Welcome to the Founders Matter Podcast.

The podcast where we talk openly about what it really means to build a business on your own terms.

In this episode, Jase Smith speaks with Kat Sykes about how founders measure success and why many end up using KPIs that reflect external expectations rather than what actually matters to them.

Drawing on her experience working across education, construction, the NHS and digital transformation, Kat explores how systems such as schools and traditional workplaces condition people to work within predefined metrics and performance measures. When founders start their own businesses, they often carry these inherited ideas of success with them, even though entrepreneurship offers the freedom to define success differently.

The conversation examines the consequences of relying on indicators designed for investors, institutions or external validation. When founders measure their performance against metrics that do not align with their own values, it can create a disconnect between the business they are building and the life they hoped it would support.

Instead, Jase and Kat explore how founders can begin by identifying what truly matters to them such as freedom, variety, impact or personal growth and then work outward to design businesses and KPIs that support those goals. By focusing on behaviours, actions and outcomes within their control, founders can create measures of success that reflect both the business they want to build and the life they want to lead.

Access the episode resources here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:7383a4e1-af82-472a-8489-0918c88e99dd

Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn:

Jase Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jase-smith-zero78training/

Pablo Munez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablomunozroman/

Kat Sykes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-sykes-business-not-as-usual/