Finding Peak w/ Ryan Hanley

I founded, sold, and exited an 8-figure business. Now I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe
Listen to the audio version of the podcast: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanley
The "Golden Goose" Trap: Why Investors Destroy Your Business (And How to Stop Them) | Eric Ries
You build a business. It works. It makes money. Then, you bring in investors or sell to Private Equity.
And they immediately start tearing out the exact things that made you successful in the first place.
They call it "professionalizing." You call it watching your baby die a death by a thousand cuts.
Eric Ries, the legendary founder of the Lean Startup movement, calls it corruption. And in this episode, he explains exactly why it happens—and how to build an "incorruptible" company that they can't steal from you.
We cover:
Why standard Silicon Valley "best practices" are actively destroying value.
The "Golden Goose" trap that catches 99% of successful founders.
Why keeping your options open is the worst thing you can do for your company's future.
How to spot the "Torchbearers" in your organization (and why you need them in a crisis).
The truth about AI, Claude Code, and why this is the greatest time in history to start a business.
If you've ever worried about losing control of the thing you built, you cannot afford to miss this.
Links:
• Get Eric's new book, Incorruptible: https://incorruptible.co
• Follow Eric on X: https://x.com/ericries
This is the way.
Hanley

This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators.
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I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe
Listen to the audio version of the podcast: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanley
Most people think the only way to start a new chapter is to quit, leap, and hope.
That is stupid.
In this episode, Mitch Matthews explains how smart leaders build an authority bridge from the life they have now to the life they actually want next. We talk about monetizing your expertise, why you should teach from the journey instead of the destination, how AI can help without replacing human energy, and why some of the best speakers in the world are actually introverts.
If you know you are capable of more, but do not want to torch what is already working, this conversation will help.
In this episode:
👉 How to find the brilliance you cannot see in yourself
👉 Why your next chapter should be a both/and, not an either/or
👉 How AI helps great communicators get better instead of making them obsolete
👉 Why live speaking, coaching, and real human energy still matter
👉 How to build something meaningful without sacrificing your life to get it

Guest: Mitch Matthews
Site: https://MitchMatthews.com
Free training mentioned in the episode: https://MitchMatthews.com/time and use the code "peak"

This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators.
👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I help founders & executives generating more than $1M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lKaYO5Hy5LI
If you are using AI to optimize for conversion rate, return on ad spend, or time-to-hire, you are pointing a self-driving car at the wrong address. And it’s going to take you there really, really fast.
In this episode of Finding Peak, I sit down with Nicolas Darveau-Garneau, former Chief Evangelist at Google and author of "Be a Sequoia, Not a Bonsai." Nicolas has advised over 1,000 CEOs on digital transformation, and his conclusion is staggering: 90% of companies are optimizing the wrong KPIs.
We break down the $15 Billion mistake companies make with AI, why Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is the only metric that actually matters, and how a simple mindset shift helped a local gym owner turn a $200K business into a $1.2M powerhouse without adding more members.
Whether you run a Fortune 500 company or a Main Street bakery, this conversation will completely change how you deploy AI in your business.
In this episode, we cover:
👉 The $15 Billion AI mistake most companies are making right now
👉 Why optimizing for conversion rate is killing your long-term profit
👉 How to use AI to predict the future (and why you must get comfortable with forecasts)
👉 The exact strategy a gym owner used to 6x his business by targeting 55-year-olds
👉 How to build a limitless testing organization that your competitors can't catch
👉 Why brand building is no longer just for massive corporations

** Connect with Nicolas Darveau-Garneau **
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickdg/
Book: Be a Sequoia, Not a Bonsai: https://amzn.to/4tdw84D

This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators.
👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

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I help founders & executives generating more than $1M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanley
Paul Hutchinson led 70+ undercover child rescue missions in 15 countries and was the primary investor and executive producer of the Sound of Freedom movie. His most dangerous weapon wasn't combat training — it was learning to listen with his heart.
Connect with Paul Hutchinson
✅ Liberating Humanity: https://liberatinghumanity.com
✅ Child Liberation Foundation: https://childliberation.org
✅ Sound of Freedom Book: https://amzn.to/4cgMIKI
✅ Paul on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/paulhutchinson
More about this episode
This one hits different. Paul Hutchinson has lived a life most people can't imagine — building a billion-dollar investment fund, producing the most talked-about movie of 2023, and leading black-ops rescue missions that saved more than 7,000 children from trafficking networks across the globe.
But the conversation that unfolded wasn't what I expected. We got into the real stuff — the cell phone debate every parent is having right now, what sextortion actually looks like (and why 12-year-old boys are the primary target), and why over-sheltering your kids might be making them a softer target. Paul lays out exactly what parents can do today to protect their children without becoming helicopter parents.
Then the episode takes a turn. Paul shares how meditation and divine intuition became his primary operating tool in the field — from taking down the largest child trafficking ring in the Caribbean to a cold-read operation in Ecuador that shouldn't have worked but did. We go deep on the pineal gland, the science of awareness, and why learning to listen with your heart might be the most important skill you never develop. Whether you're a parent, a leader, or someone who feels like their awareness has been shrinking — this episode is the unlock.
Powerful Quotes
"95% of the situations where somebody has to use hard skills to fight their way out could have been avoided if they were just paying attention."
"We're not going to fix trafficking by pulling children out of hell forever. We fix it by pulling the hell out of the adults."
"Faith isn't going to church and asking God to fix things you don't believe will be fixed. Faith is the unwavering conviction that what you want to have happen will happen."
I help founders & executives generating more than $1M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanley

This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators.
👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

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Join 15,000+ leaders and become undeniable: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nMAx8-9DswY
Alberto Crane was the first American to earn a BJJ black belt from Gracie Barra. He fought in the UFC. Won world championships. Built Legacy Jiu-Jitsu into a 25-year institution.
Then came the MS diagnosis.
Most people would have stopped. Alberto went on a world tour.
In this episode, we talk about what getting punched in the face teaches you about leadership, why 3 years of losing made Alberto unstoppable, the power of the mantra "I believe in my technique," and why your rough edges are features, not bugs.
His new book "All In: Lessons On and Off the Mat" is out now.
📖 Get the book: https://amzn.to/3PBPMID
🥋 Legacy BJJ: https://legacybjj.com
🏋️ TACFIT: https://tacfit.com
📸 Alberto's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/albertocrane/
🌐 Alberto's website: https://www.albertocrane.com/

✅ Subscribe to Finding Peak: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe
🎙️ More episodes: https://ryanhanley.com/podcast

This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators.
👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

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