The smartphones that provide access to endless amounts of information also provide companies with an unparalleled opportunity to interact with their customers. However many of these companies are not positions to develop these types of applications. Calvin Carter has capitalized on this situation. In 2008 he founded Bottle Rocket and has taken his company to the forefront of creating digital experiences to "surprise and delight" both companies and their customers. From their first customer NPR to the likes of Disney, American Express, and Chick-fil-A, Bottle Rocket has created mobile and web applications for some of the most well known companies in the world. Their work has won them countless awards and even saw a nomination for an Emmy. Such success brought the attention of WPP, the world's largest advertising and media company, and Bottle Rocket was acquired in 2013. However, to this day Bottle Rocket continues to be led by Carter and operates as an autonomous company under his leadership.

Over the last three decades Ken Aldrich has successfully invested in over fifty businesses and has personally co-founded almost a dozen himself. He considers himself a jack of all trades, having been involved in everything from biomedicine to real estate. Some of his most successful investments include helping start one of the first wind parks in Palm Springs and Green Dot Corporation, which has become the world's largest prepaid debit card company. In May Aldrich published his book Dream Toolbox, which aims to guide readers towards establishing an entrepreneurial mind and gaining control over their financial world.

Our sixth guest Merrilee Kick, the founder of Buzzballz and Southern Champion, tells us about running the only woman owned winery and distillery in the country. She speaks to the struggles of starting her business and getting the initial loan through the current day where revenue is topping $50 million.

Pope tells the story of founding Work Shield, a company revolutionizing workplace harassment and discrimination management. In the last year his company has earned over $1 million in annualized revenue and is currently on-boarding over 40,000 employees on top of the 13,000 already covered under the plan. The company eliminates the employer from the intake and investigation process of harassment and discrimination claims and is centralizing data in an unprecedented way.

We welcome Russell Layton of Sparx Hockey to the show. Layton has created a skate sharpener that uses interchangeable sharpening discs to customize how skates are sharpened. His product has come to be used by the majority of NHL teams and was the official sharpener of the Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp. In a short period of time Layton has found worldwide distribution and sold over 20,000 sharpeners.

Our third guest, David Taylor, founded DizziBrands in 2018. The company has found a way to freeze alcohol into decadent desserts and has come to be found throughout restaurants, bars, and hotels in the state of Texas. The company plans expansions throughout markets on each coast and currently has 28 different flavors available. Taylor walks us through his past business ventures and how the mistakes he had previously made have helped him to success with DizziBrands.

We are joined today by our second entrepreneur Helen Du. In 2006 Du founded JD Rig & Supplies, Inc. on the premise that significant cost savings could be accrued by manufacturing oil drilling products in China and then importing them to markets in the United States and Canada. After the economic collapse of 2008 Du shifted the product focus to oil production equipment and saw company profits triple on a yearly basis until selling the company to Schlumberger Ltd. in 2014.

Today we sit down with Joseph Boskovich Jr. and discuss how his family's 100-year history in the greater Los Angeles area allowed for them to successfully start Old West Investment Management LLC. He lets us in what it is like to work alongside his father, some early successes and struggles, and what it is like to be an active manager in a industry seemingly dominated by passive strategists.

Jerome Dodson runs San Francisco's Parnassus Funds, where he has blazed past the S&P 500 while investing in socially responsible companies. In this podcast with GuruFocus, he discusses his style of value investing and what investors should do in the return of volatility as higher interest rates and trade battles strike. Dodson also covers some of his favorite sectors and companies, including Google, Micron and Starbucks.

John Dorfman, founder of Massachusetts-based Dorfman Value Investments, joined GuruFocus to talk about his style of value investing. John's approach has led to market-beating returns of 9.79% annually since inception versus 5.4% for the S&P 500. In this episode, our guest tells where he is still finding obscure opportunities in a crowded market, what effect tariffs will have on small caps and why value investing is set to stage a comeback. The investor, who was mentored by the legendary David Dreman, also explains the findings of his studies of low-P/E stocks and analysts' most-loved and most-hated stocks.