“Most people think founders have to sacrifice themselves.”
James says that belief can make you successful, but broken.
In this episode, I sit down with James - who once lived overseas building businesses as “the only foreigner in the room”, scaled a company 40x in three years, and later scaled a family recruitment business to 88 people across five countries before selling it in 2020.
We talk about what growth really costs and why James chose a different definition of success: one built around presence, health, and a life that actually works.
In this conversation, we get into:
Why “job security” can be a dangerous illusion - and how it shaped his entire career
The brutal truth about marketplaces: “the only power sellers… are bike thieves”
The shift founders must make in the scaling phase: from “do more, go faster” to “do less, achieve more”
Why founders chase control when they’re stressed and how it quietly wrecks teams and decisions
The real value of a business coach: not advice… but a pure space to think clearly and lead better
If this episode hits home, subscribe and share it with a founder who needs to hear it.
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Why James is “an anomaly” guest
00:00:27 - China at 18: choosing the uncomfortable path
00:02:02 - Language, identity, and becoming a generalist
00:03:30 - The fear of losing your edge without language
00:04:44 - How culture changes business and trust
00:05:34 - The Philippines: being young in an age-hierarchy culture
00:06:44 - Jardines’ program: training “mini CEOs”
00:09:29 - “Job security is a fallacy”
00:10:12 - Scaling obsession: fast, but sustainable
00:12:02 - Flipping the playbook: people-led to product-led
00:13:07 - The lifestyle trap: “it wasn’t owned”
00:14:35 - Generalist skills as the safest bet
00:18:32 - First startup: an online bike marketplace
00:19:28 - “You don’t know what you don’t know”
00:22:04 - Attention vs product: the painful mismatch
00:22:49 - “Power sellers”… and the dark reality
00:24:38 - The hard choice: scale it or stop it
00:26:59 - When a ‘failure’ becomes a launchpad
00:27:56 - Back to family business: scaling to 88 people
00:28:46 - Why he didn’t start again after the exit
00:30:39 - Designing life first: family, stress, and priorities
00:31:06 - Coaching: combining practical + personal
00:33:23 - The “value capture” question and why he avoided it
00:35:28 - Defining success: happy wife, happy son
00:37:19 - Why founders trust ex-founders more
00:40:45 - Why founders resist coaching (and what it really is)
00:42:30 - Coaching as “time back” and better decisions
00:44:56 - The hiring belief that changed everything
00:48:23 - “Successful but broken” - the founder sacrifice myth
00:49:03 - AI anxiety, competition, and modern founder pressure
00:51:11 - James’ 3-part framework for founders right now
00:55:45 - Final question: what he’d tell his 18 year old self
00:58:38 - Closing: “We will be talking after the pod.”
