Founder's Mentality: The CEO Sessions

James "Jimmy" Allen has spent over 35 years as an advisory partner at Bain & Company, and his concept of the Founder's Mentality — that combination of insurgent mission, owner's mindset, and frontline obsession — has shaped how some of the biggest companies in the world think about sustaining growth. This podcast puts that philosophy into practice through candid conversations with CEOs from organizations like Audible, Walmart, and AWS. But here's what makes it genuinely different: each episode pairs a corporate leader with an artist, musician, or comedian who explores the same leadership lesson through a completely different lens. It's an unexpected move from a management consultancy, and it actually works. The conversations feel less rehearsed than typical executive interviews because Allen clearly has real relationships with these leaders, not just a booking agent. With 11 episodes and a perfect 5.0 rating from its early listeners, the show is still relatively new (launched mid-2024) but the production quality and guest caliber suggest staying power. Episodes drop biweekly and tend to focus on themes like scaling without losing culture, the art of simplification, and what personal growth looks like at the CEO level. If you've read Allen's books, this is the audio companion you didn't know you needed. If you haven't, it's a strong entry point into thinking about what separates great companies from merely large ones.