Hooked On Startups

Football coaches, basketball coaches, or rugby coaches are very different from business coaches. While many people don’t expect business coaches to be as hard or as demanding as those other types of coaches, Robert Clinkenbeard begs to disagree. Robert used to be a rugby player and is a four-time Ironman. He is also the CEO of The Radix Group LLC and the author of Ironman Mindset for Entrepreneurs. Join Matthew Sullivan as he talks to Robert about his business coaching career and how he fits his Ironman triathlon training into his coaching. Learn how Robert balances his career while having time to practice in order to level up his business.

Raw land may not be the most pleasing asset in all of real estate. Undeveloped plots are often full of grass and dirty all over. But for Mark Podolsky, this neglected land can be turned into the best passive income model. Joining Matthew Sullivan, the Land Geek explains the benefits of doing business with raw land, particularly the exemptions one can get from owners’ real estate legislation. Mark talks about the rise of interest in this kind of asset during the height of COVID-19, making 2020 one of his best years in business. He also shares his mission on educating the people about tax liens and land auctions through his book Dirt Rich and his two programs focused on land investing.

Ken is a member of Gensler’s Board of Directors and the Gensler Management Committee and the Co-Managing Principal of Gensler's Southeast Region. Gensler is the largest global architecture, design and planning firm with more than 5,000 professionals networked across Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and the Americas.

Ken Baker is considered a global expert on workplace design and planning, having designed more than 10 million square feet of corporate headquarters and offices for law firms and financial institutions around the world. His background is also fine arts, music, 20 years of piano and voice, acting, and drama.

In this interview we discuss:

How do you create a unified culture across a firm with more than 5,000 international employees?

How do you maintain innovation in the workplace through design?

Why is it important to keep listening to clients and being receptive to new ideas?

1:08 - Introducing Ken and some background on his career.

1:55 - Digging into what makes Gensler so successful.

3:03 - Creating a unified culture across a firm with more than 5,000 international employees.

6:38 - The importance placed on people in the company and how Gensler is innovating on the traditional ideas around architecture and design firms.

9:01 - What drove the move away from older models of architecture businesses and how Ken’s artistic background influenced his approach.

10:55 - Using interior design as a key differentiator in the field.

13:20 - Ken’s memory of his first client meeting and his mindset around the meeting.

15:32 - Getting a perspective on how much Gensler has grown since Ken came on board and how that molded their business model.

17:31 - Understanding the importance of culture in a growing business.

18:44 - Providing a link between design and the bottom line of businesses through the workplace surveys.

21:38 - Wielding the learnings from the surveys to develop the Gensler Experience Index.

23:12 - Maintaining innovation in the workplace through design.

25:01 - Surprising findings from the surveys.

27:07 - When companies began understanding the importance of people and culture.

28:33 - Gensler’s big hairy audacious goals and projecting where they’ll be down the line.

29:53 - How Ken sees people working in 10 years and how offices will evolve to foster productivity.

32:40 - Playing the long game and constantly trying to improve and find new things.

34:44 - The changes that Gensler has been driving through their design and research.

36:36 - Why it’s so important to just listen to clients and stay receptive to new ideas.

39:33 - Clients that Ken has worked with for over 20 years and the importance of accountability.

42:45 - Authentic passion and trust as underpinnings for successful client relationships.

46:40 - The questionnaire.

49:22 - Learning more about Ken and Gensler.

50:31 - Ken’s story about inviting people in to check out the Gensler offices.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Gensler

Art Gensler

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill

Gensler Workplace Surveys

Gensler Experience Index

Atari

Apple

Moonshots versus Roofshots

Starbucks

Diane Hoskins

Gensler Research Catalogue Volume 1

Gensler Research Catalogue Volume 2

The man who created Bluefish, the internationally famous company that makes once in a lifetime events happen for the rich and famous reveals his trade secrets for making things happen.

Steve Sims’s day job is to make the impossible possible. With his help and expertise, his clients’ fantasies and wildest dreams come true. Getting married by the Pope in the Vatican, being serenaded by Elton John, and connecting with powerful business moguls like Elon Musk are just a few of the many projects he has worked on.

He rarely reveals how he accomplishes the feats that make his clients so happy. Check out this fabulously fun episode for some wonderful, hard-won insights from a man who is truly larger than life!

1:11 - Welcoming Steve to the show and giving some background on him and his book, Bluefishing.

3:03 - How he got into the line of work that he’s in and his view on failure.

6:06 - The importance of his mindset in terms of how he helps people.

7:33 - How growing up in a working class family in the 80s and 90s has influenced his mindset.

11:24 - Refusing the accept anything as impossible and looking at problems in a different way.

12:57 - Steve’s invincibility complex and pursuing “impossible” things by asking why.

15:38 - Changing perceptions of reality to accomplish seemingly impossible things and people’s tendency to talk themselves out of things they want.

17:54 - Story of a client who Steve helped to meet Richard Branson.

19:36 - Cultural differences in self-worth that Steve has noticed.

21:55 - How and why he winds up being a kind of mentor to some of his clients.

24:40 - Steve’s view on authenticity and his counterpoint: transparency.

28:05 - Advice for being more transparent and his approach.

31:16 - Different approaches to connecting with people and expectations.

34:08 - Effort in conversations versus decisions when it comes to connecting.

35:30 - Things Steve has learned about transparency that have helped his approach to his business; Steve’s “chug test” and deciding who to deal with.

41:58 - The importance of things like the chug test and the possibilities opened up when surrounded by people you work well with.

43:00 - Being more aware of your own definitions of success.

45:21 - Changing your perception and the path that led to Steve’s changes in perception; what he sees as the next steps past a change in perception.

48:07 - Part of the process behind writing Bluefishing and what the next thing he’s working on is.

51:37 - The questionnaire.

53:39 - Getting in touch with Steve.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen by Steve Sims

Bill Gates

Steve Jobs

Elon Musk

Richard Branson

Joe Polish

David Allen

SteveDSims.com

Twitter

In this episode I speak to Joshua Long - an entrepreneur, strategy and sales guru and a consultant who focuses on helping businesses break through their current revenue plateaus and unlock rapid growth.

He launched BottleneckBreakthrough.com to focus on unlocking sustainable growth for businesses, and has just launched the‘Bottleneck Breakthrough’ book to help entrepreneurs and business owners implement his Bottleneck Breakthrough Method.

1:18 - Welcoming Joshua to the show and some of his background information, including his business, BottleneckBreakthrough.com, and his book, Bottleneck Breakthrough.

2:58 - Looking backwards as a problem for personality types and businesses.

4:22 - The importance of mindsets and why it can be difficult to address.

5:10 - Building credibility with early wins; often not being qualified to run a business when you start a business and Joshua’s experience with that.

6:30 - Venture capitalists investing in teams rather than companies and how that relates to learning as you go and being agile; reaching a ceiling in business and needing outside assistance to continue forward.

8:00 - The counter-intuitive nature of entrepreneurs needing to be aware that they eventually get to a point where they’ve reached the limits of their own ability and Matthew’s example from LinkedIn.

10:48 - Perspective as one of the key things Joshua brings to people’s businesses and seeing things holistically.

12:27 - Working more with established businesses rather than startups.

13:33 - Focusing on outcomes as a way to connect clients to how Joshua can help them.

16:03 - Looking at mindsets and limiting beliefs to figure out why you’re doing something the way you are and how that affects companies.

19:22 - Differentiating Joshua’s services from the shallower approaches to consulting; comparing paying for coaching to buying a gym membership.

25:02 - The effects of working with people like Chet Holmes and Tony Robbins; Joshua’s story from a former colleague in medicine regarding the importance of reps and data.

29:37 - Being able to see through the noise of your business and leveraging your relationships in order to see more clearly.

32:27 - Why intelligent, capable business owners sometimes overlook some of the most simple business principles.

36:24 - The element of fulfillment and how Joshua’s guidance can help clients to get closer to that.

39:09 - The different terms and titles that get thrown around in Joshua’s industry and how he addressed them through his book.

43:00 - Not running people’s businesses, but just giving businesses new ideas and empowering them to make new strategic decisions.

46:35 - Where Joshua sees his own bottleneck.

48:42 - Bringing in coaches for himself and the value of investing in yourself.

54:46 - The questionnaire.

56:52 - Getting in touch with Joshua.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

BottleneckBreakthrough.com

Bottleneck Breakthrough book

Reid Hoffman

Peter Thiel

Chet Holmes

Jim Rohn

Perry Marshall

Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

Facebook

LinkedIn

In this episode I chat with Hillary Gadsby - an event and marketing dynamo and co-founder of The Boss Box. Hillary is also a best selling author and founder of StilettoGal.com, a multi-media company for women in business.

Check out how Hillary created the buzz for the Boss Box, overcoming the difficulties female entrepreneurs face when starting their businesses and how she found the drive to pursue her businesses and brand to create a movement rather than just a product.

1:30 - Welcoming Hillary to the show, background on her, and background her businesses and how they got started.

3:48 - Personal relationships being key to sales and business connections.

4:54 - The importance of collaboration.

6:13 - Challenges in building A Gadsby Affair, particularly without a professional mentor.

8:20 - The process to bring on partners and contractors.

9:37 - Why she didn’t have a mentor early on and how that led into her passion to mentor other women.

10:36 - The added difficulties female entrepreneurs face when starting their businesses and how Hillary dealt with them.

13:26 - Hillary’s moment of realization that she could leverage her experiences to help others through the Stiletto Gal.

15:30 - The challenge of getting people to open up and be vulnerable in an interview or conversational situation; how Hillary goes about addressing that.

18:23 - How Hillary found the drive to pursue her businesses and brand even through difficult times.

20:27 - More details on The Boss Box and creating a movement rather than just a product.

24:04 - The ways Hillary sees women doing business differently.

25:15 - The level of collaboration in the community that she’s building and what the key point of her mission is.

28:14 - Hillary’s feeling of being called to do this work and some developments coming to the Boss Box.

30:42 - How Hillary’s approach to helping people is different and addressing the “get rich quick” schemes out there.

31:42 - The importance of authenticity in her work and the challenges she’s facing with the Boss Box.

34:23 - Understanding what a position needs to do before hiring someone to do it.

36:42 - The “buzz” you get from creating businesses and feeling a pressure to get better.

38:55 - Continually being a learner and looking to others’ experiences.

40:22 - Deciding to make the Boss Box a quarterly delivery.

42:45 - The questionnaire.

46:34 - Learning more about Hillary and her businesses.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

The Boss Box

Stiletto Gal

A Gadsby Affair

Business Forums International

BDO

The Stiletto Gal Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

The Boss Box Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Before Dave Goodman was the bearded, apron-wearing Coco-Jack inventor and entrepreneur who received a $125,000 deal from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, he was a rock-and-roll drummer living in New York City.

Following years of training at Juilliard and the Curtis Institute of Music, Dave began his career as a classical pianist, conductor, and composer, going on to start his own orchestra. “Once you start working for yourself, it’s hard to work for other people.” 

For Dave, however, “taking time off” meant immersing himself in fields such as economics, neuro-linguistic programming, hypnosis, mythology, and aviation. As part of his health recovery, he also became a raw food vegan and lost over a hundred pounds. “That’s how I discovered Asian coconuts. I put them in smoothies, drank the water—coconuts became a part of my diet.” The only problem was, there was no easy way to open these coconuts. “As a musician, I didn’t want to throw a knife at my fingers all day.”

Find out more about Dave Goodman and the amazing story behind his invention of the Coco-Jack, a safe, easy way to open Fresh Coconuts, no matter what your size or strength.

1:07 - Background on Dave and his current venture, Coco Jack.

3:40 - Dave’s experience as a classical musician and founding the Wild Ginger Philharmonic.

6:20 - Dealing with burnout from the entrepreneurial pursuit of the Wild Ginger Philharmonic and digging into economics and business as a self-study.

10:13 - How Dave sees the cultural idea of the “suffering artist;” connecting economics to his passion for music.

13:24 - How new payment methods can affect the arts and classical music.

15:20 - Dave’s entrepreneurial ventures as a creative outlet.

17:19 - Why he got into coconuts.

20:23 - Finding the niche for an easier way to open coconuts and the massive scale of the market that unfolded.

21:36 - How he got the ideas together, developed the product, and the initial steps for starting the company.

23:31 - Going into a venture without preconceptions and staying open to bringing in help; building brand loyalty through authenticity.

26:19 - Information on Dave’s experience with being on Shark Tank and getting investment money from Mark Cuban.

28:45 - How they’ve been funding the company.

29:59 - Balancing capital between the various expenses in a new business.

32:10 - Advice Dave would give to people developing a product.

33:36 - Where he’s seen the most sales success and how to get to that success; advice for effectively utilizing Facebook ads.

35:38 - The role of design and Dave’s story of developing his logo and brand.

38:00 - Maintaining an understanding about all the aspects of your business while leveraging other people’s skills to complement your own; the art of entrepreneurship.

42:09 - What Dave’s upcoming plans are and his life as a digital nomad; details on how he runs his business.

50:18 - The dangers of planning too much and not doing; constantly learning, growing, and evolving from failures.

57:00 - Being present with your business in order to pivot and let go of ideas at the right times.

1:00:32 - The questionnaire.

1:08:35 - Getting in touch with Dave.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Coco Jack (Use promo code “Matthew” to get 10% off)

Wild Ginger Philharmonic

The Great Courses

Timothy Taylor

Shark Tank

Mark Cuban

Facebook ads

Isaac Morehouse - Praxis

Contact Dave at jack@coco-jack.com

In this episode I chat with Nicholas Amato, Founder and CEO of 803Mine. We have a really in-depth discussion on:

What Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining is

Why Bitcoin is valued the way it is

We put some numbers to the exponentially increasing scale of computing power needed in this industry

We discuss how mining is monetized and the scope of the industry’s growth 

1:18 - Introducing Nicholas and his company, the 803 Mine Project.

2:09 - What bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining actually is.

4:27 - The value and importance of a crypto mining company and how mining relates to the block chain.

7:48 - How large the scale of required computing power is now and how it has grown.

9:54 - Nicholas’s career background and how that has influenced his current work.

11:29 - Speculation versus likely use cases for the value of bitcoin; how 803 Mine is looking to aid US national security.

16:13 - Putting numbers to the exponentially increasing scale of computing power needed in this industry; how mining is monetized and the scope of the industry’s growth 

20:26 - Integrating the various cryptocurrencies over time.

22:20 - The possibly destabilizing effects of bitcoins in certain hands and the importance of bringing more block chain control on shore. 

26:11 - The difference between other token based businesses and 803 Mine’s model.

30:17 - How Nicholas sees legislation evolving around cryptocurrency and mining.

35:29 - Details on the membership offering from 803 Mine and how to learn more about it; the untraditional approach Nicholas is taking to raising money and running his business.

43:28 - Nicholas’s excitement for this space and the work he’s doing. 

45:10 - The questionnaire.

1:00:05 - Learning more about 803 Mine and getting involved. 

Resources and Links Mentioned:

803mine.com

Satoshi White Paper

Satoshi Nakamoto

Efficient Market Hypothesis

PETAFLOP

The Howey Test

FinCEN Regulations 

Focus at Will

(Episodes #050 with John Vitale and #010 with Will Henshall)

Hal Finney

In this episode I interview Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge, co-founders of Beekman 1802 – a TV Show, Mercantile, bestselling cookbook and memoir, website and tourism destination all inspired by the Beekman 1802 Farm in Sharon Springs, NY.

In 2012, the duo competed and won the grand prize in CBS’s The Amazing Race. Over 10M viewers watched for 12 weeks as Josh and Brent beat 20 other competitors in a 45,000 mile race around the world through 12 cities in 9 different countries.

Check out the full episode to find out how Josh and Brent overcame some huge challenges and how, with determination, persistence and inspiration, they created one of the fastest growing lifestyle brands in the country.

Check out the full episode here:

1:01 - Introducing Josh and Brent from Beekman 1802 as well as how the company got started and some background.

3:30 - Digging into the desperation part of their story.

4:33 - Using your overall vision to push through the desperate times and how Josh and Brent really got their brand launched.

8:14 - How the story of starting a company intertwines into the overall brand.

9:13 - Facing the big challenge of pricing when dealing with a wholesale situation and how they dealt with it.

10:42 - Stages of success and never feeling like you’ve ever truly made it.

11:42 - The differences they saw from their previous career stages and how they utilized social media early on; their anecdote about a celebratory bottle of champagne.

14:20 - Shifting industries in the middle of their careers, but finding the underlying principles and lessons from each stage.

16:07 - Finding the determination to work through the early stages and begin settling into their trajectory towards creating a lifestyle brand and their own ethos.

19:55 - Making truth and transparency core to your business and how social media plays into that.

21:08 - Generational differences in receptiveness to different marketing messages.

23:44 - Challenges Beekman 1802 has faced in maintaining their brand while scaling the company and how they’ve addressed it through transparency with their customers.

28:25 - The purpose that Josh and Brent are pursuing and the responsibilities they feel to their both their customers and the artisans they work with.

32:04 - Connecting the message of their artisanal brand with people who may not always be able to pay top dollar for the higher end products; maintaining their product quality over their profit margin.

37:19 - Creating a high quality, egalitarian experience with an approach similar to Disney.

39:42 - The rapid fire questionnaire.

45:34 - Getting in touch with Josh and Brent and learning more about Beekman 1802.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Beekman 1802

Martha Stewart

Henri Bendel

Anthropologie

Disney

Target

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then according to the SEC it’s a duck. Or, more likely, your so-called utility token is more likely a security.

If you don’t know the difference between a security token and a utility token, you should listen to this episode.

Even if you think you do, you should listen anyway.

In this episode I interview Marc Boiron – ICO and blockchain attorney at Rutan and Tucker in Orange County.

Marc has leveraged his strong corporate and securities law background and his near obsession with blockchain technology to build a practice advising blockchain companies on a breadth of issues, including ICOs, smart contracts, and cryptocurrency laws.

Because, after all, nobody looks good in orange…

Check out the full episode here:

1:10 - Marc’s background and focusing his law practice on blockchain technology.

2:22 - Why Delaware is often sought for business incorporation.

3:47 - How Delaware approached the way blockchain relates to the law.

6:07 - Some issues regulators are facing with ICOs so far.

9:23 - How this affects startups, why Delaware is so much the focus of discussions like this and why companies are going offshore to avoid ICO regulations.

13:23 - Looking at the example of Tezos and what it means for the velocity of change in this industry.

15:41 - Points of reference for the scale of cryptocurrency and what kinds of firms Marc sees getting involved with blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

18:00 - How the ICO/TGE markets are maturing and becoming increasingly global.

20:26 - The process that established US companies have to take in order to be seen as an offshore entity and some of the associated costs with ICOs.

26:24 - Where Marc sees the big issues coming from and what he expects to be working on in 12 months.

30:18 - The two-step process for ICOs with startups.

31:21 - How doing a token presale to the public can work.

32:20 - Comparing tokens to a normal regulation D offering and how that could split the capital raising world.

33:51 - The potential for one big, global market for cryptocurrencies compared to all the separate markets that are currently active.

35:41 - Marc’s view of the future of cryptocurrencies in places like the US.

37:23 - The explosion of change in Marc’s field.

39:43 - The questionnaire.

43:38 - Getting in touch with Marc and learning about what he’s up to.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

www.overstock.com

ICOs

Regulation D

Regulation A

Tezos

JOBS Act

Smart Contracts

Howey Test

Coinbase

Tim Draper

Marc’s blog - Blockchains 360

Email Marc at mboiron@rutan.com or call at 714-338-1861

Do you know why Quizzes are the next big thing in Marketing?

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

In this episode I chat with Josh Haynam, co-Founder of Interact, a company that makes it easy for businesses to generate leads and drive sales using quizzes. 

Ever wondered what the real secret to online marketing is?

If you answered yes, no or ‘don’t know’ to any of the above, check out this episode and find out how quizzes can be incredibly effective for building email lists, subscribers, sales funnels, for selling online coaching programs….the list is endless!

Check out the full episode here: 

1:22 - Introducing Josh and his company, Interact. 

3:04 - How Interact functions and works with clients.

4:13 - Interact’s role in attracting attention from the desired audiences through highly specified content.

7:23 - Filtering audiences through content rather than ad targeting and why that’s a valuable approach.

9:20 - The importance of quality content and how Interact goes about designing their quizzes.

11:16 - What effects come from the amount of data that Interact collects and Josh’s reaction to the scale of the response to Interact’s material. 

13:40 - Josh’s experience starting and growing the company.

15:12 - What led Josh to this idea and what gave him the drive to keep going.

18:40 - How Josh used blogging as an education tool for their service; the risks associated with being open with your approach. 

20:53 - The attrition Interact has seen in its competitors and their drive to constantly be innovating. 

22:47 - How Interact focuses on their innovative approach.

22:58 - Relishing the competition and being pushed to do more and be better.

26:55 - The importance of starting with building good habits and having the success come afterwards.

28:28 - Josh’s advice to those in the building phase of a business and constantly feeling unsure.

30:33 - Using an early win as a “roofshot” and moving to bigger goals from there.

32:51 - Josh’s process for writing the first 100 blog articles to promote Interact. 

34:21 - How Josh has recognized and dealt with failures in the business.

38:02 - Advice for reaching out to influencers.

39:36 - The value of personalizing your communications with people and creating meaningful engagement.

42:42 - The secret of online marketing is that there isn’t a secret and that it comes down to doing the work and connecting with people; the analogy between this and fitness.

45:11 - Mentoring and giving back to people in situations similar to ones you’ve been through.

47:04 - Where Josh sees Interact in the next year.

50:06 - The questionnaire.

56:47 - Getting in touch with Josh and learning more about Interact.

Resources and Links Mentioned: 

tryinteract.com

Hooked on Startups #026 - Sanyika Street

The Red Cross

Google’s “re:Work - The Roofshot Manifesto.”

Lewis Howes

Tony Robbins

Marie Forleo

Gary Vaynerchuk

Inc. Magazine 

Email Josh at josh@tryinteract.com

What makes music so powerful in arousing feelings and emotions?

Why is music so embedded in our memories?

In this episode of Hooked On Startups I’m delighted to be joined by John Vitale - Music Chief and Co-Founder at Focus at Will – a neuroscience based music service that helps increase your focus by reducing distractions, energizing you and helping you hit those critical deadlines.

John has 25 years experience in music, sound, and film production as supervisor, producer, engineer, and remixer.

He has worked for Warner Bros, Sony, BMG, and Universal Music, The B52ʼs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Filter, Eminem, KD Lang, George Clinton, and The Romantics.

John knows his stuff. Tune in to find out why music plays such an important part in everyone’s lives and how it can be used as an amazing tool to dramatically increase your productivity.

0:50 - Introducing John Vitale, music chief and co-founder at Focus at Will.

1:34 - John’s background in audio and music.

2:16 - Background on how Focus at Will got started and what they do to deconstruct music in order to understand it better.

3:48 - Digging into music’s effect on the brain and how their approach has evolved over time.

6:58 - Comparing John’s current work with his background in entertainment.

7:45 - Applying measurements to music in order to gauge feedback and responses; how that plays into the Focus at Will system.

10:46 - Gauging if the music is working effectively and the individualized approach of Focus at Will; the primal origins of our sensitivity to sound.

13:00 - The links between memories and certain sounds.

14:25 - How far along we might be in learning about how music affects the brain.

15:36 - Looking at why the music industry is so enormous and the importance of music to humans.

16:32 - Music’s effects on humans and plants.

17:55 - The depth that they found in this material while developing Focus at Will.

20:48 - Seeing other potential behavioral effects of music.

22:44 - Crafting an energetic, focus journey.

24:11 - How they are rating and experimenting with their music to generate data.

26:14 - Big moments of reactions and discovery John has encountered.

28:11 - Applying these ideas to augmented and mixed reality.

32:30 - How this will shift the role of music and sound in different aspects of life.

35:40 - Matthew’s experience with Focus at Will’s music and how it differs from normal music.

37:22 - What John is working on now and how it may develop in the near future.

40:04 - Being at the beginning of a huge journey of discovery and the role of AI in this work.

42:49 - The questionnaire.

49:28 - Learning about John and Focus at Will.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Focus@Will (Free 2 week trial)

Hooked on Startups #010 - Will Henshall

This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin

Julia Mossbridge

Singularity University

Chris Milk

Chris Milk’s TED Talk - How virtual reality can create the ultimate empathy machine

In this interview I chat with Jim Cirillo – career technologist and recent podcast host.

Find out how Jim found the courage required to leave a steady, well-paying job and what it takes to navigate the digital world when you’re not a digital native.

1:12 - Introducing Jim, what he’s working on, and how he and Matthew met at Podcast Movement.

3:11 - Background details on Jim and whether he ever thought he would have his own podcast.

4:37 - How Jim’s career progressed and ultimately led to starting JimJim’s Reinvention Revolution PodCast; the chaos of the tech world.

8:17 - The effect of the change of pace in technology and how that affected Jim’s career path.

10:55 - Why he didn’t want to be an employee.

12:49 - Starting his entrepreneurial journey as a consultant and making that transition.

13:53 - How the pace of change hasn’t slowed down and leaving his job due to the company not being able to move fast enough.

15:58 - What his approach to staying up to date on technology is and how that works into his podcast.

18:45 - Lifestyle design being the driving force behind Jim’s entrepreneurial journey and where he is on the journey right now.

21:30 - The courage required to leave a steady, well-paying job and what it takes to navigate the digital world when you’re not a digital native.

24:45 - Feeling confined in a corporate career track and that there are more opportunities out there.

26:10 - Taking time to focus on and assess what you’re doing, rather than just being reactive.

28:02 - Creativity as the link between being an artist and being an entrepreneur.

28:42 - The positive aspects of disruption; Matthew’s experience at Block-Con.

31:24 - How different technologies are starting to come together towards a big inflection point.

32:24 - Staying abreast of change and understanding how it may have widespread effects.

33:38 - Using the podcast as a way to stay on top of tech changes.

36:52 - The best advice and education Jim has gotten regarding embracing disruption.

38:34 - Understanding how to react to changes properly by just trying different things in a hands on way.

40:30 - Outcomes Jim has seen so far in his journey.

43:58 - The breadth of possibilities Jim sees in this field.

45:42 - The rapid-fire questionnaire.

52:32 - Contacting Jim and learning more about his podcast.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

JimJim’s Reinvention Revolution PodCast

Podcast Movement

Josh Elledge

Richard Branson

JIMIUM Group

Block-Con

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Featured in Forbes, Harper Collins, Gen Z@Work, and Lean Startup, Jeff Boodie is an experienced entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, and Gen Z blogger. 

Realizing you can’t write personality into an algorithm, Jeff founded JobSnap – what the lovechild of Tinder and Snapchat would look like - and the hiring voice of Generation Z.

In this episode Jeff and I discuss the problems for both Gen Z and employers and how JobSnap bridges that gap, the shifting attitudes towards entrepreneurship in young people, and how social media is influencing the way Gen Z views brands and companies.

Make sure you listen to the full episode to learn how Jeff has created the Tinder of job creation platforms! 

1:06 - Background on Jeff, co-founder of JobSnap, and some of his other accomplishments. 

1:52 - Defining “Generation Z.”

2:39 - How JobSnap addresses Gen Z as the first generation to grow up with computers at home, essentially, from birth and their penchant for video content 

4:58 - The challenges posed by Gen Z’s computer and information access.

7:38 - Problems for both Gen Z and employers and how JobSnap bridges that gap; the shifting attitudes towards entrepreneurship in young people.

9:39 - How decentralization facilitated by the internet has affected the process of building a business and employment. 

12:00 - What is contributing to younger people wanting to work for themselves.

13:12 - Certain things that Gen Z seems to respond to and engage with.

15:01 - The ability of younger generations to see through deceitful brands; the different roles CEOs can play in different brands 

17:54 - How social media is influencing the way Gen Z views brands and companies; Jeff’s experience with a consumer panel at Red Bull.

21:33 - Means of engaging with Gen Z as consumers and how Jeff is learning about them.

23:08 - Areas of disconnect between Millennials/Gen Z and employers 

27:06 - How JobSnap is differentiating from other job seeking apps and appealing to both Gen Z and employers; why Jeff insists on 30 second videos.

31:25 - Recruiters and managers are often hiring based on people they’d like to work with over people who may have more skills.

32:49 - Reactions Jeff has seen from companies looking into JobSnap 

35:26 - JobSnap offering structured videos from people wanting to work and how Jeff sees people potentially getting creative with the videos.

36:16 - How JobSnap’s infrastructure is developing and how it could overlap with other areas.

38:19 - Jeff’s vision for JobSnap in the next three years.

40:02 - When Jeff realized JobSnap could be a business and how he came up with the name; seeking advice from the of CEO Tinder. 

45:20 - Jeff accepting the role of being the face of his vision 

46:30 - The questionnaire.

54:54 - Contacting Jeff and learning more about JobSnap.

Resources and Links Mentioned: 

JobSnap website

Red Bull

SnapChat

Tinder

Steve Jobs

Facebook

Instagram 

Twitter

Email Jeff at jb@jobsnap.co

To move on from where you’ve been before, you need to change who you were before..

“If you want to step up and move beyond where you’ve been before, that means you’ve got to be someone you’ve never been before’.

Whenever you step outside of your comfort zone, you’re going to meet your ego. You’re going to meet your fears. You’re going to meet you feelings of inadequacy. You’re going to meet your limitations – which are all self-imposed”

In this episode I chat with Melyssa Moniz - an International Speaker and Social Impact Entrepreneur, a Master Neuro-Linguistic Programming Coach, Master Hypnosis Coach and a certified Sales and Marketing Consultant. 

A 4 time author, she has mentored over 10,000 clients worldwide in business and lifestyle strategy.

Check out the full episode and find out how you can move the needle!

1:10 - Background on Melyssa and her career.

3:52 - How she arrived at her current venture, Magnetic Sales Pros, and her background in sales for financial services.

7:14 - Her growing awareness of why she had been effective at selling.

8:43 - The point that Melyssa decided to leave her corporate job and how she did it.

10:23 - The value of having a sounding board when transitioning out of a corporate job and the process for doing so.

14:22 - How much reverse engineering and reasoning is done after the fact with processes like leaving a job and the value of “burning the boats.”

16:32 - Overcoming analysis paralysis by trusting the gut feelings and just doing; finding the one action to take on a daily basis that will make a difference.

19:31 - Taking “inspired actions” every day as a way to build ideas for making her exit from her corporate job; story about her interest in salsa dancing and how it grew from seeing the pain in people’s financial situations.

25:45 - Connecting passion and courage to both formulate and execute ideas; having the courage to ask yourself the hard questions.

27:24 - The value of mentorship in the early stages of taking leaps and what Melyssa’s support structure looked like early on.

31:58 - Magnetic Sales Pros as the culmination of all the things Melyssa has learned in her career.

34:38 - The big takeaway that she would offer; Magnetic Sales Pros’ approach.

37:14 - Connecting natural communication with the realizations Melyssa had when she was 8 years old; the prosperity of human connection and trust.

40:07 - Tapping into your authentic self and the value of that in creating genuine connections.

43:29 - Having recently launched Magnetic Sales Pros, what her approach is now to grow the business; breaking enormous goals down into manageable numbers.

48:20 - The questionnaire.

54:13 - Getting in touch with Melyssa and finding out about her company and message.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Magnetic Sales Pros

Melyssa’s book, Live Your Passion

Brendon Burchard

Website

LinkedIn

Instagram

“We’re not anti-brand, we’re not not a brand, we’re just reimagining what it means to be a brand”

Following her dream to make it possible for everyone to have access to better stuff for fewer dollars, in July this year Tina Sharkey launched Brandless.

Brandless wants people to live more and brand less, to tell their own stories, and to drop the false narratives sold by Madison Avenue.

“We want to aspire to help people live the lives they want to live”

For Tina, co-founder and CEO of the company, Brandless is about more than any individual product they sell. It is about the true democratization of goodness 

Brandless promises to keep prices low by eliminating the BrandTax - the hidden costs you pay for a national brand. Its simple white labeling was designed by a team of product and marketing experts and food scientists, what Brandless co-founder and CEO Tina Sharkey calls the “white box council.” The products are tailored to the conscious urban millennial and other shoppers who are “very connected to their values.”

Brandless – reimaging what it is to be a brand based on community, authenticity, the people it serves.

Is Brandless the future of consumerism? Listen to the interview and you decide!

1:00 - Welcoming Tina to the show, Tina is co-founder and CEO of Brandless.

2:44 - Tina’s approach of being a cultural anthropologist and studying people and behavior.

3:40 - What Brandless is all about.

5:35 - The progression of brands and the democratization of storytelling that led to the idea of Brandless.

10:24 - How this progression is a move away from the idea that brands dictate the narrative and how consumers are responding.

12:44 - The pushback about the premium prices needlessly placed on things like healthy foods.

14:35 - How brands relate to both truth and trust with consumers.

16:55 - Connecting democratization of information to the demise of cigarettes and brands being manipulative; the role of social media in that shift and how Brandless is breaking that down.

19:49 - An examples of how Brandless incorporates their customers’ creativity.

21:02 - Treating consumers as people and how that can enhance a brand and community through conversation.

22:31 - The ubiquity of reviews from the crowd and how that can improve lives.

23:30 - Reactions to Brandless from bigger brands and being an early stage startup, listening to and building with the people in their community.

26:14 - Brandless as more of a movement than simply a retailer.

28:09 - Connecting with brands more personally with the example Tina gives from a morning hike; building that into all their products.

30:22 - The value of the vulnerability from bringing the consumers into the process and community.

31:40 - Brandless’ current scale and what’s coming up for them.

34:05 - Benefits of having a curated selection of reasonable sized products at $3 each.

36:24 - Feedback that Tina has gotten for Brandless.

39:32 - Parallels to blockchain with respect to decentralization and democratization.

42:18 - The rapid fire questionnaire.

45:01 - Finding out more about Tina and Brandless.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Brandless

Steve Jobs

Apple ‘1984’ Super Bowl Ad

Brandless Tacking ‘Brand Tax’

Tina’s TEDx talk - Unlocking Joy

Tina on The Future of Consumerism at the Worlds Fair Nano

Feeding America

Twitter

Instagram

Brandless Instagram

Brandless Twitter

Brandless Facebook

Use promo code “hello” at brandless.com for $1 shipping on first order

Payment systems platforms are continuously changing how individuals and companies are sending money, making payments, and processing in between. And it’s a huge market - well over $1 trillion globally.

Digitzs is a painless, quick and profitable way to build payments into a platform, app or marketplace.

A 20-year proven entrepreneur in the payments space, Laura has compiled an all-star team including PayPal's first CFO David Jaques; Visa's Linda Perry (named Most Influential Women in Payments three years in a row); Ben Way, a world-renowned startup technologist, and Stacey Moore, an award winning technologist, strategist and entrepreneur.

As the first female founded company to reach the number one position since the Crowdfinance 50 Index was launched on CNBC in early 2015, Digitzs holds the number one position for the largest capital raise by a female founded company since Title II of the JOBS Act came into effect in the fall of 2013.

Check out the full episode and find out what makes Digitzs such a success story for its customers, stakeholders and investors.

1:16 - Introducing Laura Wagner, CEO and founder of Digitzs; background on the company and the industry of online payments.

3:43 - Applying the example of charitable giving in disasters and where Digitzs fits into that.

5:24 - Describing more of the difficulties for ecommerce that Digitzs helps to resolve for both companies and platforms.

7:59 - Where the company fits into the overall ecommerce landscape, what the value proposition is, and what their market is.

11:32 - How Digitzs can work with different industries, even local governments for things like paying utility bills.

12:38 - The overall scale of credit card payments and ecommerce; Digitzs business model within the sector.

14:10 - Background on identifying the opportunity for this business and how they’re getting started.

16:11 - The scalability of this process and being a process improvement rather than a disruption.

17:52 - The upcoming crowdfunding round and why they’re pursuing crowdfunding.

19:59 - What Laura sees as the critical thing that built trust with their investors.

21:03 - The importance of both your team and your idea in a startup.

21:47 - Creating businesses that solve a problem with a clear relevance to the market; Laura’s vision and goals for the business.

23:40 - The value that Digitzs could bring to the legacy payment processors.

24:49 - How Laura went about building a great team for her idea; a story from earlier in her career that demonstrates her dogged determination.

28:36 - The importance of sticking to the vision and persevering through being knocked down by being almost relentlessly positive.

29:33 - Laura’s view of the company’s potential from early on.

30:17 - Information on Laura’s upcoming book, Crowdability.

33:08 - The information in book as a way to open up startup funding for more people.

33:38 - The questionnaire.

36:25 - Finding out more about Laura and getting involved with the crowdfunding campaign.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Digitzs website

TicketSocket

New York City Marathon

Stripe

First Data

GoFundMe

MobileCause

Crowdfunder

Digitzs Crowdfunder campaign

In this episode I meet Bernie Swain - co-founder and Chairman of Washington Speakers Bureau and today's foremost authority on the lecture industry.

Over the past 35 years, he has represented former US Presidents, American and world leaders, journalists, authors, business visionaries, and sports legends

In this fascinating conversation with Bernie we talk about his experiences working shoulder to shoulder with the world’s leaders.

We talk about passion, determination and defining moments, and how that passion can be unlocked in the turning points of your life.

Find out how Bernie risked everything, starting in the stationery cupboard in a friends office, and how, with dedication, passion and pure dogged determination, he built his business to be the best and most respected agency in the country.

1:12 - Introducing Bernie Swain, the co-founder and CEO of the Washington Speakers Bureau.

2:25 - The difficulty of breaking through the public personas of world class interviewees.

5:00 - How he approached the interviews for his book and his expectations.

6:34 - Bernie’s focus on turning points and the big turning points in his life.

8:51 - The process of leaving his dream job to start a speakers bureau with no experience at all.

11:08 - The 14 months of failing in starting the business and recognizing your turning points.

13:43 - How important it can be to fully commit and burn the bridges.

15:15 - The importance of both passion and dogged determination.

17:09 - Starting a speakers bureau with no experience and the role of the small wins.

19:50 - Connecting authentically with clients through identifying with their challenges to tell their stories.

21:56 - Starting the process of his interviews by having a trusting relationship between the interviewee and himself.

23:05 - Advice for recognizing your turning points when they’re presented to you.

24:51 - How important it can be to trust your intuition.

27:40 - Challenges from early on in Bernie’s experience with the speakers bureau.

29:09 - Dangers of being derailed from your goals by outside voices.

31:23 - Advice for people feeling buried in social media.

33:16 - Breaking down the stories of world class people into relatable paths.

34:47 - How Bernie sees his business changing - or not - in the near future.

36:30 - What the people Bernie works with are like, on a personal level, and the role of trust in all relationships today.

39:12 - Living with abundance versus scarcity and how that has affected people Bernie has worked with.

41:36 - The simplicity and interconnectedness of the traits that create great people.

42:42 - The questionnaire.

46:32 - Getting in touch with Bernie and finding his book, What Made Me Who I Am.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Washington Speakers Bureau

What Made Me Who I Am by Bernie Swain

Bob Woodward

Fortune Magazine

Lou Holtz

Yogi Berra

Liz Murray

BernieSwain.com

Facebook

LinkedIn

In this episode I talk to Jason Best, one of a handful of people who co-authored the JOBS Act and helped legalize equity and debt based crowdfunding in the USA.

Jason has spoken at The White House, South by Southwest, TEDx, the World Bank’s Global Forum on Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship and the Angel Capital Association.

We discuss how the biggest change to securities laws in over 78 years is already creating billions of dollars of new investments.

Find out how crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies can work together.

0:46 - Introducing Jason, his career, and some background on his role in the JOBS Act.

2:37 - Defining crowdfunding from Jason’s perspective.

4:32 - Differentiating between the types of crowdfunding and how the idea came about for Jason.

5:54 - Getting started and working against a framework that has been in place for decades.

9:29 - How the execution of the JOBS act has developed since it was signed in 2012.

12:02 - Projections for crowdfunding moving forward and the demand Jason has seen from investors.

14:14 - How the SEC has worked through this process with caution with regard to aspects like accredited investors.

15:54 - Details on Title II, III, and IV “flavors” of crowdfunding.

18:31 - Where Jason is focusing with his global advisory practice.

19:41 - Misunderstandings about that a startup really is and expanding the geography of tech centers in the world.

23:34 - Recapping the different portals of crowdfunding and the Fintech industry that’s grown up within that; comparing the regulations on typical stock exchanges with the framework being built for crowdfunding.

25:36 - Important data that Jason has seen emerge.

28:51 - Comparing crowdfunding with the emergence of ICOs.

31:23 - The role of decentralizing the capital raising process and blockchain technology.

33:02 - Using ICOs within the crowdfunding framework.

35:38 - Where Jason sees crowdfunding progressing over the next 5 years.

37:56 - How branding may play into the future of crowdfunding, even for larger companies.

40:02 - The scope of the potential in the Fintech industry and comparing it to the emergence of online stock trades.

42:35 - Speculating on the role of decentralized investing moving forward.

46:52 - Opening the crowdfunding landscape up to a global audience; the rapid-fire questionnaire. 

Resources and Links Mentioned:

JOBS Act

Jason’s TEDx talk

Crowdfund Investing For Dummies by Sherwood Neiss, Jason Best, and Zak Cassady-Dorion

 SeedInvest

Indiegogo

Kickstarter

Trade Associations

ICOs

Regulation A+

Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council

Stuck at early stages of growth and struggling to build sales ?

In this episode I talk to Alison Arnoff - founder of Unfair Advantage Consulting where she helps tech companies find their unique, unfair advantage to scale their business. 

Find out about the typical problems tech startups face and how to solve them.

Get the inside track on what makes a company investible to VCs.

1:20 - Introducing Alison and some background on what she does.

2:55 - Alison’s perspective on sales ability in startups.

3:44 - What she normally sees in the companies that she works with.

5:12 - How many companies get stuck at early stages of growth and struggling to approach sales effectively in a startup environment.

7:14 - What Alison sees as one of the biggest, most common problems in tech startups.

8:30 - Beginning the conversation with the companies she works with.

10:47 - Balancing an incremental marketing plan with having a large enough potential market to become a successful company.

11:58 - Some typical problems that startups have and understanding their market during development; a story about a company who needed to adjust their messaging.

13:44 - Convincing clients that the messaging and marketing is just as important as the product and getting to the companies before it’s too late.

15:01 - What Alison sees VCs looking for in early stage companies and the kinds of teams that she thinks work well.

16:40 - Approaching VCs with enough humility to accept the help and guidance available.

17:42 - The things startups do that make Alison cringe.

19:27 - Approaching sales and scalability through arming your sales team with the right message.

21:18 - Not being able to “see the label from inside the bottle” and being open to inviting in outside help.

22:11 - Describing Alison as a consultant more than a coach; focusing on quality content.

25:26 - These principles apply more broadly than tech companies; differences in business to business and business to consumer.

26:06 - Approaches to changing founders’ mindsets on recruitment for high quality sales teams.

27:14 - The success rate Alison has seen in companies that she’s worked with and commonalities between failed startups.

29:03 - The role of crowdfunding platforms in verifying product demand.

30:04 - Looking at the scope and process for the multi-million dollar fundraising situations.

32:46 - Why Alison is steering clear of blockchain style technologies.

34:08 - A common progression Alison sees in many tech companies.

36:00 - The one piece of advice Alison would offer to people trying to get over the wall.

37:19 - Benefits of asking for help from someone who has done what you’re trying to do.

38:42 - The value of perspective at any stage of a business and the willingness of successful people to share knowledge.

39:45 - Being productively paranoid and Alison’s story about working at Intel during their huge growth period.

41:02 - The questionnaire segment, borrowed from James Lipton.

45:09 - Contacting Alison.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Unfair Advantage Consulting

Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk, “How great leaders inspire action.”

Marcus Lemonis

Tony Robbins

LinkedIn

Email Alison at alison@unfairadvantage.consulting (get in touch for a preview of her upcoming blog series).