Sales vs. Legal. Operations vs. Compliance. You vs. your Co-founder at 2am.

Brad encourages friction.

Brian lets it run longer than most CEOs. They both know something most entrepreneurs miss: the uncomfortable tension between departments isn't killing your business. Avoiding it is.

Sales wants to close the deal. Legal wants to protect the company. Operations needs flexibility. Compliance needs rules. Most CEOs try to eliminate the friction. Brad and Brian? They promote it. This is episode 40: Let's Get Ready To Rumbbbbbbbble! *YOU'LL DISCOVER*

• Why "copacetic" environments produce lazy decisions and stale thinking

• Brian's technique: challenge me, I'm taking my CEO hat off (then he argues anyway)

• Brad's rule on healthy friction: if nobody's fighting, nobody cares enough

• How friction with clients solidifies deals better than saying yes to everything

*WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS*

• Tell your team upfront you encourage disagreement (most leaders say this, few mean it)

• Push sales to test boundaries while making operations creative with solutions

• When the deal closes, everyone gets credit (not just sales claiming victory)

*WHO THESE GUYS ARE* Brian Balduf built and sold VHT Studios. Brad Balduf scaled By Your Side Autism to 11 centers and 550+ employees. Matt Croke hosts and asks the questions nobody else will. They've been there, made the mistakes, and lived to tell you about it.

*THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH "If everybody's just going to say yes, then we're not really going to get anything. There's a difference between yessing me and providing a good fight." Is your team fighting for their ideas or just nodding along?

👇 SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every Friday. Real stories, real disasters, no LinkedIn energy. ————————————

TIMESTAMPS*

1:37 - Friction in business: healthy vs. toxic (Brad explains why he promotes it)

3:07 - Sales vs. legal: the classic friction point every company faces

5:21 - Brian's confession: "I always pushed sales to do whatever they could"

9:44 - Brad becomes judge and jury when departments collide

11:14 - "Go through walls, go over, go under" (then legal shows up)

14:19 - Brian's stubborn streak: won't accept arguments without pushing back

16:27 - Why "yes people" destroy innovation faster than bad ideas

18:16 - Friction with clients: when pushing back solidifies the deal

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*ABOUT CEO BROS AFTER HOURS* CEO Bros After Hours is a weekly podcast with three entrepreneurs: Brian Balduf (VHT Studios), Brad Balduf (By Your Side Autism Therapy), and Matt Croke (host). Every Friday, they share real business challenges, failures, and wins with humor. From disasters to scaling strategies, they deliver actionable insights while mixing cocktails. ————————————

🍸 *WIND DOWN WITH THE BROS: THIS WEEK'S COCKTAILS* Three drinks for three friction styles. Pick your approach.

🍸 *THE STEAMROLLER* Brian Balduf - "Do whatever you can" (legal will clean it up later) Recipe: • 2 oz dark rum • 1 oz Aperol • 0.75 oz grapefruit juice • 0.5 oz cinnamon syrup • 2 dashes Angostura bitters • Shake with ice, strain over large cube The Vibe: Brian tells sales to go through walls. Operations figures out how. Legal fixes the mess. This drink barrels forward with bold flavors that somehow work together despite looking like a disaster on paper.

🍸 *THE JUDGE AND JURY* Brad Balduf - Encouraging friction then deciding who wins Recipe: • 2 oz Irish whiskey • 1 oz coffee liqueur • 0.5 oz maple syrup • 0.25 oz cream • Orange peel • Shake first three with ice, strain, float cream, express orange The Vibe: Brad lets departments fight it out, then makes the call. This drink looks refined but has competing elements. Sweet, bitter, smooth, sharp. Someone has to decide how it all comes together.

🍸 *THE COPACETIC DISASTER* Matt Croke - For every CEO who thinks friction is the enemy Recipe: • 2 oz vodka • 0.75 oz elderflower liqueur • 0.75 oz lemon juice • 0.5 oz simple syrup • Splash soda • Build over ice, stir gently, top soda The Vibe: Smooth, easy, everyone agrees. Also boring. No tension means no innovation. This drink is pleasant but forgettable, just like companies where nobody pushes back. Make all three. Figure out your friction style. Do you steamroll? Play judge? Or avoid conflict entirely?

Tag us. ————————————

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#entrepreneurship #businessconflict #salesvslegal #departmentalfriction #leadership

Music: "Back to Black" by Rockin' For Decades (licensed through Epidemic Sound)