The Fundamental Edge
By: Russell Steed
Language: en
Categories: Business, Entrepreneurship, Management, Science, Physics
I'm Russell Steed, and I've got this weird obsession with figuring out why some businesses take off while others crash and burn. Maybe it's the physics degree talking, but I keep seeing these crazy patterns that nobody's talking about. That's what The Fundamental Edge is all about. I take those invisible forces shaping business success and make them ridiculously obvious by connecting them to physics and natural laws. (Don't worry, I keep the physics super simple – no quantum mechanics here unless you're into that sort of thing.) Each episode, I'll break down a fundamental principle through real business stories. Like ho...
Episodes
Focus Creates Fire: Why the Best Companies Do Less
Jan 06, 2026Focus Creates Fire: Why In-N-Out Crushes McDonald's With 10x Fewer Stores
The Fundamental Edge | Episode 2
Episode Summary
What does a magnifying glass have in common with In-N-Out Burger? Turns out, everything.
In this episode, I break down the physics principle of focus and how it connects to one of the most powerful business strategies out there—the Hedgehog Concept from Jim Collins' Good to Great. We'll dig into why more businesses die from indigestion than starvation, look at real examples of companies that nailed (or completely blew) their focus, and I'll gi...
Duration: 00:43:58First Principles: Why Grandma Cut the Ham (And What It's Costing You)
Dec 30, 2025Three generations. One ham. Zero reason to keep cutting off the end—except "that's how we've always done it." Sound familiar? This is the trap most entrepreneurs fall into, and it's costing you more than you think.
In this episode, we break down first principles thinking—the mental framework behind SpaceX's 90% cost reduction, NVIDIA's AI dominance, and Netflix's transformation from DVD mailers to streaming giant. You'll learn how to strip away inherited assumptions and rebuild your business from the ground up.
What You'll Learn:
Why Elon Musk got laughed out of the room (and prov... Duration: 00:28:21