The Bigger Stage w/ Matt Stone

He Bet His Career on a "Boring" $100 Trillion Problem — Duncan Barrigan

What do you do when the most important problem you can solve is also the least glamorous one? Duncan Barrigan spent 8 years helping build GoCardless into a global payments unicorn — then walked away to tackle something most founders walk right past: getting businesses paid. Not sexy. Not shiny. Just a $100 trillion problem that's been solved the same way, by humans, for 6,000 years. In this conversation, Duncan breaks down why accounts receivable is actually a communication and negotiation problem (not a payments problem), how he brought a real cowboy and horse to lasso the Wall Street Bull for Lunos' launch, and what it really means to build a company around three values: curious, courageous, and relentless. We also get into the identity shift that hit when he left a CXO role at a billion-dollar company, moved to New York in January, and had to rediscover who he was before Lunos existed. If you're a founder choosing between the bold idea and the safe one — this one's for you. —— TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — Cold open: the horse that got stopped at the Manhattan border 0:23 — Introducing Duncan Barrigan & Lunos 1:48 — Lunos or Lunos? The definitive answer 3:05 — The $100 trillion problem hiding in plain sight 5:03 — The epiphany: it's not a payments problem 6:20 — Moving continent, quitting his job, and starting in January 8:29 — London vs New York startup culture 12:33 — The stifled entrepreneur: Pokémon cards & astronaut dreams 14:17 — Space cowboys & bright pink: building the Lunos brand 17:35 — The Wall Street Bull stunt (and the Guardian article) 21:57 — Curious, courageous, relentless: the three values 29:33 — Good mistakes vs bad mistakes (poker & Napoleon) 32:15 — The identity crisis before Lunos existed 33:49 — What kind of company does he want to build? 38:03 — Building self-awareness as a founder 40:53 — What's coming next: the agent-to-agent network 43:36 — Flying planes, barrel rolls & personal challenges 46:29 — Who should work with Lunos? —— CONNECT WITH DUNCAN Lunos: lunos.ai CONNECT WITH MATT STONE & THE BIGGER STAGE Website: thebiggerstage.com YouTube: youtube.com/@thebiggerstage —— The Bigger Stage is for founders whose reputation is stronger than their messaging. New episodes drop every other Saturday.

The Bears Fan Who Hated His Job

Pat Miller spent 20 years on the radio under a name that wasn't his. He went on the air as "J Pat". He was forced to cheer for the Green Bay Packers while his actual loyalty stayed with the Chicago Bears and Cubs. He programmed a country station he didn't connect with. And the whole time, he was getting really good at being someone else. In 2018 he walked away. No six-month runway. No clients lined up. Just a hunch that life was too short to build someone else's dream — the line that later became his TEDx talk. Two years later, on March 18, 2020, the world shut down. The next day, Pat went live on LinkedIn and hosted a show he called Small Business Rally Point. 90 days later, it was a community. Today, the Small Business Owners Community (SBOC) is a membership, an annual conference that's drawn Mel Robbins, Mike Michalowicz, and Sahil Bloom, and a daily show called Businessing with Pat Miller. This conversation is about what it actually takes — on the inside — to step out of a professional identity you spent two decades constructing. About how a strength becomes a hindrance. About "chiseling your way out" toward who you actually are. And about excavating the room you wish you could walk into when you realize founding a business is the loneliest job in the world. If you're building on your own, this one will land. CONNECT WITH PAT LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpatmiller/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpatmiller/] SBOC: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com/ [https://smallbusinesscommunity.com/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BusinessingShow [https://www.youtube.com/@BusinessingShow] THE BIGGER STAGE Conversations with founders excavating the story underneath what they've already built. The shift from operator to authority to icon, captured on camera. Hosted by Matt Stone. Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiggerstage [https://www.youtube.com/@thebiggerstage] Learn more: https://thebiggerstage.com [https://thebiggerstage.com]

Ask Two People This Question To Find Your Real Values — with John Durso

Leadership consultant John Durso shares a deceptively simple exercise that reveals what your values actually are — not the ones on your website. Most leaders can't actually name their real values. They list the words on their website — honesty, integrity, loyalty — and call it a day. John Durso says those aren't values. They're table stakes. In this episode, John walks Matt through a deceptively simple exercise that reveals what your values actually are: ask one or two people who know you well to describe you in one word, then ask them to tell a story that backs it up. What comes back is rarely what you'd predict. John's wife described him as "unstoppable." Matt's two people landed on "charisma" and "generous." And the magic of the exercise isn't just learning what others see in you — it's that the word they choose tells you what they value most, which is critical leadership intel. John spent over 22 years in retail banking working with hundreds of small businesses and nonprofits across the greater Philadelphia region. Today he runs Brilliant Business Strategies, helping community banks, credit unions, nonprofits, and small businesses build stronger leadership, healthier cultures, and better team performance. In this conversation: - Why "honesty" and "integrity" don't count as real values - The one-word exercise — and why the story matters more than the word - How perception becomes reality inside your company - What Disney's Winnie the Pooh casting reveals about hiring for values - How a new leader can use this exercise in their first 30 days If you're a founder or CEO stepping into a bigger role — whether that's a hypergrowth season, a succession moment, or a move into thought leadership — this is foundational work. The kind serious leaders do at the start and return to when things get complicated. CONNECT WITH JOHN DURSO Website: brilliantbusinessstrategies.com LinkedIn: search "John Durso Brilliant Business Strategies" CONNECT WITH MATT STONE & THE BIGGER STAGE The Bigger Stage helps founder-CEOs make the operator-to-icon transition. Website: thebiggerstage.com LinkedIn: search "Matt Stone Bigger Stage" Subscribe wherever you listen for more conversations with leaders stepping onto bigger stages.

Kate Joynt: The Founder Who Bet Everything on a Plug You Didn't Know You Needed

Kate Joynt co-invented a product nobody was searching for. Then one influencer post took her Amazon sales from 25 a day to 800 — and EZ Outlet landed in Home Depot. Full Show Notes Kate Joynt is the founder and CEO of EZ Outlet, an electrical outlet extender now sold at Home Depot, on Amazon, on Walmart.com, and featured twice on NBC's Today Show. She didn't come from consumer products. She came from real estate, enterprise tech sales, and a lifelong fascination with inventions that started with a kid-invention show on Nickelodeon. When her co-founder Tony made an offhand comment one day — "wouldn't it be cool if you could just plug something into the original outlet and pull the power up here, above the couch?" — Kate's ear was already primed for it. What followed was years of prototyping, UL certification, factory sourcing, tooling and molding investments, and a brutal early period of paying for clicks that weren't there. Because nobody was searching for "electrical outlet extender." The category didn't exist yet. Then one influencer posted one video. Sales went from 25 a day to 800 in an hour. Home Depot followed. But the part of this conversation I keep coming back to isn't the wins. It's Kate describing her business as a "glass bubble" — fragile, vulnerable, something she had to protect through years where investors told her to keep going but nobody wrote a check until she didn't need one. It's her honesty about the stress that doesn't show up in pitch decks. And it's the specific, hard-won wisdom she has for the next founder standing where she was five years ago. If you're an operator with an idea you keep almost-pursuing, or a founder in the messy middle of building something real, this episode is for you. In this conversation: What EZ Outlet actually is, and why the problem it solves is so universal • Why it took years to get to market and what "overnight success" really looks like • The conversation that sparked the idea, and why Kate's ear was ready for it • Working with a co-founder who's your polar opposite • How she found engineers, factories, and a buying agent without a manufacturing background • The shocks of UL certification and consumer product compliance • Why pay-per-click failed and one influencer post changed everything • Getting on NBC's Today Show — twice • The copycat problem, the safety stakes, and protecting the brand • The emotional toll of being all-in on one product • Why investors only fund you once you don't need them • Three pieces of advice for the next generation of founders About Kate Joynt Kate Joynt is the founder and CEO of EZ Outlet, a patent holder, and an ETL-certified entrepreneur. Her background spans a decade in real estate and enterprise technology sales. Find EZ Outlet at Home Depot, on Amazon, on Walmart.com, and occasionally on HSN. EZ Outlet website: https://ezoutlet.com/ [https://ezoutlet.com/] Kate Joynt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katejoynt/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/katejoynt/] About The Bigger Stage The Bigger Stage is a podcast for founder-CEOs making the leap from operator to recognized authority. Hosted by Matt Stone, founder of The Bigger Stage. Learn more at thebiggerstage.com. If this episode landed for you, the best thing you can do is share it with one founder who needs to hear it — and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's how more people find the show.

Kevin Nolan: I Was Never a Painter. I Was an Entrepreneur.

He built the largest painting company in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Then he let go. Kevin Nolan on identity, succession, and the happiest chapter yet. Kevin Nolan started with a paintbrush, a roommate, and a college student's ambition. Forty years later he'd built the largest residential painting company in Southeastern Pennsylvania — and done something most founders never manage. He actually let go. In this episode, Matt Stone sits down with Kevin for a wide-ranging conversation about what an entrepreneurial life really looks like across four decades. The 17 years Kevin spent grinding in the dark with no business plan, just payroll on Friday. The Zig Ziglar moment at 37 that changed everything. How he found his CEO and CFO hiding on his own paint crews. And what those final 18 months felt like — staying quiet in meetings he used to run. In September 2024, Kevin retired. He says it felt like rocks coming off his shoulders. This is a conversation about identity, legacy, and the courage it takes to step into something new. In this episode: * Why Kevin says he was never a painter — even when he was painting * The Zig Ziglar line that launched his "second entrepreneurial seizure" at 37 * How John (an Eagle Scout from Sherwin-Williams) became his CEO 30 years later * The 20-foot KPI wall — including profit — that every employee could see * What emotional intelligence looks like inside a trades business * The Wally story: why great leaders run toward conflict, not away * Writing the final chapter of his career — before it happened * September 2024: retirement and the rocks off his shoulders * Running a marathon in all 50 states — and what that taught him about business * Graduating 2,300th out of 2,600 at Villanova. And why he's glad he did. Resources mentioned: * Organizational Muscle by Kevin Nolan — https://a.co/d/0gywqBST * Good to Great — Jim Collins * Emotional Intelligence — Daniel Goleman * The E-Myth Revisited — Michael Gerber * How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale Carnegie * How to Stop Worrying and Start Living — Dale Carnegie Connect with Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinjnolan1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinjnolan1/] Connect with Matt: Website: thebiggerstage.com  Email: matt@mattstone.co [matt@mattstone.co]