The Founder's Forge Podcast

Marcus and Adam interview Marvin Barron, a fascinating entrepreneur who co-founded a database of American political investments. All of publicly-elected officials in the United States are required to disclose their investments, and most have a pretty good handle on the markets - FinePrintData aggregates that public data to allow anyone to construct their own duplicate hedge funds, while simultaneously providing necessary transparency to constituents. The insights are interesting - what exactly do politicians invest in, and what do the reports that are required look like and how are they useful? Also, how can machine learning serve as a real-time whistleblower for financial conflicts-of-interest?

Technical data science and (apolitically-presented) political theory combine in this can't-miss episode.

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!

Marcus interviews Mike Krupit, a seasoned veteran of the startup thunderdome who has worn hats from engineer to CEO (and everything in between). Mike is the founder of Trajectify, a business coaching and executive mentoring service helping give startup leaders the momentum needed to overcome the obstacles in front of them. Topics covered include how to validate a service-based business, how to make sure your business isn’t just a lifestyle and a not a business, and an overview of how to break into the coaching space. Marcus and Mike also discuss various company naming strategies, and Marcus inadvertently names Mike’s next venture.

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!

Marcus interviews Matt and Chris Villanueva, a dynamic pair of brothers who operate a startup with one of the greatest names we've ever encountered - Let's Eat, Grandma! The bros talk about how they got into their industry (resume and business writing), how they learned to work together as siblings, and how to bootstrap a company without any outside investment and the unique challenges - and advantages - that afforded their business. Matt and Chris also share their favorite resources, books, and podcasts for entrepreneurs.

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh on Amazon.

Tim Ferriss Podcast.

Tony Robbins Podcast.

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People on Amazon.

Let's Eat Grandma Blog.

Need more Villanueva content? Check out The Career Warrior podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher!

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!

Join us for our inaugural Specialist Special with Landon Jordan talking about how Social Media fits into every business strategy. We talk about creative content creation, finding your audience, and how spending some cash to move your visibility forward may just be like your 401k - everyone knows the investment is good for them but no one wants to do it.

Google Skillshop.

Google My Business.

TikTok Business Resources.

Shaw Academy.

Marcus interviews Clark Jacobs, an entrepreneur building "AirBnb for workspaces" in the form of FlexDesk, which allows businesses and homeowners alike to rent their space to workers seeking a new environment to be productive. They've seen a lot of growth during the pandemic, as work-from-home drives former office workers into new spaces other than their homes. Also, how do founders cope with a lack of expertise in a critical area, and what does the cofounder search actually look like? How are entrepreneurial relationships similar to romantic relationships? Finally, what is Clark's spirit animal?

Get in touch with Clark at: [email protected]

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!

Marcus and Adam interview Zack Pennington, an event-space entrepreneur attempting to break into brick-and-mortar entertainment in several cities in the Central US. The most important thing to consider when opening a new bar, karaoke spot, or casino? Uniqueness - what does your venue offer that no one else does? This applies as much to software as it does to karaoke. Also, how can you pivot to stay in business when your normal revenue source is literally illegal due to lockdowns?

Zack's website.

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!

Adam and Marcus interview Justin Slusarski and Derek Sheehan at Quarbon, which aims to assign businesses an easily-understood "Quarbon Score" that measures sustainability and responsibility across five key metrics. Also in the episode - how is starting a business a mix between surfing and starting a band, what the heck is "Greenwashing", and what happens when a startup founder actually does start a band?

Find Weekender (the aforementioned band) on Spotify and Apple Music.

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!

Marcus interviews Peter Yeargin, founder of Sage, a question-answering and advice marketplace aiming to find a superior (and monetizable) competitor to the like of Quora, providing users with a personal board of advisors. How did an immigrant from the Middle East go from the CIA to entrepreneur? How do you retrain your customers' brains when you disrupt an industry? How is being a family man an asset as a founder instead of a liability? Tune in for all that, and more.

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!

Marcus interviews Adam about SimplyRazor, his endeavor to help consumers everywhere have a better shaving experience. While shaving may not seem like the most relevant topic for tech entrepreneurs, Marcus and Adam prove that this is very much not the case. They explore disruption, spend a lot of time talking about design and how accessible good design has become, and even discuss when it's a better option to sell your patents and call it a day instead of trying to take on Goliath.

GrabCAD's website.

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!

Adam interviews Marcus about Axon Pages, his digital business card and link aggregation platform, and how he anticipates the future of digital business networking to evolve. Just because the product you've built doesn't work in the market you thought it would (or Covid-19 kills your market) doesn't mean you can't pivot to a new market and a new customer segment. We also learn Marcus's favorite flavor of ice cream.

Check out Axon Pages at xnpg.io, as well as Marcus's profile.

The mentioned report about the creator economy from SignalFire.

Want to come on the show? Fill out a questionnaire, and learn more on our Medium page, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, and of course on Axon Pages. We hope to see you enter the forge soon!