What happens when a cybersecurity veteran automates the work his competitors still struggle to deliver? He builds the future—and lets them use it.

Michael Peters is a rare kind of founder: one who leads both with technical depth and creative clarity. In this episode, we dive into the frameworks behind his companies Lazarus Alliance and Continuum GRC, the origin of the HORSE Project, and how he balances operational intensity with deep personal discipline.

If you're building more than one thing—and trying to stay grounded while doing it—this conversation is for you.

🔍 In this episode:
• How Michael turned spreadsheet pain into an AI-driven compliance platform
• His decision to turn down a major buyout
• What it means to lead a “family-responsible” company
• How he manages time, noise, and multiple companies with intention
• His upcoming leap from cybersecurity to sci-fi storytelling

🛠 Show Notes:
Connect with Michael Peters - LinkedIn – Michael Peters
Continuum GRC - continuumgrc.com
Lazarus Alliance - lazarusalliance.com
To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others by Daniel Pink - https://www.danpink.com/books/to-sell-is-human/
The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave Le Bon - https://www.amazon.com/Crowd-Study-Popular-Mind/dp/1636000169
Time Anxiety by Chris Guillebeau - https://www.timeanxiety.com/
Securing the C Level: Getting, Keeping, or Reclaiming that Executive Title by Michael Peters - https://www.amazon.com/Securing-Level-Getting-Reclaiming-Executive/dp/146796882X
The Holistic Operational Readiness Security Evaluation: HORSE Project Series: Governance Documentation and Information Technology Security Policies Demystified by Michael Peters - https://www.amazon.com/Holistic-Operational-Readiness-Security-Evaluation/dp/1468063871

👉 Join the Parallel Entrepreneur Network: https://www.parallelentrepreneur.com/#about-me
👉 Subscribe for more stories from entrepreneurs who thrive across multiple ventures—and live aligned lives.
👍 Like this episode? Leave a comment or share it with someone who leads across lanes.

In this episode of The Parallel Entrepreneur, Mark Cleveland welcomes Carla Bailo—an industry visionary who’s helped shape the future of mobility, from General Motors and Nissan to leading the Center for Automotive Research and winning the USDOT Smart City Challenge for Columbus, Ohio. Carla shares stories of innovation, mentorship, boardroom leadership, and the importance of building systems that serve every citizen.

Carla's bold curiosity and relentless learning has had great impact on transportation, public policy, and corporate governance. From deploying bus rapid transit in underserved neighborhoods to baking the perfect baguette, this episode celebrates the human side of engineering and entrepreneurship.

Show Notes:

• Carla Bailo, NACD.DC on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-bailo-nacd-dc-604ba19/ 
• Smart Columbus - https://smartcolumbus.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com 
• US Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge - https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-announces-columbus-winner-unprecedented-40-million-smart 
• Society of Automotive Engineers – https://www.sae.org/ 
• Automotive Women’s Alliance Foundation - https://awafoundation.org/ 
• The Road to the Top is Not on the Map: Conversations with Top Women of the Automotive Industry by Carla Bailo – https://www.amazon.com/Road-Top-Not-Map-Conversations/dp/0768000920
• The Road Forward: More Conversations with Top Women in the Automotive Industry by Carla Bailo –  https://www.sae.org/publications/books/content/r-513/ 
• Women in Mobility Bundle by Carla Bailo - https://www.amazon.com/Women-Mobility-Bundle-Carla-author/dp/1468603574/ 

Enjoy this episode? Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share with fellow entrepreneurs! For more insights and to join our community, visit parallelentrepreneur.com.

Welcome back to The Parallel Entrepreneur for part 2 with British-American polymath Matthew Joynes. In this fast-paced sequel we dive into:

• How Matthew rescued a bankrupt currency-trading firm and scaled it to $1 B+ in volume.
• Why he calls Bitcoin “a collectible—like Beanie Babies” and predicts its slide back to reality.
• Dollar dominance, tariffs as modern-day tribute, and the hidden mechanics of fiat liquidity.
• AI-driven disruption—from accountants to animation studios—and the rise of “one-person unicorns.”
• Freedom as America’s true currency, and how Gen-Z parallel entrepreneurs can seize the moment.

Stick around to the end for Matthew’s no-BS advice on patents, cap tables, and turning unused assets into new revenue with AI.

Show Notes:
Matthew Joynes – LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjoynes
Gamevice - https://gamevice.com 
LifeMed AI - https://lifemed.ai/
Pulley - https://pulley.com/
CompaniesHouse.gov (free UK company filings)

👉 Subscribe for more conversations that unleash potential everywhere.
🎧 Listen to the audio pod & get extras: https://theparallelentrepreneur.transistor.fm/
🚀 Join the Parallel Entrepreneur Network: https://www.parallelentrepreneur.com/

What happens when super-AI makes lawyers, accountants—and even capitalism—obsolete?

British-American “apex” parallel entrepreneur Matthew Joynes (PGA producer, GameVice inventor, LifeMed AI founder) joins host Mark Cleveland to smash the china shop of old-school business.

In this high-voltage conversation you’ll learn:
▸ Why Joynes says the real product of your company is its share price
▸ How LifeMed AI replaces 90,000 manual billing jobs with 120 staff and a neural network
▸ The fatal cap-table mistakes that make a start-up “un-investable”
▸ Post-capitalist realities: one-person, billion-dollar AI companies, robot labor, 7-day weeks disappearing
▸ Practical first steps for founders—tokenization, options, warrants, “buying your own time,” and more

Show Notes:
Matthew Joynes – LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjoynes
Gamevice - https://gamevice.com 
Stolen (2012) - http://www.stolen-movie.com/
Bullet (2014) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdF9Vcv4cCo
I Am Soldier (2014) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LIqnkUl0zA
Marmadue (2022) - https://scfilmsinternational.com/current-films-animation-titles/marmaduke-3d/
Dragonkeeper (2024) - https://dragonkeepermovie.com/
LifeMed AI - https://lifemed.ai/
Pulley - https://pulley.com/
Brendan Iribe - https://brendaniribe.com/
Backbone One - https://playbackbone.com/

🚀 Join the Parallel Entrepreneur Network: https://www.parallelentrepreneur.com/

If you enjoyed the episode, hit that 👍, subscribe, and share it with another builder.

Stop juggling. Start PARALLELING.

Entrepreneur, community‑builder and podcast host Mark Cleveland takes the Creative Mornings stage to share why the future belongs to parallel thinkers—people who let multiple passions run side‑by‑side so each fuels the next.

Whether you’re a founder with five side projects, an artist‑parent, or a multipotentialite who refuses to “pick a lane,” this 15‑minute talk will give you:
• A new definition of success (alignment, not hustle)
• Real‑life examples from the Parallel Entrepreneur Network 
• A 60‑second guided reflection you can do right now 
• Practical prompts to weave business, art, family and growth into one powerful tapestry

Join the community:
https://ParallelEntrepreneur.com/

Subscribe for more talks & founder stories:  
https://www.youtube.com/@ParallelEntrepreneur?sub_confirmation=1

Key Quotes
“Success isn’t in speeding up; it’s in letting every lane of your life feed the others.” 
“When who you are shows up in everything you do, stress becomes spaciousness.”

Connect with Mark
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/MarkCleveland 
• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark‑cleveland/
• Podcast – https://parallelentrepreneur.com/podcast 

Connect with Creative Mornings
https://creativemornings.com/

Looking for inspiration on juggling multiple business passions? Tim Ozgener might just be your blueprint. He helped take CAO Cigars from a basement startup to a global best-seller and then founded OZ Arts, a cutting-edge contemporary arts hub in Nashville. Now launching Oz Family Cigars, Tim blends art, science, and storytelling into every venture. In this episode, he and Mark Cleveland explore:

• Following Your Heart: Why Tim chose cigars and contemporary art
• Improv & Entrepreneurship: Leveraging “Yes, And” to handle surprises & spark creativity
• Exiting at the Top: Inside the CAO sale, key lessons in valuation & deal structure
• Nonprofit vs. For-Profit: Contrasts in building teams, mission, and sustainability
• Staying Centered: Yoga, mindful scheduling, and choosing environments that fuel innovation

Parallel Entrepreneurs, subscribe now and tell us in the comments which Oz insight struck your fancy—was it engineering meets art, or harnessing improv in daily business?

Show Notes:

• CAO Cigars - https://www.caocigars.com/ 
• OZ Arts - https://www.ozartsnashville.org/ 
• Crowned Heads Cigars - https://www.crownedheads.com/ 
• Oz Family Cigars - https://ozfamilycigars.com/ 
• The Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell - https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Tipping-Point-Overstories-Superspreaders/dp/0316575801/ 
• Headway app - https://headwayapp.co/ 
• Art Basel - https://www.artbasel.com/ 
• Ken Cope Consulting, LLC - https://kencopeconsultingllc.com/ 

Chapters List:

00:00:00 Meet Tim Ozgener: Nashville’s Multi-Passionate Unicorn

00:01:14 Why Follow Your Passions?

00:02:23 The Art & Science of Cigars

00:05:09 Improv Skills in Business

00:07:14 Launching OZ Arts: A Different Kind of Startup

00:09:22 The Power of Authentic Connection

00:12:13 Lessons from Dad: Engineering Meets Entrepreneurship

00:15:18 Time Management & Team Trust

00:19:00 Nonprofit vs. For-Profit: Contrasting Cultures

00:22:00 Building Global Distribution

00:29:08 The CAO Exit Story

00:37:14 Yoga, Flow & Mindful Entrepreneurship

00:42:00 Embracing Failure & Authenticity

AI and security compliance could make or break your next venture. In this episode of The Parallel Entrepreneur, Mark Cleveland sits down with Justin Beals, co-founder of Strike Graph, to dive into frameworks, data risk, and that special systems-thinking spark that turns small wins into scalable success. Leveraging his EdTech expertise to tackle security compliance for billion-dollar enterprises, Justin’s story is a masterclass in spotting trends and executing effectively.

Key Highlights:

• Opportunity Filtering – The three questions Justin always asks before launching a new product.
• AI as Internal Auditor – How Strike Graph deploys large language models to verify compliance automagically.
• Co-Founder vs. Solo Act – Winning arguments for teamwork, board partnerships, and the joys of not going it alone.
• Music & Mental Health – Surprising ways that daily creative outlets (and old-school Ashtanga yoga) keep Justin’s energy fresh.

Ready to sharpen your parallel potential? Subscribe now and share which insight resonated most—AI? Mentoring? Or making that “hundredth monkey” leap?

Show Notes:

• Secure Talk podcast - https://www.strikegraph.com/secure-talk-podcast
• StrikeGraph – https://www.strikegraph.com/
• Roundbox Global - https://roundbox.com/
• Koru - https://www.koru.global/
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash
• Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan -  https://www.amazon.com/ZEALOT-Life-Times-Jesus-Nazareth/dp/140006922X 
• Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC – AD 1000 by Barry Cunliffe - https://www.amazon.com/Europe-Between-Oceans-9000-BC-AD/dp/0300170866
• The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three-Body_Problem_(novel)
• Hundredth Monkey Effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect

What happens when a merger you can't control threatens to destroy your 22-year business overnight? Meet Robert Hartline—parallel founder who scaled his wireless stores to $100 million, only to face a brutal T-Mobile merger that forced him to shut down half his locations in months. In this candid episode of The Parallel Entrepreneur, Robert reveals why he believes in dancing through chaos, harnessing AI for decisions, and leading from a place of love.

Key Highlights:

• Secrets of a $100M Scale – How Robert powered up his cell phone stores with EOS and big-picture “why.”
• Dark Night of the Merger – The day Google listings vanished, store traffic plummeted, and Robert sold to survive.
• Harnessing AI as "Idea Manager" – Why we should treat AI like a creative partner, not a threat.
• Mindset & Breathwork – Tools Robert swears by to stay calm, refocus, and unlock “superhero energy.”
• The Clark Kent vs. Superman Moment – Overcoming shame, embracing authenticity, and letting your real self shine.

If you’re juggling multiple ventures—or dreaming of it—hit Subscribe and share in the comments which breathwork or AI tip resonates most with you!

Show Notes:

• The Decision Experience - https://thedecisionexperience.com/ 
• Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) - https://www.eosworldwide.com/ 
• Soma Breath Guided Breathwork Training and Certification- https://www.somabreath.com/ 
• Wim Hoff Breathing - https://www.wimhofmethod.com/breathing-exercises 
• Strategic Coach by Dan Sullivan - https://www.strategiccoach.com/book-a-call
• Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman - https://www.eosworldwide.com/traction-book 
• Driven: Understanding and Harnessing the Genetic Gifts Shared by Entrepreneurs, Navy Seals, Pro Athletes, and Maybe You by Douglas Brackmann and Randy Kelley - https://www.iamdriven.com/ 
• 10x Is Easier Than 2X: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy - https://10xeasierbook.com/ 
• The Three Marriages: Reimaging Work, Self and Relationship by David Whyte - https://davidwhyte.com/store/book/the-three-marriages/ 
• Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert - https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/books/big-magic/
• CallProof, sales tracking app - https://callproof.com/ 

How do you launch a thriving medical practice, then pivot to a fast-scaling software startup—all while staying laser-focused on patient care, personal growth, and 24 years in recovery? In this episode, Mark Cleveland welcomes Dr. Michael Sprintz, an anesthesiologist-turned-tech-entrepreneur tackling chronic pain, addiction, and complicated billing structures in healthcare. Dr. Sprintz shares how resiliency, authentic leadership, and “flow” guide his parallel ventures.

Highlights:

• From OR to Revenue Tech – Why Michael traded the surgical suite for software code.
• 24 Years Sober – How recovery principles shape his resilience in business.
• Nail Compliance, Stop Revenue Bleed – The healthcare billing problem Michael solves.
• Mindset Hacks – Handling stress, negativity, and “the shadow self” with unshakable resolve.
• Chasing Flow – Moving from “hustle 24/7” to deeper creativity and real presence.

Show Notes:

• Cellarian Inc., healthcare software that improves diagnosis, treatment, documentation and risk-management for substance use disorder and other diseases - https://www.cellarian.com/ 
• A Life of Meaning: Relocating Your Center of Spiritual Gravity by James Hollis - https://jameshollis.net/hollisBooks.html 
• Living with Borrowed Dust: Reflections on Life, Love and Other Grievances by James Hollis - https://jameshollis.net/hollisBooks.html 
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – https://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0062315005/ 
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss – https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805 
• Mark’s 2025 Bhavana – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twS9UpeqeF0 

Wondering how to nurture alignment throughout M&A integration?  In this episode John Farkas, founder of Ratio and Candor—two companies that help businesses master M&A integration—discusses how to unlock growth-ready alignment. From creating synergy across different offerings to leading teams through high-stakes transformations, John shares real-world lessons on balancing purpose with performance, leveraging “context switching,” and staying ahead of rapid market shifts.

Highlights:

• Parallel Mindset – John runs two consultancies that fuel each other.
• M&A Mastery – Turning chaotic post-acquisition phases into opportunities for deeper alignment.
• Keeping Pace with Change – Simple practices to handle lightning-fast market shifts without burning out.
• AI & the Future – How advanced tech is reshaping value propositions—and why you need to adapt now.
• Leading with Love – The surprising “sticky note” that guides John’s leadership style.

Ready to supercharge your multi-venture game? Like, subscribe, and drop a comment on your biggest aha moment from John’s journey.

Show Notes:

• Ratio, a growth marketing consultancy helping B2B healthtech and fintech companies - https://goratio.com/ 
• Candor, a growth architecture firm - https://www.candorgrowth.com/ 
• 99% Invisible podcast - https://99percentinvisible.org/ 
• The Power Broker by Robert Caro - https://99percentinvisible.org/club/ 
• Conclave by Robert Harris - https://www.amazon.com/Conclave-novel-Robert-Harris/dp/1101972904
• John's "walk on" song - Beautiful Day by U2