608: (Solo) Why Short-Term Wins Can Quietly Kill Your Business

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Nathan Chan

Marketing, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When I first started Foundr, I made a lot of short-term decisions — and most of them hurt us more than they helped. It took years (and a few hard lessons) to understand that sustainable growth only comes when you play the long game. In this episode, I break down what it means to win deep, not shallow, and why short-term thinking keeps so many founders stuck in a constant cycle of rebuilding. From scaling ads too fast, to chasing promotions instead of strategy, I’ll share how shifting my mindset to long-term planning completely changed how I run Foundr today. Here’s what you’ll take away: • Why constant motion isn’t the same as progress • How to identify if your business is stuck in “short-term mode” • What it means to build leverage through people, systems, and patience • How slowing down and investing in depth leads to lasting growth • Real examples from Foundr: rebuilding platforms, teams, and offers for long-term scale If you’ve been feeling like you’re always running but never really moving forward, this episode will give you the perspective and strategy to pull back, refocus, and build something that lasts. This is a brand new solo series I’m testing, and I’d love your feedback. Email me directly at [email protected] — I read every reply. Hope you enjoy it. SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://your.omnisend.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get started. HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOOST REVENUE WITHOUT MORE ADS We use Aftersell for simple post-purchase offers that lift sales fast. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://try.aftersell.app/ptiz4gnmvff7⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get started. CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/podcast⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Founder Fam, I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omniscend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for e-commerce founders. We've been recommending OmnisCent to Founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling the seven figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results.
0:24.0	Did you know on average, Omnysend customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return on investment.
0:32.6	And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code Founder 50.
0:39.3	Just head to Omnicend.com forward slash founder without the E to get started.
0:45.0	All right.
0:45.9	Now let's jump back into the show.
0:48.7	Hey guys, Nathan here.
0:50.6	Welcome back to another episode of the Founder Founder Podcast.
0:53.9	These are short,
0:54.8	bite-sized episodes where I share my lessons learned, building founder, everything I've learned
1:00.3	from interviewing over 100 billionaires doing this stuff for over a decade now. And what I want
1:05.6	to talk to you guys about today is this idea of winning deep, not shallow, and why playing the long game ultimately
1:15.3	is the best way to play any game when it comes to business and having a long-term strategy.
1:21.6	Hear the stories. Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship.
1:28.3	Welcome to the Founder podcast with Nathan Chan.
1:35.3	This is something I've been thinking about a lot because I've made a lot of mistakes at Founder.
1:39.3	And a lot of those mistakes, if I was to really boil it down, comes down to short-term thinking. And I want to
1:46.0	give you some examples here around how I've kind of thought short-term and why it's actually
1:51.5	hurt me in the past. And every time I've played the long game around winning deep, not shallow,
1:58.4	has actually you ended up way better off. So let me give you an example because I think oftentimes when you're starting a company, you're thinking so short term, right? You're thinking, oh, well, I got to get this sale and I launched this product and I do this and I got to get this marketing channel and I got these ads right. And then I can just keep growing, growing, growing, growing, growing. But what you find is,
2:17.9	before you know it, you get caught up in this hamster wheel where unfortunately you're just spinning
2:24.0	and you just keep spinning. And that, you can be caught up for years in that hamster wheel,
	...

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