The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan
Hear the stories, learn the proven methods, and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan.
About the show:
For over a decade, The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan has been a leading entrepreneurship podcast for open-book conversations with, by, and for founders. Whether you're starting, building, or dreaming about your business, The Foundr Podcast is where you can access experienced founders who've been in your shoes to learn their proven methods, lessons from failure, and inspirational stories.
Past guests include Emma Grede, Mark Cuban, Neil Patel, Kendra Scott, Alex Hormozi, Trinny Woodall, Tim Ferriss, Sophia Amoruso, Simon Sinek, Tony Robbins, Amy Porterfield, Ed Mylett, Michelle Zatlyn, Reid Hoffman, Scooter Braun, Dany Garcia, Marc Lore, Ariana Huffington, Pat Flynn, Lewis Howes, Jordan Harbinger, and many more.
About the host:
Nathan Chan is the CEO of Foundr and the creator of The Foundr Podcast. Chan literally started from knowing nothing. He was just an average guy working in a 9-5 job he utterly hated. He knew nothing about entrepreneurship, nothing about startups, nothing about marketing, and nothing about online or how to build a business. In the past decade, Chan's built Foundr into a global leader in entrepreneurial education, helping tens of thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs start and scale their businesses.
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1
661: Donna’s Corporate Career Ended Overnight —...
A 20-year career in high-level finance ended in a single day when Donna Gilbertson was made redundant with one day's notice. No plan B, two kids at home, and a household now running on one income — she could have played it safe and taken the next accounting role that came along. She went to the interviews. Every single time, she didn't want to be there. So instead, she pulled $7,000 from her home loan offset account and bet it on a hair towel. Two months after launching Junie, she'd done $51,000 in sales.
47 min
2
660: (Solo) The New Role Defining Which E-Comme...
Most founders think they're ahead of the curve because they're using AI. But if you're only using it for basic ad copy and product descriptions and wondering why it sounds like everything else on the internet — you're not using AI. You're scratching the surface of it.
6 min
3
659: How Molly Sims is Disrupting a $200 Billio...
Molly Sims spent nearly six years modeling in Europe, graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, and starred in Las Vegas and The Carrie Diaries—then quietly spent three years and over $2 million of her own money developing a skincare brand nobody asked for. When she launched YSE Beauty on April 24, 2023, she had no idea if it would work. It did.
51 min
4
658: (Solo) You're Posting Everywhere — But Do ...
Most founders can tell you their follower count, their reach, their impressions. But ask them which channel is actually driving revenue — not likes, not email subscribers, actual revenue — and most of them can't answer that confidently.
6 min
5
657: They Bet Everything on a Sport Nobody Took...
These two brothers sold a profitable airsoft business to bet everything on a sport most people had never heard of. In 2014, Rob and Mike Barnes founded Selkirk Sport in the pickleball space—back when the sport was small, the products were cheap, and the category felt entirely mom and pop. Eleven years later, the company is valued at over $200 million with revenue up 1,900% since 2019, and pickleball is closing in on tennis as America's most-played racket sport.
50 min
6
656: How Chloe Built a $50K/Month Personalised ...
Chloe Widera spent 15 years as a freelance makeup artist, ran a hair and makeup agency, worked inside one of the world’s fastest-growing beauty brands, and still felt like something was missing — until she built a gifting brand from her living room that hit $54,000 USD in a single month.
39 min
7
655: (Solo) The Fuel Crisis Is Already Hitting ...
Most e-commerce founders see the fuel crisis in the news and think it's someone else's problem. But if you're shipping products right now, it's already showing up in your bills — and if you're still running last year's shipping model, you're bleeding margin without realising it.
12 min
8
654: The Hoodie That SAVED Their Business ($5M ...
Tori Robinson and Leah O'Malley launched Boys Lie as a cosmetics brand with 16+ SKUs and generated $250,000 in revenue in year one—against $250,000 in debt. But they discovered customers only wanted the two branded hoodies, not the makeup. Sitting on mountains of unsold inventory and ready to quit, they sent a blind gift to Gigi Hadid. Two months later, Gigi stepped out in their "Boys Lie Goodbye" sweatsuit in a paparazzi moment during her breakup with Tyler Cameron. Demand exploded overnight. They pivoted entirely to apparel and never looked back.
53 min
9
653: (Solo) Why Community Is the Most Undervalu...
Most e-commerce founders treat influencer marketing and community like two separate strategies — two separate budgets, two separate teams. But that split is exactly why so many brands hit a ceiling they can't explain.
7 min
10
652: IM8 Founder: What It REALLY Takes to Build...
Danny Yeung went from selling baseball cards at age 12 to scaling Ubuy-Ibuy to nearly a million a month in revenue in just six months before Groupon acquired it in 2010. Then during Covid, he launched a PCR testing operation that processed 28 million tests and generated over $800 million in revenue across three years. He listed the company on the Nasdaq at a billion-dollar valuation—then watched it crash to $40 million within 18 months. Instead of giving up, he bet the entire company's future on launching IM8, a consumer supplement brand co-founded with David Beckham that scaled from zero to nearly $10 million a month in just over a year.
59 min
11
651: From 7 Years In Recruitment To $60K In 6 M...
Michael Forshaw read a book, taped his mouth shut every night for a year, and then built a business out of it — launching Breath Sleep Tape from idea to live store in just ten weeks.
28 min
12
650: The Lie About Social Media Growth (And Wha...
Most founders are still treating social media as a vanity channel — a place for likes, views, and followers. And here's the tough truth: if your social media isn't converting into customers, subscribers, or owned audience, you're building on rented land. And that's incredibly risky.
9 min
13
649: We Had 3 Weeks Left… This Saved My $35M/Ye...
Christina Stembel built Farmgirl Flowers into a $55 million bootstrapped business by 2021, betting on simplicity, direct-to-consumer, and zero VC money. Then as Covid vaccines became widely available, sales crashed 50% overnight. To save the business, she had just 36 hours to test a radical pivot or go bankrupt in three weeks...
49 min
14
648: (Solo) Why the Best Brands Create Moments,...
The brands that win don't just deliver products. They create moments. And once you see this pattern, you start noticing it everywhere.
6 min
15
647: I Started a Jewelry Brand With $25K and th...
Noura Sakkijha is a third generation jeweler who realized the entire fine jewelry industry was fundamentally broken—built on the outdated idea that men buy diamonds for women, not that women buy the diamonds themselves.
45 min
16
646: How Jesse Built A $450K/Year Brand Whilst ...
Most people with a full-time job, 14-hour shifts, and zero business experience don't start a brand — Jesse did, and he's closing in on half a million dollars a year to prove it.
30 min
17
645: (Solo) Why Your Email List Is Your Most Va...
Email marketing doesn't sound flashy. It's not the newest channel, not the trendiest platform, and it definitely doesn't get the same attention as TikTok, Instagram, or Meta ads. But that's exactly why it's so powerful.
8 min
18
644: This FBI Negotiation Trick Gets People to ...
Chris Voss spent decades as the FBI's lead international kidnapping negotiator, where a single wrong word could cost someone's life. After talking down armed bank robbers and negotiating with terrorists, he discovered something critical: the rational bargaining models taught in business schools don't just fail—they're dangerous.
51 min
19
643: (Solo) Why Profitable Businesses Still Fai...
Most founders think if their company is profitable on paper, they're safe. But here's the truth I learned the hard way: businesses don't fail because they're unprofitable. They fail because they run out of cash.
11 min
20
642: I Quit My 15 Year Career To Build a Jewelr...
58 min
21
641: How Konnie Built A $60K/Month Swimwear Bra...
Most people spot a gap in the market and do nothing — Konnie Tsimiklis spotted one, had zero fashion experience, and built a brand around it anyway.
37 min
22
640: (Solo) Why Community Beats Followers in 2026
Followers are easier to get than ever. But here's what most founders don't realize: genuine community and real relationships are becoming significantly more valuable.
6 min
23
639: From $60K in Debt to ICONIC $100M Fashion ...
Rebecca Minkoff arrived in New York City at 18 with no money, no degree, and a low-paid internship that paid $3 an hour. She lived in a relative's playroom just to make it work. Twenty-one years later, she's built a globally recognized fashion empire and become one of the most influential voices in the fashion and entrepreneurial world.
56 min
24
TRAILER: Little Empires — A Foundr Original Series
Little Empires is a brand new series from the Foundr team, shining a spotlight on the builders inside our own community. These are Foundr students who are in the trenches — taking action, learning the hard lessons, and building their businesses in real time.
2 min
25
638: (Solo) How I'd Launch an Ecom Brand in 202...
In this episode, I break down the exact playbook I'd use if I were starting a brand new e-commerce business tomorrow with no audience and just a $10,000 budget. This is strategic, tactical, and based on what I've done and what I've seen work inside the Foundr ecosystem.
7 min