The Startup Story

By James McKinney

As we hear The Startup Story of some of the most successful companies in the world our focus is singular…

To give you the belief and courage to Start Your Story.

Every successful startup began with a ... more

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FAQs about The Startup Story:

How many episodes does The Startup Story have?

The podcast currently has 161 episodes available.

The Startup Story episodes:

January 25, 2022David Sellinger, founder of Deep Sentinel
About this episode
My guest this week is David Sellinger, founder of Deep Sentinel.
David’s startup resume is remarkable and includes such highlights as:
Being an early employee at Amazon working directly under Jeff Bezos and co-inventing Amazon Advertising which now generates BILLIONS of dollars in revenue
Co-founding the real estate brokerage RedFin (now a multi-billion company)
Revolutionizing the shopping experiences for major brands like Macy’s and Office Depot with his RichRelevance startup.
Inventing the next HUGE advancement in home security with Deep Sentinel.
Deep Sentinel brings artificial intelligence to the home protection industry. With the Deep Sentinel the technology can identify threats in real time and once a threat is identified a live guard is engaged to notify and warn off the threat. The Deep Sentinel hardware is not just a camera but a sleek yet incredibly intimidating piece of technology that allows the Live Guards to engage while police are on their way.
In this episode, you'll hear:
How being raised by two immigrant parents shaped his ambition and value of opportunities
His learnings about organizational culture from the founding brothers of Dutch Bros. coffee.
Lessons learned from Jeff Bezos as it relates to data-informed decision making
About the next evolution in home security
How important it is to speak honestly about your mental health
Resources from this episode
FREE Access to Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → https://www.expressvpn.com/startupstory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney

The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
Deep Sentinel Website: https://www.deepsentinel.com/
Deep Sentinel “STOPPED” YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPrVzjHFY6Acoy54iYvo21RW5xjpWNf8m
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible in sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. So please keep sharing!
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1h 22min
January 18, 2022Clay Alexander, founder of Ember
About this episode
My guest this week is Clay Alexander, the inventor and founder of Ember. Ember is a temperature control brand that seeks to disrupt how the world eats, drinks and lives. Their very first product was a Travel Mug and was launched in 100 Starbucks locations. Since their launch they have expanded to other product lines.
Clay has an incredible founder story that I hope more people discover because I think it brings encouragement and inspiration to so many. Let me be clear, when I say "encouragement" I am not talking about the type of fuzzy-feelings you get when you receive a Hallmark card. I'm talking about the actual meaning of the word "encourage", to place courage inside of. That is what Clay's story will deliver to you, courage to keep moving forward despite the obstacles or challenges you might be up against.
See Clay grew up incredibly poor, in fact to use his words "dirt poor." Aside from his economic challenges he was diagnosed with ADD and dyslexia, and he still is. Yet despite all these challenges he has founded two amazing companies and invented numerous patented products, that I'm sure when the story is over will deliver well beyond $1-billion in revenue. I know this episode will quickly become one of your favorites but like all other founder episodes we need to start at the very beginning.
In this episode, you'll hear
How Clay's upbringing was not one where entrepreneurship was an inevitable journey for him. In fact, everything about his upbringing would have pointed towards obtaining a steady 9-5 job to help simply put food on the table.
About how his creative and inventive mind was at work from a young age and how he even replicated the famous Inspector Gadget bicycle, including switches for smoke screens
The journey through college helped set the stage for him to refine his lighting expertise and led to his inventing the brightest LED bulb in the world
The steps he took to negotiate a licensing deal with GE for that very bulb he invented
How cold scrambled eggs became the catalyst for the first temperature controlled coffee mug on the planet
The reason why the Ember mug, iPhone, Macbook Pro, and Apple iPad all look so good together
Why any inventor or entrepreneur should never accept the answer of "No" as final and complete
Clay unpack the future of Ember and the various industries that will benefit from his many temperature control solution ideas
Resources from this episode
Join Grindology: https://grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → https://www.expressvpn.com/startupstory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney
The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
Ember website: https://ember.com/
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible in sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. So please keep sharing!
...more
1h 21min
January 04, 2022Michael Werner, founder of HomeX
About this episode
My guest this week is Michael Werner, founder and CEO of HomeX. Until 2003, Michael served as President and Vice Chariman for his family's 100 year old business, Werner Ladders. The Werner Company continues on today and is now a $1 billion dollar global brand…but Michael has moved on and launched a technology startup within a $500 billion market.
HomeX is the first of its kind home services platform for both homeowners and service providers that is radically improving the complex and fragmented home services industry.
One of the many things that peaked my curiosity about having Michael on the show was that I am just not a handy individual. Despite the fact that I could watch a YouTube video of how to change my garbage disposal I would much rather have an expert walk me through the process, or just do it for me.
Well, that is one of the consumer solutions that HomeX is bringing to the marketplace, direct access to industry experts to guide you through the solution or enable you to hire the expert to come and take care of it for you.
HomeX is truly changing the game for homeowners and service providers. And having just come off a $90 million dollar capital raise, things are about to get very interesting for Michael and the HomeX team.
In this episode, you'll hear:
The importance of reiventing an industry.
The nuance of leading a legacy brand.
Why global manufacturing is critical to business success.
The importance that small business plays to our economy and communities.
Resources from this episode
Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → ExpressVPN.com/StartupStory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney
The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
HomeX for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.homex.lightning&utm_source=web&utm_medium=cta&utm_campaign=newcta
HomeX for iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/homex-we-got-this/id1505761821?utm_source=web&utm_medium=cta&utm_campaign=newcta
Use the code "STARTUPSTORY25" to receive 25% off your first Remote Assist session.
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible in sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. So please keep sharing!
...more
1h 15min
December 28, 2021TOP EPISODE: Brandon Muñoz, founder of Monkwood Studios
About this episode
Whenever I’m asked which episode of The Startup Story has been my favorite, I truly can’t give an answer. I enjoy every single episode because of how much value every entrepreneur brings to the table and how much I learn from them. However, if I were to be asked which episode stands out the most in my mind, it would have to be one of my earliest episodes: my interview with Brandon “Monk” Muñoz from Monkwood Studios.
Out of all of the interviews I’ve held, I’ve only hosted two founders who were woodworkers. Brandon is one of them. His episode stands out because of how incredibly eclectic his entrepreneurial journey has been.
Brandon was both extremely transparent and vulnerable about his story and amazing at telling it. He explains how both he and his startup, Monkwood Studios, got to where they are today. If you want to learn from a talented and hilarious entrepreneur, tune into this conversation with Brandon “Monk” Muñoz.
In this episode, you'll hear:
How Brandon got into woodworking as a kid.
The mentor and friend that taught him how to build furniture.
Why he was inspired to go out on his own.
How much he failed and learned from his mistakes at the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey.
Why how you make something is more important than what you make.
Brandon’s experience doing ministry in London and building the unique startup of a church.
Why he became an entrepreneur by need, not by choice.
How he finally niched his business down and began specializing in wooden desks.
The connection he feels with the people who purchase his desks.
The risk all creative entrepreneurs have to take.
Resources from this episode
Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → ExpressVPN.com/StartupStory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney
The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
Brandon in Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monkwood_/
Monkwood Studios: https://monkwoodstudio.com/
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible in sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. So please keep sharing!
...more
1h 4min
December 21, 2021TOP EPISODE: Randi Zuckerberg, founder of Zuckerberg Media
About this episode
This week we are featuring Randi Zuckerberg, founder of Zuckerberg Media. If her last name sounds familiar, it should. It’s also the last name of her little brother who had a startup about a book of faces or Facebook or something like that.
Randi Zuckerberg is an entrepreneur, investor, best selling author, and Emmy-nominated tech media personality. She is the founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media, with the mission of supporting current and future entrepreneurs through investment, mentorship, and media.
Growing up she wanted to be a Broadway actress, yet while in college she had to pivot from that dream to pursue a career in advertising. But what I love about the stories of many of the founders this show highlights, is that we always find our way back to our passion, in one form or another.
Like every Startup Story founder, we need to go back to the early days to find out what life was like for Randi before Facebook LIVE, before two best-selling books, and before receiving two Tony awards. You’ll soon hear how her beginning wasn’t all that different from others who have come before her. This is Randi’ Zuckerberg's startup story.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Her aspirations of becoming an actress and how those dreams got crushed early on
About creating her first ad campaign for the Special Olympics
The transition from working in an ad agency to working for Facebook and becoming the creator of Facebook LIVE
About the time she received a call from the producers of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages and the start of her Broadway career
How her experiences have taught her that none of us have just one calling and there are so many chapters and phases of our lives, each with different callings
Her realization that her best skills were on the production side of the entertainment and Broadway industry; and how she began to apply those skills as an entrepreneur
The founding of Zuckerberg Media and Randi’s hopes and ambitions for her venture
Resources from this episode
Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → https://www.expressvpn.com/startupstory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney

The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
Zuckerberg Media: https://www.zuckerbergmedia.com/
Michael Littig, Zuckerberg Institute: https://www.thestartupstory.co/zuckerberginstitute
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible in sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. So please keep sharing!
...more
52min
December 14, 2021TOP EPISODE: Richard Garriott, Video Game Creator and Astronaut
About this episode
As a pioneer, there is not a single roadmap to work from. There’s no way to model your success off of another because there is no other--you’re it. You’re the front runner. There must be an internal competition established within your brain to be constantly improving. Richard Garriot has experienced all of this throughout his time in the gaming sector.
Richard is an investor and private astronaut as well as a pioneer and legend. What drew me to him was his role within privatizing space travel as well as his experience as a video game entrepreneur. However, I had no idea how rich his background in the gaming sector was. Tune into this episode to hear how iconic he truly is and how he reached this level of success.
In this episode, you'll hear
How entering science fairs prepared Richard to be a great independent competitor.
How he published his first product.
His experience as a freelance game creator looking for publishers.
What caused him to start a company with his brother.
Why packaging was important to him even before building a brand.
His experience losing the faith of everyone he worked with and making up his own philosophy from scratch.
How he navigated his business with the emergence of the internet.
The period of time when he took a break from gaming and pursued space travel.
His vision for space and the future of space travel.
The power of being multidisciplinary.
The key things he learned from his failures.
Resources from this episode
Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → ExpressVPN.com/StartupStory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney
The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
Richard on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RichardGarriott
Richard’s website: http://www.richardgarriott.com
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. There are three ways you can help.
First, the most powerful way you can support this podcast is by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Second, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and be sure to share your favorite Startup Story episodes with your friends and on social media. Tag or mention @thestartupstory.co so we can give you a virtual high five and a thank you!
Lastly, share the podcast on LinkedIn. The Startup Story podcast is for entrepreneurs. Don’t underestimate the power of sharing on LinkedIn so other entrepreneurs can discover us.
With your support, we hope to further our reach in encouraging and inspiring the founders of today and tomorrow. Thank you!
...more
1h 35min
December 07, 2021Matt Meeker, co-founder of BARK (replay)
About this episode
My guest this week is Matt Meeker, Co-founder of Bark, and while the Bark’s name itself might not cause your ears to perk up in excitement for what's to come in this episode.
Bark’s various product lines are household names. Their flagship product being BarkBox, with over 1.7 million active BarkBox subscribers, BarkBox is the Premier subscription dog toy and treat service. In addition to BarkBox, Bark has various product lines that can be found in over 23,000 retail outlets. Matts entire episode is chock full of value because his journey and his experiences are so extensive.
To start with Matt was one of the digital advertising pioneers, and we discuss what digital advertising was like long before the days of Facebook ads. Matt was also a Co-founder of Meetup, which eventually sold the WeWork for $156 million in 2017. And now in 2021, Matt and the Bark leadership team are navigating the SPAC landscape to bring Bark to the public markets. As I said, Matts episode covers quite a bit of ground and I'm super pumped to bring it to you. But with that said while I know, you're excited to hear his insights into SPAC’s and all things subscription-related we need to start at the very beginning.
In this episode, you'll hear:
How he grew up in a small town in Iowa with his parents who were very different. His father was a conservative accountant and his mother a rebel who encouraged him to form his path.
How he was entrepreneurial from a young age, at school he had many side hustles like running the schools poker games and selling red cups to buy beer.
How he played Racquetball competitively and went on to play at the National Tournament.
Matt went to the University of Minnesota but only lasted one quarter as he only went because everyone expected him to go.
How Matt dropped out of college and joined the Navy and became a weather observer.
Matt went back to university and paid his way through in cash.
After college he joined a Digital Ad Agency in March 1997, the company focused on getting traffic from the website to the store. They had big companies like Disney, Capital One and Discover.
Matt explains what digital advertising was like in 2000.
He shares that the Ad company was very successful but he did sell it, with this he joined forces with one of the companies investors to start a new company.
Matt explains that his next company wasn’t successful and it was all down to the execution of the business. The company had more money they knew what to do with and hired big names in the business world but never made a real product or spoke to a customer.
Matt shares how the founder of the Ad agency Scott started talking about the next business venture.
Matt shares how Scott and himself started Meetup, a company trying to encourage people to get out of their house and meet people online. They also wanted to change the negative narrative of meeting people online.
How Matt and Scott hired their CTO for Meetup from a listing they put on Craigslist.
Matt shares that he left Meetup because it was getting too big with 45 employees and he didn’t want the stress of it.
Matt founded Barkbox in September 2011 and never thought it would grow to over 735 employees.
Matt shares that he started Barkbox as he was living in New York with his Great Dane Hugo, when they went into a pet shop there was nothing for big dogs.
He shares that Groupon brought in half of their customers in the first year.
Matt shares how BarkBox has further developed into different sections like SuperHuman, Bark Bright, Bark Eats and Bark Home.
How BarkBox developed its own dog food as they wanted dogs to be fed as an individual.
Resources from this episode
Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → https://www.expressvpn.com/startupstory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney
The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
Sponsor Movo: https://movo.cash/
Bark HQ: https://bark.co/
BarkBox: https://www.barkbox.com
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. There are three ways you can help.
First, the most powerful way you can support this podcast is by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
...more
1h 24min
November 23, 2021Ryan Serhant, founder of Serhant and star of Bravo's Million Dollar Listing New York
About this episode
My guest this week is Ryan Serhant, star of Bravo’s hit series Million Dollar Listing New York, Best Selling Author, and founder of Serhant.
How do the crossroads of reality television and entrepreneurship ever cross? Well, this episode will answer that question very clearly for you. My guest has been the star of Bravo’s hit show, Million Dollar Listing New York for the last 10 seasons as well as launching one of the fastest growing Real Estate brands in the nation. Ryan is an absolute branding genius and he shares his expertise on that very topic, as well as his take on how resilience plays into the startup journey.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Childhood lessons that shaped his entire life’s journey
How hand modeling helped stabilize his income while building his empire
The power of action-taking and not action-thinking
How Real Estate is just like improvisational acting
Why you should plan out what “future you” looks like
How the hardest moments in our life can shape our entire future going forward
How he started selling real estate by leveraging YouTube
How naivete can be of value to launching your business
How selling is the foundation of any business
The importance of branding, regardless of your industry
Resources from this episode
Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → https://www.expressvpn.com/startupstory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney

The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
Ryan’s Brand Building Course: https://ryanserhant.com/thestartupstory
Sell it Like Serhant: https://amzn.to/3r6hHSH
Big Money Energy: https://amzn.to/2ZidbVQ
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible in sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. So please keep sharing!
...more
1h 27min
November 16, 2021Sean Cannell, founder of Think Media
About this episode
My guest this week is Sean Cannell, founder of Think Media. His episode was originally released on February 11th of last year. Just 45 days before everything started to unravel from COVID.
Sean is an incredible human being and entrepreneur as well as a best selling author, YouTuber, speaker, and absolute digital marketing mogul that has centered his mission on helping entrepreneurs and creatives build their influence with online video.
Sean’s various YouTube channels have over two million subscribers, his videos have been viewed over 50 million times and he has been featured as one of the “20 Must Watch YouTube Channels That Will Change Your Business” by Forbes.
The stats I just read are incredibly impressive, but what is really impressive is that Sean, and the Think Media team are on a mission to help 10,000 people create a living, doing what they love to do, utilizing online video. That is what I love about Sean’s story, is that it is grounded in helping others achieve something more for themselves.
In this episode, you'll hear:
How Sean’s childhood needed a complete redemption story in order to move forward.
Lessons learned from key mentors in his life.
The power of YouTube and why it should not be overlooked.
About the marathon of entrepreneurship and how to avoid burnout.
Why your brand NEEDS to utilize video.
Resources from this episode
Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → https://www.expressvpn.com/startupstory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney

The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
YouTube Secrets: https://amzn.to/31YHpOz
Think Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGxjDWAN1KwrkXYVi8CXtjQ
Sean Cannell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seancannell/
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible in sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. So please keep sharing!
...more
1h 18min
November 09, 2021Evan Goldberg, founder & EVP of Oracle NetSuite
About this episode
My guest this week is none other than Evan Goldberg, Founder & EVP of Oracle NetSuite.
The startup story of NetSuite is amazing because Evan and Larry Ellison spent 5 minutes on the phone discussing the idea of selling software from the cloud (which wasn’t called the cloud back in 1999) and then one year later they were selling to customers.
NetSuite is the market leader in small business cloud-based ERP solutions and have over 27,000 customers across the globe. Within my full interview we discuss how he handled the failure of his first software startup, what it was like to build a startup and navigate an IPO as well as a corporate acquisition. We even discuss the fact that Evan had to lead NetSuite through not one financial crisis, but two. The dot com bust of 2000 and the 2008 market crash…and then a third with the COVID pandemic just last year…but we don’t spend any time talking about that because there just wasn’t enough time! I’m telling you…you are going to love this episode.
In this episode, you'll hear:
How Evan recovered from the failure of his first startup.
How the origin of a company valued at over $9 billion began from a 5-minute conversation.
How to handle distractions as a startup founder.
The early customer acquisition strategies for a multi-billion-dollar SaaS company.
Learnings from the transition as an independent company to being owned by a corporation.
How startup founders need to capitalize on a down market to improve their business and be prepared for the rebound.
Resources from this episode
Grindology: https://www.grindologymagazine.com/
ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → https://www.expressvpn.com/startupstory
Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5
The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip
The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney

The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory
NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/
Evan’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-netsuite/
Share the podcast
The Startup Story community has been so incredible in sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. So please keep sharing!
...more
59min

FAQs about The Startup Story:

How many episodes does The Startup Story have?

The podcast currently has 161 episodes available.