The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Small Business Deep Dives with Entrepreneurs

In this episode, I'll walk you through the biggest lessons I've learned starting 75+ businesses over the past 15 years. From six to eight figures, I share real stories about making it happen, surviving setbacks, protecting your team, and learning when to say no. I talk about how I navigated some of the toughest moments in both business and life. If you're building or buying a business, these are the lessons I wish I had earlier.  Timestamps below. Enjoy! --- Watch this on YouTube instead here: tkopod.co/p-yt [https://www.youtube.com/@thekoerneroffice?sub_confirmation=1] Ask me a question on or off the show here: http://tkopod.co/p-ask [http://tkopod.co/p-ask] Learn more about me: http://tkopod.co/p-cjk [http://tkopod.co/p-cjk] Learn about my company: http://tkopod.co/p-cof [http://tkopod.co/p-cof] Follow me on Twitter here: http://tkopod.co/p-x [http://tkopod.co/p-x] Free weekly business ideas newsletter: http://tkopod.co/p-nl [http://tkopod.co/p-nl] Share this podcast: http://tkopod.co/p-all [http://tkopod.co/p-all] Scrape small business data: http://tkopod.co/p-os [http://tkopod.co/p-os] --- 00:00 Welcome and Introduction 00:11 The Role of a CE Owner 01:14 Lessons from Starting Businesses 03:04 The MIH Gene: Make It Happen 05:35 Knowing the Weeds 07:07 Insulating Your Employees 09:02 Cover Your Assets 09:42 Inventing a Rival 11:16 Capitalizing the Business 12:04 Taking Advice from the Right People 14:02 Seven to Eight Figure Lessons 15:14 Escaping the Spreadsheet 15:54 Lessons from Past Business Ventures 16:55 The Bitcoin Mining Boom 17:42 Balancing Business and Personal Life 18:35 Dealing with Difficult Customers 20:20 Managing Toxic Employees 21:13 The Importance of Rockstar Employees 23:13 Learning from Mistakes and Moving Forward 26:57 The Role of a CEO 29:25 Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts

I sat down with Jacob Posel right after OpenAI launched their image generation API, literally the same day, and we talked about the massive wave of opportunity that’s about to hit. If you’ve got a laptop, internet, and time, now’s your moment. Jacob shared two main paths to make money fast with AI images. We explored how fun and simple image ideas can turn into real businesses, and how most people still don’t even know what these tools can do.  We got into the tactics too. Jacob explained how to launch fast, how to pitch to ad agencies, and why offering this as a white-labeled service could be a game changer. I even bought a domain live during the episode, right in the middle of the conversation. You can follow Jacob on X: @jacob_posel [https://twitter.com/jacob_posel] or find him on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-posel/]. If you're building something cool, reach out. He wants to see it. Timestamps below. Enjoy! --- Watch this on YouTube instead here: tkopod.co/p-yt [https://www.youtube.com/@thekoerneroffice?sub_confirmation=1] Ask me a question on or off the show here: http://tkopod.co/p-ask [http://tkopod.co/p-ask] Learn more about me: http://tkopod.co/p-cjk [http://tkopod.co/p-cjk] Learn about my company: http://tkopod.co/p-cof [http://tkopod.co/p-cof] Follow me on Twitter here: http://tkopod.co/p-x [http://tkopod.co/p-x] Free weekly business ideas newsletter: http://tkopod.co/p-nl [http://tkopod.co/p-nl] Share this podcast: http://tkopod.co/p-all [http://tkopod.co/p-all] Scrape small business data: http://tkopod.co/p-os [http://tkopod.co/p-os] --- 00:00 The Dawn of AI Image Generation 02:58 Opportunities for Entrepreneurs in AI 05:47 Building an Agency with AI Tools 09:07 Prompt Engineering and Best Practices 11:59 Micro-Personalization in Marketing 14:52 Creative Applications of Image Generation 18:13 Navigating the Future of Advertising 21:08 Collaborating with Ad Agencies 23:59 The Importance of Focus in Entrepreneurship

I’m back with Sam Thompson for part two of our two-part conversation (if you missed the first one, go check out Ep. #157). In this episode, Sam walks me through the custom task management app he built for himself using Lovable, and how it completely changed how he handles his time. We go deep on what makes good productivity tools and how to think like a “vibe coder”. We also talk about how he sold his AI cooking app, how he's helping someone scale it, and why more businesses should start fast, test faster, and sell what people are already asking for. Toward the end, we riff on why people always pay for shortcuts, from dunk training posters to rucking programs (PDF), and how momentum is the most underrated asset for entrepreneurs. You can find Sam on Twitter at @ImSamThompson [https://x.com/ImSamThompson] and check out what he's building at unlimitedcontent.com [https://www.unlimitedcontent.com/]. Timestamps below. Enjoy! --- Watch this on YouTube instead here: tkopod.co/p-yt [https://www.youtube.com/@thekoerneroffice?sub_confirmation=1] Ask me a question on or off the show here: http://tkopod.co/p-ask [http://tkopod.co/p-ask] Learn more about me: http://tkopod.co/p-cjk [http://tkopod.co/p-cjk] Learn about my company: http://tkopod.co/p-cof [http://tkopod.co/p-cof] Follow me on Twitter here: http://tkopod.co/p-x [http://tkopod.co/p-x] Free weekly business ideas newsletter: http://tkopod.co/p-nl [http://tkopod.co/p-nl] Share this podcast: http://tkopod.co/p-all [http://tkopod.co/p-all] Scrape small business data: http://tkopod.co/p-os [http://tkopod.co/p-os] --- 00:00 The Power of Momentum in Entrepreneurship 02:58 Selling Ideas and Business Models 05:51 The Reality of Make Money Online Offers 08:48 Understanding Customer Needs and Offers 12:14 Creating Value Through Digital Products 15:12 The Role of AI in Business and Marketing 17:56 Building Custom Solutions for Productivity 20:46 Navigating the Future of AI Influencers 24:05 The Importance of Task Management and Productivity

This is part two of my conversation with Shannon Jean, and it’s somehow even better than part one. Shannon’s a seasoned flipper, reseller, and liquidator who’s built real wealth by buying pallets of returned or surplus goods and reselling them, sometimes flipping phones for $9 million in profit. In this episode, we talk about advanced tactics. Shannon breaks down how to build trust in an industry full of scams, how to spot undervalued products, why you should be okay with others making more money off your deals, and the mental frameworks that make resellers unstoppable. He shares wild stories, like the time he bought $2M worth of iPhones and sold them back to China for $11M. We also talk about Facebook Marketplace testing, niche reselling and more. Whether you're trying to make $100 or $100,000 extra this year, the blueprint is in this episode. If you missed it, go back and check out Part 1 (Ep. #156), and if you’re hooked, listen to his other appearances in Ep. #38, #41, #61, and #64. You can find Shannon Jean on X at @shannonjean (https://x.com/shannonjean [https://x.com/shannonjean]) - he posts about his $5 mastermind there, where he shares deals, advice, and great opportunities. He’s also the cohost of the Business Brain podcast, which you can find at businessbrain.show [https://businessbrain.show]. Timestamps below. Enjoy! --- Watch this on YouTube instead here: tkopod.co/p-yt [https://www.youtube.com/@thekoerneroffice?sub_confirmation=1] Ask me a question on or off the show here: http://tkopod.co/p-ask [http://tkopod.co/p-ask] Learn more about me: http://tkopod.co/p-cjk [http://tkopod.co/p-cjk] Learn about my company: http://tkopod.co/p-cof [http://tkopod.co/p-cof] Follow me on Twitter here: http://tkopod.co/p-x [http://tkopod.co/p-x] Free weekly business ideas newsletter: http://tkopod.co/p-nl [http://tkopod.co/p-nl] Share this podcast: http://tkopod.co/p-all [http://tkopod.co/p-all] Scrape small business data: http://tkopod.co/p-os [http://tkopod.co/p-os] --- 00:00 The Power of Reselling 04:56 Building Credibility and Relationships 10:06 Learning Through Experimentation 14:53 Finding Your Niche in Reselling 20:09 Scaling and Managing Risks 24:51 Success Stories and Lessons Learned

HoldCo Bros are back! In this episode, Nik shares what he learned from 30+ conversations with entrepreneurs using AI in their businesses—what tools they’re using, what’s actually working, and some surprising patterns that came up. We also talk about how he built a full workflow using Google CoLab and OpenAI to analyze all the data. I also share my experiment with a real-world billboard ad for the podcast, how I’m testing taglines with Facebook ads, and different ways I’m tracking the results. We even get into some fun ideas around using AI for things like relationship advice and business mediation. Learn more about Nik here: http://linktr.ee/cofoundersnik [http://linktr.ee/cofoundersnik] Check out Limitless pendant here [https://www.limitless.ai/r/tkopod] Share your ideas with us: * Nik@cofounders.com * Chris@cofounders.com Timestamps below. Enjoy! --- Watch this on YouTube instead here: tkopod.co/p-yt [https://www.youtube.com/@thekoerneroffice?sub_confirmation=1] Ask me a question on or off the show here: http://tkopod.co/p-ask [http://tkopod.co/p-ask] Learn more about me: http://tkopod.co/p-cjk [http://tkopod.co/p-cjk] Learn about my company: http://tkopod.co/p-cof [http://tkopod.co/p-cof] Follow me on Twitter here: http://tkopod.co/p-x [http://tkopod.co/p-x] Free weekly business ideas newsletter: http://tkopod.co/p-nl [http://tkopod.co/p-nl] Share this podcast: http://tkopod.co/p-all [http://tkopod.co/p-all] Scrape small business data: http://tkopod.co/p-os [http://tkopod.co/p-os] --- 00:00 Highlights 00:33 ChatGPT's Bias and Trustworthiness vs. Google 02:58 Seeking Unbiased Feedback from AI (and its Challenges) 07:38 AI for Business Mediation and Conflict Resolution 10:04 Most Popular LLMs and Their Use Cases (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity) 12:33 Claude’s Advanced Project Structure & Writing Strengths 15:02 Cursor vs. Replit: Coding Tools and Usability vs. Functionality 17:26 AI Tools Summary: Use Cases and Strengths by Model 19:52 Cleaning and Analyzing Podcast Transcripts Using AI & Google Colab 22:20 Automating Insights: Creating Lead Magnets and Quizzes with AI 24:40 The Importance of Data for Personal AI Assistants 27:07 Billboard A/B Testing Strategy for Podcast Growth 29:27 The Power of “Best” in Marketing and Ratings Psychology 31:54 Measuring Billboard Effectiveness via Download Geography 34:19 Saturating Small Cities with Ads: A Contagion-Style Growth Idea