Hooked On Startups

Football coaches, basketball coaches, or rugby coaches are very different from business coaches. While many people don’t expect business coaches to be as hard or as demanding as those other types of coaches, Robert Clinkenbeard begs to disagree. Robert used to be a rugby player and is a four-time Ironman. He is also the CEO of The Radix Group LLC and the author of Ironman Mindset for Entrepreneurs. Join Matthew Sullivan as he talks to Robert about his business coaching career and how he fits his Ironman triathlon training into his coaching. Learn how Robert balances his career while having time to practice in order to level up his business.

Raw land may not be the most pleasing asset in all of real estate. Undeveloped plots are often full of grass and dirty all over. But for Mark Podolsky, this neglected land can be turned into the best passive income model. Joining Matthew Sullivan, the Land Geek explains the benefits of doing business with raw land, particularly the exemptions one can get from owners’ real estate legislation. Mark talks about the rise of interest in this kind of asset during the height of COVID-19, making 2020 one of his best years in business. He also shares his mission on educating the people about tax liens and land auctions through his book Dirt Rich and his two programs focused on land investing.

Ken is a member of Gensler’s Board of Directors and the Gensler Management Committee and the Co-Managing Principal of Gensler's Southeast Region. Gensler is the largest global architecture, design and planning firm with more than 5,000 professionals networked across Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and the Americas.   Ken Baker is considered a global expert on workplace design and planning, having designed more than 10 million square feet of corporate headquarters and offices for law firms and financial institutions around the world. His background is also fine arts, music, 20 years of piano and voice, acting, and drama. In this interview we discuss: How do you create a unified culture across a firm with more than 5,000 international employees?   How do you maintain innovation in the workplace through design?   Why is it important to keep listening to clients and being receptive to new ideas? 1:08 - Introducing Ken and some background on his career.   1:55 - Digging into what makes Gensler so successf

The man who created Bluefish, the internationally famous company that makes once in a lifetime events happen for the rich and famous reveals his trade secrets for making things happen.   Steve Sims’s day job is to make the impossible possible. With his help and expertise, his clients’ fantasies and wildest dreams come true. Getting married by the Pope in the Vatican, being serenaded by Elton John, and connecting with powerful business moguls like Elon Musk are just a few of the many projects he has worked on.   He rarely reveals how he accomplishes the feats that make his clients so happy. Check out this fabulously fun episode for some wonderful, hard-won insights from a man who is truly larger than life!   1:11 - Welcoming Steve to the show and giving some background on him and his book, Bluefishing.   3:03 - How he got into the line of work that he’s in and his view on failure.   6:06 - The importance of his mindset in terms of how he helps people.   7:33 - How growing up in a working class family in the 8

In this episode I speak to Joshua Long - an entrepreneur, strategy and sales guru and a consultant who focuses on helping businesses break through their current revenue plateaus and unlock rapid growth.   He launched BottleneckBreakthrough.com to focus on unlocking sustainable growth for businesses, and has just launched the‘Bottleneck Breakthrough’ book to help entrepreneurs and business owners implement his Bottleneck Breakthrough Method.   1:18 - Welcoming Joshua to the show and some of his background information, including his business, BottleneckBreakthrough.com, and his book, Bottleneck Breakthrough.   2:58 - Looking backwards as a problem for personality types and businesses.   4:22 - The importance of mindsets and why it can be difficult to address.   5:10 - Building credibility with early wins; often not being qualified to run a business when you start a business and Joshua’s experience with that.   6:30 - Venture capitalists investing in teams rather than companies and how that relates to learning

In this episode I chat with Hillary Gadsby - an event and marketing dynamo and co-founder of The Boss Box. Hillary is also a best selling author and founder of StilettoGal.com, a multi-media company for women in business.   Check out how Hillary created the buzz for the Boss Box, overcoming the difficulties female entrepreneurs face when starting their businesses and how she found the drive to pursue her businesses and brand to create a movement rather than just a product.     1:30 - Welcoming Hillary to the show, background on her, and background her businesses and how they got started.   3:48 - Personal relationships being key to sales and business connections.   4:54 - The importance of collaboration.   6:13 - Challenges in building A Gadsby Affair, particularly without a professional mentor.   8:20 - The process to bring on partners and contractors.   9:37 - Why she didn’t have a mentor early on and how that led into her passion to mentor other women.   10:36 - The added difficulties female entrepreneurs

Before Dave Goodman was the bearded, apron-wearing Coco-Jack inventor and entrepreneur who received a $125,000 deal from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, he was a rock-and-roll drummer living in New York City.   Following years of training at Juilliard and the Curtis Institute of Music, Dave began his career as a classical pianist, conductor, and composer, going on to start his own orchestra. “Once you start working for yourself, it’s hard to work for other people.”    For Dave, however, “taking time off” meant immersing himself in fields such as economics, neuro-linguistic programming, hypnosis, mythology, and aviation. As part of his health recovery, he also became a raw food vegan and lost over a hundred pounds. “That’s how I discovered Asian coconuts. I put them in smoothies, drank the water—coconuts became a part of my diet.” The only problem was, there was no easy way to open these coconuts. “As a musician, I didn’t want to throw a knife at my fingers all day.”   Find out more about Dave Goodman and the amazin

In this episode I chat with Nicholas Amato, Founder and CEO of 803Mine. We have a really in-depth discussion on: What Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining is Why Bitcoin is valued the way it is We put some numbers to the exponentially increasing scale of computing power needed in this industry We discuss how mining is monetized and the scope of the industry’s growth  1:18 - Introducing Nicholas and his company, the 803 Mine Project. 2:09 - What bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining actually is. 4:27 - The value and importance of a crypto mining company and how mining relates to the block chain. 7:48 - How large the scale of required computing power is now and how it has grown. 9:54 - Nicholas’s career background and how that has influenced his current work. 11:29 - Speculation versus likely use cases for the value of bitcoin; how 803 Mine is looking to aid US national security. 16:13 - Putting numbers to the exponentially increasing scale of computing power needed in this industry; how mining is monetized and the sc

In this episode I interview Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge, co-founders of Beekman 1802 – a TV Show, Mercantile, bestselling cookbook and memoir, website and tourism destination all inspired by the Beekman 1802 Farm in Sharon Springs, NY. In 2012, the duo competed and won the grand prize in CBS’s The Amazing Race. Over 10M viewers watched for 12 weeks as Josh and Brent beat 20 other competitors in a 45,000 mile race around the world through 12 cities in 9 different countries. Check out the full episode to find out how Josh and Brent overcame some huge challenges and how, with determination, persistence and inspiration, they created one of the fastest growing lifestyle brands in the country. Check out the full episode here: 1:01 - Introducing Josh and Brent from Beekman 1802 as well as how the company got started and some background. 3:30 - Digging into the desperation part of their story. 4:33 - Using your overall vision to push through the desperate times and how Josh and Brent really got their bran

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then according to the SEC it’s a duck. Or, more likely, your so-called utility token is more likely a security.   If you don’t know the difference between a security token and a utility token, you should listen to this episode.   Even if you think you do, you should listen anyway.   In this episode I interview Marc Boiron – ICO and blockchain attorney at Rutan and Tucker in Orange County.   Marc has leveraged his strong corporate and securities law background and his near obsession with blockchain technology to build a practice advising blockchain companies on a breadth of issues, including ICOs, smart contracts, and cryptocurrency laws.   Because, after all, nobody looks good in orange…   Check out the full episode here: 1:10 - Marc’s background and focusing his law practice on blockchain technology. 2:22 - Why Delaware is often sought for business incorporation. 3:47 - How Delaware approached the way blockchain relates to the law. 6:07 - Some issues regulators

Do you know why Quizzes are the next big thing in Marketing? Yes No Don’t know In this episode I chat with Josh Haynam, co-Founder of Interact, a company that makes it easy for businesses to generate leads and drive sales using quizzes.  Ever wondered what the real secret to online marketing is? If you answered yes, no or ‘don’t know’ to any of the above, check out this episode and find out how quizzes can be incredibly effective for building email lists, subscribers, sales funnels, for selling online coaching programs….the list is endless! Check out the full episode here:  1:22 - Introducing Josh and his company, Interact.  3:04 - How Interact functions and works with clients. 4:13 - Interact’s role in attracting attention from the desired audiences through highly specified content. 7:23 - Filtering audiences through content rather than ad targeting and why that’s a valuable approach. 9:20 - The importance of quality content and how Interact goes about designing their quizzes. 11:16 - What effects come fro

What makes music so powerful in arousing feelings and emotions? Why is music so embedded in our memories? In this episode of Hooked On Startups I’m delighted to be joined by John Vitale - Music Chief and Co-Founder at Focus at Will – a neuroscience based music service that helps increase your focus by reducing distractions, energizing you and helping you hit those critical deadlines.   John has 25 years experience in music, sound, and film production as supervisor, producer, engineer, and remixer.   He has worked for Warner Bros, Sony, BMG, and Universal Music, The B52ʼs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Filter, Eminem, KD Lang, George Clinton, and The Romantics.   John knows his stuff. Tune in to find out why music plays such an important part in everyone’s lives and how it can be used as an amazing tool to dramatically increase your productivity.   0:50 - Introducing John Vitale, music chief and co-founder at Focus at Will.   1:34 - John’s background in audio and music.   2:16 - Background on how Focus at Will got st

In this interview I chat with Jim Cirillo – career technologist and recent podcast host.   Find out how Jim found the courage required to leave a steady, well-paying job and what it takes to navigate the digital world when you’re not a digital native.     1:12 - Introducing Jim, what he’s working on, and how he and Matthew met at Podcast Movement.   3:11 - Background details on Jim and whether he ever thought he would have his own podcast.   4:37 - How Jim’s career progressed and ultimately led to starting JimJim’s Reinvention Revolution PodCast; the chaos of the tech world.   8:17 - The effect of the change of pace in technology and how that affected Jim’s career path.   10:55 - Why he didn’t want to be an employee.   12:49 - Starting his entrepreneurial journey as a consultant and making that transition.   13:53 - How the pace of change hasn’t slowed down and leaving his job due to the company not being able to move fast enough.   15:58 - What his approach to staying up to date on technology is and how that

Featured in Forbes, Harper Collins, Gen Z@Work, and Lean Startup, Jeff Boodie is an experienced entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, and Gen Z blogger.  Realizing you can’t write personality into an algorithm, Jeff founded JobSnap – what the lovechild of Tinder and Snapchat would look like - and the hiring voice of Generation Z. In this episode Jeff and I discuss the problems for both Gen Z and employers and how JobSnap bridges that gap, the shifting attitudes towards entrepreneurship in young people, and how social media is influencing the way Gen Z views brands and companies. Make sure you listen to the full episode to learn how Jeff has created the Tinder of job creation platforms!  1:06 - Background on Jeff, co-founder of JobSnap, and some of his other accomplishments.  1:52 - Defining “Generation Z.” 2:39 - How JobSnap addresses Gen Z as the first generation to grow up with computers at home, essentially, from birth and their penchant for video content  4:58 - The challenges posed by Gen Z’s computer and

To move on from where you’ve been before, you need to change who you were before.. “If you want to step up and move beyond where you’ve been before, that means you’ve got to be someone you’ve never been before’. Whenever you step outside of your comfort zone, you’re going to meet your ego. You’re going to meet your fears. You’re going to meet you feelings of inadequacy. You’re going to meet your limitations – which are all self-imposed” In this episode I chat with Melyssa Moniz - an International Speaker and Social Impact Entrepreneur, a Master Neuro-Linguistic Programming Coach, Master Hypnosis Coach and a certified Sales and Marketing Consultant.  A 4 time author, she has mentored over 10,000 clients worldwide in business and lifestyle strategy. Check out the full episode and find out how you can move the needle! 1:10 - Background on Melyssa and her career.   3:52 - How she arrived at her current venture, Magnetic Sales Pros, and her background in sales for financial services.   7:14 - Her growing awareness

“We’re not anti-brand, we’re not not a brand, we’re just reimagining what it means to be a brand” Following her dream to make it possible for everyone to have access to better stuff for fewer dollars, in July this year Tina Sharkey launched Brandless. Brandless wants people to live more and brand less, to tell their own stories, and to drop the false narratives sold by Madison Avenue. “We want to aspire to help people live the lives they want to live” For Tina, co-founder and CEO of the company, Brandless is about more than any individual product they sell. It is about the true democratization of goodness  Brandless promises to keep prices low by eliminating the BrandTax - the hidden costs you pay for a national brand. Its simple white labeling was designed by a team of product and marketing experts and food scientists, what Brandless co-founder and CEO Tina Sharkey calls the “white box council.” The products are tailored to the conscious urban millennial and other shoppers who are “very connected to their va

Payment systems platforms are continuously changing how individuals and companies are sending money, making payments, and processing in between. And it’s a huge market - well over $1 trillion globally. Digitzs is a painless, quick and profitable way to build payments into a platform, app or marketplace. A 20-year proven entrepreneur in the payments space, Laura has compiled an all-star team including PayPal's first CFO David Jaques; Visa's Linda Perry (named Most Influential Women in Payments three years in a row); Ben Way, a world-renowned startup technologist, and Stacey Moore, an award winning technologist, strategist and entrepreneur. As the first female founded company to reach the number one position since the Crowdfinance 50 Index was launched on CNBC in early 2015, Digitzs holds the number one position for the largest capital raise by a female founded company since Title II of the JOBS Act came into effect in the fall of 2013. Check out the full episode and find out what makes Digitzs such a success

In this episode I meet Bernie Swain - co-founder and Chairman of Washington Speakers Bureau and today's foremost authority on the lecture industry. Over the past 35 years, he has represented former US Presidents, American and world leaders, journalists, authors, business visionaries, and sports legends In this fascinating conversation with Bernie we talk about his experiences working shoulder to shoulder with the world’s leaders. We talk about passion, determination and defining moments, and how that passion can be unlocked in the turning points of your life. Find out how Bernie risked everything, starting in the stationery cupboard in a friends office, and how, with dedication, passion and pure dogged determination, he built his business to be the best and most respected agency in the country. 1:12 - Introducing Bernie Swain, the co-founder and CEO of the Washington Speakers Bureau.   2:25 - The difficulty of breaking through the public personas of world class interviewees.   5:00 - How he approached the int

In this episode I talk to Jason Best, one of a handful of people who co-authored the JOBS Act and helped legalize equity and debt based crowdfunding in the USA. Jason has spoken at The White House, South by Southwest, TEDx, the World Bank’s Global Forum on Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship and the Angel Capital Association. We discuss how the biggest change to securities laws in over 78 years is already creating billions of dollars of new investments. Find out how crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies can work together. 0:46 - Introducing Jason, his career, and some background on his role in the JOBS Act. 2:37 - Defining crowdfunding from Jason’s perspective. 4:32 - Differentiating between the types of crowdfunding and how the idea came about for Jason. 5:54 - Getting started and working against a framework that has been in place for decades.   9:29 - How the execution of the JOBS act has developed since it was signed in 2012. 12:02 - Projections for crowdfunding moving forward and the demand Jason has s

Stuck at early stages of growth and struggling to build sales ? In this episode I talk to Alison Arnoff - founder of Unfair Advantage Consulting where she helps tech companies find their unique, unfair advantage to scale their business.  Find out about the typical problems tech startups face and how to solve them. Get the inside track on what makes a company investible to VCs. 1:20 - Introducing Alison and some background on what she does.   2:55 - Alison’s perspective on sales ability in startups.   3:44 - What she normally sees in the companies that she works with.   5:12 - How many companies get stuck at early stages of growth and struggling to approach sales effectively in a startup environment.   7:14 - What Alison sees as one of the biggest, most common problems in tech startups.   8:30 - Beginning the conversation with the companies she works with.   10:47 - Balancing an incremental marketing plan with having a large enough potential market to become a successful company.   11:58 - Some typical problem