S2 E5 Competition & Strategy: Understanding Michael Porter

S2 E6 Seb Moran

Will and Patch are joined by Seb Moran to talk about creativity, inspirations, and what it really takes to bring an idea to life. Seb shares his path from tinkering in Photoshop and making early design work to building Sandgrain and developing a more mature creative process. This is a reminder that great work is never born fully formed. The gap between your taste and your skill closes the more work you produce. Repetition, constraints, collaboration, and the willingness to keep making are all ingredients in this process of BusinessCake Making.

S2 E5 Competition & Strategy: Understanding Michael Porter

If your work isn't profitable, it's not bad luck—it's bad strategy. Patrick and Will unpack Michael Porter's core ideas and why most founders misunderstand what strategy actually means. This episode reframes strategy as a disciplined set of choices—centered on profitability, shaped by industry structure, and defined by what a business chooses not to do. It's a candid look at how misunderstanding strategy leads to weak outcomes—and how applying it correctly can change everything. Email us with your questions and feedback at: businesscakepod@gmail.com

S2 E4 Create the Clarity You Need to Build - Robert Mallon

Patrick and Will are joined in this episode by executive coach Robert Mallon. Robert shares the lessons he's learned from more than two decades of coaching business owners and leaders. After starting his career in the restaurant industry and experiencing the uncertainty of companies shutting down, Robert found himself at a crossroads. A mentor helped him see something he couldn't see himself: his real gift was helping people grow. That realization launched a 23-year journey as an executive coach and advisor. Robert explains why most entrepreneurs don't fail because of bad ideas—they fail because of a lack of clarity, structure, and accountability. Through stories from his coaching work and practical examples from clients building businesses today, he breaks down the systems he uses to help founders focus: clear priorities every 90 days, disciplined time management, and the power of having someone who will ask the hard questions.

S2 E3 Never Split the Difference

Don't compromise. Discover and learn about the other person. Get what you actually want. Simple. Negotiations don't just happen for big deals or hostage situations. We all engage in negotiations every day. Patrick and Will share their takeaways from Chris Voss' book: Never Split the Difference. Chris has written the most practical book on knowing what you want, discovering what the other party wants, and negotiating to get everything you want. It sounds audacious, maybe even selfish. It's not either. Finally, Dillon Simpson joins to share how he has applied this in running his electrical company.

S2 E2 Jajeh Financial

In this conversation, Patrick shares his decade-plus journey building accounting services, building up his coffee shop Tchin Tchin's and their razor-thin margins, and the moment he chose to be an entrepreneur and who helped him get there. Intent has to be tied to action. We all want to eat the cake, but few want to take to the time or make the sacrifice to get into that kitchen and bake what your heart desires.