Shows
Plan Your Start PodcastRJ Garbowicz: Once You Learn to Survive With Nothing, You Can Bet Everything
How do you go from growing up so poor there was sometimes no power or food in your home, to self-made millionaire in your twenties, to losing it all and then climbing back to build a product that now ranks as one of the top 6,000 websites in the world? Well that’s the rise, fall, and then rise story of RJ Garbowicz. Hear how he built a Social CRM platform that just crossed over 6M members and has a business model that gives 50% of revenues back to the users - hundreds of thousands of dollars paid out already. Now he’s pr...2021-01-301h 08Plan Your Start PodcastChristina Dills: The Essential Power of Mindset and Positive Energy for Startup FoundersIn these challenging times, we need to hear from entrepreneurs like Christina Dills. After rapidly rising the ranks at Microsoft from intern to Channel Development Manager for all Latin America. Christina was a rising corporate star - but something was missing. She felt unfulfilled and that there had to be more to life, contribution, and work. So she began her research, made a plan, and Quit to Start. Hear how she did it and how she now prioritizes the mind and spirit in her daily routine as a startup founder with intention, gratitude, and exercise - resisting negative thoughts...2021-01-301h 28Plan Your Start PodcastBrad Kugler: If You Get Knocked Down, Find a Way Back Up, Never Give Up - And Come Back StrongerHow does one come back from an epic two decade run of entrepreneurial success - then to watch it slowly evaporate around you as market forces shift? This is the story of Brad Kugler and the building of an eight figure cash flowing business that brought him and his family the life and freedoms every entrepreneur dreams - then the crash, the fight for survival, and the epic comeback. Brad tells his rise-fall-rise story, how he learned more on the way down than on the way up, and how he’s now growing again in triple digits for 3 straight ye...2021-01-021h 18Plan Your Start PodcastLizia Santos: The Importance of Lean Startup Methodology and Founder Self Care
Probably no other startup founder has made the cut at TechCrunch Disrupt, NPR's How I Built This fellowship program, and Babson's WIN Lab. But Lizia Santos is not like any other founder. She built a travel tech startup as a non-tech entrepreneur while simultaneously a mom to three little ones. But she almost lost it all, ran out of money and had to start over. She was ridiculously resilient and came back better and stronger. Now despite the pandemic, her travel platform is growing and expanding internationally. Hear her story, how she did it, what she learned and wants to...2020-11-111h 34Plan Your Start PodcastRodrick DeBose: You Can Beat the Odds to Business Ownership & Helping OthersGrowing up in a tough neighborhood and making it to college as the first in his family, Rodrick DeBose beat the odds. He received his bachelor's degree and with only $2,600 of debt - but decided he didn't want to work a nine-to-five. He wanted to work for himself and own his own business. So he worked his way up from valet to owning his own parking and shuttle business to now owning rental property and a personal training business and a financial consulting business - helping others stay out of bad debt (use good debt) and start businesses. Hear...2020-11-111h 01Plan Your Start PodcastMary-Cathryn Kolb: If Entrepreneurs Processed Risk Like Others There Would Be No StartupsWhat was it like to be on the ground floor of Toms Shoes, part of the early team at Spanx, and then leave to start your own textile technology company while a mom and raising a family? Well, that’s been the adventurous and inspiring life so far of Mary-Cathryn Kolb and in this interview she talks about her journey and the pursuit of big things. She shares advice and learnings from her career and talks about risk-taking and the insatiable, inescapable entrepreneurial mindset.
0:07 Allen and Mary-Cathryn are both from the state of Georgia - Mar...2020-09-141h 17Plan Your Start PodcastArt Fyvolent: When Working For Others Just Doesn't Work For YouArt Fyvolent gave it his everything in trying to work for others. He had a very successful early ad agency career but he knew he was meant for more and meant to work for himself. He finally broke away to start his own agency, sold it years later, then took a year off to recharge and reset his life. He came back and became an idea machine and 'multipreneur'. Now Art has Squirrel Ventures which is a collection of all his startups at various stages of growth and development. At this stage of his entrepreneurial life, Art gets to...2020-09-1458 minPlan Your Start PodcastAshlee Ammons: Women Founders And Founders of Color Are Over-Mentored and Under-FundedWinning $100k investment from Steve Case and being named one of "100 Powerful Women" by Entrepreneur Magazine didn’t come easy for Ashlee Ammons. She left her great job and income to be an entrepreneur, fought self-doubt, rejection, and the challenges of not looking like a typical tech founder when pitching and meeting with investors. In this interview she talks about all of that and how she and her mother and co-founder raised their first $1M with smarts and determination.
1:00 Ashlee & her tech startup Mixtroz are in Birmingham, AL - discussion about the special tech & investor ecosystem there. ...2020-08-261h 19Plan Your Start PodcastSteve MacDonald: The Long Game of Building and Investing in Early Stage Growth CompaniesThis week's guest is Steve MacDonald. He started without money or connections but found a way to build a startup to over $100M in revenue and a 9 figure exit. Now he's an investor himself having personally invested in over 120 companies and counting. In this interview we talk about what it takes to be a successful company builder and then a successful angel investor. Steve breaks down how founders should approach capital raising and he describes what he will be looking for with his new investment firm, MacDonald Ventures.
0:05 Allen finds Steve in Aspen, CO getting a...2020-07-211h 20Plan Your Start PodcastChristy Brown: Since Women Entrepreneurs Statistically Outperform, Why Do They Not Get the Capital?Christy Brown, a three-time exited founder and now investor, mentor, and advisor to early stage companies, especially women and minority entrepreneurs. Hear about how Christy learned business acumen from her entrepreneur grandmother and tenacity from her mother, raising her and her sister solo while working. She goes on to excel at male-majority Georgia Tech and then a skillful run of working for big corporate, to startup founder, to acquisition, back to corporate, then back to startup founder - rinse and repeat 3 times. Now she is an investor, volunteers for the causes she cares about, and helps women and underserved...2020-07-161h 16Plan Your Start PodcastJanel Laravie: Have an Audacious Goal - But It's Ok to Move the Goal PostJanel Laravie is the Founder & CEO of Chacka Marketing. She turned a side hustle into a multi-million dollar, award-winning digital marketing agency - but not easy and not overnight. Tune-in to find out what Chacka means and how Janel rose from a small rural town in West Virginia to corporate VP - then leaving it all to launch a startup from her spare bedroom with only 3 months of savings. She talks about the advantages of starting a business in a down economy and her keys to success and growth. SPONSOR: Secure Startup (https://www.securestartup.com) - securely managing...2020-07-161h 04Plan Your Start PodcastDr. Tylisha Johnson: If Your WHY Isn't Strong Enough, You Won't Last Long EnoughMy guest this week is Dr. Tylisha Johnson. How does one escape being a statistic - born to a teenage mother and an absent father, getting a college degree the long route, then a masters, then a doctorate. Hear how she experienced the loss of her 11 year old son to leukemia and didn't want to carry on, then pulled through and persevered. And finally how she left corporate and academia to start her own consultancy that helps businesses and non-profits reach their fullest potential.
3:10 Dr. Ty never meets a stranger, she loves people immediately.
4:00 Dr...2020-07-091h 20Plan Your Start PodcastMarcus Howard: Are There Racial Issues in Gaming, Esports, and Raising Startup Capital?We're back with episode guest Marcus Howard. Hear about what it feels like to be in a startup pitch competition and cause a double-take when you're not part of the wait staff - and then win that competition. Then years and countless investor meetings without investment - in a hot market like gaming and esports. Marcus talks about the challenges of being a black male startup founder trying to raise venture/angel capital and the rarely discussed issues of race in gaming and esports.
01:05 Introduction, husband, father of two, full-stack, full-time developer for Gerdau Steel. Side projects...2020-07-091h 13Plan Your Start PodcastSteve Fiske: When It Comes to Advice - What to Let In, What to Keep OutSteve Fiske is co-founder of first-to-market residential keyless entry technology company UniKey (Shark Tank Season 3) and now co-founder of iApartments (www.iapts.com), smart home technology for multi-family residence communities. On this episode we talk about Steve's rise from computer/art nerd to being burned out and maxed out financially before breaking through with UniKey. He talks about the lead-up to and post Shark Tank, but before that, the struggles - and the importance of personal and team determination to the vision and mission, for ultimate success.
03:38 What to let in, what to keep out - stick...2020-07-091h 22Plan Your Start PodcastSheryl Hunter, Esquire: Be Sure That You Really Need a Partner or InvestorIn this episode we talk to Sheryl Hunter of Hunter Business Law - The Entrepreneur’s Law Firm. We opened with "Are Partnerships and Investors Like Marriages?" Then we step through Sheryl’s backstory from Georgetown Law to big corporate and ultimately starting her own firm dedicated to entrepreneurs. Among other topics, we talk about the biggest and most common legal setbacks and derails she sees with entrepreneurs, partners, and investors - and how to avoid them.
SPONSOR: Executive Launch (www.execlaunch.com) - From corporate executive to startup founder.
0:10 - Are partnership or investor brea...2020-07-091h 28Plan Your Start PodcastBen Gordon: Freelance Your Way to Startup SuccessBen Gordon is the co-founder of cabinets.com which was started with his partner on free Panera wi-fi and then ultimately $35M in revenues selling high-ticket custom kitchen cabinets online. Ben talks about walking away from the big corporate job to be a freelance solopreneur that lead to cabinets.com - and then his recent financial exit to pursue his next, even more ambitious startup. SPONSOR: SecureStartup (www.securestartup.com) - Secure and easy startup documents between founders and investors.
2:20 - Opening and how Ben got his nickname ‘The Ghost’
3:05 - Bio and profile of Ben...2020-07-091h 10Plan Your Start PodcastOlga & Q: The Disproportionate Success of Immigrant EntrepreneursMany successful companies were founded by immigrant entrepreneurs - Google, Tesla, Chobani, eBay, Liz Claiborne, Yahoo, Capital One, Instagram, Kohl’s, and more. Today, one in four U.S. entrepreneurs are first generation immigrants. In this episode we talk with the founders of The Underdog Olga and Q about why immigrant entrepreneurs are often disproportionately more successful than others.
SPONSORED BY: Executive Launch (www.execlaunch.com) - from corporate executive to startup founder.
2:30 All about The Underdog - two recovering communists
9:15 Where did the name ‘The Underdog’ come from?
15:50 Why would a scie...2020-07-091h 28Plan Your Start PodcastJoe Hodges: Face Your Fears and Thrive ...on Cinco de Mayo 2020!Joe Hodges started his company with just $3,500, often slept in his office, and had incredible people help him get started. Then he built it up and sold it for millions 15 years later. Joe joins Allen on the podcast for this special Cinco de Mayo episode, tells his story, and gives inspiration and advice to all those aspiring and early entrepreneurs out there. Cervezas and laughter included. Hyperlinked minute-by-minute show notes below: SPONSOR: Executive Launch (www.execlaunch.com) - from corporate executive to startup founder.
0:50 Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!
1:10 We dance badly
2:30 Joe’s...2020-07-091h 28Plan Your Start PodcastChris Adamo: Give and Collect Social Capital to Get Ahead in these Tough Economic TimesConversation with Chris Adamo. Chris rose from store manager at CVS in NYC to executive at 1-800-Flowers as part of their rise from $500M to $1B. He then broke away to be a founding partner at Social Venture Partners Miami and become an investor in Epic Games, Acorns, Caribu, Binske, and currently an investor (alongside Jason Calacanis) at WhereBy.Us. In our interview we talk about the importance of knowing who you are, finding your purpose, increase your ‘helping curve’, and earn (and give!) more social capital to thrive in today’s world. SPONSORED BY: Executive Launch (www.execla...2020-07-0955 minPlan Your Start PodcastCoco & Dash: When Your Business Partner is a Close Family MemberThe mother-daughter founders of Dallas-based specialty home decor retail shop 'Coco & Dash' share their story of starting and building their business together, how they nearly broke apart with contrasting personalities and contrasting work styles, and how they made one major move to save their relationship and the business. From there it has been climbing revenues and multiple awards for design and business. Coco and Dash, a mother-daughter business and life success story. www.cocoanddash.com | Instagram @cocoanddash SPONSORED BY: Executive Launch (www.execlaunch.com) - From corporate executive to startup founder...
1:30 - Introduction and welcome to the...2020-07-091h 22Plan Your Start PodcastJamie Klingman: Build Your Business So It Can Run Without You One DaySpecial guest this episode: Jamie Klingman. Jamie was a straight A pre-med student that couldn't be around cadavers. So, she started her first company at age 22, built it up over a decade, then sold it and gained enough financial independence to start several new businesses (and a non-profit) of which she operates today. They include a real estate brokerage, a business brokerage, a publishing company, and a few other side projects - and she serves on at least two non-profit boards at any given time. Jamie and I talk entrepreneurship and mindsets for this challenging economic time. SPONSOR: Executive...2020-07-091h 29Plan Your Start PodcastEric Ledermann: Side Hustle Your Way To Financial FreedomEric is a radiologist by day (from home!) but before that he had a side hustling game that started in high school (selling video game items on eBay) and then a bowling instructor - won his state championship. Then he parlayed his love and knowledge of luxury watches into a side business (and a watch patent) that continues to this day - and oh yeah, he has two apps in the app store!
SPONSORED BY: Executive Launch (www.execlaunch.com) - From corporate executive to startup founder...
1:15 - Eric Discusses his first side hustle. He...2020-07-091h 27Plan Your Start PodcastCole Robinson: Why Franchising is a Great Entrepreneurial Option - And How to Get ThereSpecial guest this episode: Cole Robinson. Cole rose from door to door selling books in college, to the retail floor of a major department store, then joined a small marketing company and helped them grow from $6M to $22M. She decided at least a year in advance that she needed to leave her job and start a company. She enlisted a mentor, saved money, did a ton of research and finally pulled the trigger. Cole always had the goal to own her own business before 40. Well she did that and today she's created the work-life balance and income she...2020-07-041h 32Plan Your Start PodcastBrian Kornfeld: Solve A Problem And Put The Odds In Your FavorBrian is the co-founder & President of Synapse, Florida's largest technology & innovation conference held in Amalie Arena each year. Before that he successfully escaped two large Fortune 500 / S&P 500 companies to be an entrepreneur himself. Brian knows innovation, he knows entrepreneurship and he came on the show to share his thoughts and ideas on how to survive and thrive in this challenging economy we find ourselves. SPONSOR: SecureStartup (www.securestartup.com) - Secure and easy startup documents between founders and investors.
0:25 - Brian discusses how lucky he and his team were to have held the 2020 Synapse Summit in...2020-07-041h 37Plan Your Start PodcastMariagrazia Lauricella: Non-Profits Can and Should Be Enterprising and EntrepreneurialThis week’s episode is with Mariagrazia Lauricella. Maria started her international non-profit for youth, Humanity Del Sol, working 3 jobs at any given time until sustainable. She now has a team of six and runs the operation from home or while traveling internationally. She's also added sustainability ventures to help fund her social enterprises, and helps others do the same, including her newest - a wine club called the Humanity Wine Company. Maria is a social enterprising, solopreneuring, homepreneuring, international traveling maven! SPONSOR: SecureStartup (www.securestartup.com) - securely manage documents between startup founders and investors.
0:30 - Al...2020-07-041h 31Plan Your Start PodcastKerry McNally: Use Excitement and Persistence to Chase Down Your Dreams and SucceedThis week’s guest is Kerry McNally. Kerry is the founder & CEO of Siesta Key Films, two-time Emmy award winning journalist, writer/producer, freelance voiceover artist, and occasional legit stand-up comedian. Kerry is the epitome of possibility thinking, creativity, and constant entrepreneurship. SPONSOR: Secure Startup (www.securestartup.com) - securely manage all the documents between startup founders and investors.
Shownotes:
2:50 - Kerry makes a toast with drink in hand to kick off the show - and especially to our first responders and health care workers in this COVID-19 situation we are in.
5:15 - Wh...2020-07-041h 34Plan Your Start PodcastAnnabelle Ship: Bootstrap Business SchoolIntroduction:
This week’s guest was Annabelle Ship. Annabelle is a frequent guest speaker in Allen's USF entrepreneurship class where she talks about the merits of bootstrapping a new business like she did multiple times successfully in her career. She's so passionate about this approach, she now runs a non-profit organization called the Bootstrap Business School.
2:50 - Annabelle’s Entrepreneurial journey is an excellent example, on the beginning, she used her creativity to compensate for her lack of financial resources
3:55 - Allen focuses on where America is right now. During this Economic Crisis, peop...2020-07-041h 28Plan Your Start PodcastRichard Heruska: Now Could Be The Best Time to Start a Business - Or Side BusinessThis week’s guest is Rich Heruska. Rich was Allen’s very first guest speaker in 2017 for his USF entrepreneurship class, so it’s fitting Rich will be his first podcast guest. Rich is a 5x serial entrepreneur and recent Accelerator Director at one of the largest startup accelerators in the U.S.
0:15 - Rich describes his bumpy start to business going from being laid off, to working in a startup that failed, before him and his future business partner created a mortgage company with $3,000 on a credit card - during a recession.
2:45 - Rich shares...2020-07-041h 17