In this episode of Chasing the Insights, I talk to Mike Chaput.
Mike talks to us about The Spirit of Play: Unlocking Human Motivation Through Leadership.
Mike Chaput didn’t wait around for permission to lead—he bought his first company at 24 with borrowed money and zero experience. What followed was a crash course in leadership, finance, and failure that ended in bankruptcy and began a lifelong obsession with learning how businesses really work.
He took those lessons and built a new company from the ground up, scaling it to $35 million in revenue with best-in-class margins and a team of 140. Along the way, Mike discovered what truly drives business success: not control, not hustle, but clarity of vision and a values-driven culture that people want to be part of.
Mike holds degrees from both Columbia Business School and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and has continued learning long after the diplomas auditing courses and studying with the intensity of someone who never assumes they know enough. His approach blends top-tier business theory with hard-won experience in the trenches.
Today, he’s the CEO of Endsight, a member of the CEO Advisory Council for a multi-billion-dollar software company, and a board member for two private equity roll-ups. He brings a grounded, operator’s perspective to topics like M&A, leadership, team motivation, and sustainable growth.
Mike believes that when leaders trade structural authority for shared purpose, companies grow faster, teams perform better, and the whole thing becomes more human—and more scalable.
You can connect with Mike here:
Website: https://www.mikechaput.net
Endsight: https://www.endsight.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchaput/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thechaputperspect
X: https://x.com/ChapPerspective
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thechaputperspective
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechaputperspective/
Listen to the episode here.
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