Shows / Founder Fires
Founder Fires
Founder Fires is for the builders, the risk-takers, and the ones figuring it out as they go. Hosted by Iggy Odighizuwa, this podcast is raw, real, and all about what it takes to build something big. There is no fluff, just straight-up lessons from the trenches, personal stories, hard truths, and conversations with other founders who are eating glass and still showing up. Whether knee-deep in your startup or still dreaming from the sidelines, this is your spot to learn, get inspired, and stay…
Episodes
Founder FiresI was reading our entire month wrong
I thought we were having one of our worst months in business. Ad costs were climbing. Booking systems were breaking. Every day seemed to bring another problem…
Founder FiresHow a Saxophone Coach Hit His First $25K Month Without a Sales Team
Patrick Garcia was getting leads. Following up with all of them was another job—and he was already doing every other job in the business. As the founder of…
Founder FiresHow They Doubled Revenue Without Hiring a Bigger Team
Tony and Arin's business was growing. So was the amount of time it took to keep it running. Leads were coming in through DM ads, and Arin was handling…
Founder FiresCoach Kelly's sales team was maxed out, but CharlieAI broke the bottleneck
800 to 1,000 workshop registrations a week. A sales team that couldn't keep up. Coach Kelly already had a proven offer, human setters, and human closers. But…
Founder FiresHow to Start Integrating AI Into Your Sales System
Most musicians learn by copying. They copy chords. They copy styles. They copy the player they want to sound like. But copying only gets you so far. Vaughn…
Founder FiresAre you losing $100K+ a month and don't even know it?
What if the revenue you're chasing is already sitting inside your CRM? Most businesses keep spending more on ads, buying more leads, and pushing their sales…
Founder FiresAI Appointment Setters vs Human Setters: The Real Numbers
Most founders do not have an AI problem. They have a broken sales process that AI exposed. This year, our sales department collected $5.1 million in cash…
Founder FiresYour Closers Aren't Inconsistent. Your Management System Is.
Your sales team is the last unpredictable variable in your entire revenue engine, and it's costing you more than you think. Your ads are running. Your AI…
Founder FiresThe 5-Stage AI Pipeline Behind $4.3M in Cash (Zero Human Setter)
I am going to be straight with you. If you are generating inbound leads right now and you do not have a system managing every single stage of your pipeline…
Founder FiresThe bulletproof formula that took us to $1M/Month
Most founders celebrate a great month. The best founders predict it… 90 days in advance, down to less than 10% variance. Here's exactly how we did it! In…
Founder FiresDamani fired his sales team, and his AI closed $80K
Damani fired his entire sales team in 2024. Two months later, he was back to six-figure months as a team of one. This conversation pulls back the curtain on…
Founder FiresSalesCon 2026: How I Did $2.7M with Zero Setters?
I was leaking $620,000 a month out of my sales pipeline and had no idea. I gave this keynote at SalesCon this year and broke down the film I finally sat down…
Founder FiresOur AI Setter Produced $1,105,680 In Cash Collected From Sets Closed
$165K a month to $1.1M cash collected. Same business. Same offer. One playbook. In this episode, I break down the exact system we used to 7x a portfolio…
Founder FiresThe secret system behind my $463K to $1M month
We went from $463K to nearly $1M in 30 days, with zero human setters! Let me show you exactly how. Most founders think scaling revenue means scaling headcount…
Founder FiresThis Ai Sales System Produced 330k In 10 Days
We didn't hire more setters. We didn't run more ads. We just built the right system, and in the first 10 days of March, it collected $330K. Most founders scale…
Founder FiresThe $70M REVENUE FRAMEWORK founders never talk about
I've collected over $70M in cash across 6 eight-figure brands since 2020. This is the exact framework behind every single one of them, and I'm putting it all…
Founder Fires1 tweak that took show rate from 58% to 72%
You're spending money to get leads booked on your calendar, and half of them aren't showing up. That's not a lead problem. That's a show rate problem, and it's…
Founder FiresHow we hit $573K in 30 days with this conversation funnel
Most businesses I work with are generating leads, but bleeding them out before they ever reach a sales call. This funnel is what fixed that. I took one account…
Founder FiresWhy I shut down my Million Dollar Fitness Business (The Truth About Sustainable Growth)
I built a fitness business that did hundreds of sales a month. Then I shut it down. Here's why: we were essentially running a promotional company. Zero…
Founder FiresFounder Insecurity: How to Lead a Team When You Feel Unqualified (Imposter Syndrome)
What do you do when you're leading a team, building something bigger than yourself, and you don't feel qualified to do any of it? I deal with this on a regular…
Founder FiresFrom almost bankrupt to unbreakable: How founders adapt to extreme pressure | Founder Fires
Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it - there was a season where I thought we were done. $250K in refunds in 45 days. Crypto losses that wiped us out. A lawsuit…
Founder FiresHow to Keep Your Head When Your Business Is Falling Apart | Founder Fires
As a founder, you're gonna get tested. You know that feeling when you're looking at your burn rate and realize you've got three months before you can't cover…
Founder FiresThe Divine Flywheel: How $350K in Refunds Became My Greatest Business Investment
What's up, Founder Fires family! This episode is straight from the heart, and honestly, one of the hardest stories I've ever shared publicly. Back in 2023, I…
Founder FiresHow I lost millions by not learning from my mistakes?
Look, I'm gonna be real with you. I've made some absolutely stupid business decisions. Like, embarrassingly dumb. The kind where you look back and think, "What…
Founder FiresWhy Doing Hard Stuff Now Pays Off?
Welcome to Founder Fires. I'm Iggy Odighizuwa, and this show is about one thing: Hard now, easy later. Everybody wants the wins, the freedom, the highlight…
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How I turned my worst season into my best
There's a moment in every founder's journey when you realise the real obstacle isn't the market, your competitors, or even your product… it's you. For me, that…
Founder FiresCan Trusting God Change Everything?
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝? I thought I had to fix everything myself. When the legal threats…
Founder FiresThe Hard Truth About Leading Without Boundaries (Hardest Lessons from Lindsey VanSchoyck)
What do you do when your dream business starts feeling like a trap? When the people you trust drain your energy, wreck your vision, and make you question if…
Founder FiresWARNING: Don't let fear of mistakes RUIN your team's success
In this Founder Fires episode, I'm joined by Eric Farewell, the founder of Aviator PPG, as he shares his incredible journey from hustling as a teen…
Founder FiresThe brutal cost of success nobody warns you about
Why does success feel so lonely? Why does it get harder the closer you get? And why do the same people who doubted you now want a handout? Yo, it's Iggy, and…
Founder FiresWhy I Walked Away from $420K and Laid Off 5 People — The Hardest Decision I've Made as a Founder
I had to make a decision that wrecked me. We spent 8 months building a product. $420K in revenue on the line. The team was hyped. We needed the cash. However…
Founder FiresWhat Losing $1.5 Million Taught Me!
When you've lost everything and the pressure is unbearable, what do you do? This episode is about building on the fire and finding your foundation in faith…
Founder FiresHow We Went From Losing to Winning Big in 2025!
This episode isn't motivational. It's a warning. Will Nelson pulls up and tears the coaching industry to shreds. We talk fake pivots, refunding half a million…
Founder FiresWhy I'll Never Go Into Business With the Wrong Person Again
This one's personal. I went into a partnership thinking it would take things to the next level. Instead, it almost ended everything. What started as a…
Founder FiresThe Moment I Knew I'd Never Be a Normal Leader
This ain't a podcast for people who want shortcuts. This is for the ones in the thick of it—the founders getting hit from every angle, carrying the weight of…
Founder FiresSacrifices Are the Currency of Millionaires
What's going on? In this episode of Founder Fires, I'm taking you back to the moments that nearly broke me. It's not the polished, highlight reel stuff, but…
Founder FiresHe Was Winning in Business… and Losing in Life Dan Bagniuk Tells the Truth Most Founders Hide
I brought Dan Bagniuk on the show because this dude gets it. Built a legit business. Made more in five days than most do in five months. And still sat there…
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You Don't Deserve Success if You Can't Pass These Tests
What's good y'all! This is the first official episode of Founder Fires, and I'm kicking things off by talking about something every founder runs into: the…