Hacking the Hustle is a podcast show hosted by Benjamin Sklar dedicated to helping curious, ambitious people gain insights about entrepreneurship, business, motivation, and mindset.
In this episode of Hacking the Hustle, I sit down with Mark Gerson, entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, and co-founder of GLG, Thuzio, United Hatzalah, and African Mission Healthcare. We talk about how he helped build one of the most influential expert networks in the world, why he believes Israel is a breeding ground for innovation, and what drives his deep commitment to medical missions in Africa. Mark shares his unique perspective on interfaith philanthropy, the power of Jewish values, and how business can be a vehicle for doing real, lasting good. This conversation made me think differently about success, service, and what it means to lead with purpose.
In this episode of Hacking the Hustle, I sit down with Chase Bush, Managing Partner of Bush & Associates CPA LLC, a Nevada-based audit firm specializing in public companies. Chase and I have worked together on numerous public offerings, and today he shares invaluable insights for founders and CEOs looking to raise capital, navigate audits, and go public.We cover what auditors look for, the biggest accounting mistakes startups make, and what life is really like post-IPO. Whether you're raising a SAFE, preparing for an S-1, or just want to run a tighter ship, this episode is packed with practical advice to help you stay investor-ready.Follow Hacking the Hustle for more real talk with the people powering the capital markets.
In this episode of Hacking the Hustle, Benjamin Sklar interviews Nina Raab, CEO of Lionrun Consulting, who specializes in helping startups craft compelling investor presentations. Nina shares her advice on how to communicate your vision, structure your pitch, and stand out to investors. Whether you're an entrepreneur preparing for your first pitch or a seasoned founder looking to refine your message, this episode is packed with insights to help you secure funding and drive growth.
In this special episode of Hacking the Hustle, Benjamin Sklar interviews Donna Ackerly and Keith Haynes, the CEO and COO of Lioness Consulting LLC, a leading proxy solicitation firm based in New York. Designed for public company CEOs, this episode delves into the critical role effective communication plays in proxy battles and shareholder meetings. Hear firsthand from Donna and Keith as they share their expertise on how Lioness Consulting drives successful outcomes in the boardroom.
Welcome to Hacking the Hustle. In this episode, join us as we unravel the intricacies of the recent decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the dispute between the State of Israel and South Africa. Our guest, Gurney Pearsall III, Esq., brings his expertise to the forefront, breaking down the court's decision with clarity and insight. From the historical context to the legal arguments presented in the courtroom, this episode sheds light on the complexities surrounding this critical international case. Whether you're a legal enthusiast, a global affairs follower, or simply someone intrigued by the intersection of politics and law, this episode offers a comprehensive analysis of a pivotal moment in international relations. Gain a deeper understanding of the implications, reasoning, and potential ramifications of the ICJ's decision as we explore the nuances of the case. Subscribe now to stay informed on our latest developments and join us on this journey through the intricacies of the ICJ's decisions that shape the world we live in.
Welcome to Hacking the Hustle! In this episode, we had the privilege of sitting down with Richard Parker, the CEO of Diomo, to unravel the mysteries of buying a business. Richard is a seasoned expert and thought leader in the realm of buying businesses. With a wealth of experience and a proven track record, Richard has successfully navigated the intricate process of acquiring businesses and has become a beacon of knowledge for aspiring entrepreneurs. In this episode, Richard shares invaluable insights into the art of buying a business. From identifying lucrative opportunities to negotiating deals, he walks us through the entire process, demystifying the complexities for our listeners. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur looking to expand your portfolio or a first-time buyer, Richard's wisdom is a compass in the vast landscape of business acquisition. Key Takeaways: - The crucial steps to take before entering the business-buying arena. - Strategies for identifying businesses with untapped potential. - Insider tips on negotiating deals and maximizing value. - Common pitfalls to avoid during the acquisition process.
On today's episode of HTH, Cassel Shapiro, CEO of Skillr, shares his story from working on Wall Street to launching Skillr, a software platform where you can video chat with an expert instantly.
On today's episode of Hacking the Hustle, Benji interviews Michael Handelsman, a partner at Kelman PLLC, a law firm exclusively focused on the cryptocurrency industry. Michael helps issuers, exchanges and payment processors navigate U.S. securities laws and state money transmission regimes.
Dave Hendricks is the CEO of Vertalo, an SEC-registered transfer agent for security token offerings. Vertalo is enabling the digital asset ecosystem, democratizing access to secondary liquidity for private assets. More than 70 clients and partners rely on Vertalo's B2B SaaS platform to support low-friction primary capital formation, on-chain share registry, and access to secondary liquidity through its APIs that connect to major alternative trading systems and other marketplaces. If you want to manage your digital asset shareholder registry on something better than a spreadsheet, you should consider Vertalo, who can help you manage the pre and post-issuance chaos related to investor relations. Learn more at www.vertalo.com.
Roy Shmuel is the CEO of Sightec, an Israeli company that empowers drones with the ability to analyze and respond in real-time to what they see, enabling them to autonomously perform complex tasks that were previously impossible. https://www.sightec.com/
Max Simonovsky is the founder and CEO of Soapy Care Ltd., a company that manufactures and sells the world's smartest handwashing stations, which help prevent the spread of infection using smart tech powered by computer vision, artificial intelligence, and cloud analytics. A Russian immigrant to Israel, Max aims to convert hand hygiene into data science, creating more than 100 data points from each hand hygiene cycle. By utilizing advanced automated analytical algorithms to validate that hand hygiene quality meets all regulatory requirements, Soapy enables its customers to make decisions supported by real-time data and insights. Soapy is a healthcare technology company committed to making the world a safer place, one handwashing at a time.
Jeff Ramson is the CEO of PCG Advisory Group, an investor relations firm helping small-cap public companies to communicate their stories effectively with the goal of maximizing exposure to current and potential stakeholders. Jeff is also a portfolio manager of a private hedge fund utilizing proprietary fundamental and technical analysis strategies across asset classes, including equities, interest rates, currencies, metals and energy.
Joe Flanagan is the co-founder of Maple, an institutional crypto-capital network built on Ethereum and Solana. Maple is currently bringing the debt capital markets on-chain. https://maple.finance/
Richard Johnson is the CEO of Texture Capital, a U.S. broker-dealer revolutionizing issuance and trading of digital securities with blockchain and smart contracts. Texture Capital leverages blockchain technology and smart contracts to streamline the current market structure for private placements by supporting the issuance and trading of digital securities. Texture Capital's business model provides increased liquidity, transparency and efficiency for institutional investors and issuers. Richard is helping the potential for security tokens to transform market structure. He founded Texture Capital in 2019 to leverage blockchain and smart contracts and revolutionize the market for private securities. Richard began his career in quantitative finance then moved into electronic trading. In 2014, he shifted focus to emerging technologies, particularly crypto and blockchain, as a consultant, advisor, trader and founder. Richard is a leader in equities market structure and FinTech, frequently in financial press including WSJ, FT, Bloomberg TV. On Twitter @_richjohnson Key skills: Market Structure / Equities / Blockchain / Bitcoin / Crypto / Futures / FX / FinTech / Swaps / FINRA series 7, 63, 55, 24, 3 / Business Development / Financial Markets / Brokerage Operations / Regulation / Trading Analytics https://app.texture.capital/
Yoav Silverstein is a senior associate at OurCrowd, a leading venture capital - crowdfunding platform for investing in Israeli technology companies. OurCrowd enables its global network of accredited investors to access carefully diligenced and curated venture capital investments. As investments are made by an aggregated group ("the crowd"), investors can access world-class deals on attractive deal terms that historically only large venture capital investors could enjoy. Starting in early 2013, OurCrowd investors from over 180 countries have invested over $1.5 billion in over 250 companies. OurCrowd leads each deal by co-investing.
Jonny Price is the Vice President of Fundraising at Wefunder, a leading crowdfunding platform helping founders raise up to $5M in capital. On May 16, 2016, it became legal for everyday people to invest as little as $100 in startups and small businesses. Since then, Wefunder has helped 1,860 founders raise almost $500M from their communities. Wefunder is a Public Benefit Corporation with a mission to revitalize capitalism and keep the American dream alive. GDP growth is slowing. Wealth inequality is increasing. Entrepreneurship is dying across America; falling from 10.6% to 3.6% among those under 30 since 1989. Wefunder is reversing these trends by funding more deserving businesses across all of America, not solely tech startups in Silicon Valley.
Skye Ostreicher's role is elevating the work of our elected officials in a nonpartisan way. Skye says, "We pay taxes for them to help us. Let's get to know them better, behind-the-scenes." Follow Skye on Instagram @thepoliticalpersonality and on Twitter @SkyeStats. Skye is the host of Political Personalities with Skye, a podcast show under the news publication City & State, an online and print destination for coverage and analysis of the New York State Legislature, New York's Executive Chamber, New York City Government, and Federal Government in New York. Skye received a full academic scholarship to University of Miami... two master's degrees... wanted a fun internship, so she spent the summer at News 12 Long Island... met Tom Suozzi who was running for local office... he brought her onto his campaign... got hired by a political consulting firm... then another one... built community relationships along the way... served as regional director for the Mike Bloomberg presidential campaign in 2020... COVID happened... started an Instagram TV show... parlayed it into a community news platform... worked with one media company, then another, then another. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
Abhishek Gupta is the CEO of Codebuddy Pvt. Ltd., a software development company in Kolkotta, India. Codebuddy built Foragenow.com.
Tom Holahan is a partner at OpenView Venture Partners. Based in Boston, Tom focuses on Series A investments in infrastructure, security and application software.
The Israel Nature and Heritage Foundation of America (INHFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded to support the protection and conservation of Israel's nature, landscapes and heritage sites. Matan Zivek is the Executive Director. The INHFA partnered with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) in its endeavor to preserve nature and historical sites in Israel. The INPA is the sole government agency with jurisdiction over all protected areas in the country, constituting approximately 25% of Israel's land and it is responsible for all heritage sites, nature reserves, and wildlife in Israel. Matan's passion is empowering people and communities, specializing in underserved populations in Israel. Matan is an environment enthusiast, yoga lover and serial language learner. INHFA: https://www.inhfa.org/
Scott Shay is the Chairman of Signature Bank and author of several books on issues facing the Jewish community. His third book, Conspiracy U: A Case Study, presents a case study of his alma mater, Northwestern University, in order to challenge the proliferation of anti-Zionist conspiracy theories championed on college campuses by both the far-right and far-left.
Kyle Sonlin is the CEO of Security Token Market (STM), the "Yahoo Finance" for blockchain-based assets with a focus on regulatory compliant digital securities. STM tracks over 200 live trading equities, fractional real estate properties, and debt products across 200 countries. STM is also a media company with four professionally produced shows developed in house including Security Token Show, Open Tab, Spilling the NFTea, and Crypto Con Leche. Amassing millions of social media impressions per month, STM is driving mainstream adoption for blockchain technologies in capital markets.
Layne Nadeau is the CEO of NVAL, a Canadian company which delivers tokenized asset pricing and analytics for the NFT markets.
Darren Marble is the Executive Producer of Going Public, a TV series that follows the stories of founders on their capital-raising journey. For the first time, viewers can Click-to-Invest and buy shares in featured companies while they watch. Season 1 streamed on Entrepreneur.com and was viewed more than 12 million times. Apply for Season 2 at goingpublic.com. Darren is also the CEO of Issuance, an investment platform for Reg A+ offerings. Their clients have raised more than $250 million to date. Learn more at issuance.com.
Monica Rojas is the Head of Community at Upstream, a no-code, full-stack, DAO-in-a-box, building the community tools of the future starting with the Upstream Collective.
Here is my opinion on why Russia is attacking Ukraine in February 2022.
A pioneer of the investment banking industry in New York City, Stewart Cahn founded Cahn Capital Corp. in 1990 where he advises early stage companies on the private placement of debt and equity. Stewart is an icon of the Jewish philanthropic community.
Jonathan Haber is a religious Jew and an executive at Capchase in New York. Capchase is a direct lender funding growing companies via non-dilutive revenue-based financing.
Johnnie Yu is an investor at Listen Ventures focused on consumer, web3, and the creator economy. On his spare time, Jonnie plays the saxophone and writes film reviews.
Nick Coetzee is the Chief of Staff at Axial, the largest online platform for buying and selling private companies. Benji and Nick talk about entrepreneurship, the U.S. education system, and expressing yourself in today's world.
Christian "Quez" Vazquez is the founder of Quezt Gaming. Son of two Cuban immigrants, Quez is an active member of the NFT community helping build the metaverse. Quez is an engineer by trade, gamer by passion. https://queztgaming.com/
This episode is about what's going on in America today regarding censorship and the “marketplace of ideas.”
Based in Salt Lake City, Landon Ainge helps individuals and family offices gain access to invest alongside VCs utilizing special purpose vehicles (SPVs). Twitter: @Landonainge https://syndicates.assure.co/
This episode is all about patience and how important it is to think long term.
Simone Oliver is a digital strategist with 15+ years of demonstrated success in the media industry focused on distributing stories across platforms within the fashion, beauty and lifestyle spaces. Specialized in brand development and social storytelling, Simone Oliver is an editorial and strategic thought-leader and the Global Editor-in-Chief of Refinery29, the global lifestyle and entertainment company covering culture and social issues through a femme lens.
Moish Peltz advises companies on blockchain, cryptocurrency, Web3 and NFT matters, with a focus on the intersection of IP and cryptocurrency. Moish has been advising cryptocurrency ventures since 2014, and combines his knowledge of the blockchain with a decade of IP and business law experience where he helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses and brands.
On today's episode of Hacking the Hustle, host Benji Sklar interviews Tom Aliamo, an account executive at Gong, and the host of the Millennial Sales podcast. They discuss the process of becoming a learning and content-creating machine. The Millennial Sales podcast helps young salespeople make the most out of their career. Each week, Tom interviews two sales leaders for the podcast and writes one newsletter documenting his journey. Website: millennialmomentum.net Twitter: @TommyTahoe Instagram: @TommyTahoe Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tr-talk/id1294132895?mt=2%20#iTunes%A0
On today's episode, host Benji Sklar discusses the benefits of being polarizing.
On today's episode of Hacking the Hustle, Benji Sklar interviews Aya Allison, the CEO of Sunset Biosciences, a wellness lab and education consulting firm focused on enthogenic medicine (psilocybin). Their conversation focuses on the legalization of psilocybin in the U.S., the benefits of psilocybin, and the current market trends in the industry.
On today's episode of Hacking the Hustle, Benji Sklar interviewed Hrish Lotlikar, the co-founder and CEO of SuperWorld, a virtual real estate platform where users can buy virtual plots of land, share in revenue generated by user activity, and personalize the real world by adding anything anywhere in augmented reality. Hrish's career has spanned from real estate investment banking on Wall Street, to Silicon Valley and Hollywood with many years spent living and working internationally. This episode is great for learning about the intersection of augmented reality, virtual real estate, and the future of the metaverse.
On today's show, Benji talks about buying and selling digital land in the Metaverse, as well as a new game idea.
On today's show, Benji Sklar interviews Cody Norton, the co-founder of Ignite the Spark, a fast-growing community of over 1,500 individuals focused on energy tech innovation in Israel. Cody also consults entrepreneurs to help hone their pitching and public speaking skills. Cody has hosted 45+ large and small events that he has personally lead as moderator, host, and interviewer. The organization has two sub-communities: Women in Energy and Ignite Academia. We hope you enjoy the episode!
This episode is about the importance of improving your communication skills in order to have a happy and healthy marriage.
On today's episode, Benji talks about Hacking the Hustle's community on Upstream.
Benji talks about what he's learning regarding the metaverse.
On today's episode, I talk about the difference between LLCs and Corporations and why you should choose one over the other.
Benjamin interviews Marne Coit, Esq. about the hemp and cannabis business, specifically about the legal frameworks and current trends in the industry. Benjamin and Marne met on Clubhouse! Quick background on Marne: she is an experienced educator and consultant with an extensive background and knowledge of food, agricultural, hemp and cannabis law. She is the co-author of Food Systems Law, An Introduction for Non-Lawyers (Routledge July 2020). Marne graduated from Emory University and Vermont Law School.
NFT.NYC is a week-long event happening this week in NYC. Benjamin attended the event in Times Square and this episode is about what he learned from his experience.
Here's a hot take on NFTs and DAOs and what the future holds.
Jacob Worenklein is the CEO of US Grid Company (USGRDCO), which is focused on owning and operating major power plants in US cities and transitioning them to lower carbon. From 2017 to early 2020, he was also Chairman of LS Power's Ravenswood Power Holdings, which owns the largest power plant in New York. Jay founded and served from 2003 to 2008 as Chairman and CEO of US Power Generating Company, which owned 5,200 MWs of generating capacity in New York City and Boston, representing 20% of NYC's capacity and 50% of Boston's. Jay began his career at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, where he practiced law for 20 years, created the world's largest global power and projects practice and served on Milbank's three-person executive committee. Jay left Milbank to head the global project finance and independent power business of Lehman Brothers, where he helped open the global capital markets to the financing of projects. He then served as global head of the energy, power and infrastructure groups at Societe Generale, which under his leadership was named by Euromoney in 2001 as the World's Best Project Finance Bank. In 2002 Jay received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from Infrastructure Journal in London. Jay has served on the boards and audit committees of public and private companies. He is chairman of the Interfaith Alliance, dedicated to safeguarding the constitutional rights of all Americans. He is a trustee and co-chair of the Policy & Impact Committee of the Committee for Economic Development (CED) and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a board member of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York. Jay has taught classes on ethics and business at Princeton, Yale and NYU. He is a graduate of Columbia and has JD and MBA degrees from NYU.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
