America's Entrepreneur

Renny McPherson is the Managing Partner of First In, an early stage venture capital firm focused on cybersecurity, data intelligence, and dual use technology. Their investment team is comprised of company founders, technical experts, and military veterans. They partner with mission-driven founders and invest primarily in data and security companies, from inception to seed stage to Series A. For more information on Renny and First In, go here: https://wearefirstin.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/renny-mcpherson-1ba5b54/

Christian Espinosa was the CEO of Alpine Security, a highly successful cybersecurity firm, before selling the company to Cerberus Sentinel in 2020. Christian is also the author of the book, "The Smartest Person in the Room: The Root Cause and New Solution for Cybersecurity". Christian talks about the challenges of running your own business, pushing through the discomfort, extreme financial risk, and ultimately finding success by narrowing down a specific niche. You need to listen to this episode if you are an aspiring tech startup entrepreneur. For more information on Christian or his book, see these links:
https://christianespinosa.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianespinosa/
https://www.amazon.com/Smartest-Person-Room-Solution-Cybersecurity/dp/1544516215

Sonny Tai is the co-founder and CEO of Actuate,  a software platform that turns existing security cameras that can automatically identify threats and occupant behavior patterns to support security and facilities management teams. Sonny shares a riveting immigration story and his adventures in the military, along with advice for co-founders and those looking to raise venture capital for their startup. You will love this discussion. For more information on Sonny and Actuate, visit https://actuate.ai/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonny-tai/

Author, entrepreneur, and accomplished businessman, Mike Fransen joins the show to discuss his journey through the U.S. Army, his experience as a Yale MBA, and the breadth of responsibility he ultimately assumed when working in the commercial real estate asset management industry. Mike has written a powerful and impactful book called The Legacy Business, which details a lot of impactful life-learning moments that will serve as an inspiration and guide for you. Pick it up here on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Business-Practical-Insights-Assembling-ebook/dp/B09WTGLHJ1/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Founder and CEO of Upskill VR, Carla Bond joins the show to discuss and detail her journey, as well as a financially costly mistake she made in the process. You will be inspired by her resilience, determination, and vision for creating a more compelling and effective experience for those going through life-saving training courses. For more on Carla and Upskill VR, visit https://upskillvr.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlambond/

David Morgasen is a long-time Hollywood writer, producer, and director for TV, film, and digital video. His writing credits include the hit Disney film Princess Protection Program. He has worked on many shows and has served as co-creator, writer, and Executive Producer, along with Howard Stern, for all three seasons of FX Network's Son of the Beach. He was a writer/co-executive producer on E!'s Night Stand With Dick Dietrick. Currently he is in post-production on a pilot for Red, White & Lou, an animated half-hour comedy he co-created for 20th Century/Disney about a newly-emigrated family, starring comedian Maz Jobrani along with an ethnically diverse cast. Morgasen serves as Executive Producer along his partners,
including Maz and Courteney Cox. As a director, his work could be seen on shows including The Ellen DeGeneres Show and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. Morgasen was a pioneer in viral videos and online Branded Content. During his tenure as Executive Producer at HBO Digital, he produced and directed installments of the early Youtube sensation, David Blaine’s Street Magic, which has garnered hundreds of millions of views as well as McCain-Obama Dance Off, which garnered tens of millions of views and extensive coverage on news outlets across the country. In the digital space, he has also created several web series for Disney XD, Yahoo!, and other online destinations. His work has been featured in the Outfest Film Festival and the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival.
David Morgasen Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/morgasen
David Blaine Street Magic 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrTvNzGCZE
Howard Stern talks a jumper off the GW Bridge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qHv124hQ_Y

Matthew Louis re-joins the show to catch us up on what he's been up to. From his book, Mission Transition, and moving to help lead the charge at Purepost. Purepost translates skills to job postings in a very effective and intelligent way. Learn more at https://www.purepost.co/. To learn more about Matt and his books, go to https://matthewjlouis.com/ to buy his award-winning book and to stay in the know with all he has going on! Listen to our previous conversation in episode #105.

U.S. Navy veteran, entrepreneur, business owner, and all-around terrific human, Regina Koetters joins the show to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, the opportunities she seized, the vision she had, and the challenges associated with the business. She tells her story in raw, but uplifting, detail that will inspire and encourage you in your journey. Be sure to jump over to theownersmanual.co to join her impactful newsletter! If you want to take yourself and your business to higher levels, reach out to Regina! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginakoetters/

Former CEO, U.S. Navy submarine squadron commander, and author, William Toti, joins the show to discuss the tremendous transition that a lot of senior military leaders face when transitioning out, joining the private or defense contractor world, and attaining certain rank in those organizations. In a very articulate and helpful book that JUST RELEASED, "From CO to CEO", Bill covers a lot of ground that is helpful to you in nearly any phase of your career, and some tremendous insights to help you focus. Pick up a copy here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/From-CO-to-CEO/William-J-Toti/9781637630631

COO of Zero Trafficking (https://www.zerotrafficking.com/), Samuel Curet (https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-curet-76a9384/) joins the show to talk about the work his organization is doing to combat human trafficking and the intelligence they collect.

Many references and things he referred to in the show:
https://polarisproject.org/
https://www.ncptf.org/
https://www.esri.com/partners/zero-trafficking-llc-a2T5x000008DkmbEAC
https://www.canvasgeneration.com/canvas/product-market-fit-canvas/
https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanstack/v4/Lean-Canvas.pdf