The Entrepreneur DNA

GET THE BOOK: Wayfinding: A Business Fable About Leading in the Age of AI

Order now in hardcover, ebook, or audiobook: https://wayfindingbook.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637749848

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781637749845

Simon & Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wayfinding/Stephen-Straus/9781637749845

Most AI projects never make it to production. Stephen Straus and Ben Szuhaj's team gets 96% of theirs there.

In this episode, I sat down with Stephen Straus and Ben Szuhaj, co-authors of Wayfinding: A Business Fable About Leading in the Age of AI. Stephen started KUNGFU.AI back in 2017, long before most "AI experts" showed up, and his team now gets 96% of its AI projects into production while most of the industry struggles to get even 10% there. We talked about why they wrote the book as a parable, the AI tools business owners forget exist beyond ChatGPT, and why "we're automating our business" isn't a strategy if you believe AI will disrupt everything. Ben broke down how a trucking finance company used AI to approve invoices in seconds instead of hours without laying anyone off, and Stephen shared the wild story of waking up in Yellowstone with the entire outline of the book in his head. If you want to be the disruptor in your industry instead of the next Blockbuster, this one is for you.

In this episode:

Why Wayfinding was written as a business parable

The full AI toolbox: predictive analytics, computer vision, anomaly detection and more

How KUNGFU.AI gets 96% of AI projects into production

Why automating your business isn't the same as having an AI strategy

The real reasons companies struggle with AI: misalignment, egos, and fear

How to grow revenue without growing headcount (and without layoffs)

The Triumph Financial case study: invoice decisions in seconds, not hours

Wayfinding vs. navigating: leading when you don't know the destination

The Yellowstone moment that sparked the book

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Stephen Straus is the co-founder and CEO of KUNGFU.AI, an AI management consulting and engineering firm he launched in 2017. KUNGFU.AI is his sixth startup. Before that, he spent nine years as a venture capitalist during the dot-com boom and bust. He's founding chair of Impact Dyslexia and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenstraus/

Ben Szuhaj is a Senior AI Strategist at KUNGFU.AI, where he helps executives find high-impact AI opportunities and design teams where people and AI work together. He previously led strategic initiatives at Doblin, Deloitte Consulting's innovation practice, and studied English and human-centered design at Dartmouth College.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-szuhaj-183b83115/

Learn more about KUNGFU.AI: https://www.kungfu.ai

If you know someone who needs to read this book, share this episode with at least two friends. Leave us a 5-star review and subscribe to The Entrepreneur DNA for more conversations with the people building what's next.

About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

LinkedIn: Justin Colby

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GET BRANDON'S NEW BOOK: F*ck Your Agency - youragencybook.com

Know your customers better than any agency ever will. Brandon's 10 timeless principles for ads, landing pages, and sales so you can grow your business yourself, no matter how the platforms change.

Available on Amazon and everywhere books are sold.

️ATTEND A "WHERE U?" WORKSHOP

US Workshops: https://withu.whereu.com.au/withu-us

Australia Workshops: https://ahoy.whereu.com.au/withu

Website: https://whereu.com.au

Why would a 30-year-old cut 75% of what he sells right when his business needs money? That's what I asked Brandon Willington, founder of Where U?, and his answer surprised me. Brandon was running a done-for-you agency with packages for every kind of client and every kind of funnel. He was buried in operational bloat and owed a quarter million dollars to the Australian tax office. Then he noticed his small workshop offer was three times more profitable than everything else, so he cut the rest. He stuck to one offer, one type of customer, and getting 1% better at one presentation, and monthly revenue went from about $29K to over $2 million. We break down how he applies that same "do less" thinking everywhere: running one ad channel until it plateaus before adding another, keeping funnels to one step or two, ignoring organic content until he passed $1M a month, and using a one-page plan to throw out any idea that doesn't move the business forward. If you're stuck because you're trying to do everything, this episode will show you what to cut.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

Why cutting 75% of his offers made the business grow faster

The sales call that turned "go watch a YouTube video" into a two-day workshop people fly in for

How he put three new hires on payroll the same day his investor backed out

Why the business owner beats the agency: they know the customer, they're the most financially motivated, and they move the fastest

The "curious vs. committed" spectrum and why some lead magnet ads fill your CRM with people who never pick up

Why ROAS can be a vanity metric and net profit is the number that counts

Meta vs. Google: the one question that decides it

One-step funnels vs. two-step funnels and which businesses need which

The "plan on a page" method that kills idea overload

Why Americans are so much easier to sell to than Australians

ABOUT BRANDON WILLINGTON

Brandon Willington is an Australian entrepreneur and lead generation expert known for turning attention into revenue with ruthless precision. As the founder and CEO of Where U?, a Perth-based marketing education company, he helps service businesses generate predictable growth through paid traffic, conversion systems, and sales optimization. But his story did not start in boardrooms or agencies. It started in nightclubs.

Before building a high-revenue company, Brandon was a DJ immersed in Australia’s nightlife scene, where he learned how to capture attention, read people, and sell experiences in real time. His first business idea, a social app to help people find friends on nights out, failed to scale. Instead of forcing it, he pivoted. That decision became the foundation of everything that followed.

Within a short period, he transformed Where U? from operating at a loss into a profitable, fast-scaling business. At one point, he went from being hundreds of thousands in debt to generating over one million per month, driven by a simple philosophy: eliminate what does not matter and double down on what does.

In 2025, Brandon was recognized at the Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards, not for hype, but for measurable business performance. His approach challenges the traditional agency model by focusing on lean systems, clear metrics, and outcomes that actually move revenue.

Known for his direct, no-fluff style, Brandon speaks openly about discipline, deep focus, and building systems that remove friction from both business and life. Whether he is breaking down paid ads or sharing lessons from martial arts and structured routines, his message is consistent: clarity and execution beat complexity every time.

FOLLOW BRANDON
Instagram: @brandon.lyads
Website: https://whereu.com.au

About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

LinkedIn: Justin Colby

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I sat down with Raleigh Williams, a former M&A attorney who walked away from a top five law firm after a panic attack, built and sold an entertainment business, and now teaches parents how to raise genuinely confident kids. We got into why praising your kids for being smart or pretty can actually backfire, what to say when your child says “I can’t” or “I’m so dumb,” and his 4 C’s framework of core values, courage, competence, and compassion. Then the conversation went somewhere I didn’t expect. Raleigh opened up about chasing his father’s approval into law, the two years they didn’t speak after he left, losing his best friend to suicide, and why he now believes confidence matters even more than purpose. I shared how my own mother’s addiction became the toughest lesson I ever got, and we talked about the idea that we choose our parents for a reason. If you’re a parent, an entrepreneur, or someone still trying to trust your own voice, this one is for you.

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GUEST BIO

Raleigh Williams is a former mergers and acquisitions attorney turned entrepreneur, investor, and author. After graduating from a top five law school and joining a top five global law firm, he left nine months in to start an escape room business. He grew Williams Entertainment to seven locations across three states, adding trampoline parks, axe throwing, and other entertainment venues, and sold it for $26 million. Today he invests in founder-led businesses through his firm DealMaven and created Exit OS, a system that helps business owners build companies that grow without them and are actually sellable. He is the author of The Creator’s Call, an Amazon bestseller about leaving the default path for a life of purpose. A father of three, Raleigh has built a large Instagram following teaching parents how to raise kids with real, lasting confidence.

CONNECT WITH RALEIGH

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raleighw/

Website / DealMaven: https://www.dealmaven.io

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About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

* Instagram: @thejustincolby

* YouTube: Justin Colby

* TikTok: @justincolbytsof

* LinkedIn: Justin Colby

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Eric Winegard’s story is not the polished founder myth. Before he became CEO and co-founder of Rare Blue Moon Marketing, he was a kid raised by a single mother on welfare, a teenager experimenting with drugs, and a young man who realized no one was coming to save him.

In this episode of Entrepreneur DNA, Justin Colby sits down with Eric to unpack how he went from 17 years in a W-2 sales role to building an $18 million marketing business in just three years.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

How Eric went from a troubled childhood to military discipline

Why sales became the skill that changed his life

The difference between networking and selling

Why most marketers don’t understand sales

How Rare Blue Moon Marketing scaled so quickly

Why organic content and paid ads need to work together

What business owners get wrong when hiring agencies

Why commitment matters more than talent
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About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

LinkedIn: Justin Colby

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode I sat down with Kristian Mtetwa, a wealth advisor who leads Synergy Private, a multifamily office serving athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and executives. We start by busting the biggest myth about the rich: they aren’t hoarding money, they’re obsessed with adding value because that’s the only way to keep it. Kristian explains what a family office actually does, why giving anyone power of attorney over your money is a massive liability, and the numbers ($10M liquid net worth or $1M in annual income) where it starts to make sense. We dig into ambition vs. envy, why you focus to get wealthy but diversify to stay wealthy, how to avoid shiny object syndrome, and why liquidity matters more than most people think. I also share my own hard lessons from 2024, what I learned in my mastermind about using lines of credit instead of long-term loans, and how I use whole life insurance like a personal bank. If you want to build wealth that actually lasts, with long obedience in a specific direction and aggressive patience, this one’s for you.

Guest Bio

Raised in the suburbs of Nashville, Kristian is a Zimbabwean immigrant to the US and a nationally recognized wealth advisor specializing in advising the ultra-affluent. He entered financial services at age 18 before earning a Certificate in Financial Markets from Yale and becoming an Accredited Investment Fiduciary. He has held leadership positions at several financial institutions and now leads a Black-owned multifamily office with clients across the country. That firm is Synergy Private, a boutique wealth advisory firm operating as a multifamily office that offers bespoke financial guidance for ultra-affluent individuals and their families, available by invitation only. He was named 49 Financial’s Advisor of the Year for 2022 after nearly tripling his personal client roster. He is also a speaker on career development, entrepreneurship, and financial planning, and has been featured in Financial Planning, ThinkAdvisor, WealthManagement.com, and Yahoo Finance. Kristian Mtetwa +5

Connect With Kristian

Website: https://kristianmtetwa.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristianmtetwa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/192zZu3Ywq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: @kristianmtetwa

About Justin:

Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience.

Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Justin:

Instagram: @thejustincolby

YouTube: Justin Colby

TikTok: @justincolbytsof

LinkedIn: Justin Colby

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.