Kevin Siskar 7/28/17 Kevin Siskar 7/28/17

Andrew Weinrich Is Predicting Our Future

On this episode Andrew Weinrich sits down with us at his offices in Brooklyn New York. Andrew is the founder of Andrews Roadmaps and the host of the new "Predicting Our Future" podcast.

As a serial entrepreneur, Andrew created the first ever social network called, Six Degrees. At its height, SixDegrees had around 3,500,000 fully registered members before being bought by YouthStream Media Networks in 1999 for $125 million. In more recent years, Andrew has sold 2 more businesses including Xtify and Meet-Moi. He is currently the co-founder and Chairman of Indicative, a data analytics startup. He also hosts Predicting Our Future, a podcast about the next revolutions in technology. Andrew shares many incredible lessons from his experience over the last 20 years, such as:

How the first social network, Six Degrees, was created
What it was like to exit a company for over $100 million
How Social Networking has changed over the last 20 years
The future of Social Media
What ties all of Andrew's companies together
How to ride the "wave" of new technologies as they emerge
How he is Predicting Our Future

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:
"What advice do you have for people who are obsessing over getting rich and making a large amount of money to solve all of their problems?

Quote Of The Episode:
"You want to be a critical thinker. Investors assume first and foremost, that whatever plan you have is wrong. That whatever you launch won't be right, it will require pivoting. The question is are you someone who is capable of pivoting? If you're a critical thinker, you will be capable of pivoting."

"Entrepreneurs take advantage of moments in history. They are not determinative of those moments."

Links from this episode:

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…

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today on iTunes Store Apple Podcasts for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Founder Institute New York

Toptal

Audible

Kevin Siskar 6/1/17 Kevin Siskar 6/1/17

Dennis Mortensen Is Hyper Focused On The Future Of Artificial Intelligence With X.ai

From the brand new Fulton Center in downtown Manhattan we bring you Dennis Mortensen. He is founder and CEO at X.ai, an artificial intelligence driven personal assistant named Amy who schedules meetings for you.

Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs in Denmark, Dennis initially strove to be a game engineer at IBM. He soon failed to resist the call to entrepreneurship though as he started and sold three of his first four companies. Dennis is now changing the way people interact with artificial intelligence by pioneering it's future. After raising $30+ million and growing the team to 93 people, he is hyper focused on building X.ai to rescue people's time. It is clear that focus is something he excels at from some of the unique lessons he shared:

Growing up in Denmark in a family of entrepreneurs
Difference between being a serial entrepreneur and a first time founder
The impact immigrants can have creating jobs in the United States
Importance of doing one thing really well
Keeping a clear mind is one of the keys to success
Why this wave of artificial intelligence is different from any before it
Where the future of Artificial Intelligence is going

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:
"As a serial entrepreneur how do you manage your life and prevent burnout?"

Quote Of The Episode:
"I take pride in the mental freedom Inbox Zero provides me every day. You can start to think again, and really good ideas come with that"

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible

Founder Institute New York

Alec Siskar 4/26/17 Alec Siskar 4/26/17

From Israel to Silicon Valley, Niv Dror's Journey To Conquer Social Media

Season Two of Ambition Today is happy to welcome Niv Dror, head of social media for Product Hunt. Niv boasts in impressive resume in both startups and finance, stemming from his education at UC Santa Barbara.

Season Two of Ambition Today is happy to welcome Niv Dror, head of social media for Product Hunt. Niv boasts an impressive resume in both startups and finance, stemming from his education at UC Santa Barbara. After moving to Silicon Valley at a very young age, Niv had surprisingly little involvement in the tech world. It surrounded him entirely and thus he never noticed it, as water to a fish. However, after auditing a few hedge funds and VC funds as a CPA, he knew where his skills truly belonged.

Niv Dror’s taste of the tech community flourished very quickly, landing non-engineering jobs at DataFox, Meerkat, and Product Hunt. He aspired to add value without asking anything in return, and was rewarded with the experience and skills to climb the ranks at multiple organizations, currently aiding the curation of the world's most cutting-edge technology on Product Hunt. Kevin and Niv explore what's behind this drive, the man he gives credit to involuntarily kickstarting his success, and much more:

Growing up in Israel and moving to the U.S. at a young age.
Pursuing a finance degree and applying it to the startup world.
Getting exposure to the tech industry by auditing a successful VC.
Building an engaging community around a product.
What changes we can see in social in 2017.
The war of pronunciation for “gif”.
We why all love gifs and how Twitter is the perfect platform.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:
"Should people optimize for learning or for earning?"

Quote Of The Episode:
"Community is everything. Without the community, Product Hunt wouldn't work."

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 12/20/16 Kevin Siskar 12/20/16

Joe Fairless' Journey From Madison Avenue To An $85 Million Real Estate Portfolio

Ambition Today Kevin Siskar Joe Fairless

In keeping with last weeks' real estate theme, Episode 25 of Ambition Today finds us across the table from Joe Fairless, Real Estate Investor and Host of the Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever Show. Joe set his roots in advertising after a bit of soul-searching during his undergrad years at Texas Tech. Fighting complacency, he left Madison Ave. for the allure of real estate investing and entrepreneurship, and was met with incredible success, with due credit to his persistence and work ethic.

Owing his early sense of drive to his start in landscaping, Joe Fairless has always had an entrepreneurial mindset. After leaving his teenage lawn-mowing business, J&J Landscaping, Joe tried to cling to his high school football career by attending a junior college near his home town of Dallas. After transferring, he went on to graduate with a degree in advertising and quickly rose through the ranks of executive marketing, while investing in real estate as a side project and finding passion in that venture. Joe applied his trademark tenacity to his newfound love of investing and now controls approximately $85 million worth of rental property. Kevin digs into the factors behind Joe's success, and much more:

The seemingly hidden on-ramp of landscaping as a teenage job to eventually invest in real estate.
Exploring passions during college to find what interests you.
Applying lessons from the corporate world to an entrepreneurial startup.
Leaving a comfortable job to pursue your real dreams.
How to break into the shark-infested waters of commercial real estate.
The 75/25 rule of listening/asking when approaching mentors.
Acknowledging your strengths.
Acknowledging your weaknesses and surrounding yourself with people who help make up for them.
The grit of making your ambition come to life.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:
"As a thought leader, how does ambition play a role in your life?"

Quote Of The Episode:
"Don't get caught up trying to be everywhere at once, find the platform that makes sense for your skill sets and what you enjoy doing. Then own it." - Joe Fairless

“Be different before being incrementally better.” - Joe Fairless

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 12/9/16 Kevin Siskar 12/9/16

How Matt Rodak Plans To Fund Every House Flip In America with Fund That Flip

Any amount of research into the seemingly eternal-growing market of real estate investment will almost surely make one familiar with Matt Rodak, Founder and CEO of Fund That Flip.

Any amount of research into the seemingly eternal-growing market of real estate investment will almost surely make one familiar with Matt Rodak. The 2007 John Carroll grad is the founder and CEO of Fund That Flip, a company which allows anyone to apply for fast and affordable funding in the rehabilitative real estate investment business. The New York based startup had already raised $2 million by April 2016, shortly after graduating from Manhattan's Entrepreneur Roundtable Accelerator in the summer of 2015 and Founder Institute New York prior to that. Fund That Flip finds its niche by bridging the gap between accredited investors and vetted real estate rehab projects in the U.S.

On this episode of Ambition Today, Matt Rodak discusses his seemingly inevitable entrepreneurial roots (despite his "best efforts") as the son of a business owner. He explains how his relationship with his father, and him owning his own company before and during college, led to Matt's on-again, off-again kinship with business ownership. Today, Matt capitalizes on the experiences of his youth by taking action to solve the problems he notices in his industry, such as streamlining the loan application process for prospective "flippers". We hear about his journey to where he is, his advice on how to get there, and much more:

Maturing in an entrepreneurial-spirited family.
Paying for college by advancing a teenage lawn-mowing gig to a profitable business that he was able to sell during his sophomore year at JCU.
Being introduced to the real estate market through his early exposure to landscaping.
What to study in college vs. what to leave to education via real-world experience.
Bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to a non-entrepreneurial position at a large business.
Using lessons from upper management to implement starting a business.
Creating a business to streamline and eliminate the fallacies of market norms.
Employing the JOBS Act to capitalize on a brand-new industry.
Ownership vs. Accountability in life.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:
"How do you align the ambitions of your team with the ambitions of the company?"

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 11/9/16 Kevin Siskar 11/9/16

Lessons Howard Love Learned While Sitting On Both Sides Of The Table

Over the last 30 years Howard Love has founded 15 companies and invested in over 50 early stage startups. His new book "The Startup J Curve" organizes his experience into the 6 phases startups go through as they grow. Howard also is the Founder & CEO of LoveToKnow, a digital publishing firm with over 30 million monthly visitors.

With coal magnates and aviators as his ancestors, entrepreneurship has been in Howard's bloodline for generations. In this episode, Kevin speaks to Howard about what he has learned from sitting on both sides of the table, both as a founder and an investor. We also discuss the 6 phases all startups go through according to Howard's new book The Startup J Curve. We also hear about the value of getting a formal education versus learning directly from the real world and much more:

Growing up in a family that encourages and breeds entrepreneurial spirit.
Dropping out of college to get real world experience.
Being resourceful in the startup space.
The grit it takes to get your company off the ground.
The knowledge and insight gained from writing a book.
Advancing the dialogue of startup culture through understanding of the J-curve.
The phases of a company: create, release, morph, model, scale, and harvest.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

"When you think about the younger version of yourself, how do you reconcile where you are now, and where you thought you would be?"

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 10/23/16 Kevin Siskar 10/23/16

Kelly Roach, From NFL Cheerleader To Million Dollar Brand

Kelly Roach is the founder of Kelly Roach Coaching and host of the Unstoppable Success Radio podcast. With a resume of NFL cheerleader, fitness enthusiast, and mother, Kelly doesn’t exactly fit the usual business coach profile. In Episode 22 of Ambition Today Kelly gives us some great insight into how she leverages her unique experience to grow her businesses, how she published an internationally bestselling book, and why she started the Unstoppable Success Radio podcast.

Growing up in a financially struggling family, Kelly learned the value of hard work at a very early age while working for the NFL before she was 20. With an unparalleled work ethic she quickly climbed the ladder of success in Corporate America. Soon after she then realized her passion for aiding others in pursuit of their dreams. We cover how Kelly now does just that and more on this episode of Ambition Today:

Going out and working for what you want at an early age.
Applying her degree in Communications to create productive interactions in the business environment.
The importance of travel in shaping a healthy lifestyle mentality.
Lessons learned from holding multiple positions on an NFL team.
Appreciating the value of lesser jobs to build knowledge before having your dream job.
The inherent ebb and flow of startups.
Lifestyle building via business development.
Why building a personal brand is so important now.
Publishing her bestselling book & starting a podcast.
The necessity of human contact in growing your business.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

"What does Ambition mean to you and how do you satisfy your personal ambition each day?"

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 10/18/16 Kevin Siskar 10/18/16

Pioneering The Social Media Frontier With Jonathan Abrams, Founder & CEO of Nuzzel

The godfather of social media, Jonathan Abrams, joins us on this episode of Ambition Today. He is now the founder & CEO of Nuzzel, a new platform to discover the top news from your friends and influencers. Letting users cut through the muddle of content on social media to emphasize only their most relevant content. Previously, Jonathan has founded several other companies; Socializr, HotLinks, Founder's Den and most notably Friendster. He is also a top-rated mentor at The Founder Institute and has been extensively involved in the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial community for over ten years.

After growing up in Canada and working for Nortel he became an employee at Netscape during it's prime. Abrams went on to found Friendster in 2002 before the wider adoption of, at the time newcomers; MySpace (2003), Hi5 (2003), Facebook (2004) and other social networking sites. Friendster was one of the first of these sites to attain over 1 million members. In 2012, Abrams recognized a fallacy in the market of social news readers, when the programs of the time weren’t what he was looking for: fast, easy-to-use, and social. Today Jonathan talks about his solution to this problem with his new company Nuzzel, his appearance on Chelsea on Netflix, and much more:

Navigating the seemingly minuscule Canadian computer science marketplace.
Being a first-time entrepreneur during the dot-com boom and bust.
How Friendster competed with Facebook in the developing market of social media.
Using social curation to launch Nuzzel.
Trying to reach a wide audience with relevant information.
The future of Nuzzel.
Why e-mail remains king in the world of social media.
Surviving in Silicon Valley by not getting ahead of yourself.
The future of the social landscape.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

"What does Ambition mean to you and how do you satisfy your personal ambition each day?"

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 10/12/16 Kevin Siskar 10/12/16

Jesse Middleton Talks Building WeWork Labs And Investing With Flybridge Capital

Over the years WeWork has grown to become an $16 billion empire of co-working office spaces that are disrupting the traditional real estate markets all over the world. Our guest today, Jesse Middleton, joined the team as the founder of WeWork Labs, the company’s startup focused community. Since then he has helped the company grow into the giant it is today. Recently he has just joined the venture capital firm Flybridge as a General Partner.

Over the years WeWork has grown to become a $16 billion empire of co-working office spaces that are disrupting the traditional real estate markets all over the world. Our guest today, Jesse Middleton, joined the team as the founder of WeWork Labs, the company’s startup focused community. Since then he has helped the company grow into the giant it is today. Recently he has just joined the venture capital firm Flybridge as a General Partner.

Early on with entrepreneurial parents, Jesse learned that he did not have to take the traditional path in life and that he could forge his own future. He started to do just that, as he founded his first company before even going to college. Fast forward to Fast Company magazine once comparing Jesse to Jack Dorsey, then onto his time building WeWork Labs, and now his time as a VC at Flybridge. Jesse has a great story full of many lessons, such as:

Recognizing at an early age the ability to create your own path in life.
The importance of keeping a clear focus at the early stages of a new company.
How Jesse founded WeWork Labs.
Just get started and go.
The lessons from actively helping grow a $16 billion company.
Why long term vision is so important for the founders of companies.
What is next for WeWork Labs.
The intersection of community building and being an investor.
The future of Venture Capital.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

“What does Ambition mean to you and how has it driven you?”

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 8/16/16 Kevin Siskar 8/16/16

Paul Polizzotto Transforms Advertising Into Real World Positive Social Change With CBS EcoMedia

Serial Social Entrepreneur Paul Polizzotto, who is one of the most passionate and dedicated entrepreneurs I know, joins us for episode 19. Paul is the founder and CEO of CBS EcoMedia, which harnesses the power of advertising and transforms it into a powerful engine for positive social change.

*Paul Polizzotto (Eric J. Smith / CBS EcoMedia)*

From the CBS EcoMedia office’s in New York City, Serial Social Entrepreneur Paul Polizzotto, who is one of the most passionate and dedicated entrepreneurs I know, joins us for episode 19. Paul is the founder and CEO of CBS EcoMedia, which harnesses the power of advertising and transforms it into a powerful engine for positive social change.

Paul’s personal philosophy and actions around social entrepreneurship over his lifetime have created an incredible story thus far. His journey started in California when he was younger and used to surf the then polluted waters of Santa Monica Bay. Paul noticed that the existing companies in the contract cleaning industry were improperly discharging contaminated water into the storm drains, which then drained into the bay that his friends and him surfed in. His first company Property Prep helped to improve those conditions through a solution that properly disposed of the contaminated water. He now works to improve the world through his most recent company CBS EcoMedia, which was acquired by CBS and funds the most effective non profit companies that are taking on the most urgent social issues of our time. In this episode we also discuss:

Seeing opportunity around you in the world everyday.
How surfing and risk taking has influenced Paul as an entrepreneur.
What happens at the intersection of art and engineering.
Difference between working hard FOR an idea and working hard ON an idea.
How to be receptive to the right ideas in your life.
Paul’s 4 criteria for knowing if an idea is worthwhile to pursue.
How Paul created the national Adopt-A-Waterway Program in the United States.
Using existing business models to transform other industries.
The partnership with CBS that led to EcoMedia being acquired.
If you get exactly what you want, will you have the courage to follow through with it to meet your goals.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

How should a person take an idea they have and navigate it into reality?

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 8/2/16 Kevin Siskar 8/2/16

Amir Salihefendic Grew The Todoist App From Solo Project To Millions Of People

Ambition Today Amir Salihefendic Todoist Siskar.jpg

The most ambitious people “Get. Sh*t. Done.” and that is what today’s guest Amir Salihefendic specializes in. Joining us from Portugal, Amir is the founder of Doist, the company which makes the very popular Todoist app. With millions of users, Todoist is one of the top to-list apps in the Apple App Store & Google Play Store.

Amir grew up in an entrepreneurial family in Denmark after his family moved from Bosnia. Starting projects seems to have been in Amir’s blood from an early age. When he was fifteen he sold his first website and invested the money he made in a new Macbook in order to start a new business building and selling websites. Later he went on to build Plurk, and fast forward to today, Amir has built Todoist. The to-do list app started as a personal project for just himself, but when he released it on his personal blog to only 300 people, he saw there was immediate demand for it. Todoist has since grown to millions of users. Throughout this episode we discuss how Amir built his company with remote teams, scaled to several million dollars annually in revenue, and also:

How having entrepreneurial parents influenced Amir.
Why scaling too fast can hurt your company if you are not ready for it.
How to keep your life organized and efficient.
Why you should make powerful product features, simple.
The impact that mission, passion and culture can have on a company.
The best characteristics for employee's joining remote teams and where to find them.
How your employees are your biggest investments.
The importance of constantly investing in yourself across all the skill sets you need.
Focusing on high impact work and actively working to avoid distractions.
How to make the most of your To-do list and optimize it.
Why you need to "swallow the frog" at the start of every day.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

How do you define success?

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 6/21/16 Kevin Siskar 6/21/16

David S. Rose Explains How The New Startup Crowdfunding Rules Affect You & His New Book The Startup Checklist

On this episode of Ambition Today David S. Rose explains his new book The Startup Checklist, how the new startup crowdfunding rules affect you & angel investing 101.

On this episode of Ambition Today David S. Rose explains his new book The Startup Checklist, how the new startup crowdfunding rules affect you & angel investing 101. A third generation serial entrepreneur, David's new book The Startup Checklist which is now a New York Times Bestseller. David is also the author of the Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups, as well as the Founder and CEO at Gust.

A man of many titles: Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Mentor, and Author; David has had an incredible career starting several businesses. Crain's New York Business has called David "the father of angel investing in New York".

Today we learn about how he got started as a founder, became an angel investor, and where he is now as an Author and CEO. We cover the basics of how angel investing in startups works and unpack what the new SEC crowdfunding rules actually mean for startups, your friends, your family and you. We also learn about:

How an Urban Affairs degree enhanced David's views on business.
Why he started Angel Investing.
How NY Angels was created.
How do you set the foundation for a great startup company.
Angel Investing 101.
What is an Accredited Investor.
How Title 3 of the JOBS Act impacts startups and you.
What the new SEC crowdfunding rules mean if your income or net worth is below $100k.
What the new SEC crowdfunding rules mean if your income or net worth is above $100k.
If a founder decides to fundraise from non-accredited civilians, what do they need to know?
What platforms are enabling crowdfunding right now?
How can you invest in startups now.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

Why does success matter in the first place? Why not just live a simple life in a fishing town?

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 5/31/16 Kevin Siskar 5/31/16

How Jeff Stewart Helps Loan Money To Strangers All Over The World With Lenddo

Lend an ear as we interview how NY Serial Entrepreneur Jeff Stewart founded numerous companies, including his most recent business, Lenddo.

Jeff Stewart Lenddo Ambition Today Kevin Siskar .jpg

Lend an ear as we interview how NY Serial Entrepreneur Jeff Stewart founded numerous companies, including his most recent business, Lenddo.

Jeff was a pioneer in the early days of the internet. He started Square Earth in the mid 90's and it eventually got acquired. His second company Mimeo was started in 1998 and is still operating today. Now he is the Founder and Chairman of Lenddo, which uses non-traditional data such as your social media profiles to provide credit scoring and verification to economically empower the emerging middle class around the world. To hear about the rest of Jeff's business ventures and life lessons be sure to check out the whole episode, including:

How Dale Carnegie's writing influenced Jeff's early years.
The advantages of understanding the technology within your products.
How Jeff watched the internet double in size in one day.
Jeff's experience guiding Mimeo through the financial dot com crash.
The parallels between the dot com crash and the 2015-2016 "tech bubble".
What is an Entrepreneur in Residence?
The power of having customers before you have a company.
The pains of being too early to market within an industry.
How do you verify a person's identity?
The importance of having the right team.
How to find the a great advisor!

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

How important is being the right location to achieving one’s goals?

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors:

Toptal

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 5/10/16 Kevin Siskar 5/10/16

Patrick McGinnis Tells You How To Be A 10% Entrepreneur And How He Coined The Meme F.O.M.O.

You are not going to want to miss out on this episode! Patrick McGinnis, Author of the 10% Entrepreneur joins Ambition Today for episode fifteen. We talk about the unique ways in which people can engage in entrepreneurship on the side, how to travel the world, and how Patrick coined the term F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out) on the internet. Patrick went from growing up in the small blue collar town of Sanford in Maine to visiting over 70 countries, investing in several companies with AIG Capital, co-founding his company Real Influence, and now publishing his book.

Leaving Maine, Patrick went to Georgetown for International Economics which eventually lead to an entire year being paid for to live in Argentina. After his time abroad he came back to work in Latin American investment banking on Wall Street in New York City. When his position was dissolved he then re-evaluated his role in finance and went on to Harvard Business School before joining AIG Capital. At AIG Capital Patrick focused on investing in early stage startup companies. He later founded, Real Influence, a company which enabled branded video partnerships for early Youtube stars. That experience taught Patrick the lessons he shares now in the 10% Entrepreneur. From Patrick’s life we also explore:

Overcoming the local hometown mentality when leaving your hometown.
The value of traveling the world and living abroad.
What to do when you find yourself in a life threatening situation.
How Patrick went from Wall Street analyst to Venture Capitalist.
The impact being at AIG during the 2008 financial crisis had on Patrick’s life.
What stress can do to the body long term when you let it build up.
Overcoming Turrets syndrome and what other people think.
Making the leap from investor to founder.
Selling something for the first time.
What does it mean to be a 10% Entrepreneur.
How partnering with people can expand yourself outside your comfort zone.
How do you get a book deal.
Coining the word term F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out) on the internet.
Learning resilience at an early age.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

What was the gold standard “norm of jobs” when you were growing up that your friends and family accepted as a good job to have, but you didn’t?

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Episode Sponsors

Toptal

Audible.com

Kevin Siskar 3/30/16 Kevin Siskar 3/30/16

Ambition Today: Adam Besvinick Teaches The Art of Hustle and How To Break Into Your Dream Role

Venture Capitalist Adam Besvinick explains the value of pure hustle in pursuing his dreams of breaking into the Startup and Venture Capital industry. Recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30, Adam has invested in several startup companies as Principal at Deep Fork Capital.

Adam Besvinick, Principal VENTURE CAPITALIST aT Deep Fork Capital

In episode 14 we explore where Adam came from and how that connects to where he is now. Adam started blogging on VentureMinded.Me years ago and created his own track record through taking ownership of his brand. He has always strived to be continually helpful and add value to others. Through that hustle he previously worked his way into a role at Lowercase Capital to learn from Chris Sacca. Afterword Adam was one of the early employees at Gumroad while going to Harvard Business School. Now Adam is Principal at Deep Fork Capital and has invested in several companies across the country, with a focus on New York City and Silicon Valley. We go over what he looks for in great startups, how he used self-marketing to break into venture capital, and also cover:

The influences of growing up around entrepreneurship.
The value of experiencing life abroad.
How to demonstrate your expertise in a given field.
Why self-marketing is important.
How Twitter can create real world connections.
How constantly being helpful to others, leads to opportunity.
His experience at Duke and Harvard.
The differences between Silicon Valley and New York City.
How being an Investor in New York City is beneficial.
What Adam looks for in startups today.
Exploring some of the Deep Fork Capital portfolio companies.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

How important is networking?

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 3/7/16 Kevin Siskar 3/7/16

Ambition Today: Alex Konrad of Forbes on Harvard, Media, and Startup Venture Capital

Episode 13 comes to you from New York Offices of Forbes as we are joined by Alex Konrad. Alex is a staff writer at Forbes covering venture capital, startups and enterprise tech.

Alex Konrad Forbes Kevin Siskar Ambiton Today.jpeg

Episode 13 comes to you from New York Offices of Forbes as we are joined by Alex Konrad. Alex is a staff writer at Forbes covering venture capital, startups and enterprise tech.

Aside from our discussion around Kanye West's recent discovery of Twitter we explore Alex's journey to now. Alex grew up in New York City, then went on to write at the Harvard Crimson before working at Fortune. Alex now is a staff writer at Forbes and also works on the Forbes Midas List, ranking the top Venture Capitalists of the past year, and the Forbes 30 Under 30, highlighting up and coming creative and business people. Today we talk about Harvard, the future of media, startups and venture capital. We cover a lot in this episode. including:

Getting into Harvard.
Working for the Harvard Crimson news and editorial board.
Why empathy matters so much in today's world.
How Alex got his start at Fortune working on the Fortune 500.
The relationship between print and digital articles in 2016.
When to go outside your "swim lane".
How to become a real New Yorker?
The advantages of the New York Tech Scene.
Writing the Forbes Midas List and Forbes 30 Under 30.
How large tech companies grow global startup ecosystems.
What global cities are up and coming for startups.
Why are the Venture Capital markets slowing down.
The best way to get media attention for your brand.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

How important is self marketing?

Links from this episode:

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.

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…

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 2/16/16 Kevin Siskar 2/16/16

Ambition Today: Avi Yashchin of Clean Edison Talks Having His Company Acquired, Data Science And Clean Energy

The sounds of science are ringing through episode 12 of Ambition Today when Avi Yashchin comes on the show. Avi is the founder of Clean Edison, the nation's largest sustainable energy education and training firm in the US. for those seeking to enter the Solar, Wind, and larger Energy space.

Avi had a fascinating front row seat to the great recession in 2008 while employed by Lehman Brothers and his story is quite incredible. The lessons and uncertainty created from being inside a failing company led Avi to afterword, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, found Clean Edison. In this episode we talk about his story growing and eventually having Clean Edison acquired by Kaplan. Also data science, the future of energy, and even more science:

How going to Rocket School as a kid impacted Avi.
Starting a career in New York in late 2001.
What the Great Recession looked like from the inside of Lehman Brothers.
What to do if you have multiple ideas to start multiple different businesses.
Having Clean Edison was acquired by Kaplan.
Finding the right partners that compliment your business.
The importance of building a business with recurring revenue.
Why data science is cool.
How the declining cost of data is going to impact the world.
The future of clean energy.
The future of the planet.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

Do you always have “an ask” ready everyday just in case you meet the right person to answer it?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.

Links from this episode:

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…

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 1/22/16 Kevin Siskar 1/22/16

Ambition Today: Justin Dombrowski Uncovers The Power Of Curiosity, History, Bitcoin, & Education In Life

Break out your pen and paper and get ready to take notes because you will be tested on this episode! Justin Dombrowski, Principal at Historiocity teaches some incredible lessons during Episode #11 of Ambition Today.

Justin Dombrowski Historiocity Ambition Today Podcast Kevin Siskar

One of my favorite quotes from this episode perfectly embodies Justin's strong curiosity from a young age:

"I was trying to figure what kind of things best explained the world that I was interested in."

Justin has more degrees than you can count from institutions such as Columbia and Oxford. The real question though is why? Listen in to find out what Justin thinks of his personal experience with the formal education he has received and how he compares it to the world of entrepreneurship.

Through all his education Justin has become an expert on world history. We talk about what the past can teach us and ask the question: does history repeat itself? In his post academic life Justin now applies his intellect as an expert in the world of Cryptography, Bitcoin, and Financial Technology. Episode 11 of Ambition Today is packed with the following:

The power of curiosity.
How to manage curiosity.
How the access to information is changing education.
The value of formal education in the modern world.
How to use history to understand today.
Does history repeat itself?
How core human behavior is the golden thread unifying history across centuries.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
What is the future of Bitcoin.
How will Bitcoin impact the world.
The importance of living life.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

What kind of education is most valuable?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.

Links from this episode:

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…

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 12/31/15 Kevin Siskar 12/31/15

Ambition Today: John Federico, Co-Founder Of Event Hero On The Future Of Podcasting, Marketing, and Superman

What an event episode ten of Ambition Today is as Jon Federico, co-founder of Event Hero and @GadgetBoy himself comes on the show all the way from warm and sunny Austin, Texas.

John Federico Kevin Siskar Ambition Today 3.jpg

What an event episode ten of Ambition Today is as Jon Federico, co-founder of Event Hero and @GadgetBoy himself comes on the show all the way from warm and sunny Austin, Texas.

Ever wonder why most podcasts are sponsored by Audible.com? Today we a speaking with John Federico who years ago worked at Audible and invented the podcast affiliate program. Through the years he also worked at Advance Internet, Blog Talk Radio, and more. He is now the co-founder of Event Hero which is the first integration Platform-as-a-Service for event technologies. He also hosts the EventTech Podcast is all about event technologies where John interviews EventTech company CEO’s and product managers, industry thought leaders and event organizers. If you are a new startup founder and want to better understand the world of podcasting, audio, and marketing this episode is for you.

How an economic crash can influence you years later.
Why the medium of audio matters.
Recognizing when life deals you an opportunity and capitalizing on it.
Understand the world of podcasts.
How John created the Audible Podcast Affiliate program at Audible.com.
Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur.
How to re-brand your company.
Who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman?
The future of podcasting.
Using content marketing such as blogging or writing a book to grow your brand.
Winning the battle for people's time and attention.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

What is the optimal work life balance that let's you enjoy success and make all the time and energy worthwhile?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.

Links from this episode:

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…

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Kevin Siskar 12/15/15 Kevin Siskar 12/15/15

Ambition Today: Rob Principe, Founder & CEO of Scratch On Partnering With Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., The Future Of Music, And The Rise Of The DJ

Episode nine of Ambition Today finds us with the King of the DJ's, Rob Principe, the Founder & CEO of Scratch Music Group. We talk about meeting your hero's as a child and then growing up to become business partners with them. Also, the Future of DJ'ing, Music, and much more.

Rob Principe, CEO of Scratch Music Group

Episode nine of Ambition Today finds us with the King of the DJ's, Rob Principe, the Founder & CEO of Scratch Music Group.

Growing up on Long Island as a child Rob loved music, especially Run D.M.C. One day the popular music group happened to sit down next to him on a plane as he was traveling to a tennis tournament. Afterword he took a picture with the group. Fast forward years later Rob had founded Scratch Music Group and after some hustle, Rob would show this very picture to Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. in a greenroom at the Letterman Show in New York City while pitching him his vision. Jam Master Jay was in and together they co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy. I found Rob's story to be pretty incredible. During this episode we go over the history of Scratch as well as:

What is it like meeting your childhood hero's.
How Rob and Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy.
The importance of building credibility when building your initial startup's team.
Recognizing that defining inspirational moment in your life that changes the path your on.
How Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. came to collaborate on "Walk This Way".
The moment when your startup becomes and feels real to you as the founder.
Converting your initial traction into a paid business model.
The importance of moving the chains over and over during the early years of your startup.
The future of DJ'ing and Music
How Music Festivals became so popular.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

Do you think childhood plays a role in defining who people become?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.

Links from this episode:

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…

Listen to this episode now:

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York