Just Go Grind

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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