The Business Game
The Business Game
The Business Game is not another highlight reel of overnight success. It is a structured, honest breakdown of what it really takes to build, scale, and sustain a business at every level.
We built The Business Game around a simple truth: business changes as revenue changes. The problems at $500K are not the problems at $5M. The mindset at $5M is not the mindset at $50M. That is why every conversation is grounded in our 10-Level framework, from Level 1 Startup and Survival through to Level 10 Legacy and Exit.
If you are:
• Trying to get your first consistent revenue
• Building your first real team
• Breaking through the messy middle
• Scaling toward eight or nine figures
• Or preparing for exit
There is an episode that meets you where you are.
Hosted by Steve Plummer and Kalena Stano, who speak to founders operating at every stage of the game. No gatekeeping. No hype. No recycled advice. Just real numbers, real mistakes, real strategy, and real decisions that moved the needle.
Each week, we publish two episodes every Monday and Thursday at 6pm AEST, featuring global founders, operators, and investors who break down what actually works at their level and what does not.
The Business Game exists to give you clarity. To help you identify your current level. To show you the moves required to reach the next one.
Because scaling is not random. It is a game. And every level has different rules.
Find your level. Play it properly. Then level up.
Watch video episodes on YouTube and explore more at thebusinessgamegroup.com
The Business Game
LEVEL TWO: Workplace Culture Expert on Why Bad Employees Are Built By Bad Leadership
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
LEVEL 2: $1M – $3M
FIRST TEAM, FIRST SYSTEMS STAGE
On today’s episode of The Business Game, we’re sitting down with Dustin Snyder, Founder and Chief Advisor of WayForward, the company helping organisations uncover the hidden behavioural systems driving turnover, disengagement, low performance, and leadership problems inside teams.
After leading a 600-person manufacturing turnaround, Dustin realised something most leaders never see: employee behaviour isn’t random, it’s the rational output of the systems leaders create around people. That insight led him to build SWIM (Strategic Workforce Insight Mapping), a framework designed to help executives diagnose the real root causes behind workforce problems instead of treating surface-level symptoms.
In this episode, Dustin breaks down why most engagement surveys fail, why frontline behaviour almost always traces back to leadership, and why companies spend far more time understanding customers than they do their own employees.
He also opens up about the difficult transition from founder-operator to CEO, the painful lessons of scaling beyond himself, and why “killing your ego every morning” became one of the biggest unlocks in his growth journey.
Let’s dive in,
with Dustin Snyder:
- Why employee turnover creates hidden financial damage most businesses never measure
- The leadership behaviours teams subconsciously copy
- Why fear-based decisions are almost always the wrong ones
- The scary process of niching down and saying no to revenue
- How documenting his process led to writing his book Sink or Swim
- The system-thinking cheat code founders can use to scale faster
If you’ve ever struggled with culture, delegation, leadership bottlenecks, or building a business that can grow beyond you, this episode is packed with insights you’ll want to hear.
Thank you for listening to The Business Game, where real founders break down the real levels of business.
Whether you're building at Level 1 ($0–$1M) or scaling through Level 6 and beyond, this show is designed to help you understand exactly where you are, and what it takes to level up.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, follow and leave a review. It helps more founders find the roadmap.
For full episodes, level breakdowns and behind-the-scenes content, follow us on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
Want to identify your level or learn more about The Business Game framework?
Visit www.thebusinessgamegroup.com
It's time to Level Up!
We’ll see you at the next level.
