The InNOLEvation® Mindset Podcast

Host Mark McNees interviews FSU alum entrepreneur Alex Sandkuhl on the InNOLEvation® Mindset podcast about his wide-ranging path through sales, startups, and business building. Sandkuhl recounts leading an FSU phone book ad-sales team to a national win over Florida, launching an early podcast network that headlined a live Oktoberfest broadcast, and how an FSU connection led to his first hyper-growth software startup role. He explains lessons from becoming an Eagle Scout and creating a braille-guided trail for the blind, discusses turning around InSync Healthcare Solutions from negative EBITDA to $39M revenue and $9M profit before a 2021 sale, and outlines his current work across a French wine-importing business, a private-equity-focused market research firm, and a portfolio of software companies. He emphasizes opportunism, knowing partnership “lanes,” bootstrapping vs. raising capital, and learning to enjoy the entrepreneurial process.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:48 FSU Roots and Life Today

01:39 Oktoberfest Live Podcast

03:20 Phone Book Sales Win

05:48 Creative Writing to Startups

10:00 Eagle Scout Leadership Lessons

12:40 Opportunity Driven Career

14:27 Scaling and Selling InSync

15:57 Wine Importing and Portfolio

17:40 Jewish Deli and COVID Pivot

22:16 Partnership Lanes and Margins

27:41 B2C vs B2B Reality Check

29:43 Bootstrap vs Investors

32:22 Red Eye Coffee Origin

33:44 Beach Volleyball Tech

38:15 Feedback Loop AI

40:24 Vision and Flexibility

48:32 Stay in Your Lane

52:23 Risk and Exit Discipline

58:24 Trenches Perspective

01:03:02 Advice to Past Self

01:04:36 Podcast Wrap Up