The Chief of Growth Show · EP 17 · September 17, 2026

Why Would a Businessman Run for President? The Story Behind Jason Palmer's Journey

Jason Palmer on turnarounds at Kaplan, the Gates Foundation, So-Crate for teachers, and what a long-shot 2024 presidential run taught him about risk, conviction, and leadership.

Full episode on YouTube Watch on YouTube →

About this episode: Jason Palmer on turnarounds at Kaplan, the Gates Foundation, So-Crate for teachers, and what a long-shot 2024 presidential run taught him about risk, conviction, and leadership.

Where to Listen

Watch the full video on the Jay Aldebert YouTube channel. Audio-only episodes are also available on Spotify. Full show notes at tcogshow.com. Apple Podcasts is coming soon.

Related Doctrine
Minimum Mandatory Profit
The floor beneath every financial decision
Return to Owner
The diagnostic that reads a business in one pass
Layer Cake
The five-layer profit model
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The Tools Behind the Conversation

Every episode traces back to the same instrument

The Chief of Growth Show is where the conversation happens. The doctrine below is what the conversation is measured against. Return to Owner reads the business. Layer Cake shows what the reading resolves to. The Business Biomarker Index scores whether it can hit the number. The Two Cancers names what kills it if it cannot.

The Diagnostic

Return to Owner (RTO)

The intake pass that reads a business across 11 proprietary Business Biomarkers and produces the one number every owner has to know. Calibrated against 86,000+ prior reads.

Read the doctrine → The Visual Output

Layer Cake

The visual output of RTO. Stacks the 11 biomarkers on a foundation of Minimum Mandatory Profit and resolves upward to the Breakeven Sales number the business must produce.

Read the doctrine → The Output Score

Business Biomarker Index

The composite score of the RTO diagnostic. Reads like a vital sign. Names the one constraint most likely to stop the business from clearing its breakeven.

Read the doctrine → The Diagnosis

The Two Cancers

Every small business that dies right now dies from two cancers running in sequence. Cancer 1 is unmeasured debt service. Cancer 2 is silent working capital drain. Here is the mechanism.

Read the doctrine →

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