The Entrepreneur Ethos

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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, Troy Bannister, founder of Particle Health, an API platform that collects and integrates health data. 

Troy's interest in entrepreneurship was sparked when he was growing up on an island near Seattle, where he made money cleaning boats. He saw firsthand the opportunity entrepreneurship provided, with income possibilities and time flexibility, as opposed to most other jobs his friends had. His interest in medicine led him to first becoming an EMT in college, where, he says, he learned a lot. He went to medical school but dropped out, leaving with a master's degree. He moved to New York City, where he did research at hospitals, then moved to working with a venture capital firm that focused on health care companies. Troy started to ask questions about the use of data in the healthcare industry, where fax machines are still used to share patient files. Using Stripe, Plaid, and Twilio as models, he founded Particle Health four and a half years ago.

Troy's timing for founding Particle Health was strategic. He knew that health care was in need of better data access for providers as well as consumers, and that legislation was passing to make this more of a possibility. While companies are supposed to share data when it is legally requested, they often don't. New legislation now mandates fines for companies who don't comply. Much of the future success of Particle Health will rest on how the legislation will be enforced and how companies choose to comply.

Meanwhile, Troy and Particle Health are offering data integration solutions to health care companies that understand the importance of being able to collect patient data in order to better serve them. Eventually, Troy sees Particle Health also offering consumers the opportunity to collect and keep their data in ways where it can be used more effectively, in order to give them more choice and power in their own health care. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

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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, Richard White, founder and CEO of two SaaS companies, Fathom and UserVoice. 

An engineer who develops tools to "scratch an itch," Richard founded Fathom to solve a problem he was facing: how to take good notes on Zoom calls. As he was frequently talking to customers on Zoom, he wanted a better way to capture those insights while in conversation. Fathom uses a combination of tools to address this problem, which became a top-rated app on the Zoom app marketplace. 

Richard's experience provides insight into the process of founding a startup - and how doing it the second time around can be a bit easier. Richard says, while his first endeavor was a journey in just figuring out what he was doing, with his second one, he came in with a better idea of what to expect. While his first company was mostly bootstrapped, Fathom has had funding from the start, which Richard acknowledges was essential for this particular product. He also had people he could tap to develop the product and start selling it, another advantage of being a serial entrepreneur.

Richard is a strong believer in the power of good customer service and of soliciting customer feedback in order to make the best product possible. Indeed, UserVoice is a tool that enables companies to get feedback. In our conversation, Richard explains the ways he collects the feedback and puts it to use to make better products and customer experiences. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

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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. Dr. Wayne Visser, a "pracademic," is a professor at Cambridge University and Antwerp Business School, and the author of 41 books. His forthcoming book is Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society and the Economy. He's also a consultant who has worked with numerous companies and served as Director of Sustainability at KPMG. Wayne is also a published poet, and shares one of his poems on the show.

Wayne's interest in sustainability and business was sparked when he was an undergraduate in Cape Town and when the largest gathering of heads of state took place in Rio, resulting in a lot of questions and efforts around incorporating more sustainable practices into business. Wayne has since made it his mission to find ways for businesses to become more sustainable. 

In Thriving, Wayne explains, he observes that the movement for sustainability has ultimately failed. His book provides a different paradigm: thriving. Part of the problem is that the end goal of sustainability is not enough for people and businesses to get excited about. We need a bigger target than just surviving. 

Despite this assessment, Wayne does see a lot of positive change happening. We've now reached a point, for example, where solar and wind energy are cheap and widely available. He also believes entrepreneurship is key to innovation toward helping to turn the tide and make the world more environmentally sustainable. Wayne sees change as happening on multiple fronts: in the use of resources, in how something is made, in the distribution of wealth, and the need to cultivate resilience in the face of crisis. He believes that entrepreneurship and business are best poised to lead the way to solve these problems and make a better world.

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Below is some of Wayne's advice to entrepreneurs who want to make a difference:

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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, Alyssa Colton, a freelance writer, editor, and book coach. Alyssa also writes the show notes for this podcast, and for our 200th episode, I wanted to have her on to talk about what she's learned from working on the show.

Alyssa always knew she wanted to be a writer. Her first love is for writing fiction; she's completed two contemporary novels and a novel based on the life of Queen Anne. Her challenge has been how to make a living at it. She studied English as an undergraduate, worked in publishing for a few years, then went to graduate school, eventually earning a PhD. She realized as she was finishing up her degree that full-time academic jobs were hard to come by. At the time, she was also married with a baby. Her husband was an entrepreneur and owned his own store, and she helped him by taking on bookkeeping and paperwork tasks. After working in various part-time and temporary roles teaching writing and literature, Alyssa moved to writing and editing work in governmental communications and at a nonprofit association. All along the way, she's been writing and taking on freelance work in both writing and editing, learning about marketing and growing as an entrepreneur. 

As might be expected, Alyssa has especially liked listening to the shows that feature writers, citing Joanna Penn as being one of her favorites. That early interview with Joanna was the first time she'd heard the term "authorpreneur" and it has made her rethink the longstanding tradition of having to have your work vetted by an agent and publisher. She's also been fascinated by the stories of entrepreneurs who have found interesting problems and are trying to solve them. 

In this show Alyssa and I talked about the challenges and parallels of entrepreneurs and authors, and how some of the same skills and attitudes can be invaluable for both. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Some of Alyssa's recommendations about writing include: 

Links to Explore Further

Alyssa on Instagram 

Alyssa on Facebook 

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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, Tejaswi Gautam, founder and CEO of Career Engine, a performance automation platform designed to improve how workers are evaluated. Its aim is to ultimately "democratize the performance ecosystem." 

Tejsawi started out flunking computer classes, but ended up getting an MBA and learning as much as he could about building a tech company, becoming a VP at a major company and launching Career Engine, drawing on his own experiences as a manager. 

As many managers and employees know, most evaluation tools are antiquated and ultimately unproductive. Tejaswi's goal is to transform not only how employees are evaluated but also how to improve workplace culture as well as identify good managers. He talks about the necessity of trust between managers and employees and how to improve that, noting that frequent check-ins are one hallmark of a good manager-employee relationship. 

Tejaswi has also started to build a community through his substack newsletter called Future of Work, Future of You, where he shares ideas about good leadership and building a better workplace based on his own experiences. He also writes about how becoming a father to a baby born in difficult circumstances with multiple disabilities transformed his approach and attitude toward leadership in business.

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Links to Explore Further

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This is a special episode of the show where I had the honor of interviewing my friend, Jane Enright, on the launch of her book, Butter Side Up.

Jane and I talk about the challenges and struggles of life and how we (and you) can overcome them. It's a heartfelt and emotional conversation that really strikes at the heart of overcoming adversity.

We also talk about Josie's Place, a non profit that helps Bereaved Youth and Families. 

Butter Side Up

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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, Steve Taylor, partner with the Franchise Consulting Company and former franchise owner.

Steve grew up in Fresno and started his career in the Navy. After that, he worked in Silicon Valley, but always felt like "a square peg in a round hole." He bought a flooring franchise and owned that business until recently, when he sold it and joined the Franchise Consulting Company. The firm represents over 300 companies to help develop and promote their franchises and connect them with franchisees. Steve also meets with franchisees to help and advise them on setting up their own franchises. 

The concept of franchising is as old as the first private corporation, East India Company, which was basically a franchise of the king. Franchises come in a variety of models. While people usually think of fast food restaurants as the most common type of franchise, Steve says that 70% of franchises are actually not restaurants. 

The major benefit of a franchise is that there is reduced risk involved: you are buying the rights to set up a business using a particular brand and process that's already proven to work. The classic model of a fast food restaurant retains their flag stores to test out new products, but most of the business is generated through the franchises. Franchisees also benefit from the help and support from not only the company but also other franchisees.  

Now, let’s get better together.

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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, Quinn Osha, founder of Topmarq, an online tool for used car sellers to find the best price for their cars. 

Topmarq is the result of Quinn's skills, interests, and passion. He grew up around cars and car auctions, acquired skills in tech, and was interested in entrepreneurship. Topmarq began as an online market to bring together private sellers with private buyers. In the course of setting this up, Quinn realized that a way to easily and quickly survey dealers about specific cars they might be interested in buying was something that was needed - and didn't yet exist. 

Topmarq is different from platforms like Carvana, Quinn explains, because it connects sellers with local dealers as well as national ones. It also allows sellers to keep their information private so they don't have to withstand repeated outreach from local dealers. Essentially, Topmarq is a service that dealers subscribe to but that sellers benefit from. "When my mother can sell her car confidently without calling me," Quinn says, "I know I'll have succeeded."  

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

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SummaryHey 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, Portia Asli, founder of Optimyzed Brain. Portia works with high achieving executives and entrepreneurs to apply science-based strategies to improve their performance and reduce stress and burnout.

An engineer and entrepreneur, Portia attended business school at the university of Cambridge surrounded by elite athletes and business people. She knew from her own experience and observing others that working 80-hour weeks with little sleep was not optimal for health, but also was not optimal for success. She spent years researching brain science and the proven strategies for improving performance and becoming more efficient. She applied them to herself, and she now helps others improve their lives and reach their goals through applying them, too. 

The central principle, Portia, explains is neuroplasticity. This means the brain can rewire and change. She works with her clients on three fronts: physiological - addressing issues in sleep, diet and more; psychological - addressing thought patterns; and environmental - addressing lifestyle issues and your environment and how they affect performance. One client was able to go from being able to focus and concentrate for just 20-30 minutes a day to 2-3 hours a day. Another client found ways to reduce the number of meetings he took, creating more space in his schedule and life. Yet another overcome limiting beliefs to secure funding to compete in a billion-dollar industry.

Portia also has a free Masterclass where she goes over the three ways you can optimize your brain for high performance. You can sign up for that over at Optimyzed Brain dot com slash masterclass. That link is also in the show notes.

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Links to Explore Further

Portia Asli 

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SummaryHey 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, Tyler Robertson, founder and CEO of Diesel Laptops, a company that provides truck owners with the tools to more efficiently diagnose and repair their own vehicles as an alternative to going to the dealer.

Tyler grew up in the upper middle class, but the summer he finished seventh grade, his father informed him that he would start working at the family business - a concrete manufacturing plant. It was miserable work, but Tyler learned to shift his attitude and learned the value of work. His parents agreed to help him go to college for computer engineering, but Tyler failed out and returned home, where he started working at a company his family had recently acquired: a truck dealership. Tyler quickly learned about the business, staying on even after his family sold it, though finding himself without a job a year later. Tyler took a job in another state and was working his way up the ladder when he saw an opportunity to provide a solution to a problem he saw: helping truck drivers and owners diagnose and repair their trucks. With the move to a higher reliance on computers for this work, many truck drivers had no option but to go to the dealership. Tyler found a way to provide them what they needed. When his company demanded he drop the side business, Tyler, with his wife's support, took the leap into full-time entrepreneurship. 

Diesel Laptops has grown exponentially in just seven years; it now employs 200 people and is looking to provide more streamlined solutions to help truck owners more easily and quickly diagnose and repair their trucks, vehicles which can't be easily replaced. You lose the use of a mixer truck, Tyler explains, you are out thousands of dollars until it can get repaired. Tyler's story shows how listening to what customers want and finding a way to provide it can be the key to success. 

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Links to Explore Further

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