Authentic Leadership for Everyday People

Matei Zatreanu is the CEO and founder of System2, a data science firm that helps institutional investors make better decision. His family immigrated from Romania, but for the first few years, his parents had to leave him and his brother temporarily behind as they settled themselves in their new country.

In our conversation, we explored how early hardship, like growing up separated by your parents, builds a “figure it out” mentality, why storytelling is one of the most underrated leadership skills, and how something as simple as sharing a meal can become the foundation of culture and trust inside an organization.

We went deep into the meaning of profit, the tradeoffs entrepreneurs face when considering outside capital, and the importance of understanding your own motivations before chasing growth, money, or status.

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

sstm2.com

al4ep.com

Additional Guest Links:

Podcast: on Spotify

On YouTube: youtube.com/@system2pod

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matei-zatreanu/

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Eric Stone is the CEO and founder of Clear Path Ventures and the author of Jumpstart Your Workplace Culture.

Eric started as a management trainee at Enterprise Rent-A-Car and spent more than 25 years rising through the ranks to become a senior executive in one of the company’s top-performing regions. Along the way, he led large teams across retail and administrative environments, built high-performance cultures, and developed leaders who went on to succeed at every level of the organization.

In this episode, we talk about:

1. What you learn from building a career inside one organization for decades
2. How to hire and develop great salespeople
3. Why belief is the foundation of effective selling
4. How to build “culture carriers” inside your organization
5. The sequencing of communication during major change

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

clearpathventures.com

al4ep.com

Additional Guest Links:

Website ericdstone.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eric-stone-clear-path

Facebook Profile

Intagram: @clearpathventures_

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ericdstone1

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Today's guest is Lily Zheng, a strategist and consultant who has spent the last decade working with organizations of every size — from small nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies — helping them build workplaces that actually work for everyone. In a field often clouded by ideology, misinformation, and polarization, Lily brings something refreshingly different: data, systems thinking, and practical results.

They were a guest on the podcast before, so today we just focus on their new book, Fixing Fairness: Four Tenets to Transform Diversity Backlash Into Progress for All , Lily argues that the conversation around DEI has gone off track — not because fairness doesn’t matter, but because we’ve failed to communicate and implement it effectively. Instead of slogans or superficial programs, they offer FAIR - a framework built around measurable outcomes, systems change, coalition-building, and true win-win solutions.

In this conversation, we explore:

1. Why being “pro-diversity” isn’t the same as creating fair systems
2. The surprising data gap between support for diversity and belief in DEI programs
3. What actually works — and what has failed — over 60 years of workplace reform
4. How leaders can build coalitions across difference
5. And why fairness may be the language that can move us forward

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

lilyzheng.co

al4ep.com

Additional Guest Links:

Lily on AL4EP

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lilyzheng308

Instagram: @lilyzheng308

Lily on Substack

Books:

Fixing Fairness

Reconstructing DEI

DEI Deconstructed

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

This is part 2 of our conversation with Thiago Da Costa, serial entrepreneur and founder and CEO of a Datagrid AI, a company that creates agent and connectors to help companies work more efficiently.

In part one we explored Thiago’s journey as a serial founder, and what it takes to scale companies from zero to meaningful revenue.

In this second part, we go deeper into what truly separates great CEOs from dangerous ones. We talk about transparency, capital discipline, customer obsession, and the growing risk of the celebrity CEO—leaders who master distribution and attention before they build real products. Tiago shares candid perspectives on motivation, resilience, and why founders who aren’t deeply anchored to the problem they’re solving will eventually burn out.

We also shift into a broader discussion on AI—why this moment is fundamentally different from past technology waves, where real opportunities still exist, and why so many AI startups are destined to fail.

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

al4ep.com

datagrid.ai

Additional Guest Links:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thiagocosta2

Corporate LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/datagrid-ai/

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Today's guest is Thiago Da Costa, a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits and decades of experience building deeply technical companies. His latest venture, Datagrid AI is an enterprise agentic solution that connects data and automates workflows across tools, files, and systems,

Thiago brings a rare combination of technical depth, founder instinct, and hard-earned perspective on what it really takes to start, scale, and survive as an entrepreneur. We talk candidly about the realities of founder-led growth, why most early hires fail, how scaling actually works in practice, and why instinct—tempered by experience—often matters more than advice.

We also dig into the employee side of the equation: how to evaluate a founder before joining a startup, what questions really matter in interviews, and why effort, ownership, and clarity are the ultimate differentiators in today’s market.

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

al4ep.com

datagrid.ai

Additional Guest Links:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thiagocosta2

Corporate LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/datagrid-ai/

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

My guest today is an old friend, Nicolas Darveau-Garneau. We met in business school a long time ago, and he went on to become Google's chief evangelist. In that role he advised over a thousand CEOs. He condensed all that wisdom in a brand new book that's called Be A Sequoia Not A Bonsaoi. The book explains how the top 5% of companies beat their competitors.

Before becoming Google's chief evangelist, Nick also started and sold 4 companies. In this conversation, we talk about how to figure out if you want to be an entrepreneur and how to assess your own strengths to find the right path, what truly differentiates exceptional leaders, why culture is one of the most underestimated strategic assets.

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

al4ep.com

nicolasdarveaugarneau.com

Additional Guest Links:

Be A Sequoia Not A Bonsai on Amazon - Barnes and Noble Books A Million Book Shop

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nickdg

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Cat Holt is a marketer, brand strategist, and business consultant whose path has woven together creativity, psychology, digital innovation, and a relentless curiosity for how people think and behave. She is also the CEO of Coologee, the marketing firm I co-founded with her.

Cat started out as a painter, a musician, and a psychology major fascinated by human behavior. That combination eventually took her into the world of advertising during the dot-com boom, where she became the rare strategist who could bridge brand storytelling with data-driven digital performance. Over the years, she had senior roles at major agencies and Fortune 50 company, building a reputation for connecting emotional insight to measurable business impact.

In our conversation episode, we dive into her leadership journey — from the mentors who shaped her, to the philosophy that guides her today, and we discuss our own partnership, the evolution of our business, and the core belief that drives our work: Brand Is Business — the idea that brand isn’t a logo or a campaign, but the full 360-degree expression of how a company operates, behaves, and makes decisions.

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

al4ep.com

coologee.com

Additional Guest Links:

Substack: Brand Is Business: catholtcoologee.substack.com/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catkolodij/

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp 

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp 

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Today's guest is is Miles Veth, a fourth-generation entrepreneur, founder of the Veth Group, a marketing ans sales services firm. After starting his career at EMC and learning how large companies can scale while still keeping a culture of warmth, he used that influence to shape the ethos of his own company: love your people, serve your customers well, and reinvest in the community.

In our conversation, Miles shares how he integrates faith and business, what it means to build a company that tithes 10% of profits to causes his team cares about, and how he navigated both the highs of rapid growth and the challenges brought on by seismic changes in technology and sales.

We also go deep into his views on what makes a great salesperson, the importance of transparency and honesty in business, and the unconventional tactics he has used to get attention and grow his company.

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

al4ep.com

vethgroup.com

Additional Guest Links:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/milesveth/

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp 

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp 

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Today's guest is Sasha Schrode, CEO of FEMSelect, a women’s health company on a mission to improve quality of life for women around the globe. Sasha survived a cancer diagnosis at age 31, and that crisis pushed her to leave corporate comfort and embrace entrepreneurship. She described in brutal honesty what being diagnosed with cancer at such an early age felt like and how that experience changed her priorities and her life. 

We talked about how that experience reshaped her leadership philosophy, the lessons she learned building and selling her first company, and how she thinks about building investor relationships as both a founder and an angel investor.

Finally, we discussed the importance of elevating women’s health — an area long underserved — and how Sasha and her team are bringing innovative solutions to market, starting with their breakthrough treatment for pelvic organ prolapse.

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

al4ep.com

FEMselect.com

Additional Guest Links:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sasha-schrode-28589a13/

Instagram: @fem.select

Facebook: facebook.com/FEMSelect

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp 

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp 

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Neri Karra Sillaman is the embodiment of what it means to blend intellectual rigor with entrepreneurial grit. A refugee-turned-entrepreneur, she’s the founder of Neri Kara, a luxury leather goods brand celebrating its 25th year—and she’s also an academic with a PhD from Cambridge.

In our conversation, Neri shared her incredible journey: from building a business with her family using discarded Italian leather, to walking away from it to pursue her true calling in academia. We talked about what it takes to run a successful family business, the importance of structure and clarity in leadership, and how the values of compassion and integrity shaped her leadership—largely inspired by her father.

Neri discussed her experience as an immigrant and refugee, and how that shaped both her worldview and her work ethic. She made a powerful case for the unique contributions that immigrants bring to business and society—resilience, creativity, and an unmatched drive to build something better—not just for themselves, but for others.

Contact Dino at: [email protected]

Websites:

al4ep.com

nerikarrasillaman.com

Additional Guest Links:

nerikarra.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/neri-karra-sillaman

Instagram: @prof.neri

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp 

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp 

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com