Be a Guest
For Private Company CEOs and AI founders
A private film room to unpack the inflection points that change everything
The Mailander Podcast features CEOs of private mid-market companies ($50M–$5B+ revenue) and founders of AI and technology platforms ($5M–$50M ARR) who have already navigated major inflection points—exits, strategic investments, AI transformations, or turnarounds.
This page is for those leaders, and for the PR teams and podcast bookers who represent them, to understand what we look for in a guest and how to request an invitation.
Why Appear on the Mailander Podcast
Appearing on the Mailander Podcast means three things:
A film-room for your most important decisions.
One hour where we slow down and reconstruct two or three decisions that define your next 5–10 years.
A precision signal to capital, customers, and talent.
You walk away with a high-production decision narrative—full episode + clips—that you can aim at investors, acquirers, key recruits, and strategic partners.
A host who understands exits, politics, and pressure.
You’re not explaining the basics of M&A, macro, or AI to a generic interviewer; you’re talking to someone who has lived it in 40+ countries, across crisis management, post-conflict reconstruction, venture creation, and M&A.
Tell Your Story
A one-minute look at what it feels like to be in the room with Chris.
For PR & Guest Booking
Request an Invitation to be a Guest
We partner with a small number of PR teams, communications leaders, and agencies who represent CEOs and founders that fit the Mailander Podcast’s focus.
Invitations are selective. We look for leaders whose decisions move markets, organizations, or political outcomes.
Who we typically book
We primarily feature:
CEOs and founders of private mid-market companies
Roughly $50M–$5B+ in annual revenue
Often in sectors such as technology, data/analytics, climate and infrastructure, financial services, energy, industrials, and human performance
CEOs and founders of AI / technology companies
Roughly $5M–$50M in ARR, backed by institutional capital
Building platforms in areas such as AI, geospatial intelligence, fintech/wealth, energy and climate, health, human development, or attention/engagement
Across both groups, we look for leaders who have recently navigated meaningful inflection points, such as:
M&A exits, carve-outs, or strategic sales
Major strategic investments or recapitalizations
Deep AI / data transformations that changed the business
Turnarounds, restructurings, or large-scale program build-outs
Leading through acute external shocks (policy, regulation, macro events, crisis)
What your client can expect
The Mailander Podcast is a film room for decision-making, not a promotional stop or product demo. Guests can expect:
A 45–90 minute long-form conversation (video + audio) focused on 2–3 specific decisions
A host who understands M&A, capital markets, policy, and AI—so your client is speaking with a peer, not explaining basics
A high-production episode distributed on Apple, Spotify, Audible, and YouTube
A curated set of short clips they can use with investors, acquirers, key recruits, and strategic partners
What we ask from you
Please only pitch sitting CEOs, founders, or executive chairs who fit the profiles above
Include a short note on the key inflection point you’d like to explore (e.g., “2024 strategic sale to X,” “Series C led by Y to fund AI transformation,” “post-crisis turnaround in Z market,” “disrupting a legacy or traditional market”)
Share links to the company site, your client’s LinkedIn, and any prior podcast or long-form interviews
How to pitch a guest
Email: ping@chrismailander.com
Subject line: `Mailander Podcast – Guest Pitch for [Client Name, Company]`
In the body, please include:
Who your client is (role, company, revenue/ARR range, sector)
The 1–2 inflection points that make them a strong fit for a decision-focused debrief
Links to company, LinkedIn, prior media, and any upcoming milestones (funding, launch, transaction, etc.)
If there is a strong fit, we will respond with next steps and, typically, a short pre-conversation to align on the decisions we’ll analyze on air.
If you represent a CEO or founder who fits these criteria, this is the right place to start.
This isn’t just another interview.
I want to explore what drives you, what you believe is possible, and how you'll get there.
My guests trust me to take them places most interviews don't go - into the board room, behind closed doors, inside the huddle.
Your story matters.
We have a lot to talk about.
Every episode comes with a curated set of clips for LinkedIn, YouTube, and X, for investors, customers, acquirers, and key recruits.
Chris Mailander provides insights on those decisions impacting our economic, political, and security futures.
Chris Mailander
Chris Mailander has been on the front lines of high-stakes decision-making in over 40 countries. From crisis management for the Global 2000, to building new tech ventures in Silicon Valley, to rebuilding economies in post-conflict countries, to leading companies on their journey towards high-value M&A transactions, Mailander advises decision-makers on how to get their decisions right when they matter most.
Mailander is author of Judgment: The Art of Momentous Decision-Making (2023); The Craft: Secret Codes and Methods for Unlocking Exponential Value (2019); and Searching for Liquidity: U.S. Exit Strategies for the International Private Equity Investment (1999). He has developed the masterclass on decision-making, A-ha with Chris Mailander, and the Insider Series, a series of private missives for CEOs navigating their most critical decisions.