How'd it Happen?

How'd it Happen?

By Mike MalatestaBusinessEntrepreneurshipEducationSelf-Improvement
Download on the App Store

How'd it Happen? episodes

  • Mike’s Mind: Red Flags Entrepreneurs Can’t Ignore and Betrayal – Episode 28.5

    In this 3rd video episode with Aleta Norris, co-founder of Living as a Leader, I share two stories about ignoring the signs of bad business deals and how I was betrayed by one of my earliest employees, and how it has changed my approach. (Watch here https://youtu.be/y4WdXOKdgzc ) In the first story you’ll learn how…

    Continue reading ➞ Red Flags Entrepreneurs Can’t Ignore and Betrayal – Episode 28.5

    The post Red Flags Entrepreneurs Can’t Ignore and Betrayal – Episode 28.5 first appeared on Mike Malatesta.

    To Connect with Mike:

    • Website
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Coaching
    • Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

    Please LIKE 👍SHARE 📲SUBSCRIBE to stay updated on all LIVE Streams on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter


    32 min
  • Red Flags Entrepreneurs Can’t Ignore and Betrayal – Episode 28.5

    In this 3rd video episode with Aleta Norris, co-founder of Living as a Leader, I share two stories about ignoring the signs of bad business deals and how I was betrayed by one of my earliest employees, and how it has changed my approach. (Watch here https://youtu.be/y4WdXOKdgzc )



    In the first story you’ll learn how we approached business acquisitions with the mantra that “we could fix it – we can fix anything!” After a few bad business deals, we learned a holistic approach, with checks and balances that would help us make better decisions, at least most of the time.



    In the second story, I share what it was like when one of my earliest employees, who was a welcomed friend at my home, and helped me grow my company, betrayed me. I call this person, my “S” man, and I developed a process that I use to deal with situations like this – you might find it helpful too.









    Watch the Video Podcast Here



    To read the original blog posts, click on these links:



    I Want This Deal Too Badly



    My “S” Man Blindside



    Thank you for being a How’d it Happen listener. Please enter your email address below to subscribe, or subscribe on Apple Podcast,Stitcher or wherever you like to listen.





    Do you need a new website, want to start a podcast, want awesome images for your blog, or engaging video – contact Hammerstone Marketing, I use them and think they are pretty awesome!
    32 min
  • Wendy Baumann, Awakening New Worlds for Women Entrepreneurs – Episode 28

    Wendy Baumann is the President and Chief Visionary Officer of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (known as WWBIC), a statewide economic development corporation.  She’s just celebrated her 25th anniversary as WWBIC’s leader.  Wendy credits the roots of her success to her parents and the environment in which she was raised. Her Mom was the academic, a college…

    Continue reading ➞ Wendy Baumann, Awakening New Worlds for Women Entrepreneurs – Episode 28

    The post Wendy Baumann, Awakening New Worlds for Women Entrepreneurs – Episode 28 first appeared on Mike Malatesta.

    To Connect with Mike:

    • Website
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Coaching
    • Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

    Please LIKE 👍SHARE 📲SUBSCRIBE to stay updated on all LIVE Streams on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter


    1 hr 7 min
  • Wendy Baumann, Awakening New Worlds for Women Entrepreneurs – Episode 28

    Wendy Baumann is the President and Chief Visionary Officer of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (known as WWBIC), a statewide economic development corporation.  She’s just celebrated her 25th anniversary as WWBIC’s leader. 



    Wendy credits the roots of her success to her parents and the environment in which she was raised. Her Mom was the academic, a college professor of political science, a world traveler, a member of the Carter Administration and a political candidate who ran for congress in 1969.  Her Dad was the entrepreneur in the family.  She describes herself as a “make a positive difference” kind of person and, as you’ll hear – she starts every day with that mission in mind.  



    Before becoming WWBIC’s President, Wendy had Leadership roles at The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Area Technical College and Goodwill Industries.  When she joined WWBIC, the organization was struggling to get off the ground, having gone through 5 directors in its first 6 years of its existence.  Wendy talks about what it was like walking into that environment and how she took a process-oriented approach to stabilizing the corporation and building a high functioning Board of Directors.  



    Next, she got out into the community to attract new advocates for WWBIC’s mission.   During her tenure, the corporation has grown from an initial budget of $200k to $7.3MM, started 4770 businesses, created nearly 11,000 jobs and loaned $60MM to start-up and small business owners and entrepreneurs.  



    Mike and Wendy cover a ton of great stuff in this episode.  She is one of the most connected people in Milwaukee and Wisconsin and serves on enough Boards to make a normal person’s head spin.  When she makes it back to her log cabin home at the end of a long day, she uses her chef skills to challenge her creativity, release tension, have fun and eat well.   



    This episode is brought to you by ERC Midwest, industry’s solution to complex waste problems.  Manufacturers in all industries count on ERC for fast, friendly, safe and guaranteed hazardous and non-hazardous waste recycling and disposal solutions.  Visit them at www.ercmidwest.com.



    Thank you for being a How’d it Happen listener. Please enter your email address below to subscribe, or subscribe on Apple Podcast,Stitcher or wherever you like to listen.



    Please enjoy Mike and Wendy.







    Special thanks to
    1 hr 7 min
  • Mike’s Mind: Why Entrepreneurs Need Pain and Fear – Episode 27.5

    In this 2nd video episode with Aleta Norris, co-founder of Living as a Leader, I share two stories about experiencing pain and fear, and the entrepreneurial lessons that it taught me. (Watch here https://youtu.be/GQQlLIiGg2c ) First, I believe all lessons come with pain. As an entrepreneur and CEO, I learned there is no success without…

    Continue reading ➞ Why Entrepreneurs Need Pain and Fear – Episode 27.5

    The post Why Entrepreneurs Need Pain and Fear – Episode 27.5 first appeared on Mike Malatesta.

    To Connect with Mike:

    • Website
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Coaching
    • Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

    Please LIKE 👍SHARE 📲SUBSCRIBE to stay updated on all LIVE Streams on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter


    44 min
  • Why Entrepreneurs Need Pain and Fear – Episode 27.5

    In this 2nd video episode with Aleta Norris, co-founder of Living as a Leader, I share two stories about experiencing pain and fear, and the entrepreneurial lessons that it taught me. (Watch here https://youtu.be/GQQlLIiGg2c )



    First, I believe all lessons come with pain. As an entrepreneur and CEO, I learned there is no success without pain and challenging moments. Pain, some mental and some physical, helped me to “get back on that horse” of success and continue to ride ahead. Jump to my conversation with Aleta here.



    Second, I learned that the opportunity of a lifetime might come with fear, as it did for me when I was 18. I believe entrepreneurs and CEOs need to be comfortable with fear. Aleta Norris teaches executives an incredible mantra to “Do it afraid.” Jump to my conversation with Aleta here.









    Watch the Video Podcast here



    To read the original blog posts from these topics, click on these links.



    All Lessons Come with Pain – Blog Post



    Wanna Drive? Part 1 – Blog Post



    Wanna Drive? Part 2 – Blog Post



    Thank you for being a How’d it Happen listener. Please enter your email address below to subscribe, or subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher or wherever you like to listen.





    Special thanks to Hammerstone Marketing for website design, podcast production, and blog collaboration.
    44 min
  • Mark Grosskopf, Part 2 Lessons from Tech CEO on Launching Startups – Episode 27

    In Part 2 with Mark Grosskopf, we learn how Mark experienced incredible growth launching his technology consulting company, New Resources, after he acquired it from his partners. We learn about the obstacles he overcame to help New Resources achieve incredible growth, why one of his first acquisitions was a software company, his inflection point to…

    Continue reading ➞ Mark Grosskopf, Part 2 Lessons from Tech CEO on Launching Startups – Episode 27

    The post Mark Grosskopf, Part 2 Lessons from Tech CEO on Launching Startups – Episode 27 first appeared on Mike Malatesta.

    To Connect with Mike:

    • Website
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Coaching
    • Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

    Please LIKE 👍SHARE 📲SUBSCRIBE to stay updated on all LIVE Streams on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter


    39 min
  • Mark Grosskopf, Part 2 Lessons from Tech CEO on Launching Startups – Episode 27

    In Part 2 with Mark Grosskopf, we learn how Mark experienced incredible growth launching his technology consulting company, New Resources, after he acquired it from his partners.



    We learn about the obstacles he overcame to help New Resources achieve incredible growth, why one of his first acquisitions was a software company, his inflection point to acquire more software companies, important lessons on cash flow that he learned from a mentor, and earning the best and brightest places to work award and the coolest office in Milwaukee award.



    If you missed the first part of our conversation with Mark Grosskopf, you can listen to it here.



    This episode is brought to you by ERC Midwest, industry’s solution to complex waste problems.  Manufacturers in all industries count on ERC for fast, friendly, safe and guaranteed hazardous and non-hazardous waste recycling and disposal solutions.  Visit them at www.ercmidwest.com.



    Thank you for being a How’d it Happen listener. Please enter your email address below to subscribe, or subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher or wherever you like to listen.



    Please enjoy Mike and Mark.







    Special thanks to Hammerstone Marketing for website design, podcast production, and blog collaboration.

    39 min
  • Mark Grosskopf, Lessons from a Tech CEO on Launching Startups, – Episode 26

    Mark Groskopf, is a proven entrepreneur and the CEO of New Resources Consulting and Westin Technology Solutions.  Mark believes that every company can be strengthened through technology and his companies are designed to provide and implement the technology that will provide that strength.  Mark is the youngest of 7 kids.  After his Dad was killed in an accident…

    Continue reading ➞ Mark Grosskopf, Lessons from a Tech CEO on Launching Startups, – Episode 26

    The post Mark Grosskopf, Lessons from a Tech CEO on Launching Startups, – Episode 26 first appeared on Mike Malatesta.

    To Connect with Mike:

    • Website
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Coaching
    • Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

    Please LIKE 👍SHARE 📲SUBSCRIBE to stay updated on all LIVE Streams on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter


    1 hr
  • Mark Grosskopf, Lessons from a Tech CEO on Launching Startups, – Episode 26

    Mark Groskopf, is a proven entrepreneur and the CEO of New Resources Consulting and Westin Technology Solutions.  Mark believes that every company can be strengthened through technology and his companies are designed to provide and implement the technology that will provide that strength. 



    Mark is the youngest of 7 kids.  After his Dad was killed in an accident when Mark was only 5, his Mom raised he and his six siblings alone in a loving, but poor family.  From an early age, Mark liked to run things.  He developed a drive to have control and for financial security that he satisfied by working, first as a paper boy and later at fast food places like Pizza Hut and McDonalds before beginning his career with Super America, the gas station and convenience store chain.  Along the way, influenced by his brother Rick, he also became a self-described “computer geek”   



    The traditional schooling path was not for Mark and when an opportunity to help Super America roll out into the Florida market came along, Mark left college and headed to Bonita Springs, where he experienced tremendous success with the company.  A series of subsequent events and fortunate introductions, accompanied by Mark’s own drive for new challenges led him into the nascent, but ready to take off, video rental business and finally to New Resources, where he became the sole owner in 2001. 



    Mike and Mark cover a ton of great stuff in this episode, for example what it’s like to experience hockey stick growth – followed by a recession that caused his firm to shrink by 550 employees; what its liked to be promised ownership, and then not get it, why leaving cash in the business helps him sleep at night and how Andy Grove’s book “Only The Paranoid Survive” made an indelible mark on his thinking.    



    This episode is brought to you by ERC Midwest, industry’s solution to complex waste problems.  Manufacturers in all industries count on ERC for fast, friendly, safe and guaranteed hazardous and non-hazardous waste recycling and disposal solutions.  Visit them at www.ercmidwest.com.



    Thank you for being a How’d it Happen listener. Please enter your email address below to subscribe, or subscribe on Apple Podcast,Stitcher or wherever you like to listen.



    Please enjoy Mike and Mark.





    Special thanks to Hammerstone Marketing for website design, podcast production, and blog collaboration.
    1 hr

About How'd it Happen?

From the publisher's feed

Hi, I’m Mike Malatesta, the creator and host of the "How'd it Happen?" podcast. On the podcast, I have meaningful conversations with some of the most successful people about how that success…