Business Athletes: Martin Stead

Hello and welcome to Business Athletes 👋 

Each week, we’ll explore the athlete-like habits behind a different business leader.

In less than 5-minutes, we aim to provide you with practical tactics that you can quickly apply in your day-to-day.⚡️

Today’s edition is about doing things the hard way, the human way…on purpose.

I sat down with Martin Stead, co-founder of Legacy, to unpack how he's deliberately building a human-first experience in the age of AI.

Legacy is a unique business, and one of the coolest I’ve come across recently. They create beautiful in-person interviews to capture people's life stories, where you can watch yourself and your kids grow.

What struck me right away is how Martin isn’t interested in shortcuts or obsessed with hyper-growth hacks. Instead, he’s quietly building a business that values experience above all…for his clients, his team, and himself.

From rethinking his daily routine in a late-night city like Buenos Aires, to managing remote teams of documentary filmmakers, to crafting a flow state that feels more like white noise than chaos, Martin’s operating manual is refreshingly grounded.

Let’s get into it! ⚡️

Pre-Game Preparation

Sleep First, Laptop Second

I’ve tried all the templates. The 6am cold plunges the Huberman-approved schedules. And they work for some people. But living in Buenos Aires, life runs later. Even on Mondays, dinner starts at 9pm. So I built my rhythm around that.

Sleep is non-negotiable. If I sacrifice sleep, my productivity is gone. I aim for around seven and a half to eight hours a night, sleeping around midnight and waking at 8am.

Before I touch work, I make sure I’ve lived a little first. Move, get outside, feel the sun. I have a home gym setup, space for long walks. This morning life gives me clarity. When I finally sit down to work, it’s around 10am. Later than some, but it means I show up with energy and intention. And since I always end up working late, I can do it guilt-free!

Crafting Space and Silence

For me, flow isn’t forced. It’s environmental.

I’m a nest-builder. Madriguera in Spanish. I surround myself with things I love that inspire me. My phone stays silent. Even as a musician, I work in silence. No playlists, no background noise, just the natural sounds of birds outside my window.

This setup helps me lose myself in the task at hand. No distractions, no multitasking. When I’m working, I’m fully present. And that presence is everything.

Setting Maximums, Not Minimums

This is one of my favourite principles, borrowed from my fitness routine: Don’t set minimums, set maximums.

In training, there were days I didn’t have the energy for a full workout. I’d feel tempted to skip altogether. But I realised: doing something is always better than doing nothing. Even if it’s just a few reps, it keeps the streak alive.

I apply this in business too. We all have goals, but if we treat them as harsh minimums, missing them feels like failure. Instead, I set maximums and aim for consistency. Every small step forward builds momentum.

Perfection isn’t the goal. Progress is.

Deep Into The Game

Always, Always User-First

This is our golden rule: user first, always.

It’s not about me, not about investors, not even about technical perfection. It’s about making the experience unforgettable for our clients.

If spending an extra hour setting up lights makes someone uncomfortable, we skip it. If it means the difference between a good experience and a perfect shot, we choose the experience. Every time.

When clients finish an interview, even before they’ve seen the final product, they tell us: This was amazing. Everyone should do this.

That’s what we work for.

Design: The Invisible Hand That Shapes It All

My background is in holistic design. It shapes everything at Legacy.

Good design is invisible. It’s not about fancy visuals for their own sake. It’s about how people feel when they interact with your brand. It's about empathy, and getting to the core of what moves people. That’s our barometer for every decision. 

Building the Snowball of Trust

The championship we’re chasing with Legacy isn’t just growth metrics. It’s trust. It’s building an ecosystem of engaged clients and aligned partners that bring the right clients to us organically.

Our clients come through personal recommendations and trusted networks: membership clubs, concierge services, groups of high-growth founders and execs. When a company sees that someone like them is working with us, it sparks the invaluable word-of-mouth loop.

Our goal is to make Legacy a badge of honour. Something that signals: We care deeply about the experience we create.

Lessons From The Field

Problem Solving: The Power of Documentary Filmmakers

This was a turning point for us.

At first, we worked with traditional videographers. They were hyper-focused on technical perfection: headphones on, eyes glued to the monitor, barely engaging with the person in front of them. Clients felt the disconnect. Some even said, "I'm curious to see how it looks, but I didn’t feel great during the shoot."

So we switched to documentary filmmakers. They are used to entering real environments, such as people’s homes, always unpredictable spaces. They set up quickly, work flexibly, and, most importantly, they care about the story. They care about you.

Suddenly, our clients were saying things like, "This experience was incredible. I felt at home. I want to do this again." They hadn’t even seen the final video yet. That’s when we knew: this is our way.

This is our secret weapon.

Remote Work & Delegation: Don’t Fight the Organic

You lose at remote work when you fight against what feels organic.

We embrace tools like Loom for communication. It’s way faster than emails, and more human than texts. If a tool makes life easier, we invest in it. And as much as remote work, we still try to meet in person when we can. Nothing replaces that.

Managing a distributed team of documentary filmmakers isn’t easy. We keep quality high by giving clear, tactical instructions: simple checklists for things like audio, lighting, even interruptions like package deliveries or gardeners. But we also teach our team to accept what they can’t control. 

We tell them upfront: focus on what you can manage, and don’t let perfectionism paralyse you. Some noise is unavoidable, and that’s okay. But it’s all about empowering our team to do their best work without the anxiety of chasing impossible standards.

The Superpower

Natural Sales Energy & Building Goodwill

People tell me I have natural sales energy. I think it comes from something simple: I love talking to people.

Every client talks to me directly. I show up to every conversation as myself. No script, no pitch, just curiosity and genuine care. This isn’t just good for business. It builds goodwill. People feel it. Even across time zones - with clients in California or London - I’ll wake up early or jump on a Sunday call if needed. And because our service is personal, they appreciate that effort. They feel it’s for them, not for a quota.

The goodwill we build compounds over time. It becomes trust. And that’s priceless.

Latin Energy as a Superpower

I truly believe my Latin energy is an asset in this business.

In Argentina, like much of Latin America, we grow up valuing human connection. We love to talk to people, to make them feel welcome, to be present in the moment. This naturally helps me not only in sales — where I genuinely enjoy every conversation — but also in our interviews.

Our clients feel it. They sense the warmth and authenticity. And it helps build trust quickly. In a service like ours, where emotion and empathy are at the core, that energy isn’t just nice to have. It’s a superpower!

The Business Athlete Ethos

The Messi Standard

I’m not a huge sports guy. Though as an Argentinian, I have to mention Messi.

There’s this interview he gave after moving to Miami. The host joked, "You’re Messi now, you can wake up whenever you want!" And Messi replied, "No, I can’t do whatever I want. I have to be there on time. My team deserves that respect."

That humility is something I admire deeply. No matter how big you get, you show up every day like you’re still earning it.

That’s how I try to run Legacy. Just like Messi, we aim to earn it, every single day.

Training for the Long Game

I love this concept of the business athlete.

It frames business as something you train for, not something you fight against. You work on yourself, you care for your body and mind, you respect your craft.

Perfection isn’t the goal. Consistency is. When you fall into the trap of chasing perfection, you risk burnout. But when you show up every day and do the work, you win. Every time.

The Championship is a Stack of Cups

For us, success doesn’t come from one big win. It’s lots of smaller wins, stacked together like cups on a shelf.

Each partnership, each happy client, each referral adds to the stack. And as the tower grows, people start to take notice. They see Legacy’s name on a roster and think, They’re doing something right.

That’s the championship we’re chasing. Not a single trophy, but a collection of cups that, together, build something far greater.

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