On this episode of ADAPT or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, former tech-CEO-turned-executive-coach Andreas Pettersson sits down with Stella Han, software-engineer-turned-founder of Fractional, the platform letting everyday investors pool small checks into big real-estate deals. Stella traces her journey from “cheap family labor” on Bay-Area flips to hacking a one-page mock-site that drew 2,000 wait-listers and vaulted her into Y Combinator—then reveals the high-stakes pivot that saved the company.

• Challenge → Legal and accounting chaos crushed early group deals, and a consumer-focused product stalled when rising rates froze $5k hobby investors.
• Adaptation → After a six-hour co-founder debate, Stella yanked the consumer roadmap, rebuilt Fractional as a B2B2C engine for seasoned operators, and flew to Phoenix to pitch creative-finance icon Pace Morby in person—securing a marquee customer and proof of product-market fit.
• Success → Fractional now automates compliance and back-office pain, has funneled $400 million into deals, and counts Fifth Wall, Y Combinator, Will Smith, and Kevin Durant among its backers—tripling operator sign-ups in 2024 alone.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat: Stella’s “fly there, ask anyway” rule and the journaling habit that turns reflection into rocket fuel.

Think capital raising is only for the rich? Stella’s story will rewrite your playbook—and your cap table.

Visit ADAPTorDIEpod.com for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

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In her teens, poet and entrepreneur Ryanna Hammond felt life slipping out of reach. By 28, she’d published seven books, launched the lifestyle brand All With Heart, healed generational wounds—and is now preparing for motherhood. In this episode of ADAPT or Die, Ryanna walks host Andreas Pettersson through the inner work that turned a private journal into a public mission.

• Challenge → Years of depression, disordered eating, and self-doubt left Ryanna stuck in numbing routines.
• Adaptation → A four-month, full-time therapy program—mixing CBT, breath-work, group sessions, and daily writing—taught her radical honesty and vulnerability. With a nudge from a friend, those pages became her debut collection, We Are Human.
• Success → The book cracked Amazon’s Poetry Top 100, snowballed into six more titles, and inspired her coaching practice helping others “live all with heart.” Next up: guiding Andreas’ forthcoming leadership book.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat: The mindset flip that dissolves “sleazy” sales anxiety—reframe it as helping, not selling—and Ryanna’s one rule for anyone feeling stuck: be brutally, beautifully honest with yourself.

Listen for a blueprint on turning life’s darkest chapters into purposeful art and business.

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Supply-chain whiplash, 40 % ingredient hikes, and an ERP rollout that face-planted—2022 nearly soured Alex Wendling, 28-year-old president of Custom Flavors. In this episode of ADAPT or Die, Alex reveals how scrapping a six-figure system (and 13 months of work) became the catalyst for three straight years of double-digit growth.

• Challenge → COVID demand spikes and runaway costs exposed brittle pricing models while a “can’t-fail” software switch ground production to a halt.
• Adaptation → Alex pulled the plug, rebuilt on a real-time operating system, and shifted from hands-on “chief problem solver” to process-first strategist—empowering leads to own decisions and standardizing every meeting, hand-off, and metric.
• Success → Lead times shrank, margins rebounded, and a coast-to-coast expansion (new North Carolina plant +15 staff) will push headcount past 100. With tariffs now hitting raw materials, the team’s live-cost pricing engine lets them adjust before profits erode.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat: Alex’s inbox rule and “remove the choke-point” test for founders stuck in the weeds.

If you think letting go means losing control, Alex’s story will change your flavor—and your playbook.

Visit ADAPTorDIEpod.com for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

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Most elite leaders swear by data—but ignore the data their own bodies generate. Neuro-emotional performance coach Leila Entezam joins host Andreas Pettersson to prove that feelings are the missing metric at the top.

• Challenge → High-stakes CEOs, founders, and athletes hit a wall: detachment, compartmentalization, and a nagging sense of emptiness despite record-breaking results.
• Adaptation → Leila blends neuroscience, psychology, and EQ to show why the brain processes information emotion-first. By slowing down, cultivating somatic awareness, and seeing emotions as a critical dataset, high performers unlock deeper decision-making, richer connections, and sustainable momentum.
• Success → Clients trade burnout for balance, rebuild their most intimate relationships, and still smash business goals. Leila’s own four-year book journey—The Heart of Peak Performance: Emotional Mastery for High-Performing Men—demonstrates the payoff of purpose-driven persistence.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat: Leila’s personal re-centering cue—remembering that time is precious and choosing every minute with intention.

Listen in to learn why “what got you here won’t get you there” unless you master the emotional game.

Visit ADAPTorDIEpod.com for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

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Serial entrepreneur and technologist Jeff Kunzelman (3 exits out of 6 startups) joins Andreas to unpack why today’s AI wave is “10 × bigger—and faster—than the original internet boom.”

They cover:

• Challenge - Spotting market-shifting tech before it’s obvious—and the risk of waiting even 12 months.
• Adaptation - Using generative-AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Notebook LM) to collapse weeks of research and prototyping into minutes—and the culture shift CEOs need to spark that curiosity.
• Success - Building leaner, higher-impact teams, saving 2–3 hours per day, and turning interns into instant thought partners.

Lightning Round highlights: Jeff’s current AI tool stack, one use-case most execs miss, and his two-year prediction for “hyper-personalized apps that won’t even be called apps.”

“If you’re not running company-wide AI experiments today, you’ll be ‘too far behind to catch up’ in 12 months.” —Jeff Kunzelman

Stick around to the end for a 60-second Hot-Seat Coaching segment and Andreas’s signature closing:N “Remember, in leadership we adapt and thrive, or we don’t survive.”

New episodes every Tuesday. Show notes and free resources at LeadersAdapt.com.

Visit ADAPTorDIEpod.com for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
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When securities attorney & serial entrepreneur Bethany LaFlam watched her first investment fund implode, she lost more than cash—she lost confidence. In this premiere of ADAPT or Die, host Andreas Pettersson unpacks the exact moment Bethany hit rock-bottom, the mindset pivot that set her free, and the measurable wins that followed.

• Challenge → A brilliantly complex $50 M fund no investor could understand—followed by debt, doubt, and angry LPs.
• Adaptation → Bethany gave herself permission to fail forward, invested in masterminds & coaching, and coined her core philosophy: OPE—Other People’s Everything.
• Success → She rebuilt credit, launched a thriving securities law firm, and now helps founders leverage other people’s money, skills, and ideas to scale safely.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat: Bethany’s mantra for overwhelm—“I can do hard things”—and how to spot (and prune) misaligned partnerships fast.

If you’ve ever felt chained to a past mistake, this episode hands you the key. Listen, adapt, thrive.

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ADAPT or die: Transformative Leadership Conversations is a weekly podcast where former tech CEO and leadership coach Andreas Pettersson sits down with top executives, founders, and change-makers to dissect the pivotal moments that forced them to pivot—or perish.

Each 30-minute episode follows a Challenge → Adaptation → Success framework, offering real-world insights into how leaders navigate disruption.

Episodes also feature a rapid-fire “Hot-Seat” coaching segment, providing actionable takeaways for listeners.

Visit ADAPTorDIEpod.com for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:

https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson/