WORK
IDEAS
BUILD
A Podcast About Work & Ideas
SMASH
CAFE

Raw conversations at the intersection of ambition and reality. We talk about how work actually gets done — and what ideas survive contact with the world.

Latest Episodes Listen Free
Scroll to explore
Work Culture ✦ Big Ideas ✦ Founder Stories ✦ Creative Grit ✦ Deep Work ✦ Sharp Thinking ✦ New Economy ✦ Bold Moves ✦ Work Culture ✦ Big Ideas ✦ Founder Stories ✦ Creative Grit ✦ Deep Work ✦ Sharp Thinking ✦ New Economy ✦ Bold Moves ✦
What We're About
WHERE
WORK
MEETS
IDEAS
180+ Episodes
2.4M Downloads
60+ Guests
4★★★★ Avg Rating

Smash Cafe started as a simple idea: two people who couldn't stop talking about work, ideas, and the messy space between them. We hit record. Something stuck.

Every episode, we sit down with founders, thinkers, and builders who are doing things differently. No fluffy success stories. We go deep on what's hard, what breaks, and what actually works.

Think of it as a coffee shop conversation — except the coffee is strong, the thinking is sharper, and we never wrap up on time.

Fresh Episodes
ON THE
MENU
179
Work
Meetings Are Broken. Here's How We Fixed Ours.
A brutal audit of how we actually spend our time at work — and what radical prioritisation looks like in practice.
▶ 48min
178
Ideas
Thinking in Decades
Most people plan in quarters. The best builders plan in decades. We explore long-game thinking with a serial entrepreneur who's been at it for 30 years.
▶ 1h 05min
177
Culture
Why Your Team Doesn't Trust You
A candid look at management failures most leaders won't admit to. Guest: an org psychologist who's fixed some of the most broken teams in Europe.
▶ 56min
176
Money
The Salary Conversation Nobody Wants to Have
How do you know what you're worth? How do you ask? We dig into the mechanics and psychology of getting paid what you deserve.
▶ 42min
Topics we smash
Leadership✦ Creativity✦ Systems Thinking✦ Entrepreneurship✦ Deep Work✦ Hiring✦ Leadership✦ Creativity✦ Systems Thinking✦ Entrepreneurship✦ Deep Work✦ Hiring✦
Burnout✦ Money✦ Remote Work✦ Mental Models✦ Future of Work✦ Side Projects✦ Burnout✦ Money✦ Remote Work✦ Mental Models✦ Future of Work✦ Side Projects✦
The Voices Behind It
MEET THE
HOSTS
MV
MIKA VÄINÖLÄ
Co-Host & Founder

Former strategy consultant turned serial entrepreneur. Mika has built and sold three companies and is obsessed with the question of why smart people make bad decisions at work. He brings the frameworks and the tough love.

M
SR
SONJA RANTA
Co-Host & Editor-in-Chief

Journalist-turned-podcast-obsessive. Sonja spent a decade covering business for national media before deciding conversations were more honest than articles. She brings the questions nobody else dares to ask.

S
LISTEN
Never Miss an Episode
HIT
SUBSCRIBE

New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. Find us wherever you get your podcasts — or get fresh drops straight to your inbox.