Sold The Worst Failure as a Win | Ep 64

We like to tell ourselves networking is about meeting new people, when the real opportunity is usually sitting with someone we stopped texting years ago. A year after our episode ten in New York, we check how our own networks held up.Marc tells us what it felt like to go from a big firm name to just Marc Winter, and the client line he won't forget: "I hire the people, not the firm." Paul admits his joy filter completely fails between Sunday noon and Monday noon. We argue about the no-assholes rule, and we confess we've been pretty useless to each other as connectors.There's also a baseball, a black eye, a very cold motorbike, and a rapid-fire A or B game. We probably should have had wine.Chapters:0:00 Welcome2:06 Idiot & Terminator of the Week5:39 One Year After Episode 107:45 "I Hire the People, Not the Firm"10:50 The Joy Filter12:52 The No-Assholes Rule18:49 LinkedIn Slop vs Meeting in Person21:21 Reconnecting With Old Contacts26:28 Can AI Help You Network?28:38 Your Closest Friends Are Useless29:24 Who's Working You?31:06 The Game: Networking A or B37:45 Conclusions| Ep 65

We love to tell ourselves our failures were really lessons, when sometimes we're just editing the story until we come out looking good. Marc couldn't stop thinking about a drink with an ex-CEO whose version of a company collapse sounded nothing like what everyone else saw.So we got honest about our own. Paul on getting fired from a job he loved, and why he still finds it hard to tell. Marc admitting the Europe office he blamed on market forces probably had more of him in it. We also talk about why failure hits harder in your 40s, and what we want our kids to learn from losing. And yes, there's a ruined 3.5-kilo roast and an Eyes Wide Shut Halloween costume that Marc somehow sold as a win.You'll want to write your own list of mistakes afterward. We both do.Chapters:0:00 Intro1:16 Terminator and Idiot of the Week8:44 The Topic: Stories We Tell Ourselves About Failure9:03 The Ex-CEO Conversation That Sparked It11:56 How to Spot a "Delulu" Story13:44 Distancing from Failure (Peloton Example)15:38 Why It's Hard to Talk About Failure (Paul on Being Fired)19:23 Founders, Salespeople & Owning Big Failures21:23 Success Makes Failure Bitterer22:07 We Never Learn How to Fail (Kids & Sports)26:29 Accountability, Hindsight & Great Leaders28:21 Writing Down Your Mistakes30:20 Glossing Over & American Business Culture31:21 How We React to Honest Failure Stories33:49 Hiring, Boards & Company Failure Culture36:08 Generational Mindsets & the "Fail Together" Value38:10 Takeaways & Sign-Off| Ep 64

We tell ourselves we're great sons-in-law, but it's easy to be charming when you only see the in-laws twice a year. Then a divorce stat made us look harder: when a husband is close to his wife's parents, divorce risk drops 20%, but when his wife is close to his parents, it jumps 20%.From there we build the dream father-in-law (Marc's pick is Richard Branson, or just a guy who'll finish a bottle of wine with you), choose between three doors, and trade in-law horror stories that get dark fast. We also tell the story of the mother-in-law who fed Paul steak for two weeks after he broke his leg.What stuck: never judge your partner by their parents, and your new family comes first. Marc wanted to text his in-laws before we'd even hung up.Chapters:0:00 Welcome & Intros1:46 Catching Up: Terminator & Idiot of the Week7:39 Today's Topic: In-Laws and a Surprising Divorce Stat10:11 Best & Worst Case: The Father-in-Law16:18 Best & Worst Case: The Mother-in-Law18:45 Three In-Law Archetypes: Which Door Would You Pick?22:26 Our Own In-Laws, and How Kids Changed Things24:47 In-Law Horror Stories29:12 Don't Judge Your Partner by Their Parents31:29 Putting Your New Family First34:04 Finding the Balance, and Why Grandparents Matter37:05 Reaching Out & Wrap-Up| Ep 63

We like to think we're the open-minded ones, right up until a 22-year-old shows us in two minutes what took us an hour. Paul admits this topic made him uncomfortable because he's not sure which side of the age line he's on anymore. Honestly, same.Marc's pitch is to pair seasoned executives with young AI natives and share the accountability. Paul pushes back hard, and it gets spirited. We also talk about a 53-year-old who lost his job and just wants meaningful work, the prejudices we've both had to unlearn, and why Paul would absolutely cancel his plans for three weeks to out-learn his young partner.Plus: a $600 bottle of Opus One, a Tesla with rockets, and a very good friend's sense of humor in the middle of chemo.0:00 Introduction01:25 Terminator and Idiot of the Week06:06 Intergenerational Leadership: A New Perspective18:50 Navigating Generational Dynamics in Leadership21:27 The Role of Shared Accountability24:32 The Impact of AI on Workforce Dynamics26:50 Intergenerational Leadership: A New Paradigm31:41 Communication Styles Across Generations35:26 Connecting the Dots: AI and Human Collaboration| Ep 62

We love to think we can analyze our way to the right answer — but what if your body already knows and you're just not listening?This week we dig into gut feeling: when it saves you months of overthinking, when it leads you straight into disaster, and how to tell the difference between instinct and just being excited or horny. Paul shares how his gut told him to fire someone twelve months before he actually did it, while Marc admits his gut has spectacularly failed him in love and career moves. We cover Jeff Bezos' one-way door framework, why hiring decisions feel impossible, and the Lego plate constellation that finally convinced Paul to get a dog.The real question isn't whether to trust your gut — it's whether you can actually feel what your body is telling you in the first place. Paul reveals how a coach taught him the vocabulary to describe bodily feelings beyond "great" or "fine," and why connecting to your body might be the only way to stay present when life gets overwhelming.0:00 Introduction0:05 Terminator and Idiot of the Week6:12 The Role of Gut Feeling in Decision Making12:09 Gut Instincts vs. Rational Thinking: A Personal Journey18:04 The Balance of Gut and Brain in Leadership18:08 The Power of Gut Feelings21:13 Balancing Gut and Rational Decision-Making23:55 Navigating Complex Decisions26:53 The Role of Relationships in Decision-Making30:02 Connecting with Your Body and Emotions32:59 Lessons Learned and Moving Forward| Ep 61

We love to romanticize the idea of building something with your best friend — instant trust, shared vision, no awkward getting-to-know-you phase. But the reality? It's a minefield.This week, we sit down to talk about what actually works when you start a business with friends, and more importantly, what doesn't. Marc shares the story of his failed custom suit venture with a party friend (spoiler: two dreamers, zero execution), and Paul reflects on the partnership in his late 30s that actually thrived — complementary skills, brutal honesty, and annual therapy walks in the woods.We also get uncomfortably transparent about our own working relationship: Marc's chronic lateness, Paul's need to be charmed out of his annoyance every recording, and the fact that we both answered "fuck no" when asked if we'd ever work for the other. The takeaway? Friendship and business are two separate things, and the hygiene around keeping them distinct is what makes or breaks the partnership.Chapters:0:00 Introduction3:55 The Idiot of the Week6:57 Starting a Business with Friends9:27 Lessons from Failed Ventures12:11 Building Successful Partnerships15:48 Therapeutic Reflections on Collaboration18:26 Navigating Annoyances and Appreciations21:08 The Dynamics of Working with Friends23:34 Investing in Friendships and Business25:31 The Complexity of Hiring Friends30:02 Maintaining Professional Boundaries33:14 The Importance of Clarity and Hygiene in Relationships| Ep 60

We love to tell ourselves this year will be different — and then it's October, and we're scrambling to finish what we promised ourselves in January.This week, we sit down to audit our New Year's resolutions from nine months ago. Marc gives himself a generous seven out of ten (of course), while Paul admits he hasn't stretched once and lost two entire months to summer. We cover the real mechanics of why time flies when you're in execution mode, the guilt that comes with unfinished business, and whether resolutions are even worth setting in the first place.But we also land on something useful: twice-yearly check-ins instead of one annual panic attack, and the realization that gratitude for what you've already done matters as much as beating yourself up for what you didn't. Plus, Marc's post-Oktoberfest rallying cry: you have less time, not more — so if you're going to close the year strong, execute now.Chapters:00:00 Introduction00:47 Terminator and Idiotic Thing of the Week03:58 Revisiting New Year's Resolutions10:12 Paul's Midyear Scorecard14:28 Time, Momentum & FOMO18:48 Gratitude and Unfinished Business20:22 A Better Way to Review Your Year| Ep 59

Everyone keeps saying imagination is what'll save us from AI, but we're not so sure anymore. This week, we sit down to test whether creativity is truly human — or just advanced pattern-matching that machines will crack in three years.We start with Picasso, shipping containers, and SoulCycle, trying to define what imagination even means. Then Paul drops the dark truth: if creativity is just connecting dots, and AI reads all our thoughts on social media, what's left? We live-test AI's ability to visualize existential pain (spoiler: it's hilariously terrible), and land somewhere more hopeful than we expected — that the 90% of our brain we don't use might be the real frontier, not the 10% we're frantically defending.Plus: Paul's idiotic decision to co-parent a dog, Marc's 52-year-old Muay Thai coach who refuses to age, and why retreats in Ibiza might be the answer to unlocking what machines can't touch.0:00 Introduction0:05 Welcome to Guys Like Us0:29 Idiot & Terminator of the Week5:50 Can Imagination Survive AI?10:27 Creativity as Connecting the Dots15:10 Pain, Art & Machine Consciousness22:23 Training Ourselves to Think Differently28:09 Testing AI's Imagination| Ep 58

It's easy to tell yourself your kids will figure it out—but what if the world they're walking into looks nothing like the one we grew up in?We sit down to unpack Elon Musk's 10-year AI forecast and what it actually means for how we're raising our children. If combined artificial intelligence surpasses all human intelligence within five years, what are we even teaching them? Marc breaks down his "unautomatable" framework—the human skills that matter when everything else can be done by machines. Paul asks the question that keeps him up at night: if work becomes optional, how do we teach our kids the value of effort?We cover everything from why universities have no plan for AI, to whether we should pull college funds and invest in AI stocks instead, to the uncomfortable reality that billionaires are already building bunkers. Plus: what the children of the ultra-wealthy actually do with their time, why Paul's considering a backup farm in the Austrian mountains, and the real skills our kids need to learn before it's too late.Chapters:0:00 Introduction and Humor0:17 Elon Musk's 10-Year Forecast and Parenting Implications1:08 Idiotic Thing and Idiot of the Week1:08 Personal Updates and Upcoming Events6:54 Transitioning to AI and Its Impact on Future Generations16:47 The Impact of AI on Education17:11 Homeschooling vs Traditional Schooling18:33 The Future of Work and Purpose22:05 Teaching Personal Purpose in the AI Era24:32 The Role of Education in a Changing World26:19 Critical Subjects for Future Generations29:04 Investing in the Future: Education vs AI Stocks32:13 The Wealth Gap and Future Revolutions35:13 The Future of Global Power Dynamics| Ep 57

We love to believe we're open-minded, evolved guys — but when Paul's hairdresser asked mid-cut, "Can men and women really be friends?", his gut answer was no. Marc's was yes. So we sat down to figure out why.We dig into the real barriers: the jealous partner problem, the social weirdness of going to dinner alone with a female friend, and the Tinder mindset that trains you to see every interaction as either a romantic match or irrelevant. Marc makes the case that the world would be better if we all had more cross-gender friendships. Paul admits his only female friends are basically sisters — women he's known for decades — and wonders if he's been avoiding new ones just because he's afraid of mixed signals.We cover why it's easier when you're married (built-in guardrails), why it's harder when you're single (everything feels loaded), and the cocky move of actively "friend zoning" someone. Plus: why online dating deleted the friendship category entirely, and Paul's realization that maybe he should stop letting social norms dictate who he grabs dinner with.0:00 Introduction01:40 Summer Reflections and Personal Updates01:48 Wine Adventures and Idiots of the Week04:25 The Rise of Robotics and AI06:31 Can Men and Women Be Friends?09:22 Attraction and Friendship Dynamics12:17 The Value of Female Friendships15:29 Navigating Friendships and Romantic Interests18:26 Navigating Friend Zones and Relationships19:53 The Value of Diverse Friendships20:26 Barriers to Cross-Gender Friendships21:13 The Impact of Online Dating on Friendships23:21 Social Norms and Their Influence25:30 The Importance of Intentional Friendships27:10 Friendship Dynamics in Different Life Stages30:24 Setting Expectations in Friendships32:05 The Call for More Cross-Gender Friendships34:07 Challenging Social Norms for Better Relationships| Ep 56