Just Go Grind with Justin Gordon: Recent Episodes
Justin Gordon
On The Just Go Grind Podcast, host Justin Gordon, an entrepreneur, USC MBA alum and Director of Marketing and Community at Vitalize Venture Group, interviews entrepreneurs, CEOs, investors, and other go-getters to pull out the tips, tactics, strategies, and insights to help you build your company.
Episode 366: Justin Gordon interviews Colleen Heidinger, President of 43North, a pioneering startup competition and venture program focused on building Buffalo into a thriving center for innovation and entrepreneurship.
43North invests $5 million annually in companies that relocate to Buffalo through its immersive accelerator program.
Applications now open: https://43north.org/founders/program/
Watch this episode and others on YouTube.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode…
00:23 Introduction
01:01 What is 43North?
03:27 The early days of 43North
07:08 Covid days at 43North
09:14 Admission process
16:02 Getting the right partners
19:58 The first IPO from a 43N’s company
21:02 The long-year program
26:53 Why five “$1M” on investment money?
31:02 The impact of 43North
34:50 What’s next?
40:13 Why has 43N succeeded?
41:15 Take a look at the application!
42:22 Reach out to Colleen
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- The LA Grind Local Newsletter: https://thelagrind.beehiiv.com/subscribe
- Newsletter Founder Course & Community: https://newsletterfounder.com/
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 365: Justin Gordon interviews Mehul Nariyawala, Co-Founder of Matic Robots, about his experience building two successful venture-backed startups, Flutter and Matic.
Learn more about Matic, the world’s most advanced floor cleaner.
Watch this episode and others on YouTube.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode… 00:13 Introduction 01:39 Mehul’s background 07:49 YC’s Paul Graham’s insight on Mehul’s previous startup 11:54 From Flutter to Matic 16:48 Matic’s first robot 22:14 Matic’s early days and fundraising 25:37 Building the right team 28:07 Known and unknown challenges in robotics 34:28 Last few days before launch 36:08 The mentality for a long job 40:23 Figuring out Matic’s market strategy and pricing 50:41 Building the present and planning the future of Matic
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- The LA Grind Local Newsletter: https://thelagrind.beehiiv.com/subscribe
- Newsletter Founder Course & Community: https://newsletterfounder.com/
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 364: Justin Gordon interviews Waseem Daher, Co-Founder of Pilot, about his experience as a 3x founder building a startup that's raised $150M+ in venture capital.
Check out the founder salary report.
Watch this episode and others on YouTube.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode… 00:27 Introduction 01:36 Waseem’s passion for startups 03:58 Starting Pilot 05:43 Why was it the right time to start Pilot 13:30 Early days at Pilot 19:27 Raising capital for Pilot 22:32 Waseem’s mentality on fundraising 26:36 The story behind Pilot’s Series A round 30:22 Pilot’s first sales 34:09 Pilot’s ICP 36:44 Growth strategies back then 40:09 Growth strategies today 48:34 The evolution of Waseem’s role as a founder 54:25 Be a part of Pilot
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- The LA Grind Local Newsletter: https://thelagrind.beehiiv.com/subscribe
- Newsletter Founder Course & Community: https://newsletterfounder.com/
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 363: Justin Gordon interviews Abdul Al-Assad, co-founder and CEO of Basic Capital, about how he created the startup solution to finance investments and close the American ownership gap.
Check out Basic Capital.
Watch this episode and others on YouTube.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode… 00:48 Introduction 02:18 Basic Capital’s origin 06:51 Abdul’s background 09:41 Hustling for Basic Capital and raising from billionaire Bill Ackman 16:55 The solution to a vicious cycle 24:00 Early days of Basic Capital 30:19 Raising capital 36:11 The logic behind Basic Capital 40:25 The vision for Basic Capital 43:34 Get involved in Basic Capital
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- The LA Grind Local Newsletter: https://thelagrind.beehiiv.com/subscribe
- Newsletter Founder Course & Community: https://newsletterfounder.com/
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 362: Justin Gordon interviews Jeremy Yamaguchi, founder of Lawn Love and Cabana Pools, about how he built and grew several “high-suck” companies in the home services industry.
Check out Jeremy's company, Cabana Pools.
Watch this episode and others on YouTube.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode… 00:55 Introduction 02:17 Jeremy’s background 08:34 Jeremy’s “origin story” 18:22 The process behind Lawn Love 26:18 Early days of Lawn Love 30:42 Lawn Love’s experience in YC 33:19 Angel raising with Lawn Love 35:47 Lawn Love’s growth 37:56 Selling Lawn Love 40:48 Founding Cabana Pools 49:19 Growing + buying companies 53:15 Fundraising for Cabana Pools 1:06:17 Cabana’s challenges 1:11:05 What’s next for Cabana Pools 1:13:17 Contact Jeremy
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- The LA Grind Local Newsletter: https://thelagrind.beehiiv.com/subscribe
- Newsletter Founder Course & Community: https://newsletterfounder.com/
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 361: Justin Gordon interviews John Andrew Entwistle, Founder and CEO of Wander, about how he built a luxury travel business at the age of 23.
Book a Wander with inspiring views, hotel-grade amenities, dreamy beds, top-tier cleaning, and 24/7 concierge service. It’s a vacation home, but better: https://www.wander.com/
Watch this episode and others on YouTube.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode… 00:52 Introduction 02:49 John Andrew’s beginnings 04:08 Early lessons as a founder 08:19 The start of Wonder 16:35 The story behind Coder.com 20:00 Wander’s early days 25:08 Building Wander’s brand 30:40 First customers and feedback 36:29 Locations and international expansion 42:03 John Andrew’s purpose 46:04 Funding Wander 50:51 Where is Wander today? 55:12 Focusing on user activation 1:02:41 What’s next for Wander?
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- The LA Grind Local Newsletter: https://thelagrind.beehiiv.com/subscribe
- Newsletter Founder Course & Community: https://newsletterfounder.com/
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 360: Justin Gordon interviews Nick Huber, entrepreneur, investor, and author of "The Sweaty Startup", about how he built three thriving companies and a well-known online brand.
Link to buy Nick's book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bLazjW
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode…
00:54 Introduction
02:21 Nick’s background
05:53 Growth strategies
07:58 From college storage to self-storage
11:00 Raising capital
13:17 Partnering up
17:21 Selling Storage Squad
19:31 Nick’s presence on Twitter
24:37 Acquiring Somewhere
33:01 Starting RE Cost Seg
37:30 Writing “The Sweaty Startup”
43:04 A business empire vs a media empire
47:23 What’s next?
49:16 Where’s the opportunity now?
56:34 Nick’s ideal business partners
58:07 Reach out to Nick
Connect with Nick:
- www.sweatystartup.com
- www.nickhuber.com
- www.sweatystartupbook.com
- www.somewhere.com
- www.boltstorage.com
- www.recostseg.com
- www.adrhino.com
- www.spidexx.com
- www.boldseo.com
- www.titanrisk.com
- www.x.com/sweatystartup
- www.instagram.com/sweatystartup
- www.linkedin.com/in/sweatystartup
- www.youtube.com/sweatystartup
- www.tiktok.com/sweatystartup
- www.threads.net/@sweatystartup.com
- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nick-huber-show/id1576120606
- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sweaty-startup/id1445260221
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 359: Justin Gordon interviews Everett Cook, Co-Founder & CEO of Rho, about how he built the company into a leader in business banking.
Everett Cook’s dream was to start a company.
Even before Rho, he’d always loved markets and finance. So much so that he interned for the Mike Bloomberg, where he got to learn from one of the best entrepreneurs in the world.
Then he spent a decade as Portfolio Manager at multiple macro hedge funds, and had the time of his life.
But still, there was something missing. Something of his own.
So when he got tired of waiting for the ‘spark of opportunity’, he decided to go look for it himself.
That was the start of Rho, the fintech that quickly became a key player in the business finance world.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode…
01:18 Introduction
02:14 The start of Rho
04:14 Everett’s background
9:53 Decision-making in the early days of Rho
14:50 Partnering with banks
17:48 Growth in the early days
20:44 Building community
25:19 Rho’s competition
27:10 How does Rho get feedback
29:16 Rho’s target and non-target market
31:29 The SVB crisis and other challenges
35:22 Hiring in-person vs remote
38:15 Raising capital
47:43 Everett as a founder
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 358: Justin Gordon interviews Jacob Jaber, Co-Founder, former CEO, and current Board Member of Philz Coffee, the company that grew from one neighborhood shop in San Francisco into a beloved national brand known for its personalized blends and people-first approach. Jacob helped scale Philz to over 70 locations across the country, raising venture funding while staying true to its community-driven roots. He’s now the Founder of Humble Lion, where he invests in and supports the next generation of brick-and-mortar businesses built with heart.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode…
1:14 Introduction
2:32 The story behind Philz Coffee
7:13 What made Philz stand out?
11:05 Expanding Philz
18:01 Hiring for the new locations
24:19 Challenges of expanding
29:00 Raising capital
36:09 The keys to scaling Philz
40:02 Long-lasting brands
42:57 Starting Humble Lion
51:17 What to look for in a brick-and-mortar
54:29 Contact Jacob Jaber
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 357: Justin Gordon interviews Dave Fontenot, Founder of HF0, the residency for repeat founders. At HF0, 10 teams live in a 20,000-square-foot mansion in San Francisco for 12 weeks to build their life's work. During the residency, everything is taken care of for them, healthy meals are provided daily, and founders can focus solely on building their company. The quality of these founders is awe-inspiring, with many teams reaching $2M-$3M in ARR by demo day.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode…
1:22 Introduction
2:49 What is HF0?
6:00 Dave’s background
9:57 Dave’s vision
15:12 Early days of HF0
19:35 From MHacks to HF0
24:53 First ever concept of HF0
27:46 Second batch
32:58 Dave’s take on inner work
37:23 From New York to San Francisco
40:05 Funding HF0
48:29 Putting the teams together
1:05:40 The success of HF0
1:10:23 On the lookout for a GP
1:11:57 Dave’s hypothesis on why HF0 worked
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 356: Justin Gordon interviews David Daneshgar, Co-Founder and CEO of Whippy, about how he went from pro poker player winning the World Series of Poker to startup founder doing more than $4M/year in revenue.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode…
1:21 Introduction
2:15 The present state of Whippy
3:18 David’s background
6:26 From poker to business school
8:34 Early days of BloomNation
11:45 What makes David a good salesman?
13:12 Events as a growth strategy
15:49 Growing BloomNation
18:06 Starting Whippy
25:21 The start of Whippy’s revenue
27:35 Product development at Whippy
33:14 The first million in revenue
34:54 Where is Whippy going
41:37 David on hiring
43:44 The distributed team at Whippy
46:39 Next big challenges
50:05 David as a founder
54:03 Keeping Whippy on top of the AI world
57:09 Who is Whippy for?
58:42 How to contact David
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 355: Justin Gordon interviews Tim Huelskamp, Co-Founder and CEO of 1440, about how he built 1440 into a $20M+/year business and a newsletter with more than 4.5 million subscribers.
This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
This episode is also brought to you by TRIBE. TRIBE is a community for fast-growing early to mid-stage entrepreneurs. It includes facilitated peer groups of 6, retreats, guest speakers, book club, forums, and more. Qualifications: Entrepreneurs generally doing between $500k and $15 million per year in revenue.
Apply to TRIBE today and save $300 off the yearly membership price when you mention Just Go Grind!
Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode…
1:18 Introduction
2:32 Where is 1440 now?
4:11 The story behind ‘Topics’
12:30 How did Tim know 1440 had product market fit?
15:07 How do they get user feedback
16:32 ‘Topics’ monetization
21:28 1440 vs AI
25:49 Founding 1440
27:27 Partnering with Co-Founder Andrew Steigerwald
31:09 The first year of experimentation
35:34 Tim’s investment in 1440
37:18 Start of advertising
39:00 Funding 1440
45:33 How much of revenue is reinvested in growth
49:36 The team at 1440
51:40 How does AI fit into 1440?
53:36 Where’s the opportunity for a new media company today?
58:20 Reach out to Tim Huelskamp
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Episode 354: Justin Gordon interviews Shawn Sheikh, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Adly, about how he builds, acquires, and invests in companies.
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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:
- A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
- Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC companies to brands like Perplexity, Cal.com, Splitwise and more.
- The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.
To learn why startups choose Rho, visit www.rho.co today.
--
This episode is also brought to you by TRIBE. TRIBE is a community for fast growing early to mid-stage entrepreneurs. It includes facilitated peer groups of 6, retreats, guest speakers, book club, forums, and more. Qualifications: Entrepreneurs generally doing between $500k and $15 million per year in revenue. Apply to TRIBE today and save $300 off the yearly membership price when you mention Just Go Grind!
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Show Notes:
00:00 What’s coming in the episode…
01:14 Introduction
02:55 Shawn Sheikh’s background
04:45 Starting Solve
09:15 Starting PivotCMO
11:29 Meeting Adly’s co-founder, Fred Chiang
13:38 Selling PivotCMO
17:14 Moving on to company investment and acquisition
22:04 Raising capital
25:10 Shawn’s goals and motivations
27:26 Adly’s deal flow
29:30 What to look for in a deal
31:46 Red flags in a deal
34:21 Why is Adly winning the deals?
36:32 Next steps after the deal
38:45 Building Adly’s team
40:06 Shawn’s day to day at Adly
42:33 Adly’s portfolio companies
44:17 Adly’s purchase of Smodin AI
48:57 Shawn’s approach to starting something new
50:50 What’s next?
52:26 How to reach out to Shawn
Referenced:
- Adly
- Solve (acquired by Blacklane)
- Pivot CMO (acquired by Conspiracy Theory and Unfold)
- DoubleList
- Smodin
- Guthy Renker
Connect with Justin:
- Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
What Justin is working on:
- Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
- Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
- Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
- Scouting: https://headline.com/
Yacine Sibous is the Co-Founder of Parker, the financial stack for scaling your e-commerce brand faster and more profitably.
After studying Physics and Computer Science at McGill University, Yacine left to attend 42, a unique software engineering school in France. It’s there that he met his co-founder Milan Ray.
Yacine and Milan went on to participate in Y Combinator in 2019. They have since raised $157 million from investors and have processed more than $550 million on their platform, with customers that include brands like Caraway, Venus et Fleur, and Dolls Kill.
Topics Covered by Yacine Sibous in this Episode * 0:00 Parker: A digital banking platform for internet-based companies * 1:05 How a friend’s business selling phone cases on Instagram in college led to the inception of Parker * 5:36 Attending Y Combinator and how COVID led Yacine and Milan to return to their original idea after many pivots * 8:50 How Yacine met his co-founder, Milan Ray and decided to work together * 10:08 Attending the unique school 42 in France * 10:59 Early feedback on Parker that led Yacine and Milan to stick to their original idea * 12:01 Understanding the fundraising game and raising their first round from YC * 13:35 The mistake of under-utilizing funds and burning too little * 15:09 What fueled Parker’s growth * 17:19 Leveraging events for growth post-COVID * 18:09 What differentiates Parker from its competitors * 21:45 How customer feedback enabled them to build a credit model unique to e-commerce * 23:58 The key to raising debt * 24:49 Yacine’s best fundraising advice * 27:03 Tips for building hiring both junior and executive team members * 31:12 How a focus on growth has enabled Parker’s success * 33:30 How Yacine invests in himself * 35:21 What’s next for Parker * 36:52 Parker’s target customer * 37:10 Where to connect with Yacine
Connect with Parker and Yacine Website: Parker LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yacine-sibous/ Twitter: @YacineSibous Email: yacine@getparker.com
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Julien Smith is currently the Co-founder and CEO of Practice, a world class tool to help coaches build their businesses entirely on their own. He has started many companies, including Breather, for which he raised $150M and got to Series D before handing it to a hired CEO.
As a coach, he takes on a few select first time CEOs who he coaches on finding customers, building a team, running a business, and raising venture financing. He has coached founders who have been funded by the world's best venture firms, including A16Z, General Catalyst, Craft Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, and more.
Julien is also a New York Times bestselling author of business and marketing books. He and his co-author were among the first to write books about social media and how to use it for business purposes, and many of the best practices you see in the field were put on paper by them first.
The first book, Trust Agents, was written with Chris Brogan, and became instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, winning awards including Amazon and 800 CEO-READ's best books of the year. They also collaborated on another book, The Impact Equation, published in 2012. His second book, The Flinch, edited by Seth Godin, has remained one of the top downloaded and highlighted books on Kindle since the day it was published.
Website: Practice LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/juliensmith/ Twitter: @julien Second Time Founders podcast
Topics Covered by Julien Smith in this Episode * The background behind Julien’s company Practice * Why Julien decided to start Practice after his success starting Breather * How Julien runs and structures his practice coaching founders * How founders can build better businesses * Julien’s tips for fundraising * Driving emotion in fundraising pitches * Identifying true value when building your cap table * Julien’s big vision for growing Practice and what he’s doing differently from his first company * How the Second Time Founders podcast was born
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Candace Nelson is a serial entrepreneur, NYT and WSJ bestselling author, WSJ contributor, angel investor, TV personality, executive producer, and mom. She started her career working in investment banking and the internet start-up scene before completely shifting gears to follow her passion and attend pastry school. In 2005, she opened the doors to Sprinkles, the world’s first cupcake bakery. Despite early naysayers, their 600-square-foot bakery in Beverly Hills disrupted the legacy bakery industry and ignited a worldwide cupcake phenomenon! In 2012 Sprinkles introduced its Cupcake ATM, a cutting-edge contactless cupcake delivery system. Later that year they sold Sprinkles to PE firm KarpReilly. Today, Sprinkles has sold over 200 million cupcakes, has over 20 stores, 30 Cupcake ATMs, and 1000 employees.
In 2017, Candace co-founded Pizzana, a fast-growing chain of award-winning Neo-Neapolitan pizzerias, leading the “third wave” of pizza in the US. Pizzana cemented Los Angeles as a pizza destination and revolutionized pizza takeout with its innovative heat and slice at-home method. Pizzana also ships its frozen pizza nationwide. In 2021 she co-created and executive produced Best in Dough, a Hulu show starring Pizzana Executive Chef Daniele Uditi, which began streaming in the Fall of 2022.
Today, through her company, CN2 Ventures, a family office, and venture studio, she has backed a diverse portfolio of startups in the specialty food, retail, health, wellness, and early childhood spaces with a focus on female and underrepresented founders.
Candace is also the executive producer and star in Netflix’s Sugar Rush and Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. Her book, Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe For Turning Your Passion Into Profit was published by HarperCollins Leadership in November 2022.
Website: Sprinkles LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/candacenelson9/ Twitter: @candacenelson Instagram: @candacenelson/ TikTok: @candacenelson YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/SprinklesCandace Her new book, Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe For Turning Your Passion Into ProfitHer NYT bestselling cookbook, The Sprinkles Baking Book
Topics Covered by Candace Nelson in this Episode * Candace’s unconventional path to starting Sprinkles and elevating the cupcake * Her decision to choose a new career path despite other people’s expectations * Identifying the market opportunity for cupcakes * Getting Sprinkles off the ground and early organic growth * Early product development * Bootstrapping and the challenge of finding a retail location * Launching their first location with no retail experience and how scarcity drove demand * How they leveraged celebrity marketing * How they approached growth and expansion, and establishing themselves as market leaders * Franchising vs owning distribution * Avoiding founder’s syndrome and deciding to sell Sprinkles * How Candace went on to co-found Pizzana * Investing through CN2 Ventures and as an angel * How Candace views brand building * Brand strategy during expansion * Candace’s most recent book, Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe For Turning Your Passion Into Profit
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Dan Schaefer is the Co-Founder and CEO of Native Pet, a pet nutrition company that is redefining pet supplements by harnessing the nutritional power of whole food ingredients to deliver organic, highly effective, & limited ingredient treats, supplements and chews.
Their products utilize whole-food and superfood ingredients to harness the healing powers found in nature to bolster the health and well-being of our pets. When Dan was looking for better nutrition for his Labrador retriever, Louie, he found that brands were really missing the mark. He quickly realized that kibble was base nutrition and if he wanted to customize Louie's diet for his own unique needs, he required a tailored regimen of kibble coupled with supplements. In an effort to make this realization a reality, Dan called on his childhood friend, Pat Barron, who had a similar passion for pets, food systems and entrepreneurship and together, they founded Native Pet in 2017. In March 2022, they closed their $6M Series A funding led by CAVU Venture Partners with participation from Mars' Companion Fund and Selva Ventures.
Topics Covered by Dan Schaefer in this Episode * How becoming a pet parent led Dan to found Native Pet * Dan and his co-founder Pat Barron's entrepreneurial experience and graveyard of startup ideas * Why Native Pet became the right business idea for them to pursue * Finding market opportunity through product differentiation * R&D: market research, product testing, and when to leverage experts * Finding the right co-manufacturing partner for quality, mission-alignment, and growth * Brand-building while developing innovative product * Launching on Amazon, how their distribution and marketing tactics have evolved, and going against the grain * The strategy behind deciding to raise venture capital * Use of funds through several stages of fundraising * How they’ve seen the pet category evolve since their launch 5 years ago * What’s next for Native Pet
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Brennan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Patch, the platform for negative emissions and scaling unified climate action. Patch is building the infrastructure for a sustainable economy by enabling gigatonne scale carbon removal. With Patch, companies can embed climate action into their own products, neutralizing the carbon impact of everyday transactions like shipping, travel, and financial services. From an API-integration to direct purchase, Patch is the carbon removal platform for businesses and consumers to seamlessly contribute to trusted removal and reduction projects at any scale.
Prior to founding Patch with co-founder Aaron Grunfeld, Brennan worked in a range of product & engineering roles at Sonder and Shopify. He received a degree in chemical engineering from McGill University.
Topics Covered by Brennan Spellacy in this Episode * What Patch is and how they’re helping companies achieve their environmental goals * Patch’s origin story * Deciding to found Patch with his co-founder Aaron Grunfeld after a collaborating on a challenging project at Sonder * The early days of Patch and the benefits of starting right at the beginning of the pandemic * How they tackled the challenge of fundraising * Using their $1.2M pre-seed raise to build their founding team * Patch’s original platform * Category creation and their values-centric sales pitch * Getting approached by Andreessen Horowitz for investment * Patch’s product evolution and the three facets of the problem they’re solving * Leveraging PR to fuel Patch’s growth and shifting their strategy * The logic behind their slow-to-hire approach * Vetting in the carbon credit marketplace and enabling trust through transparency * Patch’s business model and how it has evolved * Interesting climate solutions Brennan has seen * The strategic timing of their rebrand * What’s next for Patch and where to connect with Brennan and his company
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Tyler Denk is the co-founder and CEO of beehiiv, a newsletter platform to fuel creators and publishers' ability to create, monetize, and grow their audience.
While in undergrad at the University of Maryland, Tyler Denk became a self-taught software developer and launched his first startup, VentureStorm—a web application that connected entrepreneurs and startups to talented software developers.
After exiting VentureStorm, Tyler continued to work with startups by building and integrating innovative technology solutions to stimulate growth and exceed various KPIs. He joined Morning Brew as the second employee in a role that spanned engineering, product, and growth—responsible for building the renowned referral program and bespoke tech ecosystem that facilitated the company to scale to a successful $75m exit in 2020.
After a stint at Google as a Product Lead at YouTube Music, he left to co-found beehiiv, which is approaching $1M ARR and has averaged 55% MoM growth since launch in 2021. On the side, he enjoys building cool projects, most recently Big Desk Energy (popular Spotify playlist + web destination).
Topics Covered by Tyler Denk in this Episode * What beehiiv is and Tyler’s journey to founding it * How Tyler approached growing Morning Brew’s newsletter * Beehiiv’s initial vision and what’s next * Beehiiv’s business model and how their ad network plays in * Early customer acquisition and growth * Leaning into their backstory to fundraise with big tech as their new competitors * The process of onboarding strategic angel investors * Tyler’s perspective on building in public * Getting Morning Brew’s co-founders as an investor and advisor * Tyler’s perspective shift to becoming a big advocate for remote work * Achieving “feature parity” and competing for ad dollars with Google and Facebook * Finding direction when developing features * What differentiates beehiiv * Tyler’s advice for people starting newsletters
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Andrew Berman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Vowel, the world's first complete meeting solution designed to make every meeting more inclusive and worthwhile – before, during, and after. Vowel is a collaboration platform that makes meetings searchable, shareable centers of knowledge for your business. By redefining what data capture is capable of, they are optimizing the potential of every team.
They are a remote-first company whose 20+ employees span four continents. Their team is made up of engineers, designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and security experts – from leading organizations like Google, Bridgewater, Nanit, Airbnb, Casper, Recombine and others. They’re building both an inclusive product and an inclusive team that celebrates diverse cultures and backgrounds.
Andrew’s inspiration is to apply new technology to build products that can touch millions of people in ways that were impossible before. He is also the founder of Nanit, the first camera to track human behavior (the leading baby monitor), an experienced investor from seed to LBO stages (Silicon Valley, NY and other markets), and an active and experienced angel investor (with investments in SaaS, Security, Healthcare, Consumer and CV/AI).
Use coupon code: JUSTGOGRIND for 3 months free of unlimited seats on Vowel's Pro plan (monthly only)!
Topics Covered by Andrew Berman in this Episode * How vowel is creating instant searchable, shareable knowledge through a modern video conferencing tool * Andy's journey to founding Vowel * How the idea for Vowel stemmed from Nanit’s pain points as a distributed team * Early distribution and organic growth through Twitter * How Vowel’s original use-cases have expanded naturally and leaning into user-led product development * Giving their users a 10x improved media experience through their next generation video platform * The challenges of building Vowel * Recruiting the original founding team * Building remote-first company culture * The fundraising process and Vowel’s powerful cap table of operator- angel investors * How to vet investors * Their B2B growth strategy * Developing their freemium business model * How they view competition and taking on legacy brands * Learnings as a multi-time founder and former VC * What motivates Andy to challenge the status quo and build innovative companies * Andy's thoughts on the future of work and running remote teams * Snagging the vowel.com domain name
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Peter Barba and Zygimantas (Zygi) Zabieta are the Co-Founders of Lectrium, a full-service platform for EV home charging on a mission to make every home EV-ready. They make the home charging installation process easy through their network of EVITP certified electricians. At Lectrium, they believe that true carbon neutrality can be achieved only if the transition to EVs is frictionless, and their ambition is to standardize and reduce the cost of the installation process and remove financial barriers for EV adoption.
Peter Barba played Division 1 basketball in college and left his job in investment banking to attend Antler’s disruptive startup builder in Oslo, Norway, where he met his co-founder. He is passionate about climate technology, electric vehicles, blockchain, and building businesses.
Zygi Zabieta loves innovation, EVs, blockchain, renewables, politics, and sustainable planning. He is also a public speaker, host & co-founder of Impact Meetups Vilnius, Community Champion for Nordics and Baltics at WEF Global Shapers, and got his Master of Science degree in Environmental Management & Policy at Lund University (IIIEE). Topics Covered by Peter and Zygi in this Episode * How Lectrium is making U.S. homes EV-ready * Lectrium’s origin story * How they ended up at the Antler accelerator * How Peter and Zygi met at Antler, bonded, and decided to work together * The evolution of Lectrium during the Antler program—how a bad idea became the goldmine * What customer discovery looked like for Lectrium * Product development and using no-code tools (Zyro and Typeform) for initial building * Getting their first paying customers * Lectrium’s business model and customer acquisition * Bottom-up vs. top-down dealership acquisition strategies * How they’re approaching growth in these early stages * How new U.S. public EV charging mandates could affect Lectrium * The argument for residential vs. public EV charging * The potential for partnering with auto-manufacturers directly * Onboarding electricians and their role in Lectrium’s success * How they’re approaching brand recognition and marketing, and startup showers as the new baby showers * How they’re managing a distributed team across time zones * Their execution plan to succeed as market leaders in the next few years
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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This is a special episode pulled from the Just Go Grind vault! Dr. Iman Abuzeid is the Co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health, a career marketplace whose custom matching technology offers hospitals the fastest, most effective way to hire qualified permanent nursing staff. By 2024, the United States is poised to experience its biggest employment crisis to date, a shortage of one million nurses, putting patient care in jeopardy and hospitals at risk of significant financial loss. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the nursing shortage, highlighting the need for qualified nurses across the country.
Incredible Health is on a mission to reinvent the hospital and healthcare staffing landscape, helping to solve the nursing shortage. As a former medical doctor whose immediate family includes three surgeons, Iman understands the importance of helping healthcare professionals find and do their best work. Incredible Health is based in San Francisco, backed by top tier venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and is used by hundreds of leading hospitals across the country, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Stanford Healthcare, Baylor Scott & White and many more. Dr. Abuzeid holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
In August 2022, Iman led Incredible Health to $1.65B unicorn status with an $80M Series B raise. This makes Incredible Health the highest valued tech-enabled career marketplace in healthcare. This new funding comes on the heels of several major milestones for Incredible Health. In 2021, revenue grew 500% as their marketplace grew exponentially. More than 10,000 US nurses now join Incredible Health’s platform every single week, and they’ve expanded from partnering with 200 hospitals to 600 hospitals. Their marketplace technology has reduced the average time to hire permanent nurses to only 14 days – from an industry standard of 82 days – while saving each hospital location at least $2M annually in travel nurse, overtime, and HR costs.
Topics Covered by Iman Abuzeid in this Episode * How Incredible Health got started * Being 1 million nurses short in the U.S. by 2024 * How Iman figured out what the initial version of Incredible Health would be * Creating a solution that's 10x better than what's currently available * How Iman met her co-founder, Rome, and the conversation around going into business together * How Iman thought through the equity split early on * Raising a few hundred thousand dollars from friends and family to get Incredible Health off the ground * Raising a $2.4M Seed Round in 2-3 months after going through the NFX accelerator * Raising a $15M Series A in 4-5 weeks led by Jeff Jordan at Andreessen Horowitz * Iman's advice for fundraising and creating a process and how her own skills evolved * How Iman brought on the first hospitals through cold-calling * The MVP of Incredible Health and why you have to fight the urge to ship perfection * How the team has grown for Incredible Health * The values of Incredible Health and how it's part of everything they do * How Incredible Health uses customer insights to develop their platform, operations, and marketing * Why Incredible Health offers free continuing education for every nurse in the country * How Iman thinks through the products and tools they're going to provide to their customers * The sales process of getting hospitals on their platform * The 3 biggest value adds of the investors Iman has for Incredible Health * Questions that Iman asked of CEOs for reference checks on investors * How Iman takes care of her own mental health and why she has a therapist * How getting an MBA from Wharton impacted Iman's journey as an entrepreneur * Books and blogs that Iman recommends * How Iman recharges away from work and why she doesn't work on Saturdays * Iman's experience as a minority woman founder * Diversity debt
Links from the Episode * Rome Portlock * NFX * Jeff Jordan * Andreessen Horowitz * Obvious Ventures * signal.nfx.com * James Joaquin * The Hard Thing About Hard Things * Who (A book on hiring) * Above the Crowd by Bill Gurley * Stephanie Lampkin * Blendoor
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Dave Fink is the CEO and Co-Founder of Postie, a marketing technology company that has transformed Direct Mail by enabling it to perform like a digital channel. In doing so, Postie has unleashed the medium's potential and unlocked growth for its advertisers, delivering an average campaign ROAS of 1,382%. From prospecting campaigns for new customers, to retargeting and CRM campaigns to maximize existing customers, Postie offers marketing solutions for every stage of the customer journey. With creative testing, real-time attribution, and campaign management tools Postie delivers an all-in-one platform to dynamically optimize your DM strategy.
As a consumer internet and technology entrepreneur, Dave is most engaged when leveraging emerging technologies in simple ways to solve real-world problems. He is driven by the intellectual pursuit as much as the accomplishments they’re achieving at Postie.
Topics Covered by Dave Fink in this Episode * Postie as the only ad-serving technology solution specifically dedicated to the direct mail channel * How the patterns Dave observed as a partner at Science incubator led to him founding Postie * Postie’s early days of identifying their ideal customer profile, customer acquisition, and go-to-market * How they manage such a wide range of customer profiles * How Postie’s intuitive product and customer experience mimics the digital campaign experience * Taking direct mail campaigns from a 60 to 3 day lead time * Postie’s behind the scenes logistics and how they’ve been able to innovate and optimize efficiency * How measurable results have fueled Postie’s growth * Why they focused on building first and waited 5+ years to start marketing themselves as a company * Choosing slow and steady growth instead of continually raising VC * What’s next for Postie
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Connor Ellison is the CEO and Founder of POGR, a next-gen statistical platform for developers & gamers. POGR is a unique customizable profile system with centralized video game statistics. They closed $2.25M at a 20 million valuation earlier this year, and are building the statistical foundation for the future of gaming. Connor is a lifelong gamer and avid reader and learner.
Topics Covered by Connor Ellison in this Episode * How POGR is building the statistical foundation for the future of gaming * POGR’s origin story * Connor’s path to actually becoming a founder * 1,000 emails to get their first $100k and raising their seed round pre-revenue * Connor’s insights on cold outreach: scrappiness and high levels of personalization * Connor’s successful cold outreach pitch and how he leverages tracking in the process * Negotiating terms with investors * POGR's business model and their multiple stakeholders * The growth strategy for POGR * Connor’s “jump and figure it out” approach as an entrepreneur and connecting with his co-founders through Discord * Failure as an inevitable part of success * Connor & Justin’s love for learning and their book and podcast recommendations * The big vision for POGR
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Samiur Rahman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Heyday, an AI-powered research assistant that makes knowledge workers smarter. Heyday empowers your best thinking by working in the background as an assistant for your memory, automatically saving all your content for you and resurfacing it when you need it, enabling you to stop wasting energy remembering and focus on creating.
Samiur is a software engineer capable of working across the stack (web, mobile, backend and embedded), focusing primarily on data science, algorithms and machine learning. He wants to create the next-generation of intelligent products using modern machine learning and neural networks. He’s particularly passionate about employing deep neural networks to tasks that were previously thought to be restricted to just humans.
Prior to Heyday, Samiur and his co-founder Sam DeBrule founded another company, Journal, which they eventually pivoted into their current venture.
Topics Covered by Samiur Rahman in this Episode * Heyday: an AI-powered research assistant * How Heyday was born from a pivot of Journal * The challenging decision to shut down Journal and applying their learnings to building Heyday * The process of defining their ideal customer * Deciding to work with Sam DeBrule through multiple companies and the importance of complimentary co-founder skillsets * Navigating go-to-market strategy and early customer acquisition * Their experience getting Heyday featured as product of the day, week, and month on Product Hunt * Getting ready to raise VC funding and working with Order Design * How they approached VC fundraising * How to get the most value out of relationships with your investors and why they love working with Kevin Thau at Spark Capital * How they’re approaching sustainable customer acquisition at their current stage * Finding and working with an ad agency * Planning for their financial runway in the current market * Samiur and Justin’s thoughts on Adam Neumann’s raise from a16z * The big vision for Heyday
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Ryan Bartlett is the Co-Founder and CEO of True Classic, a D2C men’s clothing brand that has grown from $0 to $150M in revenue in just a few years. At True Classic, they understand that not every body is shaped the same. That’s where they come in, making premium, high-quality, everyday essentials for every type of person, with no gimmicks.
Their goal with this company has always revolved around over-indexing on the value they give to their customers and communities. This means best in class customer service, entertaining ads that make you laugh, products that are intentionally designed to help you look better, and donating shirts at scale (40k+/month) to help homeless vets, shelters, schools, and other communities in need.
Topics Covered by Ryan Bartlett in this Episode * What True Classic is doing today * Ryan’s background, True Classic’s origin story, and getting the business off the ground * What differentiates True Classic and how Ryan thought about their market positioning * Early manufacturing decisions and product development * How Ryan approached early marketing * The power Facebook marketing and how their changes in privacy policy have impacted companies * How they became more intentional with their marketing by creating comedic video ads * What enabled them to scale to $150M in revenue in 3 years * Agencies vs. in-house marketing * The benefits and dangers of moving at warp speed * Lessons learned for successfully scaling manufacturing * Developing their intentional hiring strategy * Launching internationally * Ryan’s big vision for True Classic * The mission and impact aspect of True Classic
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Katie Reed is the Co-Founder and CEO of Balanced, a digital fitness platform to build a healthspan that matches our new lifespans. They are committed to helping older adults maintain vibrancy in their lives, with an exercise platform that promises community, joy, and a personalized experience to rebel against the decline of aging. Balanced meets older adults where they are with their heterogeneous profiles by taking into account chronic conditions, injuries, pain, and physical ability.
Balanced was inspired by Katie and Kelly's families during COVID-19. While living with her grandmother during quarantine, Katie was distraught with the state of digital fitness for folks like her grandmother. At the same time, Kelly was virtually training her grandparents with cardio boxing via Facetime. With backgrounds in technology, startups, and fitness, the two knew that they could create a digital fitness experience to inspire and build community with healthy outcomes that all older adults deserve.
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in New York City, Balanced has a growing number of fitness programs and content across its platform, available to members at anytime, from anywhere. Their world-class trainers teach live and on-demand classes across multiple fitness modalities with on-screen modifications, including pilates, strength training, cardio boxing, yoga, stretching, dance cardio, and walking.
Topics Covered by Katie Reed in this Episode * What Balanced is * How Katie’s grandparents inspired her to found Balanced * Initial testing for Balance * How they networked to conduct original testing among both communities and trainers * From bootstrapping to deciding to raise VC in order to become a market leader * Building out production and branding after piloting their program * Early decision-making to enable long-term quality and scalability * Building out their MVP * Capital deployment from their pre-seed round and positioning themselves to be a supplemental benefit for Medicare Advantage Plans * Katie’s experience fundraising as a first-time founder and selling a vision that resonates * Building out the team for Balanced * Katie’s tips for finding great founding engineers * How they’re using the funds with their most recent raise * The Balanced user experience * How they’re approaching motivation and adherence to the program * What Katie’s biggest challenges have been building Balanced as a first-time founder * How Katie manages her time and takes care of herself * What’s next for Balanced * Where Katie sees potential in the market of aging adults
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Haroon Mokhtarzada is the CEO and Co-Founder at Rocket Money, previously Truebill, a leading personal finance app with a mission to empower people to live their best financial lives. They offer their 3.4 million members a unique understanding of their finances and a suite of valuable services that save both time and money -- ultimately giving them a leg up on their financial journey. Members can manage their subscriptions, lower their bills, build budgets and automatically set aside money to reach their savings goals. They’ve saved their members $245 million and counting.
Haroon is a Harvard Law grad turned serial entrepreneur and angel investor. He was the founder and CEO of Webs.com, a popular website creation platform that grew to 50 million users before being acquired by Vistaprint for over $100M. After Webs, Haroon co-founded Truebill in 2015. As CEO, Haroon grew Truebill into a leading personal finance app, topping 2.5 million members and over $100M in annual recurring revenue before being acquired by Rocket Companies in 2021 with the goal of creating a centralized destination for consumers to manage their entire financial lives. Haroon has a passion for technology startups, innovation, global change, and elegant problem solving. He has personally invested in over 100 technology startups including early stage investments in Instacart, Carta, Relativity Space, PlutoTV, and more. Haroon is a 2021 Henry Crown Fellow and has participated on several boards including the American Express Open Digital Advisory Board and the United Nations Global Entrepreneurs Council.
Topics Covered by Haroon Mokhtarzada in this Episode * What Truebill (now Rocket Money) is * Deciding to start another company after a $100M+ exit * The difference between building a company in 2001 and 2015 * What enabled Haroon to go from 0 to $1B exit in 6 years * Some of the other business ideas Haroon has had and how he chooses which to execute on * Building a minimum lovable product * Truebill’s go-to-market strategy * The challenges they faced in funding a PFM (personal financial management) company * The evolution that led to their unique pay what you want subscription model for a subscription-canceling product * Being humble enough to not be too tied to your own intuition * The performance marketing engine that allowed Truebill to go from $1M ARR to $100M ARR in 4 years * Which metrics are the most important to focus on * Choosing fully aligned investors * Haroon’s evaluation of the other major players in the PFM space * What made Truebill unique in a crowded industry, enabling their success * Haroon’s thoughts on the FinTech regulatory environment and government’s appropriate role * From manually cancelling subscriptions to automating and scaling their services * Haroon’s takeaways from his exits * How Haroon manages his time * Why Haroon previously had a bit of a chip on his shoulder * Why Haroon began angel investing and his approach to it now * Balancing running a company with angel investing * The benefits of co-founding with your siblings * Experiences Haroon would like to have had and which company he would’ve liked to have founded
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Chelsey Roney is the Co-Founder and COO of Proxi, the geospatial powerhouse behind transformative, human-centered interactions with the real world making mapping and crowdsourcing geographic data accessible to everyone. Their no-code platform allows users to create, customize and embed highly interactive maps into social media accounts, websites, and apps. Enabling and hosting this curated content will power future tech-enabled, location-based experiences for both brands and individuals in the creator economy.
Chelsey is a serial entrepreneur, a passionate business builder, and a marketing expert. After graduating from Texas A&M, Chelsey joined Boeing where she worked in financial planning and analysis and Microsoft where she worked in a demand center that focused on B2B omnichannel marketing. She grew and sold two businesses: a SaaS business in the University space, and a local services business. Chelsey is also an active member of her community, dedicated parent, and passionate supporter of women and business. Her persistence, attention to detail, and deep knowledge of finance and marketing have helped Proxi grow more than 100% month over month.
Topics Covered by Chelsey Roney in this Episode * What Proxi is and how the idea was born from the first pandemic Halloween in 2020 * The evolution of Proxi’s crowdsourced mapping tool * Deciding to raise VC and applying to Techstars * Going full-time with Proxi * The experience of going through Techstars and the value it provided * Techstars’ Mentor Madness * Raising a $1.2M VC round and the different expectations between being VC-backed, debt-backed, and bootstrapping * Deciding to work with Leslie Feinzaig of Graham & Walker * The big vision for Proxi and their pitch to investors * Taking on Yelp and Google Maps * The challenge of customer acquisition and narrowing down their ideal customer profile with such a large range of use cases * Evolution and flexibility in Proxi’s business model * Prioritizing hiring and marketing with the VC funds they raised * Where they’ve focused their marketing allocations and navigating different strategies * How they’re approaching product-led growth * How they prioritize feedback about which new features to build and why they’re incorporating accounts into their product * Why Chelsea loves entrepreneurship and how she finds balance and implements boundaries * A special announcement about what’s next for Proxi
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Analisa Goodin is the founder and CEO of Catch+Release, a venture-backed startup that supports brands in building authentic, award-winning ad campaigns, while ensuring the creators are being compensated for their work. Catch&Release is a collaborative creative platform that helps storytellers curate and license Found Content from anywhere on the internet, solving a specific problem that touches almost every creative, producer and content creator in the production industry today: making it easy to discover the best content from the open web, and making it available for licensing to agencies and brands worldwide.
Analisa took a unique path to get to where she is today and admirably stayed true to herself and her passions. While many business leaders have their MBA, Analisa is passionate about the arts and holds her Masters of the Arts. She spent several years in the creative ad world focused on image research. During her time in the agency world (at firms like Goodby, Silverstein & Partners) and as the leader of her own agency, she was able to understand the key pain points - that she would eventually go on to solve - firsthand.
She has raised more than $26M from top venture capitalists at leading firms like Accel for her revolutionary technology that for the first time gives brands a way to leverage found content, meaning content that already exists on the internet today, uploaded by creators, including directors, photographers, producers, entrepreneurs, and everyday people. Over the years she has grown the company to include an amazing team of curators, licensing experts, engineers, product designers, and project managers. They relieve headaches for the best agencies and buyers around, including Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Anomaly, Goodby, Silverstein&Partners, Weiden+Kennedy, and more.
Topics Covered by Analisa Goodin in this Episode * What Catch+Release is and how they’re licensing the internet * Catch+Release’s orgin story and where Analisa came up with the company’s name * The evolution of Catch+Release’s product and vision as the creator economy has exploded * The importance of early conversations with stakeholders * The timeline from bootstrapping to seed round funding * How Analisa approached fundraising and network building with minimal context as a first-time founder * Company growth after raising a seed round and navigating the difference between Founder and CEO roles * How and why Analisa incorporated improv as a key element in team-building * What has fueled Catch+Release’s growth and how that has shifted over the years * How they’re approaching expanding their customer base today * Catch+Release’s re-launch and re-brand * Analisa’s journey from creative to tech startup founder
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Herb Coakley is the Founder and CEO of Courial, a last-mile courier service that’s empowering gig workers nationwide with their people-first approach to technology. Created by gig-workers for gig-workers, their state of the art technology has modernized the courier industry by allowing any business or person to seamlessly connect with their community of on-demand couriers to deliver anything. They’re on a mission to change the on-demand gig economy paradigm. Better pay, true partnership, live dispatch support, paid PTO, transparency and a seat at the table, while reducing CO2 emissions in their communities.
Herb is a serial entrepreneur, former physicist and film producer, with degrees from Howard University, UCLA and Columbia University. He’s also a self-taught developer, designer and former gig-economy driver with over 20,000 gigs. At his previous start-up, he created technology that allowed seamless app switching for gig drivers, enabling them to earn much more money while drastically reducing distracted driving. He is now considered an evangelist in the on-demand, gig economy sector, a distinction that has earned the admiration and trust of gig drivers nationwide.
Topics Covered by Herb Coakley in this Episode * How Courial is empowering frontline communities and gig workers * Herb’s journey from physicist to filmmaker to entrepreneur * Courial’s origin story and getting investors & the connection into Y Combinator while driving for Uber * From stealth mode to launching their MVP and participating in climate tech incubator Elemental * Courial's core concept, pivoting from B2C to B2B, and serving a variety of stakeholders * Doing good while doing well * What Herb learned from his first business as an inexperienced founder and going through Y Combinator * How Herb taught himself to code * How Herb has leveraged inexperienced talent * How they’re diversifying investors * Launching in new markets * Herb’s unorthodox approach to being a people-first tech company
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Josh Dorkin is the Founder, former CEO (2004 - 2018), former podcast host, and current board member of BiggerPockets, a complete resource for learning and succeeding in real estate investing, bringing education, support, and tools together in one place. Aspiring and experienced investors alike can tap into the knowledge of more than 2 million members, and learn from content spanning across podcasts, blog, webinars, videos, virtual bootcamps, and more. BiggerPockets’ mission is to help people find personal freedom and financial flexibility through real estate investing.
Josh created the platform in 2004 to create a place where investors could learn, network, market and make deals in a safe online environment. Growing, bootstrapping, and exiting BiggerPockets after 14 years taught him innumerable lessons. He overcame the countless challenges and learned how to build a nationally recognized brand, launch products, build teams, create partnerships, remain profitable (every year since launch), fail fast and pivot, challenge the status quo, and much more, ultimately helping to transform how real estate investors connect, collaborate, partner, and learn via best in class web, mobile, audio, and video content.
Topics Covered by Josh Dorkin in this Episode * Josh’s background and why he originally started BiggerPockets in 2004 * The journey from almost quitting to growing and scaling to a successful exit * Why Josh waited 8 years to hire his first employees and his advice for other founders * Hiring his first employee directly from the BiggerPockets community * The evolution of creating engaging content and expansion into different media platforms * The “chicken or the egg” challenge of building a thriving community and being selective about partnerships * What drove Josh to persevere throughout a decade of challenges even when he wanted to quit * The tipping point Josh came to once he hired middle management and began to establish infrastructure within the company * What Josh attributes BiggerPockets’ success to * Josh’s thoughts on investing in the current real estate market * Josh’s perspective on defining success * How and why Josh got involved in startup investing
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Linda Lian is the CEO and Co-Founder of Common Room, the first and only intelligent community growth platform that gathers community engagement, product usage, and customer data into a single place.
They use intelligence to surface insights from across your entire community and provide tools to act on those insights directly from the app. This allows teams to discover what’s most important, nurture key personas, measure the impact of their programs, and collaborate across their organization. They’ve raised over $50 million from top-tier investors including Greylock, Index, and Madrona to build the community platform for modern SaaS companies. They’re also backed by 25+ operators from community-first organizations such as Stripe, Airtable, Slack, Notion, Loom, and more.
Topics Covered by Linda Lian in this Episode * Common Room as an intelligent community growth platform serving modern software companies * Common Room’s origin story and building a product to enable this new engagement model * Idea evolution on the path to product market fit and getting feedback from early stakeholders before building anything * Navigating foundational pivots * How the pandemic and the current market correction have fueled Common Room’s growth * The 3 main buckets of Common Room’s ideal users and their primary use-cases
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Ryan Buick is the Co-Founder of Canvas, a collaborative data exploration tool for business teams to automate manual reporting, build dashboards, and answer ad-hoc questions without SQL.
Growing up in San Francisco, Ryan watched the technology industry explode in his hometown and always wanted to be a part of it. He started out his career as a Marketplace PM helping SaaS vendors distribute their products through third-party channels at AppDirect. Then he joined Flexport as one of their first PMs to help digitize the world of trade. It was there that he saw how spreadsheets could be used as an interface for anyone, regardless of technical ability, to access data. This led him to start Canvas, a data exploration tool for business teams to make decisions without SQL.
Topics Covered by Ryan Buick in this Episode * What Canvas does for operators * The pain point Canvas is solving and their origin story * Getting the first customers for Canvas * The early product and the challenges they faced in its evolution * Simultaneously fundraising and building an MVP * Implementing feedback from early adopters * Canvas’ business model and determining pricing * Leveraging unique market positioning * Fueling growth and content creation’s value accruement * How Canvas serves existing data teams and enables early-stage startups to get data-driven * Transitioning from product management to founding a startup
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Harry Campbell is the Founder & CEO of The Rideshare Guy: a blog, YouTube channel, podcast, course, and book for Uber and Lyft drivers and others in the gig economy, dedicated to empowering them and helping them earn more money by working smarter, not harder. His content reaches hundreds of thousands of drivers per month, with over 80,000 e-mail subscribers. Harry also works with start-ups and F500 companies on marketing, consulting, advising and more. He’s the only person to have driven for Uber and also interviewed their CEO. Over the past 5+ years, he has talked to over 50,000 drivers. Harry started driving for Uber and Lyft all the way back in 2014 and after a year of part-time driving, left his job as an aerospace engineer to cover the industry full-time through his blog The Rideshare Guy.
Topics Covered by Harry Campbell in this Episode * What The Rideshare Guy is * Why Harry loves working online in content and media * Making his first dollar online * Harry’s business model and approach to value creation and capture * How Harry ended up in online marketing * The journey to becoming a full-time entrepreneur and the early days of The Rideshare Guy * Strategies Harry has used to grow The Rideshare Guy and knowing when to scale * Harry’s hacks to finding high-quality, reliable content contributors * Balancing high-performing versus long-lasting content on different channels * Reaching sustainable revenue, hacking the referral system, and diversifying revenue streams * The Rideshare Guy’s business model * Navigating the world of SEO * Building a lifestyle business and Harry’s approach to entrepreneurship * Harry’s journey investing in startups
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Yassamine Ebadat is the Co-Founder and CEO of Vityl, an employee engagement SaaS solution designed to foster a foundational culture of belonging and drive stronger business performance. Vityl leverages machine learning to connect survey data to automated goals and nudges that inspire greater feelings of acceptance, recognition and connection in the workplace.
Vityl was founded by a team of human capital consultants with an acute understanding of their users' pain points. With experience guiding landmark companies through organizational transformations, they saw an opportunity to deliver a simple solution to complex culture challenges.
Prior to Vityl, Yassamine brought HR leadership experience and strong communication skills to her advisory work with clients as a Partner at Greater Human Capital. Previously, she served as the Director of People and Culture at Echo Energy in Oklahoma City, where she led the HR department; optimized recruiting, onboarding, and performance management processes; and served as a strategic advisor to the C-suite. She has also worked in employee engagement, social impact, and communications at JPMorgan Chase, Macmillan Publishers, and Publicis Groupe. Yassamine earned her Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University, with a concentration in Social Enterprise Administration. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from The George Washington University.
Topics Covered by Yassamine Ebadat in this Episode * How Vityl is transforming how people build culture together while growing individually * Vityl’s origin story and Yassamine’s journey to becoming a founder * Developing Vityl’s big vision * Product development for Vityl’s platform * Getting their first users and launching beta testing * Yassamine’s first experience fundraising * Yassamine’s advice on fundraising for other founders * Navigating the advice of others while trusting your gut * Growing Vityl’s team, hiring technical talent as a non-technical founder, and being deliberate about culture-building * Vityl’s evolving business model and pricing * Vityl’s GTM strategy * Their community-based organic approach to sales * Leading with persona vs. product * What’s on the horizon for Vityl
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Justine Palefsky and Tas Amina are the Co-Founders of Kindred, a members-only home swapping network that unlocks your ability to live a travel-rich lifestyle for a fraction of the cost of a hotel or AirBnb. By exchanging homes with people they trust, renters and owners alike are able to take advantage of remote-work flexibility and explore new destinations without breaking the bank.
Justine and Tas were both early-stage employees at Opendoor before deciding to start their own company during the pandemic.
Topics Covered by Justine Palefsky and Tas Amina in this Episode * Kindred’s origin story * How Justine and Tas decided to work together as co-founders and the “partnership charter” * Launching during the pandemic * Early customer acquisition failures and lessons * Organic growth and refining their model * Developing Kindred’s pricing and business model * Fundraising for Kindred and their advice for founders * Navigating an unpredictable market * What’s next for Kindred
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Adam Nash is the Co-Founder and CEO of Daffy, a not-for-profit organization with the simple idea that everyone should put something aside for those less fortunate than themselves. The Daffy community is built around a new, modern platform for giving, one built around the commitment to give, not the amount you give. It empowers people to be more generous, more often through a seamless mobile experience that helps members set money aside, watch it grow tax-free, and donate to more than 1.5 million charities.
Adam is a proven advocate for development of products that go beyond utility to delight customers. At Dropbox, he led the teams responsible for growth, product strategy, product management & product analytics for a platform with over 600 million registered users with responsibility for all of Dropbox self-service revenue (~90% of all company revenue in 2019). Before Dropbox, Adam served as the President & CEO of Wealthfront, where for four years he championed the creation of a new category of automated investment services. Prior to joining Wealthfront, Adam was Vice President of Product Management at LinkedIn. Adam led LinkedIn’s Platform & Mobile products, including the launch of LinkedIn’s open developer platform and their highly successful native applications and mobile web experiences. Prior to joining LinkedIn, Adam held a number of leadership roles at eBay, including Director of eBay Express, an innovative new site focused on new, fixed-price products. Previously, Adam also held strategic and technical roles at Atlas Venture, Preview Systems and Apple.
Topics Covered by Adam Nash in this Episode * Daffy’s founding story and Adam’s background in FinTech * Why Adam decided to pursue entrepreneurship * The pros and cons of building in stealth mode * Daffy’s disruptive business model * The challenge of onboarding investors given Daffy’s disruptive and mission-vision model * The generosity gap and how research around giving and personal finance has influenced Daffy * How they’ve approached growing Daffy * Adam’s view on the lack of personal finance & giving education in the U.S. and potential solutions * Recently added features to Daffy and what’s next for the company
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Andrew Gazdecki is the Founder and CEO of MicroAcquire, a founder-friendly startup acquisition marketplace. MicroAcquire aims to consolidate the fragmented acquisition market by giving founders and entrepreneurs a single convenient marketplace to meet, coordinate, and close acquisitions. MicroAcquire provides free and instant access to trusted and vetted buyers with total anonymity. They’re on a mission to turn founder journeys into success stories and foster the next generation of entrepreneurs. MicroAcquire has more than 100,000 registered buyers, more than 2,000 companies listed for sale, and has facilitated more than 500 deals with a combined value of more than $200 million.
Andrew has been an entrepreneur for longer than he can remember. He likes to build stuff, mostly companies, and try to tell a story that goes beyond what the company does to how it’s changing markets. Prior to founding MicroAcquire, he started two companies, Bizness Apps and Altcoin.io, both acquired. He’s been featured in NYT, Forbes, WSJ, Inc.com, and Entrepreneur Magazine, as well as prominent industry blogs such as Mashable, TechCrunch and VentureBeat.
Topics Covered by Andrew Gazdecki in this Episode * Andrew’s background and MicroAcquire’s origin story * The original vision for MicroAcquire and the tools it provides to founders and buyers * MicroAcquire’s go to market strategy * What has fueled MicroAcquire’s growth and Andrew’s advice for other founders * Andrew’s approach to marketing * Andrew’s journey from bootstrapping to fundraising * Global expansion via partnership strategy * How Andrew evaluates potential partners * How Bootstrappers came about * Andrew’s thoughts on media and brand building * What’s next for MicroAcquire
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Sofiat Abdulrazaaq is the Co-Founder and CEO of Goodfynd, an on-demand marketplace for food trucks. Goodfynd enables pop-up retail and mobile vendors to connect with existing and new customers virtually by providing increased visibility and online ordering.
Topics Covered by Sofiat Abdulrazaaq in this Episode * How Goodfynd is supporting food truck owners and operators as a FinTech startup * How the idea for Goodfynd was born out of the love of great food and wanting to find it again * Shifting Goodfynd from a side hustle to her full-time job * The traction they needed to transition from bootstrapping to getting Venture-backed * How relationship-building fueled early growth * The winding road of fundraising from accelerator to first noes to first check * The process of choosing and participating in incubators and accelerators * How VC funding enabled the growth and scaling of their FinTech products and services * Goodfynd’s geographical expansion strategy * Building the Goodfynd team with a culture-first focus * The challenges and triumphs of being a first-time founder
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Eric Satz is the founder and CEO of Alto Solutions. Alto is the leading platform that empowers everyday investors to diversify their IRAs by investing in alternative assets such as private equity, venture capital, real estate, loans, and cryptocurrency. Offering traditional, Roth, SEP and Crypto IRAs, Alto is bringing alternative investments to the mainstream. Everyday investors can now easily and cost-effectively access their retirement savings to invest in assets once reserved solely for high-net-worth individuals. Investors can use their Alto IRA to invest in opportunities from their own private network or participate in deals offered by Bitwise, DiversyFund, Fundr, Masterworks, Republic, Vint, and numerous other investment platform partners. Launched in 2018 and growing fast, the Nashville-based firm is on a mission to empower people to own their financial futures by achieving true asset diversification in their retirement account portfolios.
Prior to founding Alto, Eric worked in investment banking at DLJ/Credit Suisse and co-founded several companies, including: Currenex, an FX trading solution sold to State Street for more than $550M, Plumgood Food, and VC firm Tennessee Community Ventures. He served on the Board of Tennessee Valley Authority from August 2015 to January 2019. After years in New York City and San Francisco, Eric and family moved to his wife’s hometown of Nashville to raise their kids. Nowadays, his pastimes include skiing, soccer, yoga, and all too often hoping this will finally be the year for the ‘Canes and Dolphins.
Topics Covered by Eric Satz in this Episode * What Alto Solutions is * Alto’s origin story and how Eric began to execute on the idea * Why Eric decided this was a problem he had to solve * Early unexpected hurdles and getting Alto off the ground * The UX and investment process with Alto * Partnering with Angel List * Shifting their customer acquisition strategy * How the evolution of different asset classes has affected Alto * The importance of leveraging storytelling * Lessons Eric has learned founding multiple companies * How Eric evaluates investments
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Maika Isogawa is the Founder and CEO of Webacy, a platform for securing digital assets for the unexpected. Maika is a former professional acrobat and performer for the Cirque Du Soleil brand of shows. She is also a Stanford '20 alumnus with a special concentration in Symbolic Systems, a program which combines the study of Human Computer Interaction, Software Engineering, Linguistics, Philosophy, and more. Maika was most recently a Cybersecurity Engineer for Microsoft. She has since founded Webacy, and has been recently recognized as a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Topics Covered by Maika Isogawa in this Episode * What Webacy does * What led Maika to found Webacy * Maika’s experience and background * Her experience as a first-time tech founder * Finding her co-founder and deciding to start a company together * Onboarding their early team members * How Maika’s skills learned as a Cirque Du Soleil acrobat apply to being a tech startup founder * Navigating the Web3 space * The vision for how Webacy’s relatively small target market will grow * Webacy’s hybrid go to market strategy * Approaching trust and safety in crypto * Maika’s view on the community element of Webacy * Maika’s path from leaving Microsoft to building Webacy * Raising Webacy’s pre-seed funding round * How angel investors have provided value beyond funds in building Webacy * How they’re thinking about future fundraising * Maika’s view on Webacy’s competitors * Webacy’s unique value proposition in digital asset security * How Maika finds balance with her wide variety of interests * What’s next for Webacy
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Alex Taub is the co-founder and CEO of Upstream, a no-code all-in-one DAO builder. Alex previously was the co-founder and CEO of SocialRank (acquired by Trufan). Prior to that Alex led business development and partnerships for online integrations at Dwolla, a payments startup based in Iowa. As well as for Aviary (acquired by Adobe), a NY-based startup that provides a photo editing API for web and mobile devices. Alex is active in the NY tech scene as the creator of the BD Meetup and an advisor to early-stage companies. He has been featured in Business Insider as one of the “Top 20 Under 25” in the NY tech scene.
Alex writes a popular blog called Alex’s Tech Thoughts, and has been published in Fast Company, The New York Observer, The Next Web and VentureBeat. He teaches Business Development classes, and has been quoted on many tech websites including TechCrunch, NY Post, The New York Times, Business Insider, Mashable, and PC Magazine. He was a contributor for the Forbes Entrepreneur section and advisor for Rainfall Ventures, a seed stage VC fund. Now he is the General Partner at Taub Ventures, an early stage fund to invest in startups.
Topics Covered by Alex Taub in this Episode * How Upstream makes it easy to start a DAO * Upstream as a full-stack solution * Identifying the need for Upstream in the market * Different use cases Alex is anticipating for Upstream * How Alex has approached market research shifting the company’s focus * The decision to “upgrade” Upstream * Their journey of raising a Series A * What’s next for Upstream * How Alex views opportunity in their industry * How Upstream is approaching customer acquisition * The Illuminati NFT project and putting systems in place to protect its members * The timeline and process of setting up repeatable structures * Other projects Alex has been involved in * What Alex looks for in the NFT space * Alex’s approach to collecting NFTs * What Alex is excited about within the Web3 eco-system
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Jennifer Smith is the Co-Founder and CEO of Scribe, a software tool that makes it easy to learn from your most productive people without slowing them down by automatically generating step-by-step tutorials for any task, while they work. Scribe seamlessly captures how work gets done across your organization, enabling you to analyze, optimize, and standardize processes, in a way your employees will love. Founded in 2019, the Scribe team imagines a world where the best of what anyone knows how to do is available to everyone. Instantly and automatically. So every person, company, and community can do their best work, every day. With a little more ease and joy.
Prior to founding Scribe, Jennifer spent time at McKinsey & Company and Greylock Partners. She is a Princeton and Harvard Business School alum.
Topics Covered by Jennifer Smith in this Episode * How Scribe is making it easy to share how to do something * Jennifer’s background and realizing she needed to build Scribe to solve a problem she observed for years * Going from “someone else will solve it” to “I’m going to solve it” and the first steps she took to start a company * Finding developers early in Scribe’s journey * Talking to 80+ engineers before she connected with her technical co-founder, Aaron Podolny * The importance of finding a co-founder that shares your value and vision * How organic growth enabled Jennifer and the Scribe team to run lean and focus on building in the right direction without any marketing for the first 1.5 years * How their approach to growth and marketing has shifted * How they narrowed their target market for a product with such a wide variety of use cases * Raising an unexpected Series A for Scribe while pregnant with her first child * Jennifer’s strategy behind bringing on great angel investors * Making Scribe an extremely user-friendly product
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Max Zamkow is the Managing Partner at Third Act Ventures, an early-stage venture firm investing in AgeTech - technology for older adults and their caregivers. Third Act Ventures invests in founders revolutionizing aging, and is the only firm investing across the entire spectrum of AgeTech.
A century ago we didn't expect to make it to 60, but now we're surviving well into our 80's and beyond. Surviving, but not thriving. Technology hasn't kept pace with the medical advancements that gave us 20+ extra years of life leaving us directionless, isolated, and alone. Third Act Ventures invests in companies that recognize this massive opportunity to improve the lives of older adults and their caregivers. Topics Covered by Max Zamkow in this Episode * What AgeTech is * Why Third Act Ventures invests in the AgeTech ecosystem and how it’s changing * The process of developing a thesis and overcoming the lack of interest in AgeTech * Emerging models and how social determinants of health are impacting AgeTech * How having a wide range of stakeholders has led to lack of innovation in the industry * How Max screens for value and the importance of timing * The challenge of not being the end user for products he invests in * One of the AgeTech companies Max is excited about * Third Act Ventures’ strategy as a follow fund and why they’re shifting their approach * Max’s effort to expand investments in the AgeTech industry and shift it from niche to mainstream * Justin’s thoughts on how to market yourself uniquely to stand out
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Brenton Howland is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Forum Brands, a platform of category-leading e-commerce brands built for the everyday consumer. They provide exit options to entrepreneurs, use technology to help scale small businesses, and build brands into household names that consumers know and love. Forum partners with owners of the best everyday products selling through Amazon FBA and other 3rd party marketplaces. As long-time investors, operators, and industry experts, Forum’s team represents the most trusted buyers in e-commerce.
Topics Covered by Brenton Howland in this Episode * How Forum Brands is innovating through acquisition in the consumer space * How Brenton and his co-founders met and started Forum Brands * The unique value proposition of Forum Brands and its founding team * How they’re leveraging data to indicate the potential for long term success of businesses * Their top-down hiring strategy * How they approach portfolio composition * Forum Brands’ early acquisitions, gaining momentum, and learning from mistakes * The platform side of the acquisition process * Their creative cap structure raising both VC and debt * Finding investors who aligned with their unique model * The benefit of investing time and energy into partnerships and people * How Brenton’s experience in consulting and private equity has influenced how he’s running Forum Brands today
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Jonathan Anderson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Candu, the first no-code web builder for existing SaaS products. Candu is building a better way to activate users and release new features. The simple, drag-and-drop UI Editor empowers product and customer teams to create UI themselves, saving developer time and trimming technical debt. Unlike guide products, Candu enables customers to change the UI itself to drive user engagement.
SaaS teams win when in-app experiences help users to adopt the features that ultimately help them do their jobs. That’s why Candu gives customers the tools and analytics they need to rapidly redesign the in-app experience. Shape, launch, then improve onboarding experiences to drive user behavior and convert first-time users into devoted fans.
Topics Covered by Jonathan Anderson in this Episode * What Candu is * How Jonathan came up with the idea * Why Jonathan decided this was a problem he needed to solve * Participating in accelerator Entrepreneur First and meeting his co-founder * The timeframe for Candu – from original idea to launch * Why problem identification is more important than solution orientation * The problem Candu solves and who it’s for * The difference between their first and second launches on Product Hunt * Why they chose to launch on Product Hunt * The feedback around their second launch and how to measure it * Building out the Candu team and what Jonathan has learned doing so * Jonathan’s advice for hiring * Why they used a recruiter * Their experience fundraising VC * Finding work-life balance as a founder * Being married to another high-performing startup founder * What’s next for Candu * The future of no-code
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Yoni Shtein is a technology entrepreneur and investor with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of technology and finance. Yoni brings his passion around data and impact into focus by helping to improve people's lives as CEO and co-founder of Laguna Health, a technology enabled recovery solution providing a dynamic member experience and integrative clinicians to shorten recovery times and reduce costly readmissions.
Laguna aims to radically improve care experiences and care outcomes for patients who have moved through a hospital stay and have been discharged home to self-care. Laguna marries a proven clinical treatment model with a digital-first care team, personalized recovery plans, coaching, data-driven interventions and expansive behavioral health resources, all delivered in a friendly and accessible app-based environment. From employers to health plans to providers, the entire healthcare ecosystem now has the ability to ensure every patient recovers with confidence.
Yoni began his career as a software engineer at Microsoft and leveraged that as a founding member of RPX insurance business (KPCB, CRV, Index -> IPO). Next, Yoni co-founded Koru Ventures, which was integrated into Fortress Investment Group, where he led investments in over 30 companies exceeding $500M in equity and debt.
Topics Covered by Yoni Shtein in this Episode * How Laguna Health is helping people recover confidently from surgery at home * How Yoni and his co-founder Yael Adam met and decided to work together * The dating/diligence process of finding a co-founder and the importance of being able to “argue well” * The hospital unbundling thesis * How they developed the idea for Laguna Health from personal experiences * Validating the business opportunity and finding a workable tech-enabled solution * Connecting with clinical experts and stakeholders * Yoni’s “work hard, work smart, be lucky” approach * How their business model has evolved * How demonstrating impact has fueled Laguna Health’s growth * The UX for Laguna Health patients * Building the Laguna Health team with a “bicoastal” approach * Yoni’s advice for developing remote team dynamics and the impact of aligning cultures and values * What’s next for Laguna Health
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
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Dejan Pralica is a sneaker enthusiast and entrepreneur with a passion for building community-first businesses that empower consumers. In 2018, DP co-founded SoleSavy to address the challenges and growing frustrations sneaker consumers face amidst a booming resale economy. SoleSavy provides community, tools, and technologies to help fans connect and buy sneakers at retail and has grown into one of the world’s largest paid sneaker communities. As SoleSavy’s CEO, DP leads a growing team of 50 people servicing thousands of members globally. Prior to SoleSavy, DP co-founded KicksDeals, a leading source for news releases, deals, and coupons on sneakers. This is DP’s second time on the Just Go Grind Podcast— listen here to his first chat with Justin on episode #168.
Topics Covered by Dejan Pralica in this Episode * Dejan’s insane sneaker collection * SoleSavy’s growth since Dejan was last on the Just Go Grind podcast in September of 2020 * From 10 to 50 employees in a year and a half * Dejan’s approach to building out SoleSavy’s team and why he scares people off on purpose * The evolution of SoleSavy’s peer to peer marketplace as an element of their end to end experience * How they utilize cohorts to manage their community of 7k members and why the process can’t be automated * Navigating trial and error with community dynamics and what hasn't worked * How the rise of Web3 and NFTs has affected SoleSavy and the trades and resale economy * How they’ve leveraged partnerships with NBA teams as a brand building opportunity * How they decided to partner specifically with the Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Meghan Jewitt is the CEO and Co-Founder of Uniform Teeth, a modern orthodontic startup that uses advanced technology to deliver a best in class experience. Meghan believes in making orthodontic care higher quality, more patient-centric and more affordable. After over a decade in the healthcare industry, Meghan’s past experience includes executive roles at DaVita Kidney Care and One Medical Group, and she holds a Biomedical Engineering degree from Columbia University and a MBA from Harvard Business School. In her downtime, Meghan skis, surfs, bikes and climbs.
Topics Covered by Meghan Jewitt in this Episode * What makes Uniform Teeth a modern orthodontic services provider * Meghan’s journey to starting Uniform Teeth and her mission to improve the health care industry * Meeting her co-founder Kjeld Aamodt and what empowered Meghan to commit to their idea * The evolution of Uniform Teeth * The technology that enables a seamless experience for patients * Their “scrappy” approach to early customer acquisition * Deciding to go the VC route for funding and what Meghan would do differently * Fundraising vs. bootstrapping * Their fundraising experience as a tech-enabled brick and mortar service business * What has fueled their growth over the past few years * Facilitating an organic referral engine * Hiring for a diverse range of positions and how the challenges have been different than they expected * Considering the four-day work week * How Uniform Teeth is pioneering orthodontics care of the future
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Abby Mercado is the Co-Founder & CEO of Rescripted and a mom of IVF twins. Rescripted is the #1 global social network for people interested in fertility topics, providing tech tools & resources for wherever you are on your journey to build a family. From a vibrant fertility community and trusted IVF content to a tech-enabled fertility pharmacy and mental health counseling, Rescripted brings together everything you need to feel fully supported on your fertility journey.
Abby is a first-time founder but lifelong entrepreneur, and previously a VC investor.
Topics Covered by Abby Mercado in this Episode * What Rescripted is and how Abby’s personal experience led her to the idea * Abby’s founder story and how winning a Techstars Startup Weekend gave her the push to commit to her idea * Abby’s objectives going through the Techstars program while simultaneously starting the company * What Abby found most valuable from Techstars * Their experience raising $2M+ exclusively from angel investors * The blocks they ran into that led to a pivot from B2B to D2C * Building a friendship and mentorship with Kristyn Hodgdon and eventually merging their businesses * The process of acqui-hiring Kristyn * How the concept for Rescripted has evolved over the years into their current multi-prong model * The tech, tools and resources Rescripted provides as an integrated care platform for fertility patients * How they’re helping women cope with an infertility diagnosis through mental health programming * Being community and cohort centric * How Abby allocates her time * What’s on deck for Rescripted and their big vision
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Ryan Feit is the CEO and Co-Founder of SeedInvest, a leading equity crowdfunding platform that provides individual investors with access to vetted startup investment opportunities. To date they have over 600,000 investors on their platform, through which founders have raised over $350M. SeedInvest sold to Circle in 2019.
Prior to founding SeedInvest, Ryan worked at Wellspring Capital Management and Lehman Brothers in New York City where he invested in, financed, and managed dozens of private and public businesses. Ryan was instrumental in the passage of the 2012 JOBS Act, which changed 80-year-old U.S. securities laws to make it possible for entrepreneurs to raise capital over the Internet.
Since then, Ryan has served as a focal point of the budding Equity Crowdfunding industry, co-founding the Crowdfunding Professional Association and serving as a board member of the Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates. He also worked closely with members of the SEC, FINRA, the White House, and the Treasury Department on the implementation of the JOBS Act. In addition, he frequently serves as a subject matter expert on startup investing and the JOBS Act for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, CNBC, FoxBusiness, the Economist and the New York Times as well as a columnist for Fortune Magazine and Inc. Magazine.
Ryan received an MBA in Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Topics Covered by Ryan Feit in this Episode * SeedInvest in a nutshell * How Ryan got into the digitization and democratization of investing * Getting the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act approved * The challenges of building a two-sided marketplace * Getting SeedInvest off the ground and why they started with onboarding investors * How they scaled the platform * Shifting from onboarding investors to focusing on onboarding great companies * Risk mitigation and how they vet companies for SeedInvest * Their semi-automated diligence process * Following up with and supporting companies who don’t qualify for the platform * Tracking investors * Supercharging their business with more resources by selling to Circle * Their decision-making process and Ryan’s advice around acquisition * SeedInvest’s big ambitions and Ryan’s thoughts on the future of investing
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Cary Breese is Co-Founder and CEO of NowRx, a technology-leveraged pharmacy service using software automation, logistics, robotics, and micro-fulfilment strategy to transform retail pharmacy. Traditional retail pharmacy is broken, marked by inefficiencies and terrible customer experience. NowRx is on a mission to rebuild healthcare the way it should be – accessible, convenient, and affordable for all. Cary is a multi-time CEO with more than 15 years of experience leading companies that leverage innovative software and automation technologies to disrupt large legacy industries. Topics Covered by Cary Breese in this Episode * The vision of NowRx * How NowRx works as a full stack pharmacy solution * What led Cary to start NowRx * Disrupting legacy industries * Why existing incentive structures have prevented the pharmacy industry from being disrupted before * The process of getting NowRx rolling * Cary’s hands-on customer discovery process and early customer acquisition * How they developed their business model * Why they decided to crowdfund * How they approach geographical growth through micro fulfillment * Their plan to become a national brand * The challenges they’ve faced in building NowRx * What Cary has learned from his experience as a multi-time founder
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Jordi Hays is the Co-Founder and CEO of investing platform Party Round. Party Round is building better tools for founders, starting with an automated fundraising tool. Generate & send docs, collect signatures, and receive funds, automating your raise from open to close. Previously, Jordi Hays founded Likewise and Branded Native. Topics Covered by Jordi Hays in this Episode * How Party Round is simplifying the process of raising capital for founders * How Jordi got inspired to start Party Round and what sets it apart from other fundraising platforms * How Jordi and his co-founder Sarah Chase got Party Round off the ground * Why they focused on marketing early on * The story behind Party Round’s viral drops * How their team brainstorms and executes their drops * Why their BIGTECH Fellowship drop was meaningful for Jordi * How Jordi approaches choosing investors * What’s next for Party Round
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Nhon Ma is the CEO and Co-Founder of Numerade, a venture-backed, high-growth education technology startup based in Los Angeles. Numerade is singularly focused on creating exceptional video and interactive content experiences for education, making the knowledge and skills of world class educators widely accessible and affordable to student audiences of all backgrounds. Their mission is to close the educational opportunity gap by unlocking and democratizing access to extraordinary educators and the content they have to offer. Previously, Nhon Ma and Alex Lee co-founded Tutorcast, which eventually led to the founding of Numerade. Prior, Nhon also worked at Google.
Topics Covered by Nhon Ma in this Episode * How Numerade is tackling their mission to democratize STEM education * How Nhon and his co-founder Alex Lee’s previous company Tutorcast evolved into Numerade * Why they were inspired to address the issue of access to tutoring through technology * How they’re approaching content creation at scale and onboarding educators * How COVID affected their process and led more contributing teachers * Working towards digitizing teaching and learning styles in order to drive deep learning * Their platform of courses and practical videos * How they’ve reached students through organic growth * The current age demographic of their students and why it’s important for Numerade to expand to younger demographics * How they’re utilizing community to reinforce accountability and motivation * How being a mission-driven company has helped them grow the Numerade team and navigate the “war on talent” * Numerade’s approach to cultivating healthy company culture * How Nhon’s time at Google has impacted him as a founder * What fuels Nhon and how this has shifted over the years to focus on the “why” * The “three acts” of their business and the big vision for Numerade
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Suman Siva is the Co-Founder and CEO of Marco, a platform for discovering, planning, and booking high-quality experiences. Marco is helping companies and teams up-level their next Zoom happy hour or offsite and do something collaborative and engaging via virtual experiences that evolve modern teams into thriving cultures.
Suman has spent his career advising, operating, and investing in consumer tech companies and marketplaces, and now he’s excited to be working on building one! His experience includes working as a Growth Advisor to marketplaces at Basis One, investing at SoftBank Vision Fund Consumer Internet, and consulting at Bain.
Topics Covered by Suman Siva in this Episode * How Marco is bringing companies and teams together through their experiences platform * How Suman’s time investing in the experiences space at SoftBank led to him founding Marco * The evolution of Marco and how the pandemic led to a pivot * Shifting from B2C to B2B * Their go-to-market strategy and exploring paid acquisition * Expanding into enterprise solutions * The pain point that Marco is addressing and their current business model * Their journey raising nearly $3M in capital * Getting early traction * Suman’s transition from investor to entrepreneur * How Marco is enabling the creator economy * Their opportunistic approach to hiring part-time, distributed employees * Marco’s Future of Culture E-Book * The types of experiences Marco’s customers are looking to engage in * How they’re zooming in on inclusivity in the workplace * The trends Suman is expecting to see regarding in-person versus virtual offerings
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Vivian is the Founder and CEO of Rise (joinrise.co), a professional social network that enables companies to proactively build relationships with people. Rise connects members with the world’s most innovative and forward-thinking companies across roles and industries. They are a data-driven tech platform that provides access to impactful opportunities to those who want purpose, advancement, and equity.
Prior to starting Rise, Vivian was an operator who built brands and products for high-impact businesses, Fortune 500 companies, high-growth startups, as well as leading VCs, PE firms, and global institutions. She has advised and worked with companies such as L'Oreal, Greenhouse Software, Glamsquad, Klarna, Bain Capital, the AARP, and more.
Vivian has been featured in Business Insider, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Bustle, and other media outlets for her work in championing women. Her work has been recognized by Forbes as a Next 1000 company, Cartier as a Top 10 Female Founded Company in North America, JP Morgan as a Woman on the Move, and Barclays as a leader for the Future of Work.
Vivian is on the board of Wharton Alumnae Founders & Funders Association (hellowaffa.org), a 501c3 non-profit organization with the mission to accelerate the success of Penn Wharton female founders and investors.
Topics Covered by Vivian Chen in this Episode * What Rise is and the belief system it’s built on * Combating “the great resignation” * Rise’s origin story * Leaving her job to become an entrepreneur before she had a business idea * Using consulting as a strategy to leapfrog her career * How COVID affected Rise and its iterations, resulting in an early pivot and “Rise 2.0” * The UX and business model for Rise * The strategy to onboard companies to the Rise platform * How Vivian built out the product herself * How she has approached early outreach and growth * Embracing “the great re-hiring” and onboarding big tech companies * How they’re differentiating themselves in the now booming virtual recruitment industry * The recent fundraising experience for Rise * Joining the founder program Day One and how that led to the first investments in Rise before Vivian had a formal pitch deck * The unique questions she was asked by investors who truly believed in her * The importance of investors getting to know founders on a personal level * What’s next for Rise
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Sehreen Noor Ali is the Co-Founder of Sleuth, a childhood health recommendation engine, powered by crowdsourced insights and machine learning. The platform allows parents to share stories and information with each other to get essential perspectives on programs, treatments, therapies, tips and tricks, and outstanding specialists. Sleuth is backed by NewLab and Antler.
Previously, Sehreen was an educative executive in technology with experience spanning across sales, business development, marketing, and community-building. She is deeply operational and is adept at scaling nascent product lines into revenue-generating departments. Her sweet spot is closing large deals that get new products in the hands of parents. She's passionate about inclusion and has launched a newsletter (in beta) for parents of color. Sehreen is a frequent speaker on business strategy in education technology and is the recipient of SXSWedu's first ever Change Maker Award in 2015 for her founding of EdTechWomen. She is a fellow with the Pahara Institute, the 92Y's Women inPower program, and the Truman National Security Project. She has appeared in Scary Mommy, Mom 2.0, The Harvard Business Review Podcast, and others.
Topics Covered by Sehreen Noor Ali in this Episode * How Sehreen’s personal experience led to the founding of Sleuth * Deciding to raise money through VC * Sehreen and her co-founder Alex Leed‘s experience at the startup generator program Antler * Being surprised by who decided to invest in their company * Sleuth’s business model and pricing strategy * How they approached early growth through personal branding * Building trust with customers * Growing the Sleuth team with part time hires * Their experience hiring through the freelance platforms * The process of building out the product itself and what makes it unique * The UX for first time users of Sleuth * How they control crowdsourced data and ensure credibility on their platform * What’s next for Sleuth * How Sehreen takes care of her own health and wellbeing as a founder
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Kirsten Baumberger is the Co-Founder and Director of Partnerships at minisocial.io, a User Generated Content platform that facilitates the production of UGC on-demand and at scale. mini works with top D2C brands and agencies including DoorDash, Sanzo, Native, JAJA, Pattern brands, and Olipop to generate fully-licensed UGC via micro influencer activations on TikTok and Instagram.
Kirsten has been featured in Forbes, AdWeek, The New York Times, Thrive Global, and Business Insider. In her journey of entrepreneurship, Kirsten has developed relationships with international brands and has been recognized as a young trailblazer within her industry. Beyond mini, Kirsten is passionate about helping young women and fellow entrepreneurs succeed.
Topics Covered by Kirsten Baumberger in this Episode * The origin story of minisocial * From Bootstrapping for the first year to raising funds through VC * How minisocial executed cold outreach * Minisocial’s tools for brands * Partnering brands with micro- and nano- influencers who are building quality content and community * How minisocial is approaching growth through advertising partners today * Leveraging newsletters and podcasts to expand their reach * Focusing on D2C E-Commerce brands * Growing minisocial’s team * Hiring a technical team as non-technical founders * Working with their advisor Emmett Shine * Being a user-friendy “anti-platform” * Deciding which VCs and angel investors to work with * Lolita Taub’s newsletter * How they’re using the capital raised with Hustle Fund to execute on their vision * How Kirsten and her co-founder applied their learnings from running a small agency to building minisocial * Managing clients’ expectations * How Kirsten uses the pressure of investors’ expectations as motivation * Kirsten’s advice for entrepreneurs looking to raise capital * Finding investors who provide you with the right kind of pressure through aligned values * What’s next for minisocial and their big vision
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
JP Fatta is a serial entrepreneur with multiple startups including health, entertainment and Cannabis related businesses. He is currently the CEO of Kush Klubs, the first monthly Cannabis Network, Fintech & Subscription-Based Membership Club. Members gain access to a gram or more a day, every day of the month, up to 365 days a year. Kush Klubs works with dispensaries in their network to bring members below market rates while helping dispensaries grow their customer base. As a socially conscious brand, they see their role in the Cannabis space to negotiate for the people, empower local businesses, advocate for minority owners and lobby for decriminalization. If you’re interested in their mission, check out: https://wefunder.com/kushklubs
Topics Covered by JP Fatta and Bryce Petty in this Episode * How JP decided to start Kush Klubs * How regulations within the cannabis industry affected the development of their idea through various iterations and how they found their entry point into the market * How Bryce got involved in the cannabis industry and with Kush Klubs * Overcoming the cultural taboo around cannabis use * Deciding to crowdfund, the benefits of this method, and how they chose the WeFunder platform * How they’ve approached growth and overcoming the challenges that come with the nature of their business * Finding their dispensary partners and building trust with them * Getting and keeping users * Bryce’s view on the opportunities in the cannabis industry * Creating brand loyalty and recognition through community building
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Caroline Casson is a Partner at Vitalize Venture Capital, where she spends her time sourcing potential investments, assisting portfolio companies, and managing the due diligence process for Vitalize. She also writes founder spotlights on her blog.
Prior to joining Vitalize in 2018, Caroline worked for GE Ventures in San Francisco where she helped incubate and operate a startup in the drone space. Before transitioning into venture capital, Caroline worked in corporate finance for various GE businesses in Chicago, Atlanta, London, and San Francisco. Caroline received a BBA with honors in math and psychology from Boston College and a Master of Science in Management from the University of Notre Dame, where she was valedictorian of her class.
Caroline is originally from Madison, Wisconsin and enjoys going home to spend time with her family whenever she can. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she loves to bike, hike, sail, and play golf with her husband, Tom, and their dog, Sailor.
Follow Caroline on Twitter: https://twitter.com/carolinecasson_
Follow Caroline on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/venturecaroline/
Topics Covered by Caroline Casson in this Episode * How Caroline got her start in VC * Caroline’s experience at GE Ventures and how she ended up at Vitalize * Doing a cross-country bike ride with Bike & Build * Caroline’s process for due diligence on a company * The importance of excellent founding teams in early stage ventures * How they filter through companies and decide which to invest in * Where Caroline chooses to invest personally as an angel investor * What makes a rock star founder * Justin and Caroline’s perspective on Vitalize’s angel investor community * What has helped Caroline learn and grow as an investor * How she has developed her pattern recognition * Caroline’s advice for founders and how to execute a successful cold outreach
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Annelise Hillmann is the co-founder of FRONTMAN, the Gen Z self-care brand for men creating a new grooming category. A story teller at heart, Annelise is an art director and designer focusing on brand identity and marketing strategy for early stage companies. She has a Harvard degree in economics and psychology and lives in Brooklyn. She co-founded FRONTMAN with Nick Bunn in 2018, and also does freelance for companies still in stealth and others post-IPO.
Topics Covered by Annelise Hillmann in this Episode * What FRONTMAN is and how Annelise and her co-founder Nick Bunn came up with the idea * Developing the product itself and how they navigated contract manufacturing for cosmetics * Using a product consultant * Designing for behavior change and creating the brand for FRONTMAN * Utilizing nostalgia to cultivate authenticity in brand building * FRONTMAN’s go to market strategy, and what has and hasn’t worked to target Gen Z * How they’ve kept their team small so far * Raising a $150K pre-seed and working with Recharge Capital * FRONTMAN’s fundraising journey and Annelise’s advice on raising capital * How Annelise invests in her own health and wellbeing as a founder
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Joseph Heller, a true entrepreneur at heart, is the Founder and CEO of The/Studio, an on-demand manufacturing platform which is also now the parent company of Supplied, creating a network of empowered entrepreneurs through their wholesale platform for small businesses. While at UC Berkeley, Joseph raised a seed round for an e-commerce platform which sparked his early interest in technology. He believes life and entrepreneurship are a journey and that journey took him to China where he later founded a successful supply chain business. Joseph was absolutely obsessed with being part of the process of consumer products being produced, but agitated by the inefficiencies endemic in the manufacturing industry, which has changed very little in over a hundred years. As a result, Joseph founded The/Studio as a marriage between his passion for technology and manufacturing. They are creating an on-demand supply chain for the 21st Century which will democratize manufacturing, and allow their customers to manage the entire supply chain on the cloud.
Topics Covered by Joseph Heller in this Episode * Being a lifetime entrepreneur * What Joseph’s companies The/Studio and Supplied do and how they tailor to different clients * How they’re connecting small businesses with sourcing and manufacturing in China * Bootstrapping to 100 employees * Skipping angel and seed investing and going straight to raising a Series A * Deciding to fundraise through VC and his advice on this method * Initially trying to raise VC in China * Why it took a challenging 18 months to raise an $11M Series A * Why they decided not to participate in YCombinator after being accepted * How Joseph would have fundraised differently in hindsight * Early customer acquisition and growth and getting to 10M+ in revenue * Joseph’s view on paid marketing and how it has shifted in recent years * Utilizing social media for community building * The business models for The/Studio and Supplied * How their two-sided marketplace is solving the pain point of customizing products * Overcoming the logistical challenges of working with factories in China * Getting to profitability with The/Studio * Growing Supplied 10X in 10 months * How they’re prioritizing clients’ needs and deeply solving customers’ problems to create a successful B2B marketplace
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
David Perry is the CEO and Co-Founder of Carro, a new e-commerce partnership network that over 30K Shopify brands have joined, providing over 320M visitors a month. GetCarro.com helps brands gain attention, sales, and new customers by partnering with other brands in the network.
Before Carro, Sony PlayStation acquired Perry's last company Gaikai to establish leadership in the future of streaming video games from the cloud. This service is called PlayStation Now. After 39 years in the business (with founding roles at companies such as Acclaim Entertainment and Shiny Entertainment, both of which were acquired by industry giants), Perry remains one of the best-known video game industry veterans, with multiple #1 hits and the Develop - Development Legend award.
Topics Covered by David Perry in this Episode * What Carro is now and how they’re helping companies optimize e-commerce by working together * How David and his co-founder Jason Goldberg came up with the idea by leveraging the authentic relationship between influencers and brands and how that idea evolved into Carro * How they overcame the challenge of getting brands onto the platform * David’s insights regarding how to understand investors as a founder * The obstacles they’ve confronted in building Carro * Overcoming friction and the “zero click solution” * David’s past companies and successful exits * The importance of proving a pattern * The future of merging e-commerce with social media * How they’ve approached fundraising for Carro * How Carro pairs brands * Why Carro is focused on growing brands, not competing with them * What sets Carro apart * The community building element of Carro’s strategy * Leveraging geography and thinking globally for growth in order to get a competitive advantage * Going beyond being an entrepreneur to become an innovator * How to level up in your industry * How David is integrating his 30 years of gaming experience into building Carro * Gamification through implementing skill, risk and strategy into your business
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Richard Mensah is the Co-Founder of EllisX, which is pioneering authentic marketing, a new market category that allows companies to increase brand awareness without hassle. Their infrastructure empowers creators and writers to connect with the best startup/tech stories. Originally from Ghana, Richard previously founded 3 startups in the Media, Adtech and HR industries, while studying for his college degree in Computer Science. His current company EllisX was selected as a finalist for the 2020 New England Innovation Awards, the oldest innovation competition in the Northeast. Richard was listed in BostInno’s 25 under 25 in 2019 and holds graduate degrees in international business and disruptive innovation.
Topics Covered by Richard Mensah in this Episode * How EllisX is pioneering authentic marketing * Richard’s entrepreneurial journey with 4 startups * How Richard met his co-founder Leia Ruseva and how EllisX got started * Customer discovery, the early stages of EllisX and how the concept has shifted to their current vision * Their launch on Product Hunt * EllisX’s current business model and how they developed their pricing * How they’re approaching growth through partnerships, referrals and content * How their strategy informs conversations with investors * Getting into Launch House * What the EllisX user experience is like
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Matt Jung is an entrepreneur and generalist with over a decade of experience founding businesses and leading teams with a focus on business development, operations, marketing and brand strategy in both startup, incubator/accelerator, and corporate environments. Currently Matt is the CEO of Last Crumb, the world’s first ultra-premium luxury cookie brand. Their nostalgic flavors are upgraded with the world’s best ingredients, delivered through a premium direct-to-consumer membership with luxe packaging you can show off.
Topics Covered by Matt Jung in this Episode * How Matt and his team are building the world’s first ultra-premium luxury cookie brand with Last Crumb * How Matt ended up as CEO of Last Crumb * Developing their 12 cookie flavors * Being intentional about developing a brand before going to market * Creating a market and why that worked for their brand * Why they chose not to test their product on consumers before launching * Actively going against their investors’ advice * Last Crumb’s go to market strategy and how they built an organic flywheel without any paid media * Managing supply and demand for a waiting list of over 100,000 people * Building an in-house cookie factory and 3PL while simultaneously creating a D2C brand * Learning to scale at a feasible rate for their growth and demand while maintaining a very high quality and consistent product * Growing from a mom and pop roadside bakery cart to an exclusive cookie factory * Constantly improving quality to create an amazing customer experience * Some ideas Matt has for the future of Last Crumb * Avoiding the mistake of diversifying before scaling
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Alex Simon is the Co-Founder and CEO of Elude, a budget based travel company getting you out of your office and around the world. Alex previously worked as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, a career he left in 2018 to turn travel hacking into his full-time gig as an entrepreneur with his co-founder, Frankie Scerbo. Elude is a travel search engine & app that allows people to discover and book unique travel packages based only on your budget and date. Think "Where can you go next month for $700." They are internationally venture backed in LA and Singapore with angel investors throughout NY, SF, LA & UK.
Topics Covered by Alex Simon in this Episode * What Elude is and who it serves * How the backend of the app functions * How Alex and his co-founder Frankie’s personal experiences led to the founding of Elude * The early days of Elude and getting their first users * Jumping from two thousand to tens of thousands of customers via partnerships * Transitioning out of an investment banking career into full time entrepreneurship * How they approached fundraising by focusing on warm intros and direct leads * Transitioning from fundraising from angel investors to raising a seed round from a fund * How they allocated their seed round funding * The challenges of innovating in a very established industry * The consumer experience with the Elude app * Organic versus paid growth and the value of partnerships * Elude’s business model * Building and growing a remote team * Launching a travel industry startup during a global pandemic
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Rachel Sanders is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rootine, a wellness company working to optimize its users’ health and daily performance with precision nutrition.
They enable individuals to leverage their personal health and nutrition data to improve how they look, feel and perform everyday with their test-take-track approach.
Rachel has spent her career in high-stress roles that require her to maximize the time she has — first as an investment banker and now as a startup founder and first-time mom.
Early on in her career she was suffering from burnout, fatigue, stress, and brain fog which hampered her ability to give her best every day. She turned to nutrition and fitness as a way to get more out of her day when sleep wasn’t always an option - constantly iterating on products, exercises, and ways to fuel her body to add performance gains throughout the day.
Topics Covered by Rachel Sanders in this Episode * What Rootine is, what inspired Rachel to start the company and how she found her co-founder, Dr. Daniel Wallerstorfer * How Rootine is empowering consumers to gain access to their health data and leverage it to improve how they feel and perform * The importance of personalizing health solutions * How Rootine launched and what their go to market strategy was * Being a digitally native brand * What differentiates Rootine amongst the competition in the 700 billion dollar global nutrition industry * Their test-take-track approach * Creating a strong brand * The customer experience for new Rootine consumers * Rootine’s business model and how they developed it * How they approach expanding markets * Rootine’s primary use cases * Rachel’s first startup as a learning experience * Rootine’s fundraising process and the importance of diversity in investors * Hiring and building out the Rootine team and hiring for culture over expertise * Being a values and results driven company * Achieving the big mission and vision for Rootine
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Nicholas Hinrichsen is the co-founder of Clutch, a SaaS company working to turn credit unions into FinTechs, while helping you to refinance your auto loan and save thousands in minutes. Nicholas used to be an avid golfer, playing on Germany’s national team for four years. After finishing his master’s degree in Germany, he worked at Bain & Company and Merrill Lynch before he moved to the U.S. in 2011. Nicholas and his co-founder Chris Coleman met at Stanford Business School, and after graduating in 2013 they started Carlypso, the Amazon for used cars. They eventually sold to Carvana in 2017, and stayed on board until 2020, when they started the original iteration of Clutch.
Topics Covered by Nicholas Hinrichsen in this Episode * The pivot Clutch is making and how it came about * How they're turning credit unions into FinTech companies * Creating a self-serve product * Why loan origination systems are archaic and how Clutch is implementing technology to make credit unions more efficient * The current business model for Clutch * The challenge of competing for talent in Silicon Valley and Clutch’s unique approach to new hiring * How they came to the decision to hire internationally and the complexities of doing so * Their most recent round of fundraising with Andreessen Horowitz * What's next for Clutch and the ultimate vision for their consumer experience
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Vitalize Angels offers "angel investing for everyone" and in this special episode of the Just Go Grind podcast, Gale Wilkinson and Justin Gordon take you behind the scenes to tell you how they, and the Vitalize team, did it.
Learn more about Vitalize Angels and join here: https://vitalize.vc/vitalizeangels/
The Vitalize Angels deal close process for founders:
https://vitalize.notion.site/Deal-Close-Process-c95157c58dc3447fa8537b8447e9db79
More about Vitalize:
Vitalize was formed in 2017 as a pre-seed and seed-stage venture fund investing in the future of work + learning. Vitalize has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
The Vitalize Team:
Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVC
Caroline - https://twitter.com/caroline_yeager
Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Zach Evans, my best friend since high school, is a pianist, producer, and kick-ass entrepreneur who turned his passion for piano into a business that’s done more than $1 million in revenue in 3 years. He’s been featured on CBS, Yahoo, USA Today, and has amassed more than 10 million views on YouTube. Zach now lives in Los Angeles and, with the extra time his lifestyle business gives him, is focusing his time and effort on breaking into the music industry – this time as an artist.
Zach is our first three-time guest! In this episode, we discuss where both of our entrepreneurial journeys started and reflect where they have taken us as well as how we've grown ourselves and our online businesses, how we view work, and what's next for each of us.
Some of the Topics Covered by Zach and Justin in this Episode * Being the first three-time guest on the Just Go Grind Podcast * Zach's piano course and how it has grown, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic * The changing world of online course creating * How Zach views growth and how he learns for his business * Zach's approach to stress management as an entrepreneur * Going daily with the Just Go Grind Podcast * Where to get quality advice for building your business * How the Just Go Grind Podcast evolved--from sourcing guests to interview prep, technical issues, monetization, and finding a flow * Justin's entrepreneurial journey and how he got into venture capital * The key to hiring A-players * Justin's view on the lottery ticket approach of putting your work out there and making connections * Learning by doing * How Justin scaled his network through the Just Go Grind Podcast * The power of podcasting * Leveraging content and community in VC * How equity and ownership are changing for employees * Evan and Justin's reflections on their entrepreneurial journeys thus far
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Naomi Shah is the Founder and CEO of Meet Cute, a venture-backed media company that has produced over 300 original light-hearted romantic comedies in podcast form. The company celebrates human connection and the full spectrum of love with a core mission -- having every person feel like they are reflected in Meet Cute stories. Since inception (Feb 2020), the podcast already has over 2 million listens across over 150 countries and has been featured in the top 10 of Fiction on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Before starting Meet Cute, Naomi was a member of the investment team at Union Square Ventures, a technology venture capital firm in New York, where she spent most of her time talking to companies in the consumer and well-being space. Prior to that, she was a macro equities trader at Goldman Sachs and studied Mechanical Engineering (with a minor in Human Biology) at Stanford University.
Some of the Topics Covered by Naomi Shah in this Episode * What Meet Cute is * Deciding to start a VC backed startup after working at Union Square Ventures * The early Meet Cute team * Why their concept is unique and pushing past early noes * Getting traction to validate their format * Changing listening behavior with scripted content in audio * Meet Cute's business model * The creation process at Meet Cute * Distribution and discoverability * Strategy around changing formats * Naomi's experience fundraising for Meet Cute and what was helpful during the process * The importance of developing a relationship with your investors * How Naomi built out the team for Meet Cute and COVID's impact * Their unique approach to sourcing talent and maintaining a large pool of creative contributors * Navigating building a startup as a first-time, solo founder during a global pandemic
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Jarrid Tingle is Managing Partner of Harlem Capital where he focuses on deal sourcing, organizational strategy, and due diligence efforts. Jarrid was featured on the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 list, 2019 Inc. 30 under 30 list, and the 2018 Ebony Power 100 list.
He received his MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) in 2019 where he was a Baker Scholar (top 5% of class). During HBS, Jarrid was a fellow in the Robert Toigo Foundation and Management Leadership for Tomorrow MBA Programs. Previously, Jarrid was a Private Equity Investment Professional at ICV Partners. Prior to ICV, Jarrid was an Investment Banker in the Global Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group at Barclays.
Jarrid graduated cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Concentration in Finance. Jarrid was an active member of Friars Senior Society, Onyx Senior Honor Society, and The Lantern Senior Society. Upon graduation, Jarrid received the Wharton Undergraduate Dean’s Award for Excellence (Wharton’s highest honor).
Jarrid’s favorite activities include reading, weight training, traveling, and attending concerts.
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Jon Dahl is the Co-Founder and CEO at Mux, where he builds software to help online video get better. Before that, he was Co-Founder of Zencoder, and then VP of Technology at Brightcove, two pioneering companies in the world of online video. Mux is building the future of online video infrastructure. They started off by building Mux Data, a best-in-class performance analytics tool that’s trusted by developers at companies like Vimeo, Robinhood, CBS Interactive, Discovery, PBS, and TED. Billions of monitored streams later, they launched Mux Video, a simple API for video hosting, encoding, and streaming. Take any video file or live stream and make it play beautifully at scale on any device, powered by magical-feeling features like automatic thumbnails, animated GIFs, and data-driven encoding decisions.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jon Dahl in this Episode * What Mux is * How Jon got interested in video * Jon's experience building his previous startup, Zencoder * How Zencoder got acquired and how they made the decision to sell * Leaving Brightcove and why Jon started Mux * The video industry landscape and building Mux * Early consumer research and customer feedback * Why they started with data analytics and then added the video streaming layer * How they approached early customer acquisition and growth * Growing and strengthening their reputation and expanding sales * How the COVID-19 pandemic led to unexpected accelerated growth * Video as a part of the creator economy * How they scaled up the team during COVID and accidentally becoming a hyper growth startup * Recruiting as a function of growth and in-house versus external recruiters * Mux's hiring process * Fundraising for Mux and why they ended up raising more than they originally planned * How the video industry has changed, where it's going, and the role Mux hopes to play * What's next for Mux and opportunities in the landscape of the video industry * What fuels Jon today * What keeps Jon sane as a founder * The importance of finding meaning outside of your startup and work * Jon's advice for early stage founders * The importance of scaling yourself and having a growth mindset
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Jessica Chu is the Co-Founder and COO at DIG Labs, advancing daily pet healthcare through science and technology. In 2019, Jessica co-founded DIG Labs with Tara Zedayko out of a shared mission to finally conquer unexplained digestive issues with each of their rescue dogs, Sammy and Kali. Armed with decades of experience in health technology, business management, and dog rescue, they set out to give all pet parents a better way to listen to their pets.
DIG labs is re-imagining personalized pet wellness. They believe that pets are the family members who love us unconditionally. The best way to love them back is by proactively caring for their health and wellness, especially because they can’t tell us what’s wrong. DIG Lab's mission is to deliver custom insights and solutions that are convenient, accessible, and continuously advancing, enabled by the power of technology and science. They strive to give pets a voice and create a two-way dialogue of insights and actions, so they can live healthy, beautiful lives. A female-founded, NY-based venture-backed startup, DIG Labs is developing patent-pending, tech-enabled insights, and personalized products, including supplements. Founded by former CPG and R&D, brand management execs and pet lovers whose vision is to translate the benefits of personalized human healthcare to pets, DIG Labs launched its proprietary real-time health platform, powered by patent-pending computer vision and machine learning.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jessica Chu in this Episode * What DIG Labs is doing today and how they've pivoted and evolved * How the DIG labs digestive health check app works * The computer vision and image analysis side of developing the app * Incorporating early customer feedback * What's next for DIG Labs * How they've approached customer acquisition and growth * From bootstrapping to fundraising * Why consulting wasn't the right fit for Jessica * Why Jessica decided to work together with her co-founder Tara and in the pet health industry * Bringing on a third co-founder and expanding their team * How they've adapted into being a technology company * How Jessica spends her days as COO and how her role as evolved as the team has grown * How they’ve approached building a go to market strategy * Narrative and brand building * The role of content creation * Jessica’s journey as a pet parent and foster * Founder market fit * How Jessica unwinds and tools she uses to find balance * The big vision for DIG Labs
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Amos Schwartzfarb is the Managing Director of Techstars in Austin. Amos has more than 15 years of sales leadership and strategy experience in software, digital, advertising and entertainment. Before joining Techstars, Amos served as co-founder and Head of Customer Development at Joust. Prior to Joust, Amos served as Vice President of Customer Development for BlackLocus, which was acquired by The Home Depot in 2012. Amos was also Co-Founder and served as COO of mySpoonful, which was acquired in 2011. Additionally he served on the Executive team of Business.com, as Vice President of Sales and Client Services, which was acquired by RH Donnelly in 2007. Amos is the author of Sell More Faster - The Ultimate Sales Playbook for Startups and more recently, Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business.
Some of the Topics Covered by Amos Schwartzfarb in this Episode * How Amos ended up at Techstars Austin * Amos' first year as the Managing Director and how the role has evolved * How Amos navigated early "failures" in the role * How founders should think about The Revenue Formula * How Amos' book Sell More Faster can help founders truly understand product market fit * How founders and business leaders can use Amos' books as long-term toolkits * Amos' insights on customer discovery and why being extremely specific is so important * Why Amos doesn't believe in free trials and how to navigate pricing for early stage startups * Why Amos recommends underpricing for as long as possible * How Amos has grown professionally in his time at Techstars * How Amos decides whether to invest in a company and how he proves conviction in founder * Amos' perspective on good storytelling as a founder as 3 parts math, 1 part theater * Conversations over pitches * Why Amos wrote his most recent book, Levers * How Amos has approached promoting his books * Traditional vs. non-traditional publishers
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Zach Sims is the Co-Founder and CEO of Codecademy, the easiest way to learn to code. Since the company started in August of 2011, millions of people have begun learning to program using the site. Codecademy has worked with organizations like The White House, the Government of Colombia, American Express, Rakuten, and more. Zach and his cofounder Ryan Bubinski have grown Codecademy to over 100 employees and have raised nearly $90M in venture capital financing from top tier investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Yuri Milner, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, SV Angel, Richard Branson, Y Combinator, and more.
Prior to founding Codecademy, Zach was a student at Columbia University. He has worked in product and business development/strategy capacities at startups including GroupMe (sold to Skype) and drop.io (sold to Facebook). He also has experience in the venture capital industry with AOL Ventures. Zach and Codecademy have been honored by many publications. TIME Magazine called Codecademy one of the "50 Best Websites of 2012," while TechCrunch awarded Codecademy the "Best Education Startup" Crunchie Award in 2013. Zach has been named to Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 list, along with Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 list. The City of New York named him a New York City Venture Fellow in 2013.
Some of the Topics Covered by Zach Sims in this Episode * What Codecademy is doing today and how it got started * The issue of active discouragement of learning technical skills * What led to early growth and traction of Codecademy * Earning over 200,000 users in the first 3 days * How Zach views viral loops * Raising capital versus running off revenue * Creating a movement versus building a product * Creating sustainability first and scaling later * The timing of launching a paid version of the product * Going from the center of attention the the brink of bankruptcy * Creating premium educational content * Resource allocation between users who are upscaling and career switching * Building an engaged community * Zach's views on bootcamps * How they cater to different types of Codecademy users and learners * Codecademy for business * How Zach takes care of himself to be at his best * Zach's founder support networks * Zach's path to and views on entrepreneurship * How Zach sees the future of higher education and learning
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Sid Viswanathan is the Co-Founder and President of Truepill. Alongside Co-Founder Umar Afridi, Sid founded Truepill in 2016 to revolutionize the pharmacy and healthcare industry. The company shipped its first prescription less than five years ago and has since expanded its services to deliver an end-to-end, direct-to-patient experience unlike anything else in the healthcare industry. In 2010, Sid founded his first company, CardMunch, a business-card scanning app which was acquired by LinkedIn soon after its founding. After its acquisition, Sid joined LinkedIn as Product Manager and saw CardMunch named one of Time Magazine’s Best Apps of 2012. Sid started his career in Johnson & Johnson’s Global Operations Leadership Development program, working in the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering.
Some of the Topics Covered by Sid Viswanathan in this Episode * What Truepill is doing today and how Sid and his co-founder Umar Afridi started it in 2015 * How Truepill differentiated themselves in the pharmaceutical industry * The role serendipity has played in Sid's career * Sid's experience as a first-time founder with CardMunch, how that led to 4 years at LinkedIn and what he learned there * The journey of being a multiple-time founder and finding founder-market fit * The process of researching and founding in an industry he previously had no experience in * How Sid went about understanding the healthcare industry * The early days of Truepill and navigating how to scale the operating model * Their experience going through Y Combinator and the value of their low friction application process * The different challenges Truepill has faced over the years--from scaling to product development in a regulated industry * Sid's learnings in the hiring process for Truepill * Their "friendly test" that they use to evaluate potential new hires * Leveraging Truepill's story to bring on great talent * Truepill's vision * Balancing building a business and growing a family * Learning how to prioritize as a founder and be present as a parent * How Sid approaches structuring his time and finding work-life balance * What has fueled Truepill's growth * How Sid views "founding moments" and expanding Truepill's vision * How Sid's relationship with his co-founder developed and enhanced his professional growth
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Ethan Bloch is the Founder and CEO of Digit, on a mission to tackle the number one stressor for Americans: financial well-being. In doing so, Ethan aims to make financial health effortless for everyone. His obsession with personal finance started at age thirteen when he began day trading technology stocks with his bar mitzvah money and continued as he studied behavioral finance in college and realized that that financial health does not come naturally to most. To combat this, Ethan created Digit, the first personalized and automated savings app that helps members reach their financial goals and achieve results. One of the fastest growing financial service companies, Digit has helped members save over $5 billion and pay down over $180 million dollars of debt to date. An early adopter of social media, Ethan founded his first successful Silicon Valley venture, Flowtown, at age twenty-three. The platform, which helped small businesses connect email and social marketing, was acquired by Demandforce two years after its launch. Ethan has a degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Florida. He is based in San Francisco.
Some of the Topics Covered by Ethan Bloch in this Episode * What Digit is and how it works * Ethan's passion for finance and how the idea for Digit developed * The original MVP of Digit at launch in February 2015 and how it has evolved into what it is today * Initial customer acquisition * The importance of trust in financial services * The role referrals play in the industry and how they developed Digit's referral program * Referrals as one of Digit's core growth channels * The challenge of resource allocation * Why Ethan doesn't recommend being a solo founder * How Ethan approached building out the Digit team * Ethan's experience fundraising $65M in four rounds of funding * Strategic thinking in fundraising * The extra hurdles of creating a financial services company * Digit's grand ambition and how they're working towards their mission * Why Digit focused on saving as the first element of financial health * How Digit began to move beyond saving * How Digit's product development mirrors an individual's financial health journey * Ethan's approach to reading and researching and his view on accelerated learning * How Ethan prioritizes reading * How Ethan unwinds and finds balance
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Jason Shuman has been working in New York as a VC for the past six years, and is currently a Partner at Primary Venture Partners, where he focuses his investing activities on marketplace startups, consumer tech, and prosumer acquisition models. In college, Jason launched a direct-to-consumer footwear company that sold hand-sewn boat shoes and driving moccasins. He later went on to work at New York-based seed fund Corigin Ventures, where he invested in several companies including the recently public enterprise smart lock company, Latch. Most recently, Jason was the Chief of Staff to Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) Co-Founder Mark Gerson, where he managed all venture and LP investments for Gerson’s family office. There, Shuman invested in companies including Botkeeper, The Guild and Bunker. His other responsibilities included corporate development, partnerships and strategy at Julius, a venture-backed influencer marketing software company. Jason is passionate about working with founders that impact consumer behavior and daily living. He earned his BBA in entrepreneurship and marketing from the University of Miami. In 2019, he was named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital and was listed by the Venture Capital Journal as one of Venture Capital's 40 rising stars.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jason Shuman in this Episode * Where Primary Venture Partners is focusing its efforts * How Jason became a founder and got into VC at a young age and how it aligns with his life mission * Jason's experience sourcing deals while working as an Uber driver * Jason's time at Corigin Ventures (now Alpaca VC) as an early hire * How to spot potential in marketplace startups * Where Jason is focusing his investments and why he is passionate about democratizing access * Jason's diligence process for evaluating a company * How to evaluate a founder's sense of urgency, speed of learning, resourcefulness, and ability to sell * What sets Primary Venture Partners apart as a VC firm * The importance of having a highly skilled portfolio impact team * How Jason's deal-sourcing process has changed over the years * How Primary Venture Partners is sourcing deals and supporting founders * How they're approach using content and marketing to help the firm * How COVID and the move online has changed how Jason accesses deals and why he prefers in-person meetings * How Jason invests in his own learning, structures his time and optimizes his calendar * Playing the long game and investing time in future founders * Insight into Jason's decision-making process * The challenge of turning down a deal and how Jason does it * The benefits of working with a coach * Jason's meditation and journaling practice * Jason's advice for founders
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Jesse Draper is a mother of 2 boys, founding partner of Halogen Ventures as well as creator and host of Emmy nominated television series, The Valley Girl Show. Jesse is a 4th generation venture capitalist focused on early stage investing in consumer technology companies led by female and co-ed teams. Among her 55 portfolio companies are the Skimm, Glamsquad, Carbon38, HopSkipDrive, The Flex Company, Eloquii (recently sold to Walmart) and This is L (sold to P&G). She stars on SET's television series Meet the Draper's, currently in it's second season. Jesse was listed by Marie Claire magazine as one of the ‘50 Most Connected Women in America’. She has been a contributor to Marie Claire, Mashable, Forbes, and is a regular investor and tech personality on shows including TLC’s Girl Starter, The Katie Couric Show, Fox’s Good Day LA, CNBC’s Who Wants to Be the Next Millionaire Inventor? & Freeform’s Startup U. She proudly sits on the board of directors of Blue Fever, Carbon38, Preemadonna (creator of the Nailbot) and the non-profit board Bizworld and Project Glimmer. Jesse supports the Parkinson’s Institute and is very involved with growing UCLA’s female entrepreneurship community.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jesse Draper in this Episode * What Halogen Ventures is doing today * Jesse's unique journey from Nickelodeon actor to venture capital * Jesse's tech talk show (The Valley Girl Show) and her initiative to interview 50% women in tech * The imposter syndrome that comes with being a female in VC and how to overcome it * How Jesse approached identifying the right LPs and raising her first fund * How raising her first fund differed from her second * Jesse's advice for first time fundraisers * How Halogen is supporting their founders * How to leverage media for consumer companies * Jesse's outlook on relationship building and prioritization * How Jesse and Halogen evaluate early stage founders * Jesse's investment in Toucan and how she views the future of work and learning * What industries Jesse recommends investing in now
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Sandro Roco is the Founder and CEO of Sanzo, an Asian-inspired sparkling water company on a mission to bridge cultures by connecting people to authentic flavors. Sanzo uses real fruit, not "natural flavors," and has no added sugar. Sandro, a Queens-born Filipino American, was walking through a popular Asian supermarket in Manhattan’s Koreatown when he noticed a huge gap between the modern, clean labels of the new-age “American” beverage brands and the preservative- and sugar-laden labels of the legacy Asian brands. His goal was simple: celebrate high quality Asian flavors that for decades have been masked by added sugars, artificial flavors and preservatives.
Sandro started out as an engineer at a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, worked for two years on a trading floor for J.P. Morgan, and then became head of growth and later chief-of-staff for an online personal styling service. This unconventional career path equipped Sandro with a unique skillset that ultimately led to the founding of Sanzo.
Some of the Topics Covered by Sandro Roco in this Episode * What makes Sanzo sparkling water different and how Sandro came up with the idea * Getting Sanzo started and moonlighting for a year * Why Sandro is a solo founder * How Sandro was scrappy while approaching manufacturing for his CPG * Getting a "scheduled process," or food scientists' approval * The importance of developing relationships with distributors and retailers and being prepared before starting those relationships * How Sandro made the decision to leave his day job and go full time with Sanzo * How Sandro got his first sales * Deciding which retailers and distribution partners to work with * How distribution has shifted as Sanzo has grown * The impact being a child of immigrants had on how Sandro chose to finance his company * How he raised 1.3M (from a $600,000 goal) * The feedback Sandro was getting from early high profile investors * How Sandro has approached building community and how this was reinforced during the pandemic * Sandro's eye test rules for packaging design * How their packaging design shifted over time * Launching D2C during the pandemic * How Sandro has gone about product development regarding flavors * Sandro's hiring methodology and how the focus has shifted from pain to opportunity * What has helped Sandro as a founder and how he steps away from work * Why Sandro is passionate about what he does and what's next for Sanzo
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Gal Ringel is the Founder and CEO of Mine, a smart data assistant allowing you to enjoy the internet while feeling safe and secure. Mine is on a mission to create a new global privacy standard where people can manage their data and minimize online risks without changing their behavior. They are bridging the gap between people and companies by making regulations accessible to everyone. Gal is an accomplished leader with a rare fusion of technology (Cybersecurity, 6 years in the 8200 elite intelligence corps), entrepreneurship, VC experience, strategic thinking, and unique business skills. During his 4.5 years as a VC investor, Gal had the opportunity to deploy ~$50M in 20+ amazing early & late-stage companies in the Israeli eco-system. He also had the chance to help those companies excel in almost every aspect of their business and learned so much during this journey. Gal strongly believes that: "Success is a management of failures" and therefore his motto is: “Do not be afraid to take risks and experience failures. This is how we learn best!”
Some of the Topics Covered by Gal Ringel in this Episode * What Mine is doing to enable you to take control of your data online * The issue Mine is working to address and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected this problem * The idea that privacy is dead * How Gal and his co-founders decided to work together and start Mine * Transitioning from engineering to VC to founding * VC as a practical MBA * Mine's business model and how it has shifted over time * Creating the category of data ownership with Mine * Fundraising a Series A remotely during a pandemic * How the pandemic turned privacy into a hot topic * How Gal approaches relationship building * Launching on Product Hunt * How they got to 200,000 users in the 12 months after launching using organic growth hacking * Using influencer campaigns for performance marketing * How they've approached building the Mine team by leveraging employees' networks * The challenges of growing a team quickly and keeping the team aligned * Gal's approach to personal and professional development as a CEO * Navigating being a founder and new father during a global pandemic * What we should know about cyber security * The big vision for Mine
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Hadley Harris is a Co-Founder and General Partner of Eniac Ventures, leading seed rounds in bold founders who use code to create transformational companies. Eniac has recently announced it's fifth fund, of $125M, and their portfolio now includes more than 120 companies, with 50-plus exits. Their team's combined 80 years of experience founding and operating over 10 venture-backed startups and their belief in a strong community are at the heart and soul of their investment approach.
Hadley has done a little bit of everything on the path to co-founding Eniac. Starting as a developer and engineering team lead at Pegasystems, he later took on roles as a product manager at Microsoft and strategist at Samsung, where it became clear that big companies were not for him. In 2007 he was very fortunate to join a couple talented AI founders out of MIT at Vlingo where he ran a several aspects of the business across product, strategy and marketing until it was sold to Nuance for $225M. He rolled his experience building a successful startup into Thumb where as CBO he helped the real-time recommendation app reach user engagement levels second only to Facebook before being acquired. Hadley grew up in downtown Boston, where he started his first company Beantown Odd Jobs at the age of 13. Hadley is passionate about improving the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which stems from his close relationship with his brother Traves. He is a Board Director for Cardinal Cushing Centers, which serves adults and children with intellectual disabilities across 4 campuses in Massachusetts.
Some of the Topics Covered by Hadley Harris in this Episode * Areas Eniac is investing in and how they got started * Why Hadley loves this work and has continued it * What drives their deal flow * Their strategy of 2-3 GPs per year and shifting from following to leading * How they approach the platform side of things * Eniac's unique deal process * Hadley's view on portfolio construction * How their ownership targets have shifted as their funds have grown * How they go about telling founders "no" * Hadley's learnings on negotiation * Their investment in Anchor * The difference between investing in first and multiple time founders * What founders should know about raising their seed round * How Hadley manages so many professional relationships * His relationship with his co-founders * How Hadley prioritizes his mental and physical health * Hadley's perspective on getting an MBA * Hadley's advice for founders
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Tony Jamous is the Founder & CEO of Oyster, the remote work employment platform. The company is on a mission to remove the barriers between talented people and great full-time jobs globally. They believe it should be easy for any company to hire any person, no matter where either is located in the world. Oyster's software platform is created to solve for the complexities of giving full-time, full-fledged employment to anyone in the world, while providing a delightful experience to employers and employees. Prior to Oyster, Tony was Co-Founder and President of Nexmo, a Vonage Company. He joined Vonage as part of Vonage's acquisition of Nexmo, Inc. in June 2016.
Some of the Topics Covered by Tony Jamous in this Episode * What Oyster is and why Tony started it * The unique way Tony began building the Oyster team * Why the pandemic forced Oyster to accelerate their growth process * Oyster's ideal customer, target market, and customer acquisition strategy * How Oyster is partnering with VC firms * The strategic way Tony approached the fundraising process for Oyster * The process of building a world-class distributed team * How Oyster is utilizing asynchronous work * The way being mission-driven informs how Tony approaches competition as coopetition * The Oyster experience * How Tony got into angel investing and how he sources deals * How Tony manages his time * How emigrating from Lebanon has affected Tony personally and professionally
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Marlon Nichols is a founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital (formerly Cross Culture Ventures), which finds the entrepreneurs who are building the future for the rest of America. He’s an industry veteran – a former Kauffman Fellow and Investment Director at Intel Capital, where he launched Intel’s $125M diversity fund. Marlon, with an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment, has a unique eye for global trends and shifts in consumer behavior. This has helped him capture high-potential investments, which include Gimlet Media, MongoDB, Thrive Market, Fair, LISNR, Mayvenn, Blavity, Pipe, Wonderschool, and other companies that reflect overlooked markets. He serves on the board of directors for Ajua, Blavity, Finesse, Kauffman Fellows Program, LISNR, Ryff, Sote and Wonderschool.
Thanks to his background as a professional athlete, Marlon utilizes sports leadership philosophy when working closely with CEO’s to build the ventures of tomorrow. His diverse network of media and entertainment industry leaders, tech entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 executives and sports professionals helps him develop strategic partnerships and promote brand expansions for his portfolio companies. Marlon is a 2018 nominee of the ADCOLOR in Tech award, a recipient of MVMT50’s SXSW 2018 Innovator of the Year award, Digital Diversity’s Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award, was named Pitchbook’s 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch (2018 – 2020), was a TechWeek 100 winner and was named one of Silicon Republic’s 26 VC professionals spearheading change. He’s also been featured on TechCrunch, Fortune, Blavity, NBC and many more. He has been featured as a keynote speaker and regularly appears in the media as a thought leader in investing and cultural trends. Marlon earned his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Northeastern University and an MBA from the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, where he is also adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship and venture capital.
MaC Venture CapitalMaC Venture Capital is the result of the merger between successful Los Angeles and Bay Area based Seed funds, Cross Culture Ventures and M Ventures. MaC Venture Capital is an early stage venture capital firm focused on finding ideas, technology, and products that can become infectious. They invest in technology companies that benefit from shifts in cultural trends and behaviors in an increasingly diverse global marketplace. MaC VC helps entrepreneurs bring the future into focus to find their breakthrough moment. Their proven track record of 100+ investments has unlocked growth opportunities through capital, advisement, and relationship building. Their previous funds’ portfolios have returned capital to investors and continue to appreciate in value.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies.
They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches.
They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs.
Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company.
Learn more at variasearch.com.
Some of the Topics Covered by Marlon Nichols in this Episode * How MaC VC invests * How they identify emerging behavioral and cultural trends * How M Ventures and Cross Culture came together to merge into MaC Venture Capital * The process and challenges of merging venture funds * How Marlon got into VC * The process of fundraising for their first fund * What institutional LPs are looking for when investing in a fund * Knowing when to be innovative and when to stick to what is proven to work * Startup ecosystems Marlon has seen evolved during his time in VC and how they look at new markets * How they first heard about some of their portfolio companies like Gimlet Media and Zero Grocery, how they evaluated them and why they decided to invest * How Marlon manages his time * The growing industries of exchanges, trading platforms and fractional ownership * What's next for Marlon and MaC VC
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Vanessa Larco is a Partner at NEA, a global venture capital firm with a mission to make the world better by helping founders build great companies that improve the way we live, work and play. She joined NEA in 2016 and focuses on enterprise SaaS and consumer investing. She is passionate about well-designed products and services that enable people to be more productive and fulfilled at work and at home. Vanessa has led investments in Cleo, Rocket.Chat, Mejuri, EvidentID, Greenlight Card, Feather, and Lily AI. She is also a board observer at Robinhood, Willow Pump, Forethought AI and OmniSci. Prior to joining NEA, she was the Director of Product Management at Box (NYSE: BOX) where she worked on building the next generation of productivity apps across web and mobile. Her passion for design and analytics stems from her experience in the gaming industry, which includes leading the Speech Recognition Experience team at Xbox Kinect v1, and building a top grossing gaming studio at Disney Social. Vanessa holds a BS in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies.
They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches.
They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs.
Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company.
Learn more at variasearch.com.
Some of the Topics Covered by Vanessa Larco in this Episode * How Vanessa unexpectedly got into VC * Her experience becoming a founder and what she would do differently * Vanessa's time working in enterprise software at Box * How A/B testing almost got her fired at Box * Some important lessons Vanessa took away from working in product management * Vanessa's early days at NEA and how she adjusted * Vanessa's framework for decision-making as a VC * How she approaches mentoring founders * Her process for valuating companies at NEA and the importance of founder diversity * Deal flow and the areas Vanessa is most excited about right now * How Vanessa has seen the VC industry change in recent years * Her time management approach of ruthless prioritization * The challenge of constant task switching as a VC and how to avoid being transactional
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Alex Iskold is a co-founder and Managing Partner at 2048 Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm investing in exceptional first-time entrepreneurs who are building businesses differentiated through technology. Based in NYC, 2048 invests in founders from New York, Boston and Emerging Tech Cities. Alex is a 4x founder, a software engineer, and an investor in over 110 startups. He writes one of the top startup blogs called Startup Hacks. Alex is also a co-founder of the 1kproject - a volunteer effort focused on pandemic relief. Prior to founding 2048 ventures, Alex spent 5 years at Techstars as the Managing Director of its NYC program. Alex was also the founder and CEO of Info Lab (acquired by IBM), founder and CEO of GetGlue (backed by USV, RRE, Time Warner), and a Chief Architect of distributed computing startup DataSynapse (acquired by TIBCO). Alex currently serves as a Coach and a VC in Residence at the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at the Harvard Business School. Alex previously taught an award-winning undergraduate computer science class at NYU. He holds a B.S. in Math with Honors from Lehigh University and M.S. in Computer Science from NYU.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies.
They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches.
They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs.
Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company.
Learn more at variasearch.com.
Some of the Topics Covered by Alex Iskold in this Episode * How Alex "accidentally" got into VC * Being a 4-time founder and the challenges that he faced * Startup failure and knowing what's next * How his background in computer science and software engineering and his experience as a founder impacted his role at Techstars and as a VC * Why Alex decided to start 2048 Ventures and how he went about structuring the firm * The process of raising a $27M fund in 3 months * How they prepared to raise the fund and networked for LPs * How they think about ownership strategy and the institutional-caliber process they've developed * The challenges of pre-seed deal flow and sourcing and being geographically agnostic * What Alex has learned from building and running his own fund * How 2048 screens early stage companies * Evaluating founder-market fit * How Alex sees early stage investing (and the world) changing * How Alex curates the content he consumes * How he approaches industry deep-dives * What happens after the investment * Why Alex has his blog Startup Hacks and the culture of writing things down * How Alex manages his time and the myth of more hours
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Rishi Mandal is the co-founder and CEO of Future, backed by Kleiner Perkins and Founders Fund. Future is an online personal training platform that pairs clients with their own world-class coach. Future is creating the most personal training experience ever by using a combination of technology, content, and elite personal trainers to empower members through fitness. Their custom-made training plans with personalized audio coaching are designed to keep you coming back. With Future, you can reach your goals at home, in the gym, or at your group fitness classes, when and where it’s most convenient for you. Their team comes from Apple, Google, Airbnb, Square, Fitbit, the NCAA, and the NBA. Rishi was previously the CEO of Sosh (acquired by Postmates) and a product leader at Google. Prior to tech, Rishi was an astrophysics researcher at NASA and Stanford University.
Some of the Topics Covered by Rishi Mandal in this Episode * What Future is and why Rishi decided to start it * How Rishi identified the problem he wanted to tackle with Future and the discovery process that followed * The shift and benefit as a coach using Future * Future's focus on diversity when recruiting coaches * How they approached customer acquisition and how it has shifted * Building the coach-trainee connection digitally * Underbuilding the original product to test its validity and product market fit * The big vision for Future and how they're getting there by building the business in phases * How they designed Future's pricing model and business model * Rishi's insights on planning and fundraising * How Rishi views relationship building
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Charlie O'Donnell is the sole Partner and Founder at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. The fund makes seed and pre-seed investments and was the first venture firm located in Brooklyn--where he was born and raised. Brooklyn Bridge invested in the first rounds of The Wing, Canary, Hungryroot, Ample Hills, Clubhouse, Imagen, and goTenna among others.
Charlie has a reputation for being early to identifying important companies. Nick Bilton identifies him as an influence on early Twitter investors in his book, Hatching Twitter. Dennis Crowley credits him as having helped kick off the first funding of Foursquare before other VCs had said yes. Working in venture capital since 2001, he apprenticed his way through the asset class with analyst roles on the original Union Square Ventures team as well as at the General Motors pension fund--a long time limited partner in many top tier funds. Charlie is one of only a dozen individuals to be named to Business Insider's 100 Most Influential People in NY Tech five or more times. He served on the founding board of the New York Tech Meetup and is one of the group's first 100 members. He was recently named to City & State Magazine’s Tech Power 50. His blog, This is Going to Be BIG!, is one of the ten most widely read VC blogs in the country and over 13,000 people read his weekly NYC tech newsletter. He has spoken at SXSW and Techcrunch Disrupt.
Some of the Topics Covered by Charlie O'Donnell in this Episode * How Charlie started his career at GM and what he learned there * How he ended up joining Union Square Ventures early on and why he decided to get into VC, particularly working in tech in New York * Deciding to start his own fund * Raising his first fund--how he failed at first and what he learned * Having 50 investors in his first fund * The challenge Charlie ran into when fundraising at first due to the nature of his network and how he overcame it * How raising for his second fund compared to the first experience * How Charlie approaches deal sourcing * Taking the Pre-Series A Offsite event online at the beginning of the pandemic * Curating and choreographing events to maximize value for the audience * How Charlie approaches blogging and how it plays into his role as a VC * Making yourself findable * Charlie's perspective on the future of learning and work * Startup ecosystems and what it takes to make one successful
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Jordan DeCicco is the co-founder of Super Coffee, an enhanced coffee company that now offers a variety of products, from bottled coffee to creamers, grounds and pods. Their products are non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Lactose-Free, Soy-Free, Low-Calorie, and have no added sugar and zero-artificial-ingredients.
As a collegiate student-athlete, Jordan was tired. His campus store offered energy products with empty caffeine, excessive sugar and harmful chemicals. He wanted a drink that promised powerful energy and delicious flavor from healthy, organic ingredients. Not one to settle, Jordan turned his dorm room into a culinary kitchen and got to work! Determined to solve his energy crisis, he consciously blended organic Colombian coffee with grass-fed milk protein, and healthy fats from coconut oil to create an unparalleled source of focused energy. This side project became his passion and now purpose as he and his two older brothers lead the youngest, hungriest team in the business. They believe in positive energy for positive change because if you can change your energy you can change your world.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jordan DeCicco in this Episode * What Super Coffee is and what spurred Jordan to start it as a freshman year student athlete in college * The steps Jordan and his brother took to get the business started * The decision to drop out of university and give up his athletic scholarship in order to pursue Super Coffee full time * Raising capital first through a friends and family round, then angel investors * From getting their product into their local Whole Foods to 50 Whole Foods stores in the first year while doing their own production and deliveries * Learning what it takes to be a good manufacturer and distributor * Their experience on Shark Tank * Working with his two brothers as co-founders * Scaling manufacturing, retail, and distribution * Going from 100 stores to 35,000 stores and 500 distributors in 4 years * Getting into e-commerce as a viable channel for their product * How they evaluate resource allocation and prioritizing retail versus D2C * The biggest challenges they've faced in scaling the business * How Jordan and his brothers have approached product development * Jordan's view on the competition * How Jordan prioritizes his own physical and mental health * Jordan's book recommendations
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Isabelle Kenyon is the Founder & CEO of Calibrate, the modern, medical metabolic health business that is changing the way the world treats weight. Calibrate's doctor-guided program defines a new standard of clinical care, bringing decades of academic research to everyone, everywhere. Their program combines FDA-approved metabolic medication with a holistic curriculum and 1:1 virtual coaching sessions that drive lasting behavior change. The result is a metabolic reset that delivers sustainable weight loss and success beyond the scale, with improved whole-body health that enables our members to embrace a new day-to-day.
Prior to Calibrate, Isabelle led the business operations, growth, and strategic partnerships & communications teams at Capsule, a technology business that has raised $270 million to rebuild the pharmacy from the inside out. Before Capsule, Isabelle worked at beloved consumer brands in London and New York and was selected to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Retail & E-commerce list in 2015. She began her career as an investment banker in Hong Kong and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.
Some of the Topics Covered by Isabelle Kenyon in this Episode * What Calibrate is and what fueled Isabelle to start it * The first steps she took to get the business off the ground * Pitching investors * Calibrate's go to market strategy * Pivoting the business after the consumer research predicted the wrong demographic * Founder market fit and waiting for the right idea * Early customer acquisition * What Calibrate's program entails * Building and growing a team virtually during a global pandemic * How Isabelle has approached pricing for Calibrate * What's next for Calibrate and their big vision * How Isabelle views partnerships and competition * Isabelle's experience as a female founder * The power of persistence
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Xiaoyin Qu is the Founder and CEO of Run The World, a leading virtual events platform for community building. Run The World is the one-stop-shop for experts, creators, community leaders and organizations to host and monetize from interactive online events such as workshops, meetups, summits or shows.
Xiaoyin is a Forbes 30 under 30, Linkedin Top Voice, and Inc. Female Founder 100. Prior to dropping out of Stanford Graduate School of Business to start Run The World, she led product management at Facebook and Instagram. She is an active and well-published product writer and tech influencer, and is running her own product columns in China with 7000+ paid subscribers (Geektime), and working on her new upcoming book. She has been invited to speak at multiple international and national product conferences as well as top universities such as Stanford, UC Berkeley, UT Austin, Claremont Colleges and more. Xiaoyin is a contributor for Forbes China, Hacker Noon, and she runs her own tech columns in 36kr (leading tech media in China), Product Coalition (world's largest free Product Management community), woshiPM (China's leading product management media). She was selected to be a resident for Zhenfund, China's leading angel fund.
Some of the Topics Covered by Xiaoyin Qu in this Episode * What Run The World is and what differentiates them * Coming to the U.S. from China at age 18 for college * Working at Facebook and Instagram as a product manager * Deciding to go to business school at Stanford and then dropping out to start Run The World * Running her first virtual conference and how that led to funding Run The World * Making Run The World a comprehensive event platform * Early customer acquisition and organic growth * Fundraising as a female founder * Xiaoyin's advice for first time founders * Building out a team for Run The World * Determining roles and responsibilities with her co-founder * How the COVID-19 pandemic affected their business as they were in the early stages of growth * Managing a distributed team * The business model for Run The World and how pricing has evolved * How Xiaoyin sees Run The World as a new media format * How they're helping event organizers to create more value for people in order to generate revenue and monetize * Managing feedback * The biggest challenges of growing Run The World * A typical day for Xiaoyin and balancing having team members across the world * How Xiaoyin recharges away from work * Learning how to be a manager * Figuring out what success looks like in areas outside of your expertise * What makes a successful online event * How they're approaching specialization and narrowing down their use cases * What Xiaoyin would do differently looking back * The big vision for Run The World
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Wisam Dakka is the co-founder of Meemo, an AI-powered social finance app where your digital wallet meets your everyday life. Meemo allows you to send and receive money to friends and family, and is delighting users with automatic rewards based on their recent activity. This includes personalized offers and shopping deals, Weekly Review stories, useful transaction-based notifications, and more. The secure app can also be used to search and sort through accounts and transactions, and enjoy shareable insights uncovered by Meemo's powerful AI. Wisam Dakka and his co-founder, André Madeira are longtime product developers, coders and engineers who previously worked at Snap and Google.
Some of the Topics Covered by Wisam Dakka in this Episode * What Meemo is and where the idea came from * The landscape for this type of service and having Google and Apple as potential competitors * How Meemo is building trust with its users * How they've gone about prioritizing features and why they had to have a unique approach * Meemo's go-to-market strategy and how it has been affected by COVID * How they have begun to acquire customers and how they've shifted their strategy * How they have adapted the way their team works during COVID and keeping a remote team engaged * What's next for Meemo * Insights on building a consumer product that Wisam gained from working in big tech * The transition from working in big tech to building a startup
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Colleen Cutcliffe, PhD, is co-founder and CEO of Pendulum Therapeutics, a biotech startup in San Francisco. Colleen stands alone among entrepreneurs: she is a scientist with a doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, a pioneer in the exploration of the human body’s microbiome, and a challenger of the probiotics industry and its 1970s-era formulas.
Prior to Pendulum, Colleen led a team of scientists at Pacific Biosciences, a company famous for its DNA sequencing. Armed with this technology, Pendulum is doing groundbreaking microbiome research by extracting new bacterial strains, studying their impact on chronic conditions, and combining them in never-before-seen formulations. The company’s mission is to create probiotics as effective as prescription drugs, without any side effects. The company’s first offering, Pendulum Glucose Control, is the only probiotic in existence that has lowered blood sugar spikes and A1C levels in a clinical trial – welcome news for the 122 million Americans living with diabetes and prediabetes.
Colleen completed her postdoctoral research at Northwestern Medicine’s Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. She received a doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Wellesley College.
Some of the Topics Covered by Colleen Cutcliffe in this Episode
- What Pendulum Therapeutics is doing today and how Colleen decided to start it
- Why working in microbiome science is so personal for Colleen
- The first steps that Colleen and her co-founders took to found Pendulum
- The incredible journey from learning what VCs are to getting their first investment in the form of a convertible note, to finally becoming fully venture-backed
- The catch-22 of VCs wanting to see the milestones that you're actually fundraising in order to reach
- The unexpected challenges Colleen faced when asked for her bank account information
- Pivoting from a service company to a product business
- Deciding which application of their technology to focus on first
- Creating the product over a decade
- Deciding between the pharmaceutical path or going D2C
- How they've begun to grow their customer base
- The anti-drug movement and shift towards pro-natural
- The ongoing question of pricing a very unique product
- As a scientist, how Colleen approached the field of marketing
- Colleen's leadership style and values
- How Colleen recharges and creates boundaries around work
- The importance of having investors that are fundamentally aligned with your values
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Erik Jacobson is the Founder and CEO of Lemonpie, a full service podcast PR and production agency. Erik first saw the power of podcasting after working with podcasters like Tim Ferriss. With Lemonpie, he now helps companies like FreshBooks, HubSpot, and Four Sigmatic use podcast strategies to build awareness and drive revenue. He also recently launched Hatch, which offers unlimited podcast editing. You can get deep-dive case studies, expert interviews, and all of Erik’s podcast strategies on his weekly show, Brands That Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Erik Jacobson in this Episode * What Lemonpie is and how Erik fell in love with podcasting * How Erik ended up working for Tim Ferriss and Jason Calacanis * How to know if a podcast strategy is right for your business and where to start * The 3 different podcast strategies and the pros and cons of each * Tips for how to approach and get the most out of each of the podcasting strategies * Video vs audio podcasting * Understanding the ROI of podcasting * The logistics of creating your own podcast * Growing your audience and distribution when starting a podcast * Some example brands doing a great job with podcasting * The services Lemonpie and Hatch offer and Erik's new course, Podcast in a Week * How to avoid "podfade"
Links from the Episode * Tim Ferriss * Jason Calacanis * Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss * Brands that Podcast: Ep04 Masterclass: Lessons from $20 Million Spent on Podcast Ads (w/ Glenn Rubenstein) * Gong * Balto * Buffer * The Science of Social Media (Buffer Podcast) * Breaking Brand (Buffer Podcast) * Brands that Podcast * Rand Fishkin * SparkToro * Drift * Seeking Wisdom: A Podcast From Drift * Laura Roeder * Edgar * Brands that Podcast: Ep01 – How MeetEdgar Podcasts (w/ Laura Roeder) * Hatch * Podcast in a Week
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Eric Shoykhet is the Founder and CEO of Atom Finance, a modern financial knowledge platform empowering investors to make informed investing decisions with best-in-class research, software, and data. Eric founded Atom to fill a white space he identified in the market. As an institutional analyst at Blackstone and Governor’s Lane, Eric had access to enterprise platforms like CapIQ and Bloomberg. He quickly identified the massive information gap between those platforms and what was readily available to retail investors via Yahoo! Finance, etc. Eric founded Atom Finance in 2018 to bridge the gap and provide the same market research resources traditionally available only to Wall Street professionals into the hands of any investor via a powerful and intuitive platform that works anywhere.
Some of the Topics Covered by Eric Shoykhet in this Episode * What Atom Finance is and what led Eric to found it * The early hurdles Eric faced in building Atom Finance * How Eric approached customer discovery * Early fundraising for Atom Finance and what Eric has learned during the process * Why there weren't many competitors when Eric started Atom Finance * Building the MVP for Atom Finance * Early customer acquisition, what growth looks like for Atom Finance today and who their ideal customer is * How Eric view pricing differently than others in the space * How being an operator influences your perspective as an investor and vice versa * The challenges of hiring and building company culture * What makes Atom Finance stand out * Resources Eric has found helpful as a first-time founder * Eric's communication style with their investors * How Eric prioritizes his time and energy and finds balance * Eric's book recommendations on building a business * The next steps and big picture for Atom Finance
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Krish Subramanian is the Co-Founder and CEO of Chargebee, a recurring billing and subscription management tool that helps SaaS and SaaS-like businesses streamline Revenue Operations. Chargebee integrates with the leading payment gateways like Stripe, Braintree, PayPal etc. around the world to let you automate recurring payment collection along with invoicing, taxes, accounting, email notifications, SaaS Metrics and customer management. Chargebee handles all your crucial workflows from lead to ledger with power-packed integrations that include Salesforce, Xero, Quickbooks, Avalara, Slack, among others.
Some of the Topics Covered by Krish Subramanian in this Episode * What Chargebee is and how Krish and his co-founders prepared to start the business * Bootstrapping Chargebee in the beginning * The framework they used to get Chargebee's first users * How the business changed after raising capital and the "wandering phase" of finding their ideal customer * Krish's advice for finding your ideal customers efficiently * Realizing they were actually competing against homegrown solutions, not actual competitors * How their pricing has evolved over time * How to approach expanding features and improving the value of your product * Which metrics to pay attention to * How customer acquisition has evolved with the business * Why Chargebee focuses on inbound sales * Raising $105M in VC and Krish's advice for fundraising * What problems Krish is trying to solve today as CEO of Chargebee * Navigating the shift to remote work * Some of Krish's recent reads * How Krish recharges within the business
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Nicole Clark is the Co-Founder and CEO of Trellis, a state trial court legal research and analytics platform with AI-based insights on judges, opposing counsel, motions, dockets, and legal issues. They make state trial court data searchable and analyze it to give law firms insights into the way judges are ruling. Legal teams are able to "Google" search state trial court records and uncover key intelligence on opposing counsel, motions, rulings, dockets and other legal issues.
Prior to founding Trellis, Nicole Clark was a business litigation and labor and employment attorney who handled litigation in both state and federal courts. She regularly represented multinational corporations in claims ranging from high-profile trade secret disputes to complex class-action litigation. Frustrated by sending internal emails and collecting anecdotes on judges in order to make strategic case recommendations, she built Trellis to solve her own need for access to data, information, and analytics at the state trial court level. Prior to law school, Nicole attended Bard College, beginning her college coursework at the age of sixteen. She graduated with honors from University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BA in Journalism, and received her Juris Doctorate from Rutgers School of Law in Newark, NJ. Nicole sat for the Bar Exam in California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and remains licensed to practice law in all three states.
Some of the Topics Covered by Nicole Clark in this Episode * What Trellis is * Nicole's background as a litigator and the pain point that led to her start Trellis * From validating the idea by using the tool as a litigator to building it into a company and eventually going full time with Trellis * Deciding on and going through the Techstars accelerator * Jumping directly from her law career into the new venture and accelerator * Fundraising, from a friends and family round to closing a seed round and how the company evolved during the process * How Nicole flipped her mindset around the friends and family round * What keeps Nicole going through the "no"s of fundraising * The importance of building a good team and how Nicole went about it for Trellis * The evolution of the business model for Trellis * Leveraging SEO and creating a freemium product * Allocating resources to content creation and creating evergreen content * How Nicole approaches expanding into new markets and how the service functions today * The future of Trellis * How Nicole views the competition * How Nicole structures her days
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Joe Mahavuthivanij is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mythic Markets, an investing platform enabling anyone to buy, sell and trade fractional shares in alternative assets with enormous fandoms. Starting with pop culture collectibles, they are securitizing vintage comic books and collectible cards, allowing fans to invest in the things they love. Mythic Markets is a venture-backed startup based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their team first met in San Diego, California, and since then have worked at places like Apple, Fandom, Google and Uber.
Some of the Topics Covered by Joe Mahavuthivanij in this Episode * What Mythic Markets is and how Joe started it * Leaving investing to start his own company * Building the team for Mythic Markets * Navigating COVID and going remote * Determining which products to put on Mythic Markets * The future for this marketplace of alternative of investments * The roles of evolving entertainment and escapism, especially during COVID * Raising the Series Seed for Mythic Markets and their plans for a Series A * How they approached going to market * How they curate and price items for Mythic Markets * Mythic Market's business model and their plans for the future to become a "Robinhood Gold" * What has fueled growth for Mythic Markets * What Joe finds really exciting about this work * How Joe manages his time and how COVID has affected his work * How Joe is navigating these challenging times * Joe's podcast recommendations * Being an investor vs. being a founder * What Joe looks for in an investor * The big picture for Mythic Markets: being the stock market for all kinds of fandoms
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Josh Snow is the Founder and CEO of Snow, a direct to consumer (DTC) leader in oral care and oral cosmetics. Snow produces premium oral care products including patent pending teeth whitening systems, premium floss, anti-aging lip care products, and more. The perfect storm of beauty, technology, and oral care.
Snow® is proud to have over 1 million fans, and customers in 175+ countries around the world. Their videos have gone viral with over one billion views cumulatively. Snow has been featured on The Doctors, Wendy Williams, The Kelly Clarkson Show, VOGUE, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, WebMD, Harvard Medical, and more, and is a top selling brand on Target.com, in Best Buy, Neiman Marcus, Bed Bath and Beyond and is now the most popular oral cosmetics brand on Instagram. In May of 2020, a Snow product was sold every 29 seconds.
Some of the Topics Covered by Josh Snow in this Episode * What Snow is * How Josh became an entrepreneur at the age of 13 * Josh's background in web developing, marketing and advertising * How Josh developed the idea for Snow * Disrupting the oral care industry * Snow's MVP * Developing a product in an area outside of your expertise * Snow's go to market strategy * Bootstrapping Snow and deciding to be a customer-funded business * What has fueled growth for Snow * Diversifying channels beyond Facebook and Instagram ads * Influencer marketing * Building a modern household name * Being transparent and harnessing the power of your customers and followers * Why Josh decided to become Josh Snow and the impact it had * Josh's advice for building a brand
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Javier Marriott and Ruth Stedman Marriott are co-founders of A Pup Above, a company committed to changing dog food for good by using fresh real ingredients that dog parents can trace back to the source farm-to-bowl. On average, they deliver +70% more protein than other fresh dog food products in retail & online. Tired of not knowing what was really in their dog Lola's bowl, Ruth and Javier set out to make it effortless to know what's in your pup's bowl and to feel good knowing you're providing them a food that's both healthy and delicious. Their fresh pup meals are gently cooked sous-vide to deliver exceptional flavor, more nutrients and more protein in every bite. All of their ingredients are 100% human-grade and their packaging is 100% recyclable.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies.
They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches.
They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs.
Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company.
Learn more at variasearch.com.
Some of the Topics Covered by Javier and Ruth in this Episode * What A Pup Above is, and how Javier and Ruth's dog Lola inspired the company * The gap they found in the dog food market * The first steps Javier and Ruth took to start the company * The sous vide cooking style and its benefits * Finding a vet nutritionist to work with * How they approached early customer acquisition, feedback and growth for A Pup Above * Making the switch from a commercial kitchen to a USDA human-grade food production facility * How they got into retail by starting local and eventually expanded * Selling in retail stores versus online * The challenges they've faced in scaling the business * How they view competition and what sets A Pup Above apart * How their product has evolved over the years * How they handle the challenge of forecasting inventory * How they've approached pricing as a premium product * What has helped them grow as entrepreneurs * The experience of co-founding a business with your spouse * The decision to bootstrap A Pup Above * Their advice for entrepreneurs
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Bryan Clayton is the Co-Founder and CEO of GreenPal, an online marketplace that connects homeowners with local lawn care professionals. GreenPal has been called the “Uber for lawn care” by Entrepreneur magazine and has over 100,000 active users completing thousands of transactions per day.
Before starting GreenPal, Bryan Clayton founded Peachtree Inc., one of the largest landscaping companies in the state of Tennessee, growing it to over $10 million a year in annual revenue before it was acquired by Lusa holdings in 2013. Bryan‘s interest and expertise are related to entrepreneurism, small business growth, marketing, and bootstrapping businesses from zero revenue to profitability and exit.
Some of the Topics Covered by Bryan Clayton in this Episode * What GreenPal is and how Bryan started it * How Bryan went from a high schooler mowing neighbors' lawns to building one of the largest landscaping companies in Tennessee, with over 150 employees and making $10M in revenue * What brought Bryan out of retirement and how he came up with the idea for GreenPal * Outsourcing the tech for the first version of GreenPal * How Bryan connected with his co-founders and his advice on choosing a co-founder * The myth of a work-life balance early on in starting your business * How they taught themselves to build software * The importance of making time to invest in yourself * The importance of innovating around growth and distribution, not just product development, and how Bryan has fueled growth for GreenPal * How Bryan decided to go all-in on organic search as a marketing strategy * Ben Horowitz's advice of firing bullets then cannonballs * Reid Hoffman's advice to double down on what's working * Bryan's approach to creating content, the different types and purposes of diverse content and their role in a robust SEO strategy * Why Bryan doesn't outsource content creation * GreenPal's marketplace business model * Why Bryan is passionate about GreenPal and who he sees as his true customer * How they're avoiding platform disintermediation * How Bryan has approached expanding markets and why it was slow to build momentum * How they vet providers and why they prioritize reliability * How bootstrapping has influenced decision-making and balancing long term vision and short term execution * Asking "why" 5 times * Why Bryan decided to bootstrap GreenPal and why he thinks self-funding is part of why they've survived as a business * Bryan's advice on how to prepare for starting a business that requires a lot of capital * How Bryan and his co-founders side-hustled to bridge the gap between their lack of technical knowledge and gaining the skills necessary to run a SaaS company * Bryan's book recommendations * How signing up for a marathon gave Bryan business insight and also enabled him to find a better work-life balance * Bryan's advice for living a good life and how to apply it to your business
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Max Rofagha is the Founder and CEO of Finimize, the world’s largest and most engaged finance community. Max previously co-founded one of the largest ecommerce players in Switzerland, which he sold with 200 employees to the largest Swiss media house. He was a Forbes 30 under 30 in 2016, and is a mentor at Techstars.
Finimize is financial news for everyday people. They strive to demystify finance by making financial news easy to understand, succinct and relevant to their readers. By enhancing financial literacy, they're helping the Millennial generation make more informed decisions when it comes to their own money. The content on Finimize is produced by industry experts who previously worked at Barclays, Bloomberg and Forbes.
Some of the Topics Covered by Max Rofagha in this Episode * What Finimize is and how Max was inspired to found it * The genesis moment and mission of Finimize * How Max utilized email, blogs and personally reaching out to university students to expand Finimize's reach from friends and family to their first 10,000 users * The evolution of Finimize from a newsletter to the app and what it is today * How Finimize built their community organically * Finimize's business model and how they prioritize revenue streams * How Max has approached content creation for Finimize * The importance of clearly defining your value proposition and core customers * How Max defines community * How they facilitate interaction and meaningful learning within the Finimize community * How the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Finimize and the community they've developed * How going virtual opened opportunities for the Finimize community * What the post-COVID hybrid in-person and virtual interactions may look like * What Finimize's community host playbook consists of * How they've fueled growth for Finimize * Why they decided to start using paid marketing * How Finimize has been able to scale their user base through paid acquisition * Finimize's referral program * The lessons Max learned from running an e-commerce business before Finimize * The importance of clearly-defining company culture * How Max recharges and why it's so valuable * Max's book recommendations
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Robert Krayn is the Co-Founder and CEO of Talkiatry, a company working to change the fact that mental health experiences are often intimidating and complicated for people who need help. Talkiatry makes finding and visiting a qualified professional simple. By combining technology with accessibility and comfort for patients and providers, they achieve the depth of a fully featured psychiatry and therapy network while having the immediacy of a clinic.
Prior to the founding of Talkiatry, Robert was Vice President at MidOcean Partners, where he spent 5 years as a senior analyst. He oversaw a $300M portfolio of high yield bonds, equities, and derivatives in the consumer, retail healthcare and other sectors. His experience and understanding of these sectors helped him develop the proprietary business model for Talkiatry. Before joining MidOcean, he was an analyst at Guggenheim Partners in their Mergers & Acquisitions Group in New York as well as a credit analyst at the Bank of New York Mellon. Robert graduated Summa Cum Laude from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Finance.
Robert's passion for mental healthcare stems from personal experience. In December of 2016, just days before Christmas, he was assaulted by a neighbor during a home invasion in the New York apartment he shared with his fiancé. Struggling with feeling comfortable in his own home, he began seeking mental healthcare. The journey to get appropriate help only compounded the problem as he was forced to see a cash-pay out-of-network provider with a lengthy waitlist. Arriving at the basement-level psychiatrist’s office, he was confronted with tape-covered doorbells with hastily scrawled names beneath them and no reception staff, a concept all-too-familiar to New Yorkers. Fast forward to 2019, after having spent over 5 years investing professionally in consumer and retail-health companies for a large asset management firm in New York, Robert decided he wanted his next career move to have an impact. He combined his passion and his previous experience to start a new venture, one that would expand the access and reduce the stigma of mental healthcare - Talkiatry.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies.
They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches.
They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs.
Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company.
Learn more at variasearch.com.
Some of the Topics Covered by Robert Krayn in this Episode * The problem Talkiatry is aimed at solving and how they're doing it * The personal experience that prompted Robert to start Talkiatry * How Robert approached market research before founding Talkiatry and the barriers he had to tackle * How Robert ended up partnering with his co-founder Dr. Georgia Gaveras * How Robert approached partnering with major health insurance companies * Their strategy for onboarding senior-level psychiatrists * Customer acquisition for Talkiatry and focusing on effective patient acquisition * How Robert's financial background helped him bootstrap Talkiatry and why they are considering raising capital * Robert's transition to becoming a founder * How COVID-19 forced Robert and the Talkiatry team to be flexible * How Robert invests in himself * Robert's decision-making process * What kinds of investors Talkiatry is looking to align with * How Robert recharges and prioritizes his mental health * The big vision for Talkiatry and the stigma and barriers to access they are working to dissolve
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David Zeff is the Founder and CEO of Whistle, a marketing and sales agency that is designed to help companies acquire customers through setting best practice sales and marketing processes and strategies and deploying lead generation activities through highly qualified sales development representatives as well as via digital marketing channels. With over 10 years of selling technology to hundreds of SMB and Enterprise companies across multiple sectors, David has begun to wrap his head around the art of sales. He has been a part of two exits – one as a founder and the other as a founding team member. He's a people person who loves to connect, lead, share experiences, coach, strategize, and implement. He takes learning seriously and dedicates two hours per week to direct learning. David enjoys writing and sharing ideas and is a recognized thought leader in the SAAS community. He has built and scaled full cycle business units and as an individual contributor, has closed large enterprise deals with over 200 brands such as Coca Cola, The UC System, Hearst, US Legal Support, Globo, CheckPoint, Demandbase, Sisense, Squire Patton Boggs and more.
Some of the Topics Covered by David Zeff in this Episode * What Whistle is and how David started it * David's 10-point "startup blueprint" for determining which ideas to pursue * How the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the process of getting Whistle off the ground * The current Whistle team and how David has strategically built it out * Building a sales development team from scratch and David's tips for hiring SDRs * How David tests different sales strategies * Being "channel agnostic" and David's advice for channel prioritization * How David has approached content development * The way the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted how we connect * David's advice for in-house hiring versus outsourcing * What's next for Whistle
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Christopher Hussain is the Founder and CEO of RealKey, browser based mortgage process facilitator that centralizes and simplifies documentation collection and review to reduce touches with underwriting by getting the right information and data the first time, direct from the source through API integrations and OCR text recognition, while automating review of data through algorithms and text recognition, creating a clean loan submission that reduces time, effort, and frustration for all parties involved.
Prior to founding RealKey in 2015, Christopher was the number one Mortgage Originator in the United States from 2010 to 2011 and personally funded over $2 billion in residential loans in all 50 states. A born entrepreneur, in 2013 Christopher also co-founded Sindeo, a San Francisco-based startup that raised $50 million to create a new mortgage experience. As a recognized business and thought leader in the mortgage industry, he has successfully scaled numerous mortgage loan companies. In his current role as CEO and Founder of RealKey, Christopher is leveraging his breadth of industry experience to transform and enable faster, more efficient mortgage loan processing. Christopher spends his free time advising for numerous startups and entrepreneurs on growth hacking, marketing, and operations strategy. He is also a 4th degree instructor in Taekwondo and rare beer collector.
Some of the Topics Covered by Christopher Hussain in this Episode * What RealKey is and the pain points it's trying to solve * Christopher's background in mortgage technology and his entrepreneurial journey * How Christopher built, grew, and sold Sindeo * Christopher's family challenges that led to him founding RealKey * Managing potential conflicts of interest for RealKey * How the RealKey team has shifted over time * Raising capital for RealKey and Christopher's advice for founders in the process * Christopher's experience going through the Batchery incubator * How they handled running out of capital in 2017 * How and why they decided to pivot RealKey * Integrating RealKey into the mortgage tech industry instead of creating friction within it * User research and feedback for RealKey and the tools their team uses * Their experience so far with The Flagstar MortgageTech Accelerator Program * The 3-pronged approach to customer acquisition for RealKey * The positive ways the COVID pandemic has changed the way the world does business and how RealKey has leaned into remote culture * RealKey's business model and how they determined pricing * What Christopher's day-to-day looks like and how he recharges * How Christopher invests in himself
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Samara Mejia Hernandez is the Founding Partner at Chingona Ventures, an early-stage venture fund investing in the next generation of badass founders. Samara has over 15 years experience in investing, selling and advising on both public and private markets. She has a background in sales, operations and technology at Goldman Sachs. She was an early-stage investor with MATH Venture Partners and advisor to Angeles, Camino Financial and Chicago Blend. She studied engineering at the University of Michigan, and has her MBA from Northwestern University. Samara is a proud Mexican immigrant and mama to a toddler.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies.
They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches.
They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs.
Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company.
Learn more at variasearch.com.
Some of the Topics Covered by Samara Mejia Hernandez in this Episode * What Chingona Ventures is and how their name aligns with their mission and portfolio * How Samara got involved in VC and why she started her own venture fund * How Samara found an LP for the fund * How Samara deals with imposter syndrome * Deciding between starting an angel group and a venture fund * How Samara advises different types of investors * Being resourceful as a fund manager * Building deal flow * The role a fund's lifecycle plays in VC * How Samara approaches investing geographically * Evaluating founder-market fit * The importance of value alignment * Some of the companies Chingona Ventures has invested in that Samara is passionate and excited about * How Samara prioritizes self-care and both her physical and mental health * The stigma of therapy, particularly in the Latinx community * How Samara views her way of making a difference
Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
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Velocity Group provides top-tier executive coaching to startup founders, venture capitalists, and corporate executives with the goal of building lasting companies that impact the world in positive ways. Velocity helps leaders learn to tackle a range of issues that keep them from scaling even faster. These include building & sustaining high performing teams, hiring more effectively, founder chemistry & communication, leadership style and developing a corporate culture that reliably delivers bottom-line results. Their data-driven approach to coaching, training, and facilitation gives startup founders and corporate executives practical strategies for scaling their organizations. Velocity has 15 coaches in San Francisco, New York, & London who have worked with over 2,000 CEOs and executives at some of the most successful companies in history and at some of most promising start-ups of today.
Edward has been coaching and advising start-up founders, Fortune 100 executives, and heads of state for over 15 years. His clients include executives from Google, Salesforce, Slack, and dozens of other fast-growth companies. He holds an MBA from Wharton and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.
John Baird is the Chairman of Velocity Group. He has been considered one of the premier executive coaches in Silicon Valley for over 25 years, and built his career coaching in the C-Suite at companies ranging from Apple and Nike to start-ups like DoorDash and MasterClass. He earned a PhD in Organizational Leadership from Purdue University.
Some of the Topics Covered by Edward Sullivan and John Baird in this Episode * What Velocity is and the intention with which they started it * Edward and John's background before Velocity and how they got into executive coaching * Guiding founders from building products to building companies * The value of authenticity, particularly in leadership * How they help their clients understand their own leadership styles * How they approach blind spots * The danger of false harmony * Velocity's 360-degree feedback approach * Investor and board management * Introverts vs. extroverts * Navigating the co-founder relationship * Growing Velocity organically * John and Edward's upcoming book The Power of Insight * How John and Edward invest in themselves
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Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Zack Teperman is the Founder and President of ZTPR, a full-service public relations agency representing every type of person or business with a passion for what they are doing. Originally from Toronto, Canada, and now based in Los Angeles, California, Zack studied marketing and broadcasting at Seneca College. Upon graduating, Zack turned his talents to becoming an on-air radio disc jockey, working across the country from Miami to Yellowknife to Toronto at such stations as the Fan 590, KISS FM, Y100, and Mix100.
After leaving radio, Zack focused his expertise on public relations, helping lead many Canadian and American high-profile PR campaigns for fortune 500 companies, start-up/lifestyle brands, and celebrity talent. After making the move to sunny Hollywood, California, Zack served for years as the Operations Manager and as a Senior Account Executive at Lexicon Public Relations, helping to guide and advise many celebrities and companies to where they are now. With his years of media experience, social media / marketing strategies and his straight-to-the-point attitude, Zack founded ZTPR in 2014 and is bringing his personal touch and results to each client along with his diverse public relations team of hungry go-getters.
Some of the Topics Covered by Zack Teperman in this Episode * What ZTPR began as and what is has developed into today * Why Zack started ZTPR in 2014 * How and why Zack got his start in PR * How Zack got his first clients * From acquiring clients and customer discovery to long-term contracts to crisis management * Some ways Zack goes about promoting his different types of clients * The relationship-building element of PR and how Zack hustled early on in his PR career * Why Zack manages his contacts the old fashioned way--on pen and paper * PR 101 according to Zack and his advice for what goes into a good pitch * How Zack manages his clients' expectations * Growing ZTPR into different markets * How Zack has approached building the ZTPR team and what he looks for in an employee * How Zack manages his time day-to-day * How Zack is trying to find a better work-life balance * Zack's advice for outside the box PR * How Zack approaches crisis management and avoiding crises to start with * What's next for ZTPR
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Chris Hulls is the Co-Founder and CEO of Life360, the world's leading platform for keeping loved ones connected and protected outside the home. Founded in 2008, Life360's mobile app now provides millions of families in over 140 countries with services such as private location sharing, location history, drive details, crash detection, roadside assistance and help alerts through our free and paid membership subscription. Life360 has raised +$200M in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, DCM, Fontinalis Partners, BMW iVentures, Allstate, Bullpen Capital, Founders Fund (FF Angel), Launch Capital, Kapor Capital, and 500 startups. They are currently publicly listed as 360 on the Australia Stock Exchange (ASX).
Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Highest Honors from the University of California, Berkeley. He was previously an angel investor in or an advisor to a number of technology companies including Tile, Credible, Ring, Automatic, Honk, and Zendrive. He is also an Air Force veteran and served in Afghanistan.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies.
They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches.
They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs.
Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company.
Learn more at variasearch.com.
Some of the Topics Covered by Chris Hulls in this Episode * What Life360 is and the big vision for the company * How the idea for Life360 was born and how Chris developed it and pivoted early * Chris' lifetime journey in entrepreneurship * Early customer acquisition for Life360 * The challenges of being the first ever location sharing app * How they leveraged a big news story into a growth hack that kickstarted the app's success * How Chris and his co-founder navigated the early lack of traction * The importance of customer retention * From borrowing money from family members to raising a Series A * How Chris has approached building and managing the Life360 team * How Chris approaches hard conversations and having to let go employees * Adapting the business model to create revenue * Chris' professional growth and his experience with YPO and an executive coach * The decision to go public in Australia and how Chris has leveraged the secondary market * What fuels Chris and how he navigates the challenge of work-life balance
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Jack Hughes is the Co-Founder and COO of Syncify, a social podcasting app that is reimagining the digital landscape of connection. Syncify is reversing the current nature of social media. Instead of creating media about ourselves, they encourage connection around media by enabling users to listen together live with friends or easily catch up on the same content and then discuss it. Syncify is a great way to reduce isolation and loneliness and to learn more from what you listen to. Jack and his co-founder Sam Harris formed part of Techstar's London 2020 cohort.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jack Hughes in this Episode * What the Syncify experience is and the social media problem they're trying to fix * How and why Syncify acquired the competition early on * Jack's relationship with his co-founder Sam Harris and how they decided to start Syncify * Bootstrapping Syncify * Their experience applying for and participating in the Techstars accelerator * How the COVID-19 pandemic played into the building of Syncify * How Jack has approached customer validation, feedback and product-market fit for Syncify * Jack and Sam's unique approach to hiring and building the Syncify team * The business model and big vision for Syncify * Jack's book recommendations
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Ebere Anosike is the Founder and CEO of ThankYouKindly, a company surprising & delighting your employees, clients, prospects & partners with unforgettable gifts on your behalf, sparking tears of joy with each & every one of them. The ThankYouKindly team is made up of a resourceful group of former Customer Success Directors, Sales Strategists, and Account-Based Marketing Enthusiasts who set out to build the service they always wished they had. Ebere identifies herself as scrappy, joyful, and passionate about AI, creating livelihoods & giving unforgettable gifts.
Some of the Topics Covered by Ebere Anosike in this Episode * What led Ebere to found ThankYouKindly and how she originally tested the idea and got the business off the ground * The choice to go full time with ThankYouKindly * Ebere's experience with Transparent Collective * Ebere's fundraising journey with ThankYouKindly * ThankYouKindly's business model and determining pricing * How Ebere has approached identifying use cases and customer acquisition * How the COVID pandemic affected ThankYouKindly * How ThankYouKindly personalizes and sources their gifts * Building out the ThankYouKindly team and how Ebere views technology and creativity * How Ebere's role as founder and CEO has changed with the growth of the company * Ebere's advice for scaling yourself and resources for first time founders * Ebere's experience with the On Deck Fellowship * Ebere's journey to becoming a founder * What's next for ThankYouKindly * Ebere's most impactful books * Ebere's approach to separating her personal and professional lives * Ebere's experience as an underrepresented founder
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Blanca is the co-founder and CEO of BB Imaging & Consulting. Over the course of 15 years, she has cultivated relationships with healthcare providers in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma by delivering premium ultrasound services at their respective offices. Now, she is solely focused on making healthcare more accessible to women in rural communities around Texas using technology. BB Imaging allows her to follow her passion for increasing accessibility to healthcare. Ms. Lesmes is Austin-educated, having completed her undergraduate degree at St. Edward’s University and later receiving her Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Texas.
In her free time, Blanca serves on the Board of DivInc, a pre-accelerator focused on diversity in tech.
She also acts as an Entrepreneur in Residence at UT and she is on the Advisory Council for Women@Austin.
But at home, she is most well-known for her caldo de pollo by her husband, and two kids, Squeaky (age 18), and Geena (age 16) and she even is willing to share some scraps with her Labradoodle, Luna.
Some of the Topics Covered by Blanca Lesmes in this Episode * What BB Imaging & Consulting is and what led Blanca to found it 15 years ago * BB Imaging's original business model and how they've adapted it * How they approached entering new markets and the slow growth process * The importance of trust in the healthcare industry * How Blanca navigated the 2008 recession with BB Imaging and how it made them more resilient * Blanca's experience getting her MBA at UT and how she applied her growing knowledge to her business * How they navigated having to layoff employees during the recession and the COVID pandemic * How Blanca approaches company culture and the role it plays in difficult conversations * What enabled BB Imaging to kickstart significant growth over the last 5 years and how they are approaching growth moving forward * Shifting from bootstrapping to fundraising and the process of building an advisory board * Transitioning from a service-based business to a technology solution * The big vision for BB Imaging & Consulting * How Blanca finds work-life balance and recharges * How the mission of BB Imaging energizes and fuels Blanca
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Shubhra Srivastava is the Co-founder and CEO of GaragePlug, a cloud-based easy-to-use software providing an end to end digital platform for auto repair workshops and detailing centers. Shubhra started her career as a software developer in 1999 and worked for almost 18+ years in various multinational companies in different roles, starting as a developer and eventually leading various Global Programs and platform launches. She has worked in various domains such as telecom, engineering, cybersecurity, and instrumentation. In her 18 years of experience, she has learned the art of problem-solving and developing strong teams and organizations. Shubhra's journey with GaragePlug started in 2018 with little knowledge about business and industry, but she is now very confident about their business and the value they are generating, helping hundreds of automotive workshops to manage their entire business and customer journey on a single mobile-based platform.
Some of the Topics Covered by Shubhra Srivastava in this Episode * What GaragePlug is and how its 3 co-founders started it in 2017 * GaragePlug's original MVP, getting their first customers, and early growth * Shifting from the Indian market to going global * Navigating pricing for GaragePlug's product * GaragePlug's business model and customer acquisition * Shubhra's current role in the business * Transitioning into enterprise sales * Deciding to join Upekkha and their experience in the program * Expanding product features and managing customer feedback * Building out GaragePlug's team and their onboarding process * Shubhra's advice for SaaS founders * How Shubhra recharges outside of work * How the COVID pandemic has affected GaragePlug
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Andrew Jamison is the Co-Founder & CEO of Extend, a company that enables credit card sharing amongst non-cardholders via a simple and ubiquitous P2P platform. Extend enables banks, and their customers to capture more business spend on their existing card accounts by connecting account holders and their workforce.
Some of the Topics Covered by Andrew Jamison in this Episode * What Extend is doing today and why Andrew decided to start it * The discussions in the earlier days between Andrew and his co-founders around creating Extend * The go-to-market strategy for Extend * How Andrew went about establishing strategic partnerships * Bootstrapping for 6-8 months and getting the first money from institutional investors including Point 72 and FinTech Collective * The initial product for Extend * How Andrew has grown Extend over time * How Andrew has invested in himself as a founder and how the experience compares to what he expected * The unique team happy hours Extend does and the types of games they play each week * How Andrew recharges * The big vision for Extend
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Mehdi Maghsoodnia is the CEO of 1health, the leading testing as a service (TaaS) company. He is passionate about personalized healthcare and increasing access to testing in the U.S.
1health launched TaaS earlier this year by bringing to market the first FDA Emergency Use Authorized COVID-19 saliva test, in partnership with IBX (Previously RUCDR). Through these at-home saliva tests, 1health is responsible for the deployment of 1% of COVID-19 testing across the United States.
Instead of asking people to go get tested in laboratories that are often crowded and have delayed results, Mehdi is driving his businesses to bring affordable, simple testing to the people, wherever they are. 1health partners with hospital systems, telehealth companies, corporations and government agencies, school systems, consumer brands, as well as public health departments around the country. Through its lab network, centralized platform, and health partnerships, now more than seven million Americans have access to the 1health COVID-19 saliva test.
Mehdi is on the board of SpineZone and MedCorder, and previously served as CEO of Rafter, BookRenter.com, SVP of products at CafePress, COO at Actiance and SVP at Intellisync. He is also an industry fellow at UC Berkeley, where he teaches innovation and entrepreneurship. He holds a Master’s of Science in EECS from Stanford, and a Bachelor of Science from UC Berkeley.
Some of the Topics Covered by Mehdi Maghsoodnia in this Episode * What 1health is doing and how it got started * Why Mehdi chose to work on this particular problem and get involved in the healthcare industry * What the initial product at 1health consisted of * How Mehdi funding 1health * Mehdi's thoughts around building a team * Acquiring customers for 1health and how Mehdi looks at testing different channels * How Mehdi thinks about pricing and GTM strategy * The competitive landscape 1health is operating in * Educating the market when you're creating a whole new market * The ideal customer for 1health today * Mehdi's experience investing in companies and some of the things he's looking for in companies he invests in * How Vitagene came about from 1health * What Mehdi's schedule looks like today * Learning to say no and how to delegate * The magic of exercise to improve your thinking
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Ethan Austin is the Chief Strategy Officer at Gig Wage, former Managing Director at the Techstars Western Union Accelerator, and the Founder of GiveForward.
Gig Wage, a company that's raised more than $10M in venture capital, is a platform designed for innovators who want a simplified way of managing contractor payments so they can recruit and retain world-class 1099 talent and power modern contractor commerce.
Some of the Topics Covered by Ethan Austin in this Episode * What Ethan's role is at Gig Wage and what the company is doing * Why Ethan decided to join Gig Wage * How Ethan first got involved with startups * Ethan's experience starting GiveForward * How Ethan found his co-founder for GiveForward and his experience bootstrapping for 2 years * Ethan's Techstars experience as a Founder and his fundraising experience * Getting Naval Ravikant as an investor in 2012 * The team behind GiveForward and how Ethan built a great culture at the company * What Ethan did to grow GiveForward in the early years and after they raised funding * How Ethan went from GiveForward to Techstars after losing 75% of their Facebook traffic in a year * Why Ethan took a year off after GiveForward * What Ethan's role entailed as the Managing Director at Techstars * The experience of going through Techstars for a founder * How Ethan thinks about being an investor vs. running a company
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After studying Communications and Marketing, Antony worked in Advertising Agencies for many years as a Strategic Planner and later running his own agency. He noticed opportunities in the marketplace around a lack in tech-focused content distribution platforms for immersive experiences and sought to create one. Many years later, and with the help of some very talented people, Antony has lead the creation of Aura and has begun commercializing it during COVID with success.
Some of the Topics Covered by Antony in this Episode * What Unbnd does and how it got started * Why Antony built a bar for cash flow to support Unbnd * How Antony got a partnership with the NBA early on with Unbnd * The various applications for Unbnd's tech and how they decided which to prioritize * Building out the different functionality for Unbnd * How Antony secured a partnership with Rakuten * How long it took to create an MVP and then a full product for Unbnd * Building the team behind Unbnd * Where Antony's time is spent today in the business as a whole
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Steve Massey is co-founder and CEO of Prewitt Ridge, which was founded in 2019 to tackle the largest meta-problem in deep tech: systems engineering. They reduce friction in collaborative design efforts by connecting critical data elements between engineering teams and offering git-like tracking of project-wide changes.
Prior to co-founding Prewitt Ridge, Steve was at Slingshot Aerospace for 2 years where he led the development of their real-time edge analytics pipeline working with USAF and defense contractor customers, and 5 years at SpaceX where he acted in a mission management and integration engineer role for multiple early Falcon 9 launches as well as led the avionics build for their Hyperloop pusher project.
Some of the Topics Covered by Steve Massey in this Episode * What Prewitt Ridge does and how it got started * How Steve and his co-founder, Zeke Brechtel, decided to work together on Prewitt Ridge * The timing behind Steve starting Prewitt Ridge * How Steve decided on his ideal customer * Raising funding for Prewitt Ridge and Steve's experience in Techstars * Partnering with NASA JPL * How Steve is thinking about customer acquisition for Prewitt Ridge * The competitive landscape that Prewitt Ridge is operating in * Building the team behind Prewitt Ridge * What Steve learned while working at bigger companies like SpaceX and Slingshot Aerospace * What the communication is like between Steve and his investors * How Steve recharges * Where Steve's interest in space came from
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Matteo Franceschetti has always been obsessed with performance. Athletic performance, business performance, and now sleep performance.
An athlete from a young age—he was a competitive ski racer in his native Italy and played tennis and raced cars on the European stage—Matteo has always been focused on winning, and on winning in record time. That drive to succeed propelled him from sports podiums to the top tier of the international legal world and to start two clean-tech companies on two continents, all before age 30. Not surprisingly, sleepless nights were a way of life.
It was Matteo’s quest for more restorative sleep, in fact, that led him to quit his previous life and launch Eight Sleep, a New York-based company dedicated to fueling human potential through optimal sleep, and to turning the bed into a seamless health platform for improved health, performance, and longevity. The path he took to becoming CEO of Eight Sleep, however, is as circuitous as the tracks he raced in his youth.
Some of the Topics Covered by Matteo Franceschetti in this Episode * What Eight Sleep does and how they got started * Why Matteo decided to use Indiegogo to launch Eight Sleep * The initial version of Eight Sleep * The team behind Eight Sleep * The challenge in manufacturing and fulfilling the first 8,000 orders of Eight Sleep and why Matteo booked a one-way ticket to China * What happened after the Indiegogo campaign and how Matteo grew the business * Matteo's advice around getting through difficult times as a founder * The product lineup today at Eight Sleep today * The future for Eight Sleep * The tech behind the complexities of the Eight Sleep product * Matteo's approach to growing Eight Sleep today * Matteo's health stack - sleep, nutrition, and exercise routine - and why he moved from 8 to 9 hours of sleep * Why you should go to sleep at the same time each night * Matteo's opinion around naps * Using a regret minimization framework to guide your decisions * How Matteo structures his days and weeks
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Deon is the Founder of Forethought. Previously, Deon built products and infrastructure at Facebook, Palantir, Dropbox, and Pure Storage. He has ML publications and infrastructure patents, was a World Finalist at the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, and was named to Forbes 30 under 30. Originally from Canada, Deon enjoys spending time with his wife and son, playing basketball, and reading as many books as he can get his hands on.
Some of the Topics Covered by Deon Nicholas in this Episode * What Forethought does and how it got started * Where Deon's interest in technology came from * The adjustment to being the CEO of a company * Deon's experience at Techcrunch Disrupt and how Deon prepared for it * How Deon acquired the initial customers for Forethought * Deon's fundraising experience for Forethought * What Deon did wrong while fundraising * The differences in each stage of fundraising through raising a Series B * How Deon thinks about who to bring onto his Cap Table * Implementing flywheels and repeatable processes * The business model behind Forethought and how Deon thinks about pricing * Where the name for their AI, Agatha, came from * How Deon thinks about product development * Problems Deon faces as CEO * How Deon invests in himself as a founder and why he started working with an executive coach * How Deon recharges * The importance of understanding yourself as a founder * Deon's experience being a person of color in tech
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Emily Best is the founder and CEO of Seed&Spark, a platform that makes entertainment more diverse, inclusive, connected, and essential. Seed&Spark’s platform and national education program have helped thousands of bold storytellers raise millions to bring to life entirely new stories, and Seed&Spark delivers those stories into workplaces for employee training, engagement, and intelligence through their proprietary Impact Screening Platform. They gather the qualitative and quantitative data essential for driving lasting structural change for inclusive and productive workplaces.
An advocate for diversity and inclusion in the entertainment industry, Best regularly speaks at conferences and events about leveraging entertainment to build equity and sustainability for everyone. She also runs workshops to help independent content creators successfully crowdfund, build an audience and pitch their projects.
Best was named a 2013 Indiewire Influencer, a 2014 New York Business Journal “Woman of Influence”, a 2015 Upstart 100 entrepreneur (Business Journals), received the Ivy Film Innovator Award in 2015 and in 2016, graduated from Techstars Boston, an elite accelerator program for the country’s top entrepreneurs. Best has raised millions of dollars in traditional funding, equity crowdfunding, and rewards-based crowdfunding and has personally participated in more than 300 crowdfunding campaigns.
Some of the Topics Covered by Emily Best in this Episode * What Seed&Spark does and the big pivot they went through in 2020 * Why Film Forward was created by Seed&Spark * How Seed&Spark got started * The story of building the Seed&Spark platform itself * What went into the launch of Seed&Spark * How Emily grew Seed&Spark through 120 live workshops per year * The business model behind Seed&Spark * What goes into a successful crowdfunding campaign * The biggest challenges that go into creating a crowdfunding platform * Why Emily has a love/hate relationship with accelerators * How Emily recharges away from work
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Andrew Kline brings a broad background of professional sports experience, investment banking expertise, and industry knowledge to Park Lane. Kline has advised on M&A transactions in all of the major sports and also been fundamental in obtaining financing for many early-stage sports-based businesses.
Kline is currently a member of the Stanford Executive Circle, Young Presidents Organization (YPO), the Association of Corporate Growth, the NFLPA, and the NFL Retired Players Association. In 2013, at the age of 36, Kline was named to The M&A Advisor’s 40 Under 40 list. Kline was also named to SportsBusiness Journal’s 2016 Power Players List in the Advisory category.
Prior to founding Park Lane, Kline was drafted by the NFL World Champion St. Louis Rams, for whom he played center and quick guard. After retiring from the NFL, Kline became an active investor in the San Diego and Arizona real estate markets and brought sizable returns to investors in his fund. Kline also founded The Australian Surf Academy (sold to Surf Diva in 2004) and The Athletes Agency (sold 49% in 2005). Kline also served as the Chairman of the Athletes for Rudy Giuliani Coalition during Giuliani’s bid for the presidency. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Navy SEAL Family Foundation and is very active in fundraising efforts for Special Forces and Special Operations Forces.
Kline attended San Diego State University, where he majored in Psychology, and the Business Management & Entrepreneurship Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Kline has FINRA Series 7 and 63 registrations.
Some of the Topics Covered by Andrew Kline in this Episode * What Park Lane does and the different areas they're involved with * Why Andrew decided to start Park Lane * Starting a surfing company and real estate company * Andrew's journey trying to buy the St. Louis Blues * Helping sell Sidney's Kimmel's stake in the Miami Heat * Building the team at Park Lane * Navigating the 2008 financial crisis and how Andrew climbed out of the crash * Managing a team of high-performers * How Andrew looks at pursuing new opportunities for his business * Time management and how Andrew manages his time * What fuels Andrew today * Andrew's experience playing for the St. Louis Rams * The impact of twice-daily mediation on Andrew's performance
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Kalyan Varma is a co-founder and CEO at Almabase, a company that helps universities and high schools build lifelong relationships with their alumni and drive higher donations. Educational institutions do a poor job of maintaining a good relationship with their alumni after they graduate. Typically the only time alumni hear from their alma mater is when they are being asked to donate. This broken relationship leads to an extremely low alumni donation rate (~2%). Almabase's SaaS platform provides all the lego blocks to build a successful alumni program - one where all the stakeholders benefit.
Kalyan co-founded Almabase with Sri Maneru in 2014. They were classmates in college from 2004 to 2008 and were personally impacted by a lack of scholarships. While they were in college, they started a nonprofit that raised money from alumni and funded scholarships for students. Through the journey of that nonprofit, they realized how broken this system was at every educational institution and decided to start Almabase.
Some of the Topics Covered by Kalyan Varma in this Episode * What Almabase does and how it got started * How Kalyan got the early customers for Almabase * The business model behind Almabase with an ACV of $8k - $10k * The sales process for getting products to universities * How Kalyan went about targeting universities outside of India and their unique GTM strategy in the United States * Competition and how Kalyan differentiates Almabase * Why Kalyan recently decided to have his platform take a fee from alumni donations * Value-based pricing * How Kalyan has funded Almabase * The team behind Almabase, how Kalyan has grown this, and what's been most helpful for recruiting new team members * Bootstrapping vs. raising venture funding * How case studies fuel the growth of Almabase * Hitting $100k in MRR and what the future looks like for Almabase * How Kalyan recharges day-to-day * How COVID-19 has impacted Almabase
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Melanie Stricklan is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Slingshot Aerospace, which applies advanced analytics, computer vision, and collaborative tools to data from earth and space, providing customers with clarity in complex situations. Melanie is a retired US Air Force Officer and combat-tested executive leader with expertise across battle management, space operations, and advanced technology development and previous experience in the development, acquisition, and operation of experimental spacecraft, space situational awareness, electronic warfare, countermeasures, and cyber technologies. She is responsible for the technical vision and strategy of an emerging space technology company revolutionizing data exploitation for defense and commercial applications. Melanie is recognized as one of Inc’s Top 100 Female Founders
Slingshot Aerospace delivers a situational intelligence platform that provides a customizable solution to quickly navigate, analyze, and leverage data from earth and space. The platform brings together data from different sources — such as satellites, airplanes, drones, and ground-based sensors — and applies advanced analytics and computer vision to provide clarity in complex environments. This means that government, commercial, and emergency management customers have the information they need in order to make an impact: Armed Forces can safely and strategically navigate critical missions; emergency management teams can dispatch aid quicker than ever; insurance companies can detect damage and process claims at a record pace when families need it most; and the government can track satellites in space and safeguard from those who try tampering with critical communications.
Some of the Topics Covered by Melanie Stricklan in this Episode * What Slingshot Aerospace does * How Melanie's love for space began as a child * Melanie's experience in the Air Force * How Melanie started Slingshot Aerospace with her co-founders * Why they chose to use an accelerator and their experience with Techstars LA * Getting Boeing as their first client * The process of expanding the use cases of Slingshot Aerospace * What Slingshot Aerospace offers their customers * How Slingshot Aerospace approaches data * Melanie's role as Chief Strategy Officer and how she keeps her team focused * How they've approached hiring for Slingshot Aerospace and how their process has evolved * Developing Slingshot Aerospace's core values and principles * The business model for Slingshot Aerospace and how it has shifted * What the competitive landscape looks like for Slingshot Aerospace * What Melanie is looking forward to in the space realm * Making space operations more sustainable * Melanie's advice for learning to run and grow a business * How Melanie recharges away from work and finds balance * Melanie's experience with an executive coach * How Slingshot Aerospace has adapted to remote work during COVID19
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Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a classic seed-stage investment firm based out of San Francisco, CA. Precursor seeks to invest in a company's first round of institutional investment and focuses on investments in B2B software applications, B2C software and services, and connected hardware.
Prior to launching Precursor, Charles Hudson was a Partner with SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed-stage investors in Internet and mobile startups. He focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces. He was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup.
Prior to joining SoftTech VC and co-founding Bionic Panda Games, Charles Hudson was the VP of Business Development for Serious Business until the company was acquired by Zynga in February 2010. Prior to Serious Business, he was the Sr. Director for Business Development at Gaia Interactive, an online hangout and virtual world for teens. Prior to Gaia, Charles worked in New Business Development at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile, and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, a leading provider of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems for $830 million in 2007.
Charles was also the founder of the Virtual Goods Summit and Social Gaming Summit, two of the leading conferences in the free-to-play games space.
Charles spent several years working at In-Q-Tel, the strategic venture capital group for the Central Intelligence Agency. While at In-Q-Tel, he focused on identifying investment opportunities that could deliver significant value to the CIA and the commercial market in both the short and long term. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Stanford University.
Some of the Topics Covered by Charles Hudson in this Episode * The areas where Precursor Ventures is focused * How Charles decided to focus on the very earliest stages of startup investing * Charles experience raising his first fund as a single GP * How Charles built the team at Precursor Ventures, brought on Sydney Thomas, and what it took for her to get promoted to Principal * Charles views on the role of platform in venture capital * How Charles organizes the insights from their portfolio companies * The advice Charles has for founders around their pitch and the importance of storytelling * What Charles looks for in companies he invests in * How Charles looks at the brand for Precursor Ventures * Why optimism is so important at the early stage of investing * Why Charles wanted to be a venture capitalist * How Charles invests in himself as an investor to improve at his job * Charles' experience working with a coach on communication * Getting honest feedback as an investor
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Lori Shao is a financial services veteran with deep expertise in payment technology and innovation. In April 2019, she walked away from her 17-year career in banking to build Finli, a vertical payment solution to power neighborhood schools and freelance instructors. Finli stands for financial lift and operates with the clear mission to financially lift communities through innovation and narrow the gap of accessibility, affordability, and outcome for all. Lori resides in Arcadia CA with her husband Derek and two children Ed and Ryan.
Some of the Topics Covered by Lori Shao in this Episode * What Finli is and why Lori left a career in banking to start Finli * How Lori decided to quit her job to start Finli * Lori's decision to join Techstars and how impactful the experience was for her * Raising a small seed round of $1.5M after Techstars * How Lori has helped small business owners affected by COVID * Lori's experience fundraising for Finli as a mom and a solo, first-time founder * The conversations Lori had with her husband as she was starting Finli * Understanding what you actually want in a career * How Lori has gone about building the team at Finli * The unique way Finli does customer acquisition * How Lori invests in herself and what a day consists of for her
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Josh Itano is the CEO and Co-Founder of CareCar, a supplemental benefit manager and market network platform for home care and medical transport. From his early career working on US Defense contracts to his work with healthcare startups, he’s had one driving mantra: “Do well by doing good.” That mantra has led him and his team at CareCar to grow 3x every year since inception, creating improved access to care for hundreds of thousands of people in need over the past 3 years. Josh is a former collegiate athlete and philosophy and neuroscience nerd, and when he’s not hard at work you can find him playing water polo or speaking about his views on the intersection between philosophy, science, and business.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you by our sponsor WeAreNoCode.
WeAreNoCode’s mission is to empower non-technical founders. The problem is that if you don’t know how to code, building your MVP or app idea is a frustrating process:
- Developers are expensive
- Looking for a perfect tech co-founder is time-consuming
- And learning how to code takes 3 years
Their program is called, “The No-Code Startup” and it’s a no-code accelerator program that teaches founders how to build, launch and monetize their startup without hiring expensive developers or waiting for a technical co-founder.
No-code is a disruptive new way of building software products that allows users to drag and drop functionalities to build powerful solutions like Uber, Airbnb, Twitter and much more.
They have founders in over 12 countries and partnerships with organizations like UCLA Accelerator, Startup Boost and Scale Health.
If you want to learn more or find out if no-code is a good fit for your startup, visit them at www.wearenocode.com/justgogrind
Some of the Topics Covered by Joshua Itano in this Episode * What CareCar does and why Josh decided to start the company * What the MVP of CareCar looked like and which customers they focused on initially * The team behind CareCar and what it took to bring them on board * Going without a salary and growing 3x each year * How Josh closed the first deal for CareCar * The three major user groups of CareCar's platform * Expansion plans for CareCar moving forward * How Josh invests in himself as an entrepreneur * Josh's 1 on 1 experience with Chris Voss * How Josh is approaching the fundraising process * Books that have been useful for Josh * How Josh manages the stress of running a startup
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Gregory Ugwi is the cofounder & CEO of Thinknum, KGBase and the Business of Business. Thinknum Inc has raised $12.6 million to date. Prior to founding Thinknum, Greg graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and worked at Goldman Sachs.
Greg was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. Greg enjoys playing soccer and is an investor in New Amsterdam FC.
You can find Greg on Twitter and Linkedin.
Some of the Topics Covered by Gregory Ugwi in this Episode * What Thinknum does and who the main users are * How Thinknum got started after Greg was working at Goldman Sachs * How Greg ended up finding his Co-Founder, Justin * The initial version of Thinknum * The types of datasets Greg was using early on * How Greg chose to go through 500 Startups * Getting the first customers for Thinknum * What fueled the growth for Thinknum after getting their initial customers * The business model behind Thinknum * Raising a $11.6M Series A * Why Greg started KgBase, a no-code knowledge graph tool * Why Greg created a media team that can utilize their data * Where most of Greg's time is spent today in the business * How Greg looks at hiring and building culture * How Greg decided to work at Goldman Sachs in the first place * The mental strain of running a startup and putting ego aside * Why Thinknum has been successful so far * What's helped Greg grow personally as he's been running Thinknum * Greg's favorite book and why it has been impactful for him * What a day looks like for Greg now * The big vision for Thinknum
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Gale Wilkinson is the Founder & Managing Partner of Vitalize Venture Group, a seed-stage fund and angel group based in Chicago and San Francisco. Gale previously started two businesses, both of which failed, teaching her valuable lessons about what does not work at the early stage. She loves helping founders with startup strategy and is currently conducting research on how to innovate on the legacy VC model.
Vitalize Venture Group is an early-stage venture capital platform consisting of two funding entities: VitalizeVC and IrishAngels. VitalizeVC is a $16MM fund that invests in scalable software companies, and IrishAngels is an angel network of 270 investors that invests in B2B and B2C tech as well as some products. Vitalize Venture Group has invested in over 60 companies, deploying $40MM in capital since its launch in 2012.
Some of the Topics Covered by Gale Wilkinson in this Episode * What Vitalize Venture Group is focused on today (Angel Network + Fund) * How Gale started an Angel Network out of 2 failed businesses and the entity structure * What Gale did to source deals in the early day of the angel network * The importance of writing checks early * The diligence process * How Gale decided to start a fund and how long it took to raise the $16M fund they closed * Gale's experience as a Kauffman Fellow * How the Angel Network and the fund fit into the greater Vitalize Venture Group * The diversity committee Gale created for Vitalize Venture Group and what it entails * How the deal sourcing looks today for Vitalize Venture Group * The value add of working with Vitalize Venture Group * How Gale spends her time today at Vitalize Venture Group and what the team consists of * Some of the mistakes Gale sees early-stage founders making * Gale's advice around equity splits and founder agreements for founders * How Gale began teaching a course around investing at Notre Dame * Creating a brand for a VC firm * What founders should think about before raising venture capital * What founders should ask VCs when having meetings with them * Hiring for culture add vs. culture fit * The future plans for Vitalize Venture Group * The books Gale is reading now * How Gale recharges outside of work
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Josh Clemente, Founder of Levels, is a mechanical engineer and CrossFit-L2 trainer. At SpaceX, he led a team to develop life support systems that sustained astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on their May 2020 trip to the International Space Station aboard Dragon Endeavor: the first new crew-carrying spacecraft since 1980. Josh has also spent time designing and building Hyperloop technology and leading engineering for a company providing vehicle-based rescue systems for emergency response teams. Josh enjoys the outdoors, functional fitness training, technology, coffee, and restoring motorcycles.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you by Pivot CMO. Whether you’re a startup and you’ve just launched your product or a larger business, accelerate your growth with performance marketing solutions from our partner, Pivot CMO. Pivot specializes in performance marketing solutions that have helped countless companies double or even triple in the first few months of working with them. They’re boutique, extremely data-driven, and launch and iterate quickly. 84% of their clients double their revenue.
Pivot CMO is focused on digital marketing channels like Facebook/Instagram, Google, Pinterest, and TikTok. Their founders are involved with every account so you don’t get a low-level account manager, but instead a highly skilled and experienced, outsourced CMO.
They’ve helped a number of Y Combinator and venture-backed companies along with fortune 500 companies, so no matter the size or stage of your company, use Pivot to help with all of your marketing and growth needs.
Some of the Topics Covered by Josh Clemente in this Episode * What Josh is doing with Levels today and why he started it * How your metabolism affects how you process food * The working environment at SpaceX and why Josh got burnt out * How Josh decided when the timing was right to quit his job to start Levels * How to build a world-class team * The product Josh and his team created at Levels * The educational component of Levels and how that's led to a waitlist of 50,000 people * The competitive landscape in this space * What's been helpful for Josh around leading the company * The importance of transparency * Fundraising for Levels * What Josh's schedule looks like today * Why Josh is doing more endurance training in his own workouts now
To book a free consultation visit pivotcmo.com.
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Ranbir Arora is the Co-Founder and CEO of Dorm, a hypercasual learning app that aggregates and curates the world's audio content to provide a seamless learning experience that fits into your day and makes your downtime more gratifying.
Previously, Ranbir was the Chief Growth Officer at Sweatcoin, which he grew to 50M users.
Some of the Topics Covered by Ranbir Arora in this Episode * What Dorm is and how it got started * The business model behind Dorm * Why Ranbir chose audio as the way to educate people at Dorm * How Dorm creates the free audio courses their users consume * The unique design of Dorm itself and how they came up with it * How Ranbir thinks about user acquisition for Dorm * Getting to 35,000 users * What the customer validation process included for Ranbir and how they creatively beta-tested Dorm * How Ranbir used influencers to get 50M users for Sweatcoin when he was the chief growth officer * How Ranbir thought about an equity split and role split with his Co-Founder, Taras * Ranbir's process for raising his $1M Pre-Seed round * What Ranbir is focused on today * The actual experience of using Dorm * Where Ranbir thinks Dorm will be a few years from now * Books and podcasts Ranbir enjoys
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Chris Bennett is the Co-Founder & CEO of Wonderschool. Wonderschool’s mission is to ensure every child has access to early education that helps them realize their potential.
Wonderschool programs are diverse in structure and approach, but they all combine engaged teachers, thoughtful education design, and the warmth of an in-home program. So far, Wonderschool has helped thousands of parents find quality in-home care, and our network is growing every day.
Wonderschool is hiring! https://angel.co/wonderschools
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Chris Bennett in this Episode * What Wonderschool does and how it got started * What Chris learned from the early days of building Wonderschool starting with the first program they started * How long it took to go from idea to their first enrollment * The founding team of Wonderschool * How Chris thought about growth for Wonderschool in the early days * How people find out about Wonderschool today * What goes into ensuring the quality of the teachers at Wonderschool * Geographic growth for Wonderschool * The fundraising process and getting top investors involved * Going through 500 Startups * Understanding the culture and expectation around raising each round of funding * Chris's experience raising a Series A round of funding * The approach Chris takes to hiring * The Wonderschool business model * The impact COVID had on Wonderschool * Working with a coach, what it entails, and why Chris started writing a lot
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Joel is a serial technology entrepreneur, with a love for building consumer-facing products. Joel previously co/founded four venture-backed technology startups and brings a lifetime of experience building and operating technology companies to RepairSmith.
As a technical founder, Joel has served as CEO, COO, and CTO for his previous companies, having raised over $100M in venture financing and scaled multiple businesses nationally.
Joel began programming at age 10, started college at 16, and founded his first technology company upon graduating at 21. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Queen’s University and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
Joel is a member of the Forbes Business Council and named Executive Hero of the Year for Effective Leadership During COVID-19 by the Consumer World Awards. He is also an angel investor, advisor to numerous startups and active in the Southern California startup community. Joel has been featured on Forbes, Fox Los Angeles, ABC Los Angeles, CBS Los Angeles, KIIS-FM, and more. Joel is passionate about the NBA champion Raptors and super convenient car repair.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you by our sponsor WeAreNoCode.
WeAreNoCode’s mission is to empower non-technical founders. The problem is that if you don’t know how to code, building your MVP or app idea is a frustrating process:
- Developers are expensive
- Looking for a perfect tech co-founder is time-consuming
- And learning how to code takes 3 years
Their program is called, “The No-Code Startup” and it’s a no-code accelerator program that teaches founders how to build, launch and monetize their startup without hiring expensive developers or waiting for a technical co-founder.
No-code is a disruptive new way of building software products that allows users to drag and drop functionalities to build powerful solutions like Uber, Airbnb, Twitter and much more.
They have founders in over 12 countries and partnerships with organizations like UCLA Accelerator, Startup Boost and Scale Health.
If you want to learn more or find out if no-code is a good fit for your startup, visit them at www.wearenocode.com/justgogrind
Some of the Topics Covered by Joel Milne in this Episode * What RepairSmith does and why Joel joined * The massive impact RepairSmith can have * What Joel was thinking about working on while he had time off between companies * Why Joel decided to kill off a dating app he developed * The first things he did after starting RepairSmith * How Joel went about building his team and defining the culture at RepairSmith * Mastery, autonomy, and purpose * Expanding into new markets and the decision process behind it * Why RepairSmith is not a marketplace * Why there hasn't been much innovation in this space so far * The logistics behind executing RepairSmith's business model * The actual experience of using RepairSmith as a customer * Joel's previous experience fundraising and his advice around raising capital * How Joel has seen the LA tech scene evolve since 2009 * How RepairSmith has responded to the global pandemic and why they donated $100,000 in free car repair * Some of Joel's favorite books * How Joel manages his time day-to-day and why he wakes up early now * What Joel does to recharge
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Santi Bibiloni is a Silicon Valley-based technology entrepreneur and co-founder & CEO at COR, an AI Management Software that serves Worldwide top Agencies and Consultants. Prior to COR he founded Balloon Group, one of Argentina’s fastest-growing digital agencies, among other businesses. Today he also mentors on Sales & Fundraising in 500 Startups.
Some of the Topics Covered by Santi Bibiloni in this Episode * What COR is and how it got started * Going after a $50T market * Some of the questions Santi asked to evaluate the problem he wanted to solve in the early days * Building a software platform * How Santi got Marcos Galperin as an Angel investor * Why Santi decided to go through 500 startups * Raising a $2.5M seed round * Santi's customer acquisition strategy early on for COR and why he made a massive pivot in his business model * How Santi thinks about pricing for COR * Santi's advice around sales for a B2B startup * Why Santi created a video show with industry-leaders * How Santi recharges and why he wrote a document on how to work with him
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
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Amit Mishra is the Co-Founder and CEO of iMocha, a company providing AI-powered digital skills assessments.
iMocha enables tech hiring managers and learning and development professionals with the ready-to-use, latest, and most comprehensive online skills assessment solution, offering 2000+ skills tests.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Amit Mishra in this Episode * What iMocha does, how it got started, and some aspects of their customer discovery * What the product looked like in the early days of iMocha * Going from $500/year ACV to $30K/year ACV * How Amit was acquiring customers in the early years for iMocha * Amit's experience in the Microsoft Accelerator * Going from $15K MRR to $200K+ MRR * The importance of focusing on the right customer segment and use case * How increasing pricing helped the business grow * Building the 60+ person team at iMocha * The land and expand strategy * Why Amit raised $600K in 2020 * How Amit looks at using content to grow revenue for iMocha * Rebranding from Interview Mocha to iMocha * How iMocha's live coding platform came about 6 months early * How Amit and his team are choosing which skills to focus on * The path for iMocha to $50M ARR in 5 years * Amit's experience as an entrepreneur so far * Amit's advice for other entrepreneurs
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
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Harsh Vathsangam is the Co-Founder and CEO of Moving Analytics, Inc. ( https://www.movinganalytics.com/ ) He is driven by a passion for taking technological solutions and applying them to benefit people's lives. He received his PhD from the University of Southern California working at the intersection of big data and mobile health. He holds an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Harsh is also one of the inventors of iGest, an alternative communication device for children with cerebral palsy and winner of the NASCOMM award for social innovation.
Moving Analytics provides Movn - a virtual cardiac rehabilitation service that patients can do from the comfort of their home. They work with over 25 health systems and several payers to increase access to rehab. Movn is based on over 5 randomized clinical trials and clinical validation on over 70,000 patients showing equivalency to current standards of care. Contact Harsh if you want to implement virtual cardiac rehab in your organization! www.movinganalytics.com
About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media ( https://hawkemedia.com/ ) is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Harsh Vathsangam in this Episode * What Moving Analytics does and what the experience with patients entails * How Moving Analytics got started * Questions Harsh asked early on with potential customers * How Harsh got his first customers for Moving Analytics * Harsh's fundraising experience for Moving Analytics and what he would've done differently * How Harsh approached equity splits with his Co-Founders * Building rapport with investors * What fueled the growth of Moving Analytics the past few years * Managing cash-flow as a startup * How Harsh has built his team of experts at Moving Analytics * Delegation and how Harsh approaches this * How Harsh invests in himself as a CEO * Impactful books in Harsh's journey as an entrepreneur * How Harsh recharges outside of work
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Myles Hunter is the Co-Founder & CEO of TutorMe. TutorMe ( https://tutorme.com/ ) is a revolutionary online education platform that provides on-demand tutoring and online courses. They believe there are more teachers in the world than are actually teaching so they want to empower more people to learn from each other. Their platform enables thousands of tutors to share their knowledge with students around the globe. Whether you need help with high school algebra or you want to learn how to program in Python, they have a perfect tutor for you. At TutorMe, they want to change the way you learn.
Some of the Topics Covered by Myles Hunter in this Episode * What TutorMe does today and how it got started initially * How Myles got an Angel Investor early on for TutorMe * The founders behind TutorMe and how they came together * The pitch that went into getting a co-founder to join the team * Building the business in Russia and Bali early on * The go-to-market strategy behind TutorMe * The initial product that Myles launched with * Why Myles and his team built TutorMe from the ground up * The growth for TutorMe after the initial customers * How Myles figured out the pricing and business model for TutorMe * Raising a $1.3M round of funding * The LAUNCH accelerator and why Myles decided to join * Competition * Myles' advice to other entrepreneurs around fundraising * Remote work * How Myles and his team finds new tutors for the platform * Getting acquired by Zovio in 2019 * The big vision for TutorMe moving forward * The importance of having good legal counsel * Myles' incredible experience with the Lyft ambassador program
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Magnus is CEO and co-founder of Sanity.io, the American-Norwegian Content Platform company that is reinventing the content space with its unique customizable and collaborative approach. Having worked in investment banking and private equity, Magnus started coding at age 35 and left his finance career, and later joining Sanity.io as co-founder. Sanity now has almost 40 employees and serves more than 4 billion API calls per month. Magnus is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Some of the Topics Covered by Magnus Hillestad in this Episode * What Sanity does and how it got started * What Sanity was trying to do differently from other CMS systems early on * Why you should think about content as data * How Sanity was acquiring customers in the early days and why it lends itself to a bottom-up business model * Having a global perspective * Why Magnus decided to move to the United States * How Magnus and his Co-Founders decided to work together even after Magnus initially said no to joining the team * Magnus' advice around selecting Co-Founders and setting up founder agreements correctly * The fundraising experience for Magnus, raising a $1M Pre-Seed, $2.4M Seed, and a Series A * Why Magnus and his team raised their Series A when they had $2M ARR * How Magnus recharges and why his team pays part of having a private personal trainer for everyone in the company
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Eytan deeply believes that the success of the small business sector is one of the most important causes of our time. It has the potential to reduce income inequality, empower immigrants, and provide disproportionate leadership opportunities for female and minority businesspeople. Creating a banking service that is as modern as these companies is why Eytan started NorthOne.
Prior to NorthOne, Eytan was a Sr. Engagement Manager for McKinsey & Company. He served many wonderful clients in Financial Services industry, usually on the topic of digital customer experience and financial inclusion. Prior to that, he earned his JD/MBA from McGill University and was called to the New York Bar in 2010.
Some of the Topics Covered Eytan Bensoussan in this Episode * What NorthOne does and why Eytan decided to start it * Why Eytan dove in full-time to NorthOne * The first things Eytan did to start NorthOne and what he learned from a hundred customer interviews in the early days * How Eytan decided on which potential customers to talk with * How Eytan chose what the initial version of NorthOne * Funding NorthOne in the early days and Eytan going a year without a salary * What kept Eytan going through the low point in his business * How Eytan got customers early on for NorthOne * The hoops you have to go through to start a business bank * The unscaleable things Eytan did early on to get exposure to businesses * How Eytan convinced people to join his team in the early days * Where NorthOne was at when they raised their Series A and how Eytan approached fundraising at that point * How COVID impacted NorthOne * How Eytan came up with the business model for NorthOne * Why NorthOne waived their fees for all their customers in badly hit states and industries during COVID * Eytan's favorite book
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Jeff Annison and Paul Scanlan are Co-Founders of Legion M. Founded by serial entrepreneurs with an Emmy Award for Innovation, Legion M is a first-of-its-kind entertainment company built from the ground up to be owned by fans.
Legion M is uniting fans together to invest in and/or produce a diverse slate of original projects in various stages of development, including the critically acclaimed Colossal, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, the cult hit Mandy starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Panos Cosmatos, Bad Samaritan starring David Tennant, a new feature film and comic book Girl With No Name in development, plus multiple original television series including “Evermor,” “Airship Cowboys,” and “Malice;” and a VR project called "ICONS: Face to Face" starring Stan Lee and Kevin Smith.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you by our sponsor WeAreNoCode.
WeAreNoCode’s mission is to empower non-technical founders. The problem is that if you don’t know how to code, building your MVP or app idea is a frustrating process:
- Developers are expensive
- Looking for a perfect tech co-founder is time-consuming
- And learning how to code takes 3 years
Their program is called, “The No-Code Startup” and it’s a no-code accelerator program that teaches founders how to build, launch and monetize their startup without hiring expensive developers or waiting for a technical co-founder.
No-code is a disruptive new way of building software products that allows users to drag and drop functionalities to build powerful solutions like Uber, Airbnb, Twitter and much more.
They have founders in over 12 countries and partnerships with organizations like UCLA Accelerator, Startup Boost and Scale Health.
If you want to learn more or find out if no-code is a good fit for your startup, visit them at: www.wearenocode.com/justgogrind
Some of the Topics Covered by Jeff and Paul in this Episode * How Legion M got started * How the investors (The fans) are able to influence the decision making of Legion M * The Film Scout game that Legion M developed and how it gives them an advantage in choosing movies * How the first crowdfunding campaign went for Legion M * The response from Hollywood around Paul and Jeff crowdfunding for an entertainment company * How Legion M makes money and the business model behind them * The types of projects Legion M gets involved with * The unique marketing behind the successful crowdfunding of Legion M * How Jeff and Paul have been so successful with Legion M * Investing in startups and the benefits of equity crowdfunding
Passionate about mobile and technology, Vivek leads the Marketing and Customer Operations at Datability. At Datability, they are building iZooto - an owned audience marketing platform that helps publishers build, engage, and retain their owned audience using web push notifications.
iZooto is the World's First Owned Audience Marketing Platform that helps media publishers and retailers to own, build, and engage their audience using web push notifications. Over 15,000 marketers push over 18B notifications every month to engage their audience and drive repeat traffic.
Some of the Topics Covered by Vivek Khandelwal in this Episode * What iZooto does and how Vivek decided to start it after 4 pivots at his previous company * How Vivek and his team acquired their first customers for iZooto * Some of the early feedback Vivek was getting from customers and why it was misleading * How Vivek narrowed down who his ideal customer actually is * The importance of building a product your customer actually needs * The iZooto product itself * How companies are leveraging iZooto to grow their businesses * What iZooto's customer acquisition strategy looks like today * How Vivek looks at building content for iZooto to drive inbound leads and educate his potential customers * The four founders behind iZooto and how this dynamic works at iZooto * Growing to 60 people at iZooto in about 5 years * Vivek's advice around hiring and onboarding * The traction iZooto has achieved so far and getting to a $3-5M run rate * How Vivek thinks about pricing for iZooto * Vivek's advice for other B2B SaaS founders
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Danny Shader founded PayNearMe, Inc. in 2009 and currently serves as CEO. PayNearMe processes billions of dollars annually for over 5,000 clients in lending, property management, and more. PayNearMe originated as a real-time electronic cash transaction network, and today supports every form of payment – cards, ACH and mobile-first payment systems including Google Pay and Apple Pay, in addition to cash through our expanding network of over 27,000 retail stores.
Previously, Danny led Good Technology, Inc., which Motorola acquired in 2007 and Accept.com, the first consumer-to-consumer payment service, which Amazon.com acquired in 1999.
Danny earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
To learn more, visit PayNearMe https://home.paynearme.com/
Some of the Topics Covered by Danny Shader in this Episode * What PayNearMe is doing today to help businesses * How PayNearMe got started in 2009 * Why 7/11 became a partner in Danny's business * How Danny's previous entrepreneurial experience influenced what he's done with PayNearMe * Why PayNearMe bought and sold Prism * How Danny looks at growing PayNearMe now after processing billions of dollars of payments per year * Danny's approach to hiring and the 4 traits he looks for * Danny's experience working with Bill Campbell, the legendary silicon valley * How Danny decides which businesses to pursue * Danny's advice to his younger self * Danny's experience working with Jeff Bezos when his company was acquired by Amazon * The swimming group that Danny started in his 40s and how it has impacted his life * The importance of building a team with people who are smart, hard-working, have integrity and grit
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Chai Mishra is the Founder & CEO of Move, which is based on a simple idea — modern commerce is not as good as it can be. They work directly with award-winning producers to make their own brand of products. And they deliver these products straight to their members. By cutting out the middlemen, they're making a retailer that’s more efficient, ethical, and enjoyable.
Invest in Move: https://wefunder.com/move
Learn more about Move: https://shopmove.co/
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Pivot CMO. Whether you’re a startup and you’ve just launched your product or a larger business, accelerate your growth with performance marketing solutions from our partner, Pivot CMO. Pivot specializes in performance marketing solutions that have helped countless companies double or even triple in the first few months of working with them. They’re boutique, extremely data-driven, and launch and iterate quickly. 84% of their clients double their revenue.
Pivot CMO is focused on digital marketing channels like Facebook/Instagram, Google, Pinterest, and TikTok. Their founders are involved with every account so you don’t get a low-level account manager, but instead a highly skilled and experienced, outsourced CMO.
They’ve helped a number of Y Combinator and venture-backed companies along with fortune 500 companies, so no matter the size or stage of your company, use Pivot to help with all of your marketing and growth needs.
To book a free consultation visit pivotcmo.com.
Want to raise funding through Wefunder? Through Just Go Grind, you can receive a discount on Wefunder fees when fundraising for your company. Head over to https://wefunder.com/raisemoney/justgogrind
Some of the Topics Covered by Chai Mishra in this Episode * How Move works and why Chai wanted to work on this particular company * Chai's story of growing up in India in the early 1990s and how it influenced him * The growth of direct to consumer brands * How Chai decided to go through Y Combinator * Chai's fundraising experience * Why Chai spent 2+ years just figuring out the supply chain for Move * Chai's experience testing their own brand name product early on * What Chai looks for in the producers he works with for Move * The massive waitlist (135,000 people) Move has and why they limit the number of people they allow on the platform * How Chai decided to crowdfund through Wefunder * The big vision for Chai and Move for the next 10-20 years and why Chai believes he can 10x the number of members in the next year * How a community of thousands of people votes on every decision at Move
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Gary Skulnik is a senior executive and strategic thinker who has been a leader in developing the clean energy market in Maryland and Washington, DC, through innovative marketing and sales, partnerships, community building, business management, and legislative advocacy. Founder of two entities focused exclusively on marketing clean energy, a for-profit and a non-profit, which collectively helped more than 17,000 consumers and businesses switch to clean power. Currently, Gary is the Founder and CEO of Neighborhood Sun, exclusively focused on the fast-growing community solar space.
Some of the Topics Covered by Gary Skulnik in this Episode * What Gary and Neighborhood Sun are doing with community solar * How Neighborhood Sun got started and the importance of community solar * The regulatory hurdles Gary had to overcome * How community solar makes solar power available to lower-income households * The difficulties in getting the first 100 customers for Neighborhood Sun * How Gary has been able to keep his customer acquisition cost so low * Why Gary decided to do equity crowdfunding for Neighborhood Sun * Why Gary chose Wefunder for Neighborhood Sun * How the fundraising process itself went for Gary * The benefits of choosing equity crowdfunding over venture capital * The biggest challenges of equity crowdfunding * The team behind Neighborhood Sun * Where Gary and his team are looking to grow next with Neighborhood Sun * How Gary thinks about building a brand, especially in a competitive market * What the process of expansion looks like for Neighborhood Sun * How Gary sees the solar industry evolving moving forward * The incredible potential of other clean energy projects like offshore wind * Lessons Gary took from his first startup and has applied to Neighborhood Sun * Books that have been impactful for Gary * How Gary recharges away from work
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
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Zach Adamson is the Founder of DIVERTbrands, the parent company of two subsidiary companies, both of them with one unified purpose, breakdown the barriers to Action Sports for at-risk inner-city youth as a platform for creativity, self-discovery and passion in order to help them "Achieve their I'mpossible."
The first is DIVERTcity/sessions, a mixed-use Action Sports Facility currently under development in cities across the country that brings Surfing, Skateboarding, Snowboarding, and Lifestyle Educational Programming to the inner-city. They have an all-star team, city support, and are on the path to a successful operation.
They envision a brighter future where people have a platform to unleash their unique creativity through the powerful medium of Action Sports and all the lifestyle components associated with it. Through constant inspiration, they will encourage those that associate with DIVERT to achieve what at first they thought was impossible. This is the essence of all Action Sports and a valuable life lesson.
Some of the Topics Covered by Zach Adamson in this Episode * The origin of DIVERTsessions * What the initial concept of DIVERT looked like and why the big vision is critical while figuring out what the minimally viable version is * Why Zach decided to go the route of equity crowdfunding for DIVERTsessions * What allowed Zach to continue with his idea through COVID-19 * The preparation that went into raising $500K in 10 days on Wefunder * Why Zach decided to use Wefunder for their crowdfunding campaign * How Zach has gone about building the team at DIVERT * The unique terms of DIVERT's Wefunder campaign and why they chose them * How Zach looks at selecting new markets for DIVERT * Revitalizing distressed real estate
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Tyler Hayes is CEO of Atom Limbs, the world's first mind-controlled bionic arm. Tyler was previously Co-Founder of Bebo (acq. Amazon) and Executive Producer of Minka which won Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Short at the FFF.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Tyler Hayes in this Episode * What Atom Limbs is doing today * How Tyler started Atom Limbs and why he wants to end death * The progress DARPA * How Tyler built a world-class team for Atom Limbs * Why Tyler decided to build in stealth initially * Raising capital through crowdfunding with Wefunder * The marketing behind Atom Limbs and a crowdfunding campaign more broadly * How Tyler and his team are going about putting Atom Limbs into full production * The tech transfer process from Johns Hopkins to Atom Limbs * Thoughts on monetization for frontier tech * How Tyler thinks through about pricing for Atom Limbs * The products that Atom Limbs are developing and they're capable of * Where most of Tyler's time is spent now with Atom Limbs * Some of Tyler's favorite books * The importance of finding "your people"
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Michael Barlow is the Co-Founder & CEO of Fernish ( https://fernish.com/ ), a premium furniture rental service that turns your space into a meaningful home you love. Pick from a curated selection of furniture essentials, knick-knacks, and things that just make you feel good. Pay monthly, and decide later what you want to keep, return, or swap out.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you by our sponsor WeAreNoCode.
WeAreNoCode’s mission is to empower non-technical founders. The problem is that if you don’t know how to code, building your MVP or app idea is a frustrating process:
- Developers are expensive
- Looking for a perfect tech co-founder is time-consuming
- And learning how to code takes 3 years
Their program is called, “The No-Code Startup” and it’s a no-code accelerator program that teaches founders how to build, launch and monetize their startup without hiring expensive developers or waiting for a technical co-founder.
No-code is a disruptive new way of building software products that allows users to drag and drop functionalities to build powerful solutions like Uber, Airbnb, Twitter and much more.
They have founders in over 12 countries and partnerships with organizations like UCLA Accelerator, Startup Boost and Scale Health.
If you want to learn more or find out if no-code is a good fit for your startup, visit them at: www.wearenocode.com/justgogrind
Some of the Topics Covered by Michael Barlow in this Episode * What Fernish does and how they got started * The conversation with Michael and his Co-Founder, Lucas Dickey, around starting a company together * The customer development process early on for Michael and Fernish * The point at which Michael decided to quit his job and jump into Fernish full-time * Michael's experience with his first round of fundraising for Fernish * How Fernish acquired its first customers and what the service looked like initially * Building the team at Fernish * How partnerships like Crate & Barrel and IKEA have had an impact on the growth of Fernish * Michael's experience going through the Techstars LA accelerator and what he took away from it * The impact of COVID-19 on Fernish * How Michael looks at implementing flywheels within Fernish * Merchandising for Michael and Fernish today * What Michael is focused on most today with Fernish * The Service Economy and where Michael thinks this is going in the future * The evolution of the tech ecosystem in Los Angeles * Impactful books in Michael's life
Eddy Badrina is CEO of Eden Green Technology ( https://www.edengreen.com/ ), a vertical farming technology company dedicated to changing the way we farm our food and feed our communities. He is also co-founder of BuzzShift, a digital strategy agency for mid-sized brands and organizations. Eddy has over thirteen years of experience in growing organizations, leading teams, and bringing brands to market. He has had mission-critical roles at the US Department of State, executive leadership at a White House Initiative, and director-level positions at two successful startups.
Some of the Topics Covered by Eddy Badrina in this Episode * What Eden Green is doing today and why Eddy joined as CEO * How Eddy is looking at where to expand with the Eden Green technology * Product-market fit and the value prop for Eden Green Technology * The business model behind Eden Green and why they want to become the "Salesforce of produce" * The three stages of what Eden Green offers as a product/service * What most of Eddy's time is spent on today at Eden Green * How Eddy has gone about creating the culture at Eden Green * The job of a leader at a company and how you remove obstacles for others * COVID-19 and how Eddy thought through it with the direction of Eden Green * Why Eden Green gave away 21,000 pounds of produce in their community * The future of vertical farming and agriculture * Eddy's view on investor relations * Books that have been impactful in Eddy's life * Building a redemptive company * How Eddy recharges outside of work
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
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Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
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Katica Roy is the CEO and founder of Denver-based Pipeline, an award-winning SaaS company that leverages artificial intelligence to identify and drive economic gains through gender equity. Katica is driven by a passion to eradicate economic inequality and champions the rights of refugees, women, and children.
An award-winning business leader with more than two decades of experience in technology, healthcare, and financial services, Katica is credited as a rare combination of expertise in and passion for gender equity, people analytics, and sales operations.
Some of the Topics Covered by Katica Roy in this Episode * Why Katica started Pipeline Equity * What Pipeline Equity does to help companies through augmented decision making * How the increase in gender equity increases revenue at companies * Why you can't change the gender pay gap by starting with pay * Actionable ways that companies can move toward equity * How founders can use data to achieve intersectional equity in their companies
Jessica honed her communications skills during her tenure at Point72, where she led communications for the firm’s venture capital arm — Point72 Ventures — in addition to serving as Vice President of corporate communications of the family office. She then went on to found Bevel ( https://www.bevelpr.com/ ), a leading public relations consultancy that works with venture capital funds, tech and fintech brands. Prior to Point72, Jessica had multiple sales and marketing roles at Moody’s, which included Head of Marketing Communications and Director of Global Sales, managing a book of $12.5M.
She started her career at a mid-sized PR agency in NYC at the beginning of the financial crisis in 08’. Her clients included Oppenheimer Funds, RBC, RBS, and Jefferies. Jessica has received multiple awards for her work including PR News “Rising Stars 30 under 30” and Moody’s “Rising Star Award.” She holds her MBA of Finance from Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and is a graduate of Quinnipiac University where she studied Public Relations. She currently serves on the Board for Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation and volunteers a significant amount of her time doing public relations for non-profits focused on pediatric cancer.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jessica Schaefer in this Episode * What Bevel does and the types of companies they work with * Jessica's experience working with Steve Cohen at Point 72 * How Jessica decided to start Bevel PR * Why Jessica ended up in communications * How Bevel PR became the go-to fintech communication firm * Some of the things Bevel PR does to help companies like Acorns and their strategy working with other companies * When a startup should consider taking on a PR firm and what Bevel PR looks for in the companies they work with * How Jessica has approached growing the team at Bevel PR and why she brings on people outside of the world of PR * The unique pay structure Jessica uses for her own team at Bevel PR * Building an internal communications team vs. hiring a firm like Bevel PR * Proactive vs. reactive communications * The expectations of the clients Bevel PR works with * Working on a project with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Acorns * How Jessica looks at PR for Bevel PR, why she created a team internally, and what this team consists of * COVID-19 and how Jessica has navigated the situation for Bevel PR * The most challenging part of being in the public relations industry working with intense founders * How Jessica recharges outside of work * Jessica's advice for other founders
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
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Greg Spillane is the CEO of Fancy ( https://fancy.com/ ) a curated online retailer that provides a platform for consumers looking to discover the coolest and most innovative fashion, accessories, art, and gadgets from emerging brands and artists across the globe.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Greg Spillane in this Episode * What Fancy is, when it was started, and how Greg got involved * Why Greg decided to join Fancy after it went through turmoil * What Greg did initially to start turning Fancy around * The business model behind Fancy and what the experience is for brands on the platform * How Fancy goes about curating brands for their platform * The importance of creating trust on the buyer side of a platform * How content and storytelling play a role in selling products on Fancy * Building community and bringing on guest curators for the platform * How Greg decided to use crowdfunding to raise capital for Fancy and the benefits that came along with it * Why Greg and Fancy chose to use Wefunder for their crowdfunding campaign * Components involved in an equity crowdfunding campaign * The customer acquisition strategy for Fancy * The traction of Fancy today * How Greg and his team improved conversions on Fancy * How Greg has gone about building the team and culture at Fancy * What Greg does to invest in himself and make sure he's performing at his best each day * Books that have been helpful for Greg in his career * Why Greg decided to get an MBA at USC
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Ruben Harris is the Co-Founder & CEO of Career Karma ( https://careerkarma.com/ ). Career Karma is a community of peers, mentors, and coaches that will help you land a dream career in Tech. You never pay a dime. The only cost is to help people behind you.
Career Karma is always free for students because after they coach you to prepare and get enrolled in a bootcamp in their network, the school pays them a placement fee for helping you.
Here are some cool investors that have joined them:
Michael Seibel (CEO of Y Combinator), Betsy Ziegler (CEO of 1871), Jewel Burks (CEO of PartPic), Arlan Hamilton (Backstage Capital), Unshackled Ventures, Paul Judge (Tech Square Labs), Prakash Jankiraman (Nextdoor), Justin Rosenstein (Asana), Erik Torenberg, David Phillips (Hackbright), Sten Tamkivi (Skype, Teleport, etc), Mandela Schumacher-Hodge Dixon (Founder Gym), Edward Lando, Kevin Lee (Product Manager HQ), Kevin Olusola (Pentatonix), Anarghya Vardhana, and more
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Ruben Harris in this Episode * What Career Karma is and what it's like to work with them * How Ruben and his Co-Founders decided to start Career Karma * Sending 1,900+ cold emails to break into investment banking and the process behind cold outreach * Ruben's experience going through Y Combinator and what he did after getting rejected from YC the first time * The importance of not lying to yourself and staying laser-focused * Ruben's experience raising funding in the seed round for Career Karma * What's fueled the growth in the last year (2020) * Why user-generated content has been a key driver for Career Karma * How Ruben and his team approach partnerships at Career Karma and what they look for in coding bootcamps * How Ruben and his team manage so many different relationships * The business model behind Career Karma * How Career Karma will become a $100B company * What Ruben and his team are doing with Reskill America * The book Ruben is reading right now
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Tyler Bushnell is the Founder & CEO of Polycade ( https://polycade.com/ ) the only arcade machine that's been designed for classic and modern games, giving you the ability to play everything from the best new indies, retro classics, or the most graphics-intensive modern fighters.
About Polycade (From Tyler)
I grew up surrounded by gaming in a way that most kids could never dream of experiencing. My dad invented Atari and started Chuck E Cheese. I know. I still can't believe how crazy that is.
From a young age, I was lucky enough to witness the power of gaming as a means of social bonding. My seven brothers and I were enveloped by games; we lived and breathed them. We built community around playing games together in person.
It was this unique upbringing that allowed me to notice the massive market opportunity for gaming in today's world.
Internet connectivity is changing the way we interact with one another. We're spending more time communicating virtually, we're losing face-to-face social connectedness, and we're becoming socially isolated.
At the same time, modern video games are pushing players toward solitary gaming. The low-commitment experience that once made video gaming accessible and so popular in out of home environments has largely disappeared.
We know that being around others builds trust and friendship, that face-to-face connection brings happiness, that replacing your real-world relationships with social media use is detrimental to your health. We know we need to spend more time out of our homes, off our phones, and be more in the moment.
So why isn't technology working harder to connect people in real life and build communities that affect our well-being for the better?
As children of Nolan Bushnell, my siblings and I were often reminded of the power of gaming to bring people together. We heard it in the stories of 100s of people who told my dad that they had met their significant other over a game of Pong and thanked him for his part in making that happen. We saw it with our own eyes. We recognize that we have an opportunity to provide the perfect catalyst for interaction.
So we set out on a mission to make gaming social: getting people out of their houses, making new friends, and building community. Oh, and having some fun along the way too.
We created Polycade.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Tyler Bushnell in this Episode * How Tyler decided to use Kickstarter to raise funds for Polycade initially * How Polycade got started * The benefits of using Kickstarter to test products * The amount of preparation that went into Tyler's Kickstarter campaign for Polycade and how it went * How Tyler built the initial prototype for Polycade * Some of the early problems Tyler faced when created Polycade * How Tyler approached pricing for this product * Why Tyler decided to go through the Techstars accelerator and how Tyler's experience went * The importance of understanding what a contract manufacturer is * Getting introductions to about 140 investors through Techstars to raise a seed round * The team behind Polycade today * The customer acquisition strategy for Polycade * Licensing for Polycade * How Tyler has leveraged influencer collaborations to grow Polycade * Working with Juelz Santana, Steve Aoki, and Lil John * How growing up with a family of entrepreneurs (His dad, Nolan Bushnell, started Atari and Chuck E. Cheese) influenced Tyler
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Eric Gilbert is the Co-Founder of Treefort Music Fest ( https://www.treefortmusicfest.com/ ) an annual 5 day event in Boise, Idaho that's had over 133,000 attendees in 8 years and featured 1000s of bands from around the world.
Treefort Music Fest is a five-day indie music festival, held at numerous venues throughout downtown Boise, Idaho every year in March. Over the first eight years it has expanded to also include Alefort, Artfort, Comedyfort, Dragfort, Filmfort, Foodfort, Hackfort, Kidfort, Skatefort, Storyfort, and Yogafort. Treefort is now a full-fledged multi-disciplinary event with a lot of dynamic collaboration and community engagement. Treefort is very active year round as an important champion for creatives.
Invest in Treefort Music Fest: https://wefunder.com/treefort
About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Eric Gilbert in this Episode * What Treefort Music Fest is and the different "forts" they have * How Treefort Music Fest got started * The planning behind the first Treefort Music Fest and how the first festival did from a business perspective * The marketing behind the first festival * Getting sponsors for Treefort Music Fest * The differences from the first year to the second year * Becoming a Certified B Corporation vs. becoming a non-profit * What it takes to run Treefort Music Fest today and the team behind it * How Eric and his team decided to crowdfund with Wefunder * How the team behind Treefort Music Fest markets the events with a small budget * Eric's advice around starting a festival
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
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Dan is the Co-Founder and Chief Grain Officer of ReGrained, a mission-driven ingredient platform that leverages technology and culinary science to transform beer waste into food.
Dan is an entrepreneurial systems thinker and loves tackling seemingly intractable problems through creative entrepreneurship and cross-sectoral collaboration. Through ReGrained, he has become a thought-leader about food waste business models, "edible upcycling" and the circular economy for food.
ReGrained has:-Forbes 30 under 30: Food and Beverage (2018)
-Won Slow Money NorCal's Food Funded Pitch Competition (2017)
-Finalist at FoodBytes! (2016)
-Finalist at SXSW Eco-Reuse and Recycling Sector (2016)
-Burt's Bees Natural Launchpad (2016)
-Won a sustainable innovation award at Sustainable Brands 2016 and was selected for Burt's Bees Natural Product Launchpad.
Dan holds an MBA in Sustainable Business from Presidio Graduate School and a BA in Economics from UCLA.
More on ReGrained:
ReGrained better aligns the food we eat with the planet we love.
They are an ingredient platform created to promote an innovative model of food production that they've coined as “Edible Upcycling.” Powered by patent-pending technology, they reimagine perceived ends as beginnings by finding nutritious food streams that are currently being treated as inedible and render them into delicious and healthy food. They rescue these overlooked but awesome ingredients and put them back to work.
Their goal: To improve the way we value food and the resources that support all life
Their initial focus: Upcycling the nutritious grain created every time that beer is brewed.
In the U.S. alone, billions of pounds of this latent supply chain are available every year. Brewing beer processes the sugar out of the grain. This gives them optimal access to protein, fiber, and micronutrients. They upcycle this grain into ReGrained flour. They incorporate this sustainable, delicious, and nutritious ingredient into every ReGrained product, starting with SuperGrain+ Bars wrapped in innovative 100% backyard compostable packaging.
Their mission doesn’t stop at waste ─ they are a Certified B Corp and support environmental conservation and social impact through 1% for the Planet.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Connect with Daniel Kurzrock and ReGrained * ReGrained - https://www.regrained.com/ * Invest in ReGrained - https://wefunder.com/regrained * Wefunder discount through Just Go Grind - https://wefunder.com/raisemoney/justgogrind
Some of the Topics Covered by Daniel Kurzrock in this Episode * What ReGrained is doing to build a more sustainable food system * Why Dan decided to tackle this problem * How Dan turned his idea into a real business * Why Dan didn't drop everything to go all-in on ReGrained right away * How ReGrained was acquiring customers early on * Why Dan wanted to be an ingredient company * The insights gleamed along the way when trying to market ReGrained and the problem with their early slogan of "Eat Beer" * How ReGrained Supergrain+ came about * What upcycling is and why it's important * The Upcycled Food Association and why Dan helped create it * Doing research with the USDA * Dan's experience raising capital for ReGrained and why they chose to do equity crowdfunding through Wefunder * How Dan has gone about building his team at ReGrained * Books that have been impactful for Dan * How Dan recharges outside of work
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Daniel Kaplan, a Senior Associate at Generator Ventures ( https://generatorvc.com/ ) is passionate about advancing senior care and aging. Generator Ventures partners with exceptional entrepreneurs who are leveraging technology to transform the aging experience. They believe that when high-tech, high-touch solutions are built to address the massive opportunities and challenges of the aging population, all stakeholders − seniors, caregivers, payers, providers, investors, and society − will succeed.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Daniel Kaplan in this Episode * What Generator Ventures focuses on ($55M Fund, $1M-$3M checks) * The value add of Generator Ventures and incredible team they have in the healthcare world * Where Generator Ventures is sourcing deals from * The number of new deals and follow on investments Generator Ventures typically is making in a year * How COVID has impacted Generator Ventures * The importance of speaking with customers as a VC and some of the questions Daniel typically asks * How Generator Ventures supports their portfolio companies * Daniel's experience as a mentor for Techstars' Future of Longevity Accelerator * Go-to-market strategies in healthcare * Some of the questions Daniel asks when he's reviewing the deck of a startup * Why Daniel wanted to get into venture capital * Opportunities within aging and senior care * Value-based care * What Daniel's role entails at Generator Ventures
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
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Amelia Lin is the Co-Founder & CEO of Saga, a voice based social app to stay close with family and friends. They help families save the life stories of loved ones on audio--it's like getting a personal podcast of your Grandma's childhood stories. Saga sends weekly prompts - they record and share. It's easy for anyone to use, they can dial a number from their phone to record, even without the app. Learn more at https://trysaga.com (They're hiring)
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Amelia Lin in this Episode * What Saga is and how it works * How Saga got started and what the initial version consisted of * The evolution of Saga into an audio product * Manually sending question prompts in the early days * How Amelia decided what to charge early on for the product * Amelia's experience fundraising for Saga and what she changed from her first time fundraising to her second time * Use of funds for Saga after fundraising * How Amelia is building her team and what she's looking for in new team members * What's fueled the growth of Saga up until this point * How Amelia is developing the product itself * The various use cases for Saga * How the different question packs are created for Saga * The business model today with Saga * How to continuously iterate on making a better social app * The conversations with Amelia and her team around creating a magical experience with Saga * Amelia's thoughts on whether she thought she'd be an entrepreneur at this point in her life * Books that have been impactful for Amelia * How Amelia recharges outside of work
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Jonny Price is the Director of Fundraising at Wefunder ( https://wefunder.com/ ) where he is working to empower entrepreneurs with capital and customers. He finds great entrepreneurs and helps them succeed on the Wefunder platform.
About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jonny Price in this Episode * What Wefunder does * What an accredited investor is * The types of crowdfunding platforms and who should consider raising funds this way * The process for an entrepreneur getting started with Wefunder * How long the average crowdfunding campaigns takes from beginning to completion * The pre-launch tasks a startup completes before their campaign goes live * The benefits of regulation crowdfunding * Potential downsides of crowdfunding * Why thoughts around equity crowdfunding are evolving for VCs * The process of getting a lead investor on Wefunder * The two main value props of Wefunder * The types of capital raised through Wefunder * What separates Wefunder from other equity crowdfunding platforms * How Jonny decided to join Wefunder * The potential lift of the cap on regulation crowdfunding from $1.07M to $5M * Wefunder being on track from $7M of investment volume this month * The minimum and average investment on Wefunder * Some of the best companies to come out of Wefunder * What's next for crowdfunding
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Yamandou Alexander is the founder of Makeba ( https://www.makeba.money/cv-por/index.html ) a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist with decades of experience building technology and infrastructure projects in Africa.
Makeba's Wefunder Campaign:
https://wefunder.com/makeba
Just Go Grind Wefunder Discount:
https://wefunder.com/raisemoney/justgogrind
Some of the Topics Covered by Yamandou Alexander in this Episode * How Makeba got started * How Makeba is able to reduce merchant fees by 90% * Deciding on which markets to enter * Fundraising for Makeba and why they decided to raise money through Wefunder vs. other platforms * The Wefunder process * How Yamandou has gone about getting more people to invest through Wefunder * Why Yamandou decided to get involved with fintech in Africa * Competition for Makeba and how Yamandou views it * The team behind Makeba * The art of pitching your story as a founder * How Makeba business acquires merchants for their platform * What contributed most to Makeba's 35% monthly growth since January * How Yamandou has determined his values as a founder * Moving from France to the United States at 19 years old * How Yamandou became an entrepreneur * Yamandou's advice for someone interested in starting a company in the social impact space * The big vision for Makeba and becoming the Alipay of Africa * What Yamandou's day-to-day looks like now * The three books Yamandou recommends * Yamandou's advice for other entrepreneurs and people looking to change the world
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Brentt Baltimore is a Principal at Greycroft. Based in the Los Angeles office, Brentt focuses on investment opportunities in enterprise software. He has led Greycroft’s investments in Mapped, Agni, Craft, and Smrt. Brentt is a Kauffman Fellow and a member of Class 25.
Prior to joining Greycroft, Brentt led business development at Operator Inc., a venture stage company in the conversational commerce space and worked on technology commercialization at Numenta Inc., a machine intelligence research company. Brentt was also an Associate at Detroit Venture Partners. He began his career in investment banking at Credit Suisse in Los Angeles.
Brentt graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a BA in Economics and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Brentt Baltimore in this Episode * What areas Greycroft is focused on * Why Brentt wanted to get involved with venture capital and what was most appealing to him * How Brentt joined Detroit Venture Partners * The business of VC * Why Brentt decided to get operator experience between venture roles * Getting an MBA * How Brentt ended up at Greycroft and why he chose it * Why Brentt became a Kauffman Fellow and what the experience is like * What early-stage founders need to know about raising capital * Understand your "why" as a founder and being able to tell your story * How Brentt is helping improve diversity in startups and venture capital with BLCK VC * How early-stage founders should think through equity splits * The operating and investing side of scaling a startup * The most impactful book for Brentt
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Jude Gomila is the Founder & CEO of Golden ( https://golden.com/ ) a company on a mission to map out human knowledge and accelerate discovery and learning, and an investor in more than 200 companies including Carta, Gusto, Airtable, Boom, Ginkgo, Benchling, Ironclad, Superhuman, Linear, and Relativity.
Jude was also previously the Founder of Heyzap, a company which was incubated at Y Combinator, raised $8M, and was acquired in Jan. 2016 by RNTS Media for $45M.
About Our Partner, Pivot CMO This episode is brought to you by Pivot CMO ( https://www.pivotcmo.com/ ). Whether you’re a startup and you’ve just launched your product or a larger business, accelerate your growth with performance marketing solutions from our partner, Pivot CMO. Pivot specializes in performance marketing solutions that have helped countless companies double or even triple in the first few months of working with them. They’re boutique, extremely data-driven, and launch and iterate quickly. 84% of their clients double their revenue.
Pivot CMO is focused on digital marketing channels like Facebook/Instagram, Google, Pinterest, and TikTok. Their founders are involved with every account so you don’t get a low-level account manager, but instead a highly skilled and experienced, outsourced CMO.
They’ve helped a number of Y Combinator and venture-backed companies along with fortune 500 companies, so no matter the size or stage of your company, use Pivot to help with all of your marketing and growth needs.
To book a free consultation visit pivotcmo.com.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jude Gomila in this Episode * What the mission is of Golden * The initial focus area for Golden when Jude first started it * Some of the constraints Jude found when trying to build a system to map human knowledge * The use cases for Golden * Where Jude's personal interest in the idea of Golden comes from * How the fundraising process was for Jude and Golden and how it compared to raising money in 2009 for Heyzap * What kept Jude going while trying to fundraise in 2009 even though it was an incredibly difficult time to raise capital * Finally getting an investment from Union Square Ventures as well as Naval Ravikant * Choosing between dinner and a call with Naval Ravikant and getting him on Jude's board * How Jude's investors were most helpful for him as he built Heyzap * Incentive structures * Why Jude got started with Angel investing and how extreme frugality helped him invest in more companies * How Jude manages relationships with so many founders as an Angel investor * Making your own luck * How Jude gets access to so many deals as an investor * How to be useful, become a magnet, and attract great investments * Optimizing for serendipity vs. networking * How Jude thinks about applying the Pareto Principle (80/20) in his business * Resource allocation at a startup * The next steps for Golden * Happiness, what it means, how to define it, and how to measure it * Why you should have some level of discomfort in your life * Living at the edge of uncertainty * Optimizing for fun
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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As Principal at Sway Ventures, Brett Munster focuses most of his investment activities on the seed and earlier stages for the fund. In addition to evaluating new investments, Brett’s responsibilities include coordinating the due diligence process across all investment opportunities for the fund, monitoring the performance of the fund and modeling portfolio allocation, and working directly with many of Sway’s existing portfolio companies.
Brett draws on his experience as a two-time entrepreneur and former operations executive to assist early-stage companies in their growth. Prior to joining Sway Ventures, Brett ran day-to-day operations for AMO, a loss mitigation company, where he oversaw a portfolio of distressed assets that grew to over $2 billion. Brett began his career at zAthlete.com, a sports social networking startup that he launched during his final semester at UC Berkeley and sold in 2009. Soon after, Brett launched his second start-up Visual Icon, a platform designed to help bring Hollywood content online.
Brett graduated from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and was an infielder and captain of the baseball team. He also holds an MBA from the University of Southern California where his focus was on entrepreneurship and technology commercialization.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Brett Munster in this Episode * An overview of Sway Ventures * Why Brett wanted to get into venture capital * Networking for a year to get his job at Sway Ventures * How Brett's startup experience has influenced his time at Sway Ventures * Brett's experience at a sports social network that was eventually acquired * Why Brett decided to get an MBA from USC * What Brett actually did to break into venture capital * What the day-to-day looks like for Brett as a venture capitalist at Sway Ventures * Navigating the global pandemic with portfolio companies at Sway Ventures * The typical challenges startups face and how Brett is helping them through these at Sway Ventures * How a startup can hire top talent * Equity splits for founders * How founder roles change as a company scales * How Brett prioritizes his time each day
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
Jeroen Corthout is the Co-Founder of Salesfare ( https://salesflare.com/ ) a simple yet powerful CRM that automates your data to build better relationships and make more sales.
It's a fast, visual and easy-to-use sales machine. Built on happiness with the latest tech, by humans for humans.
Salesflare is the most popular CRM ever on both Product Hunt and AppSumo. It also got featured on TechCrunch and Entrepreneur.com.
You can set it up in just a minute at salesflare.com.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jeroen Corthout in this Episode * What Salesflare is and who it's focused on * Why Jeroen decided to start a CRM company and the problem he was solving solving * How the Salesflare product itself is different from the other 600 CRMs available on the market * The impact of Salesflare's Product Hunt and AppSumo launch * Bringing in more than 5,000 people through AppSumo * What Jeroen did to prepare for their Product Hunt launch * Issues that came up after the huge AppSumo launch * The customer acquisition strategy for Salesflare after their launches * The content marketing machine Jeroen built for Salesflare and the focus on SEO while making the content shareable on social media * Tools that Jeroen uses on the content marketing side of the business * Jeroen's incubator and accelerator experience * Jeroen's fundraising experience * The Founder Coffee series Jeroen started * The traction Salesflare has achieved so far * The big vision for Salesflare * Jeroen's favorite books * Why Jeroen offers bonuses to employees who get enough sleep * How Jeroen recharges outside of work
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Rick Smith is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Crosscut, one of the top venture capital firms in Los Angeles.
Crosscut is a seed-stage venture capital firm, looking to invest $1-3 million in early-stage companies with hyper-growth potential.
About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Rick Smith in this Episode * An overview of Crosscut, including how much they invest and the areas they invest in * How the global pandemic has impacted Crosscut * How many meetings Rick is having with entrepreneurs before a term sheet now vs. pre-COVID * What a first meeting vs. the next few meetings look like for a founder talking with Crosscut in the 2-4 weeks before a term sheet is offered * Seeing 4,000 - 5,000 business plans per year, doing 400 - 500 meetings, making 10 investments * The process of finding a Chief of Staff for Crosscut and why they decided to pursue including this role at the firm * PledgeLA, investing in South LA, and diversity & inclusion initiatives * Rick's advice around hiring for startups * How Crosscut is investing in becoming the firm of the future * Equity splits for founders * Deal flow at Crosscut and why they co-invest * Investing in first-time founders vs. repeat founders * Rick's first exit at Crosscut * Rick's advice for others looking to become investors * Investing out of Crosscut V
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
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Ambyr Childers ( https://www.ambyrchilders.com/ ) actress and entrepreneur, started her namesake jewelry line with a desire to create timeless pieces that inspire and empower those who wear them.
From early on, Ambyr had a special connection with her grandmother who taught her that jewelry holds an invaluable truth and can be worn as a talisman to empower a woman's strength in her femininity. Learning the stories behind each treasured relic sparked the desire to embrace her heritage and the ancient symbols that surround it.
Raised by her entreprenurial parents and beloved grandmother, it came as no surprise when she felt a yearning to create something meaningful of her own to share with the world. So, as a token of beauty and a celebration of women and friendship, her signature design, the Rise Totem, was born. Encompassing the heart and soul of the brand, it is meant to serve as a daily reminder of our inner strength and connection with the feminine force.
Ambyr Childers’ jewelry is thoughtfully designed and crafted with the hope and intention of being cherished forever. Their mission is to delicately capture the magic of ancestry, infuse meaning and symbolism into luxurious yet practical jewelry, and embolden the wearer to Rise and Shine.
About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Ambyr Childers in this Episode * How Ambyr's entrepreneurial parents impacted her * Why Ambyr decided to really take her jewelry company serious * The constant shifting of priorities as an entrepreneur * What Ambyr's day-to-day looks like now * Managing running a business as a solo founder * How social media impacts Ambyr's business * What Ambyr's social media strategy looks like today * How Ambyr uses social media and email to engage with people * How Ambyr designed her staple jewelry piece for her brand * Developing new products * Partnerships * The biggest challenges for Ambyr as a first-time founder * How Ambyr sources her products and the importance of getting mentorship * What's next for Ambyr's company and where she's looking to expand * Balancing acting with a business * Why Ambyr decided to become an actress * Books that have been helpful for Ambyr as an entrepreneur * How Ambyr was able to land a prominent role in the show You on Netflix * How Ambyr Childers recharges * Staying true to your mission as an entrepreneur
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Jelani is the Co-Founder and CEO at A Kids Book About ( https://akidsbookabout.com/ ) and Co-Founder at Circle and Narrative. He's a bit obsessed with making things that matter.
At A Kids Book About, they make kids books that matter. There are no dragons, silly bears, or cute tales about princesses. Only the challenging, empowering, and important topics that kids experience every day. Kids' lives are complicated, and their mission is to help kids and their grownups have honest conversations about things that matter.
Some of the Topics Covered by Jelani Memory in this Episode * How A Kids Book About got started from a book Jelani wrote for his kids * How Jelani decided on the content for his first book * The response Jelani's kids had to his first book * How Jelani decides on the topics for his books * Publishing 27 different books in the last year * Founder-market fit * What goes into the creation and launch of a new book * How Jelani and his team are able to essentially create a book in one workshop * Selling 150,000 books and the business model behind A Kids Book About * Jelani's experience with his last company, Circle, and how it impacted A Kids Book About * Changing the book development process from 18 months to 30-45 days * Why Jelani raised money for his company even though on the surface he didn't need to * Projecting $4M - $5M in revenue in 2020 as a profitable business * The 5-year plan for A Kids Book About and why audio and video is next
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
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Mubashar Iqbal, who goes by Mubs, loves making things. He's been making things since he was about 8 years old. He made so many things he was selected as ProductHunt's maker of the year for 2016, runner up in 2015 and 2017.
Some of Mubs' recent projects include Founderpath, One Hour SaaS, Indiehackers.tv, and Pod Hunt, but he's created many more.
About Our Partner This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Mubs in this Episode * What Mubs is working on now * How Mubs decided to work on Founderpath * Why Mubs works on the projects he chooses to work on * Ideas are everywhere * How little Mubs sleeps * Things that make Mubs say no to an idea to work on * The number of products Mubs is still maintaining * How Mubs' previous products help him grow his personal brand * The importance of putting your ideas out into the world * A day in the life for Mubs * How Mubs approaches distribution for new products * Making money from side projects vs. creating products for fun * Selling your product and why if you've already tried to monetize your product it'll be more unattractive to buyers * The No-Code movement * Tips Mubs has for other people who are working remotely * Ideas from Mubs' Trello board that he wants people to work on * Mubs' advice for other makers
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
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Dr. Sophia Yen is Board Certified in Adolescent Medicine with 20+ years of experience in medicine. She graduated from MIT, UCSF Medical School, and UC Berkeley with an MPH in Maternal Child Health. She serves as a clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Stanford Medical School. Dr. Yen co-founded Pandia Health https://www.pandiahealth.com/ and enjoys educating the public and other physicians about birth control, acne, weight management, and other adolescent health issues. She has been featured in many publications for her work in reproductive health and as CEO of Pandia Health.
About Pandia Health:
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If you are on the birth control pill/patch/ring, try Pandia Health. Pandia Health delivers a year’s supply of birth control, free delivery to your mailbox, automatic renewal. They take almost all private insurances except for Kaiser.
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If you have insurance, the medications are "Free" = no copay, no deductible.
If you do not have insurance, most pills are $15/pack.
About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Dr. Sophia Yen in this Episode * What Pandia Health is and how it got started * How Dr. Sophia Yen tested the idea for Pandia Health initially * What Dr. Sophia did to make Pandia Health into a real business early on * The importance of content in the growth strategy behind Panida Health * The business model behind Pandia Health * Fundraising for Pandia Health and the use of funds * The content strategy Pandia Health uses * How COVID has impacted Pandia Health and what people need to know about telehealth and telemedicine * How Dr. Sophia went about building partnerships for Pandia Health * Culture-fit at Pandia Health * Keeping advertising in-house vs. outsourcing * What Pandia Health is focused on today * What women should know about their health and how technology now allows women to "turn off" their period * How Dr. Sophia Yen decided to get into medicine in the first place * How Dr. Sophia Yen's past experiences influenced how she runs Pandia Health (And how her accounting background proved to be important) * What other entrepreneurs interested in starting a health startup should think about * How Dr. Sophia Yen recharges outside of work * Why it's important to build your support team as an entrepreneur
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
Gooroo ( https://www.gooroo.com/ ) founder and CEO Scott Lee is on a mission to reimagine education, unlock every student’s potential, and promote lifelong learning for all. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lee relocated to the United States with his family at the age of 16 without knowing a word of English. Through constant support from his parents, and with the help of tutors and mentors, he worked hard and constantly challenged himself to succeed.
About Our Partner This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Scott Lee in this Episode * What Gooroo is and how it got started * Scott's experience in the Korean army for two years and how it impacted him * How Scott started his past company, Mud Cafe * What the initial version of Gooroo looked like * How Scott found the technical talent to build Gooroo early on * What Scott did to acquire his first customers * How the business model for Gooroo evolved into a membership model * Why Scott and his team are launching Gooroo courses * How Scott prioritizes which content his team creates at Gooroo * How Gooroo has acquired instructors for their platform and why transparency is so important * How Scott uses feedback from students to impact which products and services Gooroo provides * Why Scott partnered with the Department of Education * Scott's approach to partnerships with Gooroo * The biggest challenge of growing Gooroo * How Gooroo has been impacted by COVID * How Scott's time is spent day-to-day now at Gooroo * Innovation in education * The impact of Scott's father on his life * The big vision for Gooroo moving forward
Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212
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Matt Lombardi is a Co-Founder of Beam ( https://beamtlc.com/ ). He's on a mission to reimagine health and wellness, is a former professional hockey player, entrepreneur, and avid CrossFitter.
Kevin Moran is also a Co-Founder of Beam. He's on a mission to humanize CBD with education first. He's a former professional baseball player with the Chicago White Sox organization, CrossFitter, Ironman, and marathon runner.
Beam is a Massachusetts-based wellness company founded by Matt Lombardi and Kevin Moran, both former professional athletes, offering THC-free, phytocannabinoid-rich CBD products, made from naturally grown hemp in Colorado. Noticing a lack of transparency in the CBD wellness market, Beam offers consumers a line of rigorously tested CBD products with high-quality natural ingredients. Built with an entrepreneurial spirit in mind, Beam marries the concepts of health, wellness, and an active lifestyle free of any physical or mental barriers. Beam believes that all-natural cannabinoids have the ability to unlock significant health benefits, which will ultimately aid customers on their journey to “find their better.”
About Our Partners This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country’s fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work”, 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
Some of the Topics Covered by Matt and Kevin in this Episode * How Matt and Kevin decided to start a company together * Some of the questions they asked their potential customers initially * What Matt and Kevin did to get customers in the early days * How they sourced their product initially * The angle they took to sell their product in the beginning * How Matt and Kevin thought through branding at Beam from the early days * Customer acquisition for Beam * Working with a digital marketing agency vs. handling marketing in-house * How Matt and Kevin have gone about building an influencer program for Beam * Getting the initial $700K from a family and friends round * How they go about obtaining the highest quality product possible * What Matt and Kevin have done to grow their team at Beam * How Matt and Kevin's role as Co-Founders has evolved * What communication is like between Matt and Kevin * What Matt and Kevin have enjoyed most about the experience of building Beam * How Matt and Kevin recharge outside of work * The importance of pushing yourself physically to perform well mentally * Matt and Kevin's book recommendations
Listen to all episodes:
https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Andrew Parker is the Co-Founder & CEO of Papa, a company that's raised $30M+ in venture capital from top investors to build and grow their family-on-demand platform.
Andrew has spent his career focusing on healthcare technology and service. In late 2017, Andrew founded Papa, a company that offers “Family On-Demand!” by connecting older adults and families to college students for companionship, assistance, and transportation. He started the company to support his own grandfather, whom he endearingly addressed
as “Papa”.
Andrew has a passion for healthcare, technology, and people. This combination drove him to build Papa, an ongoing endeavor to support older adults and families. Papa has grown to 120 employees and over 5,000 students on the platform in 20 states working with 15+ health plans as a benefit to older adults and families. Prior to Papa, Andrew ran Health
System Sales and Strategy for MDLIVE.com, a large telehealth provider. Andrew was one of the first 15 employees of MDLIVE which has grown to over 300 employees and 30M members. In this role, Andrew helped to facilitate multi-year relationships with some of the nation’s largest health systems and employers as well as design virtual care products, which has now become a ubiquitous part of healthcare.
Andrew received his Bachelor’s in Finance from Florida State University and his Certified Employee Benefit Specialist certification from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Andrew and Papa are alumni of the prestigious incubator Y Combinator. Andrew resides in Miami, FL with his dog Chewie.
About Our Partner, Pivot CMO This episode is brought to you by Pivot CMO. Whether you’re a startup and you’ve just launched your product or a larger business, accelerate your growth with performance marketing solutions from our partner, Pivot CMO. Pivot specializes in performance marketing solutions that have helped countless companies double or even triple in the first few months of working with them. They’re boutique, extremely data-driven, and launch and iterate quickly. 84% of their clients double their revenue.
Pivot CMO is focused on digital marketing channels like Facebook/Instagram, Google, Pinterest, and TikTok. Their founders are involved with every account so you don’t get a low-level account manager, but instead a highly skilled and experienced, outsourced CMO.
They’ve helped a number of Y Combinator and venture-backed companies along with fortune 500 companies, so no matter the size or stage of your company, use Pivot to help with all of your marketing and growth needs.
To book a free consultation visit pivotcmo.com.
Connect with Andrew Parker and Papa * Papa * LinkedIn * Instagram * Twitter * Facebook
Some of the Topics Covered by Andrew Parker in this Episode * What Papa is and why Andrew decided to start it * How Andrew signed up the first few people on Papa and what his pitch was initially * How Andrew decided to quit his job * How Andrew found his Co-Founder, Alfredo * Equity splits * Raising an initial $500K then $2.4M led by Initialized Capital and Sound Ventures * Not taking a salary for almost two years * The differences in raising different rounds of funding * How Andrew scaled Papa from the initial few customers * Going from one health plan to ten * What Andrew is looking for in Pals on the Papa Platform * Adding virtual visits to Papa * The support Andrew has gotten from his investors * Coming from a family of entrepreneurs and the impact that had on Andrew * What Andrew's day-to-day looks like today * How Andrew thinks about culture for Papa * Andrew's book suggestion * What Andrew does to recharge
Links from the Episode * Garry Tan * Initialized Capital * Y Combinator * Alfredo Vaamonde * Sound Ventures * Zubin Bhettay * Fuzzy Pet Health * MDLive * Karl Alomar * Meditations * The Lean Startup * 1984 * Devil in the White City * Shoe Dog * The Daily Stoic
Karl Alomar is a Managing Partner at M13, a serial entrepreneur, and he's built and/or sold high growth businesses in various market segments. He has an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York and a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College London. He has a strong technology pedigree and over 20 years experience in executive management roles in institutionally funded businesses.
M13 is a Venture Engine, a full-service venture firm that provides the platform for founding teams to create and develop high-growth businesses.
M13 injects capital to fuel high growth while helping founding teams fill gaps in their businesses through their Propulsion Team, which provides strategic counsel, operational expertise, and a constellation of talent, experts, and resources to accelerate growth. Where they see whitespace in an industry, their Launchpad develops the right founding teams, products, and practices to incubate and launch an idea from inception.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Karl Alomar and M13 * M13 * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram * Karl@m13.co
Some of the Topics Covered by Karl Alomar in this Episode * M13 Details: + $190M Venture Fund based out of LA and NY + Focused on consumer technology businesses + Invest in Series A and late seed $2M-$7M + $500K check for their feeder program + A team of former operators * Built a team of executives and platform at M13 * How M13 works with their portfolio founders * How M13 operates week to week * What the dealflow for M13 looks like * Why Karl decided to get into VC * "Build what you love" and how Karl decided which businesses he wanted to start throughout his career * Some of the first things Karl did to help Digital Ocean grow to $250M+ ARR * The growth levers Karl used to scale Digital Ocean to hundreds of millions in revenue * Scaling the team at Digital Ocean and one of the biggest mistakes they made early on * Going through a culture crisis, losing 30-40% of their engineering team at Digital Ocean in a year, and the massive undertaking of resetting an entire culture of a company * The importance of trust and leadership in a culture * Karl's advice around decision making and the importance of being decisive * What Karl looks for at M13 in the companies they invest in * The characteristics of founders that grab Karl's attention * What people interested in getting into Venture Capital should think about and why getting some operating experience is very important * How Karl is building his team at M13 * How Karl recharges outside of work * What Karl's day-to-day looks like today
Links from the Episode * Ben Uretsky * Digital Ocean * Matt Hoffman * Marie Sokolovsky
Matthew Loper is the Co-Founder and CEO of Wellth, a company that uses behavioral economics to drastically improve care plan adherence in patients with chronic conditions. This improvement to adherence allows risk-bearing providers to reduce readmissions, health insurers to reduce the total cost of care, and life insurers to confidently underwrite underserved customer populations like type 2 diabetics.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Matthew Loper and Wellth * Wellth * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Matthew Loper in this Episode * What Wellth is and how it got started * How Matthew transitioned from healthcare investing to entrepreneurship * Aligning the incentives of payers, providers, and patients in healthcare * The first thing Matthew did to validate the idea for Wellth * How Matthew made an educated bet on product-market fit for Wellth * Why it consistently takes 5 years for healthcare companies to get to a Series A * Conversations with Matthew and his family when he decided to quit his nice job to start a company * Why Matthew didn't want to raise too much money early on with Wellth * Why Matthew didn't take a salary for 3 years * How Matthew convinced his Co-Founder to leave a great company to join him at Wellth * The initial product for Wellth and why they've made lots of adjustments along the way * How Matthew got the first people enrolled in Wellth * The growth of Wellth and what's fueled it over the past few years * How Matt has gone about growing the team at Wellth * The process of fundraising for Wellth * The challenges other entrepreneurs in healthcare should think about * The standard patient journey when working with Wellth * How most of Matt's time is spent now at Wellth * How Matt prioritizes which partners he wants to work with * What Matt does to invest in his own mental health and performance as a Founder and CEO * How Matt lost 15lbs during the pandemic utilizing fasting * Matt's favorite book
Links from the Episode * Livongo * Teladoc * AbleTo * United Healthcare * Axa Venture Partners * Richard Thaler * Iman Abuzeid * Strava * Shoe Dog
Ruben is the Co-Founder at Swoop, where he is responsible for operations, marketing, people & hiring, and fundraising efforts. Prior to joining Swoop, he spent four years working for Google and Facebook, helping scale new programs such as Workplace by Facebook globally and Google’s Agency Landscape in Europe. Ruben was born in Germany, spending his childhood years there, prior to moving to the US. He holds a BSc in Finance from Maastricht University and graduated as Valedictorian from the Rotterdam School of Management.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Ruben Schultz and Swoop * Swoop * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram
Some of the Topics Covered by Ruben Schultz in this Episode * What Swoop is, what the industry looks like today, and the problem Ruben and his team is solving * How Ruben got people on the Swoop platform initially * The challenge Ruben and his team are focused on right now * How Ruben prioritizes product development * Why Ruben decided to leave Facebook to start a company * The conversation with Ruben and his parents when he wanted to leave Facebook * How Swoop was funded initially * Choosing a career path based not just on the short-term money you'll make, but the connections and upside you'll have in the future * The thinking Ruben and his co-founders had around splitting equity * Moving from tier 3 to tier 2 to tier 1 investors when fundraising * The business models behind Swoop * How COVID impacted Swoop and how they shifted to moving goods as well as people * How Ruben and his team are evaluating which markets to get into * Roles and responsibilities with Ruben and his co-founders * What the big vision is for Swoop * Why Swoop is so obsessed with their customers * The biggest challenge Ruben faces as a first-time founder * How Ruben manages the stress of running a startup
Links from the Episode * Crossing the Chasm * Swupnil Sahai * Stripe * Twilio * SendGrid * Brian Conyer * Notion * Shopify * Superhuman
Taylor Nieman is the Co-Founder & CEO of Toucan, ( https://jointoucan.com/ ) the free Chrome extension that helps you learn a language without even trying. Previously, she worked on business development and strategic partnerships at Headspace, Science, and Fair.
Toucan is a new, immersive way to learn while you go about your daily life.
Learning a new language is challenging, fun, and rewarding. It also takes time, practice, and dedication - finding a few extra minutes in the day can feel impossible.
At Toucan, they know creating a new habit is one of the most difficult things to do. Their Founding team has a deep understanding and appreciation for human habits, behavior, and the science of learning. Their free Chrome extension helps you learn without having to put aside time to create a new habit. Toucan works by immersing you in the language while you’re browsing the web. What’s even better is that you’ll see those words in the context of sentences - helping your brain connect the word to its useful meaning.
Taylor and her team created Toucan to help people make more use of their time, without missing out on the fun and satisfaction of learning a new language.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Taylor Nieman and Toucan * Toucan * Twitter * LinkedIn * taylor.nieman@jointoucan.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Taylor Nieman in this Episode * How Taylor decided to start Toucan and go with a browser extension as their first vertical * Founder-market fit and how Taylor chose to work in this particular space * How Taylor met her two Co-Founders, Brandon Dietz and Shaun Merritt * How Taylor has gone about scaling Toucan without paid acquisition * The "Own the Word" campaign Taylor and her team created at Toucan * The impact of being a top product on Product Hunt * How Taylor iterates on the Toucan product itself * The fundraising experience for Taylor and Toucan * The business model behind Toucan * How Taylor prioritizes strategic partnerships * What Taylor has looked for in people as she's grown her team * The challenges Taylor is working through now after raising $3M * How COVID impacted what Taylor is doing at Toucan * How Taylor recharges outside fo work * Where Taylor's interest in technology comes from and how she taught herself how to code * The conversations around equity with Taylor and her Co-Founders * Taylor's advice around fundraising * Taylor's biggest takeaway from the last year of growing Toucan * The grand vision of Toucan * The strategy behind the name of Taylor's company
Links from the Episode * Pray * Science Incubator * Fair * Product Hunt * Own the Word * Rand Fishkin * SparkToro * Headspace * Venture Deals
Sean Matson is the Co-Founder & CEO of MATBOCK, a company that is run by retired Navy SEALS and whose staff are also former US Military Veterans. The company creates and develops products that fill a need in the real world, whether it's hunting, camping, hiking, going on adventures, for law enforcement or for soldiers while at war. They work closely with the US Military and have been contracted to create products for them that use new technologies to make whatever products lighter, better, and more versatile. Their top-selling products include Auto-focus for Night Vision Goggles, Dry Bags, Cobra Sled (a mountain rescue litter), S-LIFT (poles and ladders for hunters), Reaper Hunting Vest and others. They just also signed a $1 million deal with law enforcement in America for new products to help everyone be safer.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Sean Matson and MATBOCK * MATBOCK * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook
Some of the Topics Covered by Sean Matson in this Episode * How Sean started MATBOCK * The distribution strategy behind MATBOCK * Building an unsexy product through fulfilling a real need * How MATBOCK is run like a private equity group * Working with distributors, the government, and procurement officers * The challenges of distribution * How Sean goes through the process of product development * How Sean is handling the manufacturing side of the business * Why Sean decided to become a Navy SEAL * What Hell Week is actually like as a Navy SEAL and Sean's biggest struggle making it through * How Sean's Navy SEAL experience influences how he runs MATBOCK * Team building and how Sean has grown his team at MATBOCK * The biggest adjustment going from a Navy SEAL to an entrepreneur * How Sean recharges away from work
Links from the Episode * NSW * Cole Zucker * Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business * The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
Swupnil Sahai is the Co-Founder & CEO of SwingVision and previously worked on the autopilot team at Tesla. SwingVision is building A.I. for athletes. Their app provides real-time, on-device video analysis and coaching using proprietary A.I. on just a single smartphone. They were recently featured in the Apple 2020 Fall Keynote event and are backed by investors Andy Roddick, James Blake and Techstars.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Swupnil Sahai and SwingVision * SwingVision * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook
Some of the Topics Covered by Swupnil Sahai in this Episode * Getting featured in the Apple Keynote * What SwingVision is and how it got started * Pivoting from an Apple Watch app to an app for your iPhone or tablet * Making a decision to leave Tesla to start SwingVision * Swupnil's experience working on the autopilot team at Tesla... 10 feet from Elon Musk's desk * Why Swupnil's parents were so supportive of his decision to leave Tesla and start SwingVision * Getting Andy Roddick and James Blake as investors in SwingVision * How Swupnil explains such a technical product to people who aren't experts * How Swupnil has gone about customer acquisition * The team behind SwingVision and how Swupnil has grown it over time * Prioritization and how Swupnil looks at who to partner with * Swupnil's experience in the Techstars accelerator and why he decided to go through it in the first place * How Swupnil iterates on the product itself to make it easier to use * Gamification and how they implement it with SwingVision * How Swupnil consistently gathers user feedback for SwingVision * Pricing and how Swupnil figured it out for SwingVision so far * The transition from employee to founder * What Swupnil learned from Elon Musk * Some of Swupnil's favorite books
Links from the Episode * Tesla * Andy Roddick * James Blake * Techstars SportsTech Accelerator * Tennis Australia * Strava * Superhuman Product-Market Fit * Zero to One * The Lean Startup
Tom is the CEO and Co-founder of GameSense Sports. For the past decade, Tom has been designing and building sports-related technologies. He helped build several sport technology companies serving as Director of Product Development for Cyton8 Sports and NeuroSport Performance. He was Director of Sports Science and Performance at Elite Sports Services as well. He has helped develop multiple devices and software designed to test and train high-speed decision-making, situational decision-making, attention and autonomic control. Tom played college football at Humboldt State University. Following college, Tom was invited to play and later coach in the European football leagues. When Tom isn’t chasing around a very active 3-year old he enjoys playing music, gardening, biking, hiking and snowboarding.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Tom Pardikes and GameSense Sports * GameSense Sports * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook
Some of the Topics Covered by Tom Pardikes in this Episode * What GameSense is and how it got started * How Tom started working with professional sports teams * What the MVP for GameSense Sports looked like * How Tom financed the company initially * Why Tom decided to go through the Techstars accelerator with GameSense Sports and the traction they had prior to applying * The business model behind GameSense Sports * How Tom is going about educating potential customers for his product * The importance of creating a unique metric for GameSense Sports * Building trust with customers * How Tom looks at expanding into other sports besides baseball and softball * The factors Tom is considering when deciding which markets to expand into * The biggest challenge of being a first-time founder * Impactful books for Tom * How Tom recharges away from work
Links from the Episode * Duolingo * Holger Seim * Techstars * Eric Cressey * Todd Durkin * How to Win Friends and Influence People * What You Do Is Who You Are * The Art of War * Blinkist * Zach Evans
Tara Viswanathan is the Co-Founder & CEO of Rupa Health, a functional medicine platform streamlining the process of specialty labs for practitioners.
Connect with Tara Viswanathan and Rupa Health * Rupa Health * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook
Some of the Topics Covered by Tara Viswanathan in this Episode * What Rupa Health is and how it started * The initial iteration of Rupa Health * How Tara initially got people on the Rupa Health platform * How Tara got the first prototype for Rupa Health built for only $800 * Tara's business model for Rupa Health initially and how this was one of her biggest "mistakes" * Tara's troubles in raising her Seed round and how raising a Pre-Seed round was actually a blessing * Tara's experience raising a $250K Pre-Seed Round * Conversations around splitting up equity and why Tara changed her mind after initially decided an amount * Why relative equity is more important than absolute percentages * How Tara is approaching growing Rupa Health today * Tara's approach to hiring as she scales her company * How Tara takes care of her own mental health * Tara's journaling routine and how it helps her * Tara's experience working with Wim Hof
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Sam Caucci is the Founder & CEO of 1Huddle. He has a firm belief that everybody that works hard deserves access to a job that prepares them and skills them up for work.
His product is helping companies across the globe to make training more fun, effective and accessible for their entire workforce.
1Huddle is a workforce training platform that's getting people ready to work using quick-burst games. Leading the charge to help organizations, across the globe, better prepare their people for the workforce. Clients across multiple sectors including professional sports teams, politics/government, hospitality, retail, automotive, college/universities, and more.
Featured on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, SKY News, Yahoo! Finance, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal.
Clients include: vineyard vines, Loews Hotels, ESPN, Audible (an Amazon Company), Novartis, UEFA, Madison Square Garden, the City of Newark, and more.
They are proud to be supported by some of the world's best VC's and investors, including 500 Startups and Tribeca Venture Partners.
Connect with Sam Caucci and 1Huddle * 1Huddle * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram * YouTube * Facebook
Some of the Topics Covered by Sam Caucci in this Episode * What 1Huddle is and how it started * The customer discovery phase of 1Huddle and why Sam started with professional sports teams * How Sam went about getting the tech talent to build his platform and why he started with an offshore dev team * The business model of 1Huddle and how Sam grew the company through bootstrapping initially * What the initial version of 1Huddle looked like * How Sam adapts the platform to each company that uses it * Why Sam decided to go through the 500 Startups accelerator and what he learned from the experience * Raising a seed round within 4 months of completing 500 Startups * When Sam decided to bring the technical talent in-house * Sam's experience as a solo founder * Customer acquisition strategy * The land and expand strategy Sam uses on the sales front * Setting up a sales team for 1Huddle * Building a hiring pipeline with local universities * How Sam figured out his ideal customer profile * The biggest challenges Sam is thinking about today * How Sam invests in himself as a founder and why he's read 70 books in the last year * Sam's book suggestions * Understanding what your own personal mission statement and values are
Links from the Episode * Monumental sports * 500 Startups * Y Combinator * Techstars * Goodmylk * Crossing the Chasm * Iman Abuzeid * 7 Habits of Highly Effective People * The Art of War * Long Walk to Freedom * His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope * Malcolm X * Hardcore History
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Dr. Iman Abuzeid is the Co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health, a career marketplace whose custom matching technology offers hospitals the fastest, most effective way to hire qualified permanent nursing staff. By 2024, the United States is poised to experience its biggest employment crisis to date, a shortage of one million nurses, putting patient care in jeopardy and hospitals at risk of significant financial loss. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the nursing shortage, highlighting the need for qualified nurses across the country.
Incredible Health is on a mission to reinvent the hospital and healthcare staffing landscape, helping to solve the nursing shortage. As a former medical doctor whose immediate family includes three surgeons, Iman understands the importance of helping healthcare professionals find and do their best work. Incredible Health is based in San Francisco, backed by top tier venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and is used by hundreds of leading hospitals across the country, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Stanford Healthcare, Baylor Scott & White and many more. Dr. Abuzeid holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Connect with Iman Abuzeid and Incredible Health * Incredible Health * Incredible Health's Newly Enhanced Platform * Free continuing education units * Free nurse salary estimator * LinkedIn * Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Iman Abuzeid in this Episode * How Incredible Health got started * Being 1 million nurses short in the U.S. by 2024 * How Iman figured out what the initial version of Incredible Health would be * Creating a solution that's 10x better than what's currently available * How Iman met her co-founder, Rome, and the conversation around going into business together * How Iman thought through the equity split early on * Raising a few hundred thousand dollars from friends and family to get Incredible Health off the ground * Raising a $2.4M Seed Round in 2-3 months after going through the NFX accelerator * Raising a $15M Series A in 4-5 weeks led by Jeff Jordan at Andreessen Horowitz * Iman's advice for fundraising and creating a process and how her own skills evolved * How Iman brought on the first hospitals through cold-calling * The MVP of Incredible Health and why you have to fight the urge to ship perfection * How the team has grown for Incredible Health * The values of Incredible Health and how it's part of everything they do * How Incredible Health uses customer insights to develop their platform, operations, and marketing * Why Incredible Health offers free continuing education for every nurse in the country * How Iman thinks through the products and tools they're going to provide to their customers * The sales process of getting hospitals on their platform * The 3 biggest value adds of the investors Iman has for Incredible Health * Questions that Iman asked of CEOs for reference checks on investors * How Iman takes care of her own mental health and why she has a therapist * How getting an MBA from Wharton impacted Iman's journey as an entrepreneur * Books and blogs that Iman recommends * How Iman recharges away from work and why she doesn't work on Saturdays * Iman's experience as a minority woman founder * Diversity debt
Links from the Episode * Rome Portlock * NFX * Jeff Jordan * Andreessen Horowitz * Obvious Ventures * signal.nfx.com * James Joaquin * The Hard Thing About Hard Things * Who (A book on hiring) * Above the Crowd by Bill Gurley * Stephanie Lampkin * Blendoor
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Jack O'Holleran, Co-Founder and CEO of SKALE Labs, is a technology entrepreneur focused on blockchain and decentralized systems.
SKALE is solving the blockchain scalability problem by facilitating processing between blockchains and decentralized applications, helping the ecosystem run hundreds of millions of smart contracts and transactions per second.
Jack also maintains a strategic advisor role at Aktana which he co-founded in 2008. Aktana is the leading SaaS sales and marketing analytics platform for global life science companies.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Jack O'Holleran * SKALE Labs * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Jack O'Holleran in this Episode * What Skale Labs is and how Jack decided to start it * The idea of a user-owned economy * What drew Jack into the world of cryptocurrency * How Jack grew his team and brought his CTO on board * Raising a $10M financing round and how Jack learned not to grow too fast * The business model behind SKALE as a user-owned network * What the SKALE token is and how it works * The challenges in making the vision for SKALE Labs a reality * Bringing on a number of math-focused engineers from Ukrain * The differences in growth from Aktana and what Jack is doing at SKALE Labs * Jack's advice for other entrepreneurs on fundraising * Using investors as a barometer for your company * Equity splits and how Jack thinks about them * How Jack manages the short term and long term within SKALE Labs * What led Jack to leave his company, Aktana, and start something new * The difficulty in leaving a company you originally started * Jack's book suggestions
Links from the Episode * Aktana * SaaStr * Mike Maples * Floodgate * Rick Thompson * Signia Venture Partners * Stan Kladko * Cole Zucker * Hey Hero * Game of Thrones * Dune Series * Foundation Series
Brooke Harris is the Founder & CEO of Goodmylk Co. While living in L.A., the supposed “health food capital” of the U.S., Brooke’s health deteriorated for a period of time. Brooke decided to turn to an alternative, plant-based diet as a form of healing medicine.
But to her surprise, she found her effort to ‘eat healthier’ was actually making her sicker. Through research, Brooke found that many of the binders, thickeners, emulsifiers and preservatives in otherwise “healthy” food were unnecessary and unhealthy. It was then that Brooke realized that she would have to create that ‘something better’.
Brooke began to experiment with real food recipes that led to her own health transformation, and she wanted to share her passion with others.
She went on to create GOODMYLKCO., a game-changing, industry disrupting plant-based milk product for the masses. Of course, it was not all smooth-sailing. When Brooke initially presented her idea to industry insiders and investors, it was met with skepticism on all fronts.
They told her there is ‘good reason’ companies with scale do things a certain way (read:compromise the integrity of the product). For Brooke, this was not an option. She was hellbent on better.
After many months of trial and error, Brooke finally developed a proprietary flash-blast freezing technique that allowed her to scale without compromising the nutritional integrity or flavor of her plant milks. And now, GOODMYLKCO. plant milks will soon be available nationwide.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Brooke Harris * Goodmylk Co. * LinkedIn * Instagram * Goodmylk Co. Instagram
Some of the Topics Covered by Brooke Harris in this Episode * What Goodmylk Co. is and how it got started * The difficulties in creating high-quality almond milk * How Brooke got started in a local farmer's market * Why Brooke tested blast-freezing to create her product * Brooke's traction with Goodmylk co. before she raised funding * Raising $500K in her first round of funding after bootstrapping initially with just $1,500 in the bank * Brooke's distribution strategy early on with Goodmylk Co. * The use of funds for the initial $500K that Brooke raised * How Brooke was able to get products into Blue Bottle Coffee and Soho House * The differences in Brooke's first round of funding to her second round * How Goodmylk evolved after the second round of funding and how Brooke shifted to a more scalable model * The educational component of creating healthy plant-based products * How the distribution strategy and customer acquisition strategy has evolved for Goodmylk Co. * The challenges that COVID presented for Brooke and her company * How Brooke thinks about new product development * The importance of timing in launching a new product * How Brooke has gone about building her team for Goodmylk Co. and how Predictive Index has been useful for her in the hiring process * How Brooke looks at competition in her industry * What Brooke does to recharge away from work
Links from the Episode * Blue Bottle Coffee * Masters of Scale * Vanessa Dew * Soho House * Jesse Scheff * Predictive Index * Jordi Hays * Purple Cow * Crossing the Chasm * Food Fix
Jordi Hays is the Co-Founder & CEO of Likewise, the end-to-end platform to find and work with the world's best creatives.
Connect with Jordi Hays * Likewise * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram
Some of the Topics Covered by Jordi Hays in this Episode * How Jordi decided to start Likewise and focus on the needs of eCommerce companies * The pain point of accessing creative talent * The initial version of Likewise and bootstrapping for the first 6 months * Growing 100% MoM, multiple months in a row * The business model and pricing behind Likewise * Getting their first freelancer to earn $100,000 through the platform in their first 6 months * The customer acquisition strategy of Likewise * Hitting a $1M run rate without any outbound sales or marketing * How Jordi decided to raise outside capital for Likewise * The importance of founder-market fit * Closing a pre-seed round of funding during the global pandemic * Equity splits and founder agreements * The brand experience when working with Likewise * How Jordi is looking at which creators to bring on the Likewise platform * Use of funds for the pre-seed round of funding for Likewise * The evolution of Co-Founder roles for Jordi and Matt * Jordi's book suggestion * What Jordi's day-to-day looks like in the time of COVID
Links from the Episode * Matt Jung * Jyri Engeström * Y Combinator * Science * Zero Grocery * Dumpling * Holger Seim * Blinkist * Built to Sell * Loom
Jyri Engeström is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Yes VC, an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco. They invest in the pre-seed and seed stages of companies set in motion by social movements.
In his previous role at True Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, he invested in e.g. Iceye, building a constellation of radar satellites to track climate change. As an angel investor he's invested in Moves (acquired by Facebook), Applifier (acquired by Unity), Betabrand, Oura and others.
As an entrepreneur, he has founded, grown, and negotiated the acquisition of two mobile consumer companies: Jaiku, a mobile social network acquired by Google; and Ditto, a mobile local recommendations app acquired by Groupon.
As an executive, he has run product teams. At Google, he was the product manager responsible for the Gmail mobile app, Mobile Calendar, and Google's social networking efforts. At Groupon, he was Director of Product Management on the executive team that started and grew Groupon’s point-of-sale and payments businesses. He was the Head of Product at Boosted, an electric vehicle company that created the Boosted Board electric skateboard. At Nokia, he was Sr. Product Manager of Internet Handhelds.
He is also co-founder of Sesat School, a micro-school in San Francisco; and serve on the board of the Rare Cancer Research Foundation. He also co-owns a café in Helsinki.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Jyri Engeström * Yes VC * Twitter * LinkedIn * partners@yes.vc
Some of the Topics Covered by Jyri in this Episode * How Jyri decided to start Yes VC in 2018 with his life partner, Caterina Fake * Why Yes VC is focused on social movements * Making 20 investments and the $13M Fund he ended up raising * The check size of Yes VC of $250K - $1.5M w/ the smallest bet of $30K * How Jyri is managing his deal flow for Yes VC and what's happening in the early-stage venture capital world * "Mango Seed" rounds of funding as a trend in VC * The $6M fund of Rahul Vohra and $6.7M fund of Chris Sacca * The dynamic of smaller funds and who they invest in * Why 3 of 5 investments of Yes VC were invested at the moment of founding * Finding potential founders before they even start companies and why Yes VC seeds ideas in smart people * COVID in the town of Bolinas and they offered testing for ALL the residents * The diligence process at Yes VC and why they focus on founder-product fit * How many deals Jyri is looking at and what entrepreneurs need to understand about venture capitalists * Why 50% of their investments are from their founder network or early angel investors looking for early-stage funds to lead the round * "The obligatory point of passage" * Why Jyri believes the best founders now are building portfolios * Jyri's experience starting and selling Jaiku to Google * Selling his second company, Ditto, to Groupon
Links from the Episode * True Ventures * Caterina Fake * Etsy * Kickstarter * Jerry Yang * Phil Black * Jon Callaghan * Founders Fund * Rahul Vohra * Chris Sacca * Entrepreneur First * Y Combinator * Blue Bottle Coffee * Reconnect * Softbank * Jack Dorsey * Indie Hackers * Andrew Mason * Descript
Matthew Stoudt is the CEO and Co-Founder of AppliedVR where he is pioneering virtual reality therapeutics (VRx), the next generation of digital therapeutics. Leveraging the unique therapeutic properties of VR, AppliedVR is on a mission to enable patients with chronic pain to improve their lives through safe, effective and self-administered VRx. AppliedVR is backed by leading institutions including the NIH via the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the VA, Cedars-Sinai, Cleveland Clinic, Geisinger and over 150 other institutions.
Matthew is an accomplished entrepreneur who founded and built Outcast Media, the largest out of home digital media platform in the US, exiting to Verifone in 2014. Prior to Outcast, Matthew was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at McDonald’s where he launched several successful businesses including a digital media platform in multiple countries. Matthew began his professional career in investment banking and private equity, having raised over $1 billion in growth capital for a variety of businesses across multiple sectors. Matthew earned his MBA at Kellogg Graduate School of Business graduating with honors and his BA from Northwestern University. Matthew is an avid traveler with a mission to visit every country in the world...if COVID will let him.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Matthew Stoudt * AppliedVR * LinkedIn * Twitter * AppliedVR LinkedIn * AppliedVR Instagram * AppliedVR Twitter * AppliedVR Facebook * AppliedVR YouTube * Matthew@appliedvr.io
Some of the Topics Covered by Matthew Stoudt in this Episode * How AppliedVR got started * How Matthew's wife sitting next to the CMO of Magic Leap on an airplane led Matthew to get into the world of VR * What Matthew did to get AppliedVR off the ground * Why the greatest impact for VR in healthcare is getting a device into patients' homes * The impact of COVID on healthcare * How Matthew has gone about building his team for AppliedVR * Building the experience of AppliedVR's chronic pain platform * Creating a proprietary biodata platform and transferring the experience into VR * Combining hardware and software to create a solution for pain management * Learnings from working with 60,000 patients and sending over 1,000 devices into patients' homes * How Matthew and his team have gotten AppliedVR into the hands of as many patients as possible * Partnerships and how they have helped AppliedVR build a trustworthy brand * Why you have to tap into the entire healthcare ecosystem if you want to create real change * Meeting an unmet need for patients, providers, and payers * The fundraising process for AppliedVR and how they raised $23M * Why it's important to be able to tell a compelling narrative * New technology and how that impacts Matthew's vision for AppliedVR * Why Matthew believes AppliedVR can become the CVS of VR * How Matthew's time is spent day-to-day at AppliedVR
Links from the Episode * Magic Leap * Oculus * Real change through virtual reality * IASP * Pico * Cedars-Sinai * American Chronic Pain Association * Beth Darnall
Holger Seim is the Co-Founder and CEO of Blinkist. Founded in 2012 by four friends, Blinkist now connects 15 million readers worldwide to the biggest ideas from bestselling nonfiction via 15-minute audio and text.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Holger Seim * Blinkist * LinkedIn * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram
Some of the Topics Covered by Holger Seim in this Episode * What Blinkist is and how they're helping people fit more learning into their lives * How Holger and his co-founders chose Blinkist over other ideas * What Holger did first to get Blinkist off the ground * How Blinkist raised money in 2012 without a product * How Holger chooses which books to "blink" and what the blinks would include * How Blinkist works with freelancers to breakdown books and why they look for subject matter experts * How Holger and his team make each blink more engaging * The legalities of the Blinkist business model * Why Blinkist partners with authors and publishers and isn't cannibalizing book sales * The challenges of book discovery * The evolution of the Blinkist business model and how they look at pricing * Early customer acquisition for Blinkist * How Holger looks at allocation between different acquisition channels * Deciding which influencers to work with * Why testing is so important when creating a startup * How Holger uses the Blinkist web app as a customer acquisition tool for the Blinkist app * How the main call-to-action on the Blinkist homepage has evolved and why they offer a free trial now * Holger seeing someone use Blinkist in real life for the first time * Understanding how businesses actually impact people * Company culture and how Holger's upbringing has impacted it * Raising funds initially for Blinkist (150,000 Euros) * The difference between raising your initial round of funding and subsequent rounds * Some of the questions investors ask when you're raising a later round of funding * How Holger and his co-founders looked at splitting equity and the roles between the founders * Holger's approach to hiring and why he recommends hiring an HR generalist early on for a startup * "Rich vs. King," and why Holger and his Co-Founders veer towards keeping control * Holger's goal of reading 24 books in the year * How COVID-19 has impacted Blinkist
Links from the Episode * Goodreads * The New York Times Best Sellers * Outbrain * Taboola * Hubble Contacts * Mindset: The New Psychology of Success * What You Do Is Who You Are
Omar Zenhom is the co-founder and CEO of WebinarNinja. Founded in 2014, over a million people have attended a webinar on WebinarNinja, and it has been named as one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies in 2018.
Omar is also is the host of the iTunes Best of 2014 podcast, The $100 MBA Show. With over 130 million downloads and over 1,600 episodes, The $100 MBA Show is ranked as a top business podcast in over 30 countries.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Omar Zenhom * The $100 MBA * The $100 MBA Show on Apple Podcasts * WebinarNinja * WebinarnNinja Course * WebinarNinja Facebook * WebinarNinja Twitter * LinkedIn * Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Omar Zenhom in this Episode * How Omar started The $100 MBA Show * Omar's 1st podcast, with 46 episodes of "People Who Know Their Shit" * The importance of leveraging your strengths * How Omar knew his first show was a failure and he decided to pivot * Omar's experience at New Media Expo and how it influenced him starting a podcast * The first few months of The $100 MBA Show and why Omar recorded the first 5 episodes multiple times * Why Omar launched The $100 MBA Show with 30 episodes already recorded * Growing to 10,000 downloads/episode after a few months of The $100 MBA Show launch * Getting to 1,600+ episodes with 120,000 downloads/episode * The importance of just getting started * How Omar doubled down on the podcast and why he took voice lessons * Why being consistent and focusing on the quality of the show is everything for growing a podcast * How Omar and his team craft their curriculum for their show * Why Omar decided to start WebinarNinja * Building a SaaS company and how Omar builds his team * The "CEO mode" and the "worker bee mode" as a founder * Growing the podcast to 130 million total downloads * WebinarNinja's 300% growth in the last year * Why Omar hasn't gotten bored after doing more than 1,600 podcast episodes * The dynamic of running a business with your life partner * How Omar recharges outside of work and why snowboarding is such a good activity to get immersed in * Omar's advice for other entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Nicole Baldinu * New Media Expo * Gary Vaynerchuk * Tim Ferriss * Pat Flynn * Jordan Harbinger * Entrepreneurs on Fire * WordPress * Steve Jobs Biography * Elon Musk Biography * Allison Ferenci * The Hard Thing About Hard Things * Zero to One * Shoe Dog * Essentialism * Steal the Show * I Can't Make This Up * A Life in Parts * Open
Allison Ferenci is the co-founder and CEO of Camera IQ, the world's first augmented reality platform for camera marketing. Camera IQ unites the camera ecosystem to enable brands create and deliver captivating AR experiences at scale.
Allison has been creating new realities since she started her dual MFA in Interior Design and Digital Interactive Art at Pratt Institute. Exploring the intersection between design, architecture and human interaction, Allison became interested in how technology could bridge our online and offline worlds.
In 2016, Allison founded Camera IQ on the thesis that the camera is no longer just the camera. Camera IQ helps brands build new interactive experiences that captivate audiences. Since inception, they have worked with major brands and are in partnership talks with major platforms.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Allison Ferenci * Camera IQ * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Snapchat * Medium * LinkedIn * Allison on Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Allison Ferenci in this Episode * Allison's background and how it led to her starting Camera IQ * Meeting her co-founder, Sonia Tsao and her advice on what to look for in a co-founder * The original business model for Camera IQ and how it has evolved * Determining their pricing model * Being in category creation * Why Allison recommends bootstrapping at the beginning * The challenges of fundraising as female founders and what Allison learned from the experience * Early customer acquisition and exploring different verticals * Hiring technical employees as non-technical founders * How Allison approaches product development * Camera IQ's relationship with different platforms * Different use cases for Camera IQ, and how COVID has expanded opportunities * How Allison views the future of AR * How Allison sees success and failure * Allison's book recommendations * How Allison recharges away from work * Allison's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Adobe * Figma * #131: Olivia Owens, Creator and General Manager of IFundWomen of Color and Head of Partnerships at IFundWomen, a Platform for Female Entrepreneurs to Raise Capital Through Crowdfunding * Shasta Ventures * Marketo * Twilio * Salesforce * NEW INC (New Museum) * Andy Weissman at Union Square Ventures * Spotify * Neiman Marcus * Refinery29 * R/GA * New York Fashion Tech Lab * Atlantic Records * Republic Records * Interscope Records * Software development kit * Bumble * Snapchat * Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge * Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert * The Messy Middle by Scott Belsky * Daily Rituals by Mason Currey
Ryan Emmons is the co-founder and CEO of Waiakea, the first Hawaiian Volcanic Water of its kind. Waiakea's mission is to provide healthy, delicious, Hawaiian volcanic water to people throughout the world with as little impact as possible while contributing to and promoting conservation and access to clean water and education for people in need throughout the world.
This is embodied by Waiākea’s slogan “Drink Healthy, Drink Sustainably, Drink Ethically”. Waiākea volcanic water originates in Hawai’i through both snowmelt and rain on the pristine peak of the active Mauna Loa volcano, one of the purest environments on Earth. The water is then filtered through thousands of feet of porous volcanic rock that enriches Waiākea with a variety of trace minerals, making it electrolyte rich and naturally alkaline, before emerging at its source, surrounded by rich forest preserves just outside quiet Hilo town.
In accordance with the Hawaiian practice and notion of “malama i ka ‘aina”, meaning “to respect and care for the land”, Waiākea is also proud to be the first American premium bottled water and beverage to be certified Carbon Neutral for its variety of eco-initiatives, including using 100% RPET packaging, sustainable sourcing, and its regional reforestation projects. On top of this, every bottle bought guarantees funding through PumpAid.Org that provides over 650 liters of clean water to those in need in developing countries...Waiākea is truly unlike any other water on the planet.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Ryan Emmons * Waiakea * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Pinterest * Waiakea on Amazon * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Ryan Emmons in this Episode * How Ryan's Hawaiian roots led to him founding Waiakea * Becoming an entrepreneur * Starting Waiakea while at USC * Proving a differentiated product * Early informal fundraising and getting a loan * Building an ethical brand and a premium product * Finding their first distributor * Getting into Whole Foods * Attending trade shows * Expanding the business beyond natural channels into e-commerce, food service, convenient stores * Product placement within stores * Value alignment with distributors * Being the first 100% upcycled bottle company * The challenges of transitioning to their own production facility * Going from 50 to 90% OEE * Waiakea's social initiatives * How Ryan views fundraising * Prioritizing profitability and scalability * The value Ryan found in executive education * Overcoming challenges and what motivates Ryan
Links from the Episode * Santa Barbaraopoly * Undergraduate Entrepreneurship at USC Marshall * Rick's Running Water * Expo West Trade Show * SPINS * #124: Loren Brill, CEO & Founder of Sweet Loren’s, the Clean Food Company With Delicious Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Vegan Cookie Dough Available in 10,000+ Stores Nationwide * Wawa Convenience Stores * Shopify * Pump Aid * Entrepreneurs' Organization * Birthing of Giants * Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish * Scaling Up by Verne Harnish * #56: Rand Fishkin, Founder of SparkToro, Author of Lost and Founder, and Former Co-founder and CEO of Moz * YPO
Ronda Fraley is the founder of The Wine Party Co., making it easy to drink great wine and learn about it. Wine shouldn't be overwhelming. That's why Ronda created a digital wine platform that offers wines that are highly-curated, experiences that are ready-to-host, wine classes, and an inclusive community so that you can experience wine with confidence and without judgement. The Wine Party Co. came from the idea that good wine - which comes with a lot of confusion, uncertainty, and intimidation surrounding its many variations - can be made approachable. And give you a damn good reason to gather people together.
Ronda is not your typical wine pro and she didn't set out to recreate your typical wine experience. The company’s approachable and inclusive vibe is a reflection of her career spent in hospitality, creating memorable experiences for guests and employees alike. Ronda's certifications from the Court of Master Sommeliers and Wine & Spirits Education Trust show that she knows what she’s talking about, but it’s her passion for bringing people together that is changing the way you experience wine for the better. Her focus on a healthier lifestyle also guides her wine selections. It’s why you’ll always find organic wines from small producers who pour love into their vineyards and their wines.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Ronda Fraley * The Wine Party Co. * Instagram * Pinterest * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Ronda Fraley in this Episode * How Ronda got inspired to start The Wine Party Co. and how the idea evolved into what it is today * Going from passion project to full time entrepreneur * Why Ronda decided to bootstrap the business * Customer acquisition through networking * Why the freemium model has worked for Ronda * The business model for The Wine Party Co. * Low-budget marketing and exploring partnerships * What makes a good webinar * How Ronda is approaching growth for The Wine Party Co. * How Ronda views competition and what makes her company unique * How Ronda sources her wines from small businesses * Short term execution versus long term vision * The Wine Party Co.'s current traction * Expectations versus reality regarding entrepreneurship * Incorporating customer feedback * Ronda's book recommendations * How Ronda recharges away from work * The importance of adaptability * Ronda's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Dreamers & Doers * Female Founders Collective * Women Who Love Wine * Key Ingredient * Simply LaKita * To taste * Slack * #59: Austin Rief, Co-Founder and COO of Morning Brew, on Growing to Over 1 Million Newsletter Subscribers * Beaune Imports * Farm Wine Imports * Rinascimento Wine Co. * Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
Shahira Marei is the Founder and CEO of The Dirty Cookie, which sells custom branded cookies in shot glass form that you can fill with any beverage you’d like. Their customizable cookie shots combine all of your favorite things about an after-school snack into a dish-free, premium dessert experience.
Shahira is an Egyptian American who was raised in Orange County, California. She started her career as an aerospace project manager at The Boeing Company and holds an MBA in management and a bachelors in marketing from California State University Fullerton. In 2015, five months after giving birth to her daughter, Shahira started her first business, The Dirty Cookie. The Dirty Cookie was the first company in the world to innovate a new way to drink your milk from your cookie, creating a custom cookie cup. The Dirty Cookie has been featured on Business Insider, The Today Show, FOX news, The Food Network, The Cooking Channel and much more. Shahira is passionate about bringing people and communities together and in 2018 founded a nonprofit in Southern California, LEAP (League of Egyptian American Professionals) to bring the Young Egyptian American Professionals together.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Shahira Marei * The Dirty Cookie * Facebook * Instagram * Pinterest * Twitter * LinkedIn * welcome@thedirtycookieoc.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Shahira Marei in this Episode * What The Dirty Cookie is * Where Shahira got her entrepreneurial spirit from at a young age * Leaving Boeing to start The Dirty Cookie * Signing a 5-year lease before having her business idea * The first steps Shahira took to start her business * The blessing and curse of being naive as an entrepreneur * How Shahira managed financially and the early surprises as she was getting started * Knowing what kind of entrepreneur you are * Customer acquisition and marketing strategies for The Dirty Cookie * Juggling a full-time job, being a new founder, and having a baby * Expanding into online distribution, catering, and wholesale * Deciding to close down the storefront * The challenges of e-commerce * How COVID has affected The Dirty Cookie and how Shahira has adapted the business * Shahira's plan to transition from bootstrapping to fundraising * How Shahira has been approaching new product development * Shahira's podcast and book recommendations * How Shahira recharges away from work * Shahira's meditation and journaling practices * The biggest lessons Shahira has learned along the way and her advice for entrepreneurs * Shahira's support system
Links from the Episode * Boeing * The Dirty Cookie on Business Insider * The Dirty Cookie on The Food Network * The Dirty Cookie on The Cooking Channel * The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas * The Dirty Cookie on The Today Show * How I Built This with Guy Raz on NPR (podcast) * Good to Great by Jim Collins * The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod * Transcendental Meditation * The Silva Method of Meditation * One Line a Day Journal * Entrepreneurs' Organization * Tory Burch Fellows * Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Jesse Scheff is the Founder and CEO of Easyupp, an online platform that allows a salesperson to sell a car from any dealership. EasyUpp is dedicated to providing great dealers and salespeople a platform to help more customers. Built on relationships, Easyupp believes that the people are the purpose. If a salesperson has a customer that wants to buy from them, they should never be limited by inventory. Easyupp provides salespeople a way to help that customer at any dealership and provide dealerships with customers they would have never reached otherwise.
Jesse is the President of National Auto Dealers Association class, and likes to approach old challenges in new ways. He is a 3x Ford Triple Crown Award Winner--awarded to only 21 dealers nationally, and he doubled year over year departmental profit and pushed annual sales well over $200 million.
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Connect with Jesse Scheff * EasyUpp * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn * Jesse on Twitter * jesse@easyupp.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Jesse Scheff in this Episode * What is EasyUpp and the pain point it is designed to solve * The first steps Jesse took to start EasyUpp * Early customer discovery * From being a one-man show to finding a co-founder * What the EasyUpp platform started as and how it has evolved * EasyUpp's business model and determining pricing * Onboarding sales people and dealership partners * Geographic expansion and growth * Early bootstrapping and Jesse's advice for early-stage fundraising * Networking to find investors * Determining use of funds * Figuring out when to utilize prior industry experience and when to set assumptions aside * Jesse's resource recommendations and consuming relevant content * The biggest challenges Jesse has faced on his entrepreneurial journey * The effect COVID has had on Easyupp and the automotive industry
Links from the Episode * #134: Zuleyka Strasner, Founder and CEO of Zero, on Building a Convenient Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Service, Becoming the Largest Sustainability Platform in the U.S., and Growing 15X in 5 Months * Akimbo with Seth Godin (podcast) * Seth Godin's Startup School (podcast) * Y Combinator resources * The Twenty Minute VC with Harry Stebbings (podcast) * This Week in Startups (podcast) * Zero to One by Peter Thiel * The Lean Startup by Eric Ries * Tim Ferriss on learning * Slack * Carvana
Peter Davis is the founder and CEO of Ampjar, a karmic advertising community that helps small brands to acquire customers through a fast and simple exchange of shout outs.
Prior to running Ampjar, Pete ran a social and digital media agency which worked with household name brands in 6 countries. Pete sold the business to Private Equity in 2017. Pete is based out of Melbourne Australia where he lives with his wife Maria and 5 year-old twin girls. He plays soccer though admits his dreams of ever pulling on the shirt of his boyhood club Norwich City have probably gone, though it depends how bad they can actually get!
Connect with Peter Davis * Ampjar * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook * LinkedIn * Pete on Twitter * pete@ampjar.com
This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media and Toptal. More on both of them below.
Some of the Topics Covered by Peter Davis in this Episode * How Peter got started with Ampjar * The business model for Ampjar * How their pricing model has evolved over the years * Deciding to fund-raise for Ampjar * Getting hand-picked by Jason Calacanis to participate in the LAUNCH Accelerator * Peter's experience going through the accelerator and fundraising * The sacrifices made by the partners and families of entrepreneurs * Deciding to build a remote team * Customer acquisition and Ampjar's scouting program * How Ampjar's network works and the application and onboarding process * The challenges of being a network effect company * Ampjar's current traction * How Peter maintains relationships with investors * How Ampjar has supported its community during COVID * The big vision for Ampjar * How Peter's previous experience running a social and digital media agency has impacted how he runs Ampjar * Peter's book recommendations * How Peter recharges away from work
Links from the Episode * Jason Calacanis * LAUNCH Accelerator * #134: Zuleyka Strasner, Founder and CEO of Zero, on Building a Convenient Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Service, Becoming the Largest Sustainability Platform in the U.S., and Growing 15X in 5 Months * Chip Meakem at Tribeca Venture Partners * Slack * Zoom * Basecamp * Canva * Who Gives A Crap * Turning the Flywheel by Jim Collins * The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
About Our Partners This episode is brought to you by Hawke Media. Hawke Media is a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA, providing guidance, planning, and execution to grow brands of all sizes, industries, and business models.
Hawke Media was recognized by Inc. as the country's fastest-growing marketing consultancy and is proudly one of Glassdoor's "Best Places to Work", 2019 #893 on the Forbes 5000 list, UpCity Top Los Angeles Digital Marketing Agency. Hawke’s collaborative process, à la carte offering, and month-to-month fee structure give clients the flexibility they need to boost digital revenues and marketing ROI.
Hawke Media The company has serviced over 1500 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba.
Listen to our interview with Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, in episode 23 of the Just Go Grind Podcast.
This episode is also brought to you by Toptal. Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers in the world. Top companies hire Toptal freelancers for their most important projects.
Michael Cannavo is the co-founder and CMO of Super73, an American lifestyle and transportation company that designs, manufactures, and distributes one of a kind California branded electric motorbikes. After a successful launch on Kickstarter in 2016, the SUPER73 brand has quickly grown into one of the most recognizable two-wheeled electric vehicle brands in the world, with a passionate customer base that includes the likes of Will Smith, Jaime Foxx, and Madonna. Based in Orange County, California, Super73's mission is to build the world's best electric motorbikes and cultivate a passionate community while providing an exceptional customer experience.
Michael specializes in viral marketing, social media content, and influencer partnerships. In the brief moments that his life isn't isn't revolving around the bright sun of Super73, he hosts a sci-fi podcast accompanied by multiple social media accounts.
Connect with Michael Cannavo * Super73 * Instagram * YouTube * Super73 on Kickstarter * LinkedIn * Michael on Instagram * Rexin Around
Some of the Topics Covered by Michael Cannavo in this Episode * How Super73 got started * Viral marketing and connecting with influencers * Fundraising through Kickstarter and raising half a million dollars in 30 days * Figuring out early manufacturing with 3 employees after suddenly selling 600 bikes * Being the first of their kind * Maintaining growth after going viral * Shifting to overseas manufacturing * Becoming a community brand * Product development and Super73's current product offerings * Challenges with distribution and developing a European version of the brand * Developing authentic relationships * The biggest challenge they've faced in growing Super73, especially during COVID * From bootstrapping to raising their Series A and how Michael sees fundraising moving forward * The challenges of being a manufacturing startup * The Super73 App and what's next for the company * The big vision for Super73 * Michael's book recommendations * Michael's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Casey Neistat's Super73 video * Kickstarter * Designboom * New Atlas (previously Gizmag) * Hypebeast * Wefunder * StartEngine * Jesse Wellens on YouTube * Rose Ave Super73 * Andy Milonakis on YouTube * #168: Dejan Pralica, Co-Founder and CEO of SoleSavy, an Exclusive Sneaker Community, on Content Creation, Becoming the Amazon Prime for Sneakers, Building an Authentic Community, and Being a Sneakerhead * Boosted * Stance * Super73 App * Peloton * Purple Cow by Seth Godin * Jesse and Casey's Star Wars Speeder video
Keith Putnam-Delaney is the founder and CEO of Primer, an intelligence layer for B2B marketing which enriches leads, matches them cross-platform, and orchestrates workflows. First Primer pulls in rich information about your target customers and gives you the ability to easily construct multi-channel campaigns, seamlessly moving data between ad networks, social platforms, sales tools, and more. Then they layer in intent data – which signals that an account is interested in your product. Machine learning will help you constantly refine your efforts. Primer unites your marketing and sales teams making it easier than ever to fill your top of funnel.
Keith geeks out about B2B marketing/sales and is trying to make sense out of the incredibly fragmented tools and data companies have to deal with these days. His background is in customer acquisition. He started his career in brand and marketing strategy for Fortune 500 companies (Harley Davidson, Cigna, JPMorgan, etc.), before helping build out the Dropbox for Business marketing team. Then he led growth at Eden Technologies (YC15) where he helped 4x revenue in 24 months running sales and marketing.
Connect with Keith Putnam-Delaney * Primer * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Keith Putnam-Delaney in this Episode * What Primer is * Keith's experience working in marketing for DropBox and building the brand for their enterprise product * DropBox's shifting sales and customer acquisition strategies * Owned versus paid marketing channels * Brand and content marketing * Transitioning from DropBox to early-stage startup Eden * Keith's experience as Head of Growth at Eden * Navigating different marketing channels and determining which is best for your business * The marketing expertise Keith has developed over the years * How Keith views working at early-stage startups * How Keith developed the idea for and started Primer * "Dating" to find his co-founder * Keith's tool recommendations
Links from the Episode * Zapier * Hubspot * Outreach * DropBox * Reforge * Rand Fishkin on the Marketing Flywheel * Amplitude Analytics * Meero * Figma * SparkToro * Moz * Bomboro * RICE Model * SEM * Eden * ACV (Annual Contract Value) * Notion * Missive * Battlecard * Lemlist * Purple Sonar * Outbound Matters * Dashblock * Wiza * Apollo * ZoomInfo * Clearbit * Clerky * Product Hunt browser extension
Stephanie Lampkin is the founder and CEO of Blendoor, an AI and people analytics platform that helps companies hire and retain a diverse workforce by mitigating unconscious bias and leveraging big data and analytics to drive more meritocratic decision-making. Candidates are sourced from hundreds of strategic partners & universities and presented to recruiters without name, photo or dates. Then, Blendoor integrates with a company’s HR systems to track candidates based on demographics to identify where & how bias happens; this transparency drives accountability within orgs, teams, and even individual hiring managers. In addition to measuring bias, Blendoor provides metrics that demonstrate the ROI of diversity & inclusion initiatives. With data & AI, they aim to move the discussion from social good to business intelligent.
Stephanie has had a 15 year career in the tech industry founding two startups and working in technical roles at Lockheed, Microsoft, and TripAdvisor. She holds a BS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from MIT.
Connect with Stephanie Lampkin * Blendoor * YouTube * Twitter * Facebook * Instagram * LinkedIn * slampkin@blendoor.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Stephanie Lampkin in this Episode * How Stephanie taught herself coding at age 13 * What Blendoor is and what led Stephanie to found it * Stephanie's original vision for Blendoor and how it has pivoted and evolved into what it is today * How Stephanie created the idea at a hackathon * How Stephanie approaches customer acquisition * The early fundraising process for Blendoor and what she learned from it * The importance of relationship building * Product development as an AI SaaS B2B company * How Stephanie has defined her ideal customers and approached sales * Stephanie's move to Silicon Valley * Leveraging press and PR for sales * Building out the team for Blendoor * How Blendoor sources diverse talent * How Stephanie approaches partnerships for Blendoor * Identifying and onboarding clients that are ready to work with Blendoor * The importance of DE&I and getting companies to prioritize it * The challenge of fundraising as a black woman * The business model for Blendoor * The big vision for Blendoor * Stephanie's advice for entrepreneurs * How Stephanie recharges away from work * Stephanie's book recommendations * Stephanie's entrepreneurial experience founding Hoowenware prior to Blendoor * Deciding to get an MBA * How to get involved with Blendoor
Links from the Episode * Black Data Processing Associates * Hackathon * Blendoor on Fast Company * Blendoor on Forbes * Tech Inclusion Conference * Blendoor's BlendScore tool * National Black MBA Association * Society of Women Engineers * Anita Borg Institute * Grace Hopper Celebration * National Society of Black Engineers * Mellody Hobson on Corporate Diversity * #131: Olivia Owens, Creator and General Manager of IFundWomen of Color and Head of Partnerships at IFundWomen, a Platform for Female Entrepreneurs to Raise Capital Through Crowdfunding * IFundWomen of Color * Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell * Caste by Isabel Wilkerson * #143: Lillian Rafson, Founder and CEO of Pack Up + Go, a Travel Agency with Surprise Destinations, on Bootstrapping the Business, Planning 10,000+ Trips, and Running a Travel Company During the COVID Crisis * #121: Samantha Patil, Founder and CEO of Well Traveled, a Members Only Review Platform for Millennial Travelers
Emad Hasan is the co-founder and CEO of Retina, the customer intelligence partner that empowers businesses to maximize customer-level profitability and boost revenue with the earliest and most accurate customer lifetime value metrics. They use machine learning and data science to pinpoint your highest-value customers using the data you already collect — and deliver the insights you need to reach more just like them. Retina helps optimize businesses and increase valuation with action plans from their strategy consultants. Using deep analytics, they turn enterprise data into timely, actionable insights delivered to decision makers in a natural language narrative. Retina is a venture-backed startup located near the beach and third street promenade in beautiful Santa Monica. Their customers include Nestle, Capital One, Madison Reed, Backcountry.com, Brickell, and many others.
Emad possesses an extensive knowledge of entrepreneurship, data science, artificial intelligence, social media, and marketing. First and foremost, he is a technologist who likes solving people problems using data science, machine learning and software algorithms. He aligns with companies and causes that empower people, democratizes technology, and makes the world more of a meritocracy. He currently wears several leadership hats at Retina across the operations, product, and data science teams. Prior to joining Retina, Emad built and ran analytics teams at Facebook and PayPal. In addition to his work at Retina.AI, he is a blogger, speaker, startup advisor, and an outdoor adventurist. He enjoys spending time with his wife and son, as well as playing pickup beach volleyball in Santa Monica.
Connect with Emad Hasan * Retina * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * LinkedIn * Emad's blog
Some of the Topics Covered by Emad Hasan in this Episode * What Retina does * How Emad started Retina and how the business idea has evolved * Emad's background and experience working at Booz Allen Hamilton, Boeing, Facebook and PayPal * Adjusting from the context of resource-rich major companies to bootstrapping a startup and transitioning into entrepreneurship * Emad's experience failing and the lessons he has learned * Customer acquisition for Retina * Their approach to fundraising for Retina * Customer lifetime value and how Retina approaches it * Leveraging user data * Retina's target customers * The biggest challenges Emad has faced in building Retina and how he has tackled them * Educating the market about customer lifetime value * Retina's approach to talent acquisition * Product development from a data-driven approach and the importance of foresight * How Emad recharges away from work * Emad's book recommendations * Emad's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Dollar Shave Club * CoEfficient Labs * Naval Ravikant on Twitter * DARPA Grand Challenge * Crosscut * Luma Capital Partners * Comcast Ventures * Emad Hasan's tips for fundraising * Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker * Joe Rogan Podcast * The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz * What You Do is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz
Daniel Zakowski is the CEO of Ready, Set, Food!, a daily supplement that gently introduces your baby to peanut, egg, and milk, the three most common childhood food allergens. Studies have shown that this approach helps reduce the risk of developing allergies by up to 80%. Their system is simple: a pre-measured, allergist-developed daily packet that mixes in with breast milk, formula, or baby's first solid food, containing just three organic, non-GMO ingredients.
Ready Set, Food!'s team is a group of physicians, scientists, and parents who are passionate about ending the food allergy epidemic. Motivated by their own experiences, they set out to make it easy and safe for families to prepare their babies for food. The science is clear: early and sustained exposure to allergenic foods is needed, and the timing and amount matters! Ready, Set, Food! developed their system of early and sustained consumption of allergenic foods to allow busy families to give their infants the best chance to avoid developing food allergies.
Connect with Daniel Zakowski * Ready, Set, Food! * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Pinterest * Ready, Set, Food! on Amazon * LinkedIn * daniel@readysetfood.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Daniel Zakowski in this Episode * What Ready, Set, Food! is and why Daniel started it * The first steps Daniel took to get Ready, Set, Food! off the ground * Onboarding allergists * Raising awareness around the issue of allergy prevention * Cultivating credibility * Their experience on Shark Tank and the sustained growth that came from that * Having Mark Cuban as an investor * The unique challenges for Ready, Set, Food! going through the fundraising process * The structure of their original friends and family round of fundraising * How Daniel views, manages, and prioritizes partnerships * How they've developed and adapted their product over time * How they've approached marketing and customer acquisition * The biggest challenges in growing Ready, Set, Food! * Creating educational content * Ready, Set, Food!'s current traction * How Daniel's prior entrepreneurial experience has been helpful in running Ready, Set, Food! * How COVID has affected their business * Daniel's book recommendations * How Daniel recharges away from work * The story behind Ready, Set, Food!'s name
Links from the Episode * Advocate Aurora Health * Mark Cuban on Shark Tank * Shark Tank * Ready, Set, Food! on Shark Tank * #91: Jiake Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of Outer, on Building the Casper of Outdoor Furniture * Ready, Set, Food!'s donation program * PLG Ventures * Amplify.LA * Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health * Y Combinator Safe Financing Documents * Danone * GIBLIB * Osmosis * #158: Zubin Bhettay, Co-Founder and CEO of Fuzzy Pet Health, a Subscription-Based Pet Health Company, on the Challenges of Fundraising, Building a Mission-Driven Business, and Finding Balance as an Entrepreneur * #134: Zuleyka Strasner, Founder and CEO of Zero, on Building a Convenient Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Service, Becoming the Largest Sustainability Platform in the U.S., and Growing 15X in 5 Months * Strategic Intuition by William Duggan * Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock * The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith
Ed Vincent is the founder and CEO of Festival Pass, the world’s first festival and live events subscription marketplace providing access to thousands of experiences around the globe across music, film, food and wine, art, sports, theater, lifestyle, and tech & innovation experiences. Enjoy thousands of events & festivals locally and globally for one monthly fee. Festival Pass is a story about community and creating experiences that change you. We as humans need connection - it’s in our DNA, as strong a need as food, water and warmth. The team at Festival Pass, that spans the globe from Bali to NY to Detroit to Lisbon, is bringing its members the only place to make accessing, discovering and attending festivals the most user friendly, frictionless, affordable and valuable member experience possible.
Ed Vincent is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of business, technology and management experience including 6 years banking and valuation experience. He founded an e-commerce business in 1999 which was sold to a competitor in 2001, and is a repeat founder including SimplyEngage, myProducer, & Predict Ventures. Ed's passion for festivals, and the interpersonal connectivity fostered at festivals led him to found Festival Pass.
Connect with Ed Vincent * Festival Pass * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Snapchat * Invest in Festival Pass on Wefunder * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Ed Vinecent in this Episode * What Festival Pass is and how Ed's 20 years as an entrepreneur led to him founding it * Ed's experience at Movie Pass and where he thinks their model went wrong and how it could have succeeded * The credit-based model of marketplace businesses * Determining the pricing model for Festival Pass * The value of data * Ed's vision for Festival Pass * How Ed raised capital early on and why Ed eventually decided to crowdfund for Festival Pass through Wefunder * The virtual Festival Pass team * How Ed views growth for Festival Pass moving forward * The business model for Festival Pass * Evaluating partnerships versus paid media * What makes Festival Pass unique and why it hasn't been done before * How COVID has affected Festival Pass and how they're approaching the return to live events
Links from the Episode * Airbnb * ClassPass * Uber * Wefunder * Townsquare Media * SeedInvest * Republic * StartEngine * Ticketmaster * StubHub * Live Nation * HomeAway * Vrbo
Dejan Pralica is the co-founder and CEO of SoleSavy, an exclusive community that brings together sneaker enthusiasts and collectors and helps them acquire limited-edition sneakers directly from retailers. A SoleSavy membership provides you the tools and resources you need to successfully purchase the products you want for retail. SoleSavy’s co-founders have over 20 years of experience in the sneaker industry, both in retail and online. Their connections and experience in the sneaker industry allow them to provide members with unparalleled knowledge and access you won’t find anywhere else.
Connect with Dejan Pralica * SoleSavy * Instagram * Twitter * Facebook * LinkedIn * Dejan on Instagram * Dejan on Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Dejan Pralica in this Episode * What SoleSavy is and why Dejan founded it * The first steps Dejan took to get SoleSavy off the ground * Going to NBA All-Star Weekend * Early reaction to the company and feedback * SoleSavy's business model * Customer acquisition and growth * Their 500-person first-day signup * How SoleSavy's product system works * Building an authentic community * The team behind SoleSavy * Being scrappy and resourceful * Dejan's experience going through the LAUNCH Accelerator * The fundraising battle * Dejan's thoughts on expansion into other niche communities * Dejan's personal sneaker collection * How Dejan got interested in sneakers * Dejan's first experience as a founder, starting and building Kicks Deals * How Dejan approaches content creation * Why Dejan started a podcast and the benefits of podcasting * What's next for SoleSavy * Dejan's book recommendations * How Dejan recharges and how he views the work-life balance
Links from the Episode * NBA All-Star Weekend * Nike * Foot Locker * Kith * V.One * #126: Christian Peverelli, CEO & Co-Founder of WeAreNoCode, an Educational Platform Empowering Non-Technical Founders Through No-Code Technology * Webflow * Slack * LAUNCH Accelerator * Bevy * Kicks Deals * Complex * #59: Austin Rief, Co-Founder and COO of Morning Brew, on Growing to Over 1 Million Newsletter Subscribers * Tim Ferriss * Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull * Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson * Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Alec Thomson is the co-founder and CEO of Riskcast Solutions, a productivity and forecasting tool for the construction industry. They provide a way for project managers to track labor, material, and equipment, without the need to maintain multiple fancy spreadsheets. Riskcast Solution's mission is to enable the construction industry by unleashing the power of data to reduce risk in all areas of performance while putting project teams first in all that we do.
Alec has twenty years of experience in the construction industry, working in various capacities. He started out as a field engineer and eventually worked in procurement before moving to Skanska's corporate office in New York. His final position on a business strategy team made it evident that he needed to find a way to pursue his passion for helping project teams solve the job site related problems.
Connect with Alec Thomson * Riskcast Solutions * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Alec Thomson in this Episode * What Riskcast Solutions is and how Alec and his co-founder Reggie Arichabala got started * Early customer acquisition for Riskcast * Leaving their corporate jobs * Making sacrifices to bootstrap Riskcast and determining when it was time to fund raise * Product development and the technical aspect of Riskcast * The business model for Riskcast and navigating different iterations for pricing * Participating in Newark Venture Partners' Lab Program * Focusing on the sales engine of a B2B SaaS company * How Riskcast finds interns and using a draft board to manage hiring * How Alec views competition * Where Riskcast stands today in terms of traction and how they've been affected by and adapted to COVID * The big vision for Riskcast Solutions * Digitizing an archaic industry * Alec's book recommendations
Links from the Episode * Newark Venture Partners * NVP Labs * Rutgers University * New Jersey Institute of Technology * Y Combinator Online Classes * How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie * The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale * Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman
Nate D'Anna is the co-founder and co-CEO of Dumpling, which provides the tools, technology, and support people need to run their own local businesses - powering thousands of grocery shopping, delivery, and personal service entrepreneurs throughout 50 states. By pioneering a new approach to local entrepreneurship, dumpling offers communities a more personal, ethical solution to the essential household services that keep homes running. Since its founding in 2017, Dumpling has quickly become the trusted, reliable pathway to starting a local, service business in the United States. Dumpling is built by a diverse and passionate team of change makers, entrepreneurs, and former gig economy workers - all dedicated to ushering in a future where everyone who works can control their own fortune. The company is headquartered in Berkeley, Seattle, and homes across the country.
Connect with Nate D'Anna * Dumpling * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Nate D'Anna in this Episode * What is Dumpling and how Nate started it with his co-founder Joel Shapiro * How they approached customer discovery and what they learned from it * The initial version of Dumpling and how it has evolved into what it is today * Bootstrapping and knowing when it was time to fund raise * Early ups and downs and narrowing down the problem to solve * Early feedback and using it to adapt the business * Roles and responsibilities among the 3 co-founders * Customer acquisition for Dumpling * The process of fundraising for the first time, from a pre-seed round to a series A * How Dumpling was able to grow after fundraising * Dumpling's business model and how it has evolved * Managing short-term execution with long-term vision * How COVID-19 has led to incredible growth for Dumpling and the challenges that came with having to unexpectedly scale so quickly * How Nate views competition * Reality versus expectation of being an entrepreneur * Where Nate finds support and how he recharges away from work * Nate's book recommendations
Links from the Episode * Walmart * The Home Depot * Uber * Instacart * Target * DoorDash * Postmates * SAFE * TaskRabbit * Floodgate * Ann Miura-Ko at Floodgate * #134: Zuleyka Strasner, Founder and CEO of Zero, on Building a Convenient Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Service, Becoming the Largest Sustainability Platform in the U.S., and Growing 15X in 5 Months * The Innovator's Dilemma by Clay Christensen * The Innovator's Solution by Clay Christensen
Jared Pope is the founder and CEO of Work Shield, the only full-service independent solution to effectively prevent, deal with and solve workplace harassment and discrimination, thus empowering employees, lowering corporate risk and preserving company culture. Work Shield helps companies manage all types of workplace harassment and discrimination from start to finish, providing comprehensive and impartial solutions. Whether it's managing an incident internally or facing litigation, eight out of ten companies will deal with harassment issues every year. Work Shield partners with your company for a better reporting solution and more efficient and effective incident management. Protecting employees and employers from costly legal fees, low morale, bad press and more. The Work Shield team believes that everyone has the right to feel safe and protected at work.
Connect with Jared Pope * Work Shield * hello@workshield.com * LinkedIn * Reach Jared at (469) 358-7673
Some of the Topics Covered by Jared Pope in this Episode * What is Work Shield and why Jared started it * The issue with how workplace harassment is currently handled * How Jared originally envisioned Work Shield to address some major issues in society * Early customer acquisition * Failing successfully * Figuring out the technical aspects of the business and incorporating the human element * How Work Shield has developed and expanded over the years and where they stand today * How businesses can ensure safe company culture * What resolutions look like through Work Shield * Raising capital for Work Shield and what it meant from their team and business * How Jared is approaching growth for Work Shield * Building out the team for Work Shield * Jared's book recommendations * Jared's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Me Too Movement * The Plexus Groupe * How I Built This with Guy Raz (NPR podcast) * Webflow * Wix * Squarespace * Brene Brown * The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw
Paul Dashevsky is the co-founder of GreatBuildz, a free service currently operating in Los Angeles that connects homeowners with reliable, pre-screened general contractors. They connect each client with three contractors who are individually selected for their specific project; then provide ongoing support to make sure everything goes smoothly.
Paul is a serial entrepreneur, real estate investor, active Angel investor and member of Tech Coast Angels.
Connect with Paul Dashevsky * GreatBuildz * Facebook * Instagram * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Paul Dashevsky in this Episode * What is GreatBuildz and why Paul founded it * How Paul developed the idea after years of flipping homes and how he began to build it with his co-founder and nephew John Grispul * GreatBuildz' business model * The challenge of customer acquisition and navigating the world of digital marketing * Bootstrapping and why Paul hasn't decided to fund-raise yet * The big vision for GreatBuildz * The process of vetting and onboarding contractors * How Paul views growth and expansion * Paul's experience flipping over 350 homes with Westcliff Realty and how he knew when it was time for something new * Where Paul got his entrepreneurial spirit from and what he has learned from his failures * Paul's experience joining the Entrepreneurs' Organization
Links from the Episode * Entrepreneurs' Organization * Entrepreneurs' Organization Accelerator
Adam Jackson is the co-founder and CEO of Braintrust, the world’s first user-controlled talent platform-- one that aligns incentives, removes expensive middlemen and gives value and control back to talent and organizations. Braintrust’s unique network model allows talent to retain 100% of their market rate, while enabling organizations to pull together flexible teams of highly-skilled technical and design talent, no matter where they’re located. Organizations ensure budgets go 2-3 times further by cutting out unnecessary, expensive middle men. This new business model of minimizing fees and enabling users to control the network is uniquely enabled by a blockchain token.
Adam is a serial technology entrepreneur and investor that has spent his career creating and deploying capital into software systems that make complex tasks simple and intuitive. He has founded 4 VC-backed companies and an asset management company over the last 16 years.
In August, 2017 he co-founded Cambrian Asset Management, a blockchain asset management company. In 2012, he co-founded and served as CEO of Doctor On Demand, a healthcare service that provides video visits with board-certified physicians and psychologists. Doctor On Demand delivers services through employers, health systems, health plans, and directly to consumers and has raised $165M in VC.
Adam's previous business, DriverSide was founded in 2007 and was acquired by Advance Auto Parts in September of 2011. His first venture-backed business, MarketSquare, founded in 2004, was the first online local shopping destinations on the Internet. It was acquired by Intuit in September of 2006.
Adam is an angel investor in 45+ companies/projects, including: Bolt, Placer, Aktana, Skale Labs, Protocol Labs, JCTurbo, Apero Health, Rapportive, MyTime, Automatic, Womply, Superhuman and Zenefits.
Connect with Adam Jackson * Braintrust * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Medium * LinkedIn * Adam on Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Adam Jackson in this Episode * What is Braintrust and how Adam came up with the idea * The problem with two-sided marketplaces * How Braintrust is inverting disastrous marketplace economics and the complexities that come with building a new model * Using their own marketplace to hire freelancers to build Braintrust * Braintrust's business model * Acquisition on the enterprise side of the business * How COVID has led to incredible growth for Braintrust * Adam's advice for building marketplaces * The challenge of fundraising for Braintrust * Adam's experience founding Doctor on Demand * Adam's entrepreneurial spirit and being "unemployable" * How Adam approached his exits and transitions * Adam's experience as an angel investor and deciding to be an LP * The big vision for Braintrust * Why Braintrust is Adam's passion and how he manages his time
Links from the Episode * eBay * Uber * Airbnb * Lyft * Postmates * DoorDash * Amazon * Blockchain * Craigslist * Nestle * Porsche * Deloitte * 99designs * Fiverr * Upwork * Bank of America * NASA * BlueCross * TaskRabbit * Bitcoin * Ethereum * Nextdoor * Doctor on Demand * Dr. Phil * The Doctors * Intuit * Superhuman * Zenefits * Jack Dorsey
Sarina Richard is the Founder and CEO of HERdle, India's first private women's one-stop healthcare expert. HERdle.health provides Indian women power over their sexual and mental health in a safe, anonymous, fast, and convenient way. They aim to give women the care they need without judgment or stigma, from the comfort and privacy of their mobile phone.
25% of the world’s cervical cancer deaths come from India, and 4 out of every 10 women in the world who commit suicide are from India. There is a lack of access to information and resources and a massive social stigma against sexual and mental health. HERdle hopes to bridge this gap and remove Indian women's health hurdles by providing access to non-judgy experts, resources and technology.
Connect with Sarina Richard
HERdle
Some of the Topics Covered by Sarina Richard in this Episode
How Sarina’s background in healthcare and women’s development led to her funding HERdle
The issue of access to healthcare and sexual health education for women in India
Understanding the problem and the business models Sarina came up with
Deciding between for-profit and non-profit
The first steps Sarina took to start HERdle
How Sarina went about customer discovery and understanding pain points from the supply side
HERdle’s services and how it works
From bootstrapping to pre-seed and seed round fundraising
What Sarina values in building a team
How Sarina has been resourceful while bootstrapping
Sarina’s takeaways from previous founder experiences and applying them to HERdle
Customer acquisition, partnerships, and creating an organic community
How Sarina currently structures her day and distributes her time and finding work-life balance
How Sarina recharges and stays active (for free!)
Sarina’s advice for other entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode:
Five Whys
#108: Rob Mather, Founder and CEO of the Against Malaria Foundation, one of the World’s Top-Rated Charities
#48: Candice Lu, Founding Partner of OnPrem Solution Partners, on Scaling from 4 to 200 Employees, Solving Problems, and Running a Remote Company
#137: Cole Zucker on His Remarkable Journey from $0 to $60M in Revenue, Selling a Company, and Starting the Influencer Platform Hey Hero
#126: Christian Peverelli, CEO & Co-Founder of WeAreNoCode, an Educational Platform Empowering Non-Technical Founders Through No-Code Technology
Webflo
Jetboost
Memberstack
Airtable
Girl Up
Sheroes
Sairee Chahal
The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Peloton
An award-winning designer and MIT alum, Christine is the CEO of Everydae, the world's smartest digital tutor. Previously she was the Chief Product Officer at Veritas Prep (sold in 2018) where she incubated and launched the adaptive learning platform, ORION (33% MoM growth). Prior to this, she led the product and design team at DogVacay (sold to Rover.com) and the innovation department at Deutsch. She also invented the electric bike, the Copenhagen Wheel, a TIME Magazine Best Invention.
Everydae is an online SAT digital tutor that gets you top scores without the stress. Affordable, effective, and fun, Everydae's secret is their revolutionary bite-size online micro lessons that match short attention spans and busy schedules. Everydae's team believes that a lack of money shouldn’t stand in the way of realizing your potential, which is why they're democratizing access to affordable, personalized learning so that anyone can level-up in life.
Connect with Christine Outram * Everydae * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * YouTube * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Christine Outram in this Episode * What is Everydae, where the idea came from, and how it got started * Christine's background in product and digital design and interest in tech and education * The steps taken to actually develop Everydae * Christine's role as CEO * Marketing and sales as a direct-to-parents product * Customer acquisition and launching during the COVID-19 pandemic * In-house versus outsourcing for running paid acquisition * Relationship and email marketing * Their experience with Wefunder, why they decided to go the crowdfunding route, and what they did to ensure its success * "Mom and pop angels" * Everydae's team * Distribution of funds post-fundraising * Their approach to content creation and breadth versus depth * Collecting and incorporating consumer feedback * Balancing short-term and long-term plans and goals * The business model and pricing structure for Everydae * Christine's background as an architect, her time at MIT, and inventing the Copenhagen wheel * Christine's advice and book recommendations regarding product development * What's next for Everydae * What fuels Christine * The biggest challenges Christine and her team have faced in building Everydae * How Christine recharges away from work
Links from the Episode * Veritas Prep * MonkeyLearn * HubSpot * Buffer * #139: Jesse Horwitz, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Hubble, an E-Commerce Contact Lens Company That’s Raised $73M+, on Building a Standout Direct to Consumer Company * Upwork * Wefunder * Caribu * Angels and Entrepreneurs run by Neil Patel * Startup Camp * #126: Christian Peverelli, CEO & Co-Founder of WeAreNoCode, an Educational Platform Empowering Non-Technical Founders Through No-Code Technology * MIT Senseable City Lab * DogVacay * Measure what Matters by John Doerr * Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug * Superhuman
Thomas is Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Prevu, a customer-focused digital home buying platform delivering industry-leading efficiency and savings. Frustrated over the lack of control and transparency he experienced throughout the home-buying process, he launched Prevu in 2017 with his good friend, Chase Marsh, to establish a smarter way to transact. Before Prevu, Thomas spent 12 years working at highly established asset management firms in both the US and Europe, where he gained valuable experience investing in technology companies. He has been an active real estate investor for over a decade. Thomas holds a BS in Finance & Accounting from the Stern School of Business at NYU.
Prevu is a real estate technology company on a mission to save homebuyers money. The company’s digital Smart Buyer™ platform offers a homebuying experience with unparalleled control, transparency and savings when purchasing a home. With Prevu, consumers can seamlessly search, offer and save up to 2 percent of the purchase price when they buy a home. This zero-pressure online experience delivers a smarter, more efficient way for homebuyers to transact.
Connect with Thomas Kutzman * Prevu * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Thomas Kutzman in this Episode * What is Prevu and why Thomas started it with his co-founder, Chase Marsh * The inherent issues with the real estate industry * The original version of Prevu and how it has evolved into what it is today * Bootstrapping in the early days and how it benefited them * Thomas' partnership with his co-founder Chase * The connection between customer education, consumer experience and customer acquisition * The importance of customer discovery and incorporating customer feedback * Being a data-driven business * The process of pivoting the business * Growing the Prevu team * The challenges of being non-technical co-founders * The digitization of real estate, during COVID and beyond * Product development and the process and benefit of outsourcing the original MVPs * Raising their seed round * Determining distribution of funds * Expanding geographically * How COVID has affected Prevu * How Prevu works today * How Thomas' role as founder and CEO has evolved as Prevu has grown * A typical day for Thomas as a real estate founder and his strategy for time management * Thomas' book recommendations * Giving 100% to his business and the toll it has taken on him * The big vision for Prevu * Prevu is hiring! * Thomas' advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Buffer * HubSpot * "Jerry Seinfeld: So You Think New York Is ‘Dead’" (NYT Op-Ed) * HouseCanary Market Pulse * Deep Work by Cal Newport * Jack Dorsey * Elon Musk * Invested by Charles Schwab * Rezi * Doorkee * LEX
René Graham is the founder and CEO of Renzoe Box, the next-generation makeup platform and first makeup storage & pod system designed to replace your entire makeup bag. Renzoe Box is a customizable beauty kit combining your favorite brands' makeup products into one sustainable compact.
A native of Texas, René Graham holds a Master in Architecture from the Rice University School of Architecture, where she completed her thesis work with Eva Franch Gilabert, Director of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Before entering the world of product design in 2017 and founding Renzoe Box, LLC, Graham achieved significant and diverse experience in architectural practice, community development and real estate development.
in addition to leading Renzoe Box™, LaurelHouse Studio and BCS Modern, Graham is a long time Board Member of the Downtown Bryan Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the cultural vitality and preservation of Historic Downtown Bryan, Texas. She has held advisory and committee roles for many public and private organizations including City of Bryan, Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, Leadership Brazos, Startup Aggieland, the Texas Bighorn Society, and the National Science Foundation. Of all her roles Graham’s favorite is serving as a faculty member and educator at The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University. Considering herself a “design thinker across many scales,” it is at these institutions where she enjoys collaborating with students and colleagues, battling out ideas to investigate new potentials of the built environment. In her spare time she enjoys attending the symphony, exploring new cities, building wildlife guzzlers in the west Texas desert mountains, and snuggling with her niece & nephew, Elise & Grayson, or with her dog, Oliver.
Connect with René Graham * Renzoe Box * Facebook * Instagram * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by René Graham in this Episode * The moment the idea for Renzoe Box was born * How René actually began to solve the pain point she was experiencing and start the customer discovery process * Pre-selling at Beautycon LA * Figuring out manufacturing and navigating international production * From the first prototype to what the product is today * Balancing being an entrepreneur and her career as an architect and deciding to go full-time with Renzoe Box * Raising 250K through angel investors to get started and the power of networking * Renzoe Box's business model * Navigating the mix-and-match customization component of the product in terms of sourcing and scaling * Customer acquisition and marketing strategies for Renzoe Box * René's advice for utilizing influencer marketing * Building out the team for Renzoe Box and a growing support system * Renzoe's digital curation tool * The big vision for Renzoe Box * A typical day for René and finding balance * René's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Beautycon LA * #158: Zubin Bhettay, Co-Founder and CEO of Fuzzy Pet Health, a Subscription-Based Pet Health Company, on the Challenges of Fundraising, Building a Mission-Driven Business, and Finding Balance as an Entrepreneur * Keurig K-Cup Coffee Machines * Kayla Itsines * Tory Burch Fellows * MassChallenge * Venture Deals by Brad Feld
Zubin Bhettay is the co-founder and CEO of Fuzzy Pet Health. Zubin strives to make better pet health care accessible to dogs and cats of all ages. He gets excited about leveraging technology, better working practices and new business models to make the world a better place. Zubin thrives working with high-performing teams towards a common goal on things that seem improbable until they've made it happen.
Fuzzy is a subscription-based pet health company with a mission to make veterinary care more accessible. Through a combination of in-home vet care, proprietary telemedicine software, and tailored health programs for pets that include home-delivery of meds and supplements, Fuzzy is empowering pet parents to be proactive in ensuring their pets live their best life. Fuzzy's mission is to broaden access to veterinary care and preventive pet health education.
Connect with Zubin Bhettay * Fuzzy Pet Health * Facebook * Instagram * Yelp * LinkedIn * Fuzzy app for Apple * Fuzzy app on Google Play * Zubin on Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Zubin Bhettay in this Episode * What led to Zubin starting Fuzzy Pet Health * Developing the idea with co-founder Eric Palm and digging into the problems with the pet health industry * The original version of Fuzzy Pet Health and how it has changed while holding true to its mission * How COVID has affected Fuzzy and how it's functioning today * The humanization of pets and how it has led to a shift in consumer behaviors * Raising their seed round and series A and how they were different * Customer discovery and acquisition and incorporating customer feedback * How Zubin approached building out the team for Fuzzy and what he learned from the process * Onboarding the vets * How Zubin views growth and adapting the business in order to scale * The challenges Zubin has faced as a first-time founder and the best advice he has received * What has been helpful for Zubin's mental health along his entrepreneurial journey and finding work-life balance * Zubin's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Charles Hudson at Precursor Ventures * Accelerator Ventures * SD Angels * #137: Cole Zucker on His Remarkable Journey from $0 to $60M in Revenue, Selling a Company, and Starting the Influencer Platform Hey Hero * The Struggle, Ben Horowitz * The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz * Awareness by Anthony De Mello
Guy Friedman is the co-founder and CEO of SteadyMD, a technology company and healthcare provider that enables members and doctors to pair up, collaborate, and develop long-term personal relationships, completely online. The SteadyMD Matching Engine evaluates each new member and doctor across hundreds of medical, fitness, and lifestyle attributes to help spark a connection and pair them up successfully.
The company offers services for Primary Care, Functional Medicine, Pediatric Care, and Employers and is licensed and has members in all 50 U.S. states. SteadyMD doctors are partnered with a limited number of members and are conveniently available through text, phone and video chat. The SteadyMD medical team retrieves and maintains health records, refers patients to local specialists, arranges tests and procedures, and generally influences all downstream care and health spending for that member.
Connect with Guy Friedman * SteadyMD * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * LinkedIn * guy@steadymd.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Guy Friedman in this Episode * How Guy went from selling his online proctoring startup to founding SteadyMD * What makes SteadyMD unique in the telemedicine space * Guy's criteria for a startup and his false starts * How Guy has shifted between industries * SteadyMD's values and mission * The original version of SteadyMD and how they've enhanced it * Recruiting doctors and acquiring patients * How SteadyMD is improving the quality of care for patients and the experience for doctors * The uniqueness of being D2C in the healthcare industry * Determining channels, figuring out messaging and utilizing influencer marketing * Why SteadyMD is for everyone * Why the healthcare industry is fundamentally flawed * Keeping the core business consistent * How patients utilize SteadyMD * The landscape for primary care and how SteadyMD fits in * Guy's process and advice for fundraising * How COVID has affected SteadyMD * How Guy views new opportunities for growth * How Guy has approached building out the team for SteadyMD * Raising the Series A for SteadyMD and its impact on growth * Dividing roles and responsibilities and balancing priorities * How Guy has adapted his perspective after running startups for years * Guy's book recommendations * Getting an MBA at Wharton
Links from the Episode * Hims * Roman * Simon Sinek, Find Your Why * Zero to One by Peter Thiel * What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz * The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Will Houghteling is the founder and CEO of Strive, helping emerging leaders reach their full potential through personalized and practical management training. Strive's mission is to empower working professionals to find meaning, belonging and opportunity at work. Strive was founded on the belief that transforming managers into leaders is an essential first step to building the more just, inclusive, equitable workplace and world we hope to inhabit.
Will is an analytical and conscientious leader focused on bridging work and school, with experience building marketing, partnerships, sales and operations teams, largely in education. Prior to starting Strive, Will worked at Minerva building a top-tier university from scratch, and on educational initiatives at Google and YouTube.
Connect with Will Houghteling * Strive * Facebook * Strive on Twitter * Will on Twitter * Strive on LinkedIn * Will on LinkedIn * will@strive.co
Some of the Topics Covered by Will Houghteling in this Episode * Will's passion for education and how it led to working at Google, YouTube, and Minerva * Why the university system is inherently broken * What inspired Will to start Strive * What Strive originally started as and how Will evaluated potential paths to success for the business * Raising the first seed round for Strive * Scaling and going from 3 to 25 customers in one quarter * Why and how the model for Strive broke * How Strive pivoted from a competency based hiring and training platform to management training and leadership development * How Will knew it was time to pivot * Addressing the pivot with investors * The best advice Will has received * How Strive approaches management training * Acquiring customers after the pivot, customer testing, and Strive's "leadership circles" * Strive's business model * Building out the team for Strive * Being rigorous with hiring and rooting out unconscious bias * The 3 things that are most predictive of job performance * The impact of managers on employees * Determining pricing * The ins and outs of Strive's programs * How Will is approaching acquisition and growth currently * The biggest challenges Will has faced on his entrepreneurial journey * The big vision for Strive * Will's experience with an executive coach and therapy * Will's book and educational recommendations * Will's takeaways from working at Minerva project
Links from the Episode * Minerva * Kara Nortman at Upfront Ventures * Kapor Capital * Ryan Craig at University Ventures * NextView Ventures * Dreamforce * Coursera * Udacity * Minerva Active Learning Forum * Intuit * Chime * Confluent * TripActions * Slack * Airbnb * Far transfer of learning * Strive's Conversation DE&I * Dr. Cameron Sepah * Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler * What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith * Radical Candor by Kim Scott * YC Startup School videos * Paul Graham essays * What Keith Rabois Thinks About Basically Everything (Venture Stories podcast episode)
Alex Wheldon the Co-Founder of Rho Business Banking Alex is a 3x time entrepreneur and was the founder and CEO of Kanary, Europe’s first DMP/DSP, which was acquired in 2014. Alex was previously CPO at Lyst, a fashion marketplace with over 65 million customers, and CPO at Smarkets, a betting platform that he helped grow to over $2 billion in transactions per year in less than 12 months. Alex’s ventures have raised over $100m in venture capital from firms like Draper Esprit, LVMH, Accel, Oxford Capital and Deutsche Telekom. Alex is also an early-stage investor through Wheldon Bros. Investments.
Connect with Alex Wheldon * Rho Business Banking * Facebook * Twitter * Medium * LinkedIn * Alex on Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Alex Wheldon in this Episode * What led to Alex starting Rho with his co-founder, Everett Cook * What is Rho and their mission * Understanding the inherent problems with the banking industry * The sponsor bank model * What Rho offers and who their typical clients are * Fundraising for Rho * Navigating a highly regulated industry * How Alex evaluates opportunities in new markets * Alex's first time asking for capital * Understanding investors and Alex's advice for fundraising * The process of exiting a company * Foundational product thinking * Incorporating feedback into product development * How Alex views competition * How Alex approaches hiring * Alex's book recommendations
Links from the Episode * Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux * Inspired by Marty Cagan
Ennie Lim is a social entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of HoneyBee, the result of her journey through personal financial challenges. The majority of employees HoneyBee serves are women, people of color, or both. They are providing support for issues that disproportionately affect these marginalized groups. Systemic barriers to financial health exist all around us. It’s up to employers to acknowledge this and take a step towards equality. Ennie is passionate about diversity and inclusion initiatives and building businesses for a better tomorrow. She believes that all of us have the potential to become powerful changemakers.
HoneyBee is a Certified Benefit Corporation® with the mission to address financial insecurity in the workplace. They are a holistic financial wellness platform that provides employees with on-demand financial coaching and access to emergency funds for life’s unexpected expenses with a single click. HoneyBee is the only company that allows employees emergency funds at no interest anytime, to help manage unplanned expenses, build credit and pay down debt.
Connect with Ennie Lim * HoneyBee * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * YouTube * LinkedIn * Ennie on Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Ennie Lim in this Episode * How Ennie founded HoneyBee as a result of a personal financial setback * What is HoneyBee * The initial version of HoneyBee and how it has changed * The customer discovery process and the payday loan industry * Getting their first customer * The early HoneyBee team * From bootstrapping to VC backing * Networking, the fundraising process and tolerating rejection * Growing HoneyBee post- fundraising and how their growth strategy has evolved * Instilling a culture of authenticity * How COVID has highlighted the problem HoneyBee is designed to fix * HoneyBee's target market and how HoneyBee has expanded their offerings * Ennie's entrepreneurial nature * The challenge of raising awareness about employees' financial health * The big vision for HoneyBee * Balancing short-term execution with long-term vision * Building out a great team * A typical day for Ennie and work-life balance * Ennie's book recommendations * Ennie's experience as a female founder at a venture-backed, impact-focused company * Where Ennie finds motivation, community and support * Ennie's advice for creating impact
Links from the Episode * #134: Zuleyka Strasner, Founder and CEO of Zero, on Building a Convenient Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Service, Becoming the Largest Sustainability Platform in the U.S., and Growing 15X in 5 Months * The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek * Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard * What Do You Do with an Idea by Kobi Yamada * Start with Why by Simon Sinek
Amanda Greenberg is the co-founder and CEO of Balloon, which she founded with her partner Noah in 2015. Balloon is the world's first insight mobility platform. Balloon brings behavioral science and technology expertise together to unlock the true value of collaboration by removing cognitive bias, group dynamics, and fears. Organizations are able to share and vote on input anonymously, which eliminates costly biases, increases thought diversity, and amplifies the strongest insights from their teams.
The platform functions through a quick, phased process that also streamlines workflows, leading to fewer meetings and great results, faster. Over 80 percent of the information shared on Balloon is brand new, and the streamlined workflow reduced meeting time by 70 percent. Balloon ensures that more voices are heard and included, with an average of 78 percent of people collaborating and evaluating regardless of group size.
Connect with Amanda Greenberg * Balloon * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn * Amanda on Twitter * amanda@getballoon.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Amanda Greenberg in this Episode * What is Balloon and why Amanda changed careers to found it * How Amanda and her husband and co-founder Noah Bornstein started Balloon * Choosing an accelerator * Creating a new category and the re-programming of work during COVID * Customer discovery and networking to get their first customers * Balloon's business model and creating accessible pricing * Use cases for Balloon and how it works * Marketing Balloon and their "flight plans" * From bootstrapping to VC funding * Why they chose to live and grow Balloon in the Bay Area * How going through an accelerator helped with fundraising and raising a $2.1M seed round * The bootstrapping phase * Growing Balloon post-fundraising * Amanda's advice for fundraising * Customer acquisition for Balloon * The challenges of creating a new category * Building out the team for Balloon * Creating company culture * The co-founder/partner relationship * Amanda's view on work-life balance * Expectations versus reality in entrepreneurship * What has been most helpful for Amanda on her entrepreneurial journey * Amanda's book and podcast recommendations * A typical day for Amanda * Being a female founder * Amanda's advice for founders
Links from the Episode * #126: Christian Peverelli, CEO & Co-Founder of WeAreNoCode, an Educational Platform Empowering Non-Technical Founders Through No-Code Technology * LAUNCH Accelerator * Drive by Daniel Pink * This Week in Startups with Jason Calacanis (podcast) * #131: Olivia Owens, Creator and General Manager of IFundWomen of Color and Head of Partnerships at IFundWomen, a Platform for Female Entrepreneurs to Raise Capital Through Crowdfunding * All Raise
Akash Magoon is the co-founder and CTO of Nayya, an AI platform that simplifies insurance decisions for business leaders and benefits managers--and improves the healthcare experience for individual employees. Nayya uses AI and data science to personalize the way that employees choose and use their benefits. Nayya helps employees promote their health and wellbeing, while maximizing financial wellness.
Nayya is backed by Social Leverage, Guardian Strategic Ventures, Cameron Ventures, and Soma Capital -- and completed a top accelerator program (ERA) in New York.
Connect with Akash Magoon * Nayya * LinkedIn * Akash on Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Akash Magoon in this Episode * What is Nayya * How Akash and his co-founder Sina Chehrazi started Nayya and the problem they're trying to fix * The decision to leave their jobs early on in their venture * The challenge of fundraising early through family and friends for Nayya * Choosing an accelerator and participating in the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator * Getting their first customers * How their product has changed based on customer discovery and identifying pain points * How Akash views failure * How COVID has affected Nayya, their fundraising and their industry * Akash's advice for entrepreneurs looking to get seed round funding * Figuring out distribution of funds * Akash's role as CTO * Building out the Nayya team and culture screening in hiring * The issue of being under-insured in the U.S. and understanding the complexities of the industry * The elements of Nayya's product * Growing Nayya moving forward and balancing short versus long term planning * Expectations versus reality with entrepreneurship * What Akash does to recharge from work * Akash's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Enigma Technologies * Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator * SAFE round * #56: Rand Fishkin, Founder of SparkToro, Author of Lost and Founder, and Former Co-founder and CEO of Moz
Susanne Mitschke is the co-founder and CEO of Citruslabs, an end-to-end solution for patient recruitment and retention. 86% of clinical trials don't meet their patient targets on time, despite spending billions on ads every year. Citruslabs is fixing this broken industry through a patient-first approach by streamlining patient recruitment and retention in order to change the future of medical research for the better.
Citruslabs’ three founders met at graduate school in Glasgow, Scotland and founded the company out of a desire to help the aging generation. Roger Rogelio, CTO, cared for seven years for his grandfather with Alzheimer's. Patrick Renner, COO, volunteered in a nursing home and saw the crippling effects of memory loss. And Susanne Mitschke, CEO, lost her father early in life to age-related disease. Together, they were named 30 under 30 by Forbes in 2018. Susanne and her team also created MindMate (Techstars NYC '16), the best app for baby boomers & is constantly ranked as the #1 health app in 17 countries (amongst others U.K., Canada, Australia & Ireland).
Susanne holds a MSc. in International Management & Leadership from the University of Glasgow and was offered a position at one of the big three management consultancies. Instead, she co-founded MindMate & Citruslabs.
Connect with Susanne Mitschke * Citruslabs * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Susanne Mitschke in this Episode * How Susanne met her co-founders, Roger Arellano and Patrick Renner, in Scotland and why they started the MindMate app * Trying out and developing different business models * Deciding to go through Techstars and their experience with the accelerator * The process of fundraising for Citruslabs * Growing Citruslabs and finding the perfect market fit * How COVID has impacted Citruslabs * Customer acquisition and communication * Pivoting from patient recruitment to software during COVID * Why the industry of patient recruitment is so broken, and how Citruslabs is disrupting it * The challenge of building out the team for Citrsulabs * Hiring for culture vs. hiring for skill * Susanne's advice for running a remote company * Growing Citruslabs during COVID and what we can learn as a society from this experience of going remote * Susanne's advice for other entrepreneurs fundraising outside of their area of expertise * Keeping up with investors and keeping them engaged * Susanne's background and becoming an entrepreneur * The value of living in another country * Susanne's book recommendations * How Susanne manages her time and what she does to recharge away from work * Susanne's advice for entrepreneurs * Expectations versus reality in entrepreneurship * Navigating a transitioning role * The big vision for Citruslabs
Links from the Episode * MindMate * Techstars * CROs * Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Cenk Sidar is the co-founder and CEO of GlobalWonks, a technology-enabled marketplace that connects private and public enterprises, from Fortune 100 companies to leading universities, with experts who understand the world. GlobalWonks does this through three core products: a one hour call, a deep-dive report, and a real-time expert sourced Q&A tool, Network Pulse™. Their vision is to fundamentally change the way investors and decision-makers gain global knowledge by providing a responsive and seamless platform without the usual overheads and lag times. As of August 2020, GlobalWonks has 15,000 experts in over 170 countries.
Cenk Sidar is a global risk expert with a vast experience of assisting top financial institutions, multinational corporations, risk management firms, and legal firms operating in high-risk regions. He has written for, been interviewed by, and worked with the world's leading newspapers and media organizations, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC, Bloomberg, Foreign Policy, CCTV and Al Jazeera. Sidar has also addressed audiences around the world, including at UK House of Commons, Cornell, Tufts, Johns Hopkins (SAIS) and CFR.
Sidar holds an MA degree in international economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, a postgraduate degree in European studies from SAIS’s Bologna Center in Italy, and a BA degree in business administration and international relations from the Istanbul Bilgi University. In 2012, Sidar has been selected as one of the top 99 foreign policy leaders under 33 in the world by the Diplomatic Courier and the Young Foreign Policy Professionals. He is a member of the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Advisory Council, Atlantic Council, Turkish Social Democracy Foundation (SODEV), Atlantik-Brucke e. V., the European Young Leaders Program, the Jean Monnet Program, the Project Interchange Alumni, and the American Academy of Achievement. He is fluent in English and German.
Connect with Cenk Sidar * GlobalWonks * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn * Cenk on Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Cenk Sidar in this Episode * What is GlobalWonks * How Cenk started GlobalWonks * The original version of GlobalWonks and how it has grown and changed * The core product of network calls * Onboarding experts and growing the expert network * GlobalWonks' business model * The process of vetting the experts and GlobalWonks' rating system * Determining which industries to acquire experts in and GlobalWonks' recruitment program * GlobalWonks' target market and typical clients * Securing funding through angels and institutional investors * The complexities of building a platform business * Building the GlobalWonks team * Why GlobalWonks is unique * Cenk's advice for building a platform business * How COVID has affected GlobalWonks * Why GlobalWonks is increasingly relevant in today's changing global context * Anticipating clients' needs * Cenk's backstory * Cenk's book recommendations * Cenk's advice for entrepreneurs * How Cenk recharges from work and what motivates him * The story behind GlobalWonks' name
Links from the Episode * Trailblazer by Marc Benioff
Sean Mitchell is the co-founder and CEO of REZI. REZI is a rapidly growing & diverse company with the mission of revolutionizing the rental experience. Renting has always been an expensive and inconvenient process for tenants and time-consuming and uncertain for landlords. Technology companies hadn’t moved the needle in solving these key problems – until REZI. REZI’s proprietary technology has transformed the way tenants and landlords rent apartments. REZI is the only rental marketplace where you can find, tour and lease an apartment in 5 minutes all from your phone and for free.
Founded in 2016, REZI was selected to join the prestigious Y-Combinator in the winter of 2017. Since then, REZI has been backed by some of the most prominent venture capital institutions in the country, igniting the conversation around Renting Better. It has also been recognized by national publications such as Crain’s, TechCrunch, Inman and The New York Times.
Connect with Sean Mitchell * REZI * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * REZI blog on Medium * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Sean Mitchell in this Episode * What is REZI * How the idea for REZI was born out of a personal experience * How Sean and his co-founders, Keenan Williams and Harsh Yadav started REZI * Being the customer of your own business * The issue of access to housing * Their experience with accelerator Y Combinator * The pivot that REZI took * Getting their first deal * Taking risks and gong all in * Early growth and fundraising through VC * Working on the tenant's customer experience * Building partnerships with landlords * Figuring out how to scale * Customer acquisition for REZI--of both tenants and landlords * Why they decided to target New York City to start REZI * The big vision and mission for REZI * The biggest lessons that Sean has learned as a first-time founder * How COVID has affected REZI
Links from the Episode * Y Combinator
Madeline Fraser is the founder and CEO of Gemist. She is a serial entrepreneur and big thinker who loves creating consumer facing technology that solves a big problem. Over the past five years she has created and grown multiple start-ups. Raising millions in funding for ideas she believes will make our world so much easier. She started her first company while attending George Washington University in 2013, called Zoom Interiors. It was the first online interior design company that let you work with a designer virtually to furnish your apartment. The company grew quickly and landed a segment on ABC's Shark Tank. In 2015, she created Hutch, a mobile app that disrupted the furniture industry with a tech platform where you can try furniture on in your home before you buy. Hutch has grown quickly with funding through Series B.
Gemist is disrupting the jewelry industry and completely changing how you shop for it online. The site and app are literally giving you the power to design your own jewelry, offering a 100% customizable experience with options for the cut, setting, metal, stone, color, style, band, and size. Through its unique “Try-On” feature, the brand will send you Gemist rings straight to your home at no cost so you can be sure the fit, look, feel, and experience is exactly what you want before buying. All stones and jewelry are ethically sourced and handcrafted locally in Downtown Los Angeles.
Connect with Madeline Fraser * Gemist * Facebook * Instagram * LinkedIn * Madeline on Instagram
Some of the Topics Covered by Madeline Fraser in this Episode * What is Gemist and the pain point that led to Madeline founding it * Madeline's entrepreneurial nature and founding her first company during college * Getting Zoom Interiors, the first online interior design platform, onto Shark Tank * Getting Sean Rad (founder of Tinder) as an advisor and the chairman of their board * Transitioning from Zoom Interiors to Hutch * Madeline's mantra as an entrepreneur * The benefits of having a co-founder and an advisor * Roles and responsibilities of multiple founders for Hutch * Fundraising $17M for Hutch * Transitioning from Hutch to Gemist * The importance of a pitch deck * Starting Gemist and fundraising through angel investors and VC firms * What's been different for Madeline as she builds her third company * Madeline's advice for finding a manufacturer * Embracing fear and finding your inner power * How Madeline has grown Gemist and connecting with consumers * Executing "try before you buy" * The story behind Gemist's name * How COVID has impacted Gemist * Gemist's approach to customer acquisition * The big vision for Gemist * How Gemist was able to partner with De Beers Jewelers * How Madeline recharges from work * Managing the emotional extremes of entrepreneurship
Links from the Episode * Interior Architecture program at GW * Shark Tank * Zoom Interiors on Shark Tank * Barbara Corcoran * Sean Rad * Hutch * Zillow * Principle * #142: Javier Laval, Founder of FutureStream, Empowering Creators by Helping Them Monetize Their Livestreams, and Creator of Android Homme, on Building Innovative Ventures in the Entertainment and Fashion Industries * #130: Chad Hall, Founder and CEO of Remodelmate, a Managed Marketplace for Bathroom Renovations, on Customizing and Simplifying Bathroom Transformations * De Beers Jewelers
Ira Green is the founder and CEO of Freedom, a natural deodorant company. When Ira's 3 friends were diagnosed with breast cancer and were told to switch to natural products, Ira had the hardest time finding a natural deodorant that worked, smelled good or even looked good. So she created one that did all three! Freedom luxury natural deodorant can now be found in 300+ spas nationwide, including the Four Seasons Spas and Canyon Ranch Spas.
Connect with Ira Green * Freedom * Instagram * Facebook * Twitter * YouTube * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Ira Green in this Episode * Why and how Ira started Freedom * Making a great product and being open to change * Managing feedback * Getting the Four Seasons as her first client * Figuring out manufacturing and production, from an assembly line of friends and family to dealing with manufacturer's minimums * Creating a vision board instead of a business plan * Ira's big vision for growing Freedom * How Ira has bootstrapped the business for the first 3 years and what she would've done differently * How Ira has been handling COVID * Transitioning to VC and distribution of funds * Testing the boundaries of your brand * Tackling the challenge of e-commerce * Freedom's team and traction today * How Ira is views growth and the role of marketing * The challenges of being a female entrepreneur and the transactional nature of female investors * Ira's advice for entrepreneurs * Ira's book and podcast recommendations * The sacrifices of being an entrepreneur * The story of Freedom's name and logo
Links from the Episode * Four Seasons * Canyon Ranch * Miraval * QVC * Reid Hoffman on How I Built This * IFundWomen * IFundWomenOfColor * The E-Myth by Michael Gerber * Built to Scale by Marissa Levin * How I Built This - podcast * Masters of Scale - podcast with Reid Hoffman * Freedom on QVC * Freedom on Amazon
Prasanna Krishnamoorthy is a co-founder and partner at Upekkha, a Value SaaS Accelerator working with B2B SaaS startups to get through the valley of death, to a place with predictable, scalable, profitable growth. Whether you want to build a $10M revenue business or the next $1B SaaS unicorn, Upekkha helps you accelerate.
Prasanna previously worked intensely with 120+ startups to make them LARGE at Microsoft Accelerator India and picked the right startups for Investors & Microsoft. As a founder going through his own ups & downs, he helps other founders push through, and has been an angel investor in a couple of startups along the way.
With every startup, Prasanna helps as a full-stack growth driver: from business planning for growth, frameworks for growth, aligning engineering for traction, innovating on product, marketing & sales plans to tactically crafting pitches & one-liners, & reviewing ads. Growing startups is everything he looks to do. In his own startups, he has done everything that needed to get done - development, testing, support, product management, sales, marketing, customer interaction, integration. Prasanna knows a little about a lot of things - technical and non-technical, and knows a lot about a few things - technology, growth, product, and the difficulties of starting up.
Connect with Prasanna Krishnamoorthy * Upekkha * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Prasanna Krishnamoorthy in this Episode * How Prasanna was inspired to become an entrepreneur and work in B2B * The early ventures Prasanna worked on * Working for Amazon and the Microsoft Accelerator * How Prasanna founded Upekkha * The original business model for Upekkha * Developing a brand and getting their first cohort of startups * The original 2-year structure of the program * The theory of constraints and the guidance Upekkha gives their startups * How the program has changed to focus on the initial flywheel construction and building scalable growth * The cognitive biases of founders and some inflection points for startups * What Prasanna has learned about the B2B SaaS industry while building and growing Upekkha * Prasanna's advice for customer acquisition * The importance of referrals * Determining pricing * Upekkha's team * Prasanna's role at Upekkha and how it's changing during COVID * How Upekkha's participating startups rallied together to help each other during COVID * Prasanna's vision for Uppekha's growth
Links from the Episode * FusionCharts * The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt * #132: Ish Jindal, Co-Founder and CEO of Tars, on Bootstrapping from $0 to $1M in ARR with a SaaS Company for Marketers
Sean Salas is the CEO and Co-Founder of Camino Financial, a FinTech platform pioneering access to affordable credit to underbanked Latinx businesses. He is often featured as a commentator discussing FinTech and Latino entrepreneurship, including appearances on Univision, CNN, and Discovery Channel. Sean also sits on the board of two non-profit organizations, the US-Mexico Foundation and the Harvard Business School Latino Alumni Association (HBSLAA).
Sean co-founded Camino Financial with his twin brother, Kenny Salas. The twin brothers were raised by an entrepreneurial mother, who built and lost her business. While completing their MBAs at Harvard Business School, the twins co-founded Camino Financial under the notion of never leaving a small business owner behind. As CEO of Camino Financial, Sean has built a team of over 50 employees distributed globally and raised over $125 million in debt and equity.
Previously, Sean worked in private equity and investment banking. Throughout his experience, Sean oversaw four portfolio companies with combined revenue of over $250 million, invested close to $50 million in direct equity investments, and structured $1.2 billion in debt financings. Sean has a BA from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Connect with Sean Salas * Camino Financial * Facebook * Instagram * YouTube * LinkedIn * Sean on Twitter * Sean on Instagram * Sean's podcast, Fundamental Fairness
Some of the Topics Covered by Sean Salas in this Episode * Being the son of an immigrant entrepreneur * Moving back to Mexico from L.A. and growing up in Mazatlán * Re-living the "American dream" and starting his financial career during the 2008 financial crisis * Why Sean chose investment banking * Getting his MBA at Harvard and the connections and resources it provided him with * How Sean got his twin brother Kenny on board to start Camino Financial together * Getting traction while still at Harvard and taking a year to get their first 10 loans * Camino Financial's first loan * Funding the first loans and the challenge of getting access to capital at scale to grow the business * The catch 22 of lending * Going from a $1M to $100M facility * Creating a digital-only brand and becoming the largest digital lender in the space * Customer acquisition and the creative ways Sean worked to build trust within the community * How COVID has affected the community they serve and how Camino Financial has supported their members * The typical loan and borrower at Camino Financial * The factors Sean considered while building out a team of 50+ and the role Camino Financial's culture has played * How Sean recharges away from work * Sean's book recommendations
Links from the Episode * Mazatlán, Sinaloa Mexico * Harvard Business School * Wombi Rose - Lovepop * Michael Marti - RapidSOS * Entering StartUpLand by Jeff Bussgang * How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen * The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger * Measure What Matters by John Doerr * Sean's podcast, Fundamental Fairness
John Fagan is co-founder and CEO of Doorkee, making NYC apartment seeking easier and cheaper for everyone. After a challenging experience with moving, John and his co-founder Jordan Franklin began building Doorkee in 2017. Doorkee is a New York based startup aimed at solving one of urban living's biggest hassles--apartment hunting. They're creating a peer-to-peer marketplace to reshape how and when apartment renting happens.
Doorkee helps landlords increase their revenues by decreasing vacancy time between tenants, while departing tenants can make up to half month's rent by letting apartment seekers see their apartments. Apartment seekers can then find and close on their next apartment on their own schedule, months earlier than before. Doorkee is free to post, and their closings cost way less than paying a broker.
Connect with John Fagan * Doorkee * Instagram * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by John Fagan in this Episode * What is Doorkee * How John came up with the idea for Doorkee out of a personal experience * How John and his co-founder Jordan Franklin turned a problem into a business * The initial research and planning * Having their first angel investor convince them to accept funding get started * The challenge of being non-technical founders and how they overcame it * Losing and winning back a key team member * The importance of networking * The business model for Doorkee * Targeting big landlords and being a double sided network effects company * Getting 4 of the top 10 NYC landlords as clients * Doorkee's plan for growth and scaling * The process of raising $5.7M in their seed round * The idea of investing in founders not businesses * Figuring out roles and responsibilities and what makes a co-founder relationship work * The big vision for Doorkee
Links from the Episode * Big Human * Simon Baron * Ollie * Corigin Ventures * Stonehenge * Alpha Edison * DocSend * Reid Hoffman * Malcolm Gladwell
Lillian Rafson, founder and CEO of Pack Up + Go, launched the business in January 2016 at 23 years old. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and a graduate of New York University’s Gallatin School with a major in Consumer Culture, Lillian has always had a passion for travel and supporting small businesses. Without raising a dollar, Lillian has grown Pack Up + Go to a multi-million-dollar business with 10 full-time employees. She has been honored as a member of the inaugural Pittsburgh Business Times 30 Under 30 class, and as a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow. She is thrilled to share her love for exploration through Pack Up + Go’s mission of embracing the unknown and encouraging spontaneity in all of its travelers.
Pack Up + Go is a modern travel agency, planning 3-day weekend trips around the United States. The catch? Your destination is a surprise until the day you depart. Pack Up + Go revolutionizes domestic travel, using the element of surprise to heighten how American travelers perceive and experience their country. They take the pain out of planning by booking travel and accommodation, while providing curated city guides for three-day weekend excursions. Their customer seeks to explore the United States with an angle of spontaneity, ease, and adventure. They work to distribute the socioeconomic benefits of tourism among small and mid-sized cities, while encouraging travelers to experience places they may not seek out organically. Much of current American travel pivots on a few major metropolitan destinations, homogenizing the domestic travel experience.
Pack Up + Go challenges the status quo to make travel exciting and unique. Customers select their budget (for travel + accommodation), and complete a quick survey detailing travel history and preferences. Given their budget and survey responses, the Pack Up + Go team selects the perfect destination for the trip. They send customers on their way with a city guide toolkit in hand - since travelers don't have time to do research on their destination. Pack Up + Go provides a curated map of recommendations, tailored to travelers' interests and preferences, all while supporting local businesses. The goal is for travelers to feel as though their oldest friend is showing them around somewhere new. There’s somewhere to explore this weekend. They do the work - you pack up + go.
Connect with Lillian Rafson * Pack Up + Go * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * YouTube * Pinterest * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Lillian Rafson in this Episode * Quitting her job to travel * How Lillian started Pack Up + Go in 2016 * Coming from a family of entrepreneurs * Lillian's informal process of customer discovery * Lillian's original model for Pack Up + Go * Winning a local pitch competition for women in business * Success as a mix of luck and hard work and struggling with impostor syndrome * Getting her first customers outside of her social circle * Navigating pricing * The influence the first few travelers had on marketing and other aspects of Pack Up + Go * How Lillian and her team decide on destinations * Managing customer feedback * Building out the Pack Up + Go team * Customer acquisition and media attention * Bootstrapping the business and the benefit of partnerships * The challenge of Lillian's evolving role as the business has grown * What travelers get with Pack Up + Go * Balancing building the company while working at a bar * The "good problems" that led to upgrading their technology * How COVID has affected the business * Overnight product development during COVID * Building community among fellow entrepreneurs and becoming a Tory Burch Fellow * Lillian's book recommendations * Lillian's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Riga, Latvia * How I Built This podcast with Guy Raz * The 2016 Business Insider feature on Pack Up + Go * Thrillist article on Pack Up + Go * Vogue article on Pack Up + Go * Pack Up + Go in The Wall Street Journal * Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program * The Lean Startup by Eric Ries * Start with Why by Simon Sinek
Javier Laval, founder of FutureStream, is the ultimate creative director and entrepreneur. If you have attended one of his infamous JL Events in Hollywood entertaining top celebrities, athletes, and trendsetters then you will realize quickly that he is connected to the key influencers in music, fashion, sports, and entertainment. Truestar Media, his marketing company, has worked on major creative campaigns for companies such as Nike, Boost Mobile, Pony, Nooka, and many more.
Javier’s background is in creative brand marketing. His migration into fashion was a move that he chose to make after helping numerous companies build their own brands and products that were specifically geared towards the young influencer market. In 2008 he decided it was time to take the leap and founded his own brand Android Homme. Self financed, and a tightly run operation has led to global distribution and respect from many of his fashion peers as well as the laundry list of celebrity clients and supporters of the brand.
His inspirations range from modern architecture to sacred geometry. His belief that the human mind is similar to a computer and therefore can be programmed or “Re-Programmed” is what serves as his ongoing inspiration to try new things. Locking Javier in a construct is a mistake, he is a unapologetic jack of all trades. Javier is a proud and loving father of two children, is fluent in spanish, a dedicated Yoga practitioner, meditation master, and biohacker that is focused on health and wellness through his LOVEMORE Labs.
Connect with Javier Laval * FutureStream * Javier Laval * LinkedIn * Javier on Instagram * Javier on Twitter * Lovemore Labs
Some of the Topics Covered by Javier Laval in this Episode * How Javier views himself as a creator and entrepreneur * Javier's experience as a nightclub promoter in the Bay Area * The end of Javier's basketball career * Promoting artists who would become big names and the opportunity to work with labels * How Javier started his first company, Truestar Media * How the music industry has changed over the years * Nike as one of their first clients * What led to Javier's creation of Android Homme and how it changed the men's footwear industry * What makes a successful live event * Building Android Homme from zero * Traveling to China, figuring out manufacturing, and issues with quality * The challenges of distribution and scaling for Android Homme * How Javier approached designing the footwear itself * Building an international brand in the pre-social media era * The intense pace of the fashion industry and the toll it took on Javier * Starting Lovemore Labs * How COVID inspired the creation of FutureStream * What is FutureStream and its traction so far * The variety of industries the FutureStream platform can support and why creators are choosing it * The big vision for FutureStream
Links from the Episode * Android Homme * Karmaloop
Drew Sterrett is the co-founder and CEO of LEX, a commercial real estate securities marketplace for all investors and real estate owners. Drew and his co-founders, Dean Sterrett and Jesse Daugherty, began LEX in 2017.
With LEX, you can diversify into commercial real estate properties with the potential to earn passive income and build wealth $100 at a time. LEX makes real estate investing simple by providing investors the freedom to purchase into individual commercial real estate properties through the publicly issued stock of the issuer. Investors benefit from transparency and LEX's research functionality. For property owners, LEX provides a more efficient and cost effective way to raise capital through a public offering of a partial interest in the property at fair market value.
Connect with Drew Sterrett * LEX * LEX app on IOS * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn * drew@lex-markets.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Drew Sterrett in this Episode * What is LEX and its origin story * Why LEX is the first of its kind * The first year and a half spent researching, planning and preparing to raise capital and go full time with LEX * Raising funds through VC * Why Drew and his co-founders, Dean Sterrett and Jesse Daugherty, make a good team * The roller coaster that is entrepreneurship * Customer acquisition for LEX * Expectation versus reality for Drew and his co-founders while building LEX * How COVID has affected LEX and what they're focused on today * Scaling supply and demand and managing customer feedback * Building out LEX's team and culture * Challenges Drew and his team have faced along the way * How Drew views his entrepreneurial journey and getting past doubts * Networking and asking for advice * How Drew structures his time, work-life balance and what he does to recharge * Drew's book recommendations * Drew's favorite parts of being an entrepreneur * Drew's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * #134: Zuleyka Strasner, Founder and CEO of Zero, on Building a Convenient Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Service, Becoming the Largest Sustainability Platform in the U.S., and Growing 15X in 5 Months * Greycoft * ATS * The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz * Zero to One by Peter Thiel * The Tycoons by Charles Morris * Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar * Acorns
David Potter is the co-founder and CEO of Curu. Curu’s mission is to flip the entire credit system upside down and help the people that need credit the most reach their goals. Curu helps lenders expand their total available market, reduce their customer acquisition costs and fund more loans by building their applicant’s eligibility.
David Potter, a Bill Gates Scholar, and Abb Kapoor were randomly assigned freshman year roommates at the University of Maryland. When they applied for off-campus housing their sophomore year, they were rejected from every student apartment complex around the University because they didn't have established credit. This is what started the passion that became Curu’s mission of building a more inclusive credit system and eliminating rejection from credit-based decisions.
Curu enables lenders to approve of more applicants. With its “Approval Dashboard”, lenders can service more of their applicants by helping them become a more qualified account holder. Curu has helped hundreds of applicants get approved for financial products and reach their financial goals. Whether it’s using Curu’s automated system or working directly with one of Curu’s certified credit consultants, the company has been successful in helping underrepresented consumers become more financially free.
Connect with David Potter * Curu * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by David Potter in this Episode * What is Curu * How and why David and his co-founder Abb Kapoor started Curu * Automating Curu's services * Creating an app and the resulting quick growth * Early customer acquisition * Being a first-time founder * David's experience and advice for using accelerators * Curu's $3M seed round * Curu's pre-accelerator fundraising * Building the Curu team and scaling * How COVID has affected Curu * The biggest challenges David has faced building and growing Curu * Being a POC in the FinTech startup world * Diversity and inclusion in hiring * The big mission and vision for Curu * David's book recommendations * How David recharges away from work
Links from the Episode * Ycombinator * Techstars * FIS * The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson * The One Thing by Gary Keller * The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho * The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker * The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz * The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz
Jesse Horwitz is co-founder and co-CEO at Hubble, one of America’s fastest-growing direct-to-consumer e-commerce companies. Horwitz and co-founder Ben Cogan earned spots on Forbes’s 30 Under 30 list in 2016 and over the past two years have extended Hubble’s footprint around the world. Horwitz wrote and published Selling Naked, a how-to and guidance book on direct-to-consumer marketing. Horwitz is also co-founder at Mockingbird, a baby stroller brand, and BZR, a one-stop shop DTC platform, as well as a board member for Andie Swim, a fashion and apparel company. Horwitz is currently active in advising Resolved CX, a customer service platform for direct-to-consumer companies; AdCouncil, an online campaign to optimize voter registration for the 2020 election; and Humanity Forward, a non-profit dedicated toraising money for those devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Connect with Jesse Horwitz * Hubble * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Jesse Horwitz in this Episode * How Jesse and his co-founder Ben Cogan started Hubble * The benefit of working on friends' projects * Deciding to go full-time with Hubble and raising their first seed round * Defining roles and responsibilities with his co-founder * Identifying a manufacturing partner * Customer acquisition and marketing channels * Fundraising and what Jesse would've done differently in that regard * How the D2C market has changed in recent years * Where Jesse sees opportunity in the D2C market * How Jesse views competition and standing out as a brand * How COVID has affected Jesse and the Hubble team * How Jesse views his entrepreneurial journey * Jesse's resource and book recommendations * Writing his book, Selling Naked * Ventures that have been "failures" for Jesse * What Jesse does to recharge * How Jesse structures his day * Jesse's advice for entrepreneurs starting a D2C business * Jesse's tips for networking
Links from the Episode * Harry's shave club * Bridgewater Associates * Mockingbird strollers * Andie swimwear * Cheers * Black Wolf * Jesse's book, Selling Naked * Stratechery (Ben Thompson) * Disney War by James B. Stewart
Nancy is the CEO and Founder of PathMatch, a platform that matches students to in-demand careers, helps them prepare, and then connects them to top employers. She’s also a Talent Partner at Hypothesis Ventures, a Venture Capital firm, where she advises high-growth companies on hiring. Prior to this, she was former CEO of FILD, a recruiting firm that connects top talent to some of the most well-respected companies around the country.
After spending two decades helping companies hire, she noticed a huge skills gap emerging. Students were graduating from college without the requisite skills and experience to land most entry-level jobs companies were looking to fill. After working with hundreds of students, she realized this was a result of students' lack of knowledge of the modern career paths available today. She and her team built PathMatch to connect students to compatible career paths and then help them build the relevant skills and experiences they need to land top jobs.
Nancy holds a BA in Psychology and Music from Emory University.
Connect with Nancy Soni * PathMatch * Instagram * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Nancy Soni in this Episode * How Nancy got her start in recruiting * Hiring over 100 people in 5 years * How and why Nancy started FILD and its early growth * The impact of having seen over 4 million resumes * The challenges of scaling FILD and building a team * The unexpected effect Coachella had on Nancy’s business * Things companies should be thinking about regarding hiring and how to know when to hire a recruiting firm * Resources Nancy recommends for entrepreneurs to find talent * Selling FILD and transitioning to PathMatch * What PathMatch began as and how Nancy decided to start it * What PathMatch offers today and moving from high-end consultancy to a “freemium” service * How Nancy acquires customers * How COVID changed things for Nancy and PathMatch * How Nancy creates content * Joining Hypothesis as a Talent Partner * How Nancy went about hiring for PathMatch * PathMatch’s traction in the first two years * Helping students understand their hireability rating * Expanding beyond entry level to mid- and late- career coaching * Nancy’s book recommendations * How Nancy recharges from work and her advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * FILD * Lunchclub * Career Karma * Hypothesis Ventures * The Lean Startup by Eric Ries * Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore * Start at the End by David Lavinsky * Traction by Gino Wickman * The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber * The 1-Page Marketing Plan by Allan Dib * The Leader's Guide by Eric Ries * Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely * Hooked by Nir Eyal * Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown * Mastering the VC Game by Jeffrey Bussgang * Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson * Zero to One by Peter Thiel * Trillion Dollar Coach by Erich Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle * You are a Badass by Jen Sincero * #137: Cole Zucker on His Remarkable Journey from $0 to $60M in Revenue, Selling a Company, and Starting the Influencer Platform Hey Hero
Cole Zucker is the Co-Founder and former Co-CEO of Green Creative, a company that offers a comprehensive line of high-performance LED lighting solutions that have been widely adopted by some of the largest companies in the world. After graduating from college, Cole moved to Shanghai, China where he met his business partner, Guillaume Vidal. In 6 years, they took the company from $0 to $60 million in revenue and eventually decided to sell the business.
Cole and his wife Katie have since started a new venture, influencer platform Hey Hero, offering a solution for people who want a better way to communicate directly with influencers—and for influencers who want to better monetize that connection. Platform users can search for their favorite influencers and ask questions or request personalized recommendations for a fee. Then influencers can accept the offers, and respond on their own time—via video, voice chat, or text.
Connect with Cole Zucker * Green Creative * Green Creative on LinkedIn * Green Creative on Facebook * Green Creative on Twitter * Hey Hero * Hey Hero on Facebook * Hey Hero on Instagram * cole@heyhero.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Cole Zucker in this Episode * How Cole and his business partner Guillaume Vidal started Green Creative in Shanghai * Why Cole moved to China after college * Cole's entrepreneurial spirit and inspirations * Cole and Guillaume's napkin business plan * Figuring out roles and responsibilities as co-founders and co-CEOs * Getting Green Creative off the ground and the challenge of getting their first customers * How Cole was eventually able to move past door-to-door sales * How their product development and manufacturing evolved * How learning from mistakes led to growth * Building out a team * Standing out against the competition by becoming fast integrators * The process of deciding to sell the business * What Cole would've done differently looking back * Deciding to start another business and what is Hey Hero * The customer discovery process for Hey Hero * Cole's book recommendations * How Cole recharges * Cole's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * The Outsiders by William Thorndike
Micah Green is the Founder, President and CEO of Maidbot, an industrial automation company on a mission to bridge the gap between robots and humans - starting with Rosie - the world's very first housekeeping robot for hotels and commercial buildings. Like a self-driving car, Rosie navigates intelligently through the space while cleaning floors and collecting invaluable operational and environmental data. Maidbot's automated systems deliver unprecedented value to hotel operators, room attendants, and hotel guests.
Maidbot is Micah's dream come true. He manages the product vision, sales strategy, cash flows, investor relations, and team development. Over the past decade, Micah has started multiple businesses including two successful smartphone applications. He strongly follows the words of Abraham Lincoln, "the best way to predict the future is to create it." Outside of Maidbot, Micah enjoys longboarding, windsurfing, and producing electronic music. He is currently guest lecturing at Cornell University - where he previously studied - for multiple classes within the Executive MBA and Industrial and Labor Relations programs.
Connect with Micah Green * Maidbot * LinkedIn * Facebook * Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Micah Green in this Episode * The “aha” moment that led to Micah to starting MaidBot * Becoming an entrepreneur from the young age of 7 * Turning an idea into a company * The customer discovery process for MaidBot * Evolving the idea based on need and feasibility * Early fundraising and networking * The decision to drop out of Cornell * Getting accepted as a Thiel Fellow on the 4th try * Micah’s advice for fundraising * The process and challenges of product development * Getting their first LOIs and actually getting their robot into hotels * The growth strategy for Maidbot and traction so far * How Micah approaches expansion * The manufacturing side of things * Balancing short-term and long-term planning and the big vision for Maidbot * The name inspiration for Maidbot's "Rosie" * A typical day for Micah and work-life balance * How COVID-19 is affecting the Maidbot team * The hiring process at Maidbot * Micah's book recommendations * Micah's takeaways for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Shark Puncher app * The Thiel Fellowship * The Jetsons * Calm app * Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle * Scaling Up by Verne Harnish * Start with Why by Simon Sinek * Venture Deals by Brad Feld * Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson * Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson * The Wright Brothers by David McCullough * Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
Kristi Ebong is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy for Orbita, the leading conversational AI platform for healthcare. Orbita’s award-winning, HIPAA-compliant conversational AI platform powers voice and chat solutions for healthcare and life sciences organizations that improve patient engagement, increase clinical efficiency, and improve outcomes. Customers include innovative organizations like Mass General Brigham, Mayo Clinic, Amwell, Yale New Haven Hospital, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, University of Chicago Medicine, and others. Partners included Cognizant, Deloitte, Pariveda, and ServiceNow.
Kristi also serves on the advisory board for The Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business and as an advisor to global thought leadership consultancy HealthXL.
She was previously Head of Emerging Technology at Cedars-Sinai Health System where she served as an advisor on new and emerging technology and launched the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator Powered by Techstars. Prior to that, Kristi worked for provider systems, technology startups, and cross-vertical health organizations (including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Healthspottr, and the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT). She was previously a management consultant for #1 KLAS-ranked Stockamp & Associates, where she led operational and revenue performance improvement for hospital systems. Kristi started her career working in implementation and product development at Epic Systems, focused on electronic health record deployment across hospital systems.
Connect with Kristi Ebong * Orbita * Facebook * Twitter * Kristi on LinkedIn * Orbita on LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Kristi Ebong in this Episode * What is Orbita * Kristi's current role at Orbita * Figuring out what patients need and the "access problem" * How Orbita approaches partnerships * The importance of diversity and inclusion in the sphere of healthcare * Patient journey mapping * The big vision for Orbita * Where Kristi sees opportunity in the healthcare technology industry * Kristi's experience serving as the Director of Emerging Technology for Cedars-Sinai Accelerator * How to handle the challenges of getting a healthcare startup off the ground * Leveraging the Orbita platform to build and adapt quickly in the context of COVID-19 * How Kristi prioritizes new projects * How Kristi was inspired to work on the business side of healthcare delivery * Kristi's advice for those interested in working in the healthcare industry * How Kristi structures her workday * How Kristi recharges outside of work * The biggest lessons Kristi has learned throughout her career
Links from the Episode * Mayo Clinic * Shiv Gaglani of Osmosis * Brian Conyer of GIBLIB * Cedars-Sinai Accelerator * MassChallenge HealthTech (formerly PULSE@MassChallenge) * MobiHealthNews * MedCity News * HIStalk * Becker's Hospital Review * MM&M
Zuleyka Strasner is the Founder and CEO of Zero, providing zero-waste groceries delivered fast, all to fit with their mission of removing single-use plastics from the food system. They architected a way to save the oceans while eating cleaner, healthier, and cheaper than ever before, and are leading the zero-plastic movement, one pantry at a time. Zero is fighting against the notion that convenience and environmentalism don't go together, and is proving that you can have what you want, when you want it, without ruining the planet.
Connect with Zuleyka Strasner * Zero * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn * zuleyka@zerogrocery.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Zuleyka Strasner in this Episode * The trip that inspired Zero * The challenge Zuleyka faced of going plastic-free at home * How Zuleyka's unconventional customer discovery process led to her actually starting Zero * What questions Zuleyka asked as she got her business off the ground * Fundraising and making Zero her full-time gig * The 263 meetings that led to 6 checks making up her first $500K * The process of launching and getting to the first 100 customers * How Zuleyka made her first hires * How Zuleyka and her team have approached product sourcing * How COVID-19 has affected the Zero team * Growing 15X from February to July 2020 and the challenges of such rapid growth * Becoming a "wartime CEO" * How Zero's customer acquisition process has changed * Zero's traction and team as of July 2020 * Zuleyka's vision for scaling Zero * How Zuleyka views her role * Zuleyka's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Growth hacking * Charles Hudson with Precursor Ventures
Eric Martell is a founder at Pear Commerce, which simplifies retail marketing by connecting CPG advertisements directly with retailers. Their mission is to provide complete transparency from the click of an ad to the purchase of a product.
Eric is also a Venture Partner at Gener8tor, and was Managing Director of Gener8tor Minnesota until September 2018. Gener8tor is a nationally ranked accelerator, with 76 investments to date. Before Gener8tor, he co-founded EatStreet, a startup that powers the online ordering for 15,000 restaurants nationwide and feeds millions of hungry people. Early in the company, he led product and engineering with Alex Wyler, and spent his last several years leading business intelligence, analytics, and metrics.
They have raised $40 million and their team has grown to 150 full time employees. Eric was named Ernst and Young "Entrepreneur of the Year" finalist in 2015 along with Matt Howard and Alex Wyler.
Connect with Eric Martell * Pear Commerce * Facebook * LinkedIn * eric@pearcommerce.com
Some of the Topics Covered by Eric Martell in this Episode * What is Pear Commerce and how it got started * Evolving an idea into a business * The mistake of creating a business in a vacuum * How to utilize "learning meetings" * Falling in love with the problem instead of the solution * How Eric got the idea for and started EatStreet * Why they decided to target smaller markets with EatStreet * The early growth of EatStreet and mistakes that became learning opportunities * How they approached expanding into new markets with EatStreet * Winning the University of Wisconsin student business plan competition * Becoming Gener8tor's first investment and fundraising for EatStreet * Eric's advice for fundraising * Leaving EatStreet and starting with Gener8tor * The challenge of raising 1.5M in investment capital for Gener8tor * Fundraising for Pear Commerce * What's next for Pear Commerce * Eric's book recommendations
Links from the Episode * Gener8tor * EatStreet * Spotted Cow beer * Y Combinator pitch deck * Techstars pitch deck * The Brandery * Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman
Ish Jindal is the co-founder and CEO of Tars, a company that helps marketers increase their PPC and paid ad conversion rate by 50-200% using chatbots and conversational landing pages. On a Conversational Landing Page, visitors are greeted with an automated chatbot which starts a more human-like conversation on text, gives them only the relevant information about your product/service and asks them for their contact information at the right time. With this approach users don't get overwhelmed by all the information listed on a typical static landing page and they are focused on having one conversation with the chatbot. This increases the chances of the user giving their information and turning into a lead for you.
Ish co-founded Tars with Vinit in 2016. He's been passionate about entrepreneurship since his college days. He enjoys building, scaling and connecting the dots between sales, marketing and customer success at Tars. He can also be heard on podcasts, talking about conversational marketing and chatbots.
Connect with Ish Jindal * Tars * LinkedIn * Facebook * Twitter * YouTube * Tars Conversations (podcast)
Some of the Topics Covered by Ish Jindal in this Episode * How Ish and his co-founder Vinit Agrawal started Tars and the problem they set out to solve * How Tars works * How they went about early testing of Tars and getting their first customers while still experimenting with its functionality * The customer outreach process for Tars and how it changed through early growth * How they approached funding * What Ish learned about pricing through building Tars and his advice for other entrepreneurs pricing SaaS * Value-based pricing and the importance of adjusting pricing throughout the growth of the company * Tars' customer acquisition strategy * Content marketing and how they prioritize content to create credibility throughout the customer journey * Creating traction and Tars' growth trajectory * How Ish and Vinit built out their team and their original reluctance * How Ish and Vinit determined roles and responsibility during the first two years * The biggest challenges Ish has faced over the past year * Ish's big vision for Tars * Ish's resources for ongoing education
Links from the Episode * Notion
Olivia Owens is the Creator & General Manager of IFundWomen of Color, the platform for women of color to raise capital through crowdfunding, grants, coaching, and the connections needed to launch and grow successful businesses. This funding ecosystem is designed to empower early-stage, women entrepreneurs and bridge the funding gap for women of color.
Olivia was a founding team member of IFundWomen and managed Business Development and Partnerships. IFundWomen launched in 2016 and continues to help women raise millions of dollars in capital.
Before launching IFundWomen of Color, Olivia’s leadership brokered critical partnerships to help scale the business (GirlBoss, adidas, Visa). She supported the creation of IFundWomen’s proprietary coaching program and helped build-out one of the nation’s largest connected communities of women business owners through the platform.
Olivia previously held positions at Under Armour in People & culture. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland.
Connect with Olivia Owens * IFundWomen of Color * IFundWomen * LinkedIn * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * YouTube * OJ: We Got The Juice (Olivia's Podcast) * The Discomfort Zone Newsletter
Some of the Topics Covered by Olivia Owens in this Episode * What is IFundWomen * Why Olivia launched IFundWomen of Color * The variety of companies and projects IFundWomen supports * The first steps IFundWomen uses to coach its entrepreneurs * The funding gap for women founders, particularly women of color, and why crowdfunding is an essential tool * The services IFundWomen provides * Launching IFundWomen of Color and the particular challenges women entrepreneurs of color face * How they are spreading the word about IFundWomen * The ultimate vision and business model of IFundWomen of Color * What lessons Olivia has learned since launching IFundWomen of Color in January 2020, and particularly navigating the COVID-19 pandemic * What's next for IFund Women and IFundWomen of Color * Who IFundWomen serves * Getting entrepreneurs to understand the value of crowdfunding * How crowdfunding can be used at different stages of a business * What entrepreneurs should be thinking about as they launch their business * Books and resources Olivia recommends * How Olivia manages her time day to day * How Olivia recharges away from work * Olivia's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Girlboss * Visa and IFundWomen * Adidas and IFundWomen * IFundWomen Workshop Library * Teachable * Mighty Networks * The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho * Three Feet from Gold, by Sharon L. Lechter and Dr. Greg S. Reid * Do Less, Kate Northrup * OJ: We Got The Juice * The Discomfort Zone Newsletter * The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
Chad moved to the DC area for school, attending the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was a D1 collegiate decathlete in their Track & Field program. He began his post-collegiate career in the residential remodeling industry, and noticed that it typically took 6 people and multiple touches from each person to help one customer renovate a bathroom. He understood what may have worked 70+ years ago, just doesn’t work today. The renovation process needed, well…a renovation. At LivingSocial, Chad experienced the drive and pace of an internet startup environment firsthand. He was now ready to combine his knowledge of the remodeling industry, his experience in the online marketplace, and his vision for a more efficient customer journey.
Thus he founded and is now CEO of Remodelmate, a managed marketplace for bathroom renovations. Homeowners get plans, permits, materials, and book labor through their site and the entire process is managed by a project concierge to make sure renovations finish on-time and on-budget. Backed by Revolution's Rise of the Rest, CoVenture and prominent angels.
Connect with Chad Hall * Remodelmate * LinkedIn * Facebook * Instagram * Pinterest * Twitter
Some of the Topics Covered by Chad Hall in this Episode * Why and how Chad started Remodelmate * How Chad went about finding his target market * Why he made the decision to stay local to Washington D.C. for now * How Chad used Remodelmate's first bathroom to prove his concept * Mistakes Chad made as he navigated digital marketing * How Chad and his co-founder managed funding as they started the business * Raising half a million dollars through angel investors and how they spent those funds * How they decided what positions they needed to hire for * Mistakes and challenges as Remodelmate grew and how to beat the competition * Figuring out what to standardize and which elements to make customizable * How Chad approached pricing strategy * Growing the company revenue 4x * How Remodelmate is faring through COVID-19 * Chad's book and software recommendations * Chad's biggest lesson for entrepreneurs, about making decisions
Links from the Episode * Living Social * Uber * Postmates * Long Fence * Stripe * HubSpot Academy * Keynote * Casper * Warby Parker * Brooklinen * Italic * The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz * Zero to One by Peter Thiel * Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson * Hooked by Nir Eyal * The Upstarts by Brad Stone * Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek * Simon Sinek * Purple Cow by Seth Godin * The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick * Notion * HubSpot * Contactually
Max de Melo is a real estate entrepreneur based in Scottsdale, Arizona. After moving to the U.S. from Germany, Max and his business partner and friend Patrick Niederdrenk started from humble beginnings in the real estate industry with the first home they flipped and from there have grown an empire of real estate, as co-owners and managing partners of America One Luxury Real Estate, in addition to doing remodels and rebuilds of multi-million dollar homes in the Paradise Valley area.
America One Luxury Real Estate is Arizona's most reliable source for full-service property management and brokerage services since 1988. With many choices throughout Scottsdale and the East Valley for full-service property management, they take pride in their commitment to personal service, responsiveness, direct communication, and their experience and expertise in real estate. Each of their employees are seasoned real estate professionals, providing services for homeowners, investors, and lenders.
Connect with Max de Melo * America One Luxury Real Estate * LinkedIn * Instagram * YouTube
Some of the Topics Covered by Max de Melo in this Episode * What America One Luxury Real Estate does in the Scottsdale and Paradise Valley area * How Max and his business partner Patrick got involved in real estate and why they chose Scottsdale * Max's self-proclaimed German approach and advice for finding your first property to flip * How Max and Patrick did their first flip, from discovering the property to finding a general contractor to furnishing, renting and eventually selling * Max's advice for networking * The journey of getting an investor visa and buying into the brokerage they are now co-owners of * Their unconventional method of getting into the luxury market * What makes a great business partner * How Max and his partner find opportunities and add value to the properties * The importance of "understanding the numbers" and how to do so * How they approach and carry out a typical flip * Strategies for selling luxury properties * How they plan to expand their business * The biggest lessons Max has learned on this journey
Links from the Episode * Zillow * Grant Cardone * Ryan Serhant * Million Dollar Listing
Saurav Agarwal is an entrepreneur and engineer. He is currently the founder, CEO & CTO at his second startup, SIERA.AI, which uses AI-driven solutions to boost compliance, prevent accidents, and fill labor shortages in logistics through digital inspection software, forklift collision prevention, and automated material handling.
Saurav got his start in robotics during his undergrad at IIT Bombay. He went on to do an M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University in the EDP Lab and garnered several awards including the Qualcomm Padovani Fellowship. His research work is within the field of Motion Planning Under Uncertainty and SLAM for mobile robots. In 2013 he founded an online travel marketplace for finding local guides called GuideBuddy. Over the past 12 years he has developed self-driving cars, autonomous drones and computer vision systems. In his free time, he enjoys making music with his wife, cooking, reading and writing.
Connect with Saurav Agarwal * SIERA.AI * LinkedIn * Saurav's Blog
Some of the Topics Covered by Saurav Agarwal in this Episode * How Saurav started SIERA.AI * Getting a grant from the National Science Foundation and the customer discovery process * Defining their initial product and building the first prototype * How they got connected with their first customer * How the company began to grow * Networking and fundraising through Dorm Room Fund and angel investors * Saurav's experience as a POC entrepreneur in Texas * SIERA.AI's current traction and team * How Saurav balances the roles of both CEO and CTO and the division of work with his co-founder Suhas * How Saurav approaches hiring * The why, what, how approach * SIERA.AI's product offerings * How they approach growth and customer acquisition * SIERA.AI's response to COVID-19 and its affect on the business and team * SIERA.AI's pricing model * How Saurav views competition * The biggest challenges Saurav has faced as an entrepreneur * How Saurav approaches short term versus long term planning by being impatient with action and patient with results * Saurav's advice regarding fundraising * Saurav's grand vision for SIERA.AI * Saurav's book recommendations * How Saurav manages his time daily * What Saurav does to recharge * Saurav's advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * National Science Foundation * Zoox * Dorm Room Fund * Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) * Principles by Ray Dalio * Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss * Malcolm Gladwell * High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove * Jeff Bezos * Paper Raven Books * Just Go Grind Podcast #77: Morgan Gist MacDonald, Founder of Paper Raven Books, on How to Successfully Write, Publish, and Promote a Book
Peter Peng is the founder and CEO of Jetson, the Shopify of voice commerce. It is voice-first marketplace technology that adds true commerce capabilities to voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Home by enabling multi-step conversations, which allow you to explore a menu or catalog, customize products, and transact them in a natural and unconstrained way. Jetson also enables businesses of any size to easily sell products and services through voice interfaces using Jetson's end to end platform. Jetson is the only voice commerce platform today that has full on turn-key capabilities.
Peter has worked at a number of IoT startups, and led the 2014 Google Glass integration into a smart lock platform and as well as the Alexa integration into the same platform. Peter has a passion for taking companies to the next level with artificial intelligence.
Connect with Peter Peng * Jetson * Invest in Jetson with Microventures * Facebook * Instagram * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Peter Peng in this Episode * What is Jetson? * How COVID-19 has re-invigorated the Jetson team * Why Peter created Jetson * Why they started with food ordering and what other industries they have since moved into * Figuring out their target customers and creating different types of accounts * Where Peter got direction and guidance as he started Jetson * The process of getting pre-revenue funding and getting investors through regulation crowdfunding and MicroVentures * How Peter views growth and customer acquisition for Jetson * Why Peter focuses on being product- and brand-centric * Peter's advice for successful sales * What's next for Jetson * The story behind Jetson's logo * How Peter sees the future of AI * A typical day for Peter * How Peter finds a work-life balance and why it's so important to him * Peter's book recommendations * What Peter would have done differently looking back
Links from the Episode * Brandable * Square * Shopify * Delivery.com * Amazon Pay * Cognitive Code * MicroVentures * Good to Great, Jim Collins * Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey A. Moore * Traction, Gino Wickman
Christian is the Co-Founder and CEO of We Are No Code, an educational platform that empowers non-technical founders through No-code technology. WeAreNoCode prepares startups for accelerators, investment, and revenue growth through an 8-module guided course.
Christian is a serial entrepreneur and digital strategist with over 12 years experience building startups, running accelerators and consulting for fortune 500 companies and celebrities. As a trainer, he served as the co-director of a startup program that has helped over 100 startups go on to raise over 40M in funding and get into accelerators like Techstars, YCombinator and 500 Startups. He is also a specialist in no-code and workflow automations.
Connect with Christian Peverelli * We Are No Code * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Christian Peverelli in this Episode * What is the No-code movement? * How Christian discovered No-code and the impact it's had on him as an entrepreneur * What We Are No Code does and its potential for changing the game for creators * Navigating the immense variety of No-code tools available and how We Are No Code provides guidance * The reality of being your own worst critic and leveraging the human element in your favor * We Are No Code's target audience and what they can achieve * The importance of becoming tech-literate in today's world * A breakdown of We Are No Code's 8-module educational program, from 0 to revenue * The three avenues of funding: investors vs. accelerators vs. bootstrap * The importance of discovery calls and avoiding "the mom effect" * How Christian and his co-founder Eddy started We Are No Code * How they are lowering the learning curve and making entrepreneurship accessible even to those with full time jobs * Christian's own journey as an entrepreneur * How Christian is also using his business to make the world better * We Are No Code's plan for growth * Christian's recommendations and advice for entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * No-Code development platform * Visual programming * WEM * Airtable * Zapier * Webflow * Memberstack * Adalo * Bubble * The No-Code Startup * Career Karma * Defy Ventures * Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck * Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu * Gary Vaynerchuk * Akimbo with Seth Godin (podcast)
Sabena was born on Long Island and raised in the Bay Area. She realized her heart was in SoCal and traded in the City by the Bay for the sunnier skies of Los Angeles. Ever the USC over-achiever—student government chair by day and leadership fraternity by night—she was selected as a USC Global Fellow, earning a 3-month summer fellowship in Hong Kong with Burberry and graduated magna cum laude with a BA in PR.
In 2014, Sabena and her two co-founders, Chelsea Moore and Jenni Olivero, were inspired to create BOXFOX, an LA-based e-commerce gifting company, with a clear mission: to create stronger relationships through beautiful and personal gifts, enabled by simple user experiences. The three women identified the need for a comprehensive gifting service that lets both consumers and corporations send high-quality, personalized gift boxes for any occasion.
At BOXFOX, Sabena wears many (designer) hats, namely managing their Corporate Concierge program, driving B2B business development, and working closely with developers on site enhancements and solutions that are constantly improving their offerings. Sabena and her two co-founders were named on the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the retail and e-commerce category.
Connect with Sabena Suri * BOXFOX * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Sabena Suri in this Episode * How and why BOXFOX got started * The brainstorming phase and the original idea that Sabena and her co-founders Chelsea and Jenni came up with * Defining their target audience and figuring out how to reach them * How they launched and their initial marketing strategy * The importance of using the connections and resources close to you as an entrepreneur * Creating growth by turning their product into a shareable moment * The process of coming up with their name and logo * Establishing the clear pillars of their brand early on * Establishing the roles of each of the three co-founders and how those have evolved over time * The process of making BOXFOX their full time gig and how it was different for each of the co-founders * How turning into a multi-million dollar business affected the company and the challenge of maintaining company culture * The importance of PR and figuring out how to best leverage it for their company * The B2B side of the business * Customer acquisition and how they shifted their strategy * The importance and value of rewarding loyal customers and how they developed a loyalty program that works for their business * How they decide on which products to include in their boxes * The challenges of offering diverse products and what makes their company unique * How their view of the competition has changed over time * How customer feedback affects their product selection * Turning products into gifts and anticipating customers' needs, especially amidst COVID-19 * How the pandemic has affected BOXFOX * How corporate gifting changed their business * How Sabena views growth for her company moving forward * Where BOXFOX is at today and the element of growth with existing corporate customers * Sabena's long-term vision for BOXFOX * Expectations versus reality as an entrepreneur * Sabena's podcast and book recommendations * A typical day for Sabena * Strategies Sabena uses for maintaining a daily work-life balance * What Sabena does to recharge * Sabena's advice for other entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 * How I Built This (podcast) * Shoe Dog by Phil Knight * Radical Candor (management philosophy and book) * Google Sheets * Keynote
Loren Brill is an entrepreneur with a mission to make clean food delicious and more accessible. After overcoming cancer after college, she cut out most dairy, artificial and highly processed ingredients. When she couldn’t find anything to satisfy her sweet tooth with, she made up her own recipes. Sweet Loren’s was born. Loren is the CEO & Founder of Sweet Loren's, a clean food CPG company transforming what is means to be convenient, insanely tasty, and more sustainable. Their first product line is a first-of-its-kind place & bake and edible cookie dough. Sweet Loren’s ranked #114 in the 2019 Inc. 500 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. and Loren was picked as part of the 2019 Inc. Female Founders 100, building America’s most innovative and ambitious businesses.
She is a graduate of the Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California and a certified Hatha Yoga instructor. She completed the master class in cooking at The New School and studied at The Natural Gourmet Institute. She loves good food, health & wellness, female entrepreneurship, and turning negatives into positives.
Connect with Loren Brill * Sweet Loren's Cookie Dough * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Loren Brill in this Episode * What is Sweet Loren's and what makes their product unique * How Sweet Loren's got started * How surviving cancer at 22 re-framed Loren's life * Seeing food as fuel and what clean eating means to Loren * How Loren began testing her cookie dough and got her big break with Whole Foods before she even had a packaged product * The challenges of her first year of business * How Loren recommends to test market * How Loren gathered data and refined her product as she got her company off the ground * How Loren grew from having her product carried in a few New York Whole Foods to over 10,000 supermarkets across the country * How taking a course helped Loren formulate her business plan * How Loren got her first big meeting with the head buyer at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods and the push that gave to her business * Figuring out how to not be afraid of opportunities and to just show up and do her best * The whirlwind between that first meeting and getting her product onto the shelves * The challenges of finding a factory to work with, scaling up her recipe, distribution, and sampling * What growth looked like during the first few years of building her business * Winning the Next Big Small Brand Contest * The importance of branding and packaging in food * Getting on the Today Show and getting voted Top Entrepreneur in Marie Claire * How networking led to meeting her mentor Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of Chobani * How getting launched nationally by Publix and Kroger supermarkets made Sweet Loren's into a multi-million dollar business overnight * How Loren knew she was ready to bring on a full team * The food service side of Sweet Loren's and diversifying the business * What the e-commerce side of the business looks like for Sweet Loren's as a perishable product * How COVID-19 has affected her business and the baking boom during this time * Why they have stuck to cookie dough for five years and why they are now evaluating the market demands for potential new products * Loren's advice about identifying and focusing on your strengths as you grow a business * What Loren would have done differently if she could go back in time and her biggest advice for entrepreneurs * How Loren avoids burnout * Loren's book recommendations and what she learned from them * How Loren manages her time day to day
Links from the Episode * 2019 Inc. 5000: The Most Successful Companies in America * 2019 Inc. Female Founders 100 * Whole Foods Market * The Next Big Small Brand Contest * 2012 Marie Claire Women on Top Awards: The Transformers * The Today Show * Natural Products Expo West * Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani * Publix * Kroger * Shoe Dog by Phil Knight * Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Jacob Pace is the CEO of Flighthouse, the largest media brand on TikTok. Flighthouse has almost 25 million followers and over 2 billion likes. They also operate an agency that works with a variety of brands and labels on TikTok marketing campaigns. A native of El Paso, Texas, Jacob started working for record labels and PR firms remotely as a teenager. Just after graduating from high school, he moved out to L.A. to work for Create Music Group. He has since become one of the youngest CEOs in the industry.
Connect with Jacob Pace * Instagram * LinkedIn * Flighthouse Media * Flighthouse on TikTok * Flighthouse on YouTube * Flighthouse on Instagram
Some of the Topics Covered by Jacob Pace in this Episode * How Jacob got his start in the music industry * What Jacob's experience was like moving out to L.A. at a very young age * What Jacob's job was like when he was first hired by Create * Jacob's view of "the hustle" * How Jacob became the CEO of Flighthouse * How Flighthouse grew to nearly 25 million followers * How Flighthouse creates content * How the quarantine and COVID-19 crisis has affected Flighthouse's content creation * How they manage content distribution across platforms * Keys to creating successful TikTok content * How brands are using TikTok as the newest social media * How Flighthouse Media, the brand side of the business, was born * What Jacob's position as CEO involves * What's next for Flighthouse * The big lessons Jacob has learned along the way * Jacob's advice for artists breaking into TikTok * A day in the life of Jacob, and how quarantine has affected his routine * Jacob's journaling and meditation practices * What Jacob is excited about moving forward * How Jacob keeps up with trends * Jacob's podcast recommendations
Links from the Episode * How I Built This (podcast) * The Tim Ferriss Show (podcast) * Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations (podcast)
Chris and Nicholas are the founders of www.WithClutch.com. The two met at Stanford Business School in 2011 and started their first company, Carlypso, in 2013. After going through YCombinator and raising $10M in venture funding, Chris and Nicholas sold Carlypso to Carvana in 2017. Their new business, WithClutch, allows car owners to calculate savings and refinance their loans from the comfort of their home.
Chris is a huge car enthusiast. He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for undergrad, joined McKinsey & Company out of college and worked at McLaren in the UK before graduating from Stanford.
Nicholas used to be an avid golfer, playing on Germany's national team for four years. After finishing his master's degree in Germany, he worked at Bain & Company and Merrill Lynch before he moved to the U.S. in 2011.
Connect with Nicholas Hinrichsen and Chris Coleman * WithClutch * Carvana * Nicholas Hinrichsen on LinkedIn * Chris Coleman on LinkedIn
Some of the Topics Covered by Nicholas and Chris in this Episode * What is WithClutch? * How they got the idea for WithClutch while running their first business, Carlypso * How Chris' dream of working for a Formula 1 team eventually led him to the Stanford Graduate School of Business * How Nick went from playing on the German golf national team to working in renewable energy to Stanford for business school, where he met Chris * How Carlypso was born when Chris and Nick began helping their classmates sell their cars at Stanford * What factors nudged Chris into entrepreneurism * Why Nick decided to become an entrepreneur in the U.S. instead of Germany * Getting their first $50K and deciding to start Carlypso * The customer discovery process and finding value as they began their business * The founder relationship between Chris and Nick and how they knew they could build a business together * Beginning to find investors, and how they quickly went from a goal of $250K to $1M * Expectation versus reality regarding the management of their initial funds * The problems they ran into as they looked to scale Carlypso as a peer to peer model * Joining the Y Combinator accelerator program and how they addressed the issue of not growing fast enough * How changing their model led to a growth in inventory from 100 cars to 30,000 overnight * How immense growth affected the business operationally * The strengths and weaknesses of Carlypso's marketing strategy * The challenge of explaining the Carlypso model to consumers * The two methods they used to build out the Carlypso team as they continued to grow * The biggest obstacles Nick and Chris faced, mistakes made, and the importance of trusting your intuition * What led to the Carvana acquisition, and how they managed the transition * The recent launch of their newest venture, WithClutch * The most important lessons each Nick and Chris have learned as entrepreneurs
Links from the Episode * Y Combinator (startup accelerator)
Samantha Patil is the founder and CEO of Well Traveled, a members only platform for trusted travel recommendations and reviews. The growing platform, currently in beta, is designed to streamline travel discovery and planning, through a community driven approach to content curation. Well Traveled's content library of trending hotel, restaurant, nightlife and activity recommendations is member sourced and endorsed and is constantly evolving based on member feedback. Membership is on an application basis and once accepted, members can endorse, review and contribute to the content collection, providing a relevant list of travel recommendations sourced directly from and vetted by their trusted network.
A graduate of the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business, Samantha has her background in marketing. After working at a number of startups, she took the leap to work full time on her own venture in 2019. She brought on co-founder Casey Hough, and Well Traveled recently soft launched. When Samantha isn't hard at work growing her new business, she can be found riding her Peleton bike, playing with her labradoodle puppy, or baking.
Connect with Samantha Patil * Well Traveled * Well Traveled on Instagram * samantha@welltraveledclub.com * LinkedIn * Instagram
Some of the Topics Covered by Samantha Patil in this Episode * How Well Traveled is coping as they launch during the COVID-19 crisis * What is Well Traveled and how the idea was born from a sense of information overload * Samantha's process in the early stages of building the concept * The challenge of getting a developer * Building up a "fellow founder network" * How Samantha and her co-founder Casey split responsibilities and balance each other's roles * The value of setting aside weekly meeting time for strategic planning * The ongoing customer discovery process for Well Traveled * How Well Traveled is prioritizing the expansion of features * How Samantha made the leap from nights and weekends to making her startup her full time gig * How Samantha and Casey have managed the financial journey of their business so far * How to fund raise among friends and family * What questions to ask in building your pitch * How they began building their customer base before launching * Samantha's vision for the growth of the company * How they built their revenue model based on annual membership * How they are adjusting their model amidst COVID-19 to focus on local travel and make their platform more accessible given the current climate * The "everything is figureoutable" approach * The biggest challenges Samantha has faced building her company from scratch * How Samantha structures her workday and manages her time * Samantha's approach to weekends * The importance of disconnecting * Resources Samantha recommends for entrepreneurs * What Samantha does to recharge * The biggest lessons Samantha has learned along the way so far * Samantha's long term vision for Well Traveled * Potential opportunities to work for Well Traveled
Links from the Episode * Y Combinator (resource for funding early stage startups * The Pitch (podcast) * Everything is Figureoutable (book by Marie Forleo) * How I Built This (podcast) * Skimm'd From The Couch (podcast) * Venture Deals (book) * Girlboss (community) * The Wing (community)
Adam Mendler is the Chief Executive Officer of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries: Beverly Hills Chairs, a leading office furniture e-tailer; Custom Tobacco, a one-of-a-kind cigar customization e-commerce platform; and Veloz Solutions, a technology consulting and software development practice. Adam remains active in each portfolio company, providing strategic guidance and support.
Adam also provides business thought leadership as a speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations; as the host of the leadership and personal / professional development podcast Thirty Minute Mentors; as an expert regularly cited in national media outlets; and as an advisor, consultant, coach and board member.
Connect with Adam Mendler * Adam Mendler * The Veloz Group * Thirty Minute Mentors Podcast * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook
Some of the Topics Covered by Adam Mendler in this Episode * What being an entrepreneur means for Adam, including the 3 companies within The Veloz Group, being a writer, public speaker, and podcast host * Addressing demand versus creating demand * 3 tips on how to lead through the coronavirus crisis * How to make sure your company and team are prepared for a crisis in the future * How to communicate with and support your team during this crisis * Letting go of employees with empathy, compassion and honesty * The opportunity of talent becoming available due to the COVID-19 crisis layoffs * How Adam got started as an entrepreneur * How Adam founded The Veloz Group with his brother and the challenge of defining their direction * For bootstrap businesses, the importance of choosing which ideas can be most efficiently monetized * How to decide which business ideas to pursue as an entrepreneur * Evaluating potential, considering feasibility, and defining your target customer * Juggling different ventures and the importance of being "Dr. No" * The importance of being self-reflective as a leader and entrepreneur * Adam's perspective on making mistakes * Adam's book recommendations * How Adam's day-to-day has changed during the COVID crisis * What tools Adam uses to maximize his day * Being a baseball fan during the crisis, and an Angels fan in Los Angeles
Links from the Episode * The Best and the Brightest (book by David Halberstam)
Victoria Repa is the CEO & Co-Founder of BetterMe, a health and fitness app empire with more than 50 million installs, 400,000+ paid subscribers, and annual revenue of more than $60 million. BetterMe's flagship app often ranks as one of the top #5 apps on the App store in the health and fitness section.
Connect with Victoria Repa * LinkedIn * Instagram
Some of the Topics Covered by Victoria Repa in this Episode * How Victoria started BetterMe * How Victoria decided on the initial version of the app and decided to focus on weight loss initially * The thinking around the target audience for BetterMe early-on * Victoria’s user acquisition strategy for BetterMe * The importance of understanding who your audience is * How BetterMe implements changes based on user feedback * The content strategy behind BetterMe and how they decide which content to add to their apps * How Victoria looks at building new apps vs. improving the apps they have at BetterMe * The approach Victoria has used to grow the team of BetterMe from 3 to 100 people * The biggest challenges along the way of growing BetterMe * Victoria’s big vision for BetterMe in the future and how she plans on getting there * How Victoria views competition * What Victoria’s day-to-day looks like as CEO * Why Victoria just uses paper and pencil for planning and running her day * The biggest lessons from Victoria’s career so far and why she prioritizes speed over efficiency
Links from the Episode * Reid Hoffman * Blitzscaling * Masters of Scale * Summit * Robert F. Smith * The Daily Stoic
Find the show notes at justgogrind.com/podcast
Lauryn Nwankpa, Head of Social Impact at Dave and former Head of Social Impact at Headspace, is drawn to impact driven organizations, her work primarily focuses on developing and implementing effective strategies to eradicate poverty, increase access to education, and alleviate wealth and income inequality. From outreach and advocacy, to philanthropy and community engagement, she brings together critical stakeholders to increase access to key resources leading to the empowerment and self-actualization of marginalized communities.
Ed Buckley is the CEO of Peerfit, a digital platform that makes it easy for employers, insurance carriers, and brokers to offer fitness classes to their clients and employees. Peerfit users gain access to a variety of services and experiences, empowering them to personalize your journey to wellness, to lead a more active and healthier lifestyle.
Peerfit is on a mission to empower individuals to live healthy and active lifestyles. They believe wellness is personal and fitness is more fun with friends. Their day isn't complete without a little sweat and they stay motivated by their community. They believe today’s corporate wellness is stale and boring, and they're changing that.
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Dan is the founder of e-commerce brand, Unbound Merino, which is a maker of quality merino wool clothing. The company was started as a crowdfunding campaign, raising $380,000 in its first 2 months. After just 3-years in business, they are now doing $4m in revenue.
Sam Adams serves as chief executive of dot.LA. A former financial journalist for Bloomberg and Reuters, Adams moved to the business side of media as a strategy consultant at Activate, helping legacy companies develop new digital strategies. Adams holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Southern California. A Santa Monica native, he can most often be found at Bay Cities deli with a Godmother sub or at McCabe's with a 12-string guitar. His favorite colors are Dodger blue and Lakers gold.
dot.LA is a news and events company with a mission of shining a light on the innovation in the L.A. startup and tech community.
Kari's story:
"During my first week back from maternity leave, my daughter’s daycare closed for two weeks because they accidentally left a kid at the park. Rough start, and it didn’t get easier from there.
I used to question every decision I made as a mom and would end up crying in the bathroom at work. I just felt like I was reinventing the wheel each day, which is why I knew I had to build something to help myself (I was basically my own guinea pig) and the countless other ambitious women out there
According to our insight at Uplift, what’s hardest for moms is the emotional pressure. The guilt. The constant mental load. The rampant imposter syndrome. So, we’ve built a robust support system to up your working mom game.
My story has a happy ending: I became better at my job (and life) post kids thanks to the many small changes I developed and then weaved into Uplift. I’m more efficient, more focused, and a hell of a lot happier. "
What Uplift does:
Uplift empowers working women to turn motherhood into a career advantage, not a drawback.
They do this through ‘snackable coaching’ that fits in busy moms lives: coaching sessions during pumping, 5-minute exercises and audio content for commutes.
Their program is based on interviews with 70 working moms at the top of their fields (such as the CTO of Nest, CMO of Hulu, and founder of Hint Water). Significant life changes have been shown to be excellent times to adopt new habits since your entire life is already changing.
Asa Firestone is an avid rock climber and entrepreneur based in Boulder, Colorado. He often describes himself as a washed up explorer turned hotelier. He is the co-founder of the Boulder Adventure Lodge (A-Lodge). He also co-founded several successful non-profit organizations focused on introducing the outdoors to at-risk youth; Climb for Colorado, Adventure Forward, and the Centro de Escalada Urbana. He also founded BeyondGear, a social enterprise selling lifestyle gear to the outdoor community, as well as BeyondTalks, an adventure speaker series and production company.
Asa received his MBA at USC Marshall in 2012 as a Society and Business Lab Fellow and earned his undergraduate degree in engineering physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005. He was a National Geographic Young Explorer for his first ascent big wall expedition in the Venezuelan Amazon in 2008.
Blaine founded what's now known as Student Brands in 1999 as a freshman in college. He didn't raise any money and Barnes and Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) bought it for $58.5 million in August 2017.
Blaine enjoys investing in for-profit and nonprofit organizations, especially when his experience is helpful to the founders. He's acquired about ten businesses as well.
Blaine has also co-created a couple of television shows and has produced some films. He's particularly interested in investing in meaningful documentaries and scripted films.
Phil O’Brien is the founder and publisher of W42ST, a hyperlocal lifestyle print magazine and media brand that connects readers to the New York City experience. As others migrate toward a more digital presence, W42ST Magazine is a successful print magazine for and about Hell’s Kitchen. Under Phil’s leadership, W42ST Magazine has a circulation of over 30,000 and has featured original interviews with local luminaries like Broadway leading man Max von Essen; New York politician Corey Johnson; The Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler; and many others.
As an entrepreneur who also successfully founded and sold the world’s largest independent photography agency in 2004, Phil can discuss how he built a thriving photography agency, why he sold it, and how he started a new media company in New York City. Phil can also discuss his tips and advice on entrepreneurship, marketing, and sales, as well as evergreen topics like how to come up with a great business idea; finding and filling a need in the marketplace; and how to find your first customers.
Lauren Foundos is the Founder and CEO of FORTË, a company that streams live and on-demand boutique fitness classes from the hottest studios worldwide directly to you.
Founded in 2015, FORTË has revolutionized the fitness industry by providing access to avant-garde boutique studio classes coached by leading fitness experts worldwide. Both a technology and subscription based streaming platform, FORTË installs hardware and software into boutique studios, which enable the classes to be streamed live to FORTË’s platform.
Nicaila Matthews Okome is a Jamaican born, Bronx bred marketer and side hustler turned full-time podcaster and entrepreneur.
In 2016, she created the Side Hustle Pro podcast. Side Hustle Pro is the first and only podcast to spotlight bold, black women entrepreneurs who have scaled from side hustle to profitable business. Since launch, it’s has been named “the perfect entrepreneurship podcast” by Mashable, featured on the TODAY show, earned over three million downloads, and amassed a loyal social media following of aspiring entrepreneurs.
Malaria kills about 400,000 people per year with millions more falling ill - 70% of these people are children under 5 years old. Rob Mather and his team at the Against Malaria Foundation are working to solve this massive problem.
Rob Mather is the founder and CEO of The Against Malaria Foundation. AMF has now raised more than $230 million, funding more than 100 million anti-mosquito bed nets protecting millions of people.
AMF uses technology, rigorous processes and clear accountability to ensure aid is delivered effectively. For seven of the past eight years, AMF has been a top-ranked charity of the independent charity evaluators GiveWell and The Life You Can Save.
Zach Beinlich is the bass player of Yam Haus, a band which exploded in popularity in 2019.
With "electro-poppy grooves and swooning vocals” (Star Tribune, June 2018), Minneapolis-based pop group, Yam Haus, is challenging the indie dominated scene of the Twin Cities. Tight guitars, dreamy synths, and clean production from Grammy award-winning producer Mark Heimermann, helped drive year one successes.
Their debut album, “Stargazer,” lands with the energy of WALK THE MOON, the charisma of Coldplay, and the emotion of Ed Sheeran. Strong melodies and thoughtful songwriting become even more apparent and powerful when big production and synth-heavy tracks are stripped back with the minimal arrangements of their acoustic EP, “Stargazer Sessions.”
With the “Yam” in Yam Haus standing for “You Are Me”, members Lars Pruitt (lead vocal), Jake Felstow (drums), Zach Beinlich (bass), and Seth Blum (guitar) officially formed Yam Haus in 2017. The group launched their first single, West Coast, in April 2018 which gained over 100,000 streams within the first week of its release. Selling out shows across the midwest due to a quickly growing fan-base, the quartet has played alongside national acts Kacey Musgraves, Tori Kelly, Adam Lambert , Sugar Ray, Andy Grammer, O.A.R. , AWOLNATION, American Authors, Semisonic, lovelytheband, and Johnnyswim.
With over 2.6 million streams on Spotify with their pop-inspired album, Stargazer, Yam Haus’ sound evokes the names of WALK THE MOON, Maroon 5, and Ed Sheeran alike. Kicking off the summer on the national stage at Basilica Block Party, winning the Emerging Artist Series at Summerfest, and releasing their highly anticipated single, The Thrill, the band continues to build momentum as they continue to unveil new music into 2020.
Tara, a scientist-turned-general-manager with over 14-years of cross-functional healthcare experience at Johnson & Johnson, co-founded DIG Labs in 2019 when she decided to dedicate the next chapter of her life to closing the gaps between human and pet healthcare. She holds a B.S. in Materials Science & Biomedical Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from NYU Stern. Tara is also a registered patent agent. She holds six patents spanning biomedical nanotechnology to consumer products. She has built and led CPG brands including AVEENO and global beauty disruptive innovation. Tara lives in New Jersey with her husband, son, and two fur babies, Sam and Juney.
DIG Lab's mission is to celebrate the individuality of all dogs by creating individualized supplements based on each dog's unique health needs and diet for more licks, laughter, and loving moments.
Use code: furbaby for $10 off your first supply!
Brittany Laughlin, is Head of Investor Relations at Blockstack PBC. She’s spent 6 years investing in blockchain and network effect businesses through her own firm, Lattice Ventures, and on the investment team at Union Square Ventures. A serial entrepreneur, she's built 3 companies, including gtrot which sold to Groupon. Her work focuses on the intersection of community and technology.
In the past few months since Blockstack’s historic SEC-approved Regulation A+ filing in the United States, Blockstack has forged partnerships with juggernaut investor Recruit Holdings to expand its developer resources to Asia, partnered with Lambda School to incorporate ethics into its coding curriculum, and increased its App Mining Payout to $1M to support its developer community.
Brian Conyer is the co-founder and CEO of GIBLIB, a company he started in 2015 with fellow USC Trojan Jihye Shin.
GIBLIB curates and creates high quality educational videos from expert physicians at the leading academic medical centers and streams the library on-demand to medical professionals globally.
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Christina founded The New Quo because she believes story is one of our most powerful tools for change. The New Quo is a content platform and communications consultancy helping leaders and companies rebrand and rewrite their voice to convey their unique purpose, navigate change, gain buy-in, and create status-quo breaking communications that shift hearts, mindsets, and culture for the better.
Christina has spent the past 10 years using story to drive action — from motivating 300,000 young people to volunteer on various social causes (from discrimination to women’s empowerment), closing $6.5 million in profits with teams she's worked with throughout various industries, and teaching 220 leaders in proprietary workshops on how to create culture change, all through story.
She is also a performer and loves combining the high-energy entertainment style of her singing background with actionable tips that leave the people she works with and teach inspired, motivated, and ready to take action. You can peep her work in Elle.com, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Marie Claire, The Huffington Post, Mogul.com, Attn.com, and Thrive.com among other outlets. As an Utah native & NYC resident for the past 9 years, she knows far more uses for jello than she'd like to admit.
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Liz Long is on a mission to help "makers" succeed! She's the creator of Learn To Make A Product™ and contributing writer at Forbes, where she covers the world of physical product entrepreneurship.
Learn To Make A Product is serving makers from all over the world. Their workshops, digital products, and support packages have reached over 5,000 people and Liz has educated groups at MIT, Babson, General Assembly and beyond!
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Rob Patrick, the founder of Bitmob, started writing code at 12 years old and never looked back. He's since become a CTO, CEO, co-founder, startup mentor/advisor, sold a company, guest spoken at Harvard, been on TV, co-authored a few patents and served as Chairman & member on a few Board of Directors.
Even with more than 15 years of software technology leadership experience, he loves that the tech space provides constant opportunity to grow and innovate. Turns out, his passion is working with amazing people to create transformative software solutions that have significant positive impact.
Bitmob is a SaaS Platform that produces high-quality automated tests for your codebase, which helps you eliminate bugs, improve code quality, and free up engineers.
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Zach Evans, my best friend since high school, is a pianist, producer, and kick-ass entrepreneur who turned his passion for piano into a business that's done more than $1 million in revenue in 3 years. He's been featured on CBS, Yahoo, USA Today, and has amassed more than 10 million views on YouTube.
Zach now lives in Los Angeles and, with the extra time his lifestyle business gives him, is focusing his time and effort on breaking into the music industry – this time as an artist.
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The Grind is a community where entrepreneurs, creators, and other go-getters can connect digitally and in-person to build their businesses, get ideas and inspiration, make an impact, and support others pursuing their dreams.
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Marla Isackson is a seasoned marketing executive with over 25 years’ experience creating innovative marketing campaigns for world-famous brands including Citibank, American Express, Barnes & Noble, and WebMD.
A longtime passionate supporter of women's initiatives, Marla is the founder of Ossa Collective (Formerly - Like a Boss Girls), a website providing young women the tools, information and inspiration they need to define, explore and connect with their goals -- including finding (or creating) their dream job, becoming entrepreneurs, social activists, leaders, basically pursuing success however they may define it.
A mother of two and an entrepreneur herself, Marla created Like a Boss Girls, formerly known as Heart of Gold, because she believes that young women have the strength, determination and talents to play a bigger game, make a big difference in the world, and “make it big” by achieving real greatness in their lives.
Marla is also the founder of Ossa. Ossa connects women in podcasting with brands buying podcast advertising. Ossa provides women in podcasting a supportive community and increased earnings potential. Ossa also enables brands identify and target relevant niche audiences engaging in the podcasting medium. Ossa was in beta from August 2018 through mid January 2019. Ossa launched in mid January 2019 with 200 podcasters and 150+ brands on the platform.
Stephanie Thoma is a networking strategy coach, international speaker and writer based in San Francisco, serving on the board of the Young Professionals of San Francisco. Stephanie's attended/hosted 600+ events since 2016 and has made a fulfilling career out of inspiring and facilitating human connection.
Stephanie helps introverts unlock their in-person networking potential, uncover limiting beliefs, build confidence and establish authentic relationships at work and in life through professional workshops and coaching. She has been featured in Business Insider and Refinery29 and invited to speak at Harvard University, Venture Cafe Tokyo, Serendipity Conference and General Assembly, among others.
Wietse Van Der Werf is an award-winning social entrepreneur and conservationist, pioneering regenerative blue economy ventures. For his innovative approach which mobilizes business, government and citizens to form uncommon partnerships for the social economic and ecological regeneration of coastal and ocean areas, Wietse was previously awarded the Future for Nature Award (2016), Ashoka Fellowship (2018) and Summit Fellowship (2019).
His current venture, the Sea Ranger Service, trains unemployed young people from port cities with the help of navy veterans to manage Marine Protected Areas. A new type of sailing work vessel has been developed for the Sea Rangers; operating at sea cost-effective and with zero emissions.
Katherine Sprung is the founder and owner of Squish Marshmallows, a former nightlife DJ, and currently hosts a podcast, IRATE with Katherine Sprung.
Squish Marshmallows is producing marshmallows of magnificent magnitude. These small batch, hand cut marshmallows are made with unique flavors, fulfilling every palate from childhood favorite combinations, to sophisticated, grown-up confections. Oh, and of course, lots and lots of love.
The goal of Squish Marshmallows is to make a quality, delicious product, using natural ingredients in the marshmallow base, that makes people happy and changes the way they view the humble marshmallow. Whether you choose to enjoy the marshmallows by themselves, or use them to make the most decadent and whimsical s’mores, the idea is to simply eat them and be happy.
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Christine Specht grew up with Cousins Subs — the sub sandwich chain her dad, Bill Specht, founded with his cousin two years before she was born. She has held the roles of Human Resources Manager, Chief Operating Officer, President and CEO, and she now serves as the company’s CEO.
As President and CEO, she successfully brought new life to a legacy brand by leading a series of system changes, including: a largescale rebranding strategy to establish consistency and unify the brand in look and feel across all locations, implementation of grills in all restaurants and inclusion of Cousins Subs’ Midwest heritage throughout its menu with signature local products including subs served with all Wisconsin cheeses.
Specht strengthened Cousins Subs’ unit-level economics, created a strong core of franchise partners and positioned the organization for growth in the Midwest. In 2018, she was honored as one of the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Women of Influence and recognized in FastCasual magazine’s “Women in the Lead” series.
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In this special solo episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast I’m sharing my Rules of the Road, lessons learned from USC Marshall's Cases in New Ventures class with Professor Steven Mednick, where we had incredible guest speakers each week sharing their insights. I’ll go through what to do when starting, growing, and selling a business, as well as the special recipe that makes for a successful entrepreneur.
Hank Watt is the Co-Founder and Owner of Nature's Wild Berry, a company he started because of his own health struggles and a desire to help others.
Read his story below...
My parents met in medical school. My grandparents met in medical school. Up until college, everyone thought that I was going into medicine. But I knew early on that the last thing I'd ever become is a MD.
In my 20s my parents were diagnosed with cancer 18 months apart. Going through that taught me a lot. You can always look back and say those were the days - but if you don't have your health, you don't have a lot to look forward to.
It was time for me to create myself and I needed to make some changes. I needed to make my health the priority it should have been. I had a lot of excuses why I was 250 lbs and a size 40. It was time to eliminate those and reduce the harm I'd caused.
The thing about being an emotional eater is that you're constantly facing cravings. Will power and self-discipline have nothing to do with it. Sometimes all you can think about is taste. If I was going to succeed, I'd have to forget about controlling the cravings and figure out how to control my taste.
Lucky for me, I had a new friend who had been making healthy food taste delicious for years. His family's restaurant, Planet Raw, was famous in San Francisco, Santa Monica and West Hollywood. If someone could help me, it'd be my friend, Juliano.
Juliano ordered me these red berries I'd never eaten before. I had to try them because they sounded unreal, like the beans Jack used to climb the beanstalk. They promised to turn sour and tarty food sweet! How had I never heard of this?
He made me a super healthy juice and took a sip. He made the bitter looking face. I ate a berry and took a sip. I couldn't believe it - it tasted different to me - it was so sweet! I started making a liter of this juice every day and lost 60 lbs in about 6 months.
Today I'm 170 lbs and a size 32. Now I crave salads and smoothies and my sweet tooth is happy! Juliano and I are raising awareness about the non-gmo ledidi berry that we now call Nature's Wild Berry.
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Lamia Pardo is the Founder of Journify, a burnout prevention and personal coaching platform, and a product, marketing and growth strategy leader with more than 11+ years of experience across the fintech, CPG, media, and health and wellness industries. She specializes in building performance-driven brands, bringing successful tech platforms/apps to market, and optimizing customer lifetime value.
She started her career at the advertising agency Leo Burnett working with global companies (P&G, Samsung, and McDonald’s) and pitching to new potential clients. Years later, her passion for data-driven programs and leveraging new technologies to solve systemic problems led her to the startup world where she has thrived for the past 8 years. First, she built and scaled Marketing, Product and Data Analytics teams at Pangea Money Transfer, a Fintech startup in the US helping immigrants access affordable financial services. Then, she moved across the world to Singapore to launch Helo (a live streaming app for college students) and Consentium (the first crypto app with a community monetization model). In early 2019, after a burnout-related epiphany, she brought Journify to life.
Lamia also has experience fundraising and managing B2B sales programs, and is a mentor at several programs including WeWork Labs and Start Small Think Big. She believes in constantly learning by doing and she also has a M.S Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University.
If you’re interested in talking more about burnout or mental wellness corporate programs, email her at lamia@journify.co.
Jiake is an entrepreneur, the founder of Outer, and a life-long student of DTC/DNVB, Local, B2B, and SaaS. He's also an angel investor and advisor for early-stage startups. Jiake was born in Zhejiang, raised in Shenzhen, studied in Alabama, and he's now living and building his company in Los Angeles.
Outer is a venture-backed startup based in Santa Monica on a mission to inspire happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives through innovative outdoor furniture and lifestyle products.
Check out Outer:
https://liveouter.com/
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Alex Heyne is the author of Master The Day: Eat, Move and Live Better With The Power of Daily Habits and Milk the Pigeon: A Field Guide For Anyone Lost in Their 20s.
He is also the founder of Modern Health Monk, where he hosts 260,000+ readers/month, and a Youtube channel averaging 500,000+ views a month.
Alex also focuses on helping busy professionals lose their next 10, 20 or 50 pounds, and live better by changing tiny, daily habits - no matter what diet they're on.
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Meha Agrawal is building a mental wellness and self-care startup and is committed to transforming the way modern women reflect, rejuvenate, and achieve through the power of pen to paper, data, and community. She is also a former Software Engineer and Product Manager for Goldman Sachs, Stitch Fix, The Muse, and Fueled.
SILK + Sonder:
https://www.silkandsonder.com/
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Andy Stein founded the Orphaned Starfish Foundation in 2001 to help orphans, victims of abuse and at-risk children worldwide escape their cycles of poverty and abuse through education and job training. From humble beginnings building a small computer vocational training center in an orphanage for young victims of abuse in Santiago, Chile, he has built the Foundation to now serve over 13,000 children in 62 programs in 27 countries: Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Honduras, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Ecuador, Haiti, Cambodia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Uruguay, American Samoa & Nepal. Andy has partnered with local partners in each of these countries, including Save the Children, Rotary Club, and USAID.
"Tio Andy! Tio Mago!" Andy makes yearly visits to each Orphaned Starfish program. Mago is Spanish for Magician. He brings a magic show complete with balloon animals for all the children. (His highest amount recorded was 1,000 balloon animals in one sitting.) His visits also allow for a personal connection not only to the children but to the institutions and their directors and teachers. Every visit helps OSF learn what is needed at our programs so we may better serve these children. Every trip also allows for new program scouting.
For his work helping the children of the favelas of Brazil, Andy was awarded an Honorary Citizenship in Rio De Janeiro by their Congress. In the United States, he has also been awarded the Jefferson Award for Community Service, the key to the city of Miami Beach, and several other state and local honors. He and the Orphaned Starfish Foundation have been featured on CBS News, Fox News, ABC News, Telemundo and Univision as well as in the Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, Star Ledger, Jewish Week and US Magazine. Andy has also been a member of the Benefit Committees for Aleh Foundation, National Academy for the Arts, US Doctors for Africa, and Harlem’s Playing 2 Win Foundation. Prior to his work with Orphaned Starfish, Andy was active in Special Olympics, Rotary Club and Counterpart International.
Visit the Orphaned Starfish Website and donate today!
Justin currently direct all aspects of Morro Capital, a global private equity company with a diverse portfolio that includes e-commerce, software development, manufacturing, and fulfillment businesses. As a senior executive and P&L owner, he must craft a clear vision for the future, develop actionable strategies, and create a business model that drives sustainable growth. The best-laid plans, however, mean nothing without a capable and motivated team who can execute. Recognizing this, he invests significant time in developing team members, cultivating an inclusive culture, and rewarding strong performance.
In addition to his role with Morro Capital, Justin is the owner of JustinFit, a concierge health, and fitness practice that he founded in 2007. He built this organization from scratch, which over time became one of the most recognized and trusted personal training brands in South Florida. He became a subject matter expert for a variety of national publications, such as USA Today, Brides, Prevention, Yahoo, Pop Sugar, and Shape. He also appeared on television programs like SoFlo Health, Morning Dose, and Inside South Florida.
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PodPuppy (My Podcast Production Company)
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As Chief Sales Officer (CSO), Dew brings an invaluable knowledge of sales and marketing that has successfully enabled Health-Ade to grow from a farmers' market commodity to a nationwide brand. Dew leads the company's burgeoning sales team while continuously working to boost availability in key channels and markets. The company's consistent growth speaks to Dew's expertise in educating customers and cultivating the Health-Ade brand. She has made her mark as an integral member of the team, equipped with an unwavering focus on the key metrics necessary to keep Health-Ade's projected growth on track.
Check out Health-Ade Kombucha:
https://health-ade.com/
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Chez Misko is the Chief Operating Officer and Co-owner of the Wisconsin Athletic Club, the largest privately-owned athletic club in Wisconsin. He currently oversees all operational aspects of the business, including day-to-day club operations, remodeling and construction projects and leading WAC’s staff, which currently exceeds 1000 employees. Chez started at The WAC at only 15 years old and his rise to the COO and Co-owner shows what's possible when you go above and beyond each day of your career.
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Genecia Alluora is former Miss Singapore and Southeast Asia Woman of Excellence 2010. She is the Founder of Soul Rich Woman, the #1 female entrepreneur network in Southeast Asia that connects more than 200,000 women across the region, with presence in 7 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
With a vision to empower 1 million women, Genecia is passionate about helping women to take their businesses from offline to attracting clients ONLINE, get recognition & build a brand as a leader/business owner and make a positive impact in the world. She wants every woman to be able to own the F-word – Being Fabulous, Having Freedom and Financial Independence.
From as young as 14 years of age, Genecia had to support herself through school. Through working in a 9-5 job and started many businesses, Genecia had gone through the highs and lows of being a business owner. Her epic journey from being in a six-figure debt to making her first million, fueled her passion to empower women to do the same. Genecia wants women around the world to know that it is possible to have it all - to OWN the F-word!
Profiled in CNBC and China Daily, Genecia is a globally renowned speaker and leading women’s empowerment expert with over a decade of experience speaking on stages worldwide. She has spoken in recent major events, including the RISE Conference in Hong Kong, Success Conference and Expo Asia 2018 in Hanoi, and National Achievers’ Congress in Manila.
Alone we are strong, together we are UNSTOPPABLE.
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Sean Saint is the Co-Founder + Chief Executive Officer of Companion Medical. Sean is responsible for assembling the corporate team and managing day-to-day operations of the Company. He has more than 15 years’ of engineering experience in medical devices and various startups. Sean is a Type 1 diabetic and well-known in the diabetes community.
Prior to starting Companion Medical, Sean worked as Director of Advanced Technology and Mechanical Engineer at Tandem Diabetes Care, Co-Founder and Vice President of R&D at Alure Medical, Engineering Manager at Dexcom, and Senior Engineer at Medtronic/AVE. Sean has 175 issued and pending patent applications.
Sean holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California.
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Through Ben's extensive experience in the entertainment industry he consistently works to help create a more efficient & inviting industry. He is currently the CEO of Space Station Casting Studios, the co-founder of Thespis, a board member and the president of The Dan Velez Scholarship Fund, a non-profit to help struggling actors in the industry, and an MBA candidate at UCLA.
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Meena Zia, the founder of Your Soul Warrior, is a Los Angeles based Crystal Retailer, Astrologer, Tarot Reader and Spiritual Life Coach. She has spent the last decade honing her skills and exploring the world of energy work and personal development. She uses her knowledge of astrology, her connection to Spirit Guides and her understanding of crystal energy to help clients raise their vibration, guide them to their soul mission in life and help them manifest their wildest dreams.
Your Soul Warrior:
https://yoursoulwarrior.com/
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Jarod Latch has worked in broadcasting, media and digital for almost 20 years. In 2011, he took a chance and went all-in as a co-founder of Spiracle Media. Since its inception, Jarod has been pivotal in managing partnerships and driving creative growth.
He is a firm believer that you should pursue personal aspirations and also maintains that some of the best opportunities find you. Jarod never envisioned a career in broadcasting or as a business owner, but is thrilled to get to pursue both, and enjoys the relationships that come with each opportunity.
“What sets Spiracle Media apart from others in the space is that we combine our skillset as storytellers and subject matter experts with our belief in being a true partner. ”
Spiracle Media was recognized in 2018 as one of the Best Places to Work in Charlotte and as a Fast 50 company by the Charlotte Business Journal. The team has also won various national and international awards for video storytelling.
Jarod graduated from Walsh University in North Canton, OH, with a degree in Corporate Communication and participated in the Washington Center for Internships as a Senior, working at both the White House and Capitol. He is a 2018 graduate of the SBA’s Emerging Leaders Program.
Jarod is a native of Johnstown, PA, and currently resides in Harrisburg, NC, with his wife Jacie and two sons, Judson & Landon. Jarod is still active in sports broadcasting as the voice of the Davidson Men’s basketball radio network and enjoys reading, playing guitar and working out. He is semi-retired from golf and softball, but is considering a comeback in both sports.
Spiracle Media: https://spiraclebuzz.com/
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Jad Esber is a Sainsbury's Management Fellow & MBA Candidate at Harvard Business School, also leading the entrepreneurship club on campus and working as a Venture Capital Fellow sourcing and advising local startups for Bay Area-based Pear VC.
For the summer of 2019, Jad had a Fellowship @ Lightspeed Ventures, starting a new company he'll continue to work on during the MBA.
Originally a Cambridge-educated Mechanical Engineer that delved into the world of online video content to work on developing the content creator ecosystem in emerging markets @ YouTube.
While at YouTube, Jad pitched a curation product idea that he ended up working on as an acting Product Manager, before moving to spearhead Strategy & Operations efforts across Europe, Middle East & Africa on the B2B Product Marketing team @ Google. Outside of work, Jad co-founded a registered volunteer-run charity that reaches 50,000 young people to foster innovation in the Middle East.
Jad's Website: https://www.jad.me/
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Kayla Singer graduated from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in May of 2016.
She began her career at PwC in the Deals Practice, focusing on M&A valuation / strategic value consulting for fortune 500 clients across many sectors. She then transitioned to Management Consulting, focusing on process improvement for technology and entertainment clients. In addition to her work roles at PwC, Kayla actively participated in the recruitment process and benefited from specialized workshops through PwC’s experience center.
After PwC, Kayla joined Pypestream, a conversational AI startup. In addition to utilizing her consulting project management skills, Kayla built her technical acumen to lead and execute implementations for clients. After notably deploying creativity and a broadened skill set, Kayla was asked to co-lead Pypestream‘s Innovation Lab, with the aim to build new stand-alone business units leveraging Pypestream’s technology.
Kayla is a board/advisory member of USC Marshall Partners, the premier giving society that raises funds for the USC Marshall School of Business, USC Marshall Alumni Association, the global network of hundreds of thousands of Trojans and YPO Next Generation where she heads up membership and finance. Kayla was also selected as one of four USC graduates to be on Marshall’s centennial planning committee.
Kayla enjoys public speaking. She has been on panels for organizations such as YPO and also guest lectures at USC.
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Morgan Gist MacDonald is the Founder and CEO of Paper Raven Books, an independent publishing company that helps people write, edit, and publish books that grow the author’s platform and create massive impact in the world. Her recent book, Start Writing Your Book Today: A Step-by-Step Plan to Write Your Nonfiction Book, From First Draft to Finished Manuscript, is available in the Amazon store.
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CoyoteVest is a family-owned, San Diego-based business dedicated to helping protect furry friends around the world. Its patented pet body armor is not only iconic but has proven time and time again to be successful at saving lives. The safe and stylish gear is designed to help protect animals from coyotes, aggressive dogs, and birds of prey, and is a daily accessory for thousands of dogs, cats, sheep, and goats globally.
CoyoteVest has been featured in numerous publications and TV shows, including Shark Tank, America’s Greatest Makers, Hallmark Home & Family, Insider, Buzzfeed, DailyMail, Popular Mechanics, Field & Stream, and more! Learn more about CoyoteVest’s innovative products at www.CoyoteVest.com and use promo code JUSTGOGRIND to receive a special gift with your order of a stab-resistant vest.*
*Promotional offer ends August 31,, 2019 at 11:59pm.
Nicole Mellom is the Co-Founder and CMO of CoyoteVest. She has been the creative spark behind the CoyoteVest brand. Currently living in the Los Angeles dog-mecca, Playa Vista, she manages CoyoteVest’s digital presence. Nicole has an MBA from Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. As a passionate writer and entrepreneur at heart, she has had the opportunity to combine her powers for the force of good, following her passion of helping people and animals around the world.
Pamela Mott is the Co-Founder and President of CoyoteVest. She has always had a love for animals, growing up with horses, dogs, cats, bunnies, and even a few guinea pigs. In 2008, she began fostering and adopting rescue dogs with her husband, Paul. In 2014, the tragic loss of their dog, Buffy, ignited the CoyoteVest idea. Her passion for helping others has made her a catalyst in the business, continuously striving to provide customers and their furry friends with the highest quality products and best customer experience. Pamela knows that if CoyoteVest can help save one life, it has made a difference to that family.
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Whether you have an established company, a startup, or want to leverage a personal brand to gain new career opportunities, developing the right content strategy can help you get more customers, more clients, and position you for continued success.
In this episode you'll learn about the essential components of an effective content marketing strategy and how to choose the strategy that'll work best for you and your business.
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Gary Arndt is an awarding winning blogger and travel photographer who has been traveling around the world since 2007.
His travels have taken him to 200 countries and territories in the Traveler’s Century Club and 128 United Nations countries. He has also visited over 380 UNESCO World Heritage sites and all 50 US states.
His blog Everything Everywhere is considered one of the best travel blogs in the world. It was named one of the Top 25 Blogs in the world by Time Magazine and it earned a Gold Medal in the Travel Blog category in the North American Travel Journalist Association (NATJA) awards and a Gold Medal for Best Travel Photography Blog in the 2018 TBCAsia Awards.
He is one of the most awarded travel photographers of this decade. He was named the 2014 SATW Travel Photographer of the Year as well as the 2013 & 2015 NATJA Travel Photographer of the Year. He is the only travel photographer to have been named photographer of the year by both organizations. He is also a 3-time Lowell Thomas Award winner in Photo Illustration of Travel and a 2x Northern Lights Award winner in photography.
Since 2009 he has been the co-host of This Week in Travel, an award-winning weekly podcast which covers travel industry news. He is also the host of The Well Traveled Life podcast.
He is also an associate producer and senior travel correspondent for On Travel, on the American Forces Radio Network.
Gary is also an accomplished public speaker and has spoken on topics related to travel and new media on six continents.
JUST GO GRIND SHOW NOTES: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
MY FREE COURSE ON HOW TO START A PODCAST: https://just-go-grind.teachable.com/p/podcast-launch
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Tim Ferriss is a marketing genius, author of 5 best-selling books, podcaster, entrepreneur, and angel investor. He built a successful blog with over 1 million monthly visitors, a podcast with more than 400 million downloads, and has helped thousands of people through his content.
I first heard about Tim Ferriss in 2011 when I read his first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, and preceded to have my life and thinking altered for good. I’ve since met Tim in person, bought all of his books, and generally believe he’s one of the smartest marketers on the planet.
Tim also has built a community so strong that there is even a phrase called “The Tim Ferriss Effect” for his ability to sell the products he recommends.
After years of consuming Tim’s content, I wanted to curate a few of his best business lessons and share them with you to apply them in your own work. Selfishly, I also want them all in one place so I can easily be reminded of them too. What can I say, this desire helped me write this post. You’re welcome.
13 TIMELESS BUSINESS LESSONS LEARNED FROM TIM FERRISS (BLOG POST): https://www.justgogrind.com/tim-ferriss-timeless-business-lessons/
JUST GO GRIND SHOW NOTES: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
MY FREE COURSE ON HOW TO START A PODCAST: https://just-go-grind.teachable.com/p/podcast-launch
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JUST GO GRIND FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/justgogrind/
Todd Marks, a 40 under 40 and 2x EY Entrepreneur of the Year Nominee, is the teacher-turned-technologist founder of Mindgrub Technologies. Mindgrub, voted CRTC's Tech Company of the Year and placing #520 on the Inc 500/5000, is a mobile, social and web app consultancy, working with companies and organizations in a variety of industries to bring their brand to digital. MY FREE COURSE ON HOW TO START A PODCAST: https://just-go-grind.teachable.com/p/podcast-launch
JUST GO GRIND SHOW NOTES: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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There are a million things you could do in your business, but ruthlessly prioritizing, choosing the right things to do, at the right time, will help you make more progress.
In this episode I share a few thoughts on ruthless prioritization and how I manage my own schedule and all the things I'm trying to get done each day.
MY FREE COURSE ON HOW TO START A PODCAST: https://just-go-grind.teachable.com/p/podcast-launch
JUST GO GRIND SHOW NOTES: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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JUST GO GRIND FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/justgogrind/
Lisa Atia is a social entrepreneur, creative strategist, and storyteller at heart. She’s had over 10 years’ experience scaling rapid-growth start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. She’s served as the Creative Brand Strategist for Blavity and Chief Revenue Officer for Backstage Capital. At the intersection of culture, media, and tech, her work builds ecosystems and creates access to opportunities for women and people of color entrepreneurs. You can find Lisa on Twitter.
JUST GO GRIND SHOW NOTES: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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As the son of a military doctor, Sasha Strauss spent much of his youth with US Navy SEALS. The mix of international affairs and world travel stirred in him a sense of duty and adventure that carries him daily through his ceaseless travel as a global brand consultant.
In 2006, Sasha founded Innovation Protocol to consult using a specialized, rigorous, protocol-driven brand development practice for innovators. Innovation Protocol has grown into an international brand consulting powerhouse, serving marquee organizations across categories, from biotech to fintech, academia to athletics.
Sasha’s passion for brand strategy has also driven his practice as a celebrated speaker, authoring and presenting original thought leadership and keynote speeches for audiences worldwide. Presentations such as “Branding in the New Normal” and “Rise of the Herogen” have been delivered in a dozen countries and viewed on YouTube over 1M total times.
When not leading Innovation Protocol or speaking, Sasha teaches brand strategy to graduate students at the MBA programs at UCLA, USC, and UCI, where he remains one of the highest-rated faculty members.
A SCUBA diver, passenger-aviator, voracious music consumer, fruit/nut/veggie scavenger, and perpetual futurologist, Sasha is Innovation Protocol's founder, culture captain, and a senior client adviser.
JUST GO GRIND SHOW NOTES: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Devin Person is a humble 21st-century incarnation of the wizard archetype, playfully blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Wizards are helpful guides who bring magic, mystery, wisdom, and hope to the societies in which they serve. As a modern wizard, Devin's life’s work is to help you—yes, specifically you!—create a slightly better reality.
Using thought to change reality is nothing new. From mindfulness meditation to the placebo effect, we know mental actions can produce real-world benefits. What makes wizardry different from positive thinking, self-help, and other forms of spirituality is its focus on small actions. In an era of endless content and constant overwhelm, the wizard asks, “What’s the least you can do?”
Find Devin online at Person is Awake, listen to his podcast, This Podcast is a Ritual, or read his features in The New York Times and the New York Post.
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In the words of Christine Hunsicker who sold her first company to Yahoo for $850 million, "Alex will eat through a wall." Born in shopping paradise, Los Angeles, to a long line of sustainability entrepreneurs, Alex has always been passionate about conscious fashion. While in college at Boston University, Alex created a hobby-website called UNItiques to be a fun way for girls on campus to share closets. She was shocked when it spread to 600 campuses, and the demand from members outside of college continued to grow.
Meanwhile, Alex was recognized as the "Face of Sustainability," as well as awarded the "Best New Venture" of 16,000 students, which got the attention of Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, College Fashionista, and even TV show Project Runway Startup on Lifetime.
After graduating, Alex made it her mission to spread "relovving" fashion beyond the campus. She began developing Relovv, taking all the best pieces from UNItiques and combining them with new, unique features. Relovv launched in October 2018, and has been quickly backed by the prestigious Techstars Venture Accelerator. After launching Relovv, Alex was personally certified by Former Vice President Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader, and is hailed as a speaker at world-class universities nationwide, including Harvard.
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Robert Luo graduated from USC Marshall School of Business with a degree in Bachelor of Business Administration.
Robert started his first company when he was 20. It was during the time when he decided to take a gap year after my sophomore year in college. Robert’s company developed a mobile application called Ubi, which allowed users to send messages and videos with Bluetooth. It was a unique and stressful experience at the time. The company failed to deliver the app 5 times before the official launch, which resulted in $30,000 extra expenses. Luckily, after the official launch, the app gained 5000 users within the next 6 months. By the time I sold the company for $300,000, the app had over 10,000 users.
After returning to USC, Robert immediately began to draft ideas on how to start next. He eventually came up with two ideas. The first idea was starting a green fashion brand that creates sustainable and recyclable products to reduce fashion waste. After 14 months of research, customer discovery, design, and experimentation, they launched the product, Mi Terro CDS, to Kickstarter in February 2018. Mi Terro CDS is the world’s only bag made of recycled ocean plastics and cork. The campaign was a big success. We were fully funded within 22 hours and later concluded the campaign with 450% funded. Because of our great product and business model, they won $5000 for the USC New Venture Seed Competition. Robert is also running a green software company called Reo2. The Reo2 app rewards users for reducing carbon emission by planting trees on their behalf.
Robert Luo was a Forbes Under 30 Scholar and a candidate of the LA Business Journal’s “20 Entrepreneurs in Their 20s.”
Show notes at:
https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
I released the first episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast on June 9th, 2018 and after a year I've learned a ton, made a bunch of mistakes, and today I'm sharing with you all the details.
This is my first solo podcast episode and in it I share with you the results from my first year of podcasting, why I podcast and how I got started in the first place, the logistics behind running a podcast, getting guests and conducting interviews, some lessons I've learned from podcasting, the challenges I deal with as a podcaster, and why I'm motivated to continue. Enjoy!
Matt is Managing Director of The Fort. He is a Los Angeles based serial entrepreneur and consultant who has launched over 5 companies. He has been actively involved with The Fort since its inception to ensure that Mammoth’s initiative is executed properly and well resourced enough to deliver long term results. Matt works directly with the mountain leadership, Mammoth COO Mark Brownlie, and Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory, to ensure the vitality of the program. His inside the ropes perspective provides tremendous value to the project as he understands first hand how initiatives like these require space, community, resourcing, entrepreneurship and hustle in order to take shape.
Prior to The Fort, Matt started Wellen, a beach lifestyle and clothing brand that was sold to Huckberry. Matt was also involved in an international licensing deal with Uniqlo for Wellen.
Marc-Lloyd Ramniceanu is a co-founder of NetCloak and is an alumni of the Techstars LA 2018 class. He currently is the Head of Growth and most recently led the customer discovery and closing for the company's first LOIs with national cyber insurance providers. Prior to founding NetCloak in 2017, he spent 3 years as a senior Cyber Threat Intelligence consultant at Ernst & Young.
While at EY, Marc-Lloyd advised executive cybersecurity leaders of multinational organizations on the cyber threat landscape facing their organization. Outside of NetCloak he has a passion for offshore fishing, eSports, and craft beer.
Show Notes: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/justgogrind/
Elissa Grossman is an entrepreneurship educator with particular interests in experiential learning, technology-enhanced instruction, and serious educational games. Dr. Grossman's research interests include these topics and, more broadly, the topic of social network construction and use in new venturing – encompassing traditional network development for startup resource acquisition and crowd-funding.
Her work has been published in journals including Journal of Management and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Prior to becoming a professor, Dr. Grossman worked in brand and marketing management for companies including Procter & Gamble, Sun Microsystems, and LiveCapital (a start-up acquired by Dun & Bradstreet). PhD, MBA, UCLA; MSc, London School of Economics; AB, Harvard University.
Sami is Co-Founder and CEO of Cerberus Interactive and a digital marketer specializing in consumer-facing startups. In the last 48 months, Sami has helped create and execute growth strategies for multiple businesses now worth over $3B.
Sami was the first marketing hire for the micro-investing app Acorns, where he led the strategy that generated the company’s first 2 million investment accounts. Sami also advised Honey, the money-saving browser extension, where he executed paid growth strategies to scale the business past their first 1 million downloads.
His industry-leading work has been featured in multiple case studies published by Facebook, Twitter, and Adweek. In 2017, Sami co-founded one of the fastest growing Facebook and Instagram consulting firms for startups, where he and his team have helped guide over 40 companies. Sami was born and raised in New Orleans where he also attended Tulane University.
Kareem Taylor inspires clients to do the best work of their lives. As a strategist & writer, he brings together words & story to help clients express themselves. Recent projects include helping an organization engage supporters using email marketing, developing a mission statement to energize executives and creating speech topics for leaders.
A leading speaker and workshop facilitator, Kareem has traveled to London, Singapore & New York City addressing scores of business audiences on storytelling in the digital age.
Prior to this, Kareem worked at Substance Global where he led business growth strategy helping the company to communicate its value proposition to clients. In this role, Kareem led the agency’s team during high stake pitches, capability presentations & meetings for clients including Netflix, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Television.
Kareem began his career as a voiceover artist, where he launched commercial campaigns for clients including AT&T, CNN, Sony Pictures Television, Comedy Central, ESPN, Mercedes-Benz, and Redbull Media House, to name a few.
Austin Rief is a co-founder and COO of Morning Brew, a new media company bringing you informative and digestible business news. They educate 1 million+ readers on the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, daily.
On this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast Austin talks about how Morning Brew got started, the challenges of growing the business, where they find great writers, and the ambitious vision for the company moving forward.
Show notes are at:
https://www.justgogrind.com/austin-rief-podcast
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Eddie Lin is a Co-founder of NexusEdge (Techstars class of 2017) an AI-driven lifelong career navigation platform helping students discover and build their career paths.
Eddie started NexusEdge out of his lifelong pursuit for job fulfillment. His career path began at Goldman Sachs and UBS Investment Bank in New York, where he met his co-founder, Shanti, in their analyst class.
He is a big proponent of traversing winding career paths to continuously evolve and find the best fit, going from marketing at Adobe to Strategy and Business Development at Live Nation/Ticketmaster. Upon graduation from business school, Eddie competed as a contestant on the reality-TV show Fear Factor where he ate 20 live bees. Eddie holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a MBA from the University of Southern California where he served as student body President.
Madeline Mann is a Human Resources leader in the Technology industry with expertise in building purpose-driven, dynamic company cultures and bringing the people element to every business decision.
She leads Talent Development at Inspire, a Los Angeles based clean energy company, where she crafts learning and development programs to further company initiatives. Prior to Inspire, she was on the Human Resources team at Scopely, and was the Director of People Operations at Gem.
Madeline is also the creator of Self Made Millennial YouTube Channel and the author of "Fill in the Blank Job Hunt: Essential Email Templates for the Job Search."
In 2019, Madeline was named a top 50 person to follow on LinkedIn, and a top 10 YouTube channel for job seekers. Her work has been featured on Business Insider, Newsweek, Career Contessa, and more.
Show notes are at:
https://www.justgogrind.com/madeline-mann-podcast/
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Rand Fishkin is the founder of SparkToro and was previously cofounder of Moz and Inbound.org. He’s dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing through the Whiteboard Friday video series, his blog, and his book, Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World. When Rand’s not working, he’s most likely to be in the company of his partner in marriage and (mostly petty) crime, author Geraldine DeRuiter. If you feed him great pasta or great whisky, he’ll give you the cheat code to rank #1 on Google.
Show notes are at:
https://www.justgogrind.com/rand-fishkin-podcast/
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Andy Bilinsky is the CEO and Co-founder of Lensabl, a convenient and affordable online prescription lens service where you can get the lenses you need, in your own frames, without leaving home.
Prior to Lensabl, Andy worked in business development roles for Live Nation, HauteLook, Beachmint, PlayHaven and Co-founded ChirpAds.
On this episode, Andy tells us how he got into entrepreneurship at such a young age, his experience in business development with multiple different companies and how he founded and has grown Lensabl.
David Gertler is the CEO and Co-founder of Treble, a platform that empowers you to efficiently engage and grow your network to generate new business opportunities and advance your career.
On this episode, David talks about how he came up with the idea for Treble, doing market research, fundraising, building a team, making meaningful connections, gathering feedback and testing, utilizing an internship program, and how Treble is impacting the world of business networking.
Show notes are at:
https://www.justgogrind.com/david-gertler-podcast/
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John Lee Dumas is the host of Entrepreneurs on Fire, an award winning podcast where he interviews inspiring Entrepreneurs who are truly ON FIRE. With over 2000 episodes, 1 million+ listens a month, and seven-figures of annual revenue, JLD is just getting started.
Show Notes:
https://www.justgogrind.com/john-lee-dumas-podcast
The Just Go Grind Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/justgogrind/
Khaled Elmasri is the founder of the RISE Event, a fun packed 3 day business conference that brings together hundreds of gym owners, studio founders, and independent trainers to learn and grow with the leading entrepreneurs in their industry. In just 3 days the conference can take you from knowing absolutely nothing about growing a business in the fitness world to understanding the exact marketing strategy, mindset, and business structure to succeed and scale your company.
Khaled is also an experienced leader with 11 years of managing fitness and sales. He has a proven record of taking teams to new levels of growth and success and takes a solution focused approach to developing business strategies that increase revenue. He also has strength in building high-performance teams through effective recruitment, training, and development.
On this episode, Khaled Elmasri talks about how to put on a conference including the details on how to get speakers, sponsors, venues, and more.
The show notes are at: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Justine Reichman is the founder of NextGenChef, a San Francisco based culinary platform that allows Foodpreneurs to sandbox their ideas and connect with advisors who provide expert advice and support, enabling these Foodpreneurs to take their idea from concept to product.
NextGenChef specifically targets aspiring chefs & Foodpreneurs who want to create local, affordable and regenerative food businesses. They partner with collaborative kitchens allowing Foodpreneurs to test their ideas and get their business off the ground.
The show notes for this episode are found at:
https://www.justgogrind.com/justine-reichman-podcast/
Avi Flombaum is a Co-Founder, Dean, and Chief Product Officer at the Flatiron School which provides technical education on coding and programming and was eventually acquired by WeWork to further their mission of enabling the pursuit of a better life through education.
Avi has changed thousands of lives by teaching students - with little to no experience - to code and actually launch careers as developers. A self-taught programming prodigy and CTO-by-20, Avi is passionate about helping people learn to love code.
The show notes for this episode and all episodes can be found at: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
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Shiv Gaglani is the co-founder and CEO of Osmosis, a medical and health sciences education technology company aimed at revolutionizing the way clinicians learn and retain information. Osmosis' social learning platform and high-quality content are being used by 800,000 present and future medical practitioners. They also currently have around 1 million YouTube subscribers and a total of 100 million video views.
Shiv is also an editor at Medgadget, the co-founder and chairman of Quantified Care, and has an MBA fro Harvard Business School.
On this episode, Shiv tells us how he built Osmosis into the success it is today and what the future holds for the company.
Candice Lu is a founding partner at OnPrem Solution Partners and has 20 years of experience in media and entertainment consulting, focused now on surrounding herself with the best talent to do the best work for clients.
At OnPrem Candice and her team spend every day innovating and building a next-generation consulting firm. They are passionate about hiring the best people and empowering them to become industry leaders. They pride themselves on leveraging the latest technologies and creating a collaborative organization.
On this episode, Candice talks about a process she uses to solve problems, how to get to the core of a problem, the importance of treating their people right, and how they grew the company from 4 to 200 employees.
Taylor Simpson's entrepreneurial spirit emerged when he was just seven years old and launched his first business – an art studio (selling crayon masterpieces for a few dollars). When that didn’t pan out, he moved on, undeterred, to businesses such as a graphic design company and other garage ventures, all before college.
Using experience gained from the failure and success of his first 3 technological ventures, Taylor now serves as CEO of The Halo App, a marketplace lending platform that is sure to jar the landscape of lending and transform the way people define being free. He leads with special intentions to help create a company culture that infuses the science of happiness into its business model.
Taylor is a graduate of Ball State University’s college of Architecture and Planning. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife and business partner, and their new baby girl.
Cody is a Partner at Techstars – the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed – and works as steward of Techstars’ equity investments and venture capital funds for one of the most active early stage venture investors in the world. As of October 2018, Techstars is investing in 460 companies per year and the Techstars portfolio has gone on to raise nearly $6Bn in follow-on capital. Techstars Accelerator programs are the first investor in 5% of all Series A financings in the USA. Cody works at the board level with companies including Two Bit Circus, StatMuse, WELL Health, Tasso, WeBuyGold, and GameWisp.
Previously, Cody was Executive Director at Techstars and head of Techstars accelerator investments and operations in North America, which roughly doubled in size to over 20 locations across the region and ~200 investments per year during his tenure. Cody joined Techstars in 2013 to launch and serve as Managing Director for the Disney Accelerator, powered by Techstars, co-investing in 20 startups alongside The Walt Disney Company in 2014 and 2015.
Earlier in his career, Cody held roles including Chief Product Officer at StumbleUpon, Vice President of Product Management at Yahoo, and Product Manager at The New York Times, Sprint, and NBC Internet.
Cody holds an M.A. in Transnational Communication and Global Media from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and is a Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Kansas with a B.A. in History and East Asian Languages and Cultures with emphasis on Mandarin Chinese.
Serah Blackstone-Fredericks, the Founder and CEO of Books in Harmony, works with individuals and small businesses to help them efficiently track their finances. By starting with clear goal setting of what is needed, they can structure a streamlined bookkeeping system and then create an action plan to process a range of items including:
- Monthly Bookkeeping
- Accounts Receivable
- Accounts Payable
- Courtesy Reminder Calls
- Financial Reporting
- Interim and Transitional Bookkeeping Support
They strive to create a valued client relationship with the goal of adding value to the businesses of others by saving them time and giving them peace of mind.
In this episode we discuss how Serah launched her business, how she's built her team over time, lessons learned in her entrepreneurial journey, and some of the tactics and strategies she's used to grow her business.
As of one of Dallas' most aggressive real estate magnates in the making, Chris D. Bentley has built his reputation upon surpassing client expectations. Having sold millions of dollars’ worth of homes during his 15+ year career, 50% of Chris’s business has consisted of repeat and referral clients and the other 50% from social media exposure.
Specializing in the most elite properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Chris epitomizes integrity, energy, hard, work, and excellent customer service in every detail of the real estate transaction. He has been featured and recognized by D Magazine as one of the magazine’s Best Realtors in Dallas (2017, 2018) and as one of the most followed Realtors on social media (currently 13th). Chris continues to provide savvy marketing strategies and
unparalleled client service to his real estate clients to this day.
When Chris isn’t working, he can be spotted at many of the networking and charity events in the area. He’s the creator and organizer of, Plano Socialites, a local business networking Facebook group of over 3,700 members.
Trained and inspired by his trusted colleagues, Chris has made a high level commitment to his real estate education. He continually challenges himself to bringing the best knowledge and service to his clients. Focusing on his customers, Chris has built a successful real estate career by providing clients with five star-worthy service that goes far beyond the selling or purchasing of a home.
Shrein Bahrami is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in San Francisco and the founder of Evolve Wellness Group that specializes in eating, anxiety, and relationship disorders. Prior to the group practice, Shrein built her private practice from part-time to full-time after working as a clinician at an eating disorder treatment program. Shrein is also the author of Stop Bingeing, Start Living: Proven Therapeutic Strategies for Breaking the Binge Eating Cycle.
On this episode, Shrein talks about taking the leap into entrepreneurship, building her private practice and group practice, the challenges of writing a book, and how she avoids burnout by managing her schedule.
Astrid has been treating coughs, colds, rashes, and infections with things she can find in her kitchen for years. She was shocked by how well these food-based remedies worked and excited when modern nutrition research started revealing why. When others started asking her for tips, recipes, and advice, she knew she had to make them accessible to all. This led Astrid to start Good Medicine Co. — a company that makes functional food, beverage, and body products for modern ailments and health needs.
Molly Sullivan is the owner of Miss Molly's Cafe and Pastry Shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She went to culinary school in Minneapolis and started working at Birchwood Cafe to start her culinary career.
Prior to starting her cafe, Molly worked at Braise Restaurant while she starts her pastry business as a side hustle. Unaware of how to start a business, Molly started to reach out with other restaurant owners and she found Nell Benton of The National Cafe who eventually became a personal Business guru.
On this episode, Molly talks about the challenges she has had to overcome in starting her business, such as finding the right team and getting funding, and how she launched her business as a side hustle and now is going at it full-time with plans for expansion.
Show notes: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Miraya Berke creates experiences that spark delight! She's always dreamed of being an event planner and started her own events company Pop Productions at age 24.
In 2016 she launched Dessert Goals, a wildly popular dessert festival that curates local dessert vendors. In 2.5 years she's planned 7 festivals and gathered over 20,000 dessert lovers.
Her newest venture is Rom Com Fest, a romantic comedy film festival, to celebrate the genre and connect the community. As she has re-imagined the food festival experience she now seeks to reimagine the film festival experience. Miraya is based in the Bay Area and travels to LA and NYC often.
http://dessertgoals.com
https://romcomfest.com
http://popproductionsnyc.com
Show notes at: http://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/
Justin Rezvani is a first generation American entrepreneur, investor, Forbes’ 30 Under 30, and Founder of theAmplify: a data-driven advertising technology platform that produces influencer advertising campaigns for premium brands across social platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube and Periscope.
theAmplify has produced major campaigns in every vertical for industry leading clients including Lions Gate, COTY, Unilever, Taco Bell, Campbell’s and Nissan. Rezvani is a notable keynote speaker for global marketing events and has been featured in cover articles in the Wall Street Journal, AdWeek, Forbes and The Los Angeles Business Journal.
Rezvani received his Bachelor of Science in business administration, marketing management and advertising from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona where he was named student of the year in both 2010 and 2011.
Allison McGuire is the Founder and CEO of Walc, a walking navigation app based on visual cues (turn right at Starbucks, left at the bank) and Monaghan McGuire (MM), a premium boutique consulting firm.
A passionate presenter and brand builder, she has won every competition in which she’s pitched Walc. Billed Waze for walking, Allison’s Walc attracts top talent, such as Waze’s CMO and the former CFO of Snapchat. Allison also created a pedestrian navigation app that within six months gained 500,000 MAUs with $0 spent on marketing and PR.
Allison founded MM to give intrapraneurs and entrepreneurs alike the confidence they need to target customers, share stories, and rally an audience around their vision. Whether it's building an online presence, leading a technical roadmap, or optimizing a website for targeted traffic, MM provides high-touch services and product direction.
Prior to entrepreneurship, Allison managed communications and business development at a tech company formed by AOL, Cisco, and Yahoo!, Network for Good. She also has political experience in national security and human rights through her work on Capitol Hill, with organizations such as MassEquality, and for the UK Parliament.
Allison is an internationally acclaimed entrepreneur, belonging to organizations such as Vista Caballo, Women's Startup Lab, and Dreamers//Doers. She has delivered keynote speeches, guest lectured, and presented at China's Global Business Innovation Summit, SXSW, Plug & Play, BMW iVentures, NJ Tech, NYU, CUNY, Georgetown University, Columbia University, Mississippi State University, the Coalition for Queens, the East Harlem School, Mayfield Senior School, Soundview Academy, and the Chandler School.
A former award-winning actress, Allison obtained a degree in Theatre Arts and Political Science from Boston University.
Chic’s passion is inspiring executives, MBA students and children to be “curious first… critical second” while creative problem solving.
His latest creative adventure is founding “WagiLabs” A global, social innovation incubator for kids’ ideas.
Chic is a Batten Fellow of Entrepreneurship at the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School and adjunct faculty at the Brookings Institution and the Young Presidents’ Organization.
His first book, “What a Great Idea!,” published by HarperCollins, was a main selection of the Executive Book Club.
In 2001, Harvard Business School released a case study on the speaking career of Chic entitled “What a Great Idea!.”
His second book, “Yes, But...” was a guide to overcoming the bureaucratic language that stifles continuous innovation. He wrote this book after consulting with GE to help design their continuous improvement process called “Work-Out.”
Chic worked in new product development and marketing for:
• W.L. Gore and Associates (Gore-Tex®)
• Johnson & Johnson
• Walt Disney
During the last 30 years, Chic has given over 4500 presentations and has teamed up with talent ranging from Tony Robbins and Stephen Covey to Cirque du Soleil and Second City Improv.
Lindsay Gordon, the founder of A Life of Options, is a career coach for analytically minded people who are feeling uninspired or crushed by an ill-fitting job. Her programs allow you to step back from the stress of not knowing what to do next, reflect on who you are, where you’ve been and where you want to go, and emerge with a solid career plan you’re excited about.
Lindsay started her career working as a recycled water engineer in Melbourne, Australia before landing at Google doing technical support for the Google Apps team. After 5 years of technical support, she transitioned into career development at Google before starting her own business. She loves applying her engineering brain to helping people find careers that fit, baking complicated pastries and barbershop singing.
On this episode, Lindsay talks about how to choose a career that's right for you and also how she built her side hustle into a full-time business.
The show notes for all episodes are at justgogrind.com/podcast
Natalia Kochan is a co-founder of Curensea, an online art community where you can publish your creative work as an artist, curate other's work, and tip artists and art curators in an ad-free environment.
Natalia is an artist by passion and profession. Writing poems at an early age, later on she became a screenplay writer where she was able to travel and live overseas. While working and studying in China, she met her friend and co-founder, Sofi.
Encouraged by the problems of artists in general, they started Curensea to help their fellow artists showcase their creations.
On this episode, Natalia shares her journey as an entrepreneur and artist, and the struggles of launching and growing a business without any prior experience.
The show notes are at: https://www.justgogrind.com/natalia-kochan-podcast/
Paul Loeb, founder of DropTrack and No Ego Records, has three passions in life - music, business, and technology - and he's incorporated all of them in the businesses he's created.
In this episode of Just Go Grind we discuss how Paul launched and grew these businesses as well as other ventures early on in his life.
DropTrack helps record labels and artists promote their music and get feedback from global DJs, blogs, playlisters, radio, and industry contacts.
No Ego Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, specializing in house and dubstep music. Their main business is music publishing, and they work with partners worldwide for synch and media licensing.
Find the show notes for all episodes of Just Go Grind at justgogrind.com/podcast
Lucas Pols is the founder of Spark xyz, a technology platform built to connect incubators and accelerators with early-stage start-ups and help with their talent management. He has written a 40-article series discussing the topics of entrepreneurship and founder failures. Lucas also currently writes for Forbes and does speaking engagements around Los Angeles.
As a Principal at Quake, Lucas is focusing on expanding Quake’s venture capital and angel relationships. He is also providing operational guidance to the portfolio companies on a range of topics including leadership, recruiting, and sales.
In this episode, Lucas tells us the tough but fulfilling work of a hybrid entrepreneur - providing insights on both entrepreneurship and venture capital.
Sam Simones became a Certified Financial Planner at the age of 26, something less than 1% of financial advisors do, but decided to leave the field and pursue a different life path.
Sam now works in two domains - business coaching and real estate - and in this episode he shares a high level view of starting side hustles and how he's forged his own unique career path.
As you'll hear in this episode, Sam thinks in his own way, and provides a unique perspective for career switchers and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Lucas Lee-Tyson is the founder and CEO of Growth Cave, an independent marketing consultancy and agency. Launched in June of 2018, Growth Cave helps businesses grow online by providing 1:1 consulting and an extensive online training center to educate business owners on how to create, manage, and scale effective Facebook Ad campaigns.
Prior to Growth Cave and freelancing, Lucas created and grew numerous online side-projects, including an affiliate blog which drove over $85,000 in revenue to the Amazon Affiliate Program. He has worked and consulted with numerous multi-million dollar businesses, mainly in the eCommerce
and technology verticals.
Born and raised in the quiet suburbs of Connecticut, Lucas currently lives in Boston while attending Babson College, studying marketing analytics and entrepreneurship and plans to graduate in May of 2020.
In this episode Lucas shares how he built his marketing consultancy and many of the best practices for using Facebook Advertising to grow your business.
Joe Teglia owned and operated a major Southeast Wisconsin asphalt and concrete site construction services and asphalt material provider for 30+ years with his focus on project management, new pavement and pavement reconstruction design, operations management, and asphalt material production.
As an experienced project manager with a career total of both public and private sector infrastructure projects totaling in excess of $300 million, Joe recently started Site Advice to provide site management consulting services to clients.
In this episode of the podcast, we discuss Joe's incredible career journey, including the ups and downs Joe experienced through growing a multimillion dollar company and ultimately how that experience turned into what he's doing now with Side Advice.
Artur Meyster is the CTO of the Y Combinator backed startup Career Karma, co-host of the wildly popular Breaking Into Startups Podcast, and earlier in his career switched from 3 years of investment banking to tech by becoming a self-taught software engineer.
Career Karma is a career development platform for people looking to break into the tech industry.
The Breaking Into Startups Podcast features inspiring stories of people who broke into tech from non-traditional backgrounds.
In this episode we talk about how Artur made his big career switch, how the Breaking Into Startups Podcast was born and how it became so popular, and how people can break into the technology industry, even if they have a non-traditional background.
Quentin Allums is a LinkedIn influencer, speaker, community builder; as well as the CEO of Urban Misfit Ventures, a fast growing startup based out of Milwaukee.
He has amassed over 10 million views on LinkedIn content. On his channel #justQ he covers the stories of amazing people across the globe, speaks about personal stories, and gives tips on storytelling and business.
Quentin has also been named Top 30 LinkedIn Influencers by GDMS America, spoke at VidCon 2018 the largest video conferences in the world, and has a TEDx talk coming up in April of 2019.
Show notes: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast
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In the first episode of the Just Go Grind podcast with multiple guests, we have Sera Alper, the Founder & CEO of PMSBOX, and Desiree Hostettler, head of PR & Media Relations.
PMSBOX is a monthly subscription box that includes five items (plus a bonus token item) to improve women's menstrual experience. With every box purchased, PMSBOX gives one box of menstrual supplies in India or Turkey to a woman in need.
Sera Alper is a visionary, an advertising guru who does not take “no” for an answer. She brings the vision forward and eliminates any roadblocks along the way.
She is a fearless leader who has an admirable reputation in the influencing community.
Desiree Hostettler is an aspiring polymath, curious mind, and a culture enthusiast. It drives her mad to not know something, so every morning the first order of business is reading the news and updating herself on essential topics.
Passionate about academia, journalism, and communications, she hopes one day to receive her Ph.D.
When her thirst for knowledge has ceased, she enjoys composing songs, singing, playing the guitar, reading, writing and trying to finish the dozen something books she started, watching art cinema, traveling, learning a new language, and volunteering at museums.
Mikey Taylor is the current President and Managing Principle of Commune Capital, a private equity real estate investment firm.
A serial entrepreneur at heart, he first found success with nearly two decades of professional skateboarding. Throughout his career Mikey held lucrative sponsorship contracts with DC Shoe Co., GoPro Cameras and Alien Workshop. Over his tenure, he had over 100 signature skateboard decks, 7 pro model shoes and was one of the most recognizable pro skateboarders on the planet.
Not one to rest on his laurels, early in his career, Mikey was already thinking about life after skateboarding. What’s next was co-founding and the eventual launch of Saint Archer Brewing Company. This San Diego based craft beer company and its first of its kind business model, led to quick success and a multi-million dollar purchase by MillerCoors Company in 2015.
Since then, Mikey has been busy, co-founding Sovern Skateboards, Avni Intelligence (an entrepreneur education platform and podcast) and most importantly Commune Capital.
Armed with only a high school education but more than a lifetime of real world experience, Mikey is committed to helping the next generation define the new American dream.
Born and raised in Southern California, Mikey resides in Newberry Park with his wife Jen and their two young daughters.
Show notes: https://www.justgogrind.com/mikey-taylor-podcast
Just Go Grind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justgogrind/
Just Go Grind Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justgogrind/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
Michelle Pyan is the owner of COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONS LLC (CI), a licensed private investigative agency. COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONS LLC is a certified woman-owned business. Michelle founded the agency in 2004 and is responsible for growing the business with a proactive approach - setting new standards in the background investigations industry.
As President she is responsible for the strategic direction that assists their multi-industry client base of corporations. Commercial Investigations LLC presently does business worldwide for small, medium sized, and Fortune 500 companies, as well as not-for-profit organizations.
COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONS LLC is a business and human resource solutions organization. The core business of CI involves background investigations - from pre-employment, to merger and acquisitions, to other types of business transactions background investigations.
In addition to background investigations CI offers Identity Protection Assessments, Applicant Tracking Systems, Employee Assessments, Drug Testing, Pre-employment Physicals, E-Verify, Electronic I-9s, and more services related to business risk mitigation.
Michelle is passionate about background investigations; she believes that businesses need to take advantage of all ethical, legal and available options to assure that the appropriate applicant for a particular position is hired. Michelle’s passion allows CI clients to be consistently confident with their
hiring decisions. Her expertise and experience provide CI clients with the best possible services available, including accurate, timely and cost-effective investigative assistance bundled with superior service.
Michelle has been examining the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other state and federal laws applicable to background investigations and human resources since 1998. Michelle is frequently a keynote speaker to various trade and professional associations. She has led seminars and discussions concerning background investigations, payroll fraud, business risk mitigation, and more. She has also published several related articles. She is an also active member with The National Association of Background Screeners (NAPBS) and the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO).
In 2009, Michelle was awarded the Business Review Woman to Watch / Women Who Mean Business award. Michelle has been a licensed private investigator in the states of Wisconsin, Florida, and New York since 1991. She also has experience in human resources since 1993.
She has an MBA from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and a BS from Winona State University majoring in Paralegal Studies / Pre-law. Michelle splits her time between the New York and Florida offices of COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONS LLC. Michelle and her husband, Bill, enjoy golf and music in their leisure time.
Show notes: https://www.justgogrind.com/michelle-pyan-podcast/
Just Go Grind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justgogrind/
Just Go Grind Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justgogrind/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
Cassandra Cummings is the Founder and CEO of August Nine, a technology led creative company that designs brand experiences across social media, content and community. She got her start in marketing in the gaming industry, and moved on to lead content and event production for Splash! Animals, an award winning live art show featured at TEDx and Downtown Disney.
After graduating in Global Business from Cal State San Marcos, she moved to Spain to learn a new culture, and launch her career in tech. There, she became founding member of the marketing team at Product School, where she hosted 100 online events for 50,000 people with speakers from Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Slack, Amazon and more.
Her true passions are traveling, food and art which were combined during her seven months in Amsterdam, where she was often found riding her bike while juggling a chocolate croissant and a gallery pass.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss how to break in and succeed in product management, how to create an effective content strategy for your business, how Cassandra decided to launch her digital agency, and much more!
Show notes: https://www.justgogrind.com/cassandra-cummings-podcast
Just Go Grind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justgogrind/
Just Go Grind Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justgogrind/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
Erik Huberman is the founder and CEO of Hawke Media, the fastest growing marketing agency in the United States. Launched in 2014, Hawke Media has serviced over 1000 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Hawke Media has taken home numerous industry awards including inclusion on the Inc. 5000 2017 list of “Fastest Growing Companies”, Fortune Magazine’s “50 Best Workplaces in Southern California” and Forbes’ “Content Marketing Companies to Check Out in 2018.”
Prior to Hawke, Erik founded, grew and sold two successful eCommerce companies. Huberman is the recipient of numerous awards including Forbes “30Under30,” Inc. Magazine’s “Top 25 Marketing Influencers,” and Best in Biz North America’s “Marketing Executive of the Year.” A regular contributor to major publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur and CSQ, Huberman is also a well-known keynote speaker.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss Erik's previous entrepreneurial ventures, how Hawke Media became one of the fastest growing marketing agencies, the latest marketing trends, and so much more!
Show notes: https://www.justgogrind.com/erik-huberman-podcast
Just Go Grind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justgogrind/
Just Go Grind Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justgogrind/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
Lizy Dastin is an Art History instructor at UCLAx and Santa Monica College with a focus on contemporary art and urban practice. She has previously taught at Chapman University, The American Jewish University, Mercy College and the School of Visual Arts and has worked on curatorial projects at the Metropolitan Museum, the International Center of Photography and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Lizy, founder of street art information hub Art and Seeking, is a passionate advocate of street art and its makers and is committed to creating a digital archive of this otherwise ephemeral practice. She's all the co-host of the Art Attack podcast.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss how to make a career change, the best places to find street art in Los Angeles, the highs and lows of teaching, and much more!
Show notes are at: https://www.justgogrind.com/lizy-dastin-podcast/
Just Go Grind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justgogrind/
Just Go Grind Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justgogrind/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/
Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture where he teaches people to land jobs they love without connections, without traditional experience, and without applying online. His strategies have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, & Fast Company and have helped people land jobs at Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and more.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss how you can use unconventional strategies to land your dream job, how Austin got 60,000 views in 60 days on an article he wrote, and how he's continued to grow his business and help thousands of people.
Show Notes: https://www.justgogrind.com/austin-belcak-podcast/
Just Go Grind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justgogrind/
Just Go Grind Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justgogrind/
Meena Zia is the founder of Wellness A to Zia LLC, a holistic health company that combines life and motivational coaching with the power of healing crystals to help clients achieve their highest level of happiness and fulfillment.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss the incredible career journey Meena has had so far including roles in politics, advertising, fitness, and most recently crystal retailing.
Meena is also one of my best friends and is an inspiration to those around her as a go-getter who isn't afraid to go after what she wants in life.
Show notes are at: https://www.justgogrind.com/meena-zia-podcast
Mary Clavieres is the founder of Brief Transitions and provides mesh underwear to women after childbirth and surgeries. She leveraged her 14+ years of manufacturing experience at a Fortune 100 Pharmaceutical company to grow her product based business. Brief Transitions can be be found on Amazon and in select subscription boxes.
Out of her love for building community, Mary also founded The Transitions Collective - a platform that provides access to experts and resources for women who want to build and work in their own businesses full time. Mary features expert interviews on her VLOG and The Transitions Collective membership community will launch March 11, 2019.
Mary also provides program management consulting services and is a certified leadership and team building coach.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss how Mary transitioned from working for more than a decade at a Fortune 100 Pharmaceutical company to starting multiple businesses and the challenges that go along with doing so.
Show notes are at: https://www.justgogrind.com/mary-clavieres-podcast
Amitesh Bhagwan is an Innovation Manager at Disney who went from engineering to product management, along the way getting an MBA at USC Marshall and interning at Dollar Shave Club.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss career change, the challenges of getting an MBA in the United States as an international student, building a career in product management, entrepreneurship, working at startups, and so much more!
Show notes are at: justgogrind.com/amitesh-bhagwan-podcast
Stacie Sussman is a leader in growing sales revenue through 360 digital media strategies, including social platforms, influencers, video, ad tech, enterprise solutions, paid media, and programmatic offerings.
As founder and owner of SSR Digital Group, Stacie has built a 15-year career managing over $35 million in digital media campaigns for companies ranging from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 conglomerates.
Stacie's robust experience includes notable positions at New York Magazine, Daily Mail, Elite Daily, AllRecipes and Conde Nast.
Stacie has developed go-to-market strategies for companies expanding to the US and has managed key advertiser relations across multiple verticals.
Stacie’s colleagues and clients say that “she is a true trailblazer in the digital advertising sales space” and “exceeds expectations”.
Stacie graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA degree in Communications.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss Stacie's career journey, what it's like working for large companies and in a variety of sales roles, and how she eventually decided to launch her own company.
Belma McCaffrey is the CEO and Founder of Work Bigger, a career change and development platform with the mission to redefine work so that work is a vehicle for creativity, change and living an awesome life. Work Bigger partners with companies to help tackle employee disengagement and turnover issues, and they work with individuals to provide career change support. Belma and Work Bigger have been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Complex Hustle, and Create & Cultivate.
Prior to Work Bigger, Belma spent 10+ years in business development and strategy roles at companies like the Associated Press, Conde Nast and GroupM. She lives in Hoboken, NJ with her husband and son.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss Belma's career journey including how she used her MBA experience to make a career pivot and eventually launch her company, Work Bigger, to help redefine work for individuals and companies.
Show notes are at justgogrind.com/podcast
Chris Lee is a professional poker player, second year student in the full time MBA program at the USC Marshall School of Business, and works as an analyst at March Capital Partners.
In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss how Chris got started playing poker and eventually won a bracelet in the World Series of Poker, why he decided to go back to school and get an MBA and how he navigated his first year, his experience working for March Capital Partners, and what he thinks the next steps are in his unconventional career path.
Laura Killick, PhD is a life coach whose mission in life is to help smart, curious, capable women quit all the things in life that are holding them back. She helps them learn how to revolutionize their lives from the inside out by bringing scientific methods together with deep support and a little bit of a punk attitude to help the women she works with thrive.
She has always been obsessed with understanding people. Where we come from and what makes us tick are the big questions that keep her up at night.
Prior to building an international coaching practice, she gained a PhD in Archaeology, became a world expert on Vole teeth (really!), project managed marketing and tech builds for some of the world’s biggest marketing firms and spent some time training as a therapist. In her spare time, she can be found volunteering for the local ambulance service or playing the drums, loudly.
In this episode we go through Laura's career journey from archaeology to digital marketing to starting her own coaching business.
Find the show notes at justgogrind.com/podcast
Catherine Castellanos is a speaker, writer, and internal crisis management consultant. She founded Sidestep Strategies not only to help clients manage external PR crises, but to apply the latest advances in both neuroplastic science and spirituality to mitigate the internal crises that jeopardize success. Her ten years of research have covered traditional and emerging treatments, from intensive meditation to NAD+, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, neurofeedback and psychedelic therapies. Her expertise includes spirituality, nutrition, sleep, and various psychological therapies, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and Neurolinguistic Programming. At the age of 18, Catherine survived bacterial meningitis, an inflammation of the lining of the brain, a disease that can kill in fewer than four hours. Although fortunate to recover physically, she struggled for years with extreme fatigue and PTSD-like symptoms. Determined to heal, Catherine followed in the footsteps of chronically-ill patients everywhere, becoming her own researcher, ultimately leading to the discovery and successful treatment of a clandestine brain injury/trauma? With a decade of study on the frontier of neuroplastic science, Catherine offers clients unmatched experience in finding alternative methods to address and improve cognitive functions like memory, focus, and stamina, as well as the emotional consequences of crisis. With Sidestep, she works with individuals and companies to advance their public image while preventing mistakes and optimizing performance. She resides in Los Angeles, California, where crisis is an everyday occurrence. In this episode we discuss Cat's experience interning at National Geographic, CNN, and The White House, how she's managing writing a book, growing a business, and training for a marathon, how individuals and companies can manage crisis, and much more! Find the show notes at justgogrind.com/podcast
Dominique Mas has had quite the career journey. She's worked at schools in London, Manila, Hong Kong, Barcelona, and New York City teaching students and developing curriculum.
Now, as the founder of Lead With a Twist, she's working with people one-on-one and in small groups to help them navigate life's challenges.
In this episode we discuss Dominique's career journey, diving into her experience in international education and why she decided to start her own company.
Erin Halper is the founder and CEO of The Upside, a company that supports solopreneurs and connects them with businesses seeking best-in-class scalable, flexible and on-demand senior-level talent.
She also ran her own consulting business for 7 years, started a handbag company while working full time in NYC, and generally knows how to make sh*t happen.
In this episode we discuss how she built her own successful consulting company, why she's now focused on changing the world of work, and how people can navigate their careers to ultimately create a life and career they love.
Jes Osrow (TheRiseJourney and JOSROW) gets sh*t done, has the energy of four people, and only puts her name on things that represent her best. She contributes with enthusiasm and a “it’s not done until it’s done right" mentality.
Her goal is talk transparently about HR, recruitment, and talent development (since these topics get a bad rap). She'd like to create and join conversations as a means of being part of a fundamental change in approaches and underlying assumptions in the People Ops realms.
Jes is a Talent Development Specialist. Her skills include individualized coaching, creating and teaching professional development workshops at all levels, and as of late, the creator of a series of e-workbooks.
Her areas of expertise include diversity & inclusion, transitions into/out of tech, strengthening of personal brand, identifying transferable skills, building a professional network, and exploring industries that are conducive to continual professional development.
In this episode we talk about entrepreneurship, developing your personal brand, career transitions, reinventing and more!
Andrew Forero is an MBA candidate at the USC Marshall School of Business and an aspiring strategy consulting professional with a background in investment research and consumer product sales.
As an effective communicator with C-suite executives, he has evaluated domestic and international public company management teams’ long-term corporate strategies and capital allocation policies.
His investment recommendations have led to over $40 million of investments across the cement, payment processing, and private equity sectors.
Andrew also has proven capabilities in leading cross-functional divisions within the consumer product sector and driving sales that outpaced industry revenue growth rates.
In this episode we talk about a number of topics including search funds, internships, investing, getting an MBA, world travel, and what makes for a great career.
Zach Evans, my best friend since high school, is a kick-ass entrepreneur who turned his passion for piano into a six-figure business that allows him to live the life of his dreams.
Zach now lives in Los Angeles and, with the extra time his lifestyle business gives him, is focusing his time and effort on breaking into the music industry - this time as an artist.
In this episode we talk about how to build a business, accelerated learning techniques, developing a strong work ethic, how to break into the music business, why "riding the wave" is important in business, and how you can optimize your life one day at a time.
Rob O'Reilly is a hilarious stand-up comedian (I loved his Brian Scalabrine joke) who has performed hundreds of shows, written jokes for Jimmy Fallon and MTV's Ridiculousness, and was named one of LA Weekly's Top 10 Comedy Acts to Watch in 2012.
He's also a full-time MBA student at the USC Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles, California where he's looking to explore other career options in the entertainment industry.
In this episode we talk about how he got his start in comedy, his experience writing jokes for a variety of big name acts, his creative process, and ultimately why he decided to get an MBA.
Christina Calabrese is a woman on a mission to make a difference in this world - while living life to the absolute fullest. She's worked with organizations like UNICEF, the Peace Corps, Save the Children, and more to help those in need. Along the way she's traveled to 47 countries, lived all around the world, and served as in inspiration to others to take advantage of all the opportunities life presents.
In this episode we talk about her experience working for a variety of organizations, how she pursues different work projects, how she became such a hard worker, why happiness is the foundation for success, and so much more!
Mike McElherne is the CEO of Next Gen Talent Strategies, a company that "enables organizations to attract, hire and align talent properly
to achieve growth goals, eliminate risk, reduce turnover and create a culture of accountability."
During his career Mike has interviewed over 25,000 people, hired more than 4,000 people, and reviewed around 100,000 resumes. He's an experienced and knowledgeable talent professional who possesses a wealth of insights on the job search process and talent acquisition.
In this episode we talk about how job seekers can better navigate the job search process and how organizations can better attract top talent.
TJ Guttormsen is a communication and behavior expert from Norway who has been coaching and speaking at live events for a decade. He's one of the most highly profiled coaches in Norway and has published two books through publishers and three on his own.
Throughout his career TJ has coached CEOs, award winning artists, professional athletes, entrepreneurs, students, and more to help them, as he puts it, get out of their own way.
TJ also has a master's degree in pedagogy (The science of learning), a bachelor's degree in social sciences and psychology, and a teachers degree in psychology. He has clients all over the world and works in many fields, with an expertise in communication and psychology-based performance.
Travis Pyan is one of the managing partners of CLARKtoys.com, one of the leading online retailers of licensed sports and entertainment figures, bobbleheads, ugly sweaters, and more. He's a passionate, experienced entrepreneur, easily one of the most knowledgeable people in the sports collectible industry, and he's helped to design and bring to market hundreds of sports figures and bobbleheads in the last 15+ years.
I worked with Travis at CLARKtoys for more than two and a half years before ultimately deciding to pursue my MBA at USC and was blown away by how much he knew about the products he sells.
In this episode we discuss how he got his start in entrepreneurship, how he grew CLARKtoys into a multi-million dollar company, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and so much more.
For any aspiring entrepreneurs this is an episode you don't want to miss!
After the article sharing the career story of Spud Davis, The Path to a Dream Job: Failure, Persistence, and Self-Awareness, became one of the most popular articles on Just Go Grind - I couldn't wait to get him on the podcast as well.
Spud is a medical device sales representative at Medtronic, one of the world's largest medical equipment development companies in the world.
His path to his current position is one helluva story and filled with useful insights. I hope you enjoy it!
Eddy Barrows is a President's Associate at Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas. He got his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, majored in Finance at the University of Southern California, was a management consultant for five years, and has interned at places like Paramount Pictures and Discovery Communications.
In this episode we cover all of that and so much more. If you've ever thought about getting an MBA, are interested in finding the right career path, or are just curious about different careers you'll love this episode. Enjoy!