Peter Shankman on ADHD entrepreneurship and building a life that fits

Peter Shankman on ADHD entrepreneurship and building a life that fits

Peter Shankman on building around a different brain We sat down with Peter Shankman to explore how he built his life around an ADHD brain, not against it. Early on, he shares what it felt like to grow up in New York City without language for neurodiversity. Because of that, school often felt hard, confusing, and limiting. Still, he found creative outlets, leaned into writing, and kept moving toward work that matched how he thinks. The ADHD advantage in work and life This episode shows how ADHD entrepreneurship can look practical, disciplined, and deeply intentional. Peter explains how he fills his calendar on purpose, because too much open time can lead him in the wrong direction. He also breaks down the systems that keep him focused, from early workouts to simple wardrobe choices. As a result, ADHD entrepreneurship becomes less about chaos and more about structure that actually works. How Peter Shankman turned connection into opportunity Peter walks us through the path from AOL to launching a PR firm, then creating HARO from a simple habit of helping reporters. Rather than waiting for perfect conditions, he kept testing ideas and learning through action. That mindset shaped his view of risk, failure, and momentum. So when he talks about ADHD entrepreneurship, he ties it to calculated risk, repeated effort, and staying humble enough to keep learning. Lessons from failure family and focus We also get into the habits that helped Peter protect his health, his attention, and his role as a father. He speaks openly about dopamine, addiction, exercise, therapy, and why social media can become a serious problem. Then he explains why he never breaks promises to his daughter, even when work pulls him across the world. That part gives ADHD entrepreneurship a human center, because success means very little without trust and presence. What Peter Shankman wants founders to remember Near the end, Peter shares direct advice for younger founders. Try things early, accept failure, and stop wasting energy on other people’s opinions. He argues that failure teaches faster than easy wins ever could. In that sense, ADHD entrepreneurship becomes a lesson in self-awareness, consistency, and building an environment that fits your brain. We think this conversation offers a clear look at what happens when someone stops forcing a traditional path and starts designing one that works. More From Peter Shankman https://www.shankman.com/ Chapters 00:00 Intro and Peter Shankman background 01:26 Growing up in New York with ADHD 03:10 First media jobs and the AOL newsroom 04:07 Starting a PR firm during the internet boom 05:50 How HARO started and why it took off 06:48 ADHD dopamine habits and daily structure 17:08 Managing focus with routines and movement 21:38 Selling HARO to PR Newswire 23:35 Faster Than Normal and neurodiversity 32:59 Parenting promises and entrepreneurial life

John Hsu on Opioid Recovery Startups and Purpose Driven Leadership

We sit down with John Hsu to trace the pressure, discipline, and responsibility that shaped his early life. He grew up in California in a Taiwanese immigrant family that pushed hard for grades, stability, and work. At the same time, sports helped him find belonging and build confidence. That mix of pressure and teamwork stayed with him. It also shaped how he thinks about success, duty, and risk. He reflects on what it meant to grow up between cultures. He learned to save early, work early, and think about survival before comfort. However, he also learned that ambition needs more than good grades. It needs people skills, courage, and the freedom to dream bigger. From Anesthesia to Addiction Care John walks through his path from college sports to medical school and then into anesthesia, chronic pain, and addiction medicine. He explains how he evaluated patients before surgery and why recovery often extends far beyond the operating room. He also shares a striking point about cardiac patients, who can face depression months after surgery. Later, he shifts from anesthesia toward chronic pain and opioid use disorder care. That change became personal after his own heart attack. As a result, he stopped seeing addiction as a side issue. He began treating it as urgent medicine. He argues that opioid use disorder needs medical treatment, long term support, and far less stigma. Why John Hsu Chose Hard Problems This part of the conversation turns toward the businesses he built around overdose prevention, safer prescribing, and remote monitoring. He explains why addiction affects both the mind and the body. So, he believes treatment must address both. He breaks down opioid use disorder in plain terms and explains why fast fixes often fail. He also talks through a connected pill dispensing system that helps doctors monitor whether patients follow a prescription. That idea comes from a simple problem. Doctors often lose visibility once a patient leaves the pharmacy. Therefore, John focuses on tools that improve accountability, support care, and reduce risk. He believes better systems can improve opioid use disorder treatment and help prevent relapse. What John Hsu Wants Founders to See By the end, this episode becomes a wider talk about work, purpose, faith, and leadership. John shares how stress shaped his habits, why he kept building after success, and what he learned from nearly dying. He doesn’t frame business as status. Instead, he frames it as service. That perspective gives this conversation its weight. He believes opioid use disorder carries stigma that blocks treatment and costs lives. He also believes founders should solve real problems, move with urgency, and stay honest about what people need. So, this episode offers more than a life story. It gives a clear look at responsibility, resilience, and mission. More from John Hsu https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hsu-md-300a8b2a/ Chapters 00:00 Heart surgery recovery and depression 00:42 Founders Journey introduction 01:38 Growing up Taiwanese in California 06:11 Family pressure work and education 11:23 Dreaming big in America 22:21 College sports and the road to medicine 30:14 Residency stress and real estate projects 32:34 Anesthesia chronic pain and addiction care 47:28 Startups tackling overdose and adherence 57:40 Founder mindset purpose and leadership

Maddy Niebauer on Peace Corps Lessons and Building The Chiefs

We sit down with Maddy Niebauer to trace the experiences that shaped her early mindset. She reflects on growing up in the Bay Area, moving often, and changing schools year after year. As a result, she learned to adapt fast, make friends quickly, and keep going through disruption. She also explains how high academic expectations at home pushed her to take school seriously, even when the pressure felt heavy. Maddy Niebauer and the search for direction From there, the conversation moves into college and the uncertainty that comes with choosing a path too early. She shares why she started college undecided, why psychology pulled her in, and how research first seemed exciting. However, one long project with inconclusive data changed her view of academic work. That moment forced her to question what kind of future she wanted. It also opened the door to a wider conversation about discovery, curiosity, and the limits of rigid career planning. In that sense, fractional leadership starts with learning how to step back and reassess your role. West Africa changed the frame After college, Maddy joined the Peace Corps and spent more than two years in Ivory Coast. That chapter gave her a direct view of service, shared responsibility, and daily life in a communal culture. She describes how family structures, work, and even simple tools carried a different meaning there. Because of that, she returned with a stronger sense of perspective and a deeper interest in mission driven work. Later, that same perspective shaped how she viewed management, nonprofit impact, and fractional leadership in practice. Building The Chiefs with Maddy When she returned to the United States, she worked in education, earned an MBA at Columbia, and later moved into nonprofit consulting. Eventually, a chief of staff role at Teach For America became the turning point. She didn’t chase that title at first, yet the work fit her strengths. Then layoffs pushed her to make a decision. Instead of starting over in another job, she turned a side engagement into a business. That move became The Chiefs, a company built around part time executive support. Here, fractional leadership became more than an idea. It became the service itself. What Maddy learned about letting go We also talk through the messy parts of building a company. She explains early pricing mistakes, unclear project scope, and the cost of being too accommodating. More importantly, she shares what changed when she stopped trying to do everything herself. Her decision to hire support, build systems, and later work with a co CEO gave the business room to grow. At the same time, it gave her more freedom. That lesson sits at the center of this episode. Fractional leadership helps leaders focus on what only they can do. In the end, fractional leadership works best when trust, structure, and self awareness all grow together. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to Founders Journey 01:07 Meet Maddy Niebauer 01:31 Growing up in the Bay Area 05:12 What changing schools taught her 09:11 College pressure and choosing a path 20:21 Peace Corps work in Ivory Coast 26:21 Tutoring centers and social enterprise 28:24 Columbia MBA and nonprofit consulting 36:19 Teach For America and chief of staff work 40:30 Starting The Chiefs and letting go as a founder

Randy Johnston on Building Technology Leadership That Actually Helps People

We talk with Randy Johnston about the kind of childhood that builds real problem solvers. He grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas, and learned by asking questions. He learned from mechanics, carpenters, electricians, and architects in his own neighborhood. As a result, he built a practical mindset early. That mindset shaped his approach to technology leadership long before he entered business. A curious start with Randy Johnston Randy also explains why listening matters more than status. He says you can learn from almost anyone, if you ask and stay quiet. That lesson runs through the whole conversation. It also explains why his work in technology leadership stayed focused on people, not prestige. Randy Johnston on choosing service over scale Later, we get into the choices that shaped his career. He turned down a job with IBM because he wanted to stay rooted in Kansas. That decision looked limiting at first. However, it opened a different path. He moved from programming to teaching, then into product design, consulting, and entrepreneurship. Along the way, technology leadership kept showing up through service, teaching, and thoughtful execution. He shares how he helped build products many people still use. That includes work tied to Microsoft Office, Excel pivot tables, ThinkPad TrackPoint, and more. Yet he doesn’t frame that work as fame. Instead, he frames it as useful work. That gives this episode a grounded view of technology leadership that many founders rarely hear. Lessons from Randy Johnston that still hold up The strongest part of this conversation may be Randy’s business philosophy. He doesn’t believe bigger always means better. In fact, he chose to shrink parts of his company when growth weakened relationships. He wanted to know people by name. He wanted to stay close to the work. Because of that, technology leadership becomes less about scale and more about responsibility. We also talk about money, ethics, and judgment. Randy argues that helping people creates stronger businesses than chasing revenue alone. He warns against secrecy, ego, and empty passion. Instead, he pushes founders to improve ideas, build sound processes, and keep an outward focus. That makes his view of technology leadership especially useful for entrepreneurs building for the long term. What founders can take from this episode By the end, this episode becomes a guide to better decision making. Randy talks about family, travel, balance, trust, and choosing work that aligns with your principles. He explains why he left companies that crossed legal lines. He also explains why ideas matter less than execution and improvement. So while the stories are remarkable, the real value sits in the lessons. If you care about building useful products, staying ethical, and leading with substance, this conversation delivers. It shows how curiosity compounds over time. It shows why relationships still matter. And it shows how a long career in technology can stay deeply human. Chapters 00:00 Growing up curious in Hutchinson Kansas 08:15 Why asking questions builds better entrepreneurs 17:15 Randy Johnston and the early days of computing 30:57 Vietnam era pressure and college decisions 41:02 From programmer to teacher and textbook author 42:49 Building products behind Apple IBM and Microsoft 51:00 Why bigger business is not always better 57:05 Ethics money and how founders should think 01:04:10 Family travel and balancing entrepreneurship 01:15:43 Advice for new entrepreneurs starting today

Kobi Simmat on Wealth Creation Delegation and Business Ownership

Kobi grew up in Sydney around national parks, beaches, boats, and building sites. So, work never sat in a separate box from life. His father ran an architecture and construction business, and the family often joined site visits on weekends and holidays. That early exposure shaped how he saw business, responsibility, and momentum. He didn’t describe entrepreneurship as glamorous. Instead, he saw it as a path to a more active and intentional life. That view frames the whole conversation around wealth creation. Why Kobi Simmat values ownership He explains that many people wait to feel inspired before they move. However, he believes people can learn to become passionate through action. He also argues that earning years are limited, so building resources for your family can’t stay optional. That idea drives his view of wealth creation. He talks openly about family roles, duty, and the need to prepare the next generation. As a result, this episode becomes less about status and more about stewardship. Kobi also shares how school never fit the way he learned. He showed up, paid attention, and still struggled in a traditional classroom. Then everything changed in technical college, where discussion replaced rote repetition. From there, he became a top student and found a learning style that worked. So, one of the clearest lessons here is simple. You still need education, but you must learn how to learn. The lesson Kobi Simmat would pass on Later, he walks through the business he built in construction consulting. His company helped contractors meet government standards in safety, quality, environment, and risk. The model created recurring revenue, long client retention, and a clear service structure. Yet the deeper lesson isn’t only about systems. It’s about leaving the technician role before it traps you. That shift matters because wealth creation gets harder when the owner stays buried in delivery. He tells a great story about finding a book in an airport called How to Grow Your Business by Taking Three Months Off. That idea pushed him to document work, delegate tasks, and step away. Then he actually left for South America for three months. Even during the global financial crisis, the business kept moving because the team had ownership. So, the episode turns delegation into a practical tool for wealth creation, not a soft leadership idea. By the end, Kobi makes a strong distinction between being a technician, a coach, and a shareholder. He believes too many founders stay attached to being the best operator. However, real progress starts when they train others, let people make small mistakes, and think like owners. That transition is central to wealth creation because it creates space, leverage, and long term value. We also hear how he brought forward years of earnings by selling his company, and why that sale fit his larger plan for family wealth, learning, and responsibility. Chapters 00:00 The book that changed how he ran business 00:00:57 Meet Kobi Simmat from Australia 00:02:31 Growing up with an entrepreneur father 00:05:21 Why work shaped every family holiday 00:10:07 His 5 AM routine and drive to keep moving 00:12:14 Why founders must build family wealth early 00:24:18 How he teaches business books to his son 00:26:05 Why school failed and discussion helped him learn 00:33:02 Choosing construction and business ownership 00:46:01 How delegation helped him take three months off