Real Life Superpowers

In this episode we speak with Massimo Chieruzzi GM and co-founder at AdEspresso which is a tool for SMBs to manage, analyze and optimize Facebook Ads and which was acquired by Hootsuite in 2017.

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/massimo-chieruzzi-adespresso/

He’s a multi-hyphen dude. He’s been a radio speaker, journalist, developer, marketer, entrepreneur and angel investor.

At 14 years old he was the youngest Italian guy indicted in cyber crime for running a pirate BBS and making countless intercontinental calls with his modem to avoid paying the bills through boxing.

He later founded Creative Web, the leading web development agency in Italy and biggest provider in Europe for eBay and other companies.

He founded AdEspresso after getting fed up with Facebook ad scaling and optimizing solutions. In the early days of AdEspresso Massimo helped scale the blog from 0 to 700,000 visits per month and build a profitable business with just inbound marketing and 0 people on sales, making AdEspresso the most used Facebook Ads product worldwide.

We discuss:

– Bending rules and the concept of “subjective justice” as a possible entrepreneurial necessity

– The importance of mitigating risk and never relying on one customer/traffic source/product/etc.

– Massimo’s two cents on how to handle the uncertainty created by Covid-19

– The power in being aware of your weaknesses

– Striking a balance between avoidance out of fear vs self-awareness about what you should and shouldn’t spend time doing

– And much more

We hope you enjoy your listen!

Zooming out, if you like listening to this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations with peak performers, serving as a reminder we can all tap into the best versions of ourselves.

You’re also welcome to follow Ronen and Noa on Linkedin

• Ronen Menipaz on Linkedin

• Noa Eshed on Linkedin

And if we may ask for a favor - please leave us a review on your native podcast app.

Some further resources:

• Real Life Superpowers podcast on Ctech

• The podcast website

In this episode we speak with Neal Schaffer, a recognized leader and university educator who helps businesses maximize their social media presence through his:

– Social media agency

– Strategy consulting

– Keynote speaking and

– Award-winning books

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/neal-schaffer-forbes-top-50-social-media-power-influencer-keynote-speaker-author/

He’s been named a Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer two years in a row.

His portfolio includes:

– Fortune 50 enterprises

– Grammy award-winning musicians

– and leading brands

He’s a man of the world with a deep connection to his internal compass, pursuing his hobbies and professions with passion and vigour.

He studied Chinese in University. In his senior year he switched to Japanese and started working in a Japanese semiconductor manufacturer in Kyoto, marking the “official” kickstart of his exceptional career. He started out in accounting and finance but after two years, he found more interest in sales and marketing and transitioned into a role in the company’s overseas sales department.

He was certain there’s strong business potential for the company in China, so he paved his way into leading the launch of the company operations in China. He didn’t sit around and wait for anyone to choose him – he charged forward and made it happen.

The next step in his journey was joining a Canadian startup to launch their Asian operations, helping to grow their Asian market share dramatically.

After 9 years in Japan he returned to the US. Returning wasn’t an easy ride and he came to the realisation that he needed to reinvent himself and to build something of his own – something that nobody could take away from him.

And another thing clicked – since he had returned to the US he had been gaining a lot of experience and understanding of Linkedin and the business potential it bears.

These notions kickstarted his current solopreneur chapter – he wrote a book, which led to speaking deals, which led to him opening his current consulting business.

In many ways his experiences in the Far East equipped him with a special skill set that brings a deep and unique dimension to his doing.

We discuss:

– The Deming Cycle – PDCA (Plan–Do–Check–Action) and how it influenced the way he approaches processes and strategies

– Navigating cultural differences

– Sales – the power of patience, listening, adding value and turning down prospects that aren’t a good fit

– Influencer marketing – inciting word of mouth

– The challenges of being a solopreneur

– The significance of building personal brand

– The tremendous importance of personal relationships

– Pivoting as an ongoing reality

– And more!

This is a super-important listen to anyone looking to calibrate their doing and to be in sync with their gut, their interests and their abilities. We hope you enjoy it!

Zooming out, if you like listening to this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations with peak performers, serving as a reminder we can all tap into the best versions of ourselves.

You’re also welcome to follow Ronen and Noa on Linkedin

• Ronen Menipaz on Linkedin

• Noa Eshed on Linkedin

And if we may ask for a favor - please leave us a review on your native podcast app.

Some further resources:

• Real Life Superpowers podcast on Ctech

• The podcast website

In this episode we speak with the fantastic Eric Siu, CEO of digital marketing agency Single Grain.

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/eric-siu-single-grain/

Single Grain has worked with Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Uber and Salesforce to help them acquire more customers.

He also hosts two podcasts: Marketing School with Neil Patel and Growth Everywhere, an entrepreneurial podcast where he dissects growth levers that help businesses scale.

Eric is a gamer and from early on in life he seeked a life that would feel like a game. This is so important because when we’re enjoying what we do at such levels, it’s almost impossible to not make progress, grow our skill set and reach high levels of performance.

We cover a lot of ground including:

– The importance of building an audience

– What he looks for in a mentor

– Why culture and core values matter

– How he ended up joining Single Grain and eventually becoming the sole owner for only 2 USD

– The concept of redeploying capital

– How he navigates challenging relationships

– The significance of keeping a positive mindset

– Persistence as a drive for success

– And much more!

Eric will be publishing a book next year. In the meantime be sure to checkout levelingup.com/giveaway for a giveaway of an assortment of Eric’s favorite books to help people grow!

We hope you enjoy your listen!

Zooming out, if you like listening to this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations with peak performers, serving as a reminder we can all tap into the best versions of ourselves.

You’re also welcome to follow Ronen and Noa on Linkedin

• Ronen Menipaz on Linkedin

• Noa Eshed on Linkedin

And if we may ask for a favor - please leave us a review on your native podcast app.

Some further resources:

• Real Life Superpowers podcast on Ctech

• The podcast website

In this episode we speak with Eugene Levin, the Chief Strategy Officer at SEMrush, a software solutions company that offers online visibility and marketing analytics data to over 5,000,000 registered users.

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/eugene-levin-semrush/

He’s super analytical and pragmatic, making very calculated and aware choices but at the same time super-intuitive and follows his heart. His career path is quite extraordinary.

We discuss:

• His unique journey from being an engineer in Russia to becoming a successful investor (and partner in several VCs), then founder of several startups to now a c-level employee at SEMrush.

• His investment philosophy.

• When things go right, what bears more profit potential - being an investor or a startup founder?

• His decision making process with respect to his career

• What makes a good team

• And much more

Anyone considering their next step or curious about the world of investing can find inspiration in this episode.

We hope you enjoy your listen!

Zooming out, if you like listening to this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations with peak performers, serving as a reminder we can all tap into the best versions of ourselves.

You’re also welcome to follow Ronen and Noa on Linkedin

• Ronen Menipaz on Linkedin

• Noa Eshed on Linkedin

And if we may ask for a favor - please leave us a review on your native podcast app.

Some further resources:

• Real Life Superpowers podcast on Ctech

• The podcast website

In this episode we speak with Tal Zvi Nethanel, CEO and Co-founder of SHOWFIELDS, the pioneering next-generation brick-and-mortar retail store that was recently listed as one of the Top Young Israeli Startups in New York by Forbes Israel.

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/episode-25-tal-zvi-nethanel-showfields/

Tal is a serial entrepreneur and innovator at heart, he’s co-founded several accomplished businesses, including Bluestone Group - which Live Nation (the entertainment conglomerate managing legends such as Madonna, Shakira and Bon Jovi) acquired a majority stake in, and MyCheck - which was acquired by Shiji Group.

He’s never worked for anyone. He founded his first company when he was 21. That company pivoted several times, eventually becoming one of the largest production companies in Israel. His second startup also pivoted more than once, teaching him valuable business lessons as his journey progressed.

In retrospect he can connect the dots and attribute many of the skills he’s acquired in the production landscape, from his business-focussed decision making process to his ability nowadays to bring to life his current ambitious startup of creating “the most interesting store in the world”.

We discuss:

– His entrepreneurship philosophy which combines creativeness with practicality. “When you look at the nature of starting a business, a business is a way to monetize from a product and a product is an answer to a question, a solution to a problem”.

– Pivoting - Tal always makes sure the path he’s going down is one that answers a real life need. He looks for areas where he can add value. He’s mission-oriented and doesn’t become “pot-committed” to a predetermined business model - he’s not afraid to change directions as much as reality calls for. “It’s about constantly trying to feel where you drive more value and not necessarily a situation of the sky falling and needing to find a solution”.

– Growth and the importance of pushing beyond our comfort zones, both for people and for businesses

– Much more

Tal is passionate about making the impossible possible. He’s devoted to constant transformation and growth. That spirit is contagious. Listen to him and go do your thing. It is possible.

Zooming out, if you like listening to this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations with peak performers, serving as a reminder we can all tap into the best versions of ourselves.

You’re also welcome to follow Ronen and Noa on Linkedin

• Ronen Menipaz on Linkedin

• Noa Eshed on Linkedin

And if we may ask for a favor - please leave us a review on your native podcast app.

Some further resources:

• Real Life Superpowers podcast on Ctech

• The podcast website

In this episode, we speak with Gal Leibovich, Co-Founder and COO of visit.org, an employee-driven corporate social responsibility platform.

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/gal-leibovich-visit-org/

Visit.org’s mission is to help companies do good through their platform. Employees can “shop” the platform and choose a cause they’d like to help by volunteering, or contributing money to (directly or by taking part in an activity where the profits are donated).

Gal’s background is corporate. He joined visit.org because he wanted to make an impact. He wasn’t aware it was possible to be in the tech scene and combine it with contributing to society. Once he found out that’s possible he looked for a startup where he could do that. “For me having a job where you get paid but you’re also doing a lot of good and you change the face of doing good and the community around you is amazing and something you can’t say no to”.

We discuss:

– The movement towards doing good amongst companies and millennials

– What it’s like to work in a scaling, driven mission startup

– The importance of messaging in the non-profit landscape

– Gal’s personal motivations and drives

– And much more

This episode made us self-reflect on how we can do more things that are bigger than ourselves and contribute to society. We hope it’ll move you to action as well.

Enjoy your listen!

Zooming out, if you like listening to this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations with peak performers, serving as a reminder we can all tap into the best versions of ourselves.

You’re also welcome to follow Ronen and Noa on Linkedin

• Ronen Menipaz on Linkedin

• Noa Eshed on Linkedin

And if we may ask for a favor - please leave us a review on your native podcast app.

Some further resources:

• Real Life Superpowers podcast on Ctech

• The podcast website

Mark is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School where he teaches sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/mark-roberge-bestselling-author-harvard-business-lecturer/

He is also Managing Director at Stage 2 Capital, a venture capital firm backed and run by go-to-market executives, helping startups build world class go-to-market capabilities. He is the author of the bestselling book The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million.

Prior to these roles, Mark served as SVP of Global Sales and Services at HubSpot, scaling revenue from $0 to $100 million.

Mark was ranked #19 in Forbes' Top 30 Social Sellers in the World. He is an MIT graduate and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Boston Globe, TechCrunch, Harvard Business Review, and other major publications for his entrepreneurial ventures.

Mark is very open to seizing opportunities. Throughout his career he didn’t cling to a predetermined path. He had an initial grand plan, but none of the big career achievements in his life (leading the sales in HubSpot, writing a book, joining the faculty at HBS, starting a VC firm) ended up a part of it. They all happened because when opportunities knocked he had the wisdom and openness to go along with them. No tunnel vision, no traditional textbook plan. His choices are probably not the first connotations that come to mind when envisioning a career path of a lecturer in Harvard, and it’s probably what makes him so unique and a source of actionable insights and inspiration.

Early on in his career Mark fell in love with the startup scene. He was passionate about it and was not deterred by the risk factor, realising stability at big companies wasn’t guaranteed either. In general, contrary to popular belief Mark doesn’t think it’s that risky to go to startup. “An individual startup is risky, but if you pick a hot industry, and you get the company wrong, you usually have significantly increased your market ability and even stability”.

Inline with the overall arch of his career, going into sales and joining HubSpot wasn’t a path he had planned in advance. It fell on his lap in a serendipitous way. It was at a stage where a startup he had founded wasn’t working as he had hoped. He had a mortgage, student loans, his wife was pregnant and he had a baby at home. He thought he might have to go work at a big company, which would have been soul crushing for him as a passionate entrepreneur. Brian and Darmesh, the HubSpot founders asked him to join, and he figured he could collect a steady paycheck for four months and get his feet under himself. “10 years later we’re ringing the bell on the NY stock exchange taking this thing public”.

Following his success in HubSpot he set forth on a life mission to help entrepreneurs generate revenue and dramatically decrease the failure rates of startups. That mission has become the compass for all of his career choices.

We discuss:

Business schools - when is it a good idea to take that path

What to look for when hiring

What he looks for in a company from an investor perspective (revenue isn’t as high up on the list as many would assume)

Things to consider both during a sales process and when raising money

Much more

If you’re at a crossroad in life, hesitating whether to take on one risk or another, this episode might just be the inspirational wind beneath the wings you’re in need of.

All of you business guys out there, no matter what your role is, we strongly recommend reading his book. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/30YSWZE

We hope you enjoy your listen!

Zooming out, if you like listening to this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations with peak performers, serving as a reminder we can all tap into the best versions of ourselves.

In this episode we speak with Marc Ensign. Marc has shared the stage with the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk, Brené Brown, Simon Sinek, Chelsea Clinton, and many more. His writing has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, CNN, The New York Post, and many other publications.

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/marc-ensign-leadership-keynote-speaker-personal-branding/

Through Marc’s personal branding agency LoudMouse, Marc helps people build a brand around themselves. Marc’s background is in music, he’s a bass player. He went to Berkley college of music in Boston, graduated with a degree in music performance and moved in with his mom as an unemployed musician. He dreamt of working on Broadway, so he started creating a personal brand around himself. Fresh out of college, he was unqualified and with zero experience. Still, he started positioning himself as an authority. He created a logo for himself, got headshots done and started hanging around Broadway and networking (or stalking people as he also refers to it). He reached out to Bass Player magazine and told them he’s friends with all these people on Broadway and he could do a story for them about what it’s like to be on Broadway. They loved the idea and gave him 350USD. Now he was able to call people and say he’s writing an article for a prestigious magazine and offer to interview them. He went as far as to set terms: “an hour interview”, “get a copy of the music of their show”, “let him watch their show from the pit”. Those who disagreed were off “the list”. By the time the article came out he had successfully positioned himself as an authority. He ended up playing in the show RENT on Broadway for 10 years.

He made the transition to the marketing and branding world when he realised that marketing comes naturally to him and he wanted to help other people. He founded a company helping musicians and artists market themselves. At some stage someone at American Express saw his work with the artists, which was very creative, and reached out to him. That was a tipping point for his business. American Express lead to Nike, Berkshire Hathaway and other mega brands. It took him 10 years in that business to realise he hates working for corporations. “The world doesn’t need someone to sell an extra can of Pepsi. I want to make an impact in the world and, working for those companies, I’m not doing that”. That’s fascinating to us because it seems like an evolution many of our guests went through, when searching for meaning. He decided he wanted to work with people rather than being a cog in the wheel of big companies. He left that company and all of the benefits that came along with it and followed his true passion trying to help change the lives of people for the better. He opted to walk away with nothing. That’s how passionate he was about this. And he has no regrets. “Looking back it was the best thing I ever did, things happened the way they were supposed to happen”.

He founded LoudMouse with a notion of doing for people what he did for companies. With years of experience, a natural talent and TONS of passion to do good, the success that followed seems natural.

Marc shared some practical tips on how to build your own personal brand:

- Be clear about who you are and who you’re communicating with. “Who are the people that are stuck awake at night worried about this problem that I’m going to fix?”. Understanding that is an absolute must. It requires digging in deep. If your only motivation is money and you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, who you want to help and why, people are going to see right through that.

- Have a clear visual brand (like he did from as early as his days as a college grad).

- The chase for as many followers and likes as possible is a distraction. It’s not about the number of followers that you have, it’s about how much they’re sold on you and love you.

...and more.

In this episode we speak with Anese Cavanaugh. Anese is devoted to helping people show up and bring their best selves to the table in order to create significant positive impact in their lives. She appears on stages around the world, guest lectures at universities, and writes (a lot). She is the creator of the IEP Method® (Intentional Energetic Presence®).

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/anese-cavanaugh-award-winning-leadership-advisor-strategist-and-aurhor/

She’s an advisor and thinking partner to leaders and organizations around the world, and author of CONTAGIOUS CULTURE: Show Up, Set the Tone, and Intentionally Create an Organization That Thrives and CONTAGIOUS YOU: Unlock Your Power to Influence Lead and Create the Impact you Want (which was released a few weeks ago).

Her areas of expertise are on topics we’re passionate about and try to uncover in this podcast. She’s a leading voice on intention, energy, and presence, she helps people unlock greater leadership potential, collaborate more inspiringly, create more openly, intuit more bravely, and lead more joyfully and effectively. She believes that we all have our divine areas of expertise and talents and gifts, and that part of the reason why we’re on the planet is to pay those gifts forward.

At 14 years old, she desperately needed a job so as to be able to help out with bills at home, following her parents’ messy divorce. This lead her to lie on her application and say she was actually 15. By the end of the interview, she admitted that she had lied. They surprised her by hiring her anyway based on her integrity and the fact that she came forward with the truth. “I remember the feeling in my body of being afraid to tell the truth but knowing it was the right thing to do. That was a major moment, where I got in touch with what integrity meant and how good that felt and that I wanted more of it”. Later on, after starting that job, she was having a hard time with her family’s situation and the things she had to give up in order to support the family. She was feeling sorry for herself and thinking how terrible her life was going to be. She then suddenly thought “what if your life doesn’t have to be terrible? What if what’s happening isn’t happening to you but for you? And it’s giving you skills that you can learn?”

In that moment she got in touch with the concept of choice. Right then and there she made a decision to live a really awesome life.

As you’ll hear, Anese is very visceral and connected to her feelings. As such, she was able to achieve a very high level of flow in her work and pay forward her insights in a way that’s very intuitive to relate to and learn from.

We cover a lot of ground:

- The impact of how the way we show up to situations has on everything that we do

- How the way we take care of ourselves influences our ability to influence other people

- How post-it notes and vision lead her to her dream occupation doing what she loves and fulfilling herself

- How the choices we make become choice points affecting our future choices and forming new neural-pathways in our brains

- The importance of emotional authenticity

- How holding accountability is essential for organisational success

- How true leadership isn’t possible without self-care

...& much more

About half way through our video call, Ronen had to step out of shot several times in order to go blow his nose. Naturally he didn’t want to interrupt the recording and the flow of the conversation but it was becoming odd not to explain to Anese what was going on. This became a real life lesson in what Anese is preaching - the environmental energy was shifting around those circumstances and by addressing it we were able to put Anese at ease and confirm this had nothing to do with our conversation. Had we not done that, this would be hanging over our heads, unspoken of, and we wouldn’t have had her full emotional bandwidth.

In this Episode we speak with Marcus Sheridan. Named “1 of 20 speakers you don’t want to miss” by Forbes, he’s been called a “Web Marketing Guru” by the New York Times.

Listen on RealLifeSuperPowers website: https://reallifesuperpowers.com/podcast/marcus-sheridan-impact-bestselling-author-web-marketing-guru-keynote-speaker/

His Book, “They Ask, You Answer” was rated the #1 Marketing Book to Read in 2017 by Mashable. Today, he gives over 70 Global Keynotes yearly on the subjects of sales, marketing and the future of business while also owning IMPACT, a leading inbound marketing agency.

Rather early in his career, Marcus figured out a somewhat intuitive methodology that can help businesses grow and retain their customer base. That sounds like a promise that would make any critical thinker raise an eyebrow. But the fact of the matter is, Marcus is calling out a truth that is such common sense that once listening to him, you can only be left to wonder how come it’s not a best practice. TLDR; be transparent and make sure you provide your prospects and customers with ALL the info they want to know. And that includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. The reality is that most companies aren’t willing to address the hard questions.

There’s so much more to be learned from Marcus. The second edition of Marcus’s book has been released. In the following link you can find the first several chapters available as a download for free: https://marcussheridan.com/they-ask-you-answer/

We strongly recommend reading it and, of course, listening to this interview.

Zooming out, if you like listening to this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations with peak performers, serving as a reminder we can all tap into the best versions of ourselves.

You’re also welcome to follow Ronen and Noa on Linkedin

• Ronen Menipaz on Linkedin

• Noa Eshed on Linkedin

And if we may ask for a favor - please leave us a review on your native podcast app.

Some further resources:

• Real Life Superpowers podcast on Ctech

• The podcast website