Married to the Startup
Married to the Startup is a modern podcast where power couple, George and Alicia McKenzie, navigate the thrilling intersection of marriage, family, and entrepreneurship. With over a 15 years of partnership, this CEO and entrepreneurial coach duo share candid insights on building businesses while fostering a strong family unit.
Episodes
73 episodes
In Conversation with the Host of Cake for Dinner - Keesha Scott
Keesha Scott is a co-founder of Guardian Recovery, a national behavioral health company with 800 employees and 17 facilities nationwide, a podcast host, and a soon-to-be published author. In this episode, she sits down with Alicia and George to...
MacKenzie-Childs Part 2 | The Dark Side of Rapid Expansion
What really happened to the woman behind MacKenzie-Childs? In this episode, Alicia and George go back to finish the story they started in episode 51, because it turns out there was a whole chapter the internet left out.Before private equ...
What Nobody Tells You After the Exit
What actually happens after the big exit? In this episode, Alicia and George talk about the wealth event no one fully prepares you for and the three tensions that sneak up on almost every founder: identity crisis, lifestyle creep, and the paran...
The Advice Economy Is Lying to You
Alicia and George call out three myths dominating entrepreneurship culture right now: more AI means more productivity, more money means more happiness, and owning a business beats working for someone else.They get into what actually happ...
How Two Outsiders Almost Destroyed a Multi-Million Dollar Idea
Stacey Spikes built MoviePass from the ground up, a subscription model that let you see unlimited movies for one monthly fee, only to watch investors hand his company to someone else.Alicia and George break down how slashing the price to...
The Private Equity Playbook: How Investors Drained InstaPot
Robert Wang left his career as a PhD scientist to build the Instant Pot with his wife Tracy after one too many "what's for dinner" moments as two working parents.He breaks down the 18-month development process, how he grew a cult followi...
From Lawyer to Founder: In conversation with Biologica
Elizabeth Zwillinger left her career as an attorney to co-found Biologica with her husband Joey. She breaks down the two-year R&D process, how they stress-tested their idea with 1,000 women before building a single product, and ...
What We Would Do If We Had to Rebuild From $0
In this episode, Alicia and George McKenzie share what they would do if they had to rebuild a company from $0. They explore the importance of skills inventory and the strategies for starting over. The conversation delves into the significance o...
The Future of Human Labor
AI is moving from “chatbot help” to agents that hold real roles—like an executive assistant that triages your inbox, books meetings, and briefs you daily. Alicia and George unpack what this means for startups, why 2026 feels like a tipping poin...
Is Social Media Destroying Our Kids?
In this episode, Alicia and George McKenzie discuss the impact of technology and social media on education, parenting, and mental health. They explore the challenges of raising children in a digital age, the implications of content creation, an...
From Coach to CEO: A Conversation with Nick Shaw of RP Strength
In this conversation, Nick Shaw, co-founder of Renaissance Periodization, shares his journey from being a personal trainer to building a successful fitness company. He discusses the importance of hard work, the challenges of scaling a business,...
First to Market and Still Lost
In Episode 60, Alicia and George unpack one of the most romanticized myths in entrepreneurship: being first to market guarantees success. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.They break down why pioneers often build the category… and fast ...
Why Most Perfect Couples and Brands Fail
SummaryIn this episode of "Married to the Startup," hosts Alicia and George McKenzie delve into the complexities of celebrity brands and their sustainability in the market. They discuss the recent divorce of a well-known couple and how ...
Scaling Up a Marriage | is it equitable?
What if the problem in most marriages isn’t effort, but assumptions?In this episode, Alicia and George unpack why the idea of a “50/50 marriage” sounds good in theory but often breaks down in real life. Drawing parallels between marriage...
Who the Hell Are We? Marriage, Money, and Building Businesses Together
Episode 57 is a reintroduction — and a reset.With the podcast officially transitioning to video, Alicia and George McKenzie pull back the curtain on who they are, where they’ve been, and why Married to the Startup exists ...
From Pandemic Darling to a $9 Stock
Peloton went from a $50 billion valuation to fighting for survival. George and Alicia break down how the pandemic darling made critical mistakes: mistaking temporary demand for permanent growth, overinvesting in manufacturing, and failing to ad...
What do Fast Walkers and iRobot Have in Common?
Absolutely nothing but check out these hot takes. What We’re Talking AboutFast Walkers & Founder Energy Are you the person always five steps ahead? We unpack what walking speed says about personality, am...
Buying a Nepo Baby's Brand | What are you really getting?
OverviewAlicia and George break down Coty's $600M acquisition of Kylie Cosmetics and debate the real value of influencer marketing.Key PointsThe Deal:Coty paid $600M for 51% at $1.2B valuati...
The Rise and Fall of Away
Episode SponsorRelive Health - Modern wellness clinic offering peptides, hormone optimization, and vitamin therapy in Gaithersburg.What We're Discussing...
The $465M Exit Where the Founders Got Nothing
In this week’s episode of Married to the Startup, Alicia and George pull back the curtain on one of the wildest startup stories in recent history — the fantasy-sports giant that sold for nearly half a billion dollars… and left its founders with...
When Scaling Goes Wrong | The MacKenzie Child's Story
Alicia and George break down the wild true story behind Mackenzie-Childs — the beloved ceramics brand whose founders not only lost their company…but also the rights to their own name.It’s a cautionary tale every founder needs to...
The Retake: Hitting 50 Episodes and WTF is Vibe Coding
In this milestone 50th episode of Married to the Startup, Alicia and George McKenzie reflect on their podcast journey — from chewed cables to choppy audio — and celebrate how far they’ve come. Sponsored by
When Your Mom Comes to the Interview
Alicia and George are back with a mix of tech, family, and finance talk that somehow leads to a debate about eye contact and manners.What They Talk About: • The recent AWS outage that broke half the internet — Starbucks, Unite...
Authenticity, Bail Bonds, and Buying a Business
Alicia and George unpack why authenticity wins over appearances, how bail actually works (because Alicia had no idea), the tradeoffs of buying a company versus building one, and the right way to ask for a warm intro without being annoying.<...
Motivation, Arrogance and Fitzgerald Grant III
In this candid and often hilarious episode, Alicia and George McKenzie unpack the myth of “natural greatness.” From raising five kids (and now three dogs) to running companies and managing chaos, they explore how success really comes down to do...