The Founder Hour

Jeni Britton Bauer joins Pat and Posh to share her inspiring story of resilience and relentlessness as she built Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, a household name across the country.

After discovering her deep connection with scent at a young age, Jeni set out to make a difference in the world through the power of ice cream. As she grew her business and expanded into new territories, she was overcome with several difficult challenges including a listeria-related recall in 2015 that almost crumbled her life’s work.

Since then, Jeni’s is bigger than ever, in over 40 “Scoop Shop” locations and 1,500+ groceries and markets nationwide.

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Nate Checketts is the co-founder and CEO of Rhone, a men’s performance lifestyle company founded in 2014. Prior to Rhone, Nate worked for and consulted with some of the biggest technology and entertainment properties in the world including Cisco, the NFL, Legends, FanVision, and Sport Radar.

In this episode, Nate joins Pat and Posh to share his story of growing up in Connecticut and always having an entrepreneurial bug in him. His father was a successful business executive in the world of sports (former GM of the Utah Jazz and CEO of NBA International) and Nate always felt pressure to be a success as well, in his own way.

While in college, he started a technology company which was a mobile app that allowed fans in a stadium to order food directly from their seats, and the company was sold the San Francisco 49ers after 3 years. While selling a company in your mid-twenties may cause people to believe you’ve reached a point of massive success, Nate ultimately felt like a failure. Things just hadn’t worked out the way he had planned and he was eager for more.

After a brief stint working for the NFL, Nate left his job to launch Rhone. He had seen a gap in the men’s activewear and lifestyle category and was on a mission to create a brand that made an impact. He also noticed that the behavior of men was changing when it came to their relationship with clothing, and he was compelled to do something about it.

Today, Rhone is one of the fastest-growing brands in the activewear category and is the #1 men’s brand sold at Equinox and Peloton.

During this conversation, Nate also sheds light on the valuable business lessons he’s learned throughout his career, what takes an idea from zero to one, the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur, fundraising, “athleisure” vs. performance lifestyle, and the challenges as well as benefits of Ecommerce vs. Retail.

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You’ve heard Marc Merrill’s incredible story of founding Riot Games, creator of League of Legends. You’ve heard Ashley Merrill’s inspiring story of launching Lunya. In this episode, Marc and Ashley are BACK on the show - this time, together! - to share how they did it while building a family, the tough challenges they faced along the way (in both business as well as their relationship), and much more.

Marc and Ashley also give us some updates on what’s next for them, their new project “The Deep,” their advice for couples (especially husband & wife founders), and their bold predictions for the 2020s.

This is one of our most insightful and interesting conversations yet! You definitely don’t want to miss this!

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Chris Stang is the co-founder and CEO of The Infatuation, a restaurant recommendation website and messaging service based in New York. They are most known for publishing restaurant reviews and guides, and as creators of the hashtag #EEEEEATS. In 2018, the company acquired the Zagat rating company from Google.

Chris grew up in Denver and found his way into the music industry after a stint in college radio, working in promotion and marketing for 12 years at Atlantic Records alongside massive acts such as Skrillex, Coldplay, Matchbox Twenty, Bruno Mars, and Santigold.

In 2009, he had an idea to launch a food blog with his now partner, Andrew Steinthal. After some early growth, they both decided to leave their corporate jobs in the midst of their careers to dive into the world of startups. Since then, they’ve grown a loyal community in over 20 cities worldwide and raised millions of dollars in funding (most recently, a $30 million round from Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo).

In this episode, Pat and Posh hung out with Chris during one of his trips to LA to learn about his upbringing, experience working in the music industry, the early days of launching The Infatuation, and how he’s been able to manage the company’s massive growth. Chris also shares why they acquired Zagat, the parallels between music and business, the lessons he’s learned as a founder and leader, the next wave of innovation in the food industry, and what’s coming next from The Infatuation and Zagat.

Fun fact: The Infatuation was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2014 for writing a review of a fake restaurant called Underfinger!

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This episode was originally released on May 20th. To round out 2019, we asked our listeners who their 2 favorite episodes of the year were - and this was one of them! Hope you enjoy!

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Chef Johnny Ray Zone is the founder and owner of Howlin’ Ray's, the famous restaurant known for bringing Nashville Hot Chicken to Los Angeles. Originally starting out as a food truck, Howlin’ has quickly become one of the hottest spots in town - literally. Ever since opening their doors in Chinatown in 2016, they’ve had 2+ hour lines every single day with hundreds of people just waiting to get their hands on a delicious hot chicken sandwich!

In this episode, Pat and Posh hang with Chef Johnny to hear about his childhood growing up in LA, what inspired him to become a chef, and the various jobs he’s had up to the launch of Howlin’ Ray's. We also learn about what Nashville Hot Chicken REALLY is, the wild journey he’s had from being $80,000 in debt to growing one of the most popular food concepts ever, and what’s to come next!

Whether or not you’re a foodie, make sure to tune in for an amazing story and conversation with Chef Johnny!

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This episode was originally released on July 14th. To round out 2019, we asked our listeners who their 2 favorite episodes of the year were - and this was one of them! Hope you enjoy!

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Ashley Merrill is the founder and CEO of Lunya, a company who makes modern, luxury sleepwear for women. Before launching the company in 2014, Ashley was working at a venture capital firm as well as an online media company when she realized there was a gap in the sleepwear market for women.

Born and raised in LA, Ashley attended UCLA for her bachelors and MBA as well as culinary school prior to working as a professional. She officially launched Lunya by accident while in business school literally as she was giving birth to her first child!

In this episode, Pat & Posh sit down with Ashley to hear about her upbringing, the opportunity she sees for Lunya, the challenges she faced growing the company, their approach to marketing, and what the future looks like for the brand.

We also chat about other exciting topics such as the Japanese concept of Ikigai and the impact it’s had on her life and the decisions she’s made, what it’s like being married to an entrepreneur (Marc Merrill, founder of Riot Games, who we had on episode 42!) while raising children and running a successful company of her own, and her advice for other entrepreneurs.

Tune in for an awesome conversation with Ashley!

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Jaclyn Johnson is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Create & Cultivate, an online community and conference for women looking to create and cultivate the career of their dreams. She’s also the host of the WorkParty podcast and the author of a book with the same name.

Throughout her career, she’s worked with massive brands such as Microsoft, Urban Decay, L’Oréal Paris, Estée Lauder, and Uber for their social media and events.

In this episode, Pat and Posh sit down with Jaclyn to hear about her upbringing, starting and selling her first business No Subject, how Create & Cultivate went from a side project to a massively successful venture, and the tough challenges she’s faced along the way.

Jaclyn also sheds light on how she’s been able to navigate uncertainty as an entrepreneur, her advice for picking co-founders, female founders and women in business, and much more!

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Peiman Raf is the co-founder and CEO of Madhappy, an optimistic lifestyle clothing brand focused on positivity and mental health.

Peiman was born in Italy but moved to America at a young age. His parents are Iranian immigrants who ultimately brought their family to America for a better life and more opportunities for Peiman and his younger brother, Noah.

Before launching Madhappy in 2017, Peiman worked as an investment banker in New York for several months after graduating college but quickly realized he wasn’t on a path that he wanted to go down. Over the holidays, while on a ski trip, he reconnected with a couple of friends from high school and discussed the idea of starting a clothing brand - they decided to call it Madhappy (a catchy name that their co-founder and friend, Mason, had come up with a few months prior).

Since then, the four founders (Peiman, Noah, Mason, and their friend Josh), along with their growing team, have gone on to build an incredible community and a brand that stands for something. They’ve put on pop-ups, thrown massive parties, and sold millions of dollars worth of product. In May 2019, they raised a strategic round of capital from high-profile investors such as LVMH, Tommy Hilfiger, and the founders of Sweetgreen.

In this episode, Pat and Posh hang with Peiman at Madhappy HQ to chat about the early days of starting the brand, the mistakes and lessons they’ve learned, and what’s to come for the growing label. They also discuss the topic of mental health and the personal connection to the founding team, how Peiman maintains his own mental sanity while building the next big clothing brand, and his advice to anyone who’s just starting out in the space.

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This week, we have another exciting segment of AFTER HOURS for all of you!

Pat & Posh discuss PayPal’s massive $4 billion acquisition of Honey (we had the founder, Ryan Hudson, on the show last year!), the future of USC football amid its current state of operational chaos and how it ties with business in general, Posh’s crazy dream about Scooter Braun, and some thought-provoking questions submitted by listeners such as the distinction between purpose in life vs. purpose in your occupation as well as how to raise funding for a new business.

They also dive into a deep question, inspired by The Deep (started by a previous guest on the show, Ashley Merrill) about what the biggest waste of human potential is.

Tune in and send us your thoughts on some of these topics (email is [email protected] and our IG is @thefounderhour) - we’d love to hear from you!

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Everette Taylor is a serial entrepreneur, marketing executive, and public speaker. His entrepreneurial journey began at the age of 19 when he started an event marketing technology company, EZ Events, which he successfully sold 2 years later.

Since then, Everette has been a leader in the world of entrepreneurship and marketing, building several multi-million dollar brands.

As CEO of ET Enterprises, Everette oversees a diverse portfolio of companies that include PopSocial, MilliSense, ArtX, Southside Fund, Hayver, and GrowthHackers.

As a marketing executive, he helped lead both Qualaroo (acquired by Xenon Ventures) and Skurt (acquired by Fair) to successful acquisitions, oversaw growth for new mobile apps for Microsoft China, and led e-commerce company Sticker Mule to unprecedented growth as their youngest executive ever.

He has been called a "marketing genius" by Forbes, a "marketing star" by Fortune Magazine, and "an innovator who's changing the consumer marketing game" by Black Enterprise. Most recently he was named one of the "100 Most Influential African-Americans" by The Root and Forbes 30 Under 30.

In this episode, Pat and Posh sit down with Everette to learn about his upbringing in Richmond, VA, overcoming homelessness at a young age, getting his first marketing job at 14, and launching his own businesses after running marketing for various successful startups.

He also shares his thoughts on today’s social media landscape, growing one’s personal brand, putting impact over profits, and what “wanting more” means to him.

Tune in for a super genuine conversation with Everette as he uncovers some truths about being an entrepreneur and demystifies the crazy world of startups!

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