The Founder

Eliza Blank is the Founder & CEO of The Sill.
Although Eliza grew up in a Massachusetts household full of plants, it wasn’t until she moved to New York City to go to school at NYU that she realized how important they were to her. After moving into her high rise apartment in the city, she was desperate to find a way to bring nature back into her life and realized it was a big part of her wellbeing. As she took frequent trips to the park to get her nature fix throughout the rest of her time in college, she never forgot how much she missed that connection with plants. After graduating and spending a few years as a brand strategist, moving from apartment to apartment in NYC, she realized that there wasn’t a consumer brand designed to solve the pain point of discovering, buying and taking care of plants. That’s where she got the idea to start The Sill.
Today at The Sill, Eliza and her team have built one of the largest community driven-brands for houseplants on the market today. They have a simple yet powerful mission - to enrich people’s lives through a connection with plants. They go-to market both online and through their 5 brick and mortar stores and are creating thousands of new plant parents each month. In addition to a beautiful product and website, they drive an engaged community through their social content and Plant Parent Club, a membership that unlocks discounts and access to online workshops and events.
Tune in to hear Eliza's story!
As a special offer for our listeners, Eliza is giving you 10% off all of The Sill’s products through the end of October. Use code Founder10 at checkout to add some plants to your life.
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:34) The Sill snapshot today
• (4:12) Background and founding story
• (9:46) Plant benefits
• (11:58) Initial platform launch
• (13:56) Supply chain
• (16:36) Brick and mortar store experience
• (20:26) Customer profiles
• (23:25) Covid impact
• (24:35) Customer acquisition
• (26:45) Community and brand
• (30:09) Competition
• (32:31) Manifesting the future
• (34:20) Hiring
• (38:02) Investor lessons
• (43:00) Mentor lessons
• (45:03) Eliza's wellness stack
• (52:08) Emerging trends
• (53:26) Eliza's founder nomination 
• (54:01) Eliza's startup manifesto 

The Sill - thesill.com

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• Follow The Sill (@thesill) on Instagram // Twitter
• Eliza's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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Zach Moreno is the Co-Founder & CEO of Squadcast.
Zach is a dual-threat, getting his start at art school studying both graphic design and full stack computer engineering. After spending some time on Google’s Chrome team and being exposed to what’s possible on the internet across audio, video and cloud, he spent the next few years sharpening his skills, working for the government and teaching at Cal Berkeley. Ultimately, he found his way back to his creative roots and started a podcast as a side project, but when he tried to record remotely with his brother and best friend, found that the virtual collaboration tools available just weren’t good enough to achieve the quality they expected. And that’s how Squadcast was born.
Today at Squadcast, Zach and his team have built the Lamborghini of virtual audio recording. Their mission is to amplify collaboration through technology and they do it by enabling podcasters to capture the highest quality audio from their conversations with guests all over the world. When you use Squadcast, you immediately realize the massive difference between their platform and something like Zoom or Skype. While Zoom and Skype compress the audio before playing it back in your headphones, giving it that crushed ("telephone") type of sound, Squadcast records the audio on both sides locally, saving it as the highest quality possible and then sending it through. Squadcast is building the future of audio collaboration, and with partners like Dolby Labs as well as new features around lossless video recording and the ability to watch your favorite podcasters record their conversation live, there’s a lot to be excited about.
Tune in to hear Zach's story!
Start using Squadcast today with this link.
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:50) Squadcast snapshot today
• (6:08) Background and founding story
• (10:07) Being a technical founder
• (13:52) Squadcast vs Zoom
• (18:21) Product roadmap
• (25:39) Podcasting landscape
• (35:32) Fundraising approach
• (43:11) Zach's wellness stack
• (51:33) Zach's startup manifesto 
• (54:31) Zach's founder nomination 

Squadcast - squadcast.fm

• Follow Zach (@zach__moreno) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Follow Squadcast (@squadcastfm) on Instagram
• Zach's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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

Matt Britton is the Founder of Suzy. 
Matt is a serial entrepreneur and hustler, getting his start at Boston University and becoming somewhat of a legend as a club promoter in the area. After building a reputation, he began to engage with local companies who wanted to advertise at his events and leverage his network of 75 college student promoters to help promote their businesses. That was the foundation for his first marketing agency, The Magma Group. After a couple of twists and turns and the dot com crash in the early 2000s, he ultimately started a second agency called Mr. Youth (which later rebranded to MRY), a full stack marketing agency and one of the first to run social marketing for big brands. As a part of MRY, he built software called CrowdTap to help manage and incentivize a massive network of college reps, not too unlike the network of college promoters he had built in his early days. CrowdTap was the foundation for the business he runs today called Suzy.
Today at Suzy, Matt and his team have built a software platform that enables companies, both large and small, to rapidly access and engage consumers in real-time to help drive better business decisions. The Suzy team and business are growing like crazy, launching like a rocketship in 2018 and now supporting over 100 employees and 250 enterprise customers. In a digital-first landscape with rapidly changing consumer sentiment, companies like Suzy are the future of market research.
Tune in to hear Matt's story!
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:30) Suzy snapshot today
• (3:37) Background and founding story
• (12:10) Social marketing in the early days
• (15:41) Product current/future state
• (18:29) Millennials
• (22:07) Startup marketing opportunities
• (24:00) Future of DTC brands
• (25:37) Competition
• (30:40) Hiring
• (35:21) Investor and mentor advice
• (37:02) Advice to younger self
• (38:41) Matt's wellness stack
• (45:12) Exciting trends
• (47:33) Matt's startup manifesto 
• (48:46) Matt's founder nomination 

Suzy - suzy.com

• Follow Matt (@mattbrittonnyc) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Follow Suzy (@asksuzybiz) on Instagram // Twitter
• Matt's learning and resource 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

Josh Clemente is the Co-Founder of Levels.
Josh is a rocket scientist and worked at SpaceX for 6 years, managing the team that designed the life support systems in their space shuttles. Overtime, he started to notice extreme levels of fatigue and experienced volatile spikes and crashes of energy throughout his day. For someone that worked out consistently and followed the guidelines for what he believed to be healthy practices, things didn’t seem to add up. After experimenting with glucose monitoring, he realized that he was pre-diabetic, borderlining on fully-blown diabetic, and that the foods he was eating were having a significant impact on his performance. It was this discovery and struggle to derive actionable insights from his glucose monitoring that led him to start Levels.
Today at Levels, Josh and his team are revolutionizing the way people think about their metabolic health. And why is metabolic health so important? Before Levels, an average person had no way of understanding how efficiently or inefficiently their body was producing energy. Levels enables you to access and understand this information in real-time, so you can start making better diet and lifestyle choices to avoid those energy peaks and valleys.
When you join their program, you’ll receive two, 14-day continuous glucose monitors that stay on your arm and measure the glucose in your blood. Using the Levels app, you’re able to seamlessly monitor how different foods as well as things like sleep, stress and exercise are impacting your glucose levels and then proactively make adjustments. In the future, Levels will be able to predict and recommend what you should do to optimize your energy, acting almost as a virtual health coach with personalized recommendations based on your specific choices.
Tune in to hear Josh's story!
As of September 2020, Levels is currently in waitlist only beta-mode. However, as a special offer just for our listeners, go to levels.link/thefounderpod to cut the 31,000 person waitlist and get the product ASAP. 
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (3:12) Levels snapshot today
• (4:10) Metabolic health explanation
• (6:28) Personalization
• (8:45) CGM history
• (13:12) Background and founding story
• (17:52) Product evolution
• (26:48) Customer adoption
• (30:23) Marketing/growth tactics
• (33:10) Competitive landscape
• (37:30) Manifesting the future vision
• (40:52) Hiring
• (44:10) Founding team strategy
• (47:56) Advice to younger self
• (51:02) Josh's wellness stack
• (1:03:43) Josh's startup manifesto 
• (1:07:52) Josh's founder nomination 

Levels - levelshealth.com

• Follow Josh (@josh.f.clemente) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Follow Levels (@unlocklevels) on Instagram
• Josh's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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

Michael Kranitz is the Founder and CEO of Eventsquid. 
With a background in speech, standup comedy and radio in his early life, Michael went to law school in an attempt to figure out what he wanted to do longer-term. After graduating, he found himself practicing corporate litigation law for the next several years and experienced a broad exposure to a variety of different businesses and business models. Although he was building a successful law career, he always felt in the back of his mind that it wasn’t his calling and wanted to make the jump to technology. Through a series of twists and turns, he became a serial entrepreneur, launching software companies across automotive, mail catalogs, radio control flying, and newspaper syndication - selling his companies to bigger players along the way. He eventually wound up building an event management platform for radio control events, a space he had a ton of personal passion for. Along the way, he started branching out to events beyond radio control to things like archery, bodybuilding and golf. Those early verticals laid the foundation for Eventsquid.
Today at Eventsquid, Michael and his team have built a comprehensive event management solution. Their software helps event planners handle everything they need to execute a flawless event, including things like event promotion, setup, mobile app, day-of check-in, badges, speaker management, vendor management, reporting and more. They work with a range of clients across all industries and have built solutions that facilitate virtual events as well!
Tune in to hear Michael's story!
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:28) Eventsquid snapshot today
• (4:05) Background and Eventsquid founding story
• (20:30) Product iteration
• (26:38) Marketing tactics
• (29:20) Unit economics and business model
• (30:40) Competitive landscape
• (34:46) Product improvements
• (37:07) Covid impact
• (40:34) Future of events
• (44:50) Hiring
• (47:52) Mentor advice
• (52:37) Advice to younger self
• (55:01) Market trends
• (58:23) Learning & resources
• (59:20) Michael's startup manifesto 
• (1:03:38) Michael's founder nomination 

Eventsquid - eventsquid.com

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• Follow Eventsquid (@eventsquid) on Instagram
• Michael's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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

Dan Kurzrock is the Co-Founder and CEO of ReGrained.
Dan spent his free time in college brewing his own beer. After he was finished with each batch, he was blown away with the amount of grain was left over. For every 6-pack he brewed, he had almost a pound of grain that he would throw in the trash, a by-product of the brewing process. Overtime, he grew uneasy with how much waste the process was creating and wondered if there was a better way to utilize the grain. He started taking the leftover grain and used it to bake bread. He would then sell the bread and use the proceeds to fund his beer brewing hobby. Quite the operation. His first idea, naturally, was to start a brewery that was also a bakery, so he could do both at scale. But as he started talking to all the new microbreweries that were popping up in 2009 and 2010, he realized this was a much bigger opportunity than he thought. And that’s how ReGrained was born.
Today at ReGrained, Dan and his team have a lot in the hopper. They’ve created a patented technology, process and machine to upcycle wet beer grain into their powerful SuperGrain+. This stuff is no joke as it packs 3.4x more fiber than normal whole wheat flour, with added prebiotics and as much protein as almond flour. Today, they use Supergrain+ across two business segments. First, they make their own puffs and bars that they sell to customers directly on their website and in stores. They also have a wholesale business, where they sell the SuperGrain+ directly to other food companies that use it in their products.
Tune in to hear Dan's story!
As a special offer, Dan is giving our listeners 15% off everything on their site. Just use code "FounderPod15" at checkout.
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:42) ReGrained snapshot today
• (4:30) Supergrain+ nutritional value
• (8:04) Background and ReGrained founding story
• (12:41) Grain treatment process
• (18:07) Growth timing
• (21:49) Supply penetration
• (25:42) Creating a new market
• (27:39) Upcycling education
• (31:54) Food waste is a huge problem
• (36:23) Prioritization
• (39:15) Corporate Innovation
• (44:42) Hiring
• (48:17) Mentor/investor advice
• (52:12) Advice to younger self
• (54:39) Market Trends
• (56:45) Learning & resources
• (58:55) Dan's startup manifesto 
• (1:01:53) Dan's founder nomination 

ReGrained - regrained.com

• Follow Dan (@dkurzrock) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Follow ReGrained (@regrained) on Instagram
• Dan's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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Masha Titova is the Founder and CEO of Titov.
Masha went to school for fashion design and after graduating, moved to LA to work for several fashion houses and startups including Marc Jacobs, BCBG Maxazria, and YEEZY. As a production manager at Yeezy, she found herself working long hours traveling all over to different manufacturing facilities. In the middle of a super hot day, she felt uncomfortable with her bra and took it off during work. After feeling embarrassed and annoyed, she made it her mission to create lingerie that didn’t distract her from her day. And that’s how Titov was born.
Today at Titov, Masha and her team set out to make modern lingerie that’s comfortable and fun. They operate under a mentality that underwear should work with you, not against you, and drive a positive experience to support you throughout your day. They use high quality, sustainable materials, and offer non-restrictive sizes with the option for made-to-order.
Tune in to hear Masha's story!
As a special offer, Masha is giving our listeners 15% off your first order. Just use code "Founder" at checkout.
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:05) Titov snapshot today
• (3:00) Background and Titov founding story
• (5:34) What makes Titov unique
• (12:04) Learnings from working at YEEZY & BCBG
• (14:01) Distribution strategy
• (16:03) Marketing strategy and tactics
• (22:36) Future of retail
• (28:36) Competition
• (31:51) Manifesting the future
• (33:18) Hiring
• (38:53) Mentor advice
• (41:06) Frustrating/validating moment
• (42:30) Fundraising approach
• (46:25) Advice to younger self
• (51:09) Learning & resources
• (52:43) Masha's startup manifesto 
• (54:39) Masha's founder nomination 

Titov - titovlabel.com

• Follow Masha (@mtitova3) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Follow Titov (@titovlabel) on Instagram
• Masha's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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Matt Scanlan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Naadam.
Despite getting kicked out of more schools than he was let into, Matt left college early after landing a great job in private equity. After 3 years and a lot of burn out, he decided to take a break and travel throughout Asia. When he got to his first stop in Mongolia, he wound up deep in the countryside, looking to experience the true nomadic lifestyle. After living with a family of goat herders for the next month, he started to notice some of the pain points of their lifestyle, and launched a nonprofit with initiatives like livestock insurance, water and grasslands projects and veterinary care to help improve and preserve their culture and livelihood. What he realized was that the economic system the herders were a part of, selling goat fiber used for cashmere to local buyers, was rigged. The buyers would come in, set a super low price, and get away with it because they were literally the only buyer in town. Matt realized that the best way to help his nomadic friends and other communities like theirs was to buy up all their raw material. And that’s how Naadam was born.
Today at Naadam, Matt and his team make men’s and women’s clothes from the best cashmere in the world, straight off the backs of goats from Mongolia’s Gobi desert. They cut out all the middle men from the traditional cashmere trade and work directly with local herders so they can pay them 50% more and charge you 50% less for the softest knitwear on the planet. Their $75, 100% cashmere sweater blew up their business when it launched in 2018, and today, they employ over 100 people. Perhaps the most impressive thing about their business is the commitment to sustainability from Day 1. They have goals to ensure livable wages across their supply chain, promote ethical conditions for the animals that produce their raw materials and go carbon neutral by reducing emissions and leveraging renewable energy.
Tune in to hear Matt's story!
As a special offer, Matt is giving our listeners 15% off all products on their site. Just use code "TheFounder15" at checkout.
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:55) Naadam snapshot today
• (4:16) Background and Naadam founding story
• (23:46) Customer acquisition and marketing
• (26:10) Cashmere vs other materials
• (29:23) Omni-channel distribution strategy
• (33:33) Angel investing strategies
• (40:35) Something Navy, Thakoon CEO role
• (43:16) Hiring
• (45:55) Investor lessons learned
• (47:31) Manifesting the future
• (50:01) Emerging trends
• (51:14) Learning & resources
• (51:57) Matt's startup manifesto 
• (52:42) Matt's founder nomination 

Naadam - naadam.co

• Follow Matt (@matthewscanlan) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Follow Naadam (@naadam.co) on Instagram
• Matt's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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Kevin Gould is the Founder and CEO of Kombo Ventures and the Co-Founder of Glamnetic, Wakeheart and Insert Name Here.
Kevin always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur, but when he graduated from college in 2007, he didn’t know exactly where to look. With his sights set on the entertainment industry, he beelined for LA and found himself working at William Morris Endeavor, one of the biggest talent agencies in the world. He started in the mailroom and ultimately worked as an assistant to several agents, building an unparalleled rolodex of Hollywood connections. In addition to the entertainment space, he had a strong interest in technology and spent his weekends flying to Silicon Valley to take meetings with founders, VCs and angel investors. Overtime, he realized there was a glaring gap between the talent and personalities in the entertainment industry and the tech companies that wanted to partner with that talent to promote their startups. He ultimately left WME to capitalize on that market opportunity and provided business development and strategy for early to late stage startups on how to interface with the entertainment industry. That was an early version of the company he runs today, Kombo Ventures.
Today at Kombo, Kevin and his team have broadened their focus beyond just entertainment strategy. First, they operate as a brand studio, launching and scaling 3 beauty brands with influencer co-founders. Those brands include Glamnetic, the world’s leading magnetic liner and lash company, Wakeheart a fragrance, scent and personal care brand and Insert Name Here, a hair extension and wig company. In addition to the brand studio, they also run a talent management arm, representing some of the biggest YouTubers in the world. Kevin also runs a venture arm that has invested in 13 companies including Draft Kings, Clutter, Whistle, Step, Ten Thousand and more.
Tune in to hear Kevin's story!
As a special offer, Kevin is giving our listeners 15% off all products from any of his three beauty brands. Just use code Kallaway at checkout - Glamnetic, Wakeheart, Insert Name Here.
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (3:05) Kombo snapshot today
• (4:27) Background
• (12:29) Working with influencers
• (15:58) Building brands
• (21:12) Team structure
• (22:22) How to focus
• (27:56) How saturated is the influencer space
• (29:30) Influencer brand deals
• (36:03) Marketing tactics
• (39:19) School vs experience
• (43:34) Manifesting the future
• (48:07) Hiring
• (52:01) Angel investing strategies
• (1:01:37) Frustrating/validating moment
• (1:07:11) Learning & resources
• (1:08:47) Kevin's startup manifesto 
• (1:12:09) Kevin's founder nomination 

Kombo Ventures - www.komboventures.com

• Follow Kevin (@keving) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Follow Glamnetic (@glamnetic), Wakeheart (@wakeheart), Insert Name Here (@insertnamehere)
• Kevin's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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Carolyn Treasure is the Co-Founder and CEO of Peachy.
Carolyn has no shortage of impressive credentials. After getting her undergrad degree at UNC Chapel Hill, she went to Harvard Medical School. It was at Harvard that people started asking her for advice on how to prevent wrinkles. Paired with her personal interest to explore the space, she dove deep into the scientific literature to find that there was a lot of strong data supporting 3 core products in successful wrinkle prevention. That’s when she got the idea to create Peachy.
At Peachy, Carolyn and her team have created the one-stop shop for wrinkle treatment and prevention. Their 3 step formula is based around preventive botox, prescription strength retinoids and daily-use sunscreen. The beauty of their program is that it doesn’t change or alter your natural appearance. Peachy operates both online and in their brick and mortar studio, which just opened up in Soho, in New York City.
This was an inspiring interview that really showcased the science behind wrinkle prevention and debunked some major myths around botox.
Tune in to hear Carolyn's story!
As a special offer, Carolyn is giving our listeners $25 off all in-studio preventative Botox and prescription retinoid appointments. Just mention the founder podcast at the front desk and you’ll get the discount. Go to peachystudio.com for more details!
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:07) Peachy snapshot today
• (3:17) Background
• (5:10) Botox and retinoids
• (9:29) Peachy business model
• (10:42) First steps
• (12:31) Botox stigma
• (14:35) Consumer education
• (15:38) Signs people need botox
• (16:22) Customer profile
• (17:50) Expanding the brand
• (19:06) Marketing tactics
• (21:21) Covid impact
• (23:24) Investor lessons
• (27:26) Competition
• (29:23) Manifesting the future
• (31:27) Hiring
• (32:38) Mentor advice
• (36:12) Frustrating/validating moment
• (38:32) Advice to younger self
• (42:42) Exciting trends
• (43:52) Morning routine
• (45:00) Favorite brands/products
• (47:06) Learning & resources
• (48:34) Carolyn's startup manifesto 
• (49:46) Carolyn's founder nomination 

Peachy - www.peachystudio.com

• Follow Peachy (@peachystudionyc) on Instagram
• Follow Carolyn (@cltreasure) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Carolyn's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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