The Kickstart Podcast: Recent Episodes
Preston Park
Interviews with founders, and other professionals to talk about how they KickStarted their amazing careers, businesses and teams
We hope that their journey brings you insights on how you could implement their lessons to your career.
In this episode, we talk with Domenic Maiani, Founder of Lazio Search Group, a Recruitment Firm that specializes in IT, Supply Chain and Logistics. We talk briefly about his experience starting a catering business, how he was able to leverage his experience as an athlete to find success and how he was able to scale fast in the first year. He shares alot of great insights and tips in this episode and we are excited to see where his business will go into the future!
Check them out here!
https://laziosearch.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Zack Frost, the Founder of Laboris Tech, a Tech focused Recruitment Agency out of Sweden. We talk about his semipro hockey career, his time as a Ranger and how both of these experiences helped him to find success with his growing recruitment business. Zack shares alot of great insights and tips in this episode and we are excited to see where his business will go into the future!
Check them out here!
https://laboristech.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Jeanna Barrett, the founder and Chief Remote Officer at First Place Strategy, a global growth marketing agency that partners with product-led companies looking to achieve high-volume, sustainable growth. In this exciting episode, we talk about what her professional marketing experience was like at companies like Capital One and Kabbage, how she made the jump to work for herself, how she was able to scale and maintain a strong remote culture at First Place, why she firmly believes that remote work is here to stay and why she is excited about the future!
Check them out here!
https://www.firstpagestrategy.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Steve Merritt, the Dir of Engineering at Tenet, a sustainable financial platform that is helping you lower your EV Payments. In this exciting episode, he shares his experience as a Software Engineer at Google, why he left that job to cofound his company, the biggest lessons he learned from being a founder, his take on a 4 day work week vs a 5 day work week and why he is excited about what he and his team are doing at Tenet!
Check them out here!
https://tenet.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Arnaud Lucas, the CTO of Wanderu, a travel booking startup that offers the simplest way to book bus and train travel. In this episode we go over how he was inspired to pursue a career in engineering, what it was like working at companies like TripAdvisor and Wayfair, how he made the jump from a stable job at a large company to a small startup and why he is very excited about Wanderu's future!
Check them out here!
https://www.wanderu.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Chris Mitchell, the Co Founder and CEO of Float, a company that is building a platform that will transform the market for mental healthcare. In this episode we go over what inspired him to pursue a degree in Foreign Service and Chinese Studies, how he got a job at top investment banks and consulting firms and what he liked and disliked about both experience and how he came up with the idea of Float and why he is so excited about its future!
Check them out here!
https://www.floatfi.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Rachel Sanders, CEO and Co-Founder of Rootine, a startup that helps you understand what your body needs to perform optimally and then provide the solutions to help you get there through precision lab tests, nutrients, and guidance. In this exciting episode, we talked about her main takeaways from attending Harvard Business School, how to find the perfect balance between being an ambitious CEO and a mother, what inspired her to work in healthcare and why she believes Rootine is different compared to the competitors on the market
Check them out here!
https://rootine.co/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Liam Kinney, the Co-Founder of Canal, a company that is on a mission to guide and empower digital merchandisers to activate and manage brand partnerships and capitalize on 3rd party merchandising opportunities. In this episode we talked about his experience pursuing a masters in AI and what he thinks the future of AI will be, his experience working both as a software engineer, machine learning engineer and a product marketer, what he focused on as a Head of AI to what inspired him to create Canal!
Check them out here!
https://shopcanal.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Akhila Satish, the CEO of Meseekna, a metacognitive assessment and talent development platform that measures and trains “how” participants think. In this episode we talked about what first inspired her to pursue a degree in biotechnology, her thoughts on how companies can create and maintain stronger team engagement and lower turnover at the same, how Messekna's platform can maximize a workforce's potential by reducing bias and subjective judgement and why she is excited about the company's future!
Check them out here!
https://www.meseekna.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Jacob Esparza, the Dir of Design at BigEye, an industry-leading data observability platform that gives data engineering and science teams the tools they need to ensure their data is always fresh, accurate and reliable. In this episode, we talk about how he went from a degree in biochemistry to pursuing design, how he was able to work both as a product manager and product designer earlier in his career and how he was able to leverage the unique experience to find success in his career and how he was able to grow from a Product Designer to a Dir at BigEye and why he's personally excited for the company's future!
Check them out here!
https://www.bigeye.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Ali Nichols, the co founder of Getaway, a real estate investing platform that empowers you to invest in premier vacation rental properties at an affordable cost. In this episode we talked about how her passion and interest in real estate earlier in her life, her tips on how she got amazing jobs at companies like IBM, Uber and Bungalow, the biggest lessons she learned working at companies of different sizes and what inspired her to create Getaway!
Check them out here!
https://getaway.house/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Syed Hamid, The founder of Sofy, a modern nocode testing platform designed for Engineers to test mobile apps and websites. In this episode we talked about how he got into test engineering, his thoughts on QA and Test Engineering as a career in today's landscape, what his experience was like at Microsoft and how he was able to learn and leverage his experience to create Sofy that is changing ways testing can be done!
Check them out here!
https://sofy.ai/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Steven McCall, the founder of Alleva, the leading EMR platform in behavioral health. In this episode, we talked about how he started his career in account management and how he pivoted to product management, how he was able to leverage his product background to kickstart the start of his company and why he and his team are so excited about the future of Alleva!
Check them out here!
https://helloalleva.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Tony Creech, the COO of Everlight Solar, a fast growing solar company that provides homeowners with simple and affordable clean energy. In this episode we talked about all of the interesting and unique businesses he ran throughout his career, his inspiring perspective on choosing a career that he was genuinely passionate about vs his title or how much he could've made, what he loved most about his experience in both marketing and media, his thoughts on what makes an effective leader and how he was able to leverage all of his past experiences to become a successful COO.
Check them out here!
https://everlightsolar.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Sheridan Clayborne, a serial entrepreneurial who is now the Co-Founder of Lendtable, a company that helps users take out cash to max out their retirement benefits. In this episode, we talked about what first inspired him to dive into the world of entrepreneurship, how he started his other businesses including a sneaker reselling business that he scaled to generate over 8 figures, how he ended up working at Dropbox as a Machine Learning Product Manager, what his experience was like both as a Thiel Fellow and Forbes 30 under 30 and what he and his team are working on at Lendtable!
Check them out at :
https://www.lendtable.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Esther Wojcicki a well known and leading speaker, author, journalist, founder and mother! In this episode we talked about her unique upbringing, how she created one of the largest Journalism and Media Arts Program at Paolo High School in the US, her unique parenting perspective and views on how she was able to raise 3 successful children (CEO of Youtube, CEO, 23andMe and a doctor) her thoughts on the future of education, why she is passionate about the empowering the next generation and what her next book is about!
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Nayan Behal, the Head of Strategic Partnerships at Nitra, a smart finance company for the next generation of healthcare. In this episode we talked about his earlier job experiences at Citi and at American Express, what inspired him to start angel investing and how he took a leap of faith to take a job with a smaller and fast growth company.
Check them out here!
https://www.nitra.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Alex Ursa, the Head of Product at Betr, the first direct-to-consumer micro-betting focused sports betting company. In this episode we talked about his impressive career in product, how he got into product management, how he worked at two other gaming/sports related companies FanDuel and Betfair, his honest thoughts about walking away from a leadership role at FanDuel to join an early stage team with Betr and much more!
Check them out here!
https://www.betr.app/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
In this episode, we talk with Coty Beasley, the Head of Product and Co Founder of Underline, a company that ensures the vibrancy of our nation through building intelligent community infrastructure. In this episode we talked about how he got into product design, his experience founding other previous companies in different spaces(consulting, sports etc), his tips on hiring top talent, his leadership philosophy and what he's particularly excited regarding the future of Underline!
Check them out here!
https://www.underline.com/
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we talk with Billy Huang, the co founder of Insomnia Labs, an Ad-Tech company that helps brands/creators create long-term successful campaigns with our expertise and tools! In this episode we talked about how we got jobs at well known companies like WeWork, how he got into Web3, his take on the state of Web3 and its future and what exciting projects his team at Insomnia are working on!
Check them out here!
https://www.insomnialabs.io/
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we talk with Daniel Wallerstorfer, the founder and CEO of Novogenia, an Austrian biotechnology company in the field of preventive genetic testing, lifestyle genetic testing and individualized dietary supplements. In this episode, we talked about what inspired him to pursue a degree in molecular biology, how he started his company early on in his career, how his company pivoted to play a role during the pandemic and the exciting innovations and products his company is creating in the field of biotech, supplements and cosmetics.
Check them out here!
https://novogenia.com/
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we talk with Craig Rupp, the founder of Sabanto, a Farming-as-a-Service company that provides total turn-key agriculture services via their supervised autonomous equipment platform. During our conversation, we talked about how he got started in electrical engineering and why he pivoted into systems engineering, the lessons that he learned from his previous companies, what he and his team at Sabanto are doing and what their future plans are!.
Check them out here!
https://sabantoag.com/
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we talk with Ann-Sophie Le Bloas, the founder of Ravacan, a Purchasing & Procurement software designed for commodity & supply managers, with a central place to analyze costs and manage suppliers. During this conversation, we talk about the whole purchasing and buying industry, her experience working at companies like Rolls Royce and Fitbit and her prior experience creating a company that created and sold custom made VR goggles.
Check them out here!
https://www.ravacan.com/
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we talk with Taly Matiteyahu, the founder of Blink, a new application that is building a dating space where a person’s personality, values, sense of humor, passions, and quirks are what set them apart. During our conversation together, we talked about how she first got inspired to pursue a career in law, how she successfully leveraged her legal background to a career within tech, how she then pivoted her legal tech career to a career in product management and then how she was ultimately inspired to create Blink.
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we talk with Alston Chiang, who is part of the talent acquisition team at Snowflake. He started his career at an agency than worked at impressive companies from Linkedin, WeWork, Streamlit and now Snowflake. In this episode, he shares how he was able to navigate a successful career, what life in the day is truly like recruiting in house, his thoughts on recruiting as a profession and so much more!
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we had the pleasure to chat with Nathaniel Robinson, the founder of Trustworthy, a company that is reimagining estate management. We talked about what it was like to work in a leadership marketing role at companies like VMWare, Oracle and Microsoft and how these experiences helped him to be a successful founder. We went over his experience investing into companies and what criteria he looks for before making a decision and finally, how he was inspired to create Trustworthy and what his future plans are!
ohn Peurifoy, the Co Founder of Floating Point Group. We talked about his experience at MIT, his impressive career working at different companies, how he pivoted from physics and electrical engineering to software and what inspired him to create the Floating Point Group.
Check them out!;
https://www.floating.group/
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we had the pleasure to chat with John Peurifoy, the Co Founder of Floating Point Group. We talked about his experience at MIT, his impressive career working at different companies, how he pivoted from physics and electrical engineering to software and what inspired him to create the Floating Point Group.
Check them out!;
https://www.floating.group/
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we talk with Mitch Babineaux, currently a recruiter at Chronosphere. We talked about how he moved to NYC and stumbled upon his first recruiting job, why he decided to leave his agency recruiting job and go in house, how he managed to get great jobs at fast growth companies like LiveLike, N26, and BlockFi and his thoughts regarding the future of recruiting.
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we chat with Jonathan Bensamoun, the founder of Fi. We talked about his thoughts about the value of an MBA, how he started a career in product management and worked at high profile companies such as Shopkeep, Square and Handy, his criteria that he uses to make investment decisions for companies and how he was inspired to create Fi, a company that is creating the next generation of smart collar for dogs!
Check them out!;
https://tryfi.com/
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we have Jacquelyn Fox, the Head of Talent Acquisition at JustWorks Labs. We learned how she leveraged her experience both in program management and college counseling to succeed as a recruiter, how she was able to navigate and break into recruiting for tech companies such as Teachable and how she made the biggest gamble for her career saying no to big tech for an opportunity with a much smaller team.
Need Help with Hiring or Looking for a Job?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we have Sampei Omichi, the founder of Ellis, a platform that is disrupting immigration! We talked about his personal immigration story into the US, how he worked both in project and product management, how he worked at very different companies from Verizon to being the first product manager at an early stage startup to how he was inspired to start and build Ellis.
Check them out: https://www.joinellis.com/
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kickstart_finder
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we have Jessica Steffl who has an impressive career recruiting for top NYC Tech Startups.
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kickstart_finder
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we have Nate Soffo, Founder of Portabl, which is focused on changing how banks, fintechs, & web3 providers understand identity. This company was founded after Nate finished his MBA with numerous investors including Harlem Capital, 6th Man Ventures, Wharton Fintech, and more.
Learn more about his business: https://portabl.io/
Need help with recruiting top talent?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kickstart_finder
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast?
Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we have Nate Mihalovich, Founder of Revv Up, which allows users to find the best price to sell their vehicle. One of his experiences includes growing a business from zero to $10 M in revenue that was eventually acquired by Autodesk.
His curiosity eventually led him to build the first consumer-driven auction where dealers are buying from consumers.
Learn more about his business: https://getrevvup.com/
Need help with recruiting top talent? Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kickstart_finder
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast? Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, we have Chris Lustrino, Founder of KingsCrowd, an analytics investment firm. After graduating from school, he started out as a consultant to learn the ins and outs of the private equity industry. KingsCrowd allows non-accredited investors to invest in private companies going through fast growth.
Learn more about his business: https://kingscrowd.com/
Need help with recruiting top talent? Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kickstart_finder
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast? Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, Ronak Trivedi, Co-Founder & CEO of Pietra, discusses how he launched his career as a developer, program manager, and product manager at some of the most well-known tech companies before deciding to found his own business that is currently sweeping the eCommerce industry.
Need help with recruiting top talent? Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kickstart_finder
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast? Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Marie Richter, who previously worked for Google and other large technology companies, shares her experience in starting her own HR Consulting firm: Marie Richter HR Consulting.
She also shares her experiences and lessons learned while assisting companies in finding strategic HR answers and implementing scalable HR solutions.
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Need help with recruiting top talent? Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kickstart_finder
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast? Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Tatiana Becker, founder of Niah Recruiting, shares her story of how she started her career with a profession unrelated to recruiting to eventually running a 40+ employee recruiting agency.
She also shares her experiences and lessons as she transitioned from an in-house recruiter at Etsy, AppNexus, and Microsoft to a recruiting agency.
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Need help with recruiting top talent?
Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kickstart_finder
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast? Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com
Joe and I worked in the same recruiting agency during the early stages of my recruiting career. Joe eventually decided to bet on himself to start his own agency. He is the Co-Founder of Grow Recruiting. Joe shares his stories that I hope that you can have some key takeaways and apply them to your own career.
Grow Recruiting | https://www.growrecruiting.com/
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Need help with recruiting top talent? Go to https://www.kickstartfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/preston_park/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@preston_park
Know someone who could be a guest on this podcast? Email me at thekickstartpodcast@gmail.com