Founder Therapy

Alen Faljic
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Entrepreneurship

Founders on a couch, like in a real therapy session. No tactics, no performing. Just what goes on inside a founder's head, and why that matters more than any tactical playbook.

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    We built a $1M business we hated. How we pick the next one?

    Franz Emprechtinger was my first hire at d.MBA and, for 6 years, my business partner. We ran the company together, had our best year at over $1M in revenue, then killed the product that made it. A year ago we stopped working together even though we never had a single fight. This episode is different. There is no guest. Franz and I sit on the couch together, and the therapy session is about us: why relationship ended, the deal that never matched the relationship, and how each of us is choosing what to build next. Chapters0:00 The day Franz left d.MBA1:10 "The call": something is off5:27 How the partnership started (salary plus profit share)9:50 Why Alen never gave Franz equity11:06 Maker vs manager, the face outside and the face inside14:54 Safety as the hidden driver of our decisions18:25 Killing a million euro cash cow with no plan B20:44 Borrowed energy vs true energy23:55 "We take such good decisions": the rational trap and the Black Friday argument30:08 The leader has to put their needs first33:11 Gut vs rational brain37:16 Franz's year of doing nothing, then the offsite company39:22 Allowing yourself to love a service business44:03 The app Alen could not make himself build48:43 Guilt about hours and working class roots55:12 When the grind is right57:08 Self-worth tied to the desk1:02:11 Turning your hobby into a business1:07:00 Every business is a cage, so choose your own discomfort1:12:30 Two kinds of discomfort, and somatic therapy1:17:18 Does following your gut pay the bills?1:19:51 How the profit share deal shaped our risk taking1:26:25 Growth is stability? Figuring out what is enough1:34:59 Founder marketing fit1:40:15 Who are you building for?1:45:48 Forever vs "I can quit in a month"1:53:56 Hiring mistakes2:01:19 Pure gut feelings vs triggered ones2:04:43 Cancel what you hate2:12:07 Business as self-expression, and wrap up

  2. Oct 1

    "My fear is that no one gives a sh*t." - Daniel Burka

    Daniel Burka ran design at Digg in its peak years and co-founded two startups: Pownce, sold to Six Apart in 2008, and Milk, sold to Google in 2012. The Milk deal took him into Google Ventures, where he spent five years as a design partner and helped build the Design Sprint. In 2018 he left all of that to work on hypertension. Simple, the open-source app he built at Resolve to Save Lives, now manages over six million patients in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia. In 2025 he stepped down to go full time on Hard Problems, a nonprofit he co-founded to pull more designers toward that kind of work. We recorded this in London, about a year into that move. 00:24 "Entrepreneurship for me is…"01:21 The mission of Hard Problems02:33 Leaving Google Ventures: "I could do almost anything"05:57 Money, privilege & the career-decision spreadsheet10:36 What's stressful: keeping momentum at a nonprofit12:30 Coping with stress & using pressure in a healthy way16:39 Thinking in 10–20 year time horizons20:48 Urgency vs. strategy: driving from ditch to ditch24:09 What investors look for in founders29:24 Staying a maker: ideal team size & how to fund it36:45 Purpose, and how Daniel found his43:36 Choosing co-founders & creative tension48:33 Hopes, fears & knowing when to keep going55:36 Why founders fail & turning doubt into action01:04:36 What keeps Daniel up at night01:10:24 Wrap-up

  3. Sep 17

    "I spent 16 years building a business that isn't right for me." - Jonathan Courtney

    Jonathan Courtney is the co-founder of AJ&Smart, the Berlin agency that helped make the Design Sprint famous and trained thousands of facilitators through Workshopper and facilitator.com.  In September 2026, after 16 years, he handed the company to his team and announced he was leaving to become a musician. We recorded this three weeks into that decision.  Chapters0:07 What entrepreneurship really means to Jonathan2:14 Why money is just a scoreboard4:33 Leaving his business after 16 years 7:03 Buying a piano and a 12-hour first session12:23 The Saturday that changed everything16:51 "Do it on the side": the comment that made him defiant19:38 What kept him from creative work for 15 years25:56 The doubts: money, status and identity32:21 Why "stuck" people don't really want it34:45 "Next year" means never: the power of urgency39:32 Sharing unfinished work43:39 Accepting that people will laugh at you48:54 The "What You Already Know" workshop56:14 Why he waits for permission01:06:27 The promoter mindset: business lessons for musicians Jonathan is still finalising the "What You Already Know" workshop. Sign up at alen.me and you'll get the questions as soon as they're ready.

  4. Sep 15

    WTF is Founder Therapy?

    Entrepreneurial success has less to do with strategy than we like to admit. Two founders can have the same idea, the same market and the same money, and one wins because of what is going on between their ears. Yet almost every podcast interviews founders about The How. This one interviews them about The Who.  Each episode a founder lies on the couch and we go into the mindset, the pressure, the stories they tell themselves and the ones they hide. Hosted by Alen Faljic, founder of d.MBA. Follow the show and catch episode one when it drops.

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About

Founders on a couch, like in a real therapy session. No tactics, no performing. Just what goes on inside a founder's head, and why that matters more than any tactical playbook.

Information

  • Creator
    Alen Faljic
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Alen Faljic