Mailander Podcast
The Mailander Podcast is a film room for high-stakes decisions.
In each episode, strategist and author Chris Mailander sits down with leaders who have been tested under real pressure to replay 2–3 pivotal choices that changed the trajectory of a company, career, or market.
The show is built around decision intelligence—the discipline of designing the processes, frameworks, and systems that make consequential choices better over time. Guests are typically CEOs of private mid-market companies (roughly $50M–$5B+ in revenue) or founders of AI and technology platforms (roughly $5M–$50M ARR) who have already navigated major inflection points: exits, strategic investments, AI transformations, turnarounds, or elite program builds.
Instead of surface-level origin stories, conversations slow the game down. Chris and his guests break down what they saw, what they missed, the trade-offs they wrestled with, and how those decisions shaped enterprise value, culture, and competitive advantage.
If you’re a performance-driven leader—CEO, investor, operator, or emerging founder—and you treat judgment as a craft, this is your room. Episodes are produced in long-form video and audio and released across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, YouTube, and major social channels, with selected clips cut for precision delivery to the audiences that matter most.
Mailander Podcast
Jan Jensen: Iowa WBB; Caitlin Clark; Building an Elite Program; The New College Athlete
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Jan Jensen is the new head coach for women’s basketball at the University of Iowa. Jensen takes over an elite program that developed generational phenom, Caitlin Clark (WNBA Rookie of the Year with the Indiana Fever), and reached the NCAA Championship game the last two years. Previously named NCAA Assistant Coach of the Year, Jensen has been instrumental in recruiting and developing such athletes as Kate Martin (now with the Las Vegas Aces) and Megan Gustafson (also with the Las Vegas Aces, who recently competed for Spain in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and was NCAA Player of the Year while at Iowa). Our conversation discussed Jensen’s succession path following Lisa Bluder; her vision for the team under her leadership; building and curating a team culture; recruiting the right players to fit the Iowa program; creating the conditions for developing confidence and trust; the changing realities of college athletics with NIL, the portal, and revenue sharing; the Iowa ‘brand’; and a few memories of growing up in Iowa’s small farm communities.
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Original Music by Billy Goodrum