Stuck in founder mode and drowning in decisions? Justin sits down with Mike Roberts, founder of Creating Coding Careers, to trace the moment he stopped being the default problem-solver and started building a leadership engine. Mike shares how a bold re-org, strict guardrails, and an outside consultant turned constant firefighting into a cadence of rocks, quarterly priorities, and clear roles—freeing him to drive revenue and partnerships while leaders grew their own judgment.
We dig into the experience gap that stalls entry-level tech talent and why apprenticeships create a faster, safer bridge into real jobs. Mike breaks down a company-driven earn-and-learn model that pays people to master skills on the job for about a year and connects them directly to hiring pipelines. Along the way, he challenges the AI storyline that sidelines juniors. Most of the economy runs on small businesses still figuring out AI adoption, and pairing motivated early-career pros with modern tools can slash time-to-productivity. No juniors means no mids, and no mids means no seniors—talent ecosystems require constant planting.
The conversation also maps a practical playbook for promoting leaders: hire for growth mindset, reward extreme ownership, and anchor every decision in values—tenacious, resourceful, passionate, honest, responsible. If your calendar is clogged with validation requests and your team asks how you would do it, it’s time for a hard break. Learn how CCC banned direct escalations to the founder, empowered a true leadership layer, and built a culture where wins are celebrated and then leveraged for the next leap.
If you’re scaling a team, navigating AI headlines, or exploring apprenticeships to build your talent pipeline, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a fellow builder, and leave a review with the one guardrail you plan to install this quarter.