If Not Now Wen Podcast

Our special guest in today’s episode of If Not Now Wen is Ash Maurya. Ash is the author of two bestselling books “Running Lean” and “Scaling Lean” and is also the creator of the highly popular one-page business modeling tool “Lean Canvas”.

Ash is praised for offering some of the best and most practical advice for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs all over the world. Driven by the search for better and faster ways for building successful products, Ash has developed a continuous innovation framework that synthesizes concepts from Lean Startup, business model design, jobs-to-be-done, and design thinking.

A leading business blogger, Ash's posts and advice have been featured in Inc. Magazine, Forbes, and Fortune. He regularly hosts sold out workshops around the world and serves as a mentor to several accelerators including TechStars, MaRS, Capital Factory, and guest lecturers at several universities including MIT, Harvard, and UT Austin. Ash serves on the advisory board of a number of startups and has consulted to new and established companies.

Ash is passionate about giving back and sharing his knowledge to serve the entrepreneurial ecosystem and create more successful entrepreneurs. He is such an inspiration, and I know you are going to love this episode and get so many amazing takeaways.

We talk about:

🔹 Recognizing patterns in the start-up process

🔹 The 3 stages of the entrepreneurial journey

🔹 Early mistakes for founders to avoid

🔹 How to structure your pitch so that you can discuss pricing with ease

🔹 Defining success and the American Dream

Ash has such a transparency and self-awareness and has so much insight to share. He has such a big heart and is driven to help more people enter this profession and be successful doing it. Tune in to the full episode right here.

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Valerie Ward. Valerie recently completed her MBA at UT Austin's McComb's School of Business, where she is concentrated in Strategy and Innovation with a special focus on Social Enterprise and Social Impact, and she'll be joining Strategy&'s Customer Transformation practice in early 2024.

Valerie was the co-founder of Sweet Ritual vegan ice cream shop and non-profit Good Work Austin. She is a mentor at Capital Factory in Austin and is dedicated to increasing access to entrepreneurship. She has taught, directed, and performed improvised theatre for over 20 years, touring internationally with her troupe Parallelogramophonograph.

An authentic people leader, Valerie is passionate about connecting with others and building a community. She is such an inspiration, and I know you are going to love this episode as much as I do.

 We talk about:

🔹 Finding balance between the dream and the reality of building a business

🔹 Why networks and community are so crucial

🔹 Deciding whether to persist or move on to the next chapter

🔹 Giving yourself grace and letting go of perfectionism

🔹 Advice for founders starting out and those who are in the process of growing and scaling their business

Curious to learn more about Valerie and her amazing story? Catch today’s episode right here!

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re so excited to talk with special guest Jake O'Shea. Jake is a professional match-maker and superconnector. He currently works as the Director of Portfolio Operations at Foundation Capital, building tools and systems to operationalize the firm's network and leading the 30yo firm's Platform and Portfolio Support functions.

Prior to Foundation Capital, Jake was Director of Platform at Capital Factory, where he was responsible for managing and developing the firm's value-add initiatives for portfolio companies. Jake is a co-organizer of AITX, a local Austin AI community. He is also cofounder of Serend.ai, a GPT-powered network management tool, and creator of ShowerThoughts, allowing you to turn your unstructured brain dump into a short summary with highlights and action items that are delivered directly to your inbox.

In this episode Jake gives an inside look into the venture capital business model and has an incredible way of demystifying the investment process in a way that is very clear and refreshing. He is an open book and gives clear steps and game-changing advice for founders.

We talk about:

🔹 The 3-step process for successful fundraising

🔹 Understanding the different rounds of funding

🔹 How to create an incentive for a lead investor to offer you a term sheet

🔹 Determining the right valuation for your company

🔹 How to build relationships with potential investors

Jake has such a big heart, and he is passionate about supporting others and creating a positive impact.  He is a leader with a wealth of knowledge and insights that are incredibly important for founders. I know you are going to love this episode and get so many amazing take-aways.

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Ron Green. Ron is Chief Technology Officer at KUNGFU.AI’s. A serial tech entrepreneur and expert in machine learning, he has built several successful companies in telecom, biotech, e-commerce, social media, and healthcare.

Ron was most recently CEO and founder of Thrive Technologies (acquired by CLOUD), a mobile healthcare startup. Prior to Thrive, he ran software development at Ziften Technologies, Powered (acquired by Dachis Group), and Visible Genetics (acquired by Bayer).

Ron is such a humble leader with an incredible journey to share. I know you're going to love this episode and get so many amazing takeaways.

We talk about:

🔹 Why it’s never too late to start something or learn something new

🔹 The biggest lessons learned from start-up failures

🔹 Why getting repetitions at startups is really valuable

🔹 Mistakes early-stage founders should be aware of

🔹 Fundraising advice for a tough capital environment

Curious to hear more from Ron and his inspiring story? Catch today’s episode right here!

My special guest in today’s episode of If Not Now Wen is Megan Gallagher. Megan is a 2x TEDx speaker, 4x Amazon best seller, TV Host and mental health advocate.

While growing up Megan experienced chronic anxiety and panic attacks. She grew inspiration from reaching rock bottom at 16. She decided to ask for help, and that started her on the journey of understanding herself. She became motivated by her struggles and has been on a mission to change the public school system for the past 10 years. She is dedicated to ending the stigma and inspiring young adults by giving them the tools they need to live a high quality life.

Megan currently speaks at Colleges and Fortune 500 companies about mental health, avoiding burnout and wellness in the workplace. She is an incredibly talented speaker, author, blogger, TV Host, freelance model and fitness lover.

In this episode we talk about:

🔹 Megan’s inspiring mental health journey

🔹 The power of resiliency in overcoming challenges and rejection

🔹 Recognizing the lessons in any situation

🔹 How to overcome fear and process negative emotions

🔹 Mastering your mind

Curious to hear more from Megan and her inspiring story? Catch today’s episode right here!

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Lyn Graft. Lyn is the Chief Story Officer at Shār Snacks, founder of Storytelling for Entrepreneurs, and author of the best-selling book, Start With Story.

He has filmed over 1,000 entrepreneurs including the founders of Starbucks, Whole Foods, TOMS, and LinkedIn. He co-created and produced CNBC’s first primetime TV series ‘American Made’ and has produced 1,200 videos for entities such as Entrepreneur Magazine, Microsoft, Dell, and Nestle.

Lyn founded 8 companies and has raised $10.0M in venture funding and serves or has served on advisory boards for SXSW, Dell, and Empowering a Billion Women. Lyn has given over 50 keynote presentations on entrepreneurial and business storytelling at entities such as HP, Dell, EY, EO, SXSW, Wharton School of Business, and the University of Texas. He also is a mentor at the SKU Consumer Packaged Goods Accelerator, Founding Institute Startup Accelerator, and EBW Women Executive Accelerator.

Lyn is passionate about sharing what he has learned and channeling his gifts and experience to help other entrepreneurs. Lyn has so much incredible wisdom to share, and I know you're going to love this episode and get so many amazing takeaways.

We talk about:

🔹 Blazing trails and discovering a passion for capturing inspiring founders’ stories

🔹 The most important asset you have as a founder

🔹 The do’s and don’ts of great entrepreneurial storytelling

🔹 One of the fastest ways that a founder can come up with a good starting origin story

🔹 Discovering your power and how you can differentiate yourself

Curious to hear more from Lyn and his inspiring story? Catch today’s episode right here!

Connect with Lyn:

START WITH STORY - Book by Lyn Graft

https://www.amazon.com/Start-Story-Entrepreneurs-Guide-Business/dp/1544501390/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QT2XT5QHXOLH&keywords=lyn+graft+story&qid=1690993295&sprefix=lyn+graft+story%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-1

SHĀR SNACKS – Organic Trail Mix Site

https://sharsnacks.com

CREATE – Online Storytelling Course for Founders

https://www.storytellingforentrepreneurs.com/lyn_graft

LYN GRAFT – Author & Speaker Site

http://lyngraft.com

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re so excited to talk with special guest Jennifer Sethre. Jennifer is currently founder and CEO of Intry and AntiBias Tech, a revolutionary HR tech startup. She is a builder of businesses to her core and is re market savvy, technically sharp and an astute leader with a history of building and exiting successful start-ups. She has also run two public companies in China and the US.

Highly skilled in creating strategic partnership, Jennifer has collaborated with big names such as Apple, the Gates Foundation, Goodwill, Care Innovations, and Foxconn and has been featured on CNBC, NBC, Yahoo Finance, Austin Statesman, Austin’s 50 Tech Companies to Watch, Silicon Valley Review, MN Monthly, Awarded 40 Under 40, Stevie Award, and is part of Forbes Women.

Jennifer’s mantra in life is “no fear”, and she is always moving forward with tenacity and courage with the growth mindset to figure things out and make things happen. She is a true warrior and has such an inspiring story to share.

We talk about:

🔹 Becoming an accidental entrepreneur and the queen of pivot

🔹 Following new opportunities with no fear

🔹 Critical aspects to being successful

🔹 Overcoming adversity and practicing gratitude

🔹 Difficult lessons learned in life and business

Jennifer leads with such a humility and kindness in heart and will continue to do good things on this planet. Tune in to the full episode to learn more.

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest and dear friend Ruben Arias. Ruben is a founder and Chief Executive Officer at Beereaders. He is a seasoned edtech entrepreneur with over 12 years of experience. Hailing from Santiago, Chile, he overcame a challenging upbringing in a low-income household to become the first in his family to pursue higher education.

Motivated by his own journey, Ruben has dedicated himself to transforming education and empowering students. His edtech ventures have positively impacted the lives of over half a million K-12 Spanish-speaking students across Latin America and the United States, generating substantial revenue and securing more than $9M in venture capital.

Ruben is continuously seeking new ways to improve learning outcomes and bridge educational gaps and is passionate about empowering students of the world to have the opportunity to seek out their own potential. He has such an authentic and impactful story to share, and I know you will love it as much as I do.

We talk about:

🔹 What is different about growing a company in the U.S.

🔹 Advice for international founders who are thinking of bringing their business to the U.S. on a global stage

🔹 Overcoming language barriers and seeking new opportunity

🔹 What investors are looking for with international founders

🔹 The biggest lessons learned from raising 9 million dollars

Ruben is such an inspiration and has so much insight to share. I know you're going to love this episode and get so many amazing takeaways. I can't wait to hear what you think!

In today’s episode of If Not Now Wen, we’re excited to talk with special guest Jimmy Ramirez. Jimmy is Managing Partner for Prometheus Growth Partners (PGP) and BhavaMar Development (BhavaMar). Jimmy oversees the legal, land, construction development, investor relations, cost management, real estate project valuation and private equity investments.

Jimmy began his professional career while attending UTSA with a national commercial general contractor in Houston, TX working at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (NASA) building 21. He quickly moved up within the company and became a lead field engineer within the first 6 months. He then pursued his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Houston Law Center and focused on real estate development and mergers and acquisitions. After gaining experience in the legal in house and public sector, Jimmy switched over to the private sector where he worked on real estate transactions and general business and commercial transactions.

Incorporating two drastically different careers throughout his journey, Jimmy is a visionary who is able to see something from nothing, and he has a grounded, intentional approach to life and business. He shows up with positivity and authenticity and is passionate about giving back, helping others, and giving people the opportunity to follow their dreams. I know you will love his story as much as I do.

We talk about:

🔹 The power of relationships and networking

🔹 An objective and logical approach to business and failure

🔹 Working and hustling for the things you want

🔹 Seeing the big picture and connecting the pieces

🔹 A different, transparent approach to investing

Jimmy has such an inspiring personal story of how he has achieved all these incredible, amazing things. Tune in to the full episode to learn more!

My special guest in today’s episode of If Not Now Wen is Matthew Mussenden. Matthew is Managing Partner for Prometheus Growth Partners (PGP), a private investment firm that focuses on supporting founders who are extremely passionate about their business and helps them from the ground up. He is also a partner for BhavaMar Development, a Texas-based residential and commercial development company. Matthew oversees investor relations, cost management, real estate project valuation and private company investments.

Matthew has experience in a variety of roles across business including audit, FP&A, sales and trading, investment banking and private equity and has professional experience at 3M, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities, and Stone Point Capital. Additionally, he currently helps manage a $250 million fintech ventures fund for Huntington Corporate Ventures.

Matthew does not give up. No matter what the universe tells him, he moves forward and hustles every step of the way. He is so authentic and transparent, and I know you will love his beautiful story as much as I do.

We talk about:

🔹 The value of great mentors

🔹 Pushing the boundaries of the box and reaching just a little further

🔹 Following your heart, going all in, and doing whatever it takes to succeed

🔹 Bridging the gap between VC and private equity

🔹 Sharing high finance knowledge

Curious to hear more from Matthew and his inspiring story? Catch today’s episode right here!