From Founder To CEO

This Emmy Award winning leader's wisdom abounds in this fun and candid interview. At 19, Beck Bamberger graduated from UCLA in two years rather than the usual four. The University of Pittsburgh took on a dare or otherwise thought a teenager would do well with graduate students typically twice her age, and she graduated with an MBA as the school’s youngest graduate to date. At 21, she knew her “formal” education was done, which meant the real stuff was about to go down.

Real stuff, indeed. In 2006, she ran her first marathon and went to San Diego to start working on a TV show and first company, BAM Communications, while working at NBC 7/39. She was fired from NBC and had her show airing by the following week on the competing network, CW.

Beck shares her startup story and gets personal about the challenges of hiring a business development team and why getting clear about the long term vision of the company helped her with this.

She is a smart, savvy Founder with a lot to share.

Brian Schoenbaum, Founder & CEO - Vuka Collective

It's not a secret that Austin, Texas is prime real estate for the startup and scale-up world. But, you may not have heard of a Founder & CEO who has been a big part of nurturing that spirit of innovation with a healthy dose of personal professional development. Brian Schoenbaum is one of those unique founders who can keep his success in perspective while embracing a thoughtful reflection on his own personal development.

This former University of Georgia football player talks about what makes Vuka Collective special and how he manages to deal with the stress of scaling three mission driven companies.

Rebecca Sholiton, Co-Founder & CEO - Wise Apple

I'm a Dad. So, I was incredibly excited to learn about Wise Apple. After speaking with Co-Founder & CEO, Rebecca Sholiton, I was even more excited. Her passion and enthusiasm is contagious. And, as an Executive Coach, I was impressed by her emotional intelligence and what she has learned about herself after going through some tough times with her co-founders. She's real, authentic, and wants you to know it's not easy being a CEO, but it's worth it.

Gary Darna, Co-Founder & CEO - CompleteSet

Gary and I met about a year ago when he and his early team were really just getting started. Under his leadership, the team has accomplished a lot since that first meeting. With 40% month over month grow, over 60 countries, millions in investment, and a growing fan base, CompleteSet is on a roll. What are they up to? Helping you monetize your collectibles.

While Gary and his team are carving out a new marketplace, Gary is also learning a lot about being a leader. He details his personal growth steps about co-founders, mentor feedback, hiring, and becoming a strategic communicator in a revealing interview that I know you will take a lot from.

Don Mal, Co-Founder & CEO - Vena Solutions

So, what can you learn from a Rock Star turned Co-Founder & CEO of a fast-growing tech company with over 200 employees...turns out, a lot. Don, his co-founders, and his team took the ubiquitous Microsoft Excel software that almost all of us use and turned it into actionable information to help your company grow.

Like many of us, Don's path to success wasn't always easy. He shares an important story about what he learned about himself as a leader when he discovered the company struggling because of lack of focus. What did he learn and what can you learn from his example? Listen and found out.

Eric Taussig - Founder & CEO, Prialto

How does a Goldman Sachs leader transition to the Founder & CEO of a fast-growing, global virtual assistant company? It happens with lots of ups and downs and a commitment to service. Eric Taussig shares his touching story about tackling stress and integrating family life as he learns the skills to become the CEO of his very successful company. As an added bonus, he shares some hard earned tips about maximizing the relationship between Founder and assistant.

Matt Fischer, Co-Founder & CEO - Curiosity Advertising

This is a very heartfelt interview. Matt and I have known each other for awhile so I can tell you from personal experience that he is the real deal. If you want to understand what it takes to develop powerfully productive relationships with your co-founder (s) or key leaders on your team, then listen to this interview. I doubt you have heard a recent CEO be so vulnerable, real, and self-effacing like Matt is. I think Matt would agree, one of the biggest hurdles as a Founder & CEO, is managing our own psychology. Please let me know what you think of the interview.

Almost all of you tell me that hiring is one of, if not THE issue that vexes you. Adam Robinson knows this. It was a challenge for him too. So, he created Hireology to make it easier to build your team. Here's what he talks about in this candid interview:

• Why things started falling apart for him at $5million ARR
• What he believes are the key attributes of an amazing hiring system
• 3 powerful hiring tips that he learned on his journey From Founder To CEO

Thank you! We are rapidly approaching our 200th episode...hard to believe. With so many Founder interviews, I get an opportunity to see some patterns that exist amongst all of you. I thought it was time to share with you some of these. I'll circle back at the end of the year and have a bigger and more thorough reflection, but for now, I am see this.

There are about 10 mindset shifts that really savvy Founders tell me they shift to as they scale their startup. I am not so sure you will guess #10. :) Please feel free to email me and let me know if I missed any that YOU needed to make on your journey From Founder To CEO.

Kristel Kruustük, Founder & CEO - Testlio

It was a lot of fun to speak with Kristel Kruustük. She started out her entrepreneurial journey as an app tester and then built Testlio with her insights derived from her experiences. I invited her to be a guest because she wrote an interesting blog post entitled, "3 of My Biggest Challenges Scaling a Startup."

You'll hear her talk about:

• How she didn't hire enough team members with leadership experience and the implications it had on growth
• How hard it is and how necessary it is to transition team members who no longer align with the goals of the organization
• How self-criticism helped her align her CEO responsibilities with her strengths