The Entrepreneur Ethos

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, Carlyn Montes De Oca, author of Dog as My Doctor, Cat as My Nurse: An Animal Lover’s Guide to a Healthy, Happy, and Extraordinary Life.

Carlyn had previous careers as a film editor and then as an acupuncturist and nutritional consultant. While these were satisfying jobs, she kept having a nagging feeling that there was something else she was supposed to be doing - namely, writing. So one day, she finally decided to hire a coach to help and she started writing.

Carlyn has embraced the concept of the authorpreneur.* In addition to making time for writing, she schedules in time for marketing and for learning as much as she can about the craft of writing, marketing and promotion. She didn’t just leave the promotion for her book up to her publicist; instead, she and the publicist split up the country. As a result, Carlyn got herself out there, by talking to as many people and organizations as she could and presenting at conferences and giving a TedX talk. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

 Links to Explore Further

*For more about being an authorpreneur, see my conversation with Joanna Penn.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, Avi Levine of Star Funding. 

Avi grew up in a family of successful entrepreneurs, and he knew for a long time he wanted to help businesses grow. In college he pursued marketing but soon figured out this wasn’t quite the right fit for him. After college he worked for a few different businesses, doing sales and operations and helping them build, but he wanted to help businesses even earlier in the game. 

He took up a side hustle in affiliate marketing and specifically in driving leads to an online business lender. He found he liked the idea of helping businesses find capital. With a strong grasp of finance, he started knocking on doors to companies where he could help businesses get financed. He was turned down because he didn’t have the kind of experience or education they wanted, but he was able to convince one of them otherwise. He’s now been at Star Funding for over 7 years, unusual for his type of work, where people move around every couple of years. 

Star Funding helps businesses by lending them capital in order to fulfill orders. They lend a business money specifically to help them fulfill the order, then get paid back when it’s done. Avi also helps businesses in other ways as his side hustle, whether it’s helping secure a contract or figuring out a supply chain issue. Sometimes it’s just a matter of providing another perspective or encouraging an entrepreneur to do something they don’t think they can do. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

 Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, George Boutsalis, cofounder of a new app for social voting, Cast. 

George comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs in Toronto, and from a young age he engaged in the typical entrepreneurial activities - shoveling snow, lemonade stands, and selling his younger siblings’ toys. After graduating from college he went to work in the family business, a commercial cleaning company, starting as a custodian and working his way up with the aim of some day running it. 

While he liked the work, in 2017 he began to wonder if there wasn’t something else for him. He set out on what turned out to be a 13-month sabbatical travelling the world. George shares that he became a more self-aware, empathetic person in the process - traits that will serve him well as a leader. 

George returned to his work managing the cleaning business, but he’d also started thinking about the problem of social media and the difficulty of sharing honest opinions and engaging in a civil discourse. While he was travelling, he texted his idea to his friend, who would become his cofounder. Over the years they evolved his initial idea and then, when covid hit, causing a slowdown in the commercial cleaning business, George found an opportunity to develop the idea. 

Cast emerged as a result and it’s what George now focuses on. Cast is an app that gives people the opportunity to vote anonymously, which George believes will give people a more honest perspective on what people are really thinking and feeling, creating a better starting point for discussions and arguments than the current social media options. Even though he’s less financially secure, George says he feels freer and is the happiest he’s ever been. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

 Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, Jesson Bradshaw, founder of Energy Ogre, a company that helps Texans find the best energy plan for them in a sea of hundreds of options.  

Jesson came from the corporate energy industry and seems to have surprised everyone around him when he made the move to entrepreneurship. Before founding his own company, he worked for a small company in the electrical industry when the markets opened up in the 1990s, which put him in the unique position to take advantage of new opportunities. When Enron “imploded” in the early 2000s, he became cofounder of his first company, Fulcrum Energy. Then in 2013 he started Energy Ogre. 

Jesson explains how free markets in Texas have enabled entrepreneurs to come in and set up a wide range of options, particularly in renewable energy, which has made Texas one of the largest producers of renewable energy not only in the U.S. but in the world. Rather than seeing the free market as the problem that caused the devastating problems that happened as a result of Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, Jesson explains how the industry builds for statistical probability, not to handle rare weather events such as that one.

Jesson is a huge believer in innovation and the power of the market to solve problems, predicting that it will be tech innovation, not government regulation, that will provide solutions.

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

 Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, William Branum, founder of Naked Warrior Recovery and a former Navy SEAL. 

William learned about the Navy SEALs when he was a Boy Scout in Mississippi and decided that - and becoming a pilot - was what he wanted to do. He entered the Navy after high school and, after some “tactical errors,” eventually became a SEAL. 

After 26 years in the Navy, he retired. At that point, he was struggling with a lot of stress and physical injuries and was using alcohol to cope. When a buddy offered him some CBD oil, he decided to try it. It wasn’t a magical overnight transformation, but he saw gradual improvement, and he became interested in finding out more. 

Eventually he found himself at a conference where he was encouraged to start his own business creating and selling high quality CBD products. Naked Warrior Recovery offers CBD products for recovery specifically for veterans, athletes, and first responders. 

William talks in this episode about the challenges of military training, especially “Hell Week,” when he realized that those who didn’t quit were not necessarily the most skilled or the strongest - they were the ones who had the right mindset, who didn’t let failure keep them down, and who understood the importance of teamwork. He’s used these principles for his own business venture which he’s set down as “5 SEAL Secrets.” He also talks about the importance of coming face to face with your fears as a road to mastering them. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

 Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, angel investor and business consultant Marjorie Radlo-Zandi. 

Marjorie shares that entrepreneurship “is in her blood,” with great-grandparents who ran brokerages in Russia and Manhattan. Her first project was establishing a sailing program at 19 in her home town of Burlington, Vermont. She saw a white space, where there was a need and she had an idea to fill it. This is the foundation for her attitude toward building businesses, which she’s made her life’s work. 

Marjorie earned an MBA from Northeastern University then moved to Silicon Valley, where she helped businesses grow globally. She then took on the challenge of helping a food diagnostic company to grow and scale and moved back to the Boston area. She’s taken what she’s learned from these experiences to become an investor, consultant, and a mentor. She’s part of both the Launchpad Investor Group and the Branch Investor Group, which focuses on investing in food companies. 

Marjorie sees a lot of growth in food and food safety, especially anything that helps us live healthier lives, which she calls “better for you,’ as well as in online learning and health diagnostic testing at home for both people and pets. 

Marjorie believes that successful entrepreneurs need to have a lot of grit and passion, as success rarely happens overnight, and a high tolerance for ambiguity, so you’re ready for anything that gets thrown your way. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

If you’re at the stage of seeking investors, Radlo-Zandi offers some tips: 

 Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, Mike Audi, founder of TIKI, a new company that aims to help empower people to control their own personal data. He calls such data the “raw material of the internet.”

Mike has long been concerned with how the types of companies he’s built software for have used people’s data. In 2020, when more and more people were voicing dissatisfaction with the ways companies have used people’s data, he saw a way to make a change and he came up with a solution. That solution is to “flip the paradigm on its head” by instead giving the power to the people.

TIKI’s approach is to build a means for people to control how their data is shared, as well as to be able to make money off the data they do choose to share. TIKI’s founding principle is that they must be a company that builds loyalty and trust. Therefore, they are making everything about the company public and transparent, from the code they write to their financial statements. They set out to do a beta test with 1,000 users - and have ended up with over 120 thousand who have signed on to try out the software, which is still in development. Mike recognizes it’s an ambitious project, and it won’t be easy, but he’s optimistic that, even if they don’t succeed, they’ll be contributing to finding a solution.

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, Eric Dickmann, founder of The Five Echelon Group, which helps small and medium-sized businesses create and implement marketing strategies. He also hosts The Virtual CMO Podcast and a YouTube show on work-life balance. 

Eric climbed the ladder of the corporate world, becoming senior marketing director for Oracle. While it was a great experience, after over 30 years in the corporate world he became disenchanted with the values he saw driving big companies. He resolved to instead go out on his own and help smaller companies grow and scale. Eric now offers his expertise as a “fractional chief marketing officer,” working as a consultant to help companies with their marketing strategy. Eric explains that businesses that don’t think marketing is worth the investment have often lacked a coherent strategy and are usually just employing tactics, so an overall vision for a company’s marketing can be vital - and yet many companies don’t have one senior person just for marketing. His fractional/virtual CMO service is a way to fill this gap. 

We’ve talked before on the show about the importance of marketing, of telling a good story, and of finding the right product-market fit. Eric adds some important insights for both new founders and business owners looking to scale, including why it’s important to have a strategy and not just tactics; why consistency is key; and why some testing and experimentation at the beginning is vital. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, Brian Wallace, founder of NowSourcing, an award-winning infographic design agency. 

Brian, who has had his business for 15 years, is in the third iteration of his company’s focus. He started out in tech but moved into marketing when he realized that people needed more guidance on how and why to use the tech. When he set about to provide social media, he realized he needed to  get more focused, and has since built a successful company based on the creation of infographics. He’s now sought out by big brands to create their infographics. 

Brian emphasizes the importance of putting in the work to attain mastery and observes that it’s better to be unknown until you have done so so people aren’t watching you, enabling you to keep your focus on the work. Brian encourages entrepreneurs to consider how they can help, rather than focusing on what they want, and to focus on building authentic connections. He also cautions against quitting your day job until you have some traction in your dream job. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening. 

Now on to my guest for today, Taha Elraaid, CEO of Lamah, a tech startup in Libya.

Taha grew up in an entrepreneurial family that runs a successful food service business. Taha figured he’d eventually join the family business, but after traveling and spending time in San Francisco, Canada, and Australia, he realized he wanted to do something to have more of an impact in his homeland. 

Taha’s current project is to help create a national addressing system in Libya. Currently, other than a few major streets, most streets don’t have official names, and people often use descriptions to give directions. Without such an address, it’s harder for people to access services many of us take for granted. Constant power outages and lack of internet access outside of the home also limits Libyans’ ability to use smartphone apps, debit and credit cards, and other conveniences that many of us take for granted. Deliveries have to be picked up at a warehouse rather than being sent to a residence. However, Taha has found some people need to be shown that this is an issue, so Lamah did a trial run of helping people more easily obtain cash from their paychecks, because the banking system is undependable and often inaccessible. This encouraged people to identify their locations and thus be matched up with an address. Clearly, Taha is looking at existing problems and using some creative thinking to get where he wants to go. 

Taha also founded and runs a co-working space that he sees as being a more welcoming, positive space where people can come together - something of an oasis in Libya. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.