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Founders Matter

Founders Matter

By: Mind Your Business
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About this listen

Founders Matter is a podcast about what it really means to build a business on your own terms.

Hosted by Jase Smith, Pablo Munoz and Kat Sykes, the podcast draws on award-winning academic research into founder self-worth and wellbeing to examine the realities of entrepreneurship that are often overlooked.

Founders are more likely to experience mental ill-being than people in traditional employment, yet much of the advice, policy and support available continues to focus on growth, performance and heroic startup narratives.

Each episode explores the human, emotional and psychological dimensions of business ownership, questioning dominant myths about entrepreneurship and examining how founders and their businesses coexist over time. Through research led discussion and real world insight, Founders Matter aims to make evidence-based knowledge about founder wellbeing accessible, relevant and practical.

This podcast is for founders who want to build sustainable businesses without sacrificing their sense of self.

Mind Your Business
Economics
Episodes
  • The freedom and curse of self-management
    Mar 19 2026

    Welcome to the Founders Matter Podcast.

    The podcast where we talk openly about what it really means to build a business on your own terms.

    In this episode, Jase Smith speaks with Kat Sykes about KPIs, targets and goals, and why so many founders end up measuring their businesses in ways that do not reflect what really matters to them.

    Drawing on her experience in the corporate world, including project work in the NHS, Kat explains how traditional KPIs often measure the wrong things. In many organisations, there is a disconnect between the targets handed down from above and the actions that actually create meaningful change. When founders leave employment and start their own businesses, they often carry those same inherited ideas about performance with them, even though they now have the freedom to define success differently.

    The conversation explores what happens when founders rely on goals that are shaped by investor expectations, external advice or societal conditioning rather than their own values. When business owners try to make themselves or their businesses fit someone else’s model of success, it can create frustration, misalignment and a loss of purpose.

    Instead, Jase and Kat discuss how founders can start with their values and their “why”, then work outward to create goals and KPIs that genuinely support the business and life they want to build. By focusing on the parts of the process they can actually influence, rather than outcomes that sit outside their control, founders can create measures of success that feel more meaningful, motivating and sustainable.

    Access the episode resources here:

    https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:eu:7dd6294f-c6a1-4b7b-8889-db6c7f7ac45c

    Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn:

    Jase Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jase-smith-zero78training/

    Pablo Munez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablomunozroman/

    Kat Sykes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-sykes-business-not-as-usual/

    Show More Show Less
    21 mins
  • Modelling your business for you, not others
    Mar 5 2026

    Welcome to the Founders Matter Podcast.

    The podcast where we talk openly about what it really means to build a business on your own terms.

    In this episode, Jase Smith speaks with Kat Sykes about how founders measure success and why many end up using KPIs that reflect external expectations rather than what actually matters to them.

    Drawing on her experience working across education, construction, the NHS and digital transformation, Kat explores how systems such as schools and traditional workplaces condition people to work within predefined metrics and performance measures. When founders start their own businesses, they often carry these inherited ideas of success with them, even though entrepreneurship offers the freedom to define success differently.

    The conversation examines the consequences of relying on indicators designed for investors, institutions or external validation. When founders measure their performance against metrics that do not align with their own values, it can create a disconnect between the business they are building and the life they hoped it would support.

    Instead, Jase and Kat explore how founders can begin by identifying what truly matters to them such as freedom, variety, impact or personal growth and then work outward to design businesses and KPIs that support those goals. By focusing on behaviours, actions and outcomes within their control, founders can create measures of success that reflect both the business they want to build and the life they want to lead.

    Access the episode resources here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:7383a4e1-af82-472a-8489-0918c88e99dd

    Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn:

    Jase Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jase-smith-zero78training/

    Pablo Munez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablomunozroman/

    Kat Sykes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-sykes-business-not-as-usual/

    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
  • Making the most of the resources available to you
    Feb 19 2026

    Welcome to the Founders Matter Podcast.

    The podcast where we talk openly about what it really means to build a business on your own terms.

    In this third episode, Pablo Munoz is joined by Jase Smith to explore how founders can create more value by using the resources they already have.

    Drawing on the research behind the Mind Your Business programme, the conversation takes a holistic view of entrepreneurship. The founder and the business are deeply connected. When one is under pressure, the other feels it. Pablo and Jase discuss how many founders focus on financial capital while overlooking internal and relational resources such as values, strengths, networks, discipline, and emotional support.

    The episode looks at why overwhelm often comes from trying to add more. More courses, more tools, more expectations. Instead, founders are encouraged to pause and take stock of what is already in their toolkit. What are you naturally good at? Where are the gaps? Should you build the skill or bring someone else in?

    Jase reflects on his transition from a 35 year military career into business ownership, including the emotional highs and lows and the loneliness that can come with autonomy. The conversation also explores how personal values translate into business value, why constraints can become creative turning points, and how to recognise the early signs that it is time to delegate or seek support.

    Rather than chasing constant growth, this episode invites founders to build sustainably by protecting their own wellbeing and leveraging the networks and strengths already around them.

    Access Episode Three resources: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:b1f2e2f2-0a7d-4b50-a1a8-4e767cf6f299

    Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn:

    Jase Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jase-smith-zero78training/

    Pablo Munoz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablomunozroman/

    Kat Sykes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-sykes-business-not-as-usual/

    Show More Show Less
    29 mins
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