What if the thing slowing growth is not your product team, your marketing, or your users... but a founder blind spot?

In this episode of the iwon™ podcast, Michael J Thomas speaks with Scott Byrne-Fraser about the hidden assumptions that cause founders to build the wrong features, chase the wrong outcomes, and lose touch with what customers actually need.

Scott shares lessons from his work across product and UX, including experience with Amazon, BBC and DAZN, and explains why customer lifecycle thinking, retention, and real user behaviour matter far more than most teams think.

• What the founder blind spot is
• Why solving the wrong problem kills growth
• How to think in outcomes, not just features
• Why customer journey mapping matters
• What DAZN’s Japan launch taught Scott about assumptions
• Why retention is one of the most overlooked growth levers in SaaS

• SaaS founders
• Tech founders
• Product leaders
• UX and CX professionals
• Teams trying to improve retention and reduce churn

Watch or listen here 👇

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@realmjt

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/iwon-podcast-with-michael-j-thomas/id1882021798

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/629GCCMNKOJNblEtz99Ybp

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Michael J. Thomas is a marketing strategist and Cambridge-accredited coach. He founded DARWIN™ Works Marketing in 2011, helping SaaS and tech companies overcome growth hurdles and build sustainable momentum.

Learn more about Michael and DARWIN™ here:

https://darwinworks.com

IWON™ (It Wasn’t Over Night) is a long-form podcast exploring what it really takes to build and scale a successful technology company.

• Find out more about the podcast: https://iwonpodcast.com
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Michael J Thomas

Copyright 2026 - iwon and DARWIN are registered trademarks. This podcast and those trademarks are wholly owned by, property of, and produced by - and is a DARWIN Works Production - a trading name of BlueEyed Digital Marketing Ltd.

Takeaways:

• The founders blind spot often leads to entrepreneurs focusing on the wrong problems, which can hinder their product's success.
• It is crucial for founders to understand the specific problems they are solving and for whom, as assumptions can lead to misguided development efforts.
• Recognizing and measuring customer behavior outcomes is essential for driving product improvements and ensuring user satisfaction.
• Founders must prioritize understanding their customer lifecycle and the associated metrics to maintain focus and avoid losing track of important goals.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Amazon
• BBC
• Dazn
• Hundo