Podcast Interviews with Vladimir Baranov
I’ve been a guest on 28 podcasts, talking about building companies, leading technical teams and turning research into a business. Here is each conversation, grouped by who it’s most useful for, with the points I’d want you to take away.
For founders and CEOs For tech leaders For scientists and deep tech
For founders and startup CEOs
Customers, scaling, fundraising and what coaching is for.
Entrepreneurial Excellence
What’s the #1 Mistake Startups Make When Trying to Scale?
February 2026
- Market reality always beats technical elegance
- How ego and bias distort a founder’s decisions
- Business runs on psychology and the ability to truly listen
The Brand Called You · S7 E383
Tech Founder & Executive Coach on Startup Myths
February 2026
- Founder misconceptions at the idea stage
- The predictable signs a startup is outgrowing its processes or team
- Teaching emotional intelligence to analytical founders
Positive Leadership Academy · Javier Llerena
Bridging Business & Tech: Leadership Lessons for Founders
May 2025
- Bridging business sense and technical expertise as a founder
- Hiring experts instead of doing everything yourself
- Finding the right mentors at the right time
Breakthrough Innovation
From Builder to CEO: Scaling Mindset, Not Just Product
April 2025
- Why perfectionism kills momentum
- Reframing failure as mapping the unknown
- The difference between building technology and building a business
The First Customer · Jay Aigner
Empowering Tech Founders to Build Successful Companies
February 2025
- How growing up in post-Soviet Russia shaped how I saw business, and what changed my mind
- Why technical founders need customer conversations before the product feels ready
- How I help engineers and scientists turn an invention into a company
Walk in Victory
Launch Your Tech Startup From Scratch
January 2025
- Why the gap between engineers and the business side sinks good ideas
- How to test a tech idea with real customers before building all of it
- What moving from finance and aerospace into coaching taught me
Business. Wealth. Impact. #128 · Jeanne Omlor
The Customer-First Approach: Why Listening Is Your Best Strategy
January 2025
- Most startups fail because they build on assumptions, not because the idea is bad
- Customer discovery is an ongoing habit, not a launch task
- Humility in front of customers is a competitive edge
Default Global Podcast
Scaling Startups Globally: Hard Truths from 30+ Companies
December 2024
- Cultural gaps in distributed teams are the most overlooked scaling problem
- Choosing between direct hires, staff augmentation and outsourcing
- Hiring remote engineers for autonomy and communication, not only skill
Beyond Value Creation
Market Trumps Tech
November 2024
- The market doesn’t run on logic: what Crocs can teach technical founders
- “Build it and they will come” is the most expensive assumption an engineer can make
- Fixing the human glitches in a team before they slow the product
The Founder Podcast
Season 6, Episode 8: From Coding to Coaching
September 2024
- From writing aerospace code to founding companies
- A clever solution that doesn’t solve a real problem is just a cool piece of tech
- Telling a fundraising story: the problem, the traction, the team
Ambition Aligned
AI Can’t Coach You: Why Most Tech Founders Fail as Leaders
2025
- Why I chose coaching over consulting
- Where AI helps in coaching, and why it can’t replace the conversation
- How I measure whether coaching is working
The CTO Show · Mehmet Gonullu
#283 Innovative Leadership: Coaching Tech Founders Towards Success
January 2024
- The difference between consulting, mentoring, therapy and coaching
- Coaching as a copilot: you stay in the driver’s seat
- How to measure the impact of coaching
For CTOs, engineering leaders and technical professionals
Moving from technical expert to leader, and getting your work seen.
Conflict Managed · Ep 226
What Makes Someone Fit to Be a Leader
September 2026
- How to uncover what you actually want
- Gathering context and setting expectations
- Annoyance vs. pain at work, and why the difference matters
McCoy Leadership Podcast
Innovation, Motivation, and Team Alignment
July 2025
- Why communication is the key to team success
- Building context and alignment as a company grows
- Embracing discomfort and prioritizing your first sale
Byron the Product Enthusiast · E7
The Art of Leading: Executive Coaching for Peak Performance
February 2025
- What executive coaching does for leaders already performing well
- Sharpening decision-making under pressure
- Emotional intelligence as a performance skill
Vision Pros Live
Building a Coaching Practice: Leadership and Communication
January 2025
- My move from startups to coaching
- Why communication is the core of leadership
- How I help clients reach their goals
The Lucent Perspective · Rebecca Hastings
How Technologists Can Become Effective Leaders
March 2025
- Why technologists struggle in their first people-leadership role
- Perfectionism and poor communication: the two biggest mistakes technical founders make
- Show leadership behavior before you have the title
Open Tech Talks
Career Growth Strategies with Executive Coach Vladimir Baranov
September 2024
- Understand your company’s promotion ladder and its unwritten rules
- Connect your technical work to business impact
- Build influence beyond your own team
Tech with Newton
Are Your Soft Skills Holding You Back from Excelling in Tech?
September 2024
- Why technical skill alone eventually hits a ceiling
- Soft skills are how your work gets understood and trusted
- Habits that get engineers into strategy conversations
You Say Data, I Say Dayta
How Computer Hardware and Software Work Together
August 2024
- From programming calculators to robotics, fintech and aerospace
- Why technical leaders need to understand both hardware and software
- What building robo-advisory platforms taught me about software and speed
Techtastic · Christian Hammer
Coding Human Connections: Building Better Teams
May 2024
- Leaders optimize systems, but rarely the “human interfaces” between people
- Clear, repeated communication keeps a team aligned
- A leader’s job is to show how each person’s work fits the bigger picture
Financial Freedom Podcast · Dr. Christopher Loo
#807 Beyond the Blueprint: Tech Leadership and Entrepreneurial Wisdom
April 2024
- The pressures on tech founders that rarely get talked about
- From robotics and fintech to space tech and coaching
- Why a leader’s personal development is part of building the company
For scientists, engineers and deep tech founders
Turning research and engineering into a business.
Entrepreneur in Action
Why Brilliant Minds Fail at Business (The Missing Step)
November 2024
- The missing step for brilliant founders: a real connection with customers
- “Build it and they will come” fails even for breakthrough technology
- The first question I ask every founder
Business Growth Trailblazers
Turning Scientific Minds into Successful Entrepreneurs
November 2024
- Why scientists and engineers stall when they start building a business
- Business needs a generalist mindset: sales, strategy and customers
- Finding the deepest need of your customer
ScreamingBox Technology & Business Rundown
Developing Ideas Into Business: How Business Coaches Help Engineers
December 2024
- The engineer’s transition from concept to company
- You can’t understand customer problems without talking to customers
- Funding realities, and why the founder has to drive sales
Founder Wisdom Podcast · Charles Cormier
Coaching Tech Founders at the Edge of Innovation
January 2025
- Coaching founders in aerospace, biotech and advanced computing
- From robotics to trading systems to satellites
- Why I moved from building one company to helping many
Life Well Lived · Omobola Stephen · E364
Crossing the Business–Technology Divide
July 2024
- Crossing the divide between business and technology
- Lessons from 20 years across fintech, wealth tech and space tech
- Taking your career and business to the next level
Financial Freedom Podcast · Dr. Christopher Loo
Engineering Success: Navigating the Start-Up World
April 2024
- My path from engineer to founder
- Emotional intelligence and communication in tech leadership
- Reducing risk in a new startup
Want to talk through your own situation?
The first call is free. We’ll look at what you’re facing and whether coaching is the right fit.
Host a podcast for founders or tech leaders? I’m happy to be a guest.