Is being the smartest person in the room holding you — and your business — back? What if the biggest leadership flex isn’t personal brilliance, but building a team that outshines you? In this episode of North Star Leaders, Lindsay Pedersen sits down with Joe Davy, CEO of Banzai — a high-growth SaaS company giving marketers AI-powered “superpowers” through tools like Demio, OpenReel, and Create Studio. Joe opens up about his evolution from an ambitious solo founder to a leader who believes the smartest move is surrounding yourself with people who are better than you. From organizational behavior to AI-driven marketing, Joe shares candid insights on how he learned to let go of ego, embrace complexity, and scale both his company and his mindset.

You’ll hear them discuss:

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  People-first leadership  - Why building a team you enjoy and trust is more powerful than being the hero with all the answers.

  
  


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  Letting go of ego - How Joe stopped trying to outsmart people problems and started hiring people who outsmarted him.

  
  


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  Soft skills supremacy - Why emotional intelligence, motivation, and communication aren’t “nice to have” — they’re mission-critical.

  
  


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  The education gap - How traditional schooling trains us to win alone - and why that’s a dangerous setup for future leaders.

  
  


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  Learning through fire - Joe’s belief that the best way to grow is to get thrown into the rapids — and sometimes fall in.

  
  


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  Athletics and leadership - The surprising ways team sports prepare you better for leadership than most MBA programs.

  
  


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  AI in marketing - How Banzai is creating seamless, scalable tools that give marketers an edge in an attention-fractured world.

  
  

Resources:

Joe Davy on the Banzai | LinkedIn | X (Twitter)

Lindsay Pedersen - Contact me to tell me who you'd like to hear as a guest! | Connect with me on LinkedIn