I'm feeding my baby while recording this… she's spilling milk, I'm spilling AppSumo updates. Everybody wins.

So we've gone from 140 people down to around 40. Revenue has dropped hard. And for the first time in 16 years, staying in business actually feels uncertain.

So this episode is about what we're doing now. What's working, what's not, and how we're getting things back on track.

I talk about why we're focusing on just 30 great deals instead of hundreds, what AI is actually good for… and where it's total BS. And how I'm thinking about rebuilding the team in a way that actually works long term.

Also sharing a mindset nugget I just heard and loved from an incredibly talented cyclist:

'when it's hard, that's when you're strong'.

Turns out that applies to parenting… and business.

You'll like this one if things feel messy right now and you're trying to figure out your next move.

In this conversation, you'll enjoy 3 BIG things:

• What to do when your business gets cut in half

• How to rebuild a team after layoffs and uncertainty

• Why hard moments are where you level up

Enjoy these 3 things plus many nuggets along the way.

I have also been sharing emails on my brutally honest advice on a variety of topics. People have been loving it. Sign up at noahkagan.com and join 350k other people who get juicy insights every month.

• How we saved $32K/year by killing every AI subscription and going all-in on one platform — and the exact 3-day rollout we used to get full adoption
• The real use cases that are changing how AppSumo operates — deal cards in 60 seconds, BD running everything from one screen, and our CMO shipping 6 AI skills in a single week
• Why the Slack channel #ai_daily became our secret weapon and how horizontal learning (not top-down training) is what actually drives AI adoption

I just turned 44, and we just had our second daughter. Double girl dad. Let's go.

This episode is a mix of life lessons, AI experiments, and some questionable investing decisions. I talk about what having a second kid taught me, why self-belief matters way more when revenue is down, and how getting older has made me care less about awards and more about meaning.

I also tested OpenClaw, gave it real access to my life, and asked it to tell me what to say on this podcast. It lied. Then it admitted it lied. Which honestly felt very human.

In this conversation you'll enjoy 3 BIG things:

• What becoming a dad (again) is teaching me about fear, confidence, and second reps

• Why picking the right partner and calling your parents might be the highest ROI decisions of your life

• How to ignore hype cycles, invest in boring things, and zag when everyone else zigs

Enjoy these 3 things plus many nuggets along the way.

My book Million Dollar Weekend breaks down how to start a business in simple steps you can do in one weekend.

I also send brutally honest emails about business and life. Join 350k people reading them at noahkagan.com.

I just had lunch with someone who sold a billion-dollar company. What stuck with me wasn't the money, it was how seriously he took standards. Not just in his work but through his entire life.

This month I talk about what standards really mean, why they're just values in action, and how raising them creates clarity instead of chaos. This is about doing better work, even when things feel messy, and coming out stronger on the other side.

In this conversation you'll enjoy 3 BIG things:

• How to set real standards instead of vague values

• How to rebuild trust when customers check out

• Why higher standards actually make decisions easier

Enjoy these 3 things plus many nuggets along the way.

My book Million Dollar Weekend breaks down how to start a business in simple steps you can do in one weekend.

I also send brutally honest emails about business and life. Join 350k people reading them at noahkagan.com.

It's New Year's Eve, and I've been taking stock of everything 2025 threw my way and what I want 2026 to look like. There were plenty of ups and downs, but what didn't work has forced me to rethink how I lead.

In this episode, I talk honestly about what's changing at AppSumo, what I've learned by getting closer to the work again, and why leadership right now looks very different than it did.

In this conversation you'll enjoy 3 BIG things:

• Setting goals that actually change your behavior

• Going easier on yourself when things don't work out

• Resetting direction when you've drifted

Enjoy these 3 things plus many nuggets along the way.

My book Million Dollar Weekend is for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start something without overthinking it. I break the process down into simple steps you can actually do in a weekend.

I also send emails with my unfiltered thoughts on business, money, and life. People seem to like them. You can sign up at noahkagan.com and join 350k+ readers getting the good stuff each month.

My book Million Dollar Weekend is for aspiring entrepreneurs who dream of starting their own business. I break down the process of starting into simple steps that you can do in just one weekend.

After a year of paternity leave, I'm back as CEO at AppSumo… and holy moly, it's been challenging.

In this episode, I share a behind-the-scenes of stepping back into my company, where we've gone wrong in my absence, and what I'm doing to fix it.

From running a "listening tour" across the company, to rethinking our deal standards, this is me working in real time to bring AppSumo back stronger than ever. It's been exhausting but humbling. If you've ever faced chaos in your own business, I think you'll get a lot out of this one.

In this conversation, you'll enjoy 3 BIG things:

• How getting clear on "who owns what" keeps teams from drowning
• Why true leadership beats management every time
• Why making a call (even if it's not the right one) is always better than sitting on the fence

Enjoy these 3 things plus many nuggets along the way.

I have also been sharing emails on my brutally honest advice on a variety of topics. People have been loving it. Sign up at noahkagan.com and join 350k other people who get juicy insights every month.