From Founder To CEO

Artificial Intelligence (AI) for hockey? Yes, former Olympic skating champion, Craig Buntin, left the Olympic ice for the hockey ice when he and his co-founder launched SPORTLOGiQ.

Craig goes into great detail about:

• Why AI is misunderstood
• Which terms are likely to indicated an real AI company
• Why 25 NHL teams use SPORTLOGiQ
• How AI will impact betting in the United States
• Patents in AI
• Why his shifted from self-driving AI to sports AI
• The interesting way he got Mark Cuban to invest in his company
• The processes of removing responsibility "hats" as he has moved from Founder to CEO
• Why it was hard for him to personally leave behind product development as he has shifted to CEO

We lost a valuable member of our team. Chelsea Berler. I miss her so much. In this episode I share the three things I learned from Chelsea and what you can learn from her, too.

If you have not had a chance to read Rand's book, "Lost and Founder," then listen to this interview and you'll hear lots of reasons to do so. Rand is super transparent about:

• His depression and what he recommends to other Founders who may suffer from this
• Why it's so important to exit team members who may not be a good culture fit for your startup
• Why it's so important to become a self-aware Founder and how Rand discovered how his disliked direct sales
• Answering this question: Why do Founders have to be always positive even during challenging times?

Rand is kind, transparent and very gracious with his experiences and insights. I think you'll get a lot out of this interview.

Jeremy and I had a great time with this interview. He has a great combination of wit, warmth, smarts, and transparency. I learned a lot from Jeremy. In this revealing interview he charts his path from 3 years of barely making by as an entrepreneur to his most recent success. He also talks about:

• His personal struggle with working 80 hours a week while he builds his team
• How his wife has basically become his Co-Founder
• His philosophy about what makes a good leader...really interesting

It was hard for me to interview Betsy. I have known her ever since I first interviewed her in July of 2015 on this podcast. We have stayed in touch since then and she was even a member of Trail Team 10. But, it was hard to interview her because I knew she was suffering through a life threatening disease and I worried how her recent treatment would work.

Betsy is a VERY strong person. Your can hear the determination in her voice while also sensing the compassion in her heart.

Listen through this entire interview. I don't think you'l be disappointed. You will learn what she did to build her company so she could even take 3 months to save her life.

When feel like you can't go on...listen to this interview and you'll be inspired by Betsy's unstoppable spirit...the very work she used as the title of her new book.

Culture...that hard to define thing on the tip of every Founder's tongue. As a Founder, you know how important culture is, but what is it, really? Ryan and Scott share their journey of culture discovery and share their minefields around shaping it. And, they share how their work helping others building a culture in their company has changed them as leaders.

Just in time for Father's Day weekend in the United States comes an incredible Founder named Lyden Foust whose candid admissions about his own challenges as a Founder are balanced by the wonderful lessons and attributes he has received from his own Father.

Lyden and his team are at the cutting edge of data science. Just learning about what the Spatial team is doing with location data science is fascinating enough. But, it's Lyden's journey to integrating both challenge and invitation into the culture at Spatial where we as Founders can pick up some significant insights.

I very much appreciated Lyden's very personal sharing. Please let me know what you learned and how you might apply what you have learned in your startup.

It's rare when we have the same guest twice on this podcast. And, when we do it is usually for a good reason. Laura is a great reason. We last spoke with Laura in 2015 when she had a team of 13 and she was experiencing lots of success with her social media management too, Edgar. She is back and we had a GREAT conversation.

Not only does she dish about the current and upcoming social media changes, but she also talks extensively about:

• The differences leading a startup team of 13 versus 25.
• What she and her team did differently in order to innovate in response to Twitter changes.
• How she has had to shift her approach to leadership.
• The feedback from her team about her strengths and limitations as a Founder & CEO

Laura is an open and honest Founder who shares a great deal about herself, her team, and the journey From Founder To CEO.

Can meditation make you a better Founder, CEO, and leader? Rob thinks so. He attributes his many year practice of meditation to better listening, more presence, and greater growth for himself personally as a leader and for the growth of his company. How did it all begin? Listen and he'll tell you his interesting story.

I feel so fortunate to be able to speak with so many wise people...Shane is one of them. Shane's knowledge about all things SaaS is extraordinary. When he marries that up with a love of Founders and a spiritual approach to business, growth happens. In this interview you'll hear lots of wisdom from Shame including the importance of Founders understanding more deeply about the lives of their team members and why alignment with Sales, Marketing & Technology is so crucial to startup success.