He Failed 7 Times Before €7M. That made Him Impossible to Beat. Michel Lieben, ColdIQ - Video

????️ Founder Depths | Ep. [3] — Michel Lieben Founder & CEO of ColdIQ

Most founders dress up why they started. Michel doesn't. He'll tell you straight that he got into business to make money, then spent eight attempts and seven failures learning how. In this episode I sit down with Michel Lieben, Founder & CEO of ColdIQ, to talk about why failure is the best compass he's ever had, how stacking skills gets you to a point where you "know too much to fail," and why he treats every new problem as proof there's less competition left in the room.

We also get into the freedom that pulled him out of a 9-to-5, why he doesn't buy the four-hour work week, how LinkedIn quietly became his biggest lead machine (2M impressions a month, around 100 qualified meetings), and a proudest moment that has nothing to do with revenue and everything to do with his brother. Blunt, practical, and more personal than you'd expect from a guy whose whole business is cold outreach.

[00:00:00] – Intro: business is personal, and the point of Founder Depths
[00:00:28] – Explaining the business to a kid (the lemonade and cold outreach analogy)
[00:01:53] – What's actually exciting about the job: freedom and financial independence
[00:02:32] – If money wasn't a question: make enough that you never need more
[00:04:53] – Why making money is a mix of enjoyment and pragmatism
[00:07:17] – Did you always want to be an entrepreneur? (Googling the highest-paying jobs)
[00:08:53] – The first paying job: GPS trackers for cats and dogs
[00:09:38] – 8 businesses tried, 7 failed, 1 worked
[00:10:15] – How failure stacks skills: clothing brand → ads → cold outreach → ColdIQ
[00:11:44] – Why this business worked when the others didn't
[00:15:12] – The toughest decision: firing someone for the first time
[00:16:18] – Success vs failure: resilience over intelligence
[00:16:38] – Why every obstacle means less competition
[00:19:09] – Freedom over a 9-to-5: organizing your time your own way
[00:22:12] – On the four-hour work week and why it's unrealistic early on
[00:26:22] – Three years full time, and the truth about work-life balance
[00:27:44] – What actually scaled the business: posting on LinkedIn
[00:29:52] – Personal brand, inbound leads, and 2M impressions a month
[00:30:23] – Why LinkedIn is the "cringiest" platform and the best B2B opportunity
[00:32:13] – The proudest moment: his brother, a trip to Bali, and a reason to stay
[00:35:54] – On regret: the best decision with the information you had
[00:37:10] – Destiny vs control: when the man you are meets the man you could have been
[00:39:05] – Advice for new entrepreneurs: focus on the learning, never quit

???? Guest: Michel Lieben — Founder & CEO of ColdIQ
???? Host: Renata Ravilova — Founder of CoPostly.com | LinkedIn Expert | Curious mind

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