112. The Diary of a $30M COO with Barrett Brooks

The Knowledge with David Elikwu

David speaks with Barrett Brooks, a writer and executive coach specialising in guiding mission-driven founders and creators through emotional and strategic barriers to business growth. His writing focuses on leaders and companies tackling critical societal issues such as climate change, biodiversity, education, food systems, healthcare, and circular products. Previously, he was the managing editor of The Carbon Almanac (a bestselling book on climate change led by Seth Godin), COO at Good Coffee, and COO at ConvertKit.

They talked about:

💡 Unexpected lessons of business failure

⚖️ The struggle of balancing ambition with reality

❌ The power of rejection

🧭 The moral cost of career advancement

🏆 The balance between success and failure

🤝 The cost of friendship in leadership roles

This is just one part of a longer conversation, and it's the second part. You can listen to the earlier episode here:

Part 1: 🎙️Purpose, Passion, and Perseverance with Barrett Brooks (Episode 109)

📜 Full transcript:

theknowledge.io/barrettbrooks-2/

📹 Watch on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/uaAOX_EXo_s

🗣 Mentioned in the show:

Seth Godin | https://theknowledge.io/freestyle/

Wes Kao | http://www.theknowledge.io/weskao/

The ShipIt | https://amzn.to/3WLxvsj

Living for Monday | https://barrettbrooks.com/portfolio/living-for-monday/

The Dip | https://amzn.to/3Ma4cup

Ernst and Young | https://www.ey.com/en_gl

World Domination Summit | https://worlddominationsummit.com/

Chris Guillebeau | https://chrisguillebeau.com/

Corbett Barr | https://www.corbettbarr.com/

LinkedIn Learning | https://www.linkedin.com/learning

Nathan Barry: Everything We Learned Growing ConvertKit to $40M | https://www.goodworkshow.com/guests/nathan-barry/

Nathan Barry | https://nathanbarry.com/

Convertkit | https://bit.ly/convertkit-de

Acumen | https://acumen.org/jobs/

Jacqueline Novogratz | https://acumen.org/jacqueline-novogratz/

Adam Grant | https://adamgrant.net/

Kim Scott | https://kimmalonescott.com/

Substack | https://substack.com/

Beehiiv | https://www.beehiiv.com/

👤 Connect with Barrett:

Website: https://barrettbrooks.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks

Good Work with Barrett Brooks: https://www.goodworkshow.com/

👨🏾‍💻 About David Elikwu:

David Elikwu FRSA is a serial entrepreneur, strategist, and writer. David is the founder of The Knowledge, a platform helping people think deeper and work smarter.

🐣 Twitter: @Delikwu / @itstheknowledge

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Decision Hacker will help you hack your default patterns and become an intentional architect of your life. You’ll learn everything you need to transform your decisions, your habits, and your outcomes.

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