『iwon™ podcast with Michael J Thomas』のカバーアート

iwon™ podcast with Michael J Thomas

iwon™ podcast with Michael J Thomas

著者： Michael J Thomas
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IWON™ (It Wasn’t Over Night) is a long-form podcast for ambitious founders. Wherever you are at in your business journey, you'll get something from every episode and each guest. These are the people who been there and done it. If you want to understand what it actually takes to build and scale a successful company, iwon™ is worth listening to. Each episode features honest, in-depth conversations with founders, operators and growth leaders who have built, scaled, exited or survived in the tech world. Iwon™ is hosted by Michael J. Thomas. He is an experienced marketing strategist, Cambridge-accredited coach and founded DARWIN™ Works Marketing in 2011. This isn’t surface-level advice or recycled LinkedIn BS. It's the real stories. We go deep and unscripted with every episode and every guest. It’s the real story behind: • Early mistakes and failures • Fundraising realities and financial pressure • Product and growth decisions that changed everything • Sales lessons that cost years to learn • Mental health, leadership and resilience • What genuinely moves the needle From first customers to $750m exits, IWON reveals the thinking, trade-offs and hard-earned lessons you rarely hear in public. If you are building a SaaS or tech company, leading a product or growth team, or trying to grow without chaos, this podcast will give you perspective, clarity and practical insight from people who have done it for real. New episodes every two weeks. The names iwon and DARWIN are registered trademarks. This podcast and the opinion-based content herein are wholly owned by, property of, and produced by - and is a DARWIN Works Production - a trading name of BlueEyed Digital Marketing Ltd. Copyright 2026.Copyright 2026 - iwon and DARWIN are registered trademarks. This podcast and those trademarks are wholly owned by, property of, and produced by - and is a DARWIN Works Production - a trading name of BlueEyed Digital Marketing Ltd. マネジメント・リーダーシップ リーダーシップ 経済学
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  • Two Unlikely Founders With One Big, Bold Vision for the Future | iwon™ podcast | Season 2 Episode 1

    Two Unlikely Founders With One Big, Bold Vision for the Future | iwon™ podcast | Season 2 Episode 1
    2026/10/15
    These two co-founders and their story will inspire you to dream bigger.It all starts with one question ...Where do you find the perfect technical co-founder?LinkedIn? A startup accelerator? Y Combinator?For Tracey Aitken and David Carboni, the answer was slightly less conventional:Tinder.Tracey spent around 30 years in hairdressing and salon ownership. David spent his career in technology, engineering and working as a CTO.Two completely different worlds.Partners in life. Partners in business.And now co-founders of HairTracker.In the first episode of Season 2 of iwon™, we talk about how a problem Tracey had lived with for decades became the foundation for a technology company, and why sometimes your biggest advantage as a founder is knowing an industry from the inside.But their first idea wasn't HairTracker.There was Capture Me.Then the wonderfully named Ping My House.Neither became the business.But neither was a failure either.Those early experiments helped Tracey and David learn how to build together, understand each other's strengths and eventually recognise the opportunity that had been sitting right in front of them.We get into:• How to know when to persevere and when to pivot• Why founder fit matters as much as product-market fit• Building a business with your life partner without destroying the relationship• Why Tracey's 30 years of hairdressing experience became an enormous competitive advantage• What happens when a non-technical founder meets a “firewall” for the first time• Building the first version of HairTracker around a genuine problem Tracey experienced herself• Validating the product with working hairdressers and the wider industry• Winning support from Innovate UK• Why being new to an industry can sometimes work in your favour• Building confidence when you don't feel like you know what you're doing• Networking when you're completely outside your comfort zone• Why Tracey doesn't believe in failure• And why their philosophy is simple: take action, learn, adjust and keep movingOne of my favourite ideas from the conversation is also one of the simplest:The language of the universe is action.You don't need to know exactly how everything is going to work before you start.Sometimes you take the next step, see what happens, learn something and take another.As Tracey puts it:If you don't take action, nothing happens.If you're building something, thinking about starting something, looking for a co-founder, or wondering whether your own experience is “relevant enough” to build a company around, this episode is absolutely worth your time.ABOUT HAIRTRACKERHairTracker is being built around a problem Tracey experienced first-hand throughout her career in hairdressing: keeping useful, accessible and practical client records.What began as a product built for Tracey's own needs has evolved through feedback from hairdressers and the wider industry, with Tracey and David exploring opportunities across hair, beauty and education.ABOUT IWON™iwon™ stands for It Wasn't Overnight.Most business podcasts make success sound much cleaner and faster than it really is.This show is about what happens in the middle.The false starts.The uncomfortable decisions.The sacrifices.The mistakes.The pivots.The lessons.And all the work nobody sees before somebody eventually calls it an “overnight success”.If you're a founder, building something of your own, or even just thinking about it, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.DISCOVER HAIRTRACKERWebsite: https://hairtracker.com/Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/hairtracker/id6475737879Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.hairtrackerHairTracker Education: https://hairtracker.com/educationLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hairtracker/CONNECT WITH TRACEY AND DAVIDTracey Aitken: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-aitken/David Carboni: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcarboni/CONNECT WITH MICHAELLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realmjt-in/DARWIN™: https://darwinworks.com/iwon™: https://iwonpodcast.com/Apply to be a guest: https://iwonpodcast.com/Subscribe or watch now - on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@realmjtABOUT IWON™Most business stories show you the funding, growth or success. iwon™ explores the false starts, uncomfortable decisions, sacrifices and lessons that came first.If this conversation helped you, subscribe, like the video and tell us in the comments: would you build a company with your life partner?DISCLAIMERThe views expressed in the iwon™ podcast are those of the individual speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the producers or associated organisations.This podcast is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, investment or other professional advice. Always conduct your own research and seek appropriately qualified professional advice before making decisions for yourself or your ...
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    1 時間 7 分
  • This Was for the Founders From Day One - A Sneak Peek into What's Coming

    This Was for the Founders From Day One - A Sneak Peek into What's Coming
    2026/10/01
    From day one, iwon™ has been for founders. The people thinking about starting, the ones stuck in the messy middle, the founders trying to grow, and even those who have achieved what they thought they wanted and are now asking, “What next?”In this short Season 2 teaser, Mikey looks back at the brilliant guests and lessons from Season 1, from sales, cash flow and product-market fit to AI, purpose, resilience and the reality behind so-called overnight success.And, more importantly...Season 2 is coming.More founders. More mistakes. More lessons. More honest conversations about what it actually takes to build something.What We Have Accomplished Already (Don't Miss This Either)Season 1 of iwon™ brought together founders, operators and business leaders at very different stages of the journey.In this episode, Mikey looks back at some of the biggest lessons from:Sarah EgglestonLeaving the 9-to-5, starting before you're ready and building something of your own.Tolu SalamiLeaving Google and Accenture, validating an idea and talking to customers before disappearing off to build.Scott Byrne-FraserHow to work out whether you're actually solving the right problem for your customers.Alex Sullivan-LepaffeWhy hiring a salesperson isn't a magic answer to your growth problems.Mark BlakemoreCash runway, financial discipline and surviving the dangerous growth “death zone”.Scott TruittPurpose, fulfilment and what happens when conventional success still leaves you asking, “Is this it?”Elizabeth DodsonFourteen years building HomeZada and the truth behind the phrase “overnight success”.Aatish ThakerarAI, leadership, resilience and the things technology still can't replace.Sachin GoyalWhy he spent 10 months building alongside one customer before charging them a penny.Christian ZiglerBuilding, scaling and exiting businesses, raising money, working with companies including Netflix and PayPal, and the lessons founders normally learn the hard way.Different founders.Different businesses.Different stages.That was always the point.This was for the founders from day one.Season 1 has already reached more than 85,000 people across YouTube, LinkedIn and other platforms, with updated numbers still to come.And now we're getting ready to go again.SEASON 2 IS COMINGMore founders.More brilliant stories.More mistakes.More lessons.And more of the bits of building a business that usually get edited out of the success story.If you've listened, watched, shared an episode, left a review or sent Mikey a message during Season 1, thank you.We're just getting started.WATCH & FOLLOW IWON™YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@realmjtApple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/iwon-podcast-with-michael-j-thomas/id1882021798Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/629GCCMNKOJNblEtz99YbpWebsite:https://iwonpodcast.com/ABOUT IWON™iwon™ stands for It Wasn't Overnight.Most business podcasts focus on the success at the end.We're interested in everything that happened in between.The mistakes. The pivots. The doubts. The decisions that worked. The ones that didn't. And the lessons founders usually have to learn the expensive way.No hype.No overnight-success rubbish.Just honest conversations about what it actually takes to build something.DISCLAIMERThe views expressed in the iwon™ podcast are those of the individual speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the producers or associated organisations.This podcast is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, investment or other professional advice. Always conduct your own research and seek appropriately qualified professional advice before making decisions for yourself or your business.The iwon™ Podcast is produced by DARWIN™ Works, a trading name of BlueEyed Digital Marketing Ltd.iwon™ and DARWIN™ are registered trademarks.© BlueEyed Digital Marketing Ltd 2026.
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    7 分
  • Buffer, Dropbox and Superhuman -The Exact Tactics That Drove Rapid Growth - iwon podcast - episode 14

    Buffer, Dropbox and Superhuman -The Exact Tactics That Drove Rapid Growth - iwon podcast - episode 14
    2026/09/17

    I explain how Buffer, Dropbox, and Superhuman validated their ideas before they scaled. I break down the exact tests they ran so you can apply clear steps to validate your product or feature. I show how Buffer asked for paying signals, how Dropbox used a simple explainer to make the result visible, and how Superhuman focused on the right users and waited for strong commitment. We distill these lessons into a three step plan to test the problem, the promise, and the path quickly. I provide a worksheet and a practical playbook to help founders run small tests that give clear signals before building more features.

    Takeaways:

    • I showed that you must test whether people will move toward paying before building full features.
    • I demonstrated how Dropbox used a short explainer video and a landing page to make the outcome visible and easy to understand.
    • I argued that Superhuman succeeded by focusing on one clear problem, finding the right users, and refusing to scale prematurely.
    • We recommended designing the smallest test that can give a clear signal in a week or ten days before adding more work.
    • I urged founders to decide whether to test the problem, the promise, or the path first and to use simple commitment signals like clicks, waitlists, or pilot requests rather than building unvalidated features.

    Companies mentioned in this episode:

    • Buffer
    • Dropbox
    • Superhuman
    • Twitter
    • X
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • Google
    • Google Drive
    • Gemini
    • ChatGPT
    • Claude

    Enjoyed This Episode?

    If you found this conversation valuable, follow the show so you don’t miss future episodes with founders and growth leaders building in SaaS and tech.

    Leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps more aspiring entrepreneurs and founders in the trenches right now to discover the show. And, it supports the growth of the IWON™ community.

    About the Host

    Michael J. Thomas is a marketing strategist and Cambridge-accredited coach. He founded DARWIN™ Works Marketing in 2011, helping SaaS and tech companies overcome growth hurdles and build sustainable momentum.

    Learn more about Michael and DARWIN™ here:

    https://darwinworks.com

    About IWON™

    IWON™ (It Wasn’t Over Night) is a long-form podcast exploring what it really takes to build and scale a successful technology company.

    • Find out more about the podcast: https://iwonpodcast.com
    • Interested in being a guest? https://iwonpodcast.com/guests/
    • Want to sponsor IWON™ and help the community thrive? https://iwonpodcast.com/sponsors/

    Michael J Thomas

    Copyright 2026 - iwon and DARWIN are registered trademarks. This podcast and those trademarks are wholly owned by, property of, and produced by - and is a DARWIN Works Production - a trading name of BlueEyed Digital Marketing Ltd.
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    22 分
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