Kevin Siskar 4/5/19 Kevin Siskar 4/5/19

Skip Hop's Michael Diamant Innovates Baby Products

From being forced to layoff his whole staff, to selling his company for $140 million, our next guest, Michael Diamant, has great insight on how he became successful. Michael Diamant created a well-known brand with his wife, called Skip Hop, which was sold to Carter’s for $140 million. It all started with a diaper bag in 2003. Michael and his wife wanted a diaper bag that was fully functional, however, also appealed to a fashion savvy crowd. The company continued to grow for 15 more years creating several more innovative baby care products before they were bought by Carter’s. Now both Michael and his wife continue to work with Carter’s to help grow the brand Skip Hop.

Before Michael created a very successful brand, he had a great career and started multiple companies. He has a background in advertising and was a happy employee at MTV. Tune in to find out more about how Michael became successful…

Growing up
The world of advertising
Working at MTV, and the impact it had on Michael
His first company – T3 Media
How he was able to start iClips
How it felt to have to lay off 35 employees
His Skip Hop Journey

Ambition Today Question of the Day™ :
What advise would you have for other entrepreneurs who are trying to find product market fit?

The Single Greatest Piece of Advice:
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Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…

Transcript:

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Kevin Siskar 3/25/19 Kevin Siskar 3/25/19

Australia's Benjamin Chong Helps Startups Excel With Right Click Capital

Today, my guest is a fellow Founder Institute Director, Benjamin Chong. Benjamin has been the director of Founder Institute in Australia since 2011 and is also well known as a partner at Right Click Capital. Right Click Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups. He is an active technology startup community member that has served as a mentor and guest speaker at many different entrepreneurial programs in Sydney, South East Asia, and the United States.

Benjamin Chong grew up in Australia and says his life-changing entrepreneurial moment was when he was in a program called Young Achievement in High School where a few select students from multiple schools got together and created a business, they had to sell stock, and make it profitable, which was a success. He graduated from the University of South Wales and has been unstoppable. Listen in to learn more about Benjamin’s successes…

Early years in Australia
Young Achievement program in High School
Working at PWC
Co-founding iMega
Directing Founders Institute since 2011
Is startup life different in Australia
How important mental health is

Ambition Today Question of the Day™ :
What was it like to make the switch from Founder to Investor?

The Single Greatest Piece of Advice:
Members of the "A-list" can listen to exclusive A-list bonus clips here! If you are not a member yet be sure to join the Ambition Today A-list!

Quote Of The Episode:
“Relationship in businesses are critical, it takes time to build relationships…”

Links from this episode:

Listen to this episode now:

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Transcript:

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Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

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Kevin Siskar 3/11/19 Kevin Siskar 3/11/19

Michael Loeb's New Approach To Launching Billion Dollar Companies

Joining us today is Founder and CEO of Loeb.NYC and Loeb.ATL, Michael Loeb. Loeb Enterprises is an early stage venture investing company and an incubator for startups.

Joining us today is the Founder and CEO of Loeb.nyc, Michael Loeb. Loeb.nyc represents a new approach to launching early stage startups that pairs capital with the support of experts across a wide range of disciplines. Prior to this, Michael Loeb co-founded Synapse in 1992 with Jay Walker. Synapse then became the largest seller of consumer magazine subscriptions worldwide and now is a subsidiary of Time Warner. Along with Jay Walker, Michael Loeb also assisted with the creation and early stage funding of Priceline.

Although Michael Loeb was born in St. Louis, MO, he has been in New York since the age of one year old. However, it was not until he was fired from Time, Inc that he realized his entrepreneurial potential. Tune in to this episode of Ambition Today to learn more of Michael’s amazing story:

Growing up in New York City.
Working at Time, Inc.
Why being fired can sometimes be important.
Creating Synapse.
Co-founding Priceline.
Expansion of Loeb Atlanta
Selling his company for $800 million & becoming a billionaire.
Creating Loeb.nyc to help build new companies.
Why New York is a unique startup ecosystem.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™ :
I have heard you say that you wish you had bet on yourself earlier in your life. How old were you when you quit Time and how can people bet on themselves earlier in their own life?

The Single Greatest Piece of Advice:
Members of the "A-list" can listen to exclusive A-list bonus clips here! If you are not a member yet be sure to join the Ambition Today A-list!

Quote Of The Episode:
“It is hard to be an entrepreneur in your 30’s, if you didn’t have a big win in your 20’s.”

Links from this episode:

Listen to this episode now:

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Transcript:

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Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

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Kevin Siskar 2/21/19 Kevin Siskar 2/21/19

Brian McCullough How The Internet Happened & What Is Happening Today

Approaching two decades later, our guest, Brian McCullough’s company is still going strong. Brian is CEO of ResumeWriters.com which is the longest lasting company for this service, shout out to Brian.

Approaching two decades later, our guest, Brian McCullough’s company is still going strong. Brian McCullough is CEO of ResumeWriters.com which is the longest lasting company for this service, shout out to Brian. Not only is he a successful entrepreneur, he is also the Author of How The Internet Happened book. In 2016, he became a Ted Talk Resident, and is also known for his podcasts: Internet History Podcast and Techmeme Ride Home, which is a News Aggregator that now gives you a daily dose of tech news.

Brian McCullough grew up in Florida with no entrepreneurial background as his parents were both hard working teachers. Brian went to college to get a degree in Film, which he did, however, it was when he had to write his thesis to graduate, that he ended up becoming an entrepreneur instead. Tune in to hear more about Brian’s story:

Life background
Interviewing people for his book
Internet History Podcast
Techmeme Ride Home
History of the internet
How The Internet Happened book

Ambition Today Question of the Day™ :
With regard to the venture capital industry whose job is to depict that future, what advice would you have for them based on the history of the internet?

The Single Greatest Piece of Advice:
Members of the "A-list" can listen to exclusive A-list bonus clips here! If you are not a member yet be sure to join the Ambition Today A-list!

Quote Of The Episode:
“We live in the world where entrepreneurs are rock stars”

Links from this episode:

· Techmeme Ride Home

Listen to this episode now:

The A-List

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Transcript:

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Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

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Kevin Siskar 2/7/19 Kevin Siskar 2/7/19

50 Episodes Later, Ramphis Castro Returns To Talk About Investing In Hard-Tech & Life Science Startups

Ramphis is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of ScienceVest, a venture capital fund for hard-tech and life science companies. He is an experienced technologist and product strategist that has led and supported venture-backed teams from idea to exit. He is a Kauffman Fellow and co-Chairs the NYC chapter of the Society. As a Fellow, his research focused on the funding gaps for radical science companies in the U.S., collecting interviews of over 200 stakeholders across the research & commercialization ecosystem in the U.S.

Reminiscing on my first podcast is my guest, Ramphis Castro. We sat down for my very first podcast in August of 2015 and he has watched it grow over the years. It was great to have him here with me again. Ramphis is a serial entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist that has impacted several companies across 40 countries. His quote sums him up very well, “I am a Computer Engineer and Lawyer by training, serial entrepreneur by experience, and grass-root ecosystem builder by conviction.”

A Puerto Rican Native, Ramphis grew up by the beach with his dad, mom and three siblings. He is close to his family and had his mom instilling entrepreneurship in his mind from the beginning. The family always had little ways to make some extra spending money outside of their jobs, which taught Ramphis investing and ways to make money from a young age. He was fortunate enough to go to a school that taught English and went to an Engineering school for college. From there he was hired as a Microsoft, which was the hot company to work for at the time. He then started a consulting service company, had to learn from a few mistakes, and get back up. He has now owned several companies and has helped multiple companies by investing. Listen in to hear more about Ramphis and his path to success: