School For Startups Radio

Wayne Elliott - Ship Recycling and Strauss Naturals Advocate   [caption id="attachment_58814" align="alignright" width="150"] Wayne Elliott[/caption] Wayne Elliott has been in the ship recycling business for 40 years. His company can take a 1000-foot-long ship and reduce it to a pile to reusable materials. He has grown into other areas such as battery recycling. He recounts his life-changing experience with SHD, a health supplement he stumbled upon after battling angina and its debilitating symptoms. Struggling with leg cramps, shortness of breath, night sweats, and chest pains, Wayne also grappled with anxiety and a lack of energy, resigning himself to the fate of heart-related issues that plagued his family. However, upon learning about SHD through a friend in Vancouver and being inspired by studies from renowned institutions like Harvard, Wayne decided to give it a try. Astonishingly, within two weeks of taking SHD, he noticed improvements in unexpected ways – his hearing returned, and his respiratory sy

Cary Sparrow – Founder and CEO of WageScape Cary Sparrow is a business leader and engineer who has thrived throughout his career with his entrepreneurial approach and a keen eye for innovation opportunities. He founded WageScape in 2015 with a vision of bringing transparency to the labor market. Prior to founding WageScape, Cary served as a Vice President at Cargill, the largest privately-held company in the US, with over 65 businesses across nearly 70 countries. At Cargill, Cary was responsible for upgrading the global workforce management infrastructure, including all related technology, processes, data, and organizational structures. Prior to Cargill, Cary was a Principal and Global Practice Leader at Willis Towers Watson (then Towers Perrin). Cary is a veteran of the United States Navy, where he served as an officer on nuclear fast attack submarines. Cary has a master’s in management degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, with concentrations in finance and strategy. He also ha

Anthony Nitsos – Founder and Lead Guru at SaaS Gurus Anthony Nitsos is CEO and Founder of SaaS Gurus, is a seasoned financial strategist with a unique background in human medicine and finance. Since establishing SaaS Gurus in January 2020, he’s devoted to delivering fractional CFO services tailored to SaaS startups’ distinct needs. With a proven track record, Anthony excels in elevating financial strategy, addressing root causes of challenges, and driving company value. His expertise extends beyond finance, providing insights into sales operations, HR, and risk management. Nitsos has contributed to unicorn exits, such as Duo Security ($2.35B to Cisco) and LLamasoft ($1.5B to Coupa). Anthony empowers SaaS startup CEOs and Founders with holistic business insights, redefining the CFO role in the dynamic SaaS finance world. Lyle Myers – Chief Development Officer at iFlex Franchise Lyle Myers is Chief Development Officer at iFlex Franchise, a unique business with opportunities to create Stretch Studios that s

Gautam Jain – CEO and Co-Founder of GoComet This quote will be added soon, sorry! Gautam Jain is the driving force behind GoComet and a disruptor in the world of logistics. A computer science graduate and top-ranking alumnus of IIT Delhi, Gautam is reshaping supply chain visibility with a bold vision and a passion for transforming the supply chain industry. While he was still in college at IIT Delhi, and along with several classmates, Gautam embarked on a tech journey with real estate startup Plat in 2014, which was acquired by Housing.com in 2015. This transformative experience ignited their ambition to tackle the complexities of another traditionally “unsexy” industry. In 2016, when Gautam and his associates first experienced exporting products from China and selling on Amazon in the US, they identified a glaring gap: while apps tracked cabs and food deliveries in real-time, the location of a $100,000 container remained an enigma in transit. With opportunity knocking, they launched GoComet to address the

Wayne Elliott – Ship Recycling and Strauss Naturals Advocate   Wayne Elliott has been in the ship recycling business for 40 years. His company can take a 1000-foot-long ship and reduce it to a pile to reusable materials. He has grown into other areas such as battery recycling. He recounts his life-changing experience with SHD, a health supplement he stumbled upon after battling angina and its debilitating symptoms. Struggling with leg cramps, shortness of breath, night sweats, and chest pains, Wayne also grappled with anxiety and a lack of energy, resigning himself to the fate of heart-related issues that plagued his family. However, upon learning about SHD through a friend in Vancouver and being inspired by studies from renowned institutions like Harvard, Wayne decided to give it a try. Astonishingly, within two weeks of taking SHD, he noticed improvements in unexpected ways – his hearing returned, and his respiratory system cleared, leading to a significant boost in energy. Over the course of three months,

Joel Friedland – Founder of Brit Properties Joel Friedland has a 42-year track record in industrial real estate. He co-founded Epic/Savage Realty Partners in 1991 where he oversaw hiring and mentoring 60 industrial real estate professionals, many of whom became his partners. His group sold the firm to an international real estate company in 2014 and Joel started Brit Properties. As an industrial real estate broker and owner, Joel has secured over 2,000 industrial property leases and sales, totaling over $2 billion in brokerage volume and $250 million in acquisitions. His greatest accomplishment is maintaining valued relationships with brokers, tenants and investors spanning five decades. He does fully syndicated deals, often with 0% debt, an unheard of approach in real estate which caters to his wealthy investor base primarily concerned with conservation of principal. His experiences during the Great Recession in 2008 have informed his investment approach to be hyper-conservative while still allowing an ~8% c

Nelson Nigel – Founder and CEO of Kidmoto Technology I was so broke that I could only start this company with two car seats. I said we will provide airport transportation with pre-installed kids car seats. I started with two car seats and here we are six years later and are a national organization. Nelson Nigel is the Founder and CEO of Kidmoto Technology. Back in 2016 Nelson as an Uber driver noticed that taxis and car services do not offer installed child car seats, and parents are helpless. He found a void in the transportation marketplace that Uber and Lyft have explicitly left open. Nelson created a mobile app to provide a convenient and safe alternative to lugging car seats to and from airports to change how parents travel with small children. Today, Kidmoto is a trusted brand that connects parents to a network of professionally trained drivers that provide airport transfers with secured child car seats for safe and convenient airport travel in 52 US cities. After operating for 6 years Kidmoto has ove

Wayne Elliott - Ship Recycling and Strauss Naturals Advocate     Wayne Elliott has been in the ship recycling business for 40 years. His company can take a 1000-foot-long ship and reduce it to a pile to reusable materials. He has grown into other areas such as battery recycling. He recounts his life-changing experience with SHD, a health supplement he stumbled upon after battling angina and its debilitating symptoms. Struggling with leg cramps, shortness of breath, night sweats, and chest pains, Wayne also grappled with anxiety and a lack of energy, resigning himself to the fate of heart-related issues that plagued his family. However, upon learning about SHD through a friend in Vancouver and being inspired by studies from renowned institutions like Harvard, Wayne decided to give it a try. Astonishingly, within two weeks of taking SHD, he noticed improvements in unexpected ways – his hearing returned, and his respiratory system cleared, leading to a significant boost in energy. Over the course of three months

Corey Poirier – Speaker, Podcaster and Author of The Enlightened Passenger To be a paid speaker, speak at Chambers of Commerce and hand out evaluation forms. Those forms are where the money is at! It has six questions on it and one of those questions is ‘do you know who could hire me to give a talk?’ If I speak in a room of 100, I will get 25 suggestions to follow up. Usually, I will book five. Corey Poirier is a multiple-time TEDx Speaker and was recently announced as one of just 15 SUCCESS Magazine Emerging Entrepreneurs (a first time award). He is also the host of the top rated ‘Let’s Do Influencing’ Radio Show, founder of the growing bLU Talks brand, and has been featured in multiple television specials. He is a Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Apple Books and Kobo Bestselling Author, Award Winning Author, and the co-author of the Wall Street Journal / USA Today Bestseller, Quitless. A columnist with Entrepreneur and Forbes magazine, he has interviewed over 6,500 of the world’s top leaders, including everyone

Josh Tolley – Acquisition Entrepreneur and Author of Acquisitional Wealth: The Fastest, Most Proven Way to Create Life-Changing Prosperity If you want to buy a business, take whatever you have and multiply that by 10. That’s the size of business that you can afford. Divide that number by three and that’s typically is what that business is going to kick off to owner benefit. If you have $100,000, that’s $1,000,000 business that will typically kick back $300 or $350,000 dollars a year. Josh Tolley is the founder and chairman of Tolley & Company, an organization that buys, builds, operates, and sells companies in multiple industries including finance, spirits, birthing centers, and many others. For more than a decade Josh Tolley, known as “The Chairman” has been the global voice of truth, freedom, and entrepreneurship. He has been bringing his unique perspective to topics including faith, family, finances, politics, social issues, sports, and entertainment. At twelve years old Josh began his entrepreneuria

Matt Murray – Founder and CEO of Blue Collar King Coaching & Consulting I am proof that you can go out and learn a trade and then you can go out and learn leadership, financial literacy, operations and customer service. You can get that education without going through the college system. Matt Murray Matt Murray started his career in the commercial HVAC & Refrigeration field 22 years ago. Today he is the Blue Collar King: a highly successful business owner, entrepreneur, author, coach, and consultant. As such, Matt’s expertise goes far beyond “just” his technical expertise in the HVAC/R field. Matt is also an expert in leadership, business development, business systems & strategy, operations, strategic planning, sales, and more. Matt is the Founder and CEO of Evolution Mechanical, Inc., which serves the commercial and industrial HVAC/R market. He is the Founder and CEO of Blue Collar King Coaching & Consulting, through which he guides owners and would-be owners of service-based businesses in

Doug Howarth – Founder of Hypernomics and Author of Hypernomics: Using Hidden Dimensions to Solve Unseen Problems  Several 100 years of economic theory touted up until today, talk about the law of supply and demand. They want to talk about everything occurring in a two-dimensional system. This book realizes that everything works in a four-dimensional system.   Doug Howarth’s life is a story of remarkable challenges and groundbreaking discoveries. From his fascination with coordinate systems to a life-saving kidney transplant, his journey led him to uncover the concept of Hypernomics—a field that explores uncharted dimensions in market analysis. Driven by newfound clarity, Doug founded Hypernomics Inc., developing innovative software capable of analyzing markets in four or more dimensions, and grabbing the attention of industry giants like NASA and Lockheed Martin. His upcoming book, “Hypernomics: Using Hidden Dimensions to Solve Unseen Problems,” will revolutionize conventional thinking. Doug’s story inspir

Wayne Elliott - Ship Recycling and Strauss Naturals Advocate - Ups and Downs of a Family Business  Wayne Elliott has been in the ship recycling business for 40 years. His company can take a 1000-foot-long ship and reduce it to a pile to reusable materials. He has grown into other areas such as battery recycling. He recounts his life-changing experience with SHD, a health supplement he stumbled upon after battling angina and its debilitating symptoms. Struggling with leg cramps, shortness of breath, night sweats, and chest pains, Wayne also grappled with anxiety and a lack of energy, resigning himself to the fate of heart-related issues that plagued his family. However, upon learning about SHD through a friend in Vancouver and being inspired by studies from renowned institutions like Harvard, Wayne decided to give it a try. Astonishingly, within two weeks of taking SHD, he noticed improvements in unexpected ways – his hearing returned, and his respiratory system cleared, leading to a significant boost in ener

Rob Dube – Co-Founder of imageOne and Author of Shine: How Looking Inward Is the Key to Unlocking True Entrepreneurial Freedom  I want you to get to a place where you see your thoughts as an observer, so they don’t take on a sense of fear. Your true self is the real you; it’s the authentic version of who you are that is unshaped by societal expectations, professional roles, and societal masks. Our true self gets buried behind our ego. Rob Dube started in business selling Blow Pops out of his high school locker. He co-founded imageOne, which has been recognized by publications like Forbes and Inc Magazine for its people-first and purpose-driven culture. Rob is the Visionary at The 10 Disciplines Coaching Program, which helps driven entrepreneurs who have mastered their outer world, master their inner world. He is also a co-founder of E-Leap Academy, a program to accelerate the success of early-stage entrepreneurs. As an avid meditator and positive servant leader for 30 years, Rob is driven to share the perso

Johnathan Grzybowski – CMO and Co-Founder of Penji Be damn good and ask for reviews! To date, we are the number one rated graphic design company next to Canva in the world. Johnathan Grzybowski is the CMO and co-founder of Penji. Penji is a platform that gives you on-demand access to the top 2% of the best designers in the world. As a SaaS, we focus on different kinds of marketing strategies, streamlined leadership, and top-of-the-line service for our customers to effectively grow our company. Johnathan has been eager to share his success story and we found your podcast to be a perfect fit. After experiencing firsthand how difficult it was to find talented graphic designers for his business, Johnathan and his co-founder Khai launched Penji in 2017. Their goal was to provide an innovative solution by making essential tools and resources more accessible and affordable for entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders. Penji has been named as “top startup to watch” according to Philadelphia Magazine and mentione

Maxine Clark – Founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop®, CEO of the Clark-Fox Family Foundation, and Chief Inspirator of the Delmar DivINe™ Office buildings empty but we have 670 people that come here to work at least several times a week. We don’t have a problem filling our space. There is something about working in community and being part of something that’s bigger than you that makes you feel like you can do more than you have already done. Maxine Clark founded Build-A-Bear Workshop®, a teddy-bear-themed retail-entertainment experience, and under her leadership, it became a publicly traded company on the NYSE in 2004. Today, Build-A-Bear boasts more than 500 stores worldwide, with more than 500 million stuffed animals sold globally. Upon stepping down from her role as Chief Executive Bear in 2013, she embarked on a mission to empower women and minority entrepreneurs while using her entrepreneurial skills to create opportunities for St. Louis families. Her latest venture, the Delmar DivINe™, transformed the his

Shannon Bloemker – CEO and Founder of Energy Raven Our focus is on home buyers, looking at the home you are about to purchase. People know nothing about the energy usage of that house. We created a software that your home inspector can use to perform energy use analytics, alongside the inspection. Shannon Bloemker is the CEO and Founder of Energy Raven, an energy assessment tool for homebuyers. Shannon is a serial entrepreneur and holds a Master’s Degree in Sustainability from Harvard University. She is a former investment strategist with more than 15 years of experience in real estate investment, renovation, and property management and is a certified home inspector. Shannon has deep knowledge of the real estate market, having worked as a strategist for several prop-tech companies, including real estate finance, SFR and ESG investing, residential and commercial investment strategy, and sustainable construction. Shannon also has extensive experience in many facets of company-building. She has led several sta

Andy Hilliard – CEO of Accelerance and Author of Synergea: A Blueprint for Building Effective, Globally Distributed Teams in the New Era of Software Development This quote will be added soon, sorry! At age 26, Andy Hilliard had a quarter-life crisis that changed the trajectory of his life. In an effort to find himself, Andy joined the Peace Corps in 1988. On assignment in Costa Rica, he fell in love with the culture—and the woman who became his wife. The experience led Andy to dedicate himself to enriching businesses and individuals through valuable cultural exchange. As CEO of Accelerance, Andy helps companies find the talent they need to scale high- performing, globally distributed software engineering and product development teams. Software development outsourcing is experiencing a new renaissance, fueled by a scarcity of technological expertise, centers of excellence in unlikely places, and tools that facilitate remote work. What was once a tactical move to save a few dollars, outsourcing software devel

Michel Elings – CEO & co-founder of Vev   VEV is a way to turn your idea into a business, all from your computer or even better, from your phone.  Michel Elings is CEO & co-founder of Vev, a platform to accept orders, reservations, bookings, tickets and payments from one simple page! It’s a new small business tool making waves in Europe that is coming to the US for the first time. It’s called Vev, and it’s the easiest way to start your own business, whether you provide a service, sell a product, or build an experience. Michel, whose previous company formed the backbone of Apple News, is now out with a free web app and simple set of tools to allow anyone to start a business and begin taking orders or reservations within three clicks. Whether you are a personal trainer, pet stylist, artisan crafter, or baker, Vev has created 200 pre-built templates with easy prompts and free tools such as a calendar to book appointments, a CRM system to manage sales, and a delivery/order tracker. Unlike other small bu

Adam Coffey – CEO, Operating Partner, Board Member, CEO Coach, Consultant, Empire Builder, Dealmaker, #1 Best Selling Author of Empire Builder: The Road to a Billion  I buy companies from people who typically don’t know they are sellers before I meet them. Adam Coffey is an Empire builder, CEO coach, in-demand speaker, and three-time #1 bestselling author Adam Coffey builds high-performance cultures that drive transformative exponential growth. A CEO for more than two decades, he led three national private equity-backed service companies for nine PE sponsors, completing 58 acquisitions and realizing billions of dollars in successful exits. Coffey is a founding partner of CEO Advisory Guru, serving as management consultant and independent director to PE portfolio companies, family offices, and elite executives. His specialties include growth strategy, mergers and acquisitions, new business development, and exits. A proud US Army veteran, Coffey lives in Texas with his family. Read the transcript here. E