The Founder

Bilal Zaidi is the Founder & CEO of Creator Lab.
Bilal is a multi-time entrepreneur and creator, having previously built and scaled a successful ecommerce store as a teen and led partnership teams at Google and charity: water.
Creator Lab is a podcast and digital marketing consultancy. On his weekly podcast, Bilal interviews world-class creators and entrepreneurs to break down the tactics behind how they built their businesses. Creator Lab has been listened to in over 100 countries and featured world renowned guests from Cenk Uygur and Gary Vee to Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano and Jack Butcher.
Tune in to hear Bilal’s story!
EPISODE TOPICS 

•  Sections
  •  (14:11) – The Origin Story
  •  (22:44) – The Build
  •  (1:01:30) – The Founder
  •  (1:12:28) – The Brainstorm
•  Topics
  • (1:47) Bilal’s background
  • (3:38) Entrepreneurial switch flipping
  • (7:51) Building a career ark
  • (11:36) First-row seat to YouTube and Android scaling
  • (14:11) Origin story for Creator Lab
  • (22:44) Best tactics from recruiting top podcast guests 
  • (31:55) Drivers for show growth
  • (37:10) Starting a podcast from scratch today
  • (42:42) The power of Clubhouse
  • (44:22) Creating with a full-time job vs self-employed
  • (49:32) Defining success for Creator Lab
  • (54:20) Bilal’s Startup Manifesto
  • (1:01:30) Bilal’s Personal Operating System
  • (1:06:13) Bilal’s Wellness Stack
  • (1:12:28) The Brainstorm – Live shark tank where the audience can invest and democratizing access to private markets

Watch this episode on YouTube here.
Creator Lab – creatorlab.fm

• Follow Creator Lab on Twitter // Instagram
• Follow Bilal on Twitter // Instagram
• Bilal's content and learning recommendations 

 The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Twitter // Instagram // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here

Marc Barros is the Co-Founder & CEO of Moment.
Marc is a second-time founder, having previously launched Contour, a venture-backed action camera company that challenged GoPro in the early 2000s.
Moment is building the largest marketplace for creators. Originally, Marc and his founding team launched the Moment Lens system on Kickstarter, a series of phone cases and external lenses aimed to level up your mobile photography. Since then, Moment has morphed into a marketplace that sells all the gear you need to create as well as lessons & trips from your favorite pros. In addition to their marketplace and branded products, Moment runs an annual mobile film festival (MIFF) and is building a service layer to help creatives monetize their businesses.
Use code “Kallaway” to get 10% off all Moment products.
Tune in to hear Marc’s story!
EPISODE TOPICS

• Sections
  • (3:30) – The Origin Story
  • (8:00) – The Build
  • (35:10) – The Founder
  • (47:45) – The Brainstorm
• Topics
  • (2:10) Marc’s background
  • (3:30) Starting Contour at 20 years old
  • (8:00) How to win markets and differentiate
  • (9:40) Transitioning from 1st to 2nd company 
  • (11:45) Unique insights into mobile photography space
  • (13:15) What is Moment?
  • (13:45) Making products vs marketplace  - which should come first?
  • (15:20) Building customer journeys
  • (16:20) Creator economy pain points
  • (17:53) Becoming the service layer for creatives
  • (18:40) Leveraging Kickstarter the right way
  • (21:15) Approach to experimentation/org structure
  • (20:22) What hasn’t worked?
  • (24:09) Hiring
  • (28:35) Improving remote work
  • (32:30) Manifesting the future
  • (33:30) Marc’s Startup Manifesto
  • (35:25) Compensation philosophy
  • (38:25) Fundraising philosophy
  • (41:00) Founder vs CEO
  • (44:35) Best mobile photography trick
  • (45:30) Marc’s wellness stack
  • (47:45) The Brainstorm – Owning peace and quiet, water conservation, future of photography 

Watch this episode on YouTube here.
Moment – shopmoment.com 

• Follow Moment (@moment) on Instagram // Twitter
• Follow Marc (@marcbarros) on Instagram // Twitter
• Marc's content and learning recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Twitter // Instagram // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here.

Carly Bigi is the Founder & CEO of Laws of Motion.
Carly is a first-time founder who launched Laws of Motion while studying for her MBA at Columbia University.
Laws of Motion is flipping the apparel industry on its head by providing access to data-driven custom womenswear. Contrary to the standard sizing offered by most apparel brands, Laws of Motion uses your personalized measurements and a robust dataset of 10,000 other women to create perfect fitting clothes. Today, they go-to-market with 144 micro-sizes to serve every customer shape and size. When Covid hit in early March 2020, Laws of Motion shut down their popular apparel line and repurposed the entire company to make PPE. They donated 1M masks and delivered 2.4M gowns / 2M shoe covers to help frontline healthcare workers fight the pandemic.
Get 15% off Laws of Motion with code "Kallaway15"
Tune in to hear Carly’s story!
EPISODE TOPICS

• Sections
  • (3:20) – The Origin Story
  • (7:13) – The Build
  • (31:17) – The Founder
  • (39:41) – The Brainstorm
• Topics
  • (2:33) Carly’s background
  • (3:20) What is Laws of Motion
  • (4:05) Approach to MBA
  • (6:25) Bootstrapping vs funding
  • (7:013) What was the market opportunity that others missed?
  • (10:23) Biggest doubts/assumptions in the early days
  • (12:13) Where did the name Laws of Motion come from?
  • (12:43) Laws of Motion customer journey
  • (13:44) Avoiding the inventory problem
  • (16:02) Building a custom factory
  • (17:04) What hasn’t worked with Laws of Motion
  • (19:01) The 3 levers of IP for Laws of Motion
  • (20:16) Covid impact and shifting to PPE
  • (23:48) Laws of Motion product line
  • (24:55) 10X growth
  • (26:03) Manifesting the future for Laws of Motion
  • (27:05) Hiring
  • (29:33) Startup Manifesto
  • (31:17) Advice to younger self
  • (32:43) Needle mover habit
  • (37:48) Carly’s wellness stack
  • (35:08) Personal operating system
  • (39:41) The Brainstorm – Improving longevity, designing a new umbrella from the ground up and encouraging more entrepreneurship

Watch this episode on YouTube
Laws of Motion – lawsofmotion.com 

• Follow Laws of Motion on Instagram
• Follow Carly on Twitter // Instagram
• Carly's content and learning recommendations 

 
The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Twitter // Instagram // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here

Rishi Mandal is the Co-Founder & CEO of Future.
Rishi is a second-time founder, having previously launched Sosh, a recommendation engine that curated the must-do activities in a given city. Sosh was beloved by millions as a concierge on the cutting edge of culture and sold to Postmates in 2015.
Future is revolutionizing fitness by enabling remote 1-on-1 personal training. New members are carefully matched with a world-class trainer who creates personalized workouts each week. While trainers aren't physically with users in person, Future’s app enables continuous dialogue through text and voice notes pre-recorded in workouts. Future’s retention and Net Promoter Scores are off the charts, signaling low churn and high customer loyalty.
Future raised a $24M Series B in October 2020 led by Trustbridge Partners. 
Tune in to hear Rishi’s story!
EPISODE TOPICS

• Sections
  • (18:04) – The Origin Story
  • (27:53) – The Build
  • (55:04) – The Founder
  • (1:00:41) – The Brainstorm
• Topics
  • (2:40) Rishi’s background
  • (4:34) The power of working with the smartest people you can find
  • (6:22) Knowing when you’re ready to start a venture
  • (8:42) Analyzing the opportunity for Sosh, the recommendation engine for culture
  • (15:14) Entrepreneur in Residence at Khosla Ventures
  • (18:04) Why was Future compelling enough to chase it?
  • (27:53) Why start with fitness?
  • (31:42) Why is Future more effective than other fitness solutions?
  • (39:20) Biggest bets that haven’t panned out?
  • (47:17) Rishi’s Startup Manifesto
  • (55:04) Words of advice to 18 year old
  • (1:00:41) The Brainstorm – Cameo for business, future of retail, expert vision/AR in sports broadcasting

Watch this episode on YouTube
Future – future.co

• Follow Future on Twitter // Instagram
• Follow Rishi on Twitter // Instagram
• Rishi's content and learning recommendations 

 The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Twitter // Instagram // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here

Brian Chen is the Co-Founder & CEO of Room.
Brian is a second-time founder, having previously launched Bluesmart, a smart luggage company built to supercharge your suitcase through advanced technology and connectivity solutions. Bluesmart was acquired by Travelpro in 2018.
Room is on a mission to change the way offices are designed by creating modular, flexible solutions that transform the workplace. Today, they go to market with their flagship soundproof phone booth as well as newly launched meeting and focus rooms. In the spirit of convenient and adaptive solutions, their phone booth ships flat and assembles on-site with a single tool. Room is poised to take advantage of massive tailwinds in a post-Covid world, equipping offices with the infrastructure needed to optimize for their people.
Tune in to hear Brian’s story!
EPISODE TOPICS:

• Sections
  • (17:50) – The Origin Story
  • (28:15) – The Build
  • (55:34) – The Founder
  • (1:04:11) – The Brainstorm
• Topics
  • (2:10) Brian’s background
  • (4:03) Endeavor experience (entrepreneurial non-profit)
  • (6:56) Dropping out of MIT to pursue Bluesmart
  • (10:13) Y Combinator learnings & takeaways
  • (13:01) Bluesmart outcome
  • (15:09) Winding down a startup
  • (17:50) Assessing the Room market opportunity
  • (22:11) Room snapshot
  • (25:14) What had to be true for Room to succeed
  • (28:15) Biggest bets that didn’t pan out
  • (31:40) Hiring framework – the Secretary problem
  • (35:41) Covid business impact
  • (42:21) Manifesting the future 
  • (44:41) Calm collaboration
  • (46:31) 10x growth
  • (50:37) Brian’s Startup Manifesto
  • (55:34) What differentiates great and good CEOs
  • (1:01:31) Needle mover habit
  • (1:02:30) Brian’s wellness stack
  • (1:04:11) The Brainstorm – Housing market liquidity, fractional expert networks and subscription jeans

Watch this episode on YouTube
Room – room.com

• Follow Room on Twitter // Instagram
• Follow Brian on Twitter // Instagram
• Brian's content and learning recommendations 

 The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Twitter // Instagram // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here

Mike Russell is the Co-Founder & CEO of Monument.
Mike is a serial entrepreneur, having previously launched several businesses including VenueTap (positioned as a digital platform for club promoters) and Paintzen (a marketplace for buying paint and choosing paint contractors that was acquired by PPG in 2018). 
Monument is an online alcohol treatment program designed for users with low to moderate consumption habits. Mike and his team launched Monument to help democratize access to personalized and affordable treatment for those looking to change their relationship with alcohol. Monument's flexible subscription model enables patients of all consumption levels to access a licensed physician, specialized therapist, community and/or prescribed medication.
Tune in to hear Mike’s story!
EPISODE TOPICS:

• Sections
  • (2:16) – The Origin Story
  • (14:13) – The Build
  • (43:34) – The Founder
  • (1:02:58) – The Brainstorm
• Topics
  • (2:16) Mike’s background
  • (6:07) What happened with VenueTap
  • (7:21) Monument founding story
  • (11:26) Approach to the monument platform
  • (14:13) Building the business model
  • (17:59) How to size the market opportunity
  • (22:14) What concerns/questions did you have in the beginning
  • (24:20) Critical decisions in the early days
  • (29:18) Hiring
  • (35:10) Fundraising
  • (39:37) Mike’s Startup Manifesto
  • (43:34) Mike’s unique approach to a venture fund
  • (48:02) Battling cancer and shifting mentality
  • (54:27) Words of advice to an 18 year old
  • (57:06) Biggest needle mover tip/tactic
  • (59:02) Mike’s wellness stack
  • (1:02:58) The Brainstorm – Custom building 1990s Land Rover defenders and trading cards

Watch this episode on YouTube – https://youtu.be/_v1PouhYkQ4

Monument – joinmonument.com

• Follow Monument on Instagram // Twitter
• Mike's content and learning recommendations 

 The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Instagram // LinkedIn // Twitter // Newsletter

 Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here

Jon Shooshani is the Founder & President of JOON.
Jon is a first time founder, having previously started Avo, a wellness based consumer spending card that pivoted into JOON in 2019.
JOON is a corporate wellness program that makes it easy for companies to offer flexible benefits around wellbeing. Employers get the freedom to choose wellness and lifestyle options that are meaningful to them and the JOON software automates the reimbursement process to eliminate the administrative burden. JOON currently offers spending categories across fitness, food, mental health, family care, education, donations and student loan repayment.
Tune in to hear Jon’s story!
EPISODE TOPICS:

• The Origin Story – 2:22
• The Build – 14:06
• The Founder – 42:38
• The Brainstorm – 56:33

Watch this episode on YouTube – https://youtu.be/D5i2MIjdY5k

JOON – joon.io

• Follow JOON on Instagram // Twitter
• Follow Jon on Instagram // Twitter
• Jonathan's content and learning recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Twitter // Instagram // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here 

Dylan Beynon is the Founder & CEO of Mindbloom.
Dylan is a third time founder with previous stints at Voter's Friend (acquired by Democracy.com) and Mighty.
Mindbloom is a telemedicine company for clinician-prescribed psychedelic therapy. Their mission is to expand human potential and transform lives today to transform the world tomorrow. Mindbloom's primary offering today is guided ketamine therapy.
As a special offer for our listeners, use code "kallaway" for $50 off your next treatment.
Tune in to hear Dylan's story!
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:00) – Mindbloom Snapshot
• (3:12) – Dylan’s Background
• (8:43) – Analyzing the market opportunity for Mindbloom
• (13:00) – Education
• (14:57) – Ketamine therapy patient experience
• (16:20) – Importance of telemedicine
• (18:36) – Benefits of having a personalized medicine doctor
• (22:58) – Quantified self
• (26:03) – Mindfulness & awareness
• (34:16) – Communal living
• (40:29) – Growth marketing fundamentals
• (43:01) – Manifesting the future
• (45:37) – Hiring
• (53:14) – Words to 18 year old
• (55:45) – Emerging trends
• (59:07) – Unique life habit
• (1:00:45) – Aspirational founders
• (1:03:06) – Podcast growth ideas
• (1:04:43) – Dylan’s Startup Manifesto

Watch on YouTube - https://youtu.be/mnzwO5A-9VE

Mindbloom - mindbloom.co

• Follow Mindbloom (@mymindbloom) on Instagram // Twitter
• Dylan's content and learning recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Twitter // Instagram // LinkedIn // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here.

Ashley Nickelsen is the Founder & CEO of B.T.R. Bar.
Ashley got her start at NYU with a background in biochemistry and public health nutrition. About 5 years ago, both of her parents were diagnosed with rare forms of cancer. As their primary caretaker while juggling a full-time job, she found herself eating dinners out of vending machines and hospital cafeterias more and more often. For someone who dedicated her life to nutrition and food science, she knew that she was letting her own health suffer and began to notice the effects in a big way. She wanted something with a truly clean label that could give her a functional boost throughout her busy days, but realized that even the healthiest bars on the market were full with things like natural flavors, emulsifiers and brown rice syrups. Unfortunately, both her parents passed away a few years later, but she took their life motto – be bold, be tenacious, be resilient – and started her company in their honor. That company is B.T.R. Bar.
Today at BTR Bar, Ashley and her team have a simple mission – end mindless snacking. Their protein bars are the first plant based, keto friendly bars with a purpose, meaning that they are filled with specific superfoods and adaptogens to give you energy, help you recharge or relax before bed. And when they say clean, they mean their bars are CLEAN with no gluten, dairy, soy, whey, added sugar, corn, rice, GMOs, flavors or stevia. They’re also incredibly proud to be a female-owned business that empowers others to be bold, tenacious and resilient every single day.
Use code "Kallaway" to get 15% off B.T.R. bars today.
Tune in to hear Ashley's story!
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:51) B.T.R. Bar snapshot 
• (3:45) Superfoods & adaptogens
• (8:15) Consumer profile
• (10:24) Ashley’s background
• (15:54) Analyzing the market
• (17:55) How do you define success in the early days
• (19:40) Customer acquisition & growth
• (22:30) Prioritization
• (26:42) Distribution
• (29:43) Outside the box marketing
• (32:45) Influencer marketing
• (34:46) Food space trends/learnings
• (38:02) Healthy vs unhealthy mythbusters
• (42:15) Manifesting the future
• (45:12) Hiring (process)
• (50:09) Fundraising
• (53:25) Advice to high school self
• (56:15) Ashley’s wellness stack
• (1:01:52) Emerging trends
• (1:07:07) Ashley’s startup manifesto

Watch on YouTube - https://youtu.be/Ve3Cpdsq7Kc

B.T.R. Bar - eatbtrbar.com

• Follow B.T.R. Bar (@btr.bar) on Instagram
• Ashley's content and learning recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Instagram //  Twitter // LinkedIn // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here

Taylor Nieman is the Co-Founder & CEO of Toucan.
Taylor was born in Los Angeles and spent a lot of her time growing up playing competitive volleyball on a track for the Olympics. She eventually wound up at Cornell for school and after trying her hand in a couple of different fields, identified tech as an area she wanted to spend more time. She went to night school at YouTube University and taught herself how to code so she could bring her own ideas to life. After graduating from Cornell and returning to Los Angeles, she joined Headspace and a number of other tech companies including Pop and Fair, running business development and partnerships at each. Along the way she launched several of her own projects, including Simba, an app to connect dog owners with each other and Lancer, a Glassdoor for freelancers. While those projects didn’t pan out, her latest and most promising is on a roll. That project turned into a rapidly growing company called Toucan.
Today at Toucan, Taylor and her team have created a free browser extension to revolutionize the way you learn new languages. Once installed and enabled, you simply pick the language you want to learn (either Spanish, French, German, Italian or Portuguese) and then the magic starts to happens. As you browse Google, scroll through Twitter or interact with other websites, Toucan will change some of the words from English to your desired language. As you continue using Toucan, the words will get harder and harder as you level up your fluency. They’ve also just started rolling out mini games that you can play while in Wikipedia, which provide a more direct way to practice your skills. The coolest part is that language is just the beginning – Toucan was built as a disruptive learning platform that could be applied to lots of other disciplines. 
Tune in to hear Taylor's story!
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:47) Toucan snapshot today
• (3:43) Taylor’s background
• (12:18) How Toucan works
• (15:39) Inception story
• (17:37) Future market opportunities with Toucan
• (18:28) How to assess industry landscape
• (20:03) Competitors or partners – Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, Babbel
• (22:25) Business model
• (29:10) Early struggles
• (31:03) Customer acquisition
• (33:33) 10X growth 
• (36:05) Career strategy
• (42:21) Hiring
• (45:54) Investor lessons learned
• (48:21) User investing
• (50:33) Personal drive/motivation
• (52:43) Taylor’s wellness stack
• (56:23) Exciting trends
• (1:00:19) Startup manifesto

Watch on YouTube - https://youtu.be/3SFXa7vyQyc

Toucan - jointoucan.com

• Follow Toucan (@jointoucan) on Instagram // Twitter
• Follow Taylor (@taylorsimba // @taylor_nieman) on Instagram // Twitter
• Taylor's content and learning recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

• Follow The Founder (@founderpodcast) on Instagram // LinkedIn // Twitter // Newsletter

Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here