BRAVE, STRANGE, AND TERRIBLY HUMAN — Jennifer Gilgoric went from skepticism to serving as Minister of Equity & Resources for Asgardia, the world’s first digital nation. In this episode she explains how a virtual embassy in Second Life, a payload on the moon, and a million-vote election reframed her view of entrepreneurship, law, and what “nation” can mean in the 21st century. Short description: Jennifer walks us through a seven-year journey that reads part sci‑fi, part civic experiment and entirely entrepreneurial. She shares the emotional moment when Asgardian names and likenesses were deposited on the moon, how she built the parliament intranet that still runs their government, and why the future of space is as much about lawyers and ethics as it is about rockets. This conversation is for founders, studio-builders, and curious citizens wondering how to hold power accountable when the next frontier is literally above our heads.

From near-bankruptcy, vision loss and addiction to door-to-door breakthroughs with seniors — Michael Leung’s story is messy, human, and relentless. In this episode he pulls back the curtain on how lived hardship became the catalyst for building The Flow Group: affordable, stigma-busting open-ear hearing tech that’s changing how people connect. Description: Michael Leung, founder of The Flow Group, reveals the grit behind his mission to make communication stigma-free and accessible. He shares candid moments about sobriety, retinitis pigmentosa, and the real-world, heart-level work of earning trust in senior communities. This conversation blends tech curiosity — bone conduction, noise reduction and product design — with a moral one: how to build businesses that restore dignity.

WHY ARE YOU CHASING THE NEXT THING? In this emotionally honest conversation, Brett Eaton — high‑performance coach, keynote speaker, and author of Uncomfortable Either Way — confronts the hollow victories of status and paychecks, shows how environment rewires habit, and gives a practical urgency framework to actually live a life that feels meaningful. Brett pulls back the curtain on what he calls “surface‑level success”: the default chase for promotion, money, and status that leaves people stressed, disconnected, and wondering why achievement didn’t deliver happiness. He shares a client story that exposes how getting what you wanted can actually push you further from what you value, explains why your environment matters more than raw willpower, and reveals the simple 90‑day urgency tactic that flips intention into momentum. This episode is equal parts curiosity, compassion, and actionable pressure — perfect for anyone stuck between comfort and purpose.

"Discomfort is unavoidable — but which pain will you choose?" In this raw, curious conversation, Brett Eaton unpacks the idea that every fork in life comes with discomfort — either the sting of complacency or the burn of growth. He tells a personal story about his father, explains why people keep "swiping now, paying later," and gives concrete, immediately usable steps to build real, lasting confidence. This episode cuts past surface-level pep talks and lands on the messy, human choices that actually shape a life.

This conversation feels like a private coaching session you weren’t invited to — raw, revealing, and urgent. In this episode Dr. Shayna Clancy peels back the veneer of “strategy” to show what actually moves the needle when leaders scale: mindset. We trace her practical playbook — from motivational interviewing to everyday affirmation rituals — and hear how one shift turned a client’s business into a three‑time revenue story in four months. If you want tactical growth without burning out your team, this is your blueprint for leading with courage, humility and consistent practice.

You don’t need permission to be brave — you need a mindset that lets you keep climbing when your fingers go numb. In this episode, Dr. Shanea Clancy walks us from crime scenes to corporate boardrooms and back up an iced-over overhang to show how resilience, curiosity, and tiny rituals beat burnout. Her story — first-generation college student, forensic nurse, doctor, and executive MBA — becomes a lesson in rewriting the narrative of failure into a practical framework for peak performance. We unpack the “mountaineering mindset”: small wins, reward systems, motivational interviewing, and how leaders can spot and shift teams out of survival mode. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a leader, or someone trying to get out of the fog, this conversation gives you specific mental tools and metaphors to move from surviving to thriving.

He quit a Big Six job with a resignation letter and walked straight into Tommy Hilfiger, Jim Cramer and a front-row seat to e‑commerce history. In this intimate, no-fluff conversation, Sabir Samarkent — a computer scientist-turned-growth-engine — walks us through 25 years of scaling brands, the scars that taught him the rules, and the Rapid 2x protocol he uses to double revenues in weeks, not years. We pull apart the myths founders cling to (the magic-bullet, the pay-to-scale delusion), and Sabir gives a brutal but compassionate prescription: get the data right, fix the experience in under 2 seconds, and stop paying customers to take your product away. This episode is a roadmap for founders who want actionable, measurable change — not hype. It’s about accountability, systems, and the kind of engineering thinking that makes growth repeatable.

I lost 70% of my conversions before I even knew they were gone. In this episode, Sabir Samarkent pulls back the curtain on the Rapid 2x Protocol — a 25‑year playbook he’s refined across 200+ brands that forces you to stop chasing vanity fixes and start fixing the foundation. This is not marketing fluff. It’s a kinetic, engineer‑led approach to attention, mobile UX, retention, and ruthless focus that has driven 100%+ revenue uplifts for dozens of e‑commerce brands in weeks — not years. Sabir dismantles the myths founders cling to (you’re not a unicorn; attention decay is real), and hands you three practical, fast levers to reclaim lost revenue: speed (TTI), mobile‑first creative placement, and lifecycle/customer segmentation. If you want immediate, measurable change — and fewer sleepless nights — start here. Five takeaways: Fix Time To Interact (TTI) first — every second above ~1.7s costs ~7% conversion. Run GTmetrix on your best seller today. Mobile is the new desktop: ~72% of shoppers view product pages on phones; design and CTAs must land above the fold. Most brands are buying transactions, not customers — expect 70–95% one‑time buyers unless you prioritize retention and RFM analytics. Work on fewer, high‑impact prescriptions (3–5 priorities per week) instead of a thousand marketing hacks; focus beats busy. Speed + customer knowledge = compound growth: fix performance, then build lifecycle offers to unlock quick, profitable scale.

When the funding hits the bank, everything changes — your team, your decisions, your sleep. In this raw, curious conversation, Michael Haskell pulls back the curtain on the moment every founder either becomes a leader or gets eaten by growth. He explains how to spend with discipline, hire with rigor, and keep the sense of urgency that made you successful in the first place. In this episode of Hacks and Hobbies, Michael and I dig into the fragile period after fundraising: the temptation to hire fast, the danger of diluted standards, and the single-minded focus that preserves runway and sanity. Michael shares the practical metrics, psychological habits, and leadership plays that let founders scale revenue without burning culture or cash — and why going “deep and narrow” beats globe-trotting growth streaks. Five key takeaways Treat your war chest like a loan to yourself: spend to accelerate proven revenue engines, not to chase shiny new initiatives. Keep the bar high: scaling often erodes conversion and quality — use data-driven metrics to preserve urgency and margins. Hire selectively and surround yourself with experienced shareholders/mentors who’ve been through scale. Leadership sanity = self-care + continuous learning + positive psychology; neglecting any one leads to burnout. Go deep and narrow before you go wide: capture more share locally before burning cash to enter new geographies. Timestamps 0:00 — Episode setup: Why the post-fundraise moment defines companies 1:11 — The most common mistake founders make after funding: hiring and quality slip 4:50 — Metrics that tell you when to hire and when to hold back 8:01 — Keeping urgency alive: why conversion rates fall as lead volume rises 9:09 — Advice for first-time founders managing 50 people overnight 12:11 — Three plays to scale without losing your mind (self-care, learning, mindset) 16:18 — The one lesson to remember after raising capital: don’t chase too many initiatives Guest links Navitas Consulting — (website) - https://navitasgroup.ph/ Michael Haskell — LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/navitasitgroup/

This episode made me rethink everything I believed about fundraising — not as a sprint for cash, but as a discipline of integrity, patience, and business hygiene. Michael Haskell walks us through two decades of building finance teams across New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the US — and the exact playbook he uses to help founders raise capital without selling their soul. From the early bootstrap choices to the 1–5M sweet spot and the scary truth about VC term sheets, Michael strips away the noise and gives a clear, humane path: prepare your books, pick investors who add real value, and learn to walk away. If you’re building a business that needs fuel (but not a takeover), this conversation is a masterclass in raising money with confidence. 5 key takeaways Integrity over glamour: investors back founders who show character, persistence, and a clear plan more than flashy slides. Start small and smart: bootstrap or friends & family at seed, then selectively target HNWIs or VCs as your growth justifies it. Business hygiene is non‑negotiable: keep IFRS-style reporting and annual audits so you can move fast when opportunity comes. Pick investors for skill, not just cash: raise with people who bring legal, accounting or strategic value, not just checks. Patience + resilience = power: be prepared to walk away from favorable-sounding deals with hidden, harmful terms. Timestamps (5–7) 00:00 — Why I stopped treating fundraising as a scoreboard (intro) 02:00 — Leaving the US for APAC: culture, pace and the restaurant metaphor for global talent 05:10 — Seed vs. scale: when to bootstrap, when to phone angels, and when VC makes sense 09:40 — What investors really look for: integrity, track record, and believable growth 15:30 — The 1–5M playbook: how to be selective and why that matters before you go public 17:45 — Audit-ready business hygiene: the single prep that saves you millions and sleepless nights 18:50 — Patience, resilience and negotiating with VCs (walk-away power) Guest links https://navitasgroup.ph/ https://www.facebook.com/navitasgroupph/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/navitasitgroup/