Show Your Value with Lee Benson

Hosted by Lee Benson

Business Entrepreneurship

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Episodes

135

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Each week, we will explore the Art of Value Creation in three macro buckets. Material value creation, emotional energy value creation, and spiritual value creation. Lee Benson is a value creation expert with over 30 years of experience in the business world. He is the CEO of Execute to Win, a firm that helps organizations of all sizes to accelerate the value they create. Lee began his value creation journey early, pulling weeds for 25 cents an hour. Since then, he has founded and led seven companies, including Able Aerospace, which he grew from two to 500 employees and 2,000 customers in 60 countries culminating in a 9-figure exit in 2016. Learn more about Execute to Win - https://etw.com/

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60 recent

July 1, 20261 hr 4 min

Alex Osterwalder: Make Your Company Worth 20x More Without Growing Revenue

What if you could multiply the value of your business without adding a single dollar of new revenue?In this episode of Show Your Value, Lee Benson sits down with Alex Osterwalder, the mind behind the Business Model Canvas and one of the most influential business thinkers alive, to unpack the part of business most leaders quietly ignore: the business model itself.Alex explains why the best companies reinvent their business model constantly instead of treating it as a one-time startup decision, and why the kind of revenue you earn matters far more than the amount. Variable revenue tends to be worth two to three times EBITDA. Fixed, locked-in revenue can be worth around twenty times. Lee brings the lived proof, sharing how predictable long-term contracts helped his aerospace business exit at a 21.6x multiple when seven or eight would've been a strong result in that space.Along the way, they get into:How to spot a business model that's quietly dying before it's too lateThe "better revenues" framework, and how to shift income from variable to predictable to fixedWhy most sophisticated leadership teams can't answer three simple questions about their own businessThe difference between managerial and entrepreneurial CEOs, and why it decides who actually innovatesThe three-part health check that reveals whether a company can innovate at allWhy "condemning your teams to succeed" kills the bold bets that matter mostHow emotional maturity across a team turns into real business velocityThis is a conversation about the fundamentals that create enterprise value, and the discipline it takes to keep them alive as a company grows.Learn more about Alex's work at strategyzer.com.For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

June 24, 20261 hr 1 min

The One Decision That Decides Whether AI Replaces You, with Bryan Clayton

Bryan Clayton scaled a landscaping company to eight figures, sold it into a private-equity rollup, then built GreenPal into an app used by roughly 300,000 people a week, all without a coding background. He sits down with Lee Benson to argue that AI isn't going to erase jobs, it's going to erase the meaningless busywork inside them, and that the people who refuse to retool are the ones who'll get left behind.This is a grounded, contrarian conversation about where AI actually creates value, why the blue-collar trades may be the safest work left, and what it takes to lead a team well whether you're in the trenches or running everything off a dashboard.In this episode:Why someone using AI, not AI itself, is the real threat to your jobThe case for plumbers out-earning lawyersAI as a backhoe that'll dig the wrong ditch faster if you let itThe marketplace mechanics that keep GreenPal honest on both sidesWhy a founder gets exactly the culture they deserveThe one-hour-a-day, 90-day challenge for getting fluent in AIFind Bryan at greenpal.com and on LinkedIn. Subscribe to Show Your Value for more conversations with operators who've built real things.For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

June 17, 20261 hr 4 min

Losing 98% of His Wealth and Rebuilding a Billion-Dollar Tech Empire with Colin C. Campbell

Today, we explore the art of value creation across material, emotional, and spiritual buckets with our special guest, Colin C. Campbell. Colin is a serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience building and scaling internet companies that have collectively reached a valuation of nearly a billion dollars. He is also the Amazon number one best-selling author of Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat.: Serial Entrepreneurs' Secrets Revealed!In this episode, Colin opens up about the massive wins and devastating losses that shaped his career, including how he lost 98% of his wealth in the dot com crash and exactly what he did to rebuild his portfolio. We discuss the realities of scaling, how to fund your own growth, and why 90% of successful companies on the Inc. 5000 never touch venture capital.Colin also shares his tactical blueprint for leveraging AI to streamline business operations. He explains how he deployed 19 AI agents to run an e-commerce brand and even used AI to write a highly technical Private Placement Memorandum.Whether you are launching your first idea or preparing for a major exit, this conversation is packed with practical wisdom to help you navigate the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship.Key Takeaways:The "Time to Sell" Index: Why tracking market liquidity and timing your exit is often more important than trying to build a recession-proof business.Customer-Funded Growth: How to avoid the venture capital trap by getting your customers to pay for your startup's expansion.Delegating Companies, Not Tasks: The required mindset shift for founders who want to move past the startup phase and truly scale.The AI Advantage: How Colin uses AI to automate lead generation, bookkeeping, and legal paperwork to save millions.The Founder's Identity: The reality of neurodiversity among entrepreneurs and why your identity should never be tied strictly to your company's success.Resources Mentioned:Read Colin's Book: Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat.: Serial Entrepreneurs' Secrets Revealed!Join Colin's Community: https://startup.club/Connect with Colin C. Campbell on LinkedInRead Lee's Book: Value Creation FamilyJoin Lee's Community: https://www.dinnertable.com/About the Guest: Colin C. Campbell is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded and built several internet companies with a combined valuation of over $1 billion. He has successfully navigated major exits with companies like Tucows Interactive, Internet Direct Canada, Hostopia, and .Club Domains. Colin is dedicated to cracking the code on what successful founders do to build lasting wealth.Follow Show Your Value: If you found value in today's episode, please like, subscribe, and leave a review. Until next time, show your value to the world!For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

June 10, 202659 min

Why Success Stops Feeling Good | Whitney Johnson

What if the success you worked so hard to build is the very thing making you feel stuck?In this episode of Show Your Value, Lee Benson sits down with Whitney Johnson, bestselling author of Smart Growth and one of the leading voices on personal disruption, growth, and leadership.Whitney explains why high achievers often become restless after reaching mastery, why starting something new feels so uncomfortable, and why comfort can quietly turn into stagnation. She breaks down the S-curve of growth, how to know when it is time to jump to a new curve, and why people, teams, and companies stop growing when they stop being challenged.Lee and Whitney also discuss why employees do not always want promotions as much as they want growth, how leaders can create environments where people run toward challenge, and why the strongest organizations are built by developing people before they plateau.This conversation is for founders, executives, parents, and high performers who look successful from the outside but know they are ready for another level of growth.In this episode, you’ll learn: Why successful people can quietly become miserable How the S-curve explains growth, boredom, and reinvention Why mastery can become a trap The real reason starting over feels so uncomfortable How leaders can keep their best people growing Why comfort is not the same as fulfillmentFor more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

June 3, 20261 hr 2 min

The Lone Wolf Trap: Why Winging It Is Ruining Your Family Culture

Did you know that 70% of men report feeling deeply lonely, and over 85% say they don’t have a single "3 a.m. friend" they could call in a true emergency?In this episode of Show Your Value, Lee Benson sits down with Larry Hagner, founder of The Dad Edge, author, and host of a 1,500+ episode podcast movement. Larry shares his powerful journey from a chaotic, broken childhood to breaking generational cycles and mastering what it actually means to show up as a husband, father, and leader.If you feel like you are "winging it" in your marriage or parenting, or if you've felt the slow, silent pull of "the drift" taking over your life, this conversation is your blueprint to get back on track.What You’ll Learn in This Episode:The 3 Components of the Marriage Drift: Why only 12% of couples stay happily fulfilled while the other 88% slip into "roommate syndrome" or complete disconnection.The Lone Wolf Fallacy: Why going at it alone is a death sentence for a man's growth and how to build a true pack.The Power of Generative Questions: How changing your internal and external vocabulary from "Why can't I?" to "How might I?" completely rewires your brain for solutions.The Psychological Safety Framework: The exact 3 questions Larry asks his kids every single day to build unbreakable trust (and how to handle their failures without blame, shame, or pain).Filtering Fear: How Team Hagner turned the chaos of 2020 into a 100-photo mural of family adventures by choosing a lens of opportunity over a lens of fear.Connect with Larry Hagner & Get His Free Resources:Podcast: The Dad Edge Podcast (Available on all major platforms)For Your Marriage: Get the 25 Intimate Conversation Starters PDF at thedadedge.com/25questionsFor Your Kids: Crack the code with teenagers and young kids using the Questions for the Car PDF at thedadedge.com/kidquestsConnect with Show Your Value:Subscribe to the channel for more interviews on optimizing your emotional energy, health, and value-creation strategy.Leave a comment: What is your biggest takeaway from Larry's story today?For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

May 27, 202655 min

20 Unfiltered Secrets to Scaling Your Business

Businesses do not die. Founders quit.In this masterclass, we pulled twenty of the most impactful moments from seven incredible guests and packed them into one honest episode. This is the unvarnished truth on what it actually takes to scale a company, lead through deliberate discomfort, and avoid the traps that destroy CEOs.You will learn why high-performing teams actually report more mistakes. You will find out why bad news is acceptable while surprises are fatal. Featuring insights from:* Noel Massie * Adam Callinan * Mark Crowley * David Burkus * Kass and Mike Lazerow * Luke Peters * Neri Karra Sillaman If you are serious about building a business that lasts, this episode is your blueprint. Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode of Show Your Value.🚨 Want To Create Value Faster? - https://etw.com/For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

May 20, 20261 hr 2 min

Mauro Porcini: The AI Identity Crisis, Designing Happiness, and Samsung's Innovation Playbook

If AI eventually performs our jobs, how will we define who we are?Today on Show Your Value, Lee Benson is joined by Mauro Porcini, President and Chief Design Officer at Samsung. Mauro argues that as technology accelerates, the ultimate competitive advantage isn't scale or patents. It is human-centricity.In this conversation, Mauro explains his philosophy that design is an act of love and generosity. He takes us inside Samsung's framework for translating human psychology into consumer technology and outlines exactly what it takes to thrive in an unpredictable future.In this episode, we cover:The Identity Challenge: How to find meaning and purpose beyond your job title.The Act of Love: Why the best creators treat their customers like family.Samsung's Blueprint: The four categories driving tech innovation (Live Longer, Live Better, Live Loud, Live On).The Innovator's Mindset: Why optimism and kindness are just as important as the ability to execute.Designing Happiness: The three non-negotiable steps to building a fulfilling life.If you want to understand where technology is heading and how to stay relevant, this episode is a masterclass in modern leadership and design.Subscribe to Show Your Value with Lee Benson and leave a 5-star review if you enjoyed this episode!For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

May 13, 202659 min

The Art of the Peer Network: How the World’s Wealthiest Entrepreneurs Scale Their Impact

What happens after you achieve the "big exit"? For many high-performing entrepreneurs, the transition from running a massive operation to managing a massive portfolio is surprisingly isolating.In this episode, Lee Benson sits down with Tim Daniels, CEO of TIGER 21, the world’s premier peer membership network for high-net-worth entrepreneurs, investors, and executives. Tim shares his journey from leveraged buyouts to global education, and eventually to leading a community that manages over a quarter of a trillion dollars in assets.Lee and Tim dive deep into the "whole person" approach to wealth, exploring why financial success is only one bucket of a truly valuable life. They discuss the power of collective intelligence, the "Portfolio Defense," and why the best leaders are those who balance high achievement with deep humility.Key Takeaways:Beyond the Balance Sheet: Why TIGER 21 focuses on the "whole person," including legacy, philanthropy, and family dynamics, rather than just asset allocation.The Five Dimensions of Wealth: A breakdown of Bloom’s Five Types of Wealth (Mental, Physical, Social, Financial, and Time) and how they align with Lee’s three buckets of holistic value creation.The "No Jerks" Policy: How TIGER 21 filters for members who are both teachers and students, ensuring a community built on trust and radical vulnerability.The 100-Year Plan: Strategies for first-generation wealth creators to ensure their success remains a benefit, not a burden, for future generations.The Future of Education: A candid discussion on why the current education system is failing to teach essential life skills and how to foster resilience in the next generation.For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

May 6, 20261 hr 0 min

The 3 Things Every High-Performing Team Has (And Yours Is Probably Missing One)

"A bad team culture will destroy a high performer every single time."In this episode of Show Your Value, Lee Benson talks with David Burkus, one of the world’s leading business thinkers and author of Best Team Ever. They dive into the "crunch time" of business growth: that pivotal moment when a founder can no longer have a direct connection to every employee.Lee and David explore the mechanics of scaling a high-performing culture, the necessity of "psychological safety," and why individual incentive programs often create more dysfunction than value.Key Highlights:The Scalability Trap: Why culture is easy when everyone reports to the founder, and how to maintain "tightness" as you add levels of leadership.The "Bursty" Communication Rule: Why high-performing teams don’t talk constantly, but instead communicate in intense, focused bursts.Psychological Safety vs. Accountability: Why the best teams actually report more mistakes, not fewer.Ending the "Performance Review": Lee’s "OCD" (Outcomes, Capabilities, Duties) framework and why real-time dashboards beat annual reviews.The Crisis of Integrity: Addressing the gap between what employees agree to do and the effort they actually provide.For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/

April 29, 20261 hr 2 min

The CEO’s Guide to the AI Transition (Without the Human Cost)

What happens when a seasoned entrepreneur takes a 15-month trip around the world with his family only to come back and build an AI-driven powerhouse? In this episode of Show Your Value, Lee Benson sits down with Jason Smith, co-founder and CEO of Klue, to discuss the seismic shift toward "AI-first" business models and the timeless importance of human connection.Jason shares the origin story of Klue, which was born from a "scratching an itch" moment when he realized sales teams were losing credibility by winging it against competitors. They dive deep into how AI is acting as both a "nuclear reactor" of productivity and a competitive threat that companies must embrace to survive.Key Topics Covered:The "AI-First" Mandate: Why starting a company today means starting with agents first and why small, AI-leveraged teams are the future.The 1-9-90 Rule of AI: How to move from being a "voyeur" to a "tinkerer" and eventually a power user of tools like Claude and ChatGPT.Training Your "AI Interns": A CEO’s perspective on overcoming the fear of "training your replacement" and instead building a personal competitive advantage.Global Perspectives on Value: Jason reflects on his 15-month family sabbatical, teaching his daughters about privilege, poverty, and the universal nature of human connection.The Future of Purpose: Why the "AI revolution" makes human-to-human interaction more valuable than ever and how to find purpose in a world of increasing automation.Embracing Discomfort: Why Jason seeks out the "edge of discomfort" to drive growth and how to handle the skeptics when you’re building something new.About Jason SmithJason Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Klue, a competitive enablement platform that helps companies collect, curate, and deliver market insights. A serial entrepreneur and former president of Vision Critical, Jason is a leading voice on leveraging AI to outmaneuver the competition while maintaining a focus on creating real-world value.For more free videos, tools, and resources about the MIND Methodology go to https://etw.com/