Peer Effect

Hosted by James Johnson

Business

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Episodes

200

Latest episode

Jun 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+.

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60 recent

June 15, 2026Episode 3616 min

Overwhelmed by AI? Here's How Founders Are Actually Dealing With It

Beth asked what most founders are thinking but haven't said aloud: how do you make decisions about the future of your company when AI is making everything feel uncertain?James and Freddie get into what's really sitting underneath that question — and what the founders who are handling this well are actually doing differently. Not theoretical. Not a toolkit. The practical reality of leading a business through the biggest technological shift most of us will ever see.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

June 10, 2026Episode 3615 min

What 19 Founders and CEOs Taught Me About Scaling | Season 6 Mid-Season Breakdown

19 founders. Rockets, guinea pigs, co-CEO structures, a community of 200,000 built in two years. Every conversation different. Three patterns kept coming back.James breaks down what's actually moving across Season 6 — why the founders gaining ground are stripping back rather than adding, why your performance metrics might be hiding your biggest team problem, and why the most useful thing a vision can do has nothing to do with investor decks. If you've found product-market fit and things still feel harder than they should, this one is worth 16 minutes of your time.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

June 8, 2026Episode 3513 min

How Do You Hold Your Co-Founder Accountable? | Peer Effect Post Bag

Anna's question sounds straightforward. It isn't. James and Freddie break down why founders only start asking this question when they already know something is off - and what to actually do about it.One question. Three conversations hiding inside it. If you're in a co-founder relationship that's starting to creak under the weight of scale, this is the episode to listen to before the conversation you've been avoiding.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

June 3, 2026Episode 3235 min

From VC to Founder: Building RedpineAI and Thinking 100x Bigger | Anders Hammerbäck

What changes when you stop investing in startups and start building one yourself?James Johnson is joined by Anders Hammerbäck, Co-Founder and CEO of RedpineAI, to discuss his journey from venture capitalist to founder.After spending six years backing early-stage startups at Antler, Anders left the world of investing to tackle one of AI's biggest challenges: unlocking access to high-quality data outside the public internet.Together they explore:• Why Anders left venture capital• The realities of founder resilience• What investors often misunderstand about entrepreneurship• Building AI companies in a rapidly changing landscape• How founders can stay ahead of technological change• Why thinking 100x bigger creates different decisions• The role of people, teams and AI agents in future businessesThis is a conversation about ambition, resilience, technology and what it really takes to build at the frontier of AI.New episodes every week.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

June 1, 2026Episode 3114 min

The Founder Bottleneck: Scaling Without Losing Control

A founder asks:"I want to focus on the future, but I don't trust the present to happen."It's a question that sits at the heart of scaling.As companies grow, founders are asked to spend less time executing and more time leading. But letting go isn't simply a mindset challenge—it often exposes deeper questions about trust, team capability, clarity, and leadership evolution.James Johnson and Freddie Birley unpack why founders become bottlenecks, how leadership must change between startup and scale-up, and why the answer is rarely "it's me" or "it's the team."More often, it's both.A conversation about vision, delegation, trust, and building a company that can grow beyond the founder.Send your questions to: hello@peer-effect.comMore from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

May 27, 2026Episode 2836 min

How Mariane Bekker Built a Global Founder Network of 200K Using Community

Founder community building, startup networking, and viral growth systems are changing how companies are built.Mariane Bekker, founder of Founders Bay, built a 200,000+ founder, investor, and operator network in under two years by rethinking how tech communities actually grow.In this episode of Peer Effect, she breaks down the exact “community flywheel” behind that growth - combining in-person events, social media distribution, and high-trust networks to create exponential momentum.We also explore why traditional tech events feel exclusive, how founders can build stronger networks earlier, and why real-world community is becoming a critical advantage in the age of AI, remote work, and digital saturation.This is a deep dive into:startup growth, founder ecosystems, network effects, community-led growth, and modern distribution strategies.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

May 25, 2026Episode 3012 min

Founder Fear: “What If My Company Fails and I’m Unemployable?”

In this episode of The Peer Effect Post Bag, James Johnson and Freddie Birley answer a question many founders quietly carry:“What if my company fails… and I’m unemployable afterwards?”They unpack the emotional reality of entrepreneurship, including identity, pressure, financial responsibility, fear of losing freedom, and the dangerous ways fear can shape decision-making.The conversation explores:Why startup failure feels so personalThe hidden psychology behind founder anxietyHow fear can both fuel and limit growthWhy many entrepreneurs struggle to return to employmentThe mindset shifts that help founders navigate uncertaintyWhy your first company doesn’t define your futureA thoughtful conversation for founders, creators, leaders, and ambitious people navigating uncertainty while building something meaningful.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

May 20, 2026Episode 2642 min

NASA Tried This in the 70s. Jasper Deprez's Startup Is Doing It Now.

Jasper Deprez is building TerraSpark, a company focused on space-based solar power - with the goal of delivering commercial energy from space to Earth by 2030.Before this, he spent a decade bootstrapping a startup in employee engagement.In this conversation, we explore:- The future of space-based solar power- Building deep tech startups with startup speed- How to break impossible visions into executable steps- The role of communication and trust inside founder teams- Why most startups accidentally become “science projects”- The framework TerraSpark uses to operateA fascinating conversation about ambition, execution, and building things that sound impossible.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

May 18, 2026Episode 2915 min

Will Letting Go of a Senior Hire Destroy Your Team?

Rebecca asks: "If I make a senior change, will it destabilise my team?" James and Freddie break down why this fear keeps founders stuck - and why inaction is almost always the bigger risk. They cover: how to read the real signal from your team, what actually happens after a senior exit, the one case where it did go wrong, and how to use the moment to reset standards and re-energise the people who matter. If you're avoiding a decision you already know is right, this is worth a listen.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

May 13, 2026Episode 2443 min

Why Co-CEOs Can Be a Superpower

What actually makes a co-founder relationship work?In this episode of Peer Effect, James Johnson sits down with Verna co-founders and co-CEOs Rafi Cohen and Dr. Matthew Brown.They unpack why they chose a co-CEO structure, how they built deep trust before scaling, and the systems they use to maintain radical honesty while leading a fast-growing climate tech company.The conversation covers productive tension, founder communication, remote-first leadership, handling disagreements, and why most co-founder relationships fail long before the business does.A masterclass in building companies and relationships that last.More from James:Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com