Season 5

Why Frazier & Deeter Walked Away From Lucrative Deals
LeaderbookAIMay 05, 2026x
106
00:30:04

Why Frazier & Deeter Walked Away From Lucrative Deals

Private equity CEO Jeremy Jones uses cultural alignment — not financials — as the first filter in every acquisition. The result: Frazier & Deeter has grown from 530 to 850 people in seven months through three deals, with a fourth closing next week. Jones walks through the three-year decision process...

The Decision Every CEO Is Ducking | Tina Murphy, CEO of GHX
LeaderbookAIApril 28, 2026x
105
00:32:00

The Decision Every CEO Is Ducking | Tina Murphy, CEO of GHX

Tina Murphy, CEO at GHX, breaks down why talent is her top three priorities — not strategy, not capital — how GHX restructured its entire organization to get closer to customers and move faster, what she's looking for in leaders today that she wasn't three years ago, and why the companies that fail ...

Private Equity's Easy Era Is Over | Lee McCabe
LeaderbookAIApril 21, 2026x
104
00:38:36

Private Equity's Easy Era Is Over | Lee McCabe

Private equity has had it easy for forty years. Cheap money, expanding multiples, and a rising S&P produced returns almost regardless of what firms did with the assets they bought. That era just ended — and Lee McCabe, Partner at Claymore Partners, argues most firms haven't adjusted to what replaces...

Why Are Most Leaders Still Getting AI Wrong?
LeaderbookAIApril 14, 2026x
103
00:38:21

Why Are Most Leaders Still Getting AI Wrong?

Robin Goad, AWS executive, has been in the AI space since 2014—long before it was a boardroom priority. As Global Public Sector Industry Solutions GM at AWS, she's watched the hype cycles repeat, the barriers shift, and the use cases mature. Her read on where AI actually creates value for leaders is...

This CEO is Winning the AI Race I Georg Ell
LeaderbookAIApril 07, 2026x
102
00:35:40

This CEO is Winning the AI Race I Georg Ell

What do you mean, "I'm a CEO... and now I'm coding?" Georg Ell, CEO of Phrase, hadn't written code since he was 15. Then his CFO demoed a custom-built app — and Georg felt "utterly inadequate." That evening he downloaded Claude. Six weeks later: 200,000 lines committed, 8 apps built, and a radically...

Trust, Crisis & Why Elon Left Money on the Table
LeaderbookAIMarch 31, 2026x
101
00:47:28

Trust, Crisis & Why Elon Left Money on the Table

Spencer Penn evacuated his engineer from Ukraine the day before Russia invaded. What he did next — and why it worked — reveals more about leadership trust than most books on the subject. Penn is CEO and co-founder of LightSource, a procurement AI company that grew from two people in a garage to 64 e...

How to Find AI Unicorns Before Everyone Else
LeaderbookAIMarch 24, 2026x
100
00:57:42

How to Find AI Unicorns Before Everyone Else

How do top venture capitalists find AI unicorns early? In our 100th episode 1-hour special, Marina Davidova, Managing Partner at Silicon Valley's DVC, shares how her team uses AI agents, community-driven diligence, and sharp founder pattern recognition to identify breakout startups before the market...

The AI Transformation Most Leaders Get Wrong
LeaderbookAIMarch 17, 2026x
99
00:31:04

The AI Transformation Most Leaders Get Wrong

What does it really take to lead a successful AI transformation inside an organization? Many companies focus on implementing AI tools. But according to Glenn Mathis, Former CEO of Integris, the real challenge isn’t technology — it’s trust, clarity, and culture.

The Biggest Mistake Revenue Leaders Make With AI
LeaderbookAIMarch 10, 2026x
98
00:34:54

The Biggest Mistake Revenue Leaders Make With AI

What’s the biggest mistake revenue leaders make with AI? Companies everywhere are racing to automate sales—research, outreach, forecasting, and pipeline management. But according to JD Miller, many organizations are about to make a critical mistake: automating processes that were already broken. JD ...

AI Trained on Love
LeaderbookAIMarch 03, 2026x
97
00:34:35

AI Trained on Love

Can AI learn love—or at least empathy? Cory Lopes-Warfield, CEO of Lovings, shares his unconventional founder journey from homelessness and hospitality to building Lovings AI. We discuss Nova, an AI agent trained to respond from a “love” framework, and what empathetic AI really means in practice. Co...