Cofounder @ Morning Brew / Host @ Founder's Journal

Alex Lieberman

#ad My business 10x’d in one year. 

And it was one of the most challenging professional periods of my life.
 
You’ll understand why in a second, but I wish that I had Intuit Enterprise Suite (who I’ve partnered with for this video) acting as the backbone of our business during this period of hypergrowth. 

In 2019, Morning Brew grew from 100,000 subscribers to 1 million. 

And on the back of that growth, revenue jumped from $20 million ultimately to $70 million and our team went from 50 to 300 in just 24 months. 

Super exciting, right? Also incredibly stressful. 

During this period of hypergrowth things started to break. 

We went from onboarding 1 person a month to 10 people per month. 

Not only did we have to completely rebuild our onboarding & payroll processes from the ground up, but we also had to offer better benefits than our company’s dental policy being a bag of flossers. 

We also had to start thinking really hard about our finances. 

No more spreadsheets, no more passively following up on payments we were due. We were managing many millions of dollars of operating expenses a month and had 7-figures worth of account receivables at any given time. 

And lastly, I had to completely change how I spent my time as the CEO of an 8-figure business. I had to go from working in the business to working on the business. And I had to spend my time on things like goal-setting and managing our execs versus taking sales calls with advertisers. 

Reinventing myself as CEO was a full-time job in itself, which is why having something like Intuit Enterprise Suite to help navigate our growth across the business would have been invaluable to free up my time. 

From simplifying enterprise payroll & HR to accelerating AR and retaining top performers with benefits, Intuit enterprise Suite truly offers a rock solid foundation for growing an 8-figure business. 
It's the AI-native ERP that scales with your business. 

https://intuit.me/48I2v3K 

Intuit Enterprise Suite #intuitpartner #IntuitEnterpriseSuite

Cofounder @ Morning Brew, Tenex, and storyarb

Wispr Flow is a top 3 favorite AI tool for me. 

I was a skeptic initially. 

"AI talk-to-text? This has existed for years, I can do it on my iPhone already, and there is tons of competition. Who in their right mind would pay for it?" 

Says the guy who now pays for it. 

I put this product in the bucket of something "that just works." Voice dictation is simple. Pulling off great voice dictation is exceptionally difficult. 

I literally do not use my fingers to type anymore. I'm just a yapping machine at this point.

We can't hire fast enough at Tenex. 

We're building McKinsey for AI, growing from 15 to 150 this year, and working with some of the biggest companies in the world. 

1) ai engineers: fullstack, cracked, ai-native, nyc-based (or open to relocation), paid like a salesperson (base + uncapped variable upside), startup experience preferred. 

2) newsletter writer: own tenex's flagship AI newsletter, lead creation of long-form content (AI playbooks + reports); all-in on using AI to increase leverage; deeply interested about applied AI. 

3) technical acquisition lead: we must hire 135 people this year. that is absurd. we must trust you to own that end-to-end. 

JDs & applications here: https://lnkd.in/edXZjyc8

Hanging out with the great Drew Bredvick next week.

He shrank Vercel’s 10-person sales function down to one person plus an agent. 

I'm going to learn:

1/ how he actually trained the agent to handle real customer convos

2/ the behind-the-scenes on message routing, lead quality, when to loop in humans, and how the system self-trains + gets smarter over time

3/ his framework for deciding what to automate vs keep human

We're building live. Join me 👇

HubSpot's CMO Kipp Bodnar just told me my AEO playbook is trash.

I really don't fully know what that means.

This Weds, he's answering my questions: 

1/ Is AEO just SEO rebranded?
2/ How do I score my own AEO?
3/ What are high-performing growth teams doing about it?

PLUS: We're building a scoring system live (for you to steal) and auditing your pages for free.

RSVP link is down under 👇

Leave qs you want to ask him

My biggest learning building McKinsey for AI...

Most businesses are not ready for AI transformation. 

They want it (out of necessity or FOMO), but they lack:
- The right ownership in-house
- The right technical knowledge in-house
- The right tech stack
- The necessary cultural buy-in from employees
- The right data foundation

So, we've decided to help raise a mirror to companies & offer free 2-week AI diagnostics to select companies. 

We're opening up <10 spots this month, so fill out the form below if you're interested 👇 

Literally no downside.

It’s 2026, and I’m dumbfounded by how many people talk about AI agents w/o knowing what they are.

So, I’m making my co-founder, Arman Hezarkhani, dig up his Carnegie Mellon laser pointer and put on his teaching voice.

Next Weds, we’re building some production-ready agents for Tenex at various levels.

You’ll leave with:

1/ a robust, scientific understanding of how to use the phrase properly
2/ your (and my) dumbest questions answered (this is a safe place)
3/ P&L-moving ideas
4/ start-up ideas
5/ the ability to actually build and ship those ideas right after the session

When: Weds, Jan 21, 4–5pm ET
Where: Virtually
Cost: Free!!!

🔗 Link in comments

I was drowning in interviews last week. 

30 hours of 15-minute calls. Back-to-back. No time for meals or getting any other work done. 

I knew it wasn't sustainable, so I used AI to let me take back control of my calendar with a tik-tok style hiring site. 

Here's how I built it...

The situation: we're hiring 100+ people this year and haven't brought on a FT recruiter yet. Which means until further notice, I'm our recruiter. 

Last week, I had 30 hours of interviews, many of which were info interviews with candidates who we did outreach to. I basically repeated the same script + Q&A in each interview. Educating prospects is necessary, but blowing up my calendar is not. 

The solve: standing up a TikTok-style hiring site that provides background on our company & the positions, and that we can add to as new FAQs come in from candidates. 

I spun up the hiring site on Lovable in 30 minutes with this process. 

Here's the prompt I used to complete 75% of the build:

I want to build a tiktok style site that i can use for hiring at tenex that i can send to interested candidates to learn more about our company and our roles.

I want a user to be able to swipe through videos (that answer different questions/topics) and i want a table of contents to the right of the videos so that if a user knows the topic/question they want to watch a video about they can just click and scroll straight to that topic.

I want to easily be able to add new videos/questions as needed.

For now you can put in placeholders for the topics/videos:

What is Tenex?
What is the long-term vision?
Who are our customers?
How big is the business?
What is our culture?
What are the hours?
What is the job of an AI Strategist?
What is the AI Strategist interview process?
How does AI Strategist compensation work?
What is the job of an AI Engineer?
What is the AI Engineer interview process?
How does AI Engineer compensation work?

We want a clean, minimal, and tasteful UI. Go online and find the hallmarks of AI generated user interfaces and front end code and avoid those at all costs. Create a clean clear and consistent minimal and modern user interface.

Miscellaneous items: 
- Add company logo to the app (attached)
- Store videos I upload in your cloud product
- Optimize the site for speed of loading
- Add a button for candidates to be able to apply directly from the site

WARNING: this is a long ass post.

But if you're a CEO, CFO, or CTO betting millions on AI right now, this might save your company.

Here are the 10 reasons enterprise AI keeps failing - and how to actually fix them...

WARNING: this is a long ass post. But if you're a CEO, CFO, or CTO betting millions on AI right now, this might save your company. I've spent the last

Open article: 10 Reasons Enterprise AI Fails (And How to Fix It) by Alex Lieberman • 8 min read

10 Reasons Enterprise AI Fails (And How to Fix It)

AI stuff breaks alllllllll the time

That's why I've enlisted 2 cream of the crop AI educators: Austen Allred +  Ashalesh Tilawat from Gauntlet AI. 

They're showing what holds up under the pressure of messy data and real business stakes.

The goal is to demystify:

1/ why some AI systems shatter once they leave the demo
2/ how you measure whether a system is working (aka evals)
3/ and where human review fits in

We’re also building, testing, and debugging AI systems LIVE using the same checks and handoffs you can use at work.

Let's go to virtual bootcamp. Free rsvp in the comments 👇

WTF is an AI agent? 

I'm non-technical & I want to deeply understand what AI agents are, so I said f*ck it, and I'm going to build an agent from scratch live tmrw. 

I'm going to set the clock at 45 minutes. 

And my very technical cofounder will be a stand-in Yoda, teaching me & giving me feedback as I try to get my AI agent working before time runs out.

If you want to watch me (potentially embarrass myself and) learn how to build an AI agent, sign up here: https://luma.com/rdui4t7g

I built an AI agent from scratch and I'm not an engineer.

My co-founder Arman Hezarkhani walked me through it. I just typed what he told me to type. Claude Code wrote all the actual Python.

By the end, we had something that pulled live stock prices and ran subagents in parallel.

Then we tried to make it create a CSV and it completely sh** the bed.

Full replay is up if you want to watch two guys fumble through it while we talk through the biggest topics and concepts around AI agents.👇

https://lnkd.in/euS67ugZ

Open video: AI Agents Explained (and how to actually use them) on youtu.be

AI Agents Explained (and how to actually use them)

Walmart🛒Sam's Club |📦Merchandising Displays & Packaging📦|❤️Sales & Marketing |🌄Outdoor Enthusiast & Endurance Everything🏃| Employee Owner❤️EBITA | #TheRetailDude

With over a decade of experience in retail merchandising and execution, I help CPG brands make an impact at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, and beyond. From endcaps to pallet programs, I work closely with brand CEOs, Founders, and Marketing/Sales executives to execute in-store merchandising strategies that drive velocity, impulse purchases, and brand awareness.

I’m passionate about sharing insights on how brands can maximize their retail presence, whether through strategic packaging, off-shelf displays, or shopper marketing activations. My approach is rooted in innovation, data-driven decision-making, and a relentless pursuit of "What if?" thinking to bring ideas to life.

👟 Outside of retail, I’m an ultra trail runner, constantly pushing limits and testing endurance, just like in business. Success in both comes down to strategy, consistency, and execution.

Let’s connect and talk about winning at retail.

𝙏𝙤𝙥 𝙍𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨: 
Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, Kroger, Walgreens, Home Depot, Lowes, and more

𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙀𝙭𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙨:
Direct Import(DI), Multi-Vendor, Pass-Through, DSDC, Single Supplier, Feature Trains, Signage Kits, Collect/Prepaid, Cross-Dock, Materials Only

𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚:
Toys, Electronics, Stationery/Craft, Apparel, OTC, H&W, Grocery, Consumables, Lawn & Garden, Entertainment, Beauty, Baby, Craft, Seasonal (Annual Event, BTS, Holiday, Easter)

𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙨:
★ Custom Point of Sale Displays: Pallets, Floorstands/FSDU's, Trays, Endcaps, Trendpods, In-store Signage
★ Protective Industrial Packaging: Retail Ready, Subscription Boxes, Trays, RSC Boxes Influencer Kits
★ Specialty Items: Set-up Boxes, Slide Boxes, Trade Show Booths
★ Retail Product Packaging: Baypack, Folding Carton, Gift Sets
★ Augmented Reality/AssemblAR
★ Digital Printing: Variable Data, Customized, Personalized

𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨:
★ Concept Design
★ Material Manufacturing
★ Retail Planning & Strategy
★ Project Management
★ Supply Chain Logistics
★ Packout & Fulfillment

Contact me at joshual@bay-cities.com

Joshua Linden

First Walmart store walk of the year is always telling.

Q1 brings new ideas and eye-catching merchandising, but it still runs on fundamentals.

What you can expect to see in stores right now:

• Clean, easy-to-shop shelves.
• Seasonal and need-state merchandising for Valentine’s Day, Flu/Cold, Wellness & Fitness, and everyday staples.
• Merchandising that looks great at the store level and works for the supply chain.
• Product either directly on shelf or supported by clear, branded merchandising vehicles.
• Fewer surprises. Fewer excuses.

The brands that win are blending strong execution with omnichannel marketing to drive traffic back into stores or Walmart dot-com for additional assortments.

The reality is simple. Strong execution earns trust. Trust earns opportunity. Sell-through earns more space.

If 2026 is a growth year for your brand, this is where it starts. On the floor, not just in a deck.

I share what I see across Walmart and other retail channels. What’s working, what’s not, and why it matters.

Follow along and share what you’re seeing in stores in the comments.

#TheRetailDude #Walmart #RetailExecution #CPG #StoreWalk #RetailReady

Having a strong, supportive, and loving wife makes life easier.

The quiet encouragement.

The belief on the hard days.

The reminder to keep going when quitting would be easier.

That kind of support doesn’t just show up at home. It shows up in how you lead, how you show up for others, and how hard you’re willing to push to become a better version of yourself.

Grateful for a partner who motivates me to keep growing. Always.

Who agrees with me?

P.S. Devon Linden my wife makes the best homemade cookies around. I love these little notes.

Just dropped the first edition of Selling Retail.

This one is a recap of what actually worked in 2025 and the best practices brands should carry into 2026. It’s built from real store walks, real execution, and lessons learned at Walmart and across retail.

Endcaps, sidekicks, packaging efficiency, digital + physical, and why execution still matters more than anything else.

Would love to hear what you’re seeing in stores and what you think brands should double down on this year.

Link to the article 👇
 
#SellingRetail #Walmart #RetailExecution #CPG #Merchandising #StoreWalks

What “great” looks like heading into 2026 Selling Retail focuses on what actually moves product at Walmart and across retail. Each month, I share stor

Open article: Selling Retail - Walmart & Retail insights from the store floor by Joshua Linden • 4 min read

Selling Retail - Walmart & Retail insights from the store floor

Retail moves fast. That’s not the problem.

The challenge shows up when urgency replaces clarity. When everything feels important at once, priorities blur, teams hesitate, and execution starts to slow instead of accelerate. Speed without alignment rarely delivers the results people expect.

Strong leadership in retail isn’t about pushing harder or asking for more. It’s about creating clarity so teams can move with confidence. Clear goals, defined ownership, and realistic timelines are what allow fast-moving organizations to execute without breaking things along the way.

That principle holds true on the sales floor, in operations, and across leadership teams. When clarity is present, momentum follows. When it’s missing, even the best teams struggle.

I share lessons from retail execution and leadership in fast-moving environments. What’s working, what’s not, and why it matters.

Follow along and share what’s helped you create clarity on your teams.

Let me know what you think in the comments. 

#Leadership #RetailLife #Execution #TheRetailDude #CPG

***photo from recent store walk

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The Battle

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