The Hatchcast

• Recorded live at the Gaynor Entrepreneurship Lab at MSU for Innovate State Feb. 19, 2020 •

Donald Bryant Jr. is the founder and CEO of Alden Group (Alden Oils), starting in 2007 and having a goal of providing healthy cooking oils to the world, it is currently the largest minority-owned food-grade oil processing company in the United States.

With offices in Michigan and South Dakota, the company serves a variety of industries and customers including Frito-Lay, Quaker, Sysco, Walmart, Amazon, and Team Foods (Colombia and Chile) and has grown to be a major supplier of Organic and Non-GMO food-grade oils around the world.

Being a graduate from Michigan State University, he received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the Broad School of Management as well as a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Luther Seminary. Bryant currently continues his time as the CEO of Alden Oils while spending time with his wife, Camille and his three kids, Kennedi, Isaiah, and Payton.

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Chris Sell and Gabe Hales sit down with former MSU Alumni and the Senior Advisor for Fashion and Creativity at PUMA, Matthew Growney, to chat about creating, building, and connecting with a brand!

Gabe and Brandon sit down with former MSU Professor and creativity connoisseur, Karl Gude, to talk on everything from creativity, meditation, failure, entrepreneurship, and what can be done to enjoy life to it's fullest. 

Starting her career as a proud DJ on WDBM The Impact 89FM and graduating from Michigan State University in 2007 with a bachelor's in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Kristen Lueck has had a lifelong passion for media and audio creation. Currently working as the VP, Director of Business Development and Partnerships at Man Made Music, she works towards and builds opportunities to create iconic music and sound for entertainment properties and Fortune 500 brands.

Starting his extensive career by graduating from Michigan State University in 1995, Matt Growney serves on the Board of the Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Finance at the Broad School of Business, as well as attending the New England School of Law | Boston (JD ‘00). Alongside this, Growney consults with dozens of clients within the Fashion, Beauty/Wellness, Food, and Home/Hospitality categories.

With over 13 years of experience in both mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and business operations, Andrew Dickow leads the Food and Beverage (F&B) practice for GCG, having significant experience working with consumer packaged goods, distribution, contract manufacturing, and ingredient companies amongst others.

Aaryn and Brandon talk on failure, resilience, and growing an idea into a product with Jeff Epstein, Founder of the referral marketing software Ambassador.

Learn why just having the next “brilliant idea” won’t cut it when it comes to starting and executing a business and what it’s like to work through failures of all kinds on this week's episode of the HatchCast!

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•Recorded live at the Gaynor Entrepreneurship Lab at MSU for Innovate State. January 22nd.,2020 •

Jeffrey Epstein is an accomplished attorney, entrepreneur, and investor. He grew up in southeast Michigan and headed to the mid-Michigan area to attend Michigan State University, where, in 2004, he received his bachelor’s degree from the Eli Broad College of Business. From MSU, he went on to earn his Juris Doctorate from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2007.

Epstein sold his first online business in 2007—a success allowing him to pay back his student loans in full and blazing the path for his next venture, ZFERRAL, INC dba Ambassador Software (“Ambassador”), which, at the time of its creation in 2010, became a leading referral marketing platform used by some of the world’s most recognizable brands.

Epstein and his team grew Ambassador Software to forty-five full-time employees and, in late 2018, the company was acquired by West Corporation.

As a passionate entrepreneur, he has attended and participated in TechStars (NYC 2011), raising several million dollars along the way in VC funding. Although he has made mistakes in his time, Epstein now focuses on capitalizing and learning from them by consulting, investing, and helping other entrepreneurs learn and grow from the mistakes and troubles he has experienced throughout his career.

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Aaryn, Brandon, Gabe, and Gina sit down with MSU Alumna Sheela Sethuraman, founder and CEO of CueThink, diving into the immense changes her and her team are pushing forward within the always-evolving digital educational world. In this Hatchcast Extra, Sheela highlights the importance of critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, not only within a k-12 setting but throughout life as a whole. Learn about how an idea like CueThink is started, pivoted, and evolved as well as the power of harnessing your own creativity and what the future of digital learning entails, all on this week's episode of the HatchCast!

Burgess Event Calendar 2020

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On today's final episode of the 2019 season, hosts Aaryn Richard, Gabe Hales, and Brandon Weaver sit down with fellow team members within the Burgess Institute of Entrepreneurship to not only review what 2019 has brought us, but what is to come in 2020! Join us as we discuss the ins and outs of the transition to the unified title that is Burgess, what lies ahead for student entrepreneurs on MSU’s campus, as well as some of our favorite moments and memories over the past 12 months!

Thank you for a wonderful 2019 and here's to 2020!

Burgess Event Calendar 2020

Book & Media Recommendations:

Burn The Business Plan: What Great Entrepreneurs Really Do

The War of Art

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber

How to Get Rich: Every Episode

The Time Traveler's Wife (NOT the movie)

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less


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Josh York is the founder of the Detroit-based social streetwear line, York Project. Each item purchased provides living essentials to the homeless of Detroit. York Project launched a cut + sew operation and line in Summer 2018 and now employs women from Detroit homeless shelters as part of its production team. Josh also launched a B2B private label garment manufacturing company called Soft Goods Detroit, whose client list includes Shinola, TJ Maxx Canada, The PGA, Chips Ahoy, Speedo, Funyuns, Planters Peanuts, Vaynermedia, among others.

Josh was a former buyer at Abercrombie & Fitch and also worked for The Boeing Company. He graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Supply Chain Management and a minor in German. Josh was honored as a TEDx speaker in 2017. His company, York Project, also participated in the inaugural 2016 cohort of Conquer Accelerator program.

Find Josh on LinkedIn.

Amanda is an award-winning writer and entrepreneur. She loves to drive change through community. As Co-founder of Bamboo, she builds collaborative workspaces that unite and empower diverse founders and creatives. She is a partner and board member of Venture Catalysts, a 501c3 non-profit leading large scale events. She has a decade of operations and marketing experience but has had the most fun bootstrapping Bamboo from a $5,000 loan to 500+ members and 25,000 sq ft of community space.

Find Amanda on LinkedIn.

Jen has served as Executive Director of the Detroit Food Academy for five years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Colgate University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Michigan State University, where she was a Michigan Non-Profit Association Scholar. In 2010, she received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to explore the social, economic, and environmental impact of chocolate production on small scale cacao farming communities around the world. Inspired to link young people with farmers close to home, she completed two terms with national service FoodCorps and local organization Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP), connecting cafeterias and classrooms in high needs school districts with local food from Michigan farmers and school gardens. Seeing the need to engage students beyond the school year, Jen co-founded the Detroit Food Academy, bringing food, business, and learning together. As Executive Director, Jen supports our young people and the organization in visioning, strategic planning, partnership expansion, fund development, operations, food systems education, culture-building, program facilitation, and fun captain-ing.

Find Jen on LinkedIn.

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