Lazy Leverage
Talking about using leverage in life and business.
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Episodes
18 hours ago
18 hours ago
Jon and Peter explore three frameworks that challenge conventional wisdom about running small businesses. They reveal why all-or-nothing thinking kills momentum, when authentic transparency becomes a liability, and how AI is forcing a reckoning with what real value looks like.
They unpack what they call the “floors-and-ceilings” concept, which reframes habit building and business processes. Let’s say you’re onboarding a new team member. Your ceiling might be comprehensive task maps and week-long training, but your floor is simply defining what success looks like in six months. Never skip the floor, always aspire to the ceiling.
This framework can do wonders for perfectionist entrepreneurs prone to all-or-nothing thinking. If you can't execute perfectly, you don't execute at all. That’s a recipe for paralysis and missed opportunities!
Next, Jon and Peter talk about how a little magic and mystery can do wonders for a leader’s authority. Drawing from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, they make the case that, while radical transparency feels authentic, people actually crave some mystique. The fitness trainer who measures your ulna and checks your zodiac before recommending weight training creates more buy-in than one who simply says "lift weights and eat fewer carbs." Both deliver the same advice, but presentation matters.
Finally, they’re talking AI in workplace communication. Both Jon and Peter caught team members using AI to draft emails and reports, sometimes brilliantly (analyzing 15 candidate profiles against job requirements), sometimes disastrously (generic responses to client questions that should demonstrate personal attention).
Jon uses the analogy of recruiter-as-sommelier, where AI can pour the wine, but only humans can make the subjective recommendations that build confidence through the buying process.
The future belongs to people who know exactly when to automate data analysis and when authentic human judgment becomes non-negotiable!
KEY TOPICS:(02:03) The Anti-Perfectionist Framework(08:19) Magic, Mystery, and Authority in Business Relationships(20:12) When Team Members Use AI Wrong(27:00) Recruiters as Sommeliers(33:14) Radical Candor
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
7 days ago
7 days ago
According to Jacob Kline of Inkline Homes, his remote Filipino team members outperform his local American workers at a fraction of the cost, and they actually ask for more work on slow days.
After seven years flipping 300 double wide mobile homes in Florida, Jacob's building something radical at Incline Homes: luxury construction quality at bottom-10% pricing. Think IKEA's disruption of furniture, but for housing. His secret weapon isn't cheaper materials or cutting corners. It's ditching the traditional overhead-heavy construction model for a lean operation powered by global talent and AI.
Jacob shares how yesterday's leadership strengths become today's constraints. He learned this the hard way. His obsession with controlling every detail nearly tanked his business when he couldn't find quality project management. The breakthrough came when he realized his need for control was the actual bottleneck, not the lack of talent.
Jon's experience mirrors this evolution. He was drowning running a construction business with unreliable local talent (finding mini liquor bottles in desks of people making $30/hour). Global talent didn't just solve his staffing problem. It, in fact, reignited his passion for business. His Filipino team members think about improving the business in their free time, calling old leads for reviews without being asked.
As businesses scale, founders must evolve from doing everything to orchestrating systems. Jacob discovered his construction expertise was limiting growth because he couldn't delegate effectively. Once he let go and trusted global talent with core functions, his capacity exploded.
This isn't about replacing American workers, but strategic allocation. Jacob’s example demonstrates the value of paying local talent more for high-touch work while global talent handles the systematic, repeatable tasks. The result: better service, happier teams, and margins that allow truly affordable housing without sacrificing quality.
Key Topics:(01:14) Introduction to Incline Homes and the IKEA Approach to Construction(04:22) Global Talent Outperforming Local Workers(08:42) “You Need An Apprentice, Not An Assistant”(12:42) Self-Awareness of Your Level of Operational Maturity(21:35) When to Hire Managerial Talent(27:07) Scaling to Your Current Revenue(39:25) Sagan's Talent Pool and Hiring Innovation(41:00) Building Solutions for Your Own Problems
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Nov 21, 2025
Friday Nov 21, 2025
Jon and Anna walk through Sagan's dramatic talent pool transformation. From clunky PDFs to a sophisticated searchable platform, they’re demonstrating what modern internal software development looks like in the AI era.
The original concept, simply, is that candidates who didn't get hired were already vetted, interviewed, and qualified. Rather than let this "sawdust" go to waste, Sagan created a talent pool where members could hire these candidates for free.
One member has made over 20 hires this way!
But the initial execution was rough. PDFs scattered across Google Drive, static posts in Circle, and no way to search or filter. Members were frustrated. They wanted searchability, confirmed availability, and a seamless experience integrated directly into their member portal.
The new platform solves these pain points systematically. Real-time availability confirmation prevents candidates from expiring before members can act. Advanced search filters by country, skills, and specific software. A "reserved" function prevents the talent auction problem, which is when multiple members request the same candidate, driving up rates and creating chaos.
Anna's key lesson from managing this project resonates beyond Sagan: you need to be specific about what you want, but don't let perfect planning paralyze you.
The first draft enables iteration. Once you see a prototype, feedback becomes concrete rather than abstract.
Sagan's development philosophy is "make it exist, then make it good." The platform will continue evolving with features like talent drops, personalized notifications, and specialized alerts.
Future additions might include: notify me when you add a CSR from South America, or alert me to full-stack developers under a certain rate.
This isn't just about hiring. It's about building internal software quickly using AI coding tools, getting feedback fast, and iterating relentlessly.
KEY TOPICS:(01:34) The Talent Pool Concept: Turning Interview "Sawdust" Into Value(04:10) Problems Being Solved: Availability, Searchability, Integration(08:22) Full Candidate Profiles: Video, Resume, Interview Q&A(10:01) Lessons from Developing the Talent Pool(11:22) Make It Exist, Then Make It Good
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
Jon and Peter dive deep into a problem every growing business faces: team members saying "I'm too busy" and processes accumulating like barnacles on a ship's hull. More than just a matter of workload management, this issue is about the fundamental architecture of how work gets done.
So what exactly makes up these "barnacles"? According to Jon, it’s threefold: outdated forms, irrelevant marketing copy, and processes that solved problems from three years ago but nobody remembers why they exist.
Peter connects this with the principle of Chesterton's Fence. That is, never remove something until you understand why it was built.
To begin solving this problem, establish what you want this person doing at their highest level.
That’s their "zone of genius."
For a CFO, that's strategic planning rather than transactional bookkeeping. For a business owner at $2-4M revenue, it's growing revenue and developing leadership instead of fulfillment work.
It also helps to do a detailed task mapping exercise. List every output, identify inputs needed, describe the transformation process, and define triggers.
Jon's framework adds complexity and time assessments to identify "high time, low difficulty" tasks. Those are the lowest hanging fruit for delegation. Peter had the revelation that this exercise is often unintuitive for team members who can't articulate where their hours actually go.
Finally, avoid fragmenting roles too much (increasing internal transaction costs), but recognize that labor specialization is actually a sign of operational maturity. Both Jon and Peter hate documentation and SOPs. But they hate being tied to their desks even more.
As George Soros said: "I work furiously because I am furious that I have to work."
Key Topics:(04:00) The Barnacles Analogy(09:04) Understanding Why Things Exist Before Removing Them(12:06) Define Their Zone of Genius(14:58) Task Mapping: Outputs, Inputs, Transformation, and Triggers(21:12) Difficulty vs. Time: Finding the Low-Hanging Fruit(27:11) How Specialized Should Your Roles Be?(39:32) The Pain of Transformation vs. The Golden Ring of Freedom
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Nov 14, 2025
Friday Nov 14, 2025
Jon sits down with Sagan’s Head of Recruitment, Sofía Bravo, to talk about what American team leaders often overlook when working with people from Latin America.
Sofía identifies the Latin American default: when something goes wrong, the immediate response is performative work: lengthy reports, detailed timelines, exhaustive documentation. These are all designed to prove effort was made. The fear, especially among junior employees, drives them to muddy the waters with complexity rather than deliver clear, confident analysis.
Problems arising from this phenomenon often stem from a fundamental misunderstanding about what managers want. When a boss asks "what happened?", junior team members hear "who's to blame?" So they build defensive fortresses of documentation. But what Jon and Sofía actually need is the thinking: tell me what you know (facts), what you don't know (gaps), and what you think (judgment). That confident assessment is the actual value.
The solution centers on radical candor. That’s high care combined with high honesty. Jon's approach is to explicitly acknowledge when he's about to give hard feedback, but frame it with demonstrated care. This creates psychological safety for honesty in both directions.
Two years ago, Sofia would've struggled with bluntness. Now she catches herself using "we" instead of direct feedback and immediately corrects. Leadership reinforces this by selectively praising what matters. Not "everything's green" but "you owned the mistake and drove the solution."
This cultural challenge isn't unique to Latin America, but recognizing these defaults makes them addressable through deliberate modeling, selective praise, and relentless focus on judgment over justification.
KEY TOPICS:(01:00) The Latin American Default: Justification Over Analysis(04:08) Performative Work(10:48) Leadership Modeling(14:22) Radical Candor(17:12) Building Relationship Bank Accounts Before Honesty
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Nov 11, 2025
Tuesday Nov 11, 2025
Christian Ruf, special operations veteran turned executive search leader, delivers a masterclass in expectation-setting that exposes why most delegation fails before it begins.
Effective leadership, according to Christian, rests on four pillars: feedback, accountability, consistency, and expectations. But expectations come first. Without clear standards, the other three collapse into subjective interpretation and frustration.
Christian's three S's framework cuts through management theory bloat:
Specific means zero room for interpretation. "End of week" becomes "Friday 3PM PST, PDF format, in my inbox." The rule of thumb is to ask, “Could a four-year-old understand it?”
Shared understanding gives people the "why" behind the task, enabling autonomous decision-making when you're not there. Cooking dinner for two versus twenty requires completely different approaches. Without context, people optimize for the wrong outcome.
Supported means providing actual resources: training, SOPs, budget, organizational access. Asking someone to do Turkish getups without a kettlebell sounds absurd, yet managers do the equivalent daily.
At the same time, you shouldn’t stop giving your team the "why". Your purpose needs repetition until it becomes organizational muscle memory. He introduces the brief-back technique, where you have team members explain their understanding before executing. This allows leaders to catch misalignment before it becomes failure.
The framework's power lies in its diagnostic utility. When someone underperforms, leaders ask: Was it specific? Shared? Supported? Three yes answers mean it's a performance issue. Any no means it's a leadership failure. This shifts accountability where it belongs and prevents the toxic cycle of blaming team members for unclear expectations.
KEY TOPICS:(02:02) The Four Pillars of Effective Leadership(05:10) Pillar One: Specific Expectations(08:24) Pillar Two: Shared Understanding(12:38) Pillar Three: Supported Execution(15:24) The Three S's Diagnostic for Failed Expectations
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Nov 06, 2025
Thursday Nov 06, 2025
Jon and Peter tackle two challenges facing successful entrepreneurs: being truly present with family despite physical attendance, and navigating career transitions without severing valuable connections.
Ever felt "a million miles away at work” when spending time with family? You’re not alone. It’s a common paradox that many an entrepreneur has to deal with. That “paradox” of being present in body when you’re out with family, but absent in mind because all you’re thinking about is work.
The entrepreneurial personality that drives business success (obsessive, curious, relentless) becomes the enemy of presence. Entrepreneurs often swap one addiction for another: trading work obsession for ultramarathon training or school board positions, still pressing the gas pedal instead of learning to simply be.
Peter introduces the framework of quality versus quantity time. Having household help isn't about avoiding parenting. It enables better engagement during hours spent together. And it’s not an easy transition for entrepreneurs. Imagine building and managing "palaces of business operations" where everything bends to their control, then returning home where nothing does.
On career transitions, Jon argues against two extremes. Don't make your next chapter entirely about your previous identity (the Navy SEAL who only does SEAL ventures), but don't abandon it completely either. The answer is to "reinvent yourself 25% at a time" by leveraging your background to open doors while building toward something new.
Peter adds Charlie Munger's principle: "The first rule of compounding: Never interrupt it unnecessarily," especially regarding relationships. That fraternity photo from twenty years ago? Those shirtless beer-drinking kids are now senior lawyers, venture-backed founders, and doctors. That makes for an invaluable network that compounds over decades.
KEY TOPICS:(01:46) Physical Presence vs. Mental Presence with Kids(08:00) Trading Addictions: Why Entrepreneurs Can't Just Sit(17:26) Psychedelics as Tools for Presence(19:00) Quality Over Quantity Time: The Case for Household Help(23:35) Unlearning Survival Habits(30:47) Reinventing Yourself 25% at a Time(38:11) Never Interrupt Compounding (Especially Relationships)(45:32) Carl Rogers on Appreciating People Like Sunsets
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Oct 30, 2025
Thursday Oct 30, 2025
Jon sits down with Christian Ruf to discuss why labor-intensive small businesses need both affordable global talent and battle-tested leaders who thrive in chaos.
Christian’s specialty is recruiting former military personnel. He’s not just thanking veterans for their service, but also solving a specific problem for lower-middle-market companies stuck between drowning in operations and being unable to afford a $250K president.
Christian personally experienced the ego death necessary to understand what small business operators actually need. After all, he’s flown helicopters in special operations and power-washing patios for country music stars, earning more than $20/hour. All drawn from real and raw on-the-ground experience!
Jon and Christian distinguish between two hiring categories. First, the premium tier: former special forces operators with MBAs commanding $180-250K as COOs and presidents.
But the real volume, and arguably bigger impact, sits in the second category: former company commanders earning their undergrad at state schools, serving 5-7 years, then spending a few years discovering they hate wealth management. These leaders command roughly $10K/month and provide asymmetric value to small business owners who need someone to "just run the show."
Only 1 of 55 placements had industry experience. Operators need to read between the lines of a resume to find these guys and girls. A pilot who flew night missions at 300 feet over Syria while being shot at can probably manage restaurant operations. The military community provides a translated skill set that small business owners struggle to evaluate: leadership under chaos, accountability systems, and the ability to link strategic intent to tactical execution.
TIMESTAMPS:(01:23) From Special Operations Helicopter Pilot to Small Business Operator(05:42) The Handyman Ego Death: Power Washing Investor Patios(10:17) Strategic Partnership: 50% Off Executive Recruiting for Sagan Members(13:35) Two Categories of Military Hires: Upper vs Lower End(15:07) Category One: Special Forces + MBA = $180-250K Leadership(20:56) Why Industry Experience Doesn't Matter(22:20) Category Two: The $10K/Month GM Who Just Runs the Show(31:50) Translation Services: Flying at 300 Feet Over Syria vs Restaurant Stress
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Oct 28, 2025
Tuesday Oct 28, 2025
Jon and Peter tackle the hardest pivot for operator-minded entrepreneurs: recognizing when systematic optimization becomes a distraction from strategic leverage.
Peter's consulting for AppFolio, a publicly-traded property management software company with thousands of customers in Crane's exact target market. He's speaking on stage with their CMO at conferences. Yet, up till recently, he was still grinding through membership drives like a bootstrapped startup.
Jon's intervention is part confrontation, part masterclass in "deal guy" thinking. While Peter was perfecting his systems, Jon believed he was overlooking the partnership that could deliver more members in one email blast than six months of webinars.
In short, Jon says that engineers optimize existing systems, while deal-makers architect new leverage points that make old systems irrelevant.
Next, Jon and Peter discuss vehicle selection within industries. They believe that no operator is ever stuck in a bad business model, but that they’re likely adjacent to better ones. Property managers become software companies. Gym owners become SaaS founders. The question isn't whether your industry has potential, but whether you've chosen the right vehicle and identified your center of gravity. That single relationship or initiative that carries along a dozen minor results.
Jon then introduces backwards planning from desired outcomes, the art of having your pitch ready when green lights appear, and why you must be prepared to "go all the way" in the moment. Peter explores the Rule of 40 as a forcing function: if your business isn't either growing fast or printing money, you're playing the wrong game entirely
KEY TOPICS:(02:23) Why Jon Isn’t Into Clickbait for Top-of-Funnel(11:03) Stop Running Bake Sales and Just Close the Deal(17:20) Being a "Deal Guy" vs. Systems Thinker(19:00) The Center of Gravity: Marine Corps Strategic Thinking(22:08) Vehicle Selection Within Your Industry(26:00) Momentum in Deal-Making: Being Ready to Close(30:00) The Rule of 40 for Business Health(34:00) Competing With Your Customers or Vendors(41:23) Toyota Way Principles for Small Business(44:00) Crane Conference Insights and the Power of Pins
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Oct 23, 2025
Thursday Oct 23, 2025
Jon coaches Priscilla, a first-time manager at Sagan, through one of management's fundamental challenges: being accountable for everything while not doing everything yourself. Priscilla manages six recruiters and struggles with the classic new manager trap: when something goes wrong, she pulls control back and starts reviewing every email.
Jon introduces the Marine Corps concept of "directed telescopes," where managers selectively sample their team's work rather than monitoring everything. Instead of being CC'd on every email, he advises Priscilla to periodically dive deep into specific projects, checking calendars, reviewing select emails, and asking targeted questions during one-on-ones. This creates "fingertip feel", or knowing what's happening without being in every meeting.
The conversation reveals a critical distinction between mistake types. Jon embraces "aggressive mistakes" (errors made while pushing boundaries or exercising judgment) and has zero tolerance for "sloppy mistakes" stemming from laziness or lack of attention. When a team member pushes back too hard on a client, Jon backs them up. When someone leaves AI prompts visible in an email, that's unacceptable.
Priscilla can't work her way out of this problem by staying later and reviewing more emails. She must think her way out by developing her team. The goal is getting her voice into their heads, so they anticipate her standards without needing constant oversight. Drawing from his own experience with mentors, Jon describes how effective leaders create space for growth while maintaining clear expectations and documentation through proper feedback frameworks.
KEY TOPICS(01:40) Why Leaders Need to Foster Accountability Without Being a Control Freak(04:55) "Directed Telescopes": The Marine Corps Sampling Method(06:51) Creating "Fingertip Feel" Without Micromanaging(09:31) Mistakes of Aggression vs Mistakes of Sloppiness(12:51) The Four Steps of Giving Feedback Framework(20:11) Getting Your Voice Into Your Team's Heads(24:12) Rose-Colored Glasses: Priscilla's Leadership Strength and Weakness
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Oct 21, 2025
Tuesday Oct 21, 2025
Jon and Peter crack open the real opportunity in AI for small businesses (hint: it's not what most operators think). Forget personal productivity hacks that save you five minutes on email. Forget launching the next big SaaS product that becomes a customer support nightmare.
The gold sits squarely in category two: internal tools for your team.
Jon's built $50-100K of monthly value at Sagan using Replit and some API connections. Not by selling software, but by solving their actual constraint: screening 1,000 applicants for a single role. What used to take a week and a half now happens instantly, with AI dynamically ranking candidates so humans can start at the top of the list.
Peter's advice for the last 12 years was "conform your business to the tools." Things are a little different now. With AI coding assistants, you can build exactly what you want, how you want it to work.
No more spaghetti workflows. No more feature requests. No more conferences.
The framework is deceptively simple: identify your constraint, then attack it with AI and automation. For Sagan, it was screening speed. For property managers, it might be lead flow.
Jon and Peter then go tactical. If you want to blow past your competitors, have AI monitor their listings, identify the property owner, generate custom direct mail with an impressionistic rendering of their house, and dynamically select messaging based on which competitor they're using. Total cost: $130 in Replit credits.
Big companies have thousand-person software teams building internal tools. Now that capability is democratized. Your maintenance guy can get an optimized route with required tools pulled from inventory. Not because you're a 20,000-door operation, but because you spent two hours in Replit.
TIMESTAMPS:(01:00) Three Categories: Personal, Internal, and External Tools(02:04) Why Internal Tools Are the Sweet Spot(11:54) Theory of Constraints: Finding Your Attack Vector(18:25) Property Management Lead Flow Constraints(22:04) Building an Owner Portal in Two Hours(25:46) Sagan's AI Screening System: 1,000 Applications Ranked Instantly(39:12) Automated Competitor Targeting with Custom Direct Mail
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday Oct 15, 2025
Wednesday Oct 15, 2025
Jon and Peter explore how stepping away from your business acts as the ultimate forcing function for operational excellence. Peter's "Crane break" concept (taking a month off annually) isn't about vacation; it's about exposing every bottleneck, dependency, and broken process that keeps you chained to daily operations.
By putting the break on the calendar five months out and announcing it to his team, Peter creates urgency around solving constraints. First it's password resets. Then payroll. Then exception handling. Each solved constraint buys more freedom.
Jon introduces a crucial framework: businesses exist to serve their owners, not the other way around. This isn't about neglecting customers. It's about recognizing that an exhausted, trapped owner serves no one well. He describes entrepreneurship as climbing Maslow's hierarchy: first you make payroll, then get health insurance, then finally ask bigger questions about mission and meaning. Many entrepreneurs get stuck at lower levels, never graduating to consider whether they even like their industry.
The discussion pivots to transaction costs and firm boundaries, exploring how falling costs create new business models. Where once you needed McKinsey and a Manila office to hire globally, now you can direct-hire through platforms like Sagan. Similarly, businesses like Yardzen unbundled design from installation, using Facebook ads and remote designers while letting local contractors handle execution risk.
Jon and Peter challenge operators to think differently about constraints. Rather than collecting frameworks and tools hoping something sticks, use time freedom as your north star. Every operational decision should answer one question: does this get me closer to or further from my Crane break?
Key Topics:(02:09) The Crane Break Concept: Taking a Month Off Annually(07:00) Property Management's Operational Intensity vs Other Sectors(09:23) Constraint-Based Thinking for Time Freedom(12:34) "A Business Exists to Serve Its Owner" Philosophy(15:14) Hierarchy of Entrepreneurial Needs: From Survival to Purpose(25:59) Negative Goals: Knowing What You Don't Want(32:48) The Yardzen Model: Unbundling Design from Installation(36:03) Global Hiring: From McKinsey to Direct Access
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday Oct 01, 2025
Wednesday Oct 01, 2025
Jon and Peter debate their contrasting approaches to building teams in small businesses. Jon champions a "build" philosophy - hiring entry-level talent, particularly global workers, and developing them into leaders over time.
His approach is deeply influenced by Marine Corps culture, particularly when it comes to indoctrination, loyalty, and creating a distinct organizational ethos. He’s never hired a six-figure employee outside of commission-based salespeople, preferring to cultivate talent from within.
Peter takes the opposite stance with a "buy" strategy, bringing in experienced professionals who command higher salaries but deliver immediate results. His engineering background shaped his preference for expertise and the ability to hit the ground running. Peter argues that paying premium rates for proven talent often delivers better ROI, particularly for critical business functions.
Peter's property management company provided predictable recurring revenue, allowing for bigger bets on expensive hires. Jon operated with tighter cash flow constraints, making survival the priority.
They explore the role of business coaches and consultants, with Jon skeptical of their value while Peter embraces external expertise. Both acknowledge their approaches have merit, suggesting the optimal strategy likely falls between their extremes, depending on business stage, cash flow, and growth objectives.
Key Topics:(01:38) Jon’s “Build” Philosophy vs Peter’s “Buy” Strategy(05:39) Jon's Passion for Training and Developing People(12:43) Marine Corps Culture Influence on Organizational Philosophy(16:51) Higher Floor vs Higher Ceiling: Comparing Hiring Strategies(26:54) The Value of Business Coaches and Consultants(36:10) Building a "Presidential Guard" of Loyal Long-Term Team Members
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Sep 12, 2025
Friday Sep 12, 2025
In this episode, Peter sits down with Jon Matzner to discuss the integration of artificial intelligence in small business operations. They begin by exploring the host’s day-to-day challenges and how to stay on top of AI implementation within his own company.
Jon shares how Sagan uses AI to streamline processes and emphasizes the importance of founders being actively involved in meaningful AI adoption. They also discuss how to differentiate between tactical and strategic uses of AI to create real value.
The conversation dives into the need for a strategic vision to guide AI projects and how to build trust and consistency within the team. They offer practical advice on identifying opportunities for AI implementation by looking at company outputs and SLAs.
Finally, the episode covers continuous process improvement, experimenting with new technologies, and rebuilding trust with teams. Listeners will gain key insights into leadership, AI strategies, and transforming workflows in small businesses.
Key Topics:(00:46) AI at Work: Transforming Small Business(01:35) When AI Gets You Tangled in Ops-I don’t even know who does what in my company(06:31) AI Beyond the Buzz: Assistance vs Strategy(16:07) If you have AI, what is your manager’s job?(21:31) AI: Still an Art, Not a Science(26:25) Lean Lessons: Fix What Matters(31:40) We should get a factory, Jon! (or not?)(35:18) Strategic Choices and Competitive Advantages(42:48) Leading with Trust and Consistency, not with AI(58:20) The baby formula (better with twins) - final thoughts
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Sep 05, 2025
Friday Sep 05, 2025
Jon sits down with Aizik Zimerman, who bought J. Blanton Plumbing three years ago at $6 million in revenue and has since grown it to a $25 million run rate—without acquiring a single company. His secret? He doesn't think he runs a plumbing company at all.
"We're a consumer sales and marketing business," Aizik says. "We just happen to install plumbing." This mindset shift explains why he has two full-stack developers, a fleet of overseas recruiters, and runs 10 marketing events per week across Chicago.
Jon talks to Aizik about his unconventional approach to the skilled labor shortage. While competitors struggle to find plumbers, he's built a 40-person global team handling everything from inbound calls to permit pulling. This allows him to pay his field technicians $4-6 above market rates without raising prices, creating what Jon calls "labor specialization at $10 million instead of $200 million."
They dive deep into the power of obsession. Aizik admits he listens to home services podcasts for fun and treats business like a game where you need to master both consumer branding and blue-collar labor management. As Jon notes, channeling Naval: "It's hard to be the best plumber in the world, but straightforward to be the best plumber-marketer combination."
They also break down bet sizing, multichannel marketing density, and why organic growth beats acquisitions when you're printing money. Aizik's approach is to find what works, then do 10x more of it.
Key Topics:(05:40) From 20 to 130 Employees: The Growth Story(13:51) Solving the Skilled Labor Crisis with Global Talent(18:56) Single-Task Global Employees and ROI(22:37) Labor Specialization: The $10M Company Secret(25:27) Revenue Stair-Steps: $6M to $25M Journey(32:21) Multichannel Marketing and Geographic Domination(35:17) The Naval Principle: Being the Best Combination(44:21) Bet Sizing and Risk Management
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Aug 29, 2025
Friday Aug 29, 2025
Why do some businesses thrive on cold outreach and educational content while others find these tactics completely ineffective?
Peter draws on his own recent experience where, despite running monthly webinars all year with heavy promotion across multiple channels, his property management company barely attracts 20 live attendees (half being employees). Meanwhile, a hastily organized webinar for his other audience of property management business owners pulled 250 attendees with minimal effort.
"You can't cold call somebody and say, 'Hey, do you have any leaky pipes?'" Jon quips, making the point that property management marketing differs from other industries. When someone needs a plumber, they need one NOW. When someone needs a property manager, they either desperately need one or they don't. There's no middle ground you can market your way into.
Next, Jon and Peter talk marketing economics. With a $45,000 lifetime value but a one-year payback period where they lose money, Peter's property management business faces unique challenges. Jon proposes radical solutions: downselling to free management forever (monetizing through maintenance fees) or creating intro offers that recover customer acquisition costs immediately.
They explore the difference between home services (search-driven, time-sensitive, skilled labor constrained) and home improvement (demand creation, higher ticket, schedulable). Property management sits awkwardly between these models, explaining why consolidators prefer acquiring 150-door portfolios over organic growth.
Finally, Jon pushes Peter toward more aggressive marketing tactics: exploding offers, upsell sequences, and the Hormozi principle that "sales create sales." While Peter worries about cheapening his brand, Jon argues he's nowhere near that danger zone.
Understanding your industry's fundamental dynamics matters more than copying tactics from other sectors. The real work of leadership is setting and showing the standard, whether that's in marketing strategy or morning standups.
Key Topics:(04:34) Why Companies Acquire vs Grow Organically(17:23) The 3% Buyer's Pyramid Problem(25:05) Free Management Forever Downselling Strategy(32:05) The Power of Enriched Data Collection(36:50) Hormozi's "Sales Create Sales" Philosophy(42:55) Setting Standards as Leadership
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Aug 15, 2025
Friday Aug 15, 2025
Jon and Peter crack open one of the most perplexing puzzles in modern B2B marketing: why Peter's tiny 15,000-subscriber newsletter drives a significant fraction of what Daring Fireball makes with 2.5 million monthly visitors. And why Shaan Puri, with his top-10 business podcast, converted exactly 6 customers from 550 referrals to Somewhere.
The conversation starts with their origin stories - Jon's 2009 CrossFit philosophy blog that got him flown places at 24, Peter's Twitter journey that Moses Kagan pushed him into -but quickly evolves into something more profound. They're seeing a fundamental shift in how skeptical business owners make purchasing decisions. The old playbook of interrupt marketing, Facebook ads, and growth hacking for maximum eyeballs is dying.
Replacing it are high-trust vertical communities where people actually pay to participate. In fact, Jon says that he’d rather own a vertical community than a vertical SaaS right now. In an era of AI-generated content slop, business owners will increasingly retreat to closed communities for their most important decisions.
Jon and Peter dissect why generic business influencers fail while niche operators thrive. The secret sauce isn't just authenticity - it's having skin in the game and being willing to piss people off. As Jon puts it, channeling Chappelle: "You don't always have to be funny, but you always have to be interesting."
Key Topics:(08:15) The B2B Marketing Crisis: Why Vendors Can't Reach Customers(11:00) Shaan Puri's 1% Conversion Rate Problem(19:29) Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook(22:58) Why Vertical Communities Beat Vertical SaaS(27:57) The Peter Playbook vs. The Media Playbook(32:21) Authenticity and Showing Up Online(35:47) The Michelin Guide Strategy for Customer Acquisition(41:00) Having Skin in the Game: Why Business Influencers Fail(45:46) Final Thoughts: Automatic Blinds and AI Customer Databases
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Aug 08, 2025
Friday Aug 08, 2025
Jon and Peter dive into one of those ideas that sounds crazy at first but might actually be brilliant: buying luxury vacation properties as a business expense that doubles as a killer member benefit. Jon's been noodling on this concept for months, and it's finally survived his brutal idea-filtering process (which involves annoying everyone from his CFO to random Twitter buddies until the bad ideas die off).
Here's the pitch: Sagan would purchase several properties—think ski chalets, beach houses, maybe something in Mexico—and offer them to members at 50-75% below Airbnb rates. The kicker? Thanks to bonus depreciation and some creative tax structuring, the whole thing could essentially pay for itself while adding a premium benefit that helps with member retention.
Peter initially pushes back hard on the operational nightmare this could become. Nobody wants to field calls about broken ice makers or dirty towels. But as they hash it out, the vision gets clearer: professional property management with multiple layers between Jon and any actual guest issues, properties strategically located for both vacations and corporate retreats, and a focus on serving their high-trust member base rather than random Airbnb guests.
Successful entrepreneurs develop strategy not through formal PowerPoints and weighted decision matrices, but through relentless debate, pattern recognition, and asking "will this actually f***ing work?" over and over until the answer becomes clear.
Key Topics:(01:49) The Art of Business Ideation: Volume Shooting vs. Analysis Paralysis(11:56) Introducing the Vacation Property Concept for Sagan Members(15:29) Bonus Depreciation and Tax Strategy Explained(21:29) Solving the Property Management Problem Before It Starts(27:51) Facilitating Global Team Meetups at Member Properties(31:11) Location Strategy: East Coast, West Coast, International(34:06) Building the Management Structure and Avoiding Operational Headaches
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Jon sits down with Wes Gay, a StoryBrand certified consultant who's been living and breathing the framework for almost a decade. He’s here to break down why most business messaging falls flat (and how to fix it).
The conversation dives deep into the seven-part StoryBrand framework, which treats your customer as the hero of their own story while positioning your business as the guide. Wes walks through each step: hero (your customer), problem (what they're struggling with), guide (you, with empathy and authority), plan (clear steps to success), call to action (what they should do next), and success or failure (the stakes).
What makes this framework so powerful is its simplicity. Instead of talking about how great your company is or listing features, you focus on solving specific problems for specific people. Wes shares real examples, from CarMax's three-step car selling process to how changing one button from "Schedule a Demo" to "Talk to an Expert" increased leads by 40%.
The second half gets tactical about finding your ideal customer. Wes reveals his favorite exercise: asking business owners to identify their favorite customers from the last two years - the ones who paid full price, said yes fastest, and became repeat buyers. Usually, one type emerges as 85% of the business.
They wrap up discussing how StoryBrand thinking can help refine Sagan's messaging, moving beyond "we provide global talent" to something more specific about helping growing companies hire affordably.
People don't buy what's best, they buy what they understand best.
Key Topics:
(01:36) The 7-Part StoryBrand Framework(21:58) Why Sagan's Messaging Could Be Clearer (And How to Fix It)(32:22) The Exercise That Reveals Your Real Target Customer(46:20) How One Button Change Increased Leads by 40%(47:08) Ideas for Using AI to Mine Customer Testimonials for Better Messaging
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Jul 24, 2025
Thursday Jul 24, 2025
Jon sits down with Brian Wilson, a retired Marine Corps Major who now heads Sagan's Knowledge and Automation group, to break down why most business owners are terrible at implementing AI and automation (and it's not for the reasons you might think).
Right off the bat, Brian gives us a reality check: most people creating content about AI and automation have never actually turned wrenches in a real business. They're content experts, not practitioners. He shares stories from live training sessions where it takes 23 minutes just to get someone to admit what their actual problem is, because everyone's been conditioned to think they need complex tech solutions instead of addressing the real issues.
They dive deep into the "duct tape and zip ties first" philosophy: why you should always try the simplest possible solution before building anything fancy. Brian tells the story of talking a nonprofit out of a $20,000 custom CRM when a $1,600/year data entry person could handle everything with a spreadsheet.
The second half gets into the psychology of why business owners get seduced by shiny new tools instead of mastering the fundamentals. Using Marine Corps doctrine and CrossFit analogies, Jon and Brian explain why the most successful people use the simplest tools with virtuoso-level execution.
They wrap up by introducing Sagan's new "skill sprints", 30-day challenges designed to build real automation habits through daily practice with a cohort, starting with company wikis in August.
Key Topics:(03:08) Why Most AI Content Creators Have Never Actually Solved Real Problems(11:18) When SaaS Solutions Actually Make Your Problems Worse(16:08) The "Duct Tape and Zip ties First" Philosophy of Automation(24:36) Why Action Produces Information (And Planning Doesn't)(34:27) The Power of 30-Day Skill Sprints for Building Automation Habits
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
Jon and Peter tackle one of the most stressful parts of running a business that nobody talks about: getting sued. Or threatened with lawsuits. Or dealing with angry lawyers sending nasty letters demanding ridiculous amounts of money.
It happens to almost every business owner, but nobody shares war stories because of shame, legal settlements with gag clauses, and the general awkwardness of admitting you're in legal hot water. Jon and Peter break that silence with practical advice from the trenches.
They cover how to tell the difference between someone who's actually dangerous (rich people who can afford to throw $20K at a lawyer just to mess with you) versus someone who's all bark and no bite (anyone who mentions their "brother-in-law the lawyer"). You'll learn why the person who can afford legal fees longest usually wins (regardless of who's actually right).
The conversation gets into the nitty-gritty: when to involve your attorney, how to respond to demand letters without making things worse, and why having an employee handbook might save your ass even if you never look at it. They also discuss the psychology of disputes and how staying calm and professional can defuse situations that could otherwise cost you thousands.
Plus, they touch on going on offense: when it's worth suing someone (spoiler: almost never) and how AI is starting to level the playing field in legal disputes.
Key Topics:(00:47) Sagan Command Center: Building Simple Tools That Actually Work(10:18) Peter’s Game-Changing Browser Extension for Organizing Links(18:23) Dealing with Legal Disputes as a Business Owner(31:51) How to Recognize Serious Legal Threats vs. Empty Bluster(46:51) Demystifying the Economics of Litigation(57:14) Going on Offense: When to Sue and When to Walk Away
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday Jul 16, 2025
Wednesday Jul 16, 2025
Peter unpacks what he learned from taking a full month off (his fourth annual sabbatical) including what worked, what didn’t, and how stepping back clarified his relationship with work, team leadership, and systems.
Spoiler: nothing broke. The business ran just fine. And that’s the point.
Jon and Peter dive into how structured time off isn’t just a luxury - it’s a leadership test. It exposes whether your team and systems are truly ready to stand without you. But it also creates clarity: Over time, through his yearly retreats, Peter rediscovered the joy of meaningful work.
The second half of the conversation takes a sharp turn into business frameworks with a breakdown of the Danaher Problem Solving Process, a step-by-step method so effective it’s taught to every new employee at billion-dollar manufacturer Danaher. Jon lays out the form they now use at Sagan to rigorously define, diagnose, and permanently fix recurring business issues.
You’ll also learn how to apply a structured framework to define problems clearly, trace them to their root causes, and implement fixes that actually stick. More importantly, Jon and Peter show how to embed those solutions - through SOP updates, team communication, and accountability - so your team isn’t just reacting to surface-level symptoms or solving the same issues over and over again.
Key Topics:(02:05) What Taking 30 Days Off Can Reveal About Your Business(16:28) Danaher’s Problem Solving Process: A Breakdown(23:00) The One-Page Problem-Solving Form Every Team Should Use(31:04) Other Ways the Danaher Process Unearths Issues in Your Company(34:08) Using AI to Coach Yourself Through GTD and EOS Workflows(44:55) Using Claude to Build Dynamic Business Models Without Spreadsheets
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Jul 03, 2025
Thursday Jul 03, 2025
Hiring a VA is easy. Turning them into a leader? That’s where most founders stall out. Jon and Binsi unpack how to stop recycling task-doers and start developing talent, explaining why reframing roles is the first step toward long-term leverage.
Jon breaks down the difference between delegation and development, while Binsi - Sagan’s newly minted managing director - shares firsthand what it looks like to grow from an assistant role into real leadership.
Together, they walk through the cultural, structural, and emotional shifts that separate low-autonomy task-doers from high-impact operators. They explore why title inflation doesn’t equal real promotion, how neglected onboarding is sabotaging retention, and why ambition is the heartbeat of every high-performer - no matter where they’re from.
They also preview Sagan’s new initiative: Global Talent 101, a five-day onboarding bootcamp designed to shortcut the ramp-up time for overseas hires. The goal? Better communication, clearer expectations, and real context for working in American business environments.
This episode isn’t just about semantics - it’s about systems. Because the distance between VA and executive isn't measured in miles or time zones. It’s measured in trust, training, and the belief that leverage is a two-way street.
TIMESTAMPS(01:04) VA vs. Global Talent: What’s the Real Difference?(03:55) Why Title Matters—and When it Doesn’t(06:58) Signs You’re Still Hiring Like a “Level 1” Leader(10:18) The Quiet Ambition of High Performers(18:19) Designing a Better Onboarding with Global Talent 101(24:00) Inbox Zero, Slack Habits, and Building AI Fluency(27:00) The Leadership Ladder: From Order-Taker to Operator(29:03) Common Onboarding Mistakes When Hiring for Potential Leaders
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Jun 19, 2025
Thursday Jun 19, 2025
Jon and Peter explore a deceptively simple but powerful concept: architecting how work gets done. Inspired by Profit Coach and shaped through years of trial and error, it’s more than systems and tools - it’s about intentionally designing workflows that enable scale, accountability, and freedom.
They start by defining what “done” looks like, then dive into tools like swimlane diagrams, task maps, and online forms - essential for hiring, training, delegation, and AI. Leverage doesn’t begin with tech - it starts with basics, like removing your phone number from the website so work flows through systems, not you.
Peter adds “policy courage”: the discipline to enforce structure, like requiring form submissions over ad-hoc emails. It’s inconvenient short-term, but essential for long-term capacity. They share examples - from refund forms to recruiting flows - showing how small workflow improvements compound into major gains.
This isn’t micromanagement - it’s about designing with intention, delegating clearly, and leading boldly.
TIMESTAMPS(01:00) What “Architecting the Work” Really Means(03:05) Defining Done: Why Ambiguity Breaks Everything(13:27) Forms: The Most Underrated Business Tool(27:12) Swimlanes, Task Maps, and Trigger Discipline(37:57) The E-Myth, WhisperFlow, and Tools of Scale
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday May 28, 2025
Wednesday May 28, 2025
While a ton of business owners today are chasing the next AI hack or automation craze, Jon and Peter return to a foundational truth: leverage isn’t a tactic - it’s a philosophy.
Today they’re talking about “Matt’s Hierarchy of Leverage,” a napkin-sketch turned mental model that redefines how small business owners should think about time, talent, and tools. Rather than obsessing over AI for AI’s sake, they explore leverage as a quiet system of compounding returns: replacing complexity with clarity, chaos with delegation, and brute effort with thoughtful structure.
At its core, the hierarchy isn’t about removing yourself from the business - it’s about repositioning your energy where it matters most. From global talent to smart systems, from automation to delegation, each rung down the pyramid creates space to climb higher in impact. AI isn't magic; it's just another train in a well-built transportation system, but that system still needs the roads, trucks, and drivers to lay the path.
They challenge operators: What will you do with the margin you earn? More cash? Better product? A month off? There’s no right answer - only trade-offs.
Jon and Peter aren’t interested in glossy tech dreams or lazy business hacks. They’re here for the long game - where leverage is earned, not bought. Where progress isn’t driven by viral trends, but by disciplined execution. And where the true win isn’t freedom from work, but freedom to choose the right work.
In a noisy age of shiny tools, this is a blueprint for quiet scale.
Key Topics:(02:00) Introducing Matt’s Hierarchy of Leverage(10:30) Systemization, SOPs, and Hiring B-Players(22:00) Saying No: The Key to Moving Work Down the Pyramid(37:12) AI Starts Taking Jobs (For Real This Time)(43:00) What Will You Do With the Increased Margin?
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday May 22, 2025
Thursday May 22, 2025
In a time where brands everywhere churn out content for clout, Jon and Peter make the case that there is power in focusing on niche over noise.
They talk about the difference between running a media business—one dependent on clicks, views, and CPMs—and running a business powered by media. The latter isn’t chasing virality. It’s using content to build trust at scale, with the right audience. A single engaged viewer—one potential customer who finds real value—can be more powerful than 50 million passive scrolls.
This mindset reframes media from a vanity metric machine into a quiet engine of asymmetric returns. A podcast that lands one high-value client? Worth more than thousands of empty impressions. A newsletter that converts 1.2% of readers into loyal customers? Incredibly high leverage, even if the list is modest in size.
Still, they wrestle with the usual considerations all operators think about: Should we do short-form? Do we really have to play the algorithm game? Peter and Jon push back against performative content, advocating instead for authenticity, audience clarity, and compounding trust.
Show up. Document. Speak with depth. Build a back catalog for the long game.
If you're a business owner in 2025 wondering where to start, forget growth hacks. Instead, record a podcast. Write a blog post. Hit “publish” once a week. In a year, you'll be stunned by the optionality and leverage you’ve created—not from volume, but from intentional signal.
In the end, lazy leverage is just focused effort, multiplied by time.
Key Topics:(02:43) Media-Fueled Businesses vs Media Businesses(10:15) How SMBs Should Create Content for Top-Funnel vs Mid-Funnel(17:16) The Right Way to Do Short-Form Content(28:14) Running Ads Without Becoming a Sellout(35:12) Succeeding as a Niche B2B Brand(39:22) Getting Clear on Your Audience(43:30) Changing Up Your Environment
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday May 15, 2025
Thursday May 15, 2025
In an age obsessed with scale, speed, and leverage, it’s easy to forget that the best long-term advantage might come from doing the exact opposite.
Call it the "Low Leverage Advantage."
When you're early in your career—or launching something new—there’s a strong case for diving into the work yourself. Not delegating. Not automating. Just doing. Need to onboard a new sales team? Write the first 20 cold DMs yourself. Building a new ops process? Sit next to the team member buried in outdated workflows and fix it together.
Why? Because high leverage comes from judgment. And judgment comes from getting close to the metal. It’s why executives driving Ubers for a week makes more sense than another offsite. Or why a CEO helping troubleshoot a Dropbox error can spark more productivity than another strategy session.
But the magic doesn’t stop at work. Trying to optimize your personal life with AI prompts and workflows? Terrible idea. Your kids don’t need you to delegate bedtime—they need you to show up. Presence is low leverage, but it’s high value.
The trick? Learn to oscillate. Plant with intimacy, harvest with leverage. Create media, but still get your hands dirty. Record podcasts, but stay close to the customer. Don’t chase scale so hard that you forget where insights come from.
Low leverage isn’t a step backward—it’s an intentional investment in depth. And if you document along the way, even the mundane becomes future leverage. Your dusty SOP doc? Might be the foundation of your next seven-figure business.
Leverage and scale will come, but only if you show up, do the work, and remain consistent.
Key Topics:(03:08) Why (and When to) Go Low Leverage?(10:19) How Low Leverage Activities Build Loyalty with Team Members(17:08) Laying the Groundwork Early on in Your Business(23:05) Learning New Skills with Low Leverage Work(31:00) Creating a Body of Work That Makes the Best Use of Your Time(40:25) Nurturing Growth by Encouraging Healthy Debates(48:22) Why Respectful Disagreement Between Team Members is Good for Business(53:27) Jon and Peter’s Latest AI Breakthroughs
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Monday May 05, 2025
Monday May 05, 2025
Most small business owners think leadership is instinctual—something you figure out once you’re “in charge”. But if your managers act like friends, choke on tough conversations, or drown their teams in bureaucracy—you've got a leadership gap that’s preventing you from taking your company to the next level..
Today, Jon and Peter break down why leadership is taught, not caught. Their message is simple: great companies don't just promote top performers and hope for the best. They train leaders the moment they’re knighted into management—and they make the expectations painfully clear.
It’s not enough to hand someone a team and hope they "figure it out." You have to define leadership (get the job done, care for, and retain your people), teach core skills (giving feedback, holding accountability without micromanaging), and most critically, create psychological safety.
Jon’s most important move? Running a weekly emerging leaders meeting—teaching frontliners how to think, fire, hire, and lead before the problems show up. Leadership isn’t about being the smartest guy in the room. It’s about creating the space for others to thrive and grow.
Culture isn’t just vibes—it’s the operating system of your company. Skip investing in leadership development, and you’ll be stuck wondering why no one takes initiative. Train your people to lead with clarity, courage, and care—and you won’t just survive—you’ll scale.
Key Topics:(02:47) Peter’s New Favorite Definition of Leadership(07:24) Jon and Peter’s Leadership/Management Philosophies(11:24) How Great Leaders React When Things Go Wrong(20:00) Setting the Tone with Younger Leaders(27:12) The Importance of Defining Leadership/Management to Team Members Early On(32:04) Developing Your Leaders and Staying Accountable to Your Team(39:45) The Empathy Edge
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:
Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Apr 25, 2025
Friday Apr 25, 2025
Most business owners don’t think they have a “culture problem.” But if your team misses deadlines, seems afraid to speak up, or quits without notice—you’ve got one.
This isn’t a vibes issue. It’s a systemic one. Today Jon sits down with Sagan’s Head of Product, Binsi Das, to break down the hidden culture traps that derail global teams.
Here’s what’s happening: you’ve built a company with an egalitarian mindset—flat structure, open feedback loops, lots of autonomy. But half your team comes from hierarchical, low-context cultures. In many of these countries, employees don’t speak up unless asked directly, bosses don’t typically use Slack, and using AI can get you fired.
The fix? Awareness, structure, and trust. Know that culture isn't just where someone is from—it’s how they communicate, perceive authority, and handle feedback. Build memos, not just Slack rants.
Create explicit permission structures. Watch faces and tone as much as words. Start with small, low-stakes projects and coach confidence into your team, especially if they come from high-control backgrounds like BPOs or strict traditional offices.
Also, stop assuming they’ll just “get it.” People won’t magically unlearn 30 years of cultural conditioning because your company has a no-meeting Monday. Write things down. Give context. Be human.
And memo everything. Memos are the underrated superpower of leadership. They force clarity, reduce Slack flailing, and act as asynchronous coaching tools. They also turn you into a multiplier—not a micromanager.
Culture issues can sneak up on leaders of global teams in the form of rework, delays, confusion, and burnout among team members. But if you build systems that acknowledge the hidden rules people operate under, you won’t just manage your team—you’ll unlock them.
Remember: It’s not about hiring smarter—it’s about leading wiser.
Key Topics:(03:12) The Unspoken Rules of Cross-Cultural Leadership(11:30) Empowering Your Team to Become More Proactive(17:27) Low Context vs High Context Cultures(24:42) Unlocking the Potential of High-Value Talent(36:32) Jon and Binsi’s Thoughts on Memos(42:03) Other Common Leadership Mistakes
Thursday Apr 17, 2025
Thursday Apr 17, 2025
Google quietly dropped an AI tool that could replace half your tech stack.
Its name? NotebookLM.
Think ChatGPT, but with deep integration into your documents and a smarter memory. You can feed it PDFs, YouTube transcripts, Google Docs, or even random web pages. From there, it becomes like a supercharged research assistant that not only remembers what you’ve uploaded but cites it like a pro.
Sure, there are a couple of downsides: as of now, sharing is limited to people on the same Google Workspace, and there’s no API. But the upside is wild. You can create topic-specific notebooks—for example, onboarding, legal docs, or SOPs—and then just ask it natural language questions like “What were our last three hires?” or “What did I say in my journal about work-life balance?”
It's especially powerful for teams or solo entrepreneurs looking to offload some mental load. You can use it to prepare for meetings, craft a vivid vision for your company, or even build a repository of everything you’ve ever written or said. Instead of combing through old files or Slack threads, just ask.
We're on the cusp of turning years of scattered knowledge into a living, searchable, AI-powered archive. And it's free with Google. If Notion and Trello don’t adapt fast, they’re going to be toast.
Moral of the story: dump your docs into Notebook LM, talk to it like your most competent employee, and watch the magic happen.
Key Topics:
(02:12) Initial Thoughts on NotebookLM(08:10) Having a Vivid Vision for Your Business(11:32) The Best Way to Phrase Questions to AI(16:39) Creating a Content Ecosystem with LM(24:50) Consolidating Data from Point Solutions(31:43) The Power of a Two-Day Solo Retreat(41:00) Final Thoughts
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:
Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
AI isn’t here to replace your team—it’s here to give them time back. Join Jon and Peter as they explore how the right interfaces and integrations can supercharge productivity across your org!
Jon kicks things off by sharing his vision: every new client should get a completely customized front end tailored to their needs—think “cars, not faster horses.”
He and Peter riff on the challenge of AI adoption at the ground level—how time-starved teams struggle to learn new tools—and the importance of delivering point solutions that are simple, embedded, and immediately useful. There’s an appreciation for systems thinking here–that true leverage comes from building thoughtful infrastructure.
Peter raises a great point about the power of centralized data. He’s excited about tools like Loveable, but acknowledges their real magic happens when all business data lives in one well-organized database. They reflect on past limitations—splitting data between platforms—and how new tools like Supabase and Airtable now make consolidation more accessible, especially with AI riding shotgun.
Finally, Jon and Peter dive deep into emerging AI tools like Lindy and Perplexity, ways to integrate Notion with natural language, and even the wild potential of GPT-4’s AI-generated images for marketing real estate!
Key Topics:(01:40) Cars, Not Just Faster Horses(08:12) Possible Paths to AI Adoption by Teams(12:54) AI for Enterprise-Level Databases(20:43) Property Management Applications(24:31) Using AI to Answer AI-Related Questions(31:46) Finding an AI Model That Helps You Aggregate Industry-Specific News(34:42) How Property Managers Can Take Advantage of GPT-4’s New Image Gen Capabilities(39:20) “The Future Is Here. It’s Just Not Evenly Distributed."
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:
Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Imagine having a fully-functional website or landing page created in seconds, simply by transcribing your thoughts, turning it into a prompt, then hitting Enter.
Oh, and you don’t have to spend a cent to make it happen.
Now stop imagining. Enter Lovable, your “superhuman AI full stack engineer”.
Today, Jon gives us a brief, yet life-changing overview of Lovable as he helps Peter build a custom CRM in real time.
Jon walks us through just a few of the outputs that Lovable can make possible, from mortgage calculators to hiking trail apps–in multiple languages. We dive into how this breakthrough in AI is democratizing web development, making it possible for anyone to design and modify applications even without a coding background.
Jon and Peter also demonstrate how to connect your front-end with Airtable’s innovative back-end tools, and how to build upon your Lovable-built website with authentication and data storage architecture.
Whether you're adjusting UI elements, reimagining your website’s aesthetics, or starting a brand from scratch, Lovable’s reshaped the playing field for good. And all we need to start taking advantage of this opportunity is to embrace a little creativity and playfulness!
Timestamps:(03:27) Using Claude to Turn Your Vision Into an Organized Brief(13:00) How to Leverage Lovable with Minimal Coding Expertise(17:44) Examples of Websites Built with Lovable(20:30) Peter’s New Custom CRM(23:01) Connecting the Front-End with Airtable for the Backend(29:51) Building Authentication and Data Storage Architecture(33:00) Adding an Analytics Dashboard(38:18) Configuring the Front End to Build a Native Mobile App(40:14) How APIs Allow Front Ends to Talk to Back Ends(51:58) Jon and Peter’s Closing Thoughts
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:
Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
Ever wonder what happens when an entrepreneur stops trying to do everything and finds the right vehicle? Brandon Parker was juggling multiple businesses when he met Jon two years ago. Now he's running a team of 40+ and crushing it with Landy Leads. In this conversation, they break down exactly HOW that transformation happened. You'll learn why constraint-based thinking is the key to rapid growth, how to leverage global talent effectively, and the power of systems like Airtable for scaling operations. Plus, discover the "make errors visible" approach to building better processes and why your current tech stack might be secretly sabotaging your growth. If you're ready to stop working harder and start working smarter, this episode is your blueprint.
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:28) Introduction and Guest Welcome
(01:35) Consulting Insights and Business Scaling
(05:05) Global Talent and AI Integration
(07:39) Constraint-Based Thinking and Optimization
(13:00) The Toyota Management System Approach
(15:58) Sagan's Offerings and Continued Education
(25:45) Airtable Benefits
(32:561) Effective Hiring Strategies and AI Integration
(37:42) Optimizing Lead Qualification with AI
(50:31) Final Thoughts and Endorsements
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:
Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
From Northern Ireland to navigating a PE buyback, Cathryn Lavery brings her raw, unfiltered take on building businesses in 2025. Join Jon as they geek out over AI tools, debate the death of the traditional EA role, and reveal why 'smart, hungry, coachable' beats experience every time. Plus, learn why your $85k/year US marketer might be in trouble (and what to do about it). Pure value, zero BS.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:39) Introduction and Guest Welcome
(01:20) AI in Personal & Professional Life
(06:50) Voice Technology and Content Creation
(10:35) Buying Back the Business
(13:28) Hiring and Leveraging Global Talent
(20:28) Architecting Workflows with AI
(26:45) Value Proposition and Membership Benefits
(30:59) The "Smart, Hungry, Coachable" Framework
(37:42) Remote Work and Context Building
(40:17) Global Talent Pool Insights
(45:08) Team Development
(49:10) Content Strategy
(51:03) Wrap up and Contact Information
Check out Wisprflow.ai
Connect with Cathryn on X, sign up for her newsletter, or visit her store.
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:
Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
What happens when you tell your entire executive team that all their projects are cancelled? Jon Matzner did exactly that, and the results were shocking. In this episode, Jon and Peter Lohmann dive deep into the art of extreme focus, why most businesses are working on the wrong things, and how to identify what actually moves the needle. Plus: fascinating insights on the Toyota Way, why some fires need to burn, and the infamous jazz cup jacket story you didn't know you needed to hear.
Timestamps(00:31) Introduction (01:20) Focusing on Constraints(03:33) The Importance of Prioritizing Tasks(06:56) Understanding and Tackling Churn(18:13) Project Management Simplified(20:17) Maintaining Accountability (25:58) Account Management Strategies(27:26) Exploring the Toyota Way(30:00) Applying Toyota Principles to Knowledge Work(40:14) Questions to Always Be Asking(42:00) Closing Thoughts: The Art of Being Present
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
Want to know what's really happening in the world of B2B communities? Jon and Peter pull back the curtain on how they're building multi-million dollar business communities that are making traditional trade associations obsolete. They reveal their strategy for using AI to circumvent legacy software, share insider tips on community building, and discuss how to use capital to accelerate growth. Warning: This episode might make traditional SaaS companies uncomfortable.
Timestamps(00:00) Welcome to Lazy Leverage(02:27) Discussing AI in Business(04:33) Challenges with traditional SaaS(09:36) Innovative Solutions for Data Management(11:26) The Future of Vertical SaaS(21:00) Building a Community and Influencer Impact(35:12) Value Proposition of Modern Trade Associations(38:37) Geographic Dispersion and Competitive Dynamics(40:37) Sponsorship and Revenue Models(46:02) Using Capital to Accelerate Strategy(53:05) Building a Media Property for Niche Communities(58:00) Final Thoughts and Tools
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
In this candid conversation, Patrick (formerly known as Franchise Wolf) opens up about his evolution from anonymous content creator to co-founder of Frandawgs. Learn why he initially hid his identity, how he grew his audience through strategic storytelling, and the unexpected lessons he learned about monetization in the B2B space. A masterclass in pivoting from pure content creation to building a real business.
Follow Patrick on X or FranDawgs.com
TIMESTAMPS(00:25) Introduction and Background (06:22) Launching Frandawgs: The New Vision (10:20) Content Strategy Deep Dive(19:00) The YouTube Opportunity(27:25) The Journey from HVAC Sales to Tech Startups(31:00) The Franchise Industry Reality Check(33:00) Data Challenges(36:05) Monetization Strategies for B2B Content(41:49) Perfect Day Vision(43:56) Closing Thoughts and Contact Information
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Ever hired someone with 'perfect experience' only to watch them fail? Justin Brown, Director of Operations at Zen Windows, shares how they transformed their hiring process by focusing on three key attributes instead of industry experience. Learn how they turned a guy with zero window knowledge into their Installation Manager superstar in just 7 days, and why their global talent strategy is crushing traditional hiring methods.
Timestamps
(00:26) Introduction to Justin Brown and Zen Windows(01:39) The "Smart, Hungry, Coachable" Hiring Philosophy(06:36) Fast Hiring vs. Slow Hiring Debate(11:06) Success Stories with Global Talent(16:01) Building Elite Teams Through Training(19:31) Future of Learning and Development at Sagan(27:36) Wrap-up and Final Thoughts
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Ever wonder how the President stays on top of everything? Jon and Peter break down how to adapt presidential-style daily briefs for your business, plus share raw insights from their recent entrepreneur retreat. From brand building to managing global teams, they reveal what actually works (and what doesn't) in running a growing company.
Timestamps(00:31) Welcome (02:28) Customizing The Executive Brief(12:49) The One-Number Management Philosophy(17:17) Hiring for Specific Roles(21:03) The "Death Zone" in Business (24:30) The Power of Branding in Business(29:19) Challenges and Reflections of Entrepreneurs(40:30) Chat GPT Integration Tips (46:35) Wrap Up
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
This is a follow-up conversation from episodes #38 and #39.
Stop drowning in your inbox and start taking control of your workflow. Jon and Neel tear down the myths around GTD and show you exactly how they implement it in their multi-million dollar businesses. They reveal their personal systems for managing everything from quick tasks to complex projects, and share why the traditional approach to productivity is killing your success. Whether you're running a global team or just trying to get your shit together, this conversation will completely change how you think about organization.
TIMESTAMPS(00:20) Introduction and Cultural Context (07:00) GTD Fundamentals(21:57) Next Actions: How to Use Them (28:44) Weekly Reviews: The Missing Piece of Your System (34:05) How to Process Your Inbox (51:12) Sagan's Vision for Global Team Development
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Think disrupting real estate is impossible? Amanda Orson, founder of Galleon, explains how being an outsider gives her the edge to challenge a 112-year-old industry. From military school lessons to ancient philosophy, discover how unconventional thinking drives innovation. Jon and Amanda dive deep into operational efficiency, the future of AI, and why most businesses miss obvious opportunities for transformation. Plus, get book recommendations that have shaped their entrepreneurial journeys and learn why sometimes the best qualification is having no industry experience at all.
Timestamps(0:00) Welcome and Introduction (02:38) Military Background and Business Philosophy (07:00) The Galleon Business Model (15:22) Market Dynamics and Disruptive Innovation(24:33) The Future of AI in Real Estate Transactions(26:57) Building Human Connection in a Digital World (33:00) Must-Read Books & Movies for Entrepreneurs (41:30) Innovating in Competitive Spaces(46:22) Creating Impact Beyond Business (48:30) Contact Information
RecommendationsBooksWarfighting: MCDP: U. S. Marine CorpsThe Emperors Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations- Marcus AureliusThe Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success: William N. Thorndike Jr.MoviesTwelve O'clock high (1949)Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comAmanda: @AmandaOrson on XPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Ever wonder why some businesses seem to run like clockwork while others are constantly putting out fires? Jon and Peter break down the real reason - it's not what you think. From customer avatars to remote team management, they share battle-tested strategies that actually work in the real world. Plus, they reveal a game-changing approach to building context in remote teams that could revolutionize how you run your business.
TIMESTAMPS(00:31) Show intro (02:03) Defining the sweet spot: Between startup and Fortune 50 (03:30) Property management challenges (07:09) Trade-offs in business structures (24:50) Breaking down context building in teams(26:41) Fragility in specialization(38:42) Customer avatars and personalized service (47:22) Building a decision-making culture (01:02:03) Tech tools and future opportunities (01:04:05) App recommendations and wrap-up
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Jan 23, 2025
Thursday Jan 23, 2025
Discover how a Buffalo-based youth soccer program is revolutionizing their operations with global talent. Jon breaks down the journey from local to global teams, sharing practical strategies for elevating your senior staff while maintaining quality. Learn the 'Gordon Ramsay method' of letting your best people focus on high-value work.
Timestamps
(0:22) Introduction to Mark and Soccer Shots background(6:33) Overview of global talent responsibilities(9:00) Discussion of global talent cost savings(11:55) Strategies for recruitment coordination(17:32) The "bang the gong" recruitment strategy(35:40) The journey of business systemization(37:23) Discussion of starting new ventures with global talent(40:32) Lessons from college athletics(45:00) Experience working with Sagan
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following:Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Friday Jan 17, 2025
Friday Jan 17, 2025
"We can't find enough dentists" is the cry echoing across the industry - but Dr. Dave Ensley's group is crushing it with a revolutionary approach to talent. In this episode, discover how his DSO grew to $70M by reimagining traditional roles, leveraging global talent, and embracing automation. Dave breaks down exactly how they built successful teams in Mexico, Pakistan, and the Philippines, reveals the costly mistakes most practices make with global hiring, and shares his blueprint for creating a sustainable dental business. Plus, learn why paying more could actually be the key to solving your hiring challenges.
Timestamps(0:25) Introduction and Dave's Background (01:55) Understanding DSOs and Their Structure (05:24) Labor Specialization (15:53) Journey into Global Talent (26:41) Building International Teams (43:20) Solving Recruitment Challenges (48:58) The Future of AI and Automation in Dentistry (55:39) Final Thoughts and Contact Information
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by followingJon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday Jan 15, 2025
Wednesday Jan 15, 2025
Think remote teams can't be as effective as in-office ones? Think again. Jon and Peter break down the counterintuitive strategies that have helped them build world-class remote teams, including the game-changing '10/80/10 framework' and why context matters more than control. Plus, they reveal the innovative ways they're using AI and rotational assignments to create unstoppable remote cultures. Whether you're managing one remote employee or fifty, this episode will transform how you think about remote leadership.
Timestamps:
(00:40) Show format and authenticity in podcasting
(03:48) Media leverage and content creation
(10:35) The 10/80/10 framework for content creation
(23:50) Empowerment vs procedures
(33:30) Creating context in remote teams
(50:40) Innovative solutions for remote culture
(55:46) App recommendations and closing thoughts
Apps mentioned:
Fi
Replit
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following
Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com
Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Jan 09, 2025
Thursday Jan 09, 2025
What happens when you strip everything away except your top two priorities? Jon opens up about his year of extreme focus, sharing both the wins and uncomfortable sacrifices. Then, he and Peter geek out about the digital power tools revolutionizing business operations, including their secret weapons for automation and productivity. Whether you're struggling with work-life balance or hunting for tech solutions to scale your business, this raw and practical discussion delivers the insights you won't hear anywhere else.
Timestamps(00:33) New Year kickoff(02:30) Dan Gable's influence on prioritization(04:00) The cost of extreme focus(08:50) The power of weak ties in business(16:48) Introduction to Sagan's Digital Power Tools(29:40) The problem with over-engineering solutions(33:40) Forward deployed engineers concept(38:15) Essential apps for productivity(40:34) Deep dive into Libby and digital reading(42:10) Game-changing iPhone features(47:00) Leveraging ChatGPT mobile effectively(50:13) Wrap-up and final thoughts
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by followingJon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Jan 02, 2025
Thursday Jan 02, 2025
This is part 2 of a 2 part episode. Check out part 1 first!
Ever wonder how top entrepreneurs manage dozens of projects without losing their minds? In this deep-dive episode, Jon Matzner reveals his secret weapon: the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. Watch as he transforms a chaotic email inbox into a streamlined system that actually works. Whether you're drowning in tasks or just tired of forgetting important details, this conversation will revolutionize how you think about productivity.
Timestamps(0:26) Introduction (0:39) Next Actions (To-Do) vs. Projects (06:21) Creating Actionable Next Steps (08:55) Building Your Master Project List (11:10) Practical GTD Implementation(16:20) Project organization & End States(19:20) Moving from Email to GTD (22:00) Calendar Management(25:36) Weekly reviews and system maintenance(28:00) Next actions & Project demonstration(34:00) Trust in the system(36:39) System implementation and brain space(39:56) Closing thoughts on GTD implementation
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by followingJon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Thursday Dec 26, 2024
Thursday Dec 26, 2024
From email overwhelm to project mastery - this episode is your roadmap to stress-free productivity. Join Jon Matzner as he breaks down the exact system he uses to manage multiple businesses while maintaining his sanity. You'll discover why your mind isn't for storing ideas, how to build a system you can trust, and the shocking truth about why your current to-do list is holding you back. This isn't just another productivity hack - it's a complete paradigm shift in how you manage your work and life.
Timestamps(00:26) Introduction (03:15) GTD Philosophy (04:45) The Importance of Having a System (09:20) Capture: The First Step of GTD(11:30) Quick Capture Methods & Tools (19:44) Processing Your Inboxes (27:27) The "Do It, Defer It, Delete It, Delegate It" System (29:19) Waiting for List Explained (33:00) Managing Email & Ideas with GTD(47:36) Introduction of Part 2: Projects vs Next Actions
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by followingJon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
Meet Brandon Beachy, former Atlanta Braves pitcher turned successful business owner, who transformed his Koala Insulation franchise using global talent. Learn how he went from struggling with basic business operations to running a streamlined company by leveraging remote teams in Argentina and Colombia. Brandon shares practical insights on transitioning from professional sports to entrepreneurship, and how finding the right support system allowed him to build a business that serves his life, not the other way around.
Timestamps
(00:26) Introduction and Baseball Background (02:16) The Decision to Leave Professional Sports (09:34) Why Koala Insulation? Choosing the Right Franchise (12:48) First Experience with Global Talent (19:57) Key Benefits of Remote Teams (24:15) Building Systems for Growth (30:37) Franchise Consulting and Supporting Other Athletes (31:55) Marketing and Sales Strategies (41:54) Operations Management (46:27) Understanding Business Leverage(52:57) Closing Thoughts and Baseball Stories
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by followingJon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
Wednesday Dec 11, 2024
Wednesday Dec 11, 2024
Sagan's Head of Operations Hugo shares how manufacturing principles can revolutionize remote work, why trust trumps experience in global teams, and how to empower (not just delegate to) your international workforce. Learn how he transitioned from traditional manufacturing to leading a 50-person global team in just 50 days.
Timestamps
(00:22) Introduction and Hugo's background (01:25) Hugo's passion for lean manufacturing (04:36] Operational excellence as differentiation (08:40) Quality control in service vs manufacturing (11:25) Leading team transitions and respecting history(12:58) Building trust in remote teams (15:47) Documentation and communication practices (17:49) Rapid integration of new leadership (29:04) Final thoughts on operational excellence
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by followingJon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.comPeter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com