Podcasts about founder stories

202 Prescription-Grade THC-Free CBD for Pain, Anxiety, and Sleep: Pulak Sharma on Cope Now Host Marie Betcher, RN and former hospice nurse, interviews Pulak Sharma, founder of Kazmira and creator of Cope Now, a vertically integrated telemedicine, compounding pharmacy, and manufacturing platform providing prescription, pharmaceutical-grade THC-free CBD. Sharma explains their CGMP-validated hemp extraction and purification process, compounding into an oral tincture in three strengths, delivery to patients, and development of a shelf-stable nano-emulsion. He says patients most commonly seek help for anxiety and pain, and notes many consumer CBD products are underdosed, citing therapeutic ranges of roughly 200–400 mg/day and typical prescribing around 300 mg/day, with protocols for titration and liver enzyme concerns. They discuss CBD's non-scheduled status, lower side-effect profile compared with opioids/benzodiazepines, clinician and pharmacist oversight for dosing and interactions, and batch testing showing non-detect THC to avoid psychoactive effects and THC-positive urine tests. 00:00 Welcome and Disclaimer 00:29 Meet the Guest and Episode Focus 02:07 How Cope Now Works 03:06 Product Formats and Strengths 03:53 Top Uses and Proper Dosing 05:25 Hospice Needs and Opioid Alternatives 08:52 Titration and Daily Timing 12:04 Telemedicine Intake and Prescribing 13:32 Founder Story and Older Patients 16:14 Closing the Guidance Gap 17:59 Addiction and THC Free Assurance 20:47 Standardizing CBD as Medicine 23:42 Final Thanks and Subscribe https://copenow.com/ If you want to help, you can donate to help support Hospice Explained at the Buy me a Coffee link   https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Hospice  Hospice Explained Affiliates & Contact Information Buying from these Affilite links will help support this Podcast.  Maire introduces a partnership with Suzanne Mayer RN inventor of the  cloud9caresystem.com,  When patients remain in the same position for extended periods, they are at high risk of developing pressure injuries, commonly known as bedsores. One of the biggest challenges caregivers face is the tendency for pillows and repositioning inserts to easily dislodge during care.(Suzanne is a former guest on Episode #119) When you order with Cloud 9 care system, please tell them you heard about them from Hospice Explained.(Thank You) Marie's Contact Marie@HospiceExplained.com www.HospiceExplained.com   Finding a Hospice Agency 1. You can use Medicare.gov to help find a hospice agency, 2. choose Find provider 3. Choose Hospice 4. then add your zip code This should be a list of Hospice Agencies local to you or your loved one.  

Sahra Nguyen is the founder and CEO of Nguyen Coffee Supply, the specialty Vietnamese coffee company she started in 2018. On this episode of ITS, Sahra talks about building a market for Vietnamese coffee and robusta in the U.S., working directly with farmers in Vietnam, shifting from DTC beans to retail cans, and how introducing a new product to consumers requires time and intention.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Wilcox was diagnosed on his ninth birthday, noticed insulin pooling in his pod window, and turned it into a company. He talks about building Diatech Diabetes, selling it, and running marathons with type 1. twiist - A different type of insulin pump has arrived ABLEnow save for today's needs or invest for tomorrow Eversense CGM MiniMed Tandem Mobi ** Use code JUICEBOX to save 20% at Cozy Earth  CONTOUR NextGen smart meter and CONTOUR DIABETES app Dexcom G7 Go tubeless with Omnipod 5 or Omnipod DASH * Get your supplies from US MED  or call 888-721-1514 Touched By Type 1 Take the T1DExchange survey Apple Podcasts> Subscribe to the podcast today! The podcast is available on Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Radio Public, Amazon Music and all Android devices The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here or buy me a coffee. Thank you! *The Pod has an IP28 rating for up to 25 feet for 60 minutes. The Omnipod 5 Controller is not waterproof.  ** t:slim X2 or Tandem Mobi w/ Control-IQ+ technology (7.9 or newer). RX ONLY. Indicated for patients with type 1 diabetes, 2 years and older. BOXED WARNING:Control-IQ+ technology should not be used by people under age 2, or who use less than 5 units of insulin/day, or who weigh less than 20 lbs. Safety info: tandemdiabetes.com/safetyinfo Disclaimer - Nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast or read on Arden's Day is intended as medical advice. You should always consult a physician before making changes to your health plan.  If the podcast has helped you to live better with type 1 please tell someone else how to find it!  

⛰️ Try Heights Platform, the all-in-one tool for building your online course and community. Start your 30-day free trial → https://www.heightsplatform.com Adrian is the founder of CXChronicles, a company that helps businesses improve their customer experience through four key pillars: team, tools, process, and feedback. He has also hosted almost 300 episodes of the CXChronicles Podcast, where he interviews founders, CEOs, and customer-focused leaders about what it really takes to build companies people trust.

What makes someone leave a career on Wall Street to build a menswear brand with no experience in fashion? In this episode, I sit down with Alfré Snower, founder and CEO of Le Alfré, to hear how he transformed four shirts, a small New York apartment, and a lot of persistence into a growing lifestyle brand. He shares the reality of building from scratch, from personally messaging potential followers on Instagram to teaching himself design, manufacturing, content creation, and e-commerce.We also explore how Alfré created an entire universe around the brand, culminating in Alfré's Penthouse, a reservation-only retail destination in New York City. Our conversation covers intuition, vulnerability, creativity, and the importance of taking risks that established brands might avoid. More than a story about clothing, this is a conversation about believing in yourself, learning through failure, and building a brand that makes people feel something.

Siblings, the refillable candle brand from a brother-sister duo, is rooted in a simple idea: a candle worth keeping forever. Six years in with hundreds of thousands of candles sold, the brand is proving that slow, bootstrapped growth might be the smartest kind. Cofounder David Bronkie shares how they've built a loyal customer base and earned a spot on premium retail shelves. For more on Siblings and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Send us Fan MailTrey Roth spent ten years being called a failure before the world called him a success.He founded YayStack in September 2014. Raised money. Failed. Raised again. Failed again. Facebook killed his API access and forced a full rebuild. He watched other founders zoom past him with cleaner product-market fit and shorter timelines. Two weeks before the ten-year anniversary of the company — the deadline he and his wife Ashley had actually set as the “throw in the towel” date — everything clicked.Today YayStack is a geocaching gift card and giveaway platform. Think Pokémon Go, but instead of chasing creatures, you're chasing real gift cards from real local businesses. The tagline is “we made advertising fun,” and Trey relaunched the whole entity around that promise in January of this year.In this episode of Spartan Leadership, Trey and Josh Kosnick go deep on the twelve-year grind, the McDonald's nuggets moment with his last twenty dollars, the plane crash at nineteen that changed how he views every breath, the pirated software prayer that led directly to the idea for YayStack, and the Dwight Howard six-figure investment story that started with a 51%-decided choice to get in the car when he was too tired to drive.You'll hear:• Why Trey was preparing the “I quit” email to his shareholders and what changed his mind• The identity stack — “I am undefeated, and this is how I know”• Why “51% decided” is Trey's action threshold and how it literally saved his twin brother's life• The Dwight Howard story — how a $200 Apple Pencil turned into a six-figure investment check• The transition from platinum-selling music producer to tech founder — and the integrity moment that made the bridge• How faith actually shows up on a Tuesday morning when payroll is due on Friday• The 1-in-400-trillion odds that every one of us already beatJosh's takeaway from Trey — “I am undefeated, and this is how I know” — is added to his own identity stack on-mic. If you take one thing from this episode, take that.FOLLOW TREY & YAYSTACKInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yaystackTrey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/treyrothWebsite: https://yaystack.coDownload the YayStack app in the App Store or Google Play — national gift card drops every Saturday through the end of 2026.SUBSCRIBE TO SPARTAN LEADERSHIPhttps://www.youtube.com/@spartanleadershippodcast?sub_confirmation=1FOLLOW JOSH KOSNICKWebsite: https://joshkosnick.comThe Kairos Code (book + audiobook): https://joshkosnick.com/thekairoscodeBridge Builder Mastermind: https://www.joshkosnick.com/mastermindRate and review the Spartan Leadership Podcast wherever you listen. It's how the next operator finds the show.Remember, the good and great are the enemies of possible. Lead like a Spartan today.#SpartanLeadership #TreyRoth #YayStack #Entrepreneurship #Faith #Leadership #KairosCodeCONNECT WITH ME HERE:FacebookInstagramLinkedInTwitterTikTokYouTubeSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE:Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTube

⛰️ Try Heights Platform, the all-in-one tool for building your online course and community. Start your 30-day free trial → https://www.heightsplatform.com Alex Bacon has spent more than 20 years helping companies scale. He helped grow a tech services business from £4 million to £38 million in revenue, supported the launch of a legal tech company that generated £22 million, and led teams through rapid growth and acquisition. Today, he is the founder of BrightKeel.AI, where he helps founders and growing teams use AI and automation to save time, improve their processes, and achieve more with the people they already have.

We're creating space for the brains behind the brands we love, and asking good questions along the way. The result is a deep dive into the how and why of brand-building, from blueprints to launch day, customers as community and the detours in between. big lessons, easy listening. In this episode of Read Receipt, Sean sits down with Stephanie Farsht, CEO and co-founder of Small Wonder, the luxury waterless hair care brand built on a powder-to-lather format that activates fresh in the shower. Stephanie's path to founder wasn't conventional. She spent 16 years at Target in innovation and strategy, then eight years teaching entrepreneurship at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, before teaming up with two co-founders to reinvent hair care around a simple idea: potent ingredients work best freshly activated, not sitting in water for months. She gets honest about the messy middle, the pre-dosed pod experiment that flopped with 100 testers, the bottle that clogged after two weeks, and why she still emails customers herself when they cancel. Along the way she shares hard-won lessons on product obsession, failing fast, raising on your own timeline, and building a mission-driven brand in a category most investors are walking away from. Tune in for an inside look at building a category-defining brand through relentless iteration, customer intimacy, and a refusal to ship anything less than the best product possible! Chapters: 00:00 - Cold open 01:38 - Target, then teaching at Kellogg 08:40 - The powder-to-lather idea 11:01 - Becoming a CEO she never planned to be 13:00 - Two years of R&D through COVID 16:43 - Self-funding, no fixed timeline 18:01 - The pod experiment that flopped 23:09 - Designing the patented Wonder Bottle 25:24 - Doubt, failure, and identity 31:57 - Why the founder still does customer service 39:46 - Revenue, raising, and the road to retail 46:45 - Time is what kills companies 48:05 - All or nothing: a billion-dollar mission

She turned down a $50 million check because it wasn't her strategy - then spent ten years proving she was right. In this episode, Debbie sits down with Samantha "Sam" Pokroy, founder and CEO of Sanari Capital, a private equity firm focused on high-growth mid-market businesses across Africa. Sam gets candid about the "dark night" her firm's first deal collapsed, the double standard women face on technical credibility in finance, and why disappointment has repeatedly redirected her toward something better. It's an honest, often funny account of what building a business from nothing actually costs. Follow Debbie on LinkedIn here Follow Sam on LinkedIn here On Work and Revolution podcast exposes the real forces reshaping leadership, talent, and the future of work. Hosted by Debbie Goodman - CEO of Jack Hammer Global, a top executive search firm, author, advisor, and speaker - this podcast dives into bold ideas and honest conversations with CEO's reshaping today's workplaces and redefining what great leadership looks like. If you're a CEO, founder, or changemaker hungry for real insight into workplace trends, hiring strategy, and organizational transformation, this is your space to listen, learn, and lead differently. ✦ Explore more insights, guest details, and episode transcripts at: jhammerglobal.com✦ Follow Debbie on LinkedIn | YouTube ✦ Subscribe, share, and spark your own work revolution.

The introvert who was told he looked too free-spirited, and whose software now runs ordering for the UK's biggest food brands. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/founded. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. "This poor lady had to say to me, 'There are concerns that you look a bit free-spirited.' They were worried I was suddenly gonna disappear and become a yoga teacher in Goa or something." Simon Bos has spent more than 20 years building other people's startups at Gravitywell, his Bristol venture studio, watching entrepreneurs' hearts break over cheap builds that couldn't be rescued, and learning exactly what separates the products that work from the ones that die. Then he found his own gap: one of the UK's largest food-to-go manufacturers taking thousands of daily sandwich orders through a call centre. "Three BLTs, two chicken and bacon... no, three chicken and bacon." On the phone. Every day. That absurdity became Mezze, the B2B ordering platform for food manufacturers. Since we recorded this conversation, it has grown into exactly what Simon describes planning here: the platform now handles over £10M of orders a month for names like Samworth Brothers, Pieminister and The Real Wrap Co. It has expanded into AI features and the US market. The playbook he lays out in this episode is the playbook that worked. Along the way: a prime example of being an introvert founder, from months without networking to discovering that one-to-many content is the introvert's cheat code, plus the no-suit mantra, the three-month reset in Laos, and the client work (including the ADHD Love app) that reminds him why any of it matters. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Cheap builds break hearts. Simon has had to tell founders "there's no way of fixing this, it's gone." Under-investing in your foundation doesn't save money; a bad build is often unrescuable, and rebuilding costs more than doing it properly once. 2. Introversion is a design constraint, not a defect. Simon went months without networking and felt guilty. The fix wasn't forcing himself into rooms; it was one-to-many: content, talks, a strong product. Build the version of visibility that suits your wiring. 3. Perspective is a tool you have to schedule. From regular stakeholder mapping to three months in Laos, Simon's pattern is to step back deliberately. When the day-to-day consumes you, you can't see the business; distance is what shows you where you actually sit in the ecosystem. WHAT WE COVER - 25+ years of Gravitywell: what building hundreds of products teaches you about founders - "Entrepreneurs' hearts breaking": the truth about unrescuable builds - The call-centre absurdity which became Mezze - Spotting your place in the supply chain instead of trying to be the big thing - The introvert founder: networking guilt, one-to-many, and deep 1:1s over room-working - "You look a bit free-spirited": appearance bias, procurement, and the no-suit mantra - The ADHD Love app, body doubling, and the messages that say "it changed my life" - Three months in Laos and what stepping back showed him - Asking for help with an explicit ask, and failure as raw material - Simon's question for you: is introversion a barrier or a gift?

What happens when gold, AI and startups collide? Today on The Indian Startup Show, I'm joined by Devansh Alijar for a wide-ranging conversation about AI, investing and building modern businesses. Devansh has helped transform a traditional family jewellery business, and we talk about how he's using AI to make the business more efficient — from operations and hiring to training and decision-making. We also explore how he thinks about investing in startups, gold, and other assets, including what he looks for in founders and the red flags that can quickly put him off an investment. We discuss why founders should be genuine users of their own products, why distribution matters so much, and how building trust can become one of a company's biggest advantages. And, away from business, Devansh shares the story of his incredible 4,000-kilometre cycling journey across India during covid and banana chips startup, which led to being featured on Shark Tank India. We talk about: We talk about: How to modernise a traditional family business Building a digital brand without relying on paid advertising Why founder visibility can create extraordinary customer trust Gold, silver and the way Devansh thinks about investing How to spot promising early-stage founders Why pedigree and name-dropping can be major red flags Using AI for recruitment, HR and employee training How AI can analyse operational and financial data Using AI to improve sales teams and compliance The importance of giving AI the right context Why distribution may matter more than the product Building an audience before launching His plans to turn that journey into a book Why Nepal belongs on every trekker's list and much more  Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/devanshalijar/   Hosted And Produced by Neil Patel https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/neilpatel2 Enjoyed this episode? Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review! Share this episode with your friends. Listen and Subscribe to More Episodeshttps://www.indianstartupshow.com/ Music by Punch Deck.https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kdduxAVaFnbHJyNxl7FWV

⛰️ Try Heights Platform, the all-in-one tool for building your online course and community. Start your 30-day free trial → ⁠https://www.heightsplatform.com⁠  In this Founder Story episode, we'll also explore why real positioning is much deeper than changing a headline. So how can you use AI to multiply your team's output, build a company customers can clearly distinguish from the competition, and prepare your business for what comes next? Learn more about Chris DuBois: ⁠https://dynamicagencyos.com/⁠

In this episode of The Business of Open Source, I spoke with Kris Zyp, SVP of engineering at HarperDB, in the third and final episode in the series about how Harper went from a closed-source company to an open source company. We talked about what Kris saw as the risks and benefits of going open source before they went open source, how they ended up deciding what went into the open source project versus in the enterprise edition, and where the gray areas where. The CEO of Harper, Stephen Goldberg, said that 80% of moving from a closed-source company to an open source company was about communication. I was curious what Kris said about where the heavy lifting was in the transition; but I was also curious about his insights into product strategy, because when I asked his colleagues about product strategy in the transition to open source they both punted to him. We talked about developing a framework for deciding what features go into which edition, and how that framework is communicated internally and externally. We talked about who makes the ultimate product strategy decisions, and what they take into account when making these product strategy decisions. We also talked about using trial and error, the unexpected benefits of being open source, and how Kris thinks that many people overestimate the risks and underestimate the benefits of being an open source company. PS a huge thunderstorm started while I was recording this episode! You might be able to hear it in the background. Are you a closed-source software company thinking about open sourcing a key part of your codebase? Are you wondering how you'll balance the relationship between the project and product? Reach out, because those are the kind of questions I help companies resolve — and they see dramatic growth as a result. 

In this episode: How a virus-infected Prince of Persia floppy disk on a Commodore 64 sparked a lifelong obsession with cybersecurity (03:03 - 06:45) From NYU to Yale cryptography PhD to Goldman Sachs to Gilt Groupe, and the near-miss that changed everything (03:03 - 06:45) What SecurityScorecard actually does and why the pen and paper questionnaire era had to end (06:55 - 08:18) What it looked like in the early days, including an IKEA furniture test for business partnerships (08:26 - 12:01) Why SecurityScorecard now scores every company in the world, not just twelve million organizations (12:01 - 12:29) The Gilt Groupe credit card near-miss, what the first 24 hours looked like, and why fear was the first reaction (12:50 - 17:30) What it takes to create an entire market category from scratch and why the job to be done never changes (17:48 - 20:20) The difference between the CISO version and CEO version of Alex, and what Satya Nadella said about zooming out (20:49 - 22:36) Which version of Alex people would rather have a beer with and why any job besides CEO is more fun (22:43 - 23:45) How North Korea used a fake hedge fund to try to recruit SecurityScorecard developers (24:06 - 25:47) Why the world is not becoming safer and the critical difference between robustness and resilience (25:59 - 26:42) The True Confessions keynote: why openly admitting breaches makes the whole ecosystem stronger (27:13 - 29:22) The Jaguar Land Rover breach and what it took to double a UK company's security budget overnight (27:13 - 29:22) The single most dangerous thing a board member has ever said in a meeting about cybersecurity (29:45 - 31:09) What one thing a non-technical CEO could do this week to make their CISO's life better (31:25 - 32:12) The Lifestyle Polygraph: restaurant health scores, PowerPoint ban, The Inner Game of Tennis, chess, false advertising, and podcast advice (33:07 - 41:32)   Timestamp Highlights: (03:03) Prince of Persia, a floppy disk, and the origin of a cybersecurity career (06:07) The realization that changed everything: you can do everything right and still lose (08:26) The IKEA furniture test for business partnerships (12:50) The Gilt Groupe near-miss and what the first 24 hours looked like (17:48) What it takes to create a market category from scratch (20:49) CISO vs CEO: zooming in vs zooming out (22:43) Which version of Alex would you rather have a beer with? (24:06) North Korea's fake hedge fund operation (25:59) Robustness vs resilience: why the mindset has to change (29:45) The most dangerous thing a board member has ever said (31:25) One thing every non-technical CEO should do this week (36:48) The Inner Game of Tennis and the infinite game (40:00) Chess, false advertising, and meeting his future wife   Resources & Links: SecurityScorecard — securityscorecard.com The Perfect Scorecard by Aleksandr Yampolskiy ThreatLocker — Presenting sponsor of No Password Required DerScanner — Episode sponsor Cyber Florida — The Mother Ship

Meet Greg, the adviser who built a career on saying what 1,000+ founders didn't want to hear. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/founded. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. The opener to this episode tells you two things about Greg McCallum: he's funnier than most business advisers, and he's more honest about the cost of the founder life than almost anyone we've had on the show. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Ask strangers, not friends. The most common founder mistake is failing to ask prospective customers whether the idea is good. Do it early and you're not just validating, you're building a pipeline, learning the language that sells, and writing your first sales playbook for free. 2. Sales is listening, not pitching. Professional sales hires get a three- to six-month ramp before anyone expects a deal, so give yourself the same grace. Never ask for the sale. Understand the need, demonstrate the solution, and let them ask you. 3. Honesty is the strategy. With customers, with investors, and hardest of all with yourself. Audit the skills you actually lack before you buy the domain or design the logo. Self-awareness is cheaper than failure. Greg got kicked out of school at 15. By 16, he was running a restaurant floor. By 18, he'd quietly consulted for almost every bar and restaurant in Oxford. By his mid-twenties, banks were asking him into the boardroom. Then he deliberately took a soul-destroying telemarketing job for a year, because nobody would take his sales advice seriously until he'd done the hard yards himself. That decision led to sales leadership at Booksy (now unicorn status), C-suite roles across startups, and a mentoring practice that has helped over 1,000 founders worldwide, under a name he's turned into a brand: The No Bullshit Adviser. In this episode, Greg gets honest about the mistake almost every founder makes, why working in sales won't teach you founder sales, the AI industry's dirty data secret his new startup Peer is built to solve, and the part nobody talks about: the anxiety, the dark years, and the alliances entrepreneurship never lets you make. Because when it all goes wrong, the question that matters is who you actually call. Please note: this episode contains strong language throughout. Greg is called the No Bullshit Adviser for a reason. WHAT WE COVER - Kicked out of school, child of immigrant entrepreneurs, and managing hospitality floors at 16 - Accidentally becoming Oxford's teenage restaurant consultant - A year of telemarketing to earn the right to give sales advice - Booksy, C-suite roles, and 1,000+ founders mentored - The one bad Trustpilot review that's secretly a five-star review - Why psychometric tests are (mostly) bullshit, and skills audits beat personality labels - Founders Unplugged: the podcast born from client calls that ran three hours over - Peer and the dirty secret of AI: the data ceiling nobody talks about - "Stop preaching work-life balance": Greg's unfiltered take - Anxiety, depression, CBT, and becoming your own therapist - The real sacrifice: friendship, founder loneliness, and why your support network is a survival mechanism - The SaaS bubble, the bootstrapping comeback, and his one piece of advice: two words

In today's episode of The Business of Open Source, I spoke with Matt Watson, CEO of Fullscale, about a number of topics related to product development and how AI is changing that. Let's start with a question: What is the difference between a software engineer and a software developer? Matt thinks there is a key difference: software engineers write code, and software developers figure out how to solve customer problems with software. What do you think is more valuable in a world where AI agents can write the code for you? We talked about the importance of creating a well-lit path for users to use your product for their specific use case — and removing everything that is confusing or unnecessary for their use case. Somebody has to have the vision for what the project is trying to do. This was always the case for open source projects, but it continues to be the case now, with AI agents able to demolish a product feature backlog in an afternoon. Who is deciding whether or not it is a good idea to build something just because a customer or a sales rep suggested it? How to do you make sure you stay on track? We talked about how your biggest competitor is customers not just not buying something from you, but either building something internally using an AI agent, or just doing nothing. This is something you need to consider when you are selling and marketing your product — your biggest competitor. We also talked about the challenge selling to developers, how AI accelerates the winner-take-all dynamics in many markets, and you need AI to recommend your tools or you'll get lost. Last piece of advice: The goal isn't to be the best, it's to be the best known for what you do. Think about that next to you're wondering whether or not you should invest in marketing. ##Matt says we need more product people. If you need help figuring out what the master vision of your company is and how to translate that master vision into a product roadmap and message overhaul that will get your ecosystem fired up, you should reach out… because that is what I do. My clients see increased pipeline growth, better conversions throughout their funnel and team alignment. 

Galey Alix had spent 13 years building a career at Goldman Sachs when her life changed in a single day: she lost her job, her fiancé, and her health. In the middle of that grief, the home she had been renovating for a future that no longer existed became the start of something else.  What began as a way to heal turned into viral weekend room reveals, a TV show, and Galey Alix Design, a business built around emotional transformations, product partnerships, licensing deals, and a Shopify storefront where fans can shop her projects.  In this episode of Shopify Masters, Galey shares how she rebuilt her life through design, what Wall Street taught her about storytelling and sales, and why the best brands make people feel something first. Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Vy Nguyen bought his father's mattress factory in 2010 and spent 15 years doing everything the industry said not to do—building his own supply chain, skipping outside funding, and refusing to cut corners on materials. The result is Avocado Green, the largest organic mattress brand in the US, with 1,000 employees, more than 600 wholesale partners, and a billion-dollar target in its sights. For more on Avocado Green Brands and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

This week on The Business of Open Source, I talk with Julien Verlaguet, the CEO of Skiplabs. Julien is a programming language guy, and we talked about what it means to maintain an open source programming language. We talked about what it means to monetize a a programming language… or, as Julien says, you do not. So why does maintaining SKIP pay off for the team at Skiplabs? And how exactly do they make money? Skiplabs builds products using SKIP, and they focus on building products that can and do take full advantage of the programming language. But ultimately, do customers care that the products are built by the language maintainers? Probably not. “If your open source project can't be directly monetized with a SaaS,” Julien said. “You have to get a bit more creative.” Indeed, how do you get creative? I have to agree with Julien, that it really depends on what you're working on. When you think about how to monetize, it's important to think about what exactly your customers want. He talked about the importance of doing interviews with your target market. In fact, he recommends doing two or three interviews with people in your target market, and in the first interview you don't even talk about your product ideas, but rather listen to them talk about their problems and how they solve them or would like to solve them. ###By the way, did you know that one of the services I offer is interviewing your customers? Julien talks about how people can overstate how good your product is during interviews… this is true, and having an outside person do the interviews is one of the ways around this. If you'd like someone to interview people in your target market, including users and customers, and to help you use that information to get to product-market fit faster, reach out. 

In this episode of The Business of Open Source, I talked with Joshua Drake, president and CTO of Command Prompt, about business management, bootstrapping versus taking investment, and AI, open source and open source businesses. This episode is a real no-bullshit take on how human psychology influences how leaders behave, how people identify with open source ecosystems and specific technology, and how people in open source should focus more on the outcomes that they want to achieve for clients or for their company rather than making their identity about being an open source developer or a postgres developer.He says everyone — not just entrepreneurs, but technologists in open source communities in general — need to focus on outcomes and build their identities around those outcomes, rather than around a specific technology. This goes for people whose identities are completely connected to open source. What's important, that the license is OSI-approved, or that you are a person who builds software collaboratively? What's important, is it the lines of code or is it the people in the community? This episode has a lot of gems; it will be useful for seasoned entrepreneurs as well as aspiring ones. ###If you're listening to this and you want to go deeper on the human side of building open source companies, check out Open Source Founders Summit, a conference dedicated to building open source companies. As a consultant, I'm also focused on outcomes for clients rather than hours in a chair. What are the outcomes I get? A streamlined product roadmap that's focused on what matters to your ideal customers, higher conversion rates from your sales conversations and shorter sales cycles. Find out more about working with me here. 

Learn more about HomeFront Brands: https://homefrontbrands.com 

Learn more about HomeFront Brands: https://homefrontbrands.com 

The ex-model who turned an exploding kitchen of cauliflower into the pasta brand. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/founded. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. "My husband was just like, 'What's happening?' The kitchen was just an explosion of cauliflower." That's how Sunny & Luna started, and this episode opens with it. Giulia Berretti spent her teens modelling in New York on as little as 800 calories a day, inside an industry that treated food as the enemy. The daughter of a winemaker and a restaurateur, taught to make pasta by her nonna, she walked away. When COVID hit, she rebuilt her relationship with food into a business: vegetable-packed fresh pasta, born in her own kitchen. She sold her first batches to neighbours on Nextdoor, pitched at the Bread & Jam festival with four gnocchi in a plastic bag, and Whole Foods and Planet Organic loved it. She then spent six months knocking on the doors of Italian manufacturers who kept asking "who are you?" until one said yes. When we recorded this conversation, Giulia was days from her first national listing and closing a £500K angel round. Today, Sunny & Luna is on the shelves of Sainsbury's, Ocado, Whole Foods and Planet Organic. Proof that everything she talks about in this episode worked. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Never compromise on your non-negotiables. When the Ukraine war sent costs spiralling, Giulia held her quality line and raised prices instead of cutting corners, and customers rewarded her for it. Know what you won't trade, and price accordingly. 2. Passion plus authenticity beats playbooks. She built a standout brand in a category nobody had disrupted (fresh pasta) by staying close to what she genuinely knows and loves. Innovation came from her story, not from copying someone else's. 3. Persistence needs patience. "When the train is coming, you don't have to jump straight away." Ups and downs are the job. The founders who make it are the ones who keep going without rushing decisions that compromise the long-term vision. WHAT WE COVER - Modelling in New York at 18: the money, the pressure, and restricting to 800 calories a day - Nonna's kitchen: the pasta-making childhood that became the business - Testing demand on Nextdoor, and pitching retailers with a plastic bag of gnocchi - Six months driving around Italy to find a manufacturer, and selling them the dream - Why she'd never compromise on quality, even when costs exploded - Two days of maternity leave, pitching Ocado ten days after giving birth, and the lesson in slowing down - "A company fails when the founder is tired": mental health, therapy, and switching off - Funding: bootstrapped on modelling savings, then a £500K round from angels who back her - The future of food: real ingredients over fake meat, and Sunny & Luna as a lifestyle brand - Why the business is named after her cats

Travis Kalanick joins TBPN to discuss Atoms, his vision for industrial AI, and why he believes the biggest opportunities in AI lie beyond software. He explains how Atoms is bringing autonomy to mining, logistics, and food production, why robotics will reshape physical industries, and how lower costs and greater automation could unlock entirely new economic opportunities. Travis also reflects on raising $1.7 billion, building in stealth, regulation, hiring, and what he's learned since Uber.   Resources Follow Travis on X: https://x.com/travisk Follow TBPN on X: https://x.com/tbpn   Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details, please see http://a16z.com/disclosures. Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What separates the entrepreneurs who make it from everyone else? They stop waiting for the perfect idea and simply start. In Part 2, Zach Dulla shares how a passion project became two thriving brands, why speed and storytelling win in the content game, and the lessons he's learned scaling nationwide. From capturing viral sports moments and working with the PGA and Blackhawks to betting on himself and leaving corporate America, Zach delivers a powerful message for entrepreneurs: start messy, stay adaptable, and let the business evolve into what it's meant to become. Connect with Zach Dulla: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharydulla/ If you need branded solutions for your events, giveaways and employee engagement, check out Club Colors: https://www.clubcolors.com

Elizabeth welcomes Clara Sieg, founder and CEO of Loonen, the water brand behind the beautiful glass bottle that suddenly seems to be everywhere. After spending 15 years in venture capital, Clara began looking more closely at plastics and endocrine disruptors during an IVF journey. When she later became a mom and realized that water was the main ingredient in her daughter's formula, that research became deeply personal and eventually inspired her to create Loonen. In this conversation, Clara breaks down what is happening in the water category, from microplastics and forever chemicals to sourcing, filtration, mineral content, and packaging. She explains why spring water is not automatically cleaner, what to look for when choosing a home filtration system, and how Loonen tests its finished water for more than 350 contaminants before making the results publicly available. Clara also opens up about the brand's rapid expansion, her shift from investor to operator, integrating work and family as a founder and new mom, and why the foundations of wellness can be much simpler than we make them. Episodes Here  Say Hi To Elizabeth and Purely Elizabeth:  Website | Instagram Clara: Loonen | Clara's LinkedIn  Mentioned:  Count Down by Shanna Swan  The Plastic Detox  ISLA Beauty  Good Weather Sunscreen ALIGNE 

When Andrew Blackmon couldn't find a rental tuxedo that actually fit, he didn't just start a company—he rebuilt the entire formalwear supply chain from scratch, turning a strip-mall industry into a nine-figure business with seven flagship stores and showrooms in more than 40 Nordstrom locations. For more on The Black Tux and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Send us Fan MailThe most shareable segment of the panel. Each investor shares the most memorable pitch they ever received — a collapsible cup prototype that wowed on every fact but failed basic physics, a 12-year-old's DJ business PowerPoint that hit credibility, clarity, and whimsy better than most professionals, and a founder who went from childhood paralysis to top-10 Halo gamer to tech CEO. Then the full panel answers the question every new capital raiser needs: how do you attract serious investors when you have no track record? Six investors, six answers — and a close that every founder should hear.About Family Office ClubThe world's largest investor club in the family office space. 19 years. 300+ events. 16 million members. $1B+ in community transactions.

Watch On Youtube: youtube.com/watch?v=dlnjBMS6Jto&feature=youtu.be Daniel Valverde (@DanielValv3rd3) is a Peruvian entrepreneur who calls himself “the most interesting Peruvian in the world.” After building a successful cleaning company that now operates under his team in Peru, he stepped away from the day-to-day business to pursue a long-held passion: reviving Peruvian winemaking. In this episode, Daniel shares his journey from entrepreneurship to launching Valtierro, his inaugural 2025 wine vintage, along with the lessons he's learned building businesses, traveling the world, and creating a brand rooted in Peru's history. While Peru is already celebrated globally for its cuisine, including Central in Lima being named the World's Best Restaurant, few people realize the country has been producing wine for nearly 500 years. Home to some of the oldest vineyards in the Americas, Peru's winemaking tradition predates many of today's famous New World wine regions. Daniel explains why he believes Peru is on the verge of becoming the next great wine destination, how grapes like Negra Criolla are helping revive this forgotten heritage, and why Valtierro aims to be at the forefront of Peru's next chapter in fine wine. Peru, Lima, Living in Lima, Peru Travel, Peru Wine, Peruvian Wine, Valtierro, Negra Criolla, Daniel Valverde, Jake, Bold Perceptions Podcast, Travel Podcast, Digital Nomad, Nomad Life, Expat Life, Living Abroad, Entrepreneurship, Business Podcast, Founder Story, Winemaking, Vineyard, Fine Wine, Luxury Wine, New World Wine, Central Restaurant Lima, World's Best Restaurant, South America, Peru Culture, Malbec, Wine Tasting Best Esim For Travelers: $27 a month, unlimited data, 100+ countries = pangia pass Use my link for 10% off: https://pangiapass.com/a/bold Find Me Here: https://linktr.ee/bold.perceptions Travel / Lifestyle Consultation, DM Me On Instagram: bold_perceptions #travel #podcast #peru #wine #solotravel

What do you do when your product is so unique that no five-second pitch can explain it? This week, Phil and Kenny sit down with Brad and Sheila, founders of Natural Farmworks — a regenerative farm in BC's Boundary Country that grows barley greens and processes them using traditional Chinese tea methods to create green, oolong, and black teas that deliver a serving of greens in every cup. No bitterness, no flavourings, no "barley shivers." Brad's journey starts with a Crohn's disease diagnosis in the 1980s, runs through buying a decommissioned Saputo spray-drying plant ("How do we even turn it on?"), and lands on two years of WhatsApp messages with a tea master in China to learn an entirely new craft. Sheila shares how they hand-cut greens in their kitchen, trained with a certified herbalist, and turned lab results from BCIT's nutraceutical program into a genuinely new product category.   Whether you're a food and beverage founder, a CPG brand builder, or just love a great Canadian entrepreneur story, this one's packed with honest, practical retail advice. Check out Natural Farmworks here: https://www.naturalfarmworks.com/ If you think you fit in the Export Navigator program - check it out here: https://exportnavigator.ca/

The best engineer Matt Dalio ever hired didn't have a high school diploma. That fact runs through this whole conversation — what building proves that credentials can't.Education is changing because work is changing. AI is already reshaping what people can build, how they learn, and what employers actually value — and Arizona State University has become the clearest picture of where it's going, precisely because of the reputation it had to shake.Matt Dalio, founder of Endless, joins Eric Kasimov. Matt's work centers on one idea: young people should be creators of technology, not just consumers of it. The conversation runs from Arizona State's President Michael Crow measuring success by who a university educates instead of who it rejects, to the engineer with no diploma who outperformed the Stanford hires, to why building games might be the most complete education a kid can get, and what happens to a generation that opts out of AI versus one that learns to wield it.WHAT WE TALK ABOUTWhy Arizona State University (ASU) stands out in higher educationMichael Crow's "realm five learning" — education that's infinitely scalable, infinitely personalized, infinitely affordableWhat "GitHub University" shows about proof of work and why it beat the Stanford hiresWhy portfolios are becoming more important than resumesHow game making teaches technical, creative, and collaborative skillsWhy AI fluency may become a core workforce skillThe difference between using screens to consume and using them to buildGSV (Global Silicon Valley) and spreading the builder mindset beyond the ValleyWhy young people should start building, tinkering, and solving real problemsCHAPTERS00:00 – Arizona State University and innovation in education01:21 – Michael Crow's approach to access and scale03:20 – Changing perceptions of ASU05:33 – Why higher education has to change07:09 – Prestige, jobs, and the shifting value of a degree08:06 – GitHub, proof of work, and hiring without a diploma11:26 – Why portfolio can matter more than pedigree13:08 – AI, marketing, and what students actually need to learn15:15 – Teaching young people to become AI power users16:00 – Why game making teaches multidisciplinary skills18:34 – ASU, scale, and reaching more learners20:33 – Soft skills, collaboration, and real work21:46 – Games, arts, media, and engineering at ASU23:37 – Coding, Claude Code, and technical fluency25:37 – Why Matt still believes code matters28:07 – Screens, phones, Chromebooks, and real computers31:42 – What Gen Z can do now32:31 – Why schools are often anti-AI34:33 – Building as the path to employment35:52 – Burning your resume and building proof37:22 – Moving from Abu Dhabi back to the US38:34 – AI education in the UAE39:15 – Bringing AI education to more people40:39 – Building through contracts, partners, and foundations42:00 – Why America needs broader access to builder skills44:15 – Helping young people join the modern economy45:39 – Public schools and the difficulty of scale46:19 – Kids who are already building their own futures49:26 – Why the traditional system still matters50:00 – Vibe coding an SAT prep tool52:08 – AI concerns, climate, and the risk of opting out55:00 – Global Silicon Valley and spreading the builder mindset57:36 – Games, sports, licensing, and learning through interests59:06 – Game studios, communities, and professional learning01:01:49 – Finding your passion by building01:02:50 – Matt's book and Endless Future01:04:09 – The lean book and shipping early01:04:46 – Where to find Matt Dalio and EndlessConnectMatt Dalio: Website | LinkedInEric Kasimov: X | LinkedInRelated Entrepreneur Perspectives episodesHow AI Is Changing College Counseling and Admissions with Senan Khawaja, CEO of KollegioDavid Selinger on AI Security, $15M Series B, and the Deep Sentinel MissionAnkit Somani | From Google to Conifer: Rare-Earth-Free Motors, $20M Seed, and Rethinking CollegeEntrepreneur Perspectives is produced by QuietLoud Studios.Music by Jess & Ricky — SoundCloud

Join us on The Founder Spirit podcast with His Holiness Romapada Swami, a revered spiritual leader in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, who has dedicated his life to sharing bhakti yoga and divine wisdom, illuminating how patience, gratitude, and surrender can unlock your innate love and happiness. Through captivating stories from his childhood in Upstate New York to teaching from his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, discover how synchronicities, heartfelt devotion, and sound vibrations craft a pathway to elevated consciousness.You'll uncover not only the transformative power of the Mahamantra rooted in ancient Vedic scripture and its relevance in today's fast-paced world, but also insights from the Bhagavad Gita and the significance of surrender, purity, and shelter in experiencing gratitude, love and inner peace for self-realization. With reflections on legacy, purpose, and the timeless truth that human life's ultimate goal is to rekindle our dormant love for the Divine, this episode invites you to reawaken your soul's forgotten relationship. Whether you're at the start of your spiritual search or seeking deeper clarity, you'll find inspiration to continue your journey with patience, faith, and the mantra that has echoed through the ages.How did Romapada Swami turn a personal search for truth into a life dedicated to sharing spiritual wisdom globally?TUNE IN to this conversation & find out. Don't forget to subscribe and support us on Patreon!For detailed transcript and show notes, please visit TheFounderSpirit.com.Also follow us on: - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/TheFounderSpirit- Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/TheFounderSpirit- YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheFounderSpirit- Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TheFounderSpirit- X:  https://twitter.com/founder_spiritIf this podcast has been beneficial or valuable to you, feel free to become a patron and support us on Patreon.com, that is P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com/TheFounderSpirit.As always, you can find us on Apple, YouTube and Spotify, as well as social media and our website at TheFounderSpirit.com.The Founder Spirit podcast is proud to be a partner of the Villars Institute, a non-profit foundation focused on accelerating the transition to a net-zero economy and restoring planetary health.About This Podcast:Whether you are an entrepreneur, a mid-career professional or someone who's just starting out in life, The Founder Spirit podcast is for you!In this podcast series, we'll be interviewing exceptional individuals from all over the world with the founder spirit, ranging from social entrepreneurs, tech founders, to philanthropists, elite athletes, and more. Together, we'll uncover not only how they manage to succeed in face of multiple challenges, but also who they are as people and their human story.So TUNE IN & be inspired by stories from their life journey!

What if the next big innovation in real estate marketing isn't another website or virtual tour, but a drone flying through your building? In Part 1, CEO Zach Dulla shares how a COVID side project became one of the leading drone content companies in commercial real estate. He breaks down why companies, universities, and sports teams are embracing drone tours, the power of storytelling through physical spaces, and the entrepreneurial journey of building a business in an entirely new category. Plus, hear the behind-the-scenes stories, lessons learned, and why great content starts with great people. Connect with Zach Dulla: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharydulla/ If you need branded solutions for your events, giveaways and employee engagement, check out Club Colors: https://www.clubcolors.com

This conversation with Emilio, the founder of Emilio's Barcelona, is about exploring the story behind one of the city's most charming artisan ice cream shops.From his first job to the moment he realized he wanted to create something of his own, Emilio shares the experiences that shaped his journey. He talks about why he chose ice cream over everything else, not just as a business, but as something that brings people together and creates moments of happiness.We also dive into the philosophy behind Emilio's Barcelona, its handcrafted flavors, homemade waffle cones, and the passion for quality and genuine customer experience that defines every visit.https://www.instagram.com/emiliosbarcelona/?hl=en [ Emilio's Barcelona, Barcelona Life, Barcelona Cafes, Gelato, Dessert, Founder Story, Behind The Business, Food Culture, Podcast, Melting Pot, Payal Nayar ] #Podcast #Barcelona #Gelato #Caffeinebarcelona Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melanie Bender spent years building some of skin care's most coveted brands before betting her next chapter on fragrance—a category she saw on the verge of its biggest moment yet. By leading with story over specs and making influencer relationships the heart of her strategy, she took Lore from concept to 250 Sephora doors almost overnight. For more on Lore and show notes click here  Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Nobody would give Hannah a room. So Hannah decided to control who gets one.Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/founded. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. "I cold called all of the landlords I'd ever met at Bristol and got horribly rejected by most. Definitely cried a lot in the first few weeks." That's how Hannah Chappatte started hybr and this episode opens with it. Rejected by the University of Bristol on her predicted grades, she proved them wrong, got in, got a first, then skipped the consulting grad schemes to fix the thing every student complains about: finding a house. Fast forward, hybr has raised a £3.24M seed round and is building the one-stop rental platform for the UK's 3 million students, first-time renters drowning in jargon, deprioritised by agents, and at risk of exploitation. This is a masterclass in validation, resilience and focus from a founder who did it with no network, no funding and no playbook, and who'll tell you straight: if you can avoid raising money, avoid it. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Rejection is the R&D. Every landlord "no" became a rewritten pitch and a rebuttal, until the yeses came. Persistence isn't gritting your teeth; it's a feedback loop. Validate by selling, not by building in silence. 2. Focus is a system, not a feeling. Two company objectives per quarter, one North Star metric. If a project doesn't ladder into them, it doesn't get worked on, however shiny. 3. Build sustainably from day one. Validate on the smallest possible scale with minimal tech investment, prove the problem and market are big enough, and design for profitability early; it de-risks everything that comes after. And it applies to you too: Hannah calls out the sleep-under-the-desk myth. Sprints are real; burnout kills businesses.  WHAT WE COVER - Cold-calling landlords, crying through rejections, and rewriting the pitch every time - The consulting grad-scheme escape and throwing herself in 100% after graduation - Going from co-founder to sole founder after three months , and why her next business will have one - Both sides of the marketplace: what students and landlords actually need - Raising a £3.24M seed in a market where 2% of funding goes to women - The worst advice ever: the VC who'd only invest if she pivoted to food - The power of being underestimated - The event where 100 people RSVP'd and one turned up - Radical Candor, building a team of 15, and rejecting hustle culture - Gen Z, mental hygiene, remote-vs-office, and her vision: no empty rooms in the UK 

This week on The Business of Open Source, I chatted with Stephen Goldberg, co-founder of Harper, about the process of taking Harper from a closed-source software company to a open source company. I already talked to Ethan Arrowood about the transition to open source, but Stephen was able to give a founders perspective about why Harper wanted to move to open source, why it wasn't launched as an open source company from the very beginning and why they choose the moment in question to go open source. He says that 80 to 90% of the effort around taking a big piece of Harper open source was around communication, both external and internal. It's not that difficult to change an license or to push something onto GitHub, but a successful open source launch is about so much more than that. Here's what we talked about: The board pushed back a lot, mostly because they felt like going open source was going to complicate things for the company and they were worried that the risks outweighed the benefitsStephen was convinced that even as a closed-source company, their customers weren't paying for their code, but rather for their services. Harper also sells to large enterprises, and he was convinced this type of customer doesn't want to cowboy their tech stack. There has been a massive positive impact on the company's sales cycles. The sales cycles are shorter and require less effort from Harper's team; it's also psychologically easier when someone asks him to prove that the product does what he promises — he just has to ask tell them to verify for themselves. They haven't gotten many outside contributions and that was never the goal, but they do get bug reports. This has significantly reduced their costs of support, because the bug reports are often very detailed and identify where in the code there is a problem. Not only that: customers are able to figure out when the “bug” is actually a problem on their side, and that reduces support volume considerably. AI coding agents have dramatically increased the value of an open source project, because when the agent is able to see the software's code directly, it's able to build on top of it and integrate it into the system but more effectively than if it were working with docs. This was a huge win that they didn't expect. The bottom line: If you understand your business model, going open source has a lot of upsides and the risks are not as scary as you think. However, getting advice along the way is critical, and you should work with people who understand open source companies if you're going open source. If you're considering going from closed to open source and you'd like help on the product strategy and the communication part... that's what I do. You might consider working with me. 

Today on The Business of Open Source I spoke with Sam Alba, co-founder of Mendral, formerly of Dagger, and the first hire at Docker. We talked a lot about about how AI is changing the developer tools marketplace. If AI is changing the way software is developed, what does that mean for the companies that previously had made tools for developers? We talked a lot about hype; what is hype and what is not hype? How many people are actually using AI and getting value from it. It's hard to differentiate between the hype and real value, Alba says, but also that while it does seem like AI is a bubble, that doesn't mean there's nothing real there. It's just hard to see where the difference is now, but after the bubble bursts there will still be plenty of changes that stick around. When it comes to building an open source company — which Mendral is not, by the way, Alba talks about how you have to get product-market fit twice. But for AI is absolutely changing things, and there have been companies that are abandoning open source because the game is changing so much and it is harder to make it work. Listen to the entire podcast! And if you want someone to work with on establishing your message and then sharing that message in as many places as possible, get in touch. 

What happens when the career you've worked decades to build no longer aligns with the life you want to live? In this inspiring episode, Allison sits down with entrepreneur and Sun Drunk founder Cat Lepetit to discuss her remarkable journey from leading some of the world's most recognizable beauty brands to building a thriving lifestyle business rooted in joy, purpose, and coastal living. After spending more than two decades climbing the corporate ladder with companies like Sephora, Benefit Cosmetics, Makeup Forever, and Murad, Cat found herself questioning what success truly meant. The COVID-19 pandemic became a catalyst for reflection, prompting her to reevaluate her priorities, reconnect with herself, and imagine a different future. Cat shares the behind-the-scenes story of leaving corporate leadership, navigating uncertainty, exploring multiple business ideas, and ultimately receiving the inspiration that became Sun Drunk—a beach lifestyle brand designed to bring happiness, color, and ease into everyday life. Throughout the conversation, Cat opens up about the challenges of reinvention, the importance of listening to your intuition, embracing discomfort, and having the courage to start over—even when others don't understand your vision. Whether you're dreaming of launching a business, considering a major career pivot, or simply seeking more alignment in your life, this episode will encourage you to trust yourself, take the next step, and create a life that feels as good as it looks. In This Episode, You'll Learn: How to navigate a major career transition Why success and fulfillment aren't always the same thing The role intuition plays in entrepreneurship How COVID inspired personal and professional reinvention What it takes to build a lifestyle brand from scratch Why flexibility, family, and purpose matter in business The power of embracing uncertainty and starting over Lessons from scaling global brands and launching a startup

Surviving crisis - from a Beirut hostage ordeal to losing every client overnight. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/founded. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.  Dave Mason has survived two crises most people never face: being held hostage for 45 minutes in Beirut and every client cancelling in a single afternoon. Now he helps companies survive theirs.  ⚠️ Note: this episode contains a first-hand account of violence and trauma (a hostage situation and PTSD).  Listener discretion advised. In 2006, Dave Mason was reporting on displaced families in Beirut when his car was surrounded by a mob. For 45 minutes, he and his colleague held on in the back of that car, fighting for their lives, punched, robbed, and threatened- before, of all groups, Hezbollah ended up getting them to safety, and he was taken to meet the Prime Minister of Lebanon.  This is not the only crisis Dave has survived. From a media-obsessed teenager -  fired up by a single teacher's offhand comment - Dave built a 30-year career spanning local radio (he founded the much-loved Orchard FM), GMTV breakfast TV and NATO media training. Then he backed himself, financing a management buyout against his own pension to buy the agency he worked for. Three months later, COVID hit and every single client cancelled in one afternoon. This is how he rebuilt in 48 hours, turned crisis into a four-day-week business, and spun out Splutter -  a real-time social media crisis simulator now used in one of the world's largest financial-sector crisis exercises (1,000+ participants, Hong Kong).  Along the way: honest financial advice for freelancers, why local media still matters, what AI really means for PR, and why your health is worth more than the money. If you're a founder weighing up a risky bet, a management buyout, or how to survive when the market disappears overnight, this one's for you.  KEY TAKEAWAYS  1. Resilience is adaptability. Dave didn't survive COVID by waiting it out,  he rebuilt in 48 hours and pivoted his media training into a digital-first product. When the market vanishes, the move is to reshape what you offer, fast.  2. Use AI to amplify people, not replace them 3. Your health is the real wealth. Dave's line "if you've got your health, you are a millionaire" lands hard. Money is the trade-off freelancers make; protecting your wellbeing is what makes the success sustainable.  WHAT WE COVER - Beirut, 2006: 45 minutes that became a near-death experience - and the PTSD treatment that followed - The teacher's comment that lit the fire, and breaking into media with cold letters as a 15-year-old (75 rejection letters kept to this day) - Founding Orchard FM - why local radio mattered, and what we lost when the corporates took over - The freelance reality: "no show, no dough", saving for sickness, and the holiday that costs double - Financing a management buyout against your pension - and what the regulators put him through - The COVID afternoon every client vanished - and the 48-hour pivot that saved the business - Building Splutter: simulating thousands of hostile avatars to stress-test real organisations - What AI really means for PR, focus vs adaptability, and why careers only make sense looking backwards 

Dr. Jason Wersland turned a 3 a.m. garage experiment into the number one percussive therapy brand in the world, with more than 6.5 million Theragun massage devices sold. In this episode, he breaks down the unglamorous eight-year grind behind that overnight success: five prototypes, three bad partners, and a one-to-one credibility-building strategy that eventually landed him in Cristiano Ronaldo''s training room. For more on Therabody and show notes click here   Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Sean Reyes noticed that every shock absorber looks identical from the outside—and none of the automotive brands detail what's actually inside. So he built ShockSurplus, an education-first automotive parts company that turned that information gap into a bootstrapped, eight-figure business. For more on Shock Surplus and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

SUBSCRIBE to The FoundHer Files, our twice weekly Substack filled with actionable tips you can use starting today to build and grow your business. No fluff. No gatekeeping. Just what works. Host, Lindsay Pinchuk provides a tactical walkthrough on crafting a compelling three-paragraph founder story that effectively communicates your business, builds trust, and attracts the right audience. This episode offers a step-by-step framework, common mistakes to avoid, and practical tips for using your story across various platforms.Grab this week's Deep Dive on The FoundHer Files to read more about The Anatomy of a Story that Converts. Join us for this month's Forum Expert Workshop: Claude for FoundHers with Dara Astmann REGISTER HERESubscribe to The FoundHer Files Substack: http://foundherfiles.substack.comJoin our online networking community for women business owners over forty, The Dear FoundHer... Forum.Follow Dear FoundHer... on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/dearfoundher Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former comedy writer Bette Bentley built Skimpies—the world's first liner designed specifically for leggings—into a number one TikTok brand entirely through organic livestreams, bypassing paid ads by treating the platform like an interactive group chat. This innovative founder breaks down how she embraced raw authenticity to collapse the traditional sales funnel, handle extreme burnout, and turn a grueling six-month streaming schedule into a $60,000 warehouse livestream. For more on Skimpies and show notes, click here. Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Nick Halverson, CTO and Co-founder of Hirebus.Growing up near Salt Lake City, Nick reflects on the freedom his parents gave him to think independently, the challenges that led him down a destructive path of addiction, and the life-changing journey that helped him rebuild his future. From selling painted pine cones and experimenting with dropshipping to overcoming years of chaos and finding purpose in software development, Nick offers an honest look at the experiences that shaped him into the leader he is today.Nick also dives into his role as Co-Founder and CTO of Hirebus, an AI-powered hiring platform helping home service businesses make better hiring decisions. He discusses how the company evolved from a simple prototype into a scalable SaaS solution, the importance of solving real customer problems, and how AI is reshaping recruiting, software development, and quality assurance. Along the way, Nick shares valuable lessons on data-driven decision-making, building products that truly deliver results, embracing personal growth as a founder, and why staying connected to a larger purpose matters just as much as business success.Be inspired by Nick Halverson's journey from adversity to building technology that helps businesses grow in this episode of The First Customer! Guest Info:Hirebushttps://hirebus.com/Nick Halverson's LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-halverson-637b51131/Connect with Jay on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jayaigner/The First Customer Youtube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@thefirstcustomerpodcastThe First Customer podcast websitehttps://www.firstcustomerpodcast.comFollow The First Customer on LinkedInhttp://www.linkedin.com/company/the-first-customer-podcast/

When Jing Gao launched Fly By Jing, she wasn''t just selling chili crisp—she was challenging a century-old story about the value of Chinese food. Starting from an underground supper club and a scrappy Kickstarter, she built a brand now found in Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods that has inspired a generation of Asian food founders. For more on Fly By Jin and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

We brought together 14 founders across 13 businesses building on Shopify and asked every single one the same question: How do you know when it's time to pivot? We've put together the playbook for the hardest decisions to make in business—the leap, the kill, the walk-away, and the quiet voice you almost ignored. Featuring Catherine Goetze (Physical Phones), Melanie Bender (LORE), Jing Gao (Fly By Jing), AC Hampton (Supreme Ecom), Melissa Palmer (OSEA), Kevin and Jin Chon (Coop Sleep Goods), Aishwarya Iyer (Brightland), Matt Hassett (Loftie), Vy Nguyen (Avocado Green), Drew Scott (Lone Fox), Sean Reyes (Shock Surplus), Carmen Dianne and Kara Still (Prosperity Market), and Sara Sugarman (Lulu and Georgia). For more: https://utm.io/upFkv  Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

She built Virtue Labs into a $50M+ hair care brand. Now Melisse Shaban is CEO of Aramore — a biotech skincare company backed by peer-reviewed NAD+ research — and she's throwing out the beauty playbook. No influencer deals. No aspirational campaigns. She's sending free product to Reddit strangers, asking for the honest truth, and betting that real science doesn't need hype to win. In this episode: Why she left a board seat to run one more brand How a 28-day Reddit trial beat any influencer campaign The products she cut from her own line — and why What 30 years at Aveda, the Body Shop, and Fekkai taught her about what's broken in beauty Why she hates the word "aging" and refuses to sell fear For more on Aramore https://www.shopify.com/blog/aramore-reddit-skincare-science?utm_campaign=shopifymasters&utm_medium=youtube&utm_source=podcast Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Most first-time founders think raising capital is the next big milestone. But what if raising money too early creates more pressure, more distractions, and less control? In this episode, Jayla sits down with Sarah Fox, founder of Riptie Hair, to talk about the real path behind building a startup without outside investors. Sarah started Riptie Hair with just $2,000, made the first products herself, sold through Facebook groups, and grew the company to more than $2 million in revenue before appearing on Shark Tank, and doubling this year since Shark Tank. But this is not a "perfect founder success story." Sarah shares the hard parts too: running out of inventory, wiring huge purchase orders, fulfilling 70 orders a day while pregnant, hiring too fast, almost missing payroll, laying off help, and realizing that growth can still break your business if your cash flow is not under control. For early-stage entrepreneurs who feel intimidated by fundraising, this episode is a reminder that capital is a tool, not a trophy. You will hear what actually matters before you raise: customer validation, focused sales channels, smart cash decisions, knowing your numbers, and staying lean long enough to understand your business. This episode is especially useful if you are: Wondering whether you should bootstrap or raise Feeling intimidated by investor conversations Unsure if your product has enough validation Struggling with cash flow, inventory, or hiring decisions Trying to figure out what investors will care about Learning how to prepare for a high-pressure pitch   Guest Bio: Sarah Fox- Founder of Riptie Hair A bootstrapped consumer product founder who turned a personal hair-tangling problem into a multi-million-dollar brand and later appeared on Shark Tank. https://www.riptiehair.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-fox-riptiehair/ About Your Host Jayla Siciliano is an entrepreneur with 25+ years in consumer brands, product, and marketing. After raising her first angel round against all odds and later appearing on Shark Tank, where she closed a deal with Mark Cuban, she now helps founders become fundable, confident, and ready to attract the right investors. Entrepreneurship changed her life, and she's on a mission to help first-time founders raise their first round of angel funding and change theirs too. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaylasiciliano/   Disclaimer The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice.