Diary of a CEO Best Episodes for Entrepreneurs 2026 — The Starter Guide

PRICING & OFFERS

1. Alex Hormozi — "How to Build Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No"

Hormozi built a $100M+ portfolio of companies, and this episode breaks down exactly how he thinks about value creation. The "Grand Slam Offer" framework he explains has become foundational vocabulary in the startup world — and for good reason. Most entrepreneurs undercharge because they don't understand how to stack value.

"The reason your business isn't growing isn't because you need more leads. It's because your offer isn't good enough. Fix the offer, and the leads take care of themselves." — Alex Hormozi

The framework: A Grand Slam Offer combines a dream outcome, high perceived likelihood of achievement, minimal time delay, and minimal effort/sacrifice. Score each element 1-10. Multiply them. That's your offer's perceived value — and it should dramatically exceed your price.

Action step: Write out your current offer. Score each of the four elements honestly. Identify the weakest one and spend this week making it stronger. If your time delay is too long, add a quick-win component. If perceived likelihood is low, add a guarantee.

For a deeper breakdown, see our complete Hormozi episode summary.

BUSINESS LAWS

2. Steven Bartlett — "The 33 Laws of Business and Life"

This isn't a guest interview — it's Steven distilling everything he's learned from building Social Chain, interviewing hundreds of world-class performers, and making every mistake in the book. His "five buckets" framework alone is worth the 1.5 hours.

"In your twenties, take the job that fills your knowledge bucket fastest — even if it pays less. Money follows skills. Always." — Steven Bartlett

The framework: Five buckets — Knowledge, Skills, Network, Resources, Reputation — must be filled in sequence. Early-career entrepreneurs should optimise for knowledge and skills above all else. Resources (money) come later, and reputation comes last.

Action step: Map your five buckets right now. Which is most empty? Design your next 90 days to fill that specific bucket. If it's knowledge, read three books in your industry. If it's network, attend two events per month. If it's skills, take on a project that stretches you.

Read the full breakdown in our Steven Bartlett business advice summary.

MARKETING & BRAND

3. Gary Vaynerchuk — "The Attention Economy Is the Only Economy"

Gary Vee's DOAC appearance cut through the noise of his usual high-energy content and delivered a masterclass on where attention is flowing in 2026. His core argument: every business — from a local plumber to a SaaS company — needs a content strategy, and the businesses winning right now figured this out two years ago.

"You're spending £5,000 a month on Google Ads when you could be spending two hours a week making content that builds an audience you own forever. That's not a marketing strategy — that's renting someone else's audience." — Gary Vaynerchuk

The framework: Create one piece of long-form content weekly (podcast, video, blog). Repurpose it into 20-30 short-form pieces across platforms. Test everything. Double down on what performs. The goal isn't virality — it's building an audience that knows, likes, and trusts you.

Action step: This week, create one 10-minute video about a problem your customers face. Cut it into three 60-second clips. Post them on three platforms. Do this for 12 weeks before evaluating results.

See more in our Gary Vee episode summary.

HABITS & SYSTEMS

4. James Clear — "Why Tiny Changes Create Remarkable Results"

James Clear's Atomic Habits framework has been referenced in more subsequent DOAC episodes than perhaps any other guest's work. The reason is simple: it gives entrepreneurs a reliable system for behaviour change that doesn't depend on motivation or willpower.

"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Every ambitious entrepreneur has goals. The ones who succeed have systems." — James Clear

The framework: Four laws of behaviour change — make it obvious (environment design), make it attractive (temptation bundling), make it easy (two-minute rule), make it satisfying (immediate reward). Apply these to any habit you're trying to build in your business or personal life.

Action step: Identify the one habit that would have the biggest impact on your business. Apply the two-minute rule: scale it down to take less than two minutes. "Write a marketing plan" becomes "open a blank document." Do this every day for 30 days. Scale up only after consistency is established.

Full episode breakdown: James Clear Atomic Habits summary.

LEADERSHIP

5. Simon Sinek — "Why Great Leaders Eat Last"

Sinek's DOAC appearance is essential for any entrepreneur who's moving beyond solo founder stage and starting to build a team. His core insight — that leadership is about creating safety, not commanding obedience — sounds obvious until you realise how few founders actually practice it.

The most actionable part: Sinek's explanation of the "Circle of Safety" and how the biological chemicals in your brain (endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin) either build or destroy team trust. When employees feel safe, they innovate. When they feel threatened, they protect themselves — and your company stagnates.

Action step: Ask each team member this week: "What's one thing that makes your job harder than it needs to be?" Then fix it. This single act builds more trust than any team-building exercise.

More details: Simon Sinek episode summary.

SALES & REVENUE

6. Daniel Priestley — "How to Become a Key Person of Influence"

This episode is a hidden gem that serious entrepreneurs keep rediscovering. Priestley's five-step framework for establishing authority in any niche is the clearest roadmap for going from "doing the work" to "leading the market" that exists in the DOAC catalogue.

The five steps: (1) Write a short book or definitive guide to your niche. (2) Build a scorecard or assessment tool. (3) Launch events — even small ones. (4) Develop a product ecosystem at multiple price points. (5) Create strategic partnerships that expand your reach.

"Every entrepreneur should write a book — even a 100-page one. Not because books make money. Because books make authority. And authority makes everything else easier." — Daniel Priestley

Action step: Write a 2,000-word definitive guide to the most common problem in your industry. Publish it on your website. This is step one of Priestley's framework, and it takes a weekend.

MONEY & FINANCE

7. Morgan Housel — "The Psychology of Money"

Housel's central argument — that financial success is more about behaviour than knowledge — applies to personal finance and business finance equally. His DOAC conversation is the best 1.5-hour financial education most entrepreneurs will ever receive.

Key insight for founders: compounding works in business, not just investing. A 1% daily improvement in your product, marketing, or customer service compounds to a 37x improvement over a year. But compounding requires patience, and most entrepreneurs quit before the curve inflects.

Action step: Calculate your business's "savings rate" — what percentage of revenue are you reinvesting vs. extracting? If you're extracting more than 30% in your first three years, you're likely undermining your compounding potential.

Related: DOAC money advice guide.

NEGOTIATION & POWER

8. Robert Greene — "The Laws of Power and Mastery"

Greene's books have been read by everyone from 50 Cent to Fortune 500 CEOs. His DOAC conversation covers the psychology of power, why most entrepreneurs fail at negotiation, and how to read people like a book. This episode is less about tactics and more about the deep strategic thinking that separates great entrepreneurs from good ones.

The mastery framework: (1) Find your "Life's Task" — the intersection of natural inclination and market need. (2) Apprentice under masters for 5-7 years. (3) Develop "Dimensional Mind" — the ability to combine different fields creatively. (4) Break free and establish your unique contribution.

Action step: Identify three people in your industry who are 10 years ahead of you. Study their early career moves. What apprenticeship did they do that you're skipping?

Full breakdown: Robert Greene episode summary.

RESILIENCE

9. Mel Robbins — "The 5 Second Rule That Changed Everything"

Mel Robbins was unemployed, drinking too much, and so depressed she couldn't get out of bed. The 5 Second Rule — counting 5-4-3-2-1 and physically moving before your brain can talk you out of it — started as her last-ditch attempt to function. It scaled to every area of her life, and her explanation of the neuroscience behind it makes it far more than a gimmick.

For entrepreneurs specifically, this episode addresses the single biggest killer of businesses: hesitation. The email you didn't send. The call you didn't make. The price you didn't raise. The hire you didn't fire. Every one of those is a moment where your brain successfully talked you out of necessary action.

Action step: For seven days, use the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown before every task you're resisting. Track how many times it works. Most people are shocked by how much they accomplish when hesitation is removed from the equation.

See: Mel Robbins episode summary.

MENTAL HEALTH

10. Dr. Julie Smith — "Why Successful People Are Miserable"

Dr. Julie Smith became one of the most followed mental health professionals in the world, and her DOAC appearance is a wake-up call for entrepreneurs who sacrifice their mental health in pursuit of growth. Her core message: the traits that make you a good entrepreneur — perfectionism, high standards, relentless drive — are the same traits that make you vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

The episode provides specific tools for managing entrepreneurial stress without reducing ambition. This isn't "slow down and smell the roses" advice. It's "here's how to sustain high performance without burning out" advice.

Action step: Schedule a 15-minute "worry window" into your calendar each day. During that time, write down every anxiety. Outside that window, when worries arise, tell yourself "I'll deal with that during worry time." This paradoxically reduces anxiety because your brain knows the concerns will be addressed.

Explore more: DOAC mental health episodes guide.

MINDSET

11. Tony Robbins — "The State That Controls Everything"

Tony Robbins has coached presidents, professional athletes, and billionaires for over 40 years. His DOAC episode distils four decades of coaching into one conversation — and the most important insight isn't about strategy, it's about state. Your emotional state at the moment you make a decision determines the quality of that decision. Period.

His "priming" routine — 10 minutes of breathing, gratitude, and visualisation every morning — isn't meditation. It's deliberate emotional engineering. And he's done it every single morning for over 30 years, including on days when he's exhausted, jet-lagged, or in crisis.

Action step: Before your next important business decision, take 3 minutes to change your physical state. Stand up, move, breathe deeply, think of three things you're grateful for. Then make the decision. Compare the quality of decisions made in peak state vs. stressed state over 30 days.

Full notes: Tony Robbins episode summary.

HEALTH & PERFORMANCE

12. Dr. Andrew Huberman — "The Neuroscience of Peak Performance"

Huberman's DOAC appearance isn't a health episode — it's a performance optimisation episode disguised as a health episode. Every recommendation is backed by peer-reviewed neuroscience, and the protocols are immediately actionable.

For entrepreneurs, the most valuable takeaway is this: your cognitive performance throughout the day is determined by a handful of controllable inputs — morning sunlight exposure, exercise timing, caffeine timing, and sleep consistency. Get these right and you'll have 20-30% more productive hours per day. Get them wrong and no productivity hack will compensate.

Action step: Implement three Huberman protocols this week: (1) Get 10 minutes of sunlight within 30 minutes of waking. (2) Delay caffeine 90-120 minutes after waking. (3) Stop eating 3 hours before bed. Track your energy and focus levels for two weeks.

See also: DOAC health episodes key takeaways.