An energetic conversation with Brennan Pothetes challenged me to gather my thoughts around spectacular failures (and huge successes) of leaders I have worked alongside over the last three decades. Have a listen and please weigh in with your insights on the attitudes and behaviors of successful (and unsuccessful) leaders.

Here are a few of the topics we covered in our conversation….

1. Why many founders fail long before product-market fit, market testing or scale.

2. The mindset difference between “selling ahead” and demonstrating sincere enthusiasm versus actually lying.

3. How to detect when a CEO doesn’t believe their own pitch.

4. Why point-of-view differentiates your company more than platform, process, or portfolio.

5. The biggest tell of an inauthentic culture.

6. How extreme environments (yes, even nuclear subs and working with radical extremists) teach real leadership.

7. Why attention is scarcer than capital… and how to earn it.