Founder Unfiltered - What Founders Think But Never Say

← Founder Unfiltered - What Founders Think But Never Say13. Aug. · 36 Min.

The Hard Lessons Nobody Tells You When You Leave Corporate

The Hard Lessons Nobody Tells You When You Leave Corporate13. Aug.36 Min.

<p>Leaving Uber was one of the strangest experiences of my life. One day I&#39;m running a business line worth billions of dollars, the next I have no manager, no structure, no salary, and no idea whether I&#39;m doing a good job. In this episode, part three of my conversation with Kassidy Warren, I get into everything that happened after I left: pitching my first consulting client on a $25k proposal I basically made up on the spot, learning to ask for what I actually want (something corporate culture trains out of you), and the existential wobble of defining success for myself for the first time.</p><p>We talk about why so many founders confuse their identity with their business, and why separating &quot;I am Bradley&quot; from &quot;I am the business&quot; was the single biggest unlock in my entrepreneurial journey. I share how a mastermind group, a few minutes of intentionally feeling hard emotions, and a shift from chasing metrics to falling in love with process changed how I run Mylance day to day. We also get into how Mylance came to be, why posting daily on LinkedIn became my entire marketing engine, and why keeping your hard-won expertise to yourself is, in my view, the most selfish thing you can do.</p><p>If you&#39;re building something on your own and wondering whether the chaos is normal, this one&#39;s for you.</p><p>Build your founder brand with Mylance: https://mylance.co<br>Connect with Bradley Jacobs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-r-jacobs/</p><p></p><p>00:00 Intro to part three<br>00:16 Everything after Uber<br>01:18 Making up a $25K proposal<br>02:08 First entrepreneurial leap<br>02:52 Learning to ask for what you want<br>03:29 Why corporate discourages asking<br>04:14 Knowing your market value<br>04:42 Never Split the Difference tactic<br>05:24 Falling into consulting<br>06:06 Existential first months solo<br>07:18 Building an informal advisor board<br>08:06 Corporate structure vs going solo<br>09:10 Starting a mastermind for support<br>09:51 Facing the fear of shutting down<br>10:13 Separating self from the business<br>11:29 Letting yourself feel emotions<br>12:26 Trauma responses and burnout<br>13:21 Ditching fancy business models<br>14:19 Falling in love with process<br>15:07 Systems as 98% of the game<br>15:30 Planning nights for needle movers<br>17:14 Purpose over hitting numbers<br>18:09 Why Mylance was founded<br>19:06 The first client conversation<br>20:12 Researching the market<br>21:32 Sales and marketing struggles<br>21