: the token spend that got cut by 90%, the custom voice app he built to version 98 in 48 hours, the podcast agent (Dolby) that coordinates the post-production workflow live on screen, and the health operating system (Valeo OS) where Harris says Valeo OS surfaced a result his GP may not have caught. This isn't theory. It isn't hype. It's a transparent look at how a small business owner is actually using AI agents day to day — voice, Slack, custom apps, and specialized workflows — to get his time back and hire more humans, not fewer. If this is your first episode in the series, go back and start with Ep 9. Then jump into Ep 10, 11, 12, and finish here. Grab the updated AI Agent Roster (now 29 agents, 30 pages) → istoria.com/aiteam For more on how to scale a business worth scaling → istoria.com/scale Follow Harris: @harrisiii Follow Chad: @chadwick.cannon Follow Istoria: @istoria_collective The Story of Scale is a production of Istoria Studio, recorded on location in Chattanooga, Tennessee at SociallyU Studios.

  4. Jun 30

    How We Run a Business With 27 AI Agents (Real Examples)

    How do six people run a business with 27 AI agents — and what does that actually look like on a random Tuesday? In the series finale of the AI Architecture Series, Harris and Chad stop teaching frameworks and start showing receipts. Real stories from the last few months of running their business alongside an autonomous AI team. Chad's meeting assistant that drafts follow-up emails in his voice within five minutes. The night before a keynote in Cape Town when Harris asked both a human and an agent the same question — and got two different answers. The $35,000 invoice that almost got missed until Vance pulled the contract at 5 AM. Holly, who went from zero AI interaction to producing work in minutes. And the moment Harris gave his developer agent access to an online course instead of watching it himself. This is what AI architecture looks like when it's not a pitch deck. It's Tuesday. In this episode: Chad's AI meeting assistant — 5-minute email drafts that used to take 90 minutes Harris sends an agent to learn an online course (so he doesn't have to) The Cape Town keynote save — agent catches a 25-minute scheduling error the night before Holly's journey from AI-resistant to AI-powered in weeks More data in Slack than 9 months with a Microsoft BI consultant The $35K invoice, the part-time bookkeeper, and Vance at 5 AM Advice for business owners: list your frustrations, find the clusters, build one agent Key Takeaway: You don't need 27 agents. You need one — built for the thing that frustrates you most. Start there. Get the AI Agent Roster: istoria.com/aiteam For more on scaling your business and living a story worth scaling, visit istoria.com/scale Follow Harris: instagram.com/harrisiii Follow Chad: instagram.com/chadwick.cannon Follow Istoria: instagram.com/istoria_collective

  5. Jun 25

    The Org Chart Is the AI Strategy Nobody Is Talking About

    The AI gurus on your feed are selling you the wrong question. They're selling you a tool. The right question is an org chart. In Part 3 of the AI Architecture Series, Harris and Chad break down the framework that's actually working for the business owners they're consulting. The story of Sara, who quit her AI agents two weeks after install, and what she did differently when she came back. The travel agent Harris built after realizing real travel agents have a secret password to industry tools no consumer can see. The commercial real estate client losing 30-40 leads a day. And the reason "robots can manage, only humans can lead" decides which agent you build first. This is what AI architecture looks like when you stop trying to be an AI bro and start thinking like a leader. In this episode: Why the org chart is the right starting place for AI architectureBuild bottom-up, not top-down — and why that decision mattersThe Sara story: why agents fail in two weeks (and how to fix it)The travel agent origin story and the API access nobody is talking aboutThe commercial real estate client leaving revenue on the floorThe future of compensation: value over timeKey Takeaway: The first agent you build should be answered by your org chart, not your Instagram feed. Audit your business. Find the pain point. Build for that. Get the AI Agent Roster: istoria.com/aiteam For more on scaling your business and living a story worth scaling, visit istoria.com/scale Follow Harris: instagram.com/harrisiii Follow Chad: instagram.com/chadwick.cannon Follow Istoria: instagram.com/istoria_collective

  6. Jun 18

    Robots Can Manage. Only Humans Can Lead. (Why I Demoted My AI CFO.)

    Part 2 of 4 — The AI Architecture Series We didn't plan to build a team of 27 AI agents. It started with three. Then one week later, we couldn't even remember all their names. In this episode, Harris and Chad pull the curtain back on what actually happens when two non-technical business owners go all-in on agentic AI — the wins, the failures, and the leadership lessons nobody is talking about. In This Episode: An AI agent making a dinner reservation in Dublin while Harris walked the streets with his wifeTwo agents collaborating to track down a contract and invoice a clientA wellness challenge managed entirely by AIWhy Harris demoted his AI CFO — and what it taught him about leadershipThe moment they couldn't keep up with their own agentsWhy specialization beats the "one master agent" approachKey Takeaway: Robots can manage. Only humans can lead. 🔗 istoria.com/scale 🤖 Meet the AI Team Follow Harris: instagram.com/harrisiii Follow Chad: instagram.com/chadwick.cannon Follow Istoria: instagram.com/istoria_collective

  7. Jun 12

    I Built My First AI Agent on the Concrete Floor of My Basement at Midnight

    Every business owner hits the same wall. You can't grow without the hire. You can't afford the hire without the growth. On the Saturday before Easter, Harris ended up on the concrete floor of his basement at midnight, building something he'd never built before. By morning, it was alive — and what happened over the next 90 days changed everything. This is Part 1 of a 4-episode bonus series of The Story of Scale. Harris and Chad pull back the curtain on what they've been quietly building behind the scenes: a team of AI agents that's transformed how Istoria runs. In this episode: The 500K to 3M squeeze every business owner knowsWhy Harris almost kept this story to himselfNaming the real tensions around AIWhy building AI agents has Istoria on a hiring spreeWhat "agentic AI" actually means (in plain English)The invisible robot at the desk — the mental model that unlocks everythingThe Easter Saturday origin story of Vesper, the first agentWhy super-agents are a mistake — specialization, security, memoryWhether you're AI-curious or AI-skeptical, this is the conversation we wish someone had walked us through 18 months ago. → Get the full AI Agent Roster (all 27 agents, their jobs, why we built them): istoria.com/aiteam Follow us: Follow Harris: instagram.com/harrisiii Follow Chad: instagram.com/chadwick.cannon Follow Istoria: instagram.com/istoria_collective The Story of Scale is hosted by Harris III and Chad Cannon — a production of Istoria Studio, recorded in Chattanooga, TN at SociallyU Studios.

  8. May 22

    Personal Brand Isn't Just for Influencers

    Of the top 100 most valuable brands in America, 85 of them started as personal brands. Disney. JP Morgan. Versace. And yet most founders resist building one. In this episode, Harris and Chad dig into why personal brand matters even if you're trying to scale beyond yourself — and the both/and strategy that lets you do both. We cover: The difference between a personal brand and a company brand (and why it's messier than you think)Why personal brand accelerates scale — even if you want to build something bigger than youThe real reason most founders avoid building a personal brand (hint: it's not about vanity)Chad's journey from helping others build personal brands to finally building his ownThe trust chain: You have to be known before you can be liked. Liked before you can be trusted.Whether you're a solopreneur trying to grow or a founder trying to scale past yourself, this one's for you. 🔗 istoria.com/scale

See All (15)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Most business owners hit a ceiling and have no idea why. The Story of Scale is a conversation between Harris III, a creative entrepreneur who has built businesses across entertainment, events, and coaching, and Chad Cannon, a business growth strategist who has helped companies scale from seven figures into the mid-eight figures. They've been friends for almost 20 years. One is driven by story. The other by numbers. That tension is the whole point. This isn't for Fortune 500 executives. It's for the founder stuck between $300K and $10M who knows they're capable of more but can't figure out what's in the way. Expect honest conversations, practical frameworks, and stories that make you realize you're not alone. New episodes every other week. A production of Istoria Studio. Visit istoria.com/scale for more.

Information

  • Creator
    Harris III + Chad Cannon
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Istoria
  • Show Website
    The Story of Scale

You Might Also Like