Peer Effect

Hosted by James Johnson

Business

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Episodes

219

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Best way to scale? Your peers have the answers. This is the podcast for scaleup founders looking for insightful, actionable wisdom from some of the best operators around. Each week we’ll explore one secret that other founders and experts are using right now and how to implement it. It’s practical wisdom to build the company AND life you want. Hosted by renowned founder coach and advisor James Johnson. You’ve survived to £1m, now let’s scale to £10m+.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 31, 2026Episode 5515 min

How To Actually Build A High Growth Culture

Alex's question this week: "How do I create a high growth culture?" James shares a principle he was taught early on, that growth comes down to two forces working together, and most founders only ever build one. He and Freddie also unpack the hiring trap that quietly undoes high growth cultures, chasing an impressive name on a CV instead of the trait that actually predicts whether someone thrives in ambiguity. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

August 24, 2026Episode 5311 min

How To Restructure Your Team Without Destroying Trust

Frank's question this week: "I need to change course. How quickly can I restructure?" James and Freddie take apart the founder instinct to move fast and get it over with, and why that's usually the most dangerous part of the process. They get into what has to happen before you announce anything, the narrative trap that quietly kills your credibility with the people staying, and the timing mistake that catches almost every founder out afterwards. Listen before you move. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

August 17, 2026Episode 5413 min

How To Actually Take A Holiday As A Scaling Founder

Elena's question this week: "I feel like I can't go on holiday." James and Freddie don't treat it as a work-life balance question. They treat it as a test most founders are avoiding. They get into what a real week away actually reveals about your management team, and why booking it two months out changes whether you'll actually go through with it. Book it before you talk yourself out of it again. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

August 12, 2026Episode 536 min

3 Blind Spots That Quietly Stall Scaling Founders

Three patterns kept showing up across every founder, operator, and investor James spoke to this season. The ones that quietly cost the most, because the person inside them couldn't see them. This episode names all three, with the moment from a guest that proves each one, and ends with exactly what to do about whichever one lands hardest. Pick the one that makes you wince. That's the right place to start. Find out more about working with James More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

August 10, 2026Episode 5212 min

Why Some Underperforming Team Members Can Never Be Fixed

James Johnson and Freddie Birley take on a listener question this week: what to do when you're wasting energy being frustrated with your team. They land on a distinction between two types of underperformer that most founders have never separated out, and why treating them the same is quietly pushing your best people towards the door. Stop guessing which conversation you actually need to have. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

August 5, 2026Episode 5135 min

Why Your Customer Feedback Is Lying To You

Cat Agostinho built Imagen Insights on a bet that most brands get wrong: real, unedited feedback from real people beats any dashboard, survey, or assumption a company makes about its own audience. Tomorrow Group agreed enough to acquire it in March 2026, at six times EBITDA. Cat explains why the feedback most founders trust often tells them nothing, why the loudest agreement in the room can be the least useful signal, and why the businesses getting this right are asking a very different question before they build anything at all. Stop guessing what your customers want, and start finding out what they're actually hiding from you. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

August 3, 2026Episode 5014 min

I Don't Care About My Product Anymore

Every founder hits this point eventually, and almost nobody says it out loud. A listener wrote in with a question a lot of Series A founders are quietly asking themselves: what do you do when you've built something that works and you just stop caring. James Johnson and Freddie Birley get into recommitting versus changing, why the servant-leadership instinct quietly burns founders out, and why the business you're in right now might not be where your success actually lives. This isn't about motivation. It's about figuring out which problem you're actually solving. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

July 29, 2026Episode 4946 min

How to Choose the Right Coach as a Founder

Jeevs Mahil decides which coaches get put in front of Octopus Ventures' portfolio founders, and after years of those introductions she has a clear, slightly uncomfortable view on why so many founders pick the wrong one. James and Jeevs get into why "ex-founder" tells you almost nothing useful about whether someone can actually coach you, the one question to ask before your first session that most founders skip entirely, and the real ROI behind getting this call right versus wrong. Get this one wrong and it costs a lot more than the coaching fee. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

July 27, 2026Episode 4814 min

Is It Your Plan or Your Execution? | Peer Effect Post Bag

A founder writes in feeling off track and wants to know if the problem is his plan or his execution. James Johnson and Freddie Birley don't let him off with "it's both." They walk through how to tell which one is actually broken, why most "plans" fail the moment someone asks how often you're checking against them, and why the instinct that got you through Seed can be the exact thing working against you at Series A. Stick around for the rocks-and-sand analogy, which might explain more about your last quarter than you'd like. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

July 22, 2026Episode 4739 min

Building A Business To Sell With Alex Fenton

Three exits in, Alex Fenton knows exactly what buyers look for, and it's not what most founders think. James and Alex talk through keeping every door open, why a three year plan beats a five year one, and the blunt piece of feedback from a manager that changed how Alex leads. Including the real difference between planting seeds and planting saplings when you're building a team built to last. More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com