We’ve been watching the success of Clearco, which began as Clearbanc, a company that uses AI to invest in e-commerce startups. Removing the traditional bias found in VC hotbeds like New York and Silicon Valley, Clearco provides capital business owners can use for recurring costs. CEO Andrew Curtis shares how rewarding it is to see these non-dilutive, revenue-share agreements allowing founders to focus on growing their companies.

Few of us are fortunate to work on a brand like Nike. And even fewer actually had a hand in creating the product that made it famous. So we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to spend an hour or so with Wilson Smith, Design Director at Nike. In addition to sharing about his four decades at the crossroads of athletics, fashion and culture, we discuss the mysterious nature of creativity and how to release the gift in others.

We wanted to start the new year with some good news. So we invited Peter Greer, President and CEO of Hope International to talk about the 25-year-old organization’s mission, success and future goals. At the core of their good work is a business mindset that uses economic development to break cycles of poverty. This sets them apart from a plethora of charities that, while helping the poor, unintentionally perpetuate the cycle of need through charitable giving. This prompted us to ask if the Hope brand should  look more like seed capital than an NGO.

It’s not every day that two guys talk about breast feeding. But in this episode, that’s exactly what Brian and Bōggie do with Lauren Wright, founder of Natural Nipple, a data-driven bottle system that grows as your baby grows, so the flow is always right. And getting the right flow is difficult with bottle or breast, the result being babies being starved or drowned… and parents being frazzled to wit’s end. Lauren’s product is designed to help everyone involved. So we discussed things like brand voice, credibility and messaging.  

Brian and Bōggie sit down with Sarah Bay-Cheng, Dean of Arts, Media, Performance and Design at York University in Toronto. They discuss messaging and branding as technology-driven change is changing the ROI of higher education, and how work and career mobility require more than a degree; but a way to prepare students for long-term career and personal success in a Gig Economy. 

As a professional model with sensitive skin, Carolyn Li Ming struggled to find skin care that was free of synthetics and alcohol. So she dusted off her degree in Neuroscience and developed Li Organics, a plant-based line of skin care that combines Southeast Asian ancient beauty traditions with modern science. We talked to her about a direct-to-customer business that began in her kitchen and is now on the verge of national distribution. We discussed how important it is to avoid industry jargon and tell an authentic story of how beauty is more than skin deep.

Life has its ups and downs. The goal is to navigate it in a healthy and rewarding way. So we sat down with Lissy Alden, Founder of MYNDY, a startup focused on mental fitness. Which is not to be confused with mental health or mental acumen. According to Lissy, your brain is like a muscle, and can be trained to handle life’s twists and turns with more resilience and perseverance. And while this is clearly beneficial for an individual, the benefit for a company made up of individuals is a no-brainer. 

Is it possible to talk about flossing for 40 minutes? If it’s with Sam Coxe and Elli Hanson you can. They’re the energetic founders of Flaus, the first electric flossing device. (Hard to believe nobody’s done this, right?) We had fun picking their brain (pun intended) and throwing around ideas about personal hygiene, human behavior, and gamifying something as mundane and mandatory as flossing.

Originally Recorded March 2023

Taking advantage of the holiday chill, we got together again with Matt C., Core Developer with Nerd DAO. 

Following up on our feral discussion of Bitcoin, Ethereum and the blockchain in general, we wanted to focus on NFTs. While NFTs gained notice as ridiculously-priced digital art, this platform will likely explode over the next few years by providing limited access to cyber communities and, of particular interest to us, as an alternate approach to conducting fee-for-service commerce. (Can you say @bemeaningful infotoken?)

Do you understand cryptocurrency? Neither do we. So we talked with someone who does: Matt C. (We quickly learned that anonymity is pretty important on the blockchain.) His first exposure to digital currency was in 2017 and he’s currently Core Developer with Nerd DAO, a group creating NFTs or non-fungible tokens. Another thing we don’t understand. So we asked him to explain the basics and share what he thinks digital currency needs to communicate as it becomes more mainstream. After an hour, we barely scratched the surface, let alone delve into his NFT venture. (We’ll do that in another episode.) So if you’re as clueless as the rest of us, listen in and learn about this new world from someone in the cyber-trenches.