21 Hats Podcast

This week, Ben Knepler returns to the podcast to explain why he and his co-founder at True Places concluded they had no choice but to suspend production of their portable, outdoor chairs and go into survival mode. Initially, they manufactured the chairs in China, where they’ve been paying tariffs since the first Trump administration. Last year, at considerable expense, they moved production to Cambodia, which at the time was subject to no tariffs. But since April 2nd, the company has been subjected to a tariff rate that has gyrated from zero to 49 percent to 10 percent to 36 percent to 19 percent as of last week. In our conversation, Ben explains why they stopped production and how they hope to survive.

This week, in Episode 257, David C. Barnett, Jay Goltz, and Lena McGuire talk about their experiences hiring consultants, advisors, and especially coaches. There are, of course, lots of great business coaches out there, but as the owners explain, it’s easy to be led astray by coaches who don’t really know your industry or who address your specific challenges with their cookie-cutter solutions. And here’s a question: Does it matter whether the coaches were successful in their own entrepreneurial endeavors? “I've seen some of these people in the picture framing industry,” Jay tells us, “these people who were coaching and were giving advice to people. And every last one of them failed in their own business.” But when coaching works, it can be transformative, says Lena, who is “absolutely thrilled” with the coach she hired. So how do you tell the difference between a coach who can actually help and one who just talks a good game? Plus: Jay explains why he’s thinking about opening a pizza shop. Seriously. Well, sort of seriously.

This week, Peter Koehler, who helps businesses with their operations, finances, and succession planning, points out that small businesses are not just mini-versions of big businesses. In fact, he says, they’re an entirely different species, and he believes the federal tax code should treat them as such. In our conversation, he suggests a few changes -- tiered payroll tax rates, a startup tax credit to cover professional services, an expanded qualified business income deduction -- that he thinks might restrain our slide toward ever greater consolidation.

This week in Episode 256, David C. Barnett, Kate Morgan, and Sarah Segal compare notes on how they market themselves—and their businesses—online. All three are active on LinkedIn, but their strategies, investments, and even their goals are quite different. Are they seeking likes? Credibility? Clients? All three? “Sales and revenue are ultimately the metric we have to look at,” says David. “Likes and shares don't pay any bills.” Plus: Kate just spent what she calls “a boatload of cash” to publish a book. David self-publishes on Amazon—for free. And Sarah? She’s not writing a book at all. She hired a VP instead. It’s a lively conversation about what works, what doesn’t, and how small business owners decide where to invest their time and money.

This week, Sheela Murthy, who founded and built one of the most prominent immigration law firms in the country, talks about the issues business owners may be confronting during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Among the questions Ms. Murthy addresses: What should owners do if they suspect an employee may be undocumented? If the owner decides to keep the employee, what’s the worst that can happen? How reliable is E-Verify? If you employ people who you suspect may be undocumented, are you helping them or exploiting them?

Last September, we hosted a 21 Hats Brainstorm podcast episode in which BaLeigh Waldrop told us that she was considering buying the family business from her parents. BaLeigh, who has been serving as chief financial officer of the Miller Waldrop furniture business that her great grandfather started, recognized that she was being offered a remarkable opportunity, but she had some concerns. Sales have been off of late, the business is predominantly brick-and-mortar, and most importantly, she would have to work out an ownership structure with her younger brother. The 21 Hats crew of owners and entrepreneurs who joined the brainstorm asked a lot of good questions and offered smart suggestions. “I think what's actually incredibly hard about this whole thing is that I love it,” says BaLeigh. “I love wearing the different hats. I love owning a business in a small community.” We left it that BaLeigh would get back to us once she’d figured things out. In this week’s episode, she returns to tell Jay Goltz and the rest of us what she’s decided.

This week, Frank Rimalovski, who is head of both the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute and the NYU Innovation Venture Fund discusses how his programs help young entrepreneurs build businesses — and why sometimes the most valuable lesson he can offer is to NOT start a business. He also talks about whether you can teach resilience, how he views the strengths and weaknesses of venture capital, and what the growing impact of artificial intelligence will be on programs like his.

This week, in Episode 254, Jay Goltz, Mel Gravely, and special guest John Abrams have a frank conversation about what business owners can do to avoid what John calls the “fat-wallets-and-broken-hearts syndrome.” That’s his term for what can happen when an owner sells to private equity and the company ends up getting stripped. Jay, Mel, and John all agree they want no part of that. They all would like to see their businesses continue on without them. And yet, in thinking about succession, they’ve chosen different paths. In a conversation sparked by the recent publication of John’s book, From Founder to Future, we discuss those choices along with such issues as: why there are so few employee-owned businesses, whether they outperform other businesses, how you can finance the sale of a business to employees, whether the employee owners of an ESOP are truly owners, and whether a worker co-op model just might work for a hard-bitten, old-school owner like Jay Goltz.

That’s what Gene Marks thinks. In this week’s conversation, Gene lists the tax changes in President Trump’s big beautiful bill that he’s happiest about, while emphasizing that what he’s really happiest about is the tax certainty that passage of the bill creates for business owners. Gene also explains why he thinks owners who complain about Trump’s tariffs have no one to blame but themselves and why he’s not all that concerned about the uncertainty the tariffs are generating, including what will happen this week when Trump’s Liberation Day pause expires.

This week, in Episode 253, Paul Downs tells Kate Morgan and Liz PIcarazzi that he recently posted a job on Indeed and got 153 resumes—more than he’s ever gotten before, which prompted some interesting questions: What does this mean for business owners? Should a job posting be more about what the company expects from a candidate or more about what the company has to offer? Do the owners ask candidates to take personality tests? If the owners get 150 resumes, do they ask ChatGPT to review them? And doesn’t it seem as if more people are looking to switch careers? “When I look at someone who's working as a graphic designer in an ad agency,” Paul tells us, “I'm thinking: This person realizes AI is coming for their job.” Plus: Liz gives us a surprisingly upbeat update on her tariff situation. And the owners respond to a Reddit post asking whether it would be crazy to start a business in the current economic environment. Paul’s response: “Don’t do it.”