One problem, one operator, one usable fix.
Each episode opens with the host framing a single business problem, then hands off to an interview with the operator who solved it. Guests range from a baker scaling to 15,000 items a day to a toy brand fighting copycats, and the point is always a tactic a listener can copy.
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Problem Solvers takes a narrow premise and runs it hard: one business problem per episode, one person who solved it, and a tactic the listener can lift. Jason Feifer, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, hosts. He opens most episodes himself with a short narrated setup rather than small talk. That structure is intentional. He has explained on the show that entrepreneurs are not always good at telling their own stories, and that a tight written opening lets him state the problem cleanly, then drop into the interview at the point where it becomes most useful. The result is a guided conversation rather than a loose hang. Feifer restates guest answers into sharper strategic terms, asks for examples when an idea turns abstract, and keeps steering back toward the practical takeaway. The subject matter stays operational. A bakery owner describes the jump from a few dozen baked goods a day to 15,000, and why that meant hiring for the organizational skills she did not have and writing standard operating procedures for everything from cleaning a mixer to packing goods without breakage. Melissa, of the toy brand Melissa and Doug, talks about counterfeits and copycats, and about what to do the moment customers validate a product: expand within the concept, into more styles, a smaller size, a bulk pack, instead of scattering. Kevin, of Category Design Advisors, walks through a category creation formula built on context, what is missing, and innovation, then uses the pre-iPhone smartphone market to show how buyers hesitate until a dominant design emerges. Other episodes turn the lens on media itself, with the host arguing that founders need to think like content creators because ideas are what scale and what get people known. The tone throughout is measured. Enthusiasm shows up as explanation rather than hype, and there is very little performance in it. Listeners should know the show carries substantial advertising, and some episodes lead with extended sponsor reads for services like accounting software and franchise opportunities before the actual conversation begins. The back catalogue runs past 460 episodes, which makes it a reference library as much as a weekly listen, searchable by the problem a founder happens to be stuck on. Franchising, consumer products, hiring, delegation, brand protection, and category strategy all recur. It suits anyone who wants the mechanics of a business decision rather than the highlight reel of a successful one.
Made for: Founders, small business owners, and franchise operators who want tactical answers to a specific problem rather than general inspiration. Also useful for anyone weighing a first investment in a business or studying how consumer brands scale.
What sets it apart: The narrated opening does the work most interview shows leave to the guest, framing the problem and the stakes before the conversation starts, so the interview lands on the useful part. The host actively reshapes answers into cleaner strategic points instead of letting a founder ramble through a company history.
You have business problems. This show has solutions. Each week, Entrepreneur’s Editor in Chief Jason Feifer digs deep with entrepreneurs and CEOs — identifying the major problems they faced, the solutions that worked, and how YOU can put them to use in your business. No fluff, all tactics. Let’s solve your problems.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Problem Solvers turns founder experience into concrete lessons about growth, delegation, customer behavior, professional visibility, and difficult career decisions.
Jason Pfeiffer starts with a business dilemma, establishes the stakes, and often brings in someone who has handled a version of it firsthand. His interviews move steadily from experience to mechanism: what changed, how the decision was made, and what had to happen operationally…
A bakery makes 15,000 baked goods a day; your 'I'll handle it' starts sounding expensive.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical, clear-eyed look at matching content format to the work it needs to do.
Problem Solvers works from a clear editorial principle: form should follow function. Jason Pfeiffer, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, applies that idea to media made for founders and aspiring founders, especially content meant to make ideas visible, build relationships,…
A bakery's leap to 15,000 daily goods turns delegation into a precise operating test.
Problem Solvers turns a familiar founder problem into a concrete operating question: how a business keeps its standards when too much knowledge still lives with one person.
A clear, strategic look at how overlooked opportunities can become categories that set expectations.
Problem Solvers makes category creation feel less like jargon and more like a familiar business problem. A company entering a crowded market inherits the pricing, product, and buyer expectations already in place; a company that finds an overlooked opening may get a chance to…
A grounded take on expanding a validated consumer product while protecting accessibility and trust.
Melissa traces how a consumer product business can build from one proven idea into a fuller assortment without losing the thread that made it work.
A grounded look at workplace happiness, career direction, and the judgment it takes to leave well.
The episode treats quitting less as a dramatic exit than as a careful judgment call, shaped by available alternatives, day-to-day happiness, and the personal meaning people draw from work.
A grounded look at adapting to a new market while keeping hard-won experience in play.
Problem Solvers is at its best when it treats reinvention as a practical problem, not a slogan. Jason Pfeiffer follows Jake from camera retail in Baltimore through Maryland, Texas, and Colorado to Portland, where digital photography made his film-camera background feel suddenly…
A practical episode on using expertise and lived experience to build a credible LinkedIn presence.
LinkedIn personal branding is framed here less as a performance exercise than as a habit of returning to what a professional actually knows. Laura Lorenzetti, executive editor at LinkedIn, keeps the focus on repeatable expertise: the kind of commentary that can make news such as…
Rob Walling on bootstrapped SaaS growth, plateaus, and exits — with founders who lived them.
Abbey Ashley's playbook for turning your job skills into a virtual assistant business.
SaaS operators on scaling, pricing and AI, metrics included.
Alex Blumberg interviews guests like Megan Phelps-Roper and Shane McAnally about failure and reinvention.
Jake built a thriving business selling analog cameras after digital photography took over, defying the usual story of failure.
Jason Feifer advises creating a 'five percent character' of yourself to focus your LinkedIn content on what matters most.
This episode is a promotional ad for Mathnasium Learning Centers, highlighting the benefits of investing in their math tutoring franchise.
On Problem Solvers, Jason Pfeiffer asks Jon Taffer how to assess franchise opportunities, from doggy daycare listings to brand support.
Founders need media.
Danielle Sepsy says The Hungry Gnome grew from a few dozen baked goods a day to 12,000 daily, which made the old “do it all yourself” model impossible.
Jason Pfeiffer of Entrepreneur Magazine interviews Kevin Manning, co-author of Play Bigger and The Category Creation Formula, on Problem Solvers about how category creators set the rules instead of fighting incumbents like Colgate or Uber-style rivals.
This episode provides actionable tips for optimizing your LinkedIn profile and leveraging the platform for career growth and networking.
This episode is a promotional ad for Mathnasium franchise opportunities, followed by a brief personal anecdote about tax season paperwork.
Melissa Bernstein says Melissa and Doug’s first copycat problem hit with the original fuzzy puzzle in the early 1990s, when she and Doug drove from Connecticut to New Jersey to inspect a bad copy.
About 50% of quitting is driven by a single "jolt," not a logical push-pull calculation.
This episode features an interview with the CEO of Jersey Mike's discussing how to scale a franchise business while maintaining brand integrity and culture.
Entrepreneur Jake Chivory resists digital photography trends to build a successful analog camera business without reinventing himself.
This episode explores how to transform fear from a paralyzing force into a tool for personal growth and success.
This episode discusses common reasons companies fail and how to avoid them, with a focus on the Mathnasium franchise opportunity.