Founders Future

In this episode of Founders, Future, host Jae Encarnacion sits down with Cory Long, faith-driven entrepreneur and founder of Yroc Consulting and The Entrepreneurial Forge. Cory shares his journey from 17 years in ministry to building multiple seven-figure businesses, driven by his mission to empower entrepreneurs through faith-based strategies. He dives into how Yroc Consulting (founded in 2014) and The Entrepreneurial Forge (launched this year) help businesses scale with purpose, blending digital marketing expertise with high-touch coaching.

Cory reveals how he’s grown businesses to eight figures without spending a dime on ads for his latest venture, leveraging organic reach and his personal brand. He also discusses the power of AI in modern marketing, why limiting his coaching group to "Gideon 300"-level committed entrepreneurs fuels success, and the importance of removing bottlenecks—starting with yourself.

In this episode of Founders, Future, host Jay Incarnacion sits down with Victor Fey, CEO of GEN TRIZ,LLC  to explore the revolutionary power of systematic innovation through TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving). With over 35 years of experience helping Fortune 1000 companies like P&G, GE, and Hyundai-Kia develop breakthrough products (including Crest Whitestrips), Victor reveals how TRIZ’s analytical, pattern-based approach replaces random brainstorming with predictable, science-backed innovation. He shares how GEN TRIZ’s "Global Knowledge Network" of 8,000+ experts validates solutions across industries—from potato chips to microchips—and why their methodology consistently delivers radical cost reductions and market-winning ideas.

Victor also discusses GEN TRIZ’s vision for scaling its impact, including new training programs to democratize TRIZ principles, while addressing the skepticism around systematizing innovation. He emphasizes perseverance (“never give up”) and continuous evolution as keys to overcoming barriers—both for entrepreneurs and for TRIZ itself, which has transformed from a Soviet-era framework to a global innovation powerhouse.

In this episode of Founders, Future, host Jay Incarnacion sits down with Andrew Chesnutt, founder of The Authority Forge, to explore how entrepreneurs can build authority through storytelling, keynotes, and podcasts. With nearly 20 years of experience in the learning industry, Andrew shares his journey from corporate training to helping founders amplify their voices, discussing his unique "Mountain Sherpa Peak" framework and the power of engaging presentations to convert audiences.

Andrew dives into the challenges of scaling authority in a noisy digital world, the pitfalls of mediocre AI-generated content, and why the only true failure is quitting. He also reveals his vision for The Authority Forge, including his plans to expand through strategic marketing while staying true to his referral-driven roots.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, Hadee Haque and Ben Wolber reveal how they pivoted from a $375/hour consulting model to building InsightX.io—a no-code AI analytics platform for small businesses. The SMU MBA grads share how walking into med spas and surveying fractional CFOs uncovered their niche: service-based businesses drowning in siloed QuickBooks/CRM data. Their "aha" moment came when realizing automation could replace their manual Power BI dashboards at 1/10th the cost, with their AI now flagging revenue drops and prescribing fixes.

Hadee and Ben break down their scrappy GTM strategy: guerrilla marketing (literally door-knocking med spas), LinkedIn outreach, and meta ads—while admitting early lead chaos taught them to add friction. With pricing from $500-$6,000/month, they discuss balancing customization vs. simplicity in a crowded analytics space, and why founder-led sales (with 5 MVP clients landed in a week) remains key despite plans for SDR teams. Their vision? 100 clients in 12 months by doubling down on fractional CFOs and med spas before expanding to contractors and doctors.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, Stephen Monaco reveals how he grew DataStorm Technologies from $0 to $50M in annual revenue (with a $71M exit) through unconventional tactics—and how he's now launching the Momentum Mastermind to teach his framework to solopreneurs. The former Warner Bros marketer turned AI strategist shares why he's abandoning corporate consulting to focus on small businesses, emphasizing guerrilla marketing, asymmetrical thinking, and his fanatical approach to customer feedback that made ProComm software an industry leader.

Stephen breaks down his upcoming mastermind (priced at $5K/year) combining military strategy with AI-powered execution, while admitting his current challenge: balancing tech stack setup with his "authority meets accessibility" leadership style. He drops hard-won advice for new founders—"Never operate in stealth mode"—and explains why studying Ibm's AI innovations since 2015 gives his program an edge in today's rapidly evolving landscape.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, Jason Cavness reveals how his military background led to creating CavnessHR—an AI-powered HR platform for small businesses that can't afford full-time HR staff. The retired Army officer shares his unconventional startup journey, from not knowing what LinkedIn was to pivoting from failed consulting attempts, and how walking into Seattle med spas uncovered his niche. With 20 early customers (whose startups later folded), Jason breaks down his current MVP testing phase and ambitious plans to compete with ADP by predicting employee attrition through AI signal processing.

Jason gets real about the challenges of being a non-technical founder raising funds in today's tough climate, and why he's building his dev team in Vietnam at 70% cost savings. He shares hard-won lessons on avoiding "shiny object syndrome," the importance of just starting (rather than waiting for perfection), and why his podcast/social media presence (100K+ followers) became his unexpected lead gen engine despite being a self-proclaimed introvert.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, Matteo Fois, founder of Tam Acceleration, LLC, reveals how he built an AI-powered, Clay-driven agency to help 7-figure businesses scale their outbound pipelines. From his nomadic beginnings to discovering Clay’s potential in 2023, Matteo shares why niching down and custom system builds (not just automation) are key to doubling clients’ MRR. He breaks down Tam’s 5-step "THUMB" process—database enrichment, multi-channel infrastructure, and AB testing—and why delegating delivery (not sales) is his #1 scaling challenge.

Matteo also drops hard-won advice for new entrepreneurs: "Prepare for the downswings—I didn’t see friends for 3 months to make this work." He explains why LinkedIn is his top lead channel (despite competitors flooding paid ads), how he qualifies clients with audits instead of pitches, and his 2024 goal: hitting $85K/month by replacing himself in operations.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, Paul Zelizer shares his 18-year journey from nonprofit burnout to pioneering social entrepreneurship consulting through Zelizer Consulting. He reveals how building the world's longest-running social entrepreneur podcast (Awarepreneurs) and co-founding New Mexico's climate tech ecosystem created an 80% conversion rate without traditional sales tactics. Paul breaks down his "value-first" philosophy—obsessing over helping specific clients rather than chasing algorithms—that's led to consulting startups scaling to $100M and unexpected equity offers.

Paul discusses New Mexico's emergence as a clean tech hub with its $60B sovereign wealth fund, and how local ecosystem building (like his recent 350-person NM Tech Talks event) creates impact at scale. He challenges entrepreneurs to resist "strategy of the month club" and instead deeply understand their ideal client—a approach that's recession-proofed his business while tackling climate change during unprecedented economic and political uncertainty.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Jae Encarnacion, we sit down with AC Steel, CEO of AC Steel Consulting and a fierce advocate for women founders breaking free from the 9-to-5 grind. A single mom who turned her frustration with corporate constraints into a thriving consultancy, AC reveals how she’s revolutionizing business coaching by "renting out her C-suite brain"—working shoulder-to-shoulder with clients in the trenches rather than offering detached advice. She shares her unique approach to AI integration (including a groundbreaking AI sales training tool that lets reps practice on hyper-realistic prospect bots) and why overcoming the "Terminator syndrome" around AI is key to upskilling teams without replacing human connection.

AC pulls back the curtain on her mission to rebuild trust in the consulting industry, where gatekeeping and empty promises run rampant. She discusses her partnership with Fuel to Fire to create a first-of-its-kind program for small businesses, her "show the farm" philosophy for transparent client relationships, and why women founders especially need support systems in the lonely entrepreneurial journey. For listeners, her hard-won wisdom on resilience ("just keep swimming"), the power of strategic pivots, and her rallying cry—"there are enough crowns to go around"—offers both practical strategy and heartfelt motivation.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Jae Encarnacion, we sit down with Gerald J. Leonard, CEO of Turnberry Premiere and a rare polymath who bridges music, IT, and corporate culture. A former professional bassist, Gerald reveals how he applied the discipline of musical mastery—practice, collaboration, and mentorship—to revolutionize project management, creating a consultancy that helps Fortune 500 companies optimize teams through AI-driven sustainability programs, IT governance, and his innovative "Crew" leadership pipeline. He shares how Turnberry Premiere scales by training young talent to deliver the output of 5-10 employees through automation, and why his global sustainability exchange (partnered with Paris-based Greenly) is solving the $1.6T Scope 3 emissions challenge for multinationals.

Gerald unpacks his "lead by example" philosophy, detailing how writing for Fast Company, teaching at Wharton, and hosting the Productivity Smarts podcast established his thought leadership. He also tackles the bottleneck of corporate hesitation in today’s AI-disrupted economy, offering a roadmap for cutting through noise by combining Ivy League partnerships, minority business networks, and relentless upskilling (he’s currently building 25 custom GPTs). For founders, his journey is a masterclass in turning niche expertise into a high-value consultancy—proving that "gray hair" experience still outperforms algorithms when paired with strategic scaling.