Dawn Dickson-Akpoghene is a serial entrepreneur and coach who is tired of the negative narrative in the media that does not acknowledge the successes of Black women entrepreneurs. She is our guest this week on The Founder’s Mind and had a wide-ranging conversation with Adam touching on race and gender in the tech industry, the future of crowdfundin…

Rodney Williams is a serial entrepreneur because he’s an explorer. It wasn’t enough to change the game with his first company, LISNR. He is now disrupting the lending industry with his latest company, SoLo Funds. Rodney is our guest this week on The Founder’s Mind and shares his thoughts on the evolution of his leadership style and interests. Liste…

Our culture has internalized the idea that art is a career choice in which poverty is the standard. Reggie Black is an artist pushing back against this narrative using his art to call out companies that devalue artists and their work. In this wide-ranging conversation, Reggie and Adam engage in a dialog of understanding regarding the intersection o…

COVID-19 has pushed businesses to go digital fast. This has opened up new opportunities for Vanja Bannan, Founder of BannComm, as she’s overseeing an entirely new arm of the company she never thought possible. Despite those gains, Vanja still believes in old fashioned networking and referrals. This week on The Founder’s Mind, Adam talks to Vanja ab…

Black women have to work harder to earn less, and as if that wasn’t enough, have to spend anywhere from 5-8 hours to get their hair done in ways society deems “professional.” Dawn Myers is the founder of The Most, a tool to make hair care easier for Black women. She is our guest this week on The Founder’s Mind and talks about her experience as a fo…

1871 is a hub of technology and entrepreneurship in Chicago. This is a place where founders from all industries gather to support each other. This week on The Founder’s Mind, we’re trying something a little different. Before the COVID craziness started, Adam found himself with an extra day in Chicago. He put out a call to any founders at 1871 to co…

Charles Ashley III has given up dream jobs because he has a fire in his belly to help as many people as he can. His company, Cultivating Coders, seeks to bring coding camps to people who don’t usually have easy access to digital tools we take for granted – those living in poverty, as well as people of color. But what do you do when you have an in-p…

Whether your business has been around for years or you just got in the game, no one could have anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic to effectively wipe out business revenues by 50% or more overnight. But that’s the situation we’re in right now - our new normal - and it’s time for you to take a step back to figure out what routines to put in place and …

People always think that startups do just that: start right up. But in reality, it can take years of planning and prep work before a business is truly up and running. Such was the case for Civic Eagle, an app that helps policymakers easily track legislation. Civic Eagle co-founder Yemi Adewunmi joined Adam to discuss what it’s like as a founder of …

Cubii is an exercise machine for beginners and those with limited mobility. But when they first launched, the team thought their target demographic was busy professionals. Arnav Dalmia, co-founder and CEO of Cubii, joined Adam this week for a discussion on the importance of not only listening to customer feedback, but also making it a central part …

This episode features Paige McPheely Founder and CEO of Base a platform that is modernizing the way executive assistants work. Listen in as Paige sheds light on her journey in founding and growing Base, the work that goes into intentionally hiring a diverse team, and beyond. Links https://basehq.com/ More from The Founder's Mind To learn more about…

In this episode Amira Valliani Co-Founder and CEO of Glow.fm a platform enabling creators to monetize their work joins us and discusses her journey from idea to product through the iterations, finding and building a co-founder relationship, and raising a 2.3 million dollar seed round of capital. Links http://glow.fm/ More from The Founder's Mind To…

A bit about what Greg shares episode: From brutally honest answers in job interviews early on his career to creating read.me and growing a SaaS business. Greg covered a lot of ground. Timeline [00:39] Intro - Making startup culture cool again [02:11] About Read.me and API [04:39] from Idea to action - took greg 5 years to start his venture. Great i…

Alex McCrery (Chef turned designer) and Jenny Goodman (FOH turned COO) founded Tilit with two chef aprons designs, one pair of pants and a chef-shirt. The line started small, but the plans were big. On the episode, They share their thoughts about scaling a business, about DIY funding and ways to really value your time and your product, and talk abo…

Listen in as Spike & Jonah talk all things plant-based eating, the history of Spikes Chef and Entrepreneurial journey, and a little bit of food policy and advocacy. Timeline: [01:10] About Spike [08:09] Getting a good apprenticeship - The power of persistence [15:46] From working as a chef to owning a lot of places [21:17] Having a bigger mission […

Listen in as Tessa & Tony talk all things starting a family business, growing from one to three DIFFERENT businesses, and why it's so important to create real community. Links: https://bakedandwired.com/ https://abakedjoint.com/ https://la-betty.com/ https://www.instagram.com/tessita/ More from The Founder's Mind To learn more about Season 2 and ou…

Peter Trevisani A graduate of Boston College, and Columbia University, Peter Trevisani is the first Club President, CEO and majority owner of New Mexico United. He is motivated by a commitment to community, a love of competition, and a concrete belief that soccer can pave the path to meaningful growth in the state of New Mexico. “if it doesn't feel…

Helen is passionate about caregiving and the impact that the right caregiver can have on families. As an educator and workplace trainer, she has had a career in driving outcomes for adult learners and finding meaningful ways for them to engage in learning. In this episode of The Founder's Mind Helen & Adam dig into building a company, the unexpecte…

Barbara Bickham Managing Director, CTO, and Technical Advisor - Barbara has extensive experience in Technology, Monetization, and Entrepreneurship for companies in industries: FinTech, Fashion, Wearables, Wireless, Security, Media & Entertainment, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain. Barbara is leveraging her background to propel rising entrepr…

Zvi Band Zvi Band is the co-founder & CEO of Contactually [acquired by Compass Realty in 2019], the top CRM which empowers professionals in real estate, consulting, and other professional industries to build authentic relationships. Having founded Contactually in 2011, Zvi has led Contactually to $12M in venture backing, 75 employees, and tens of t…

Kate Goodall Kate Goodall is the Co-Founder and CEO of Halcyon, a non-profit dedicated to solving 21st-century problems by providing space and access to emerging leaders in social entrepreneurship and the arts. Listen in as Kate and Adam talk about lessons from the most influential up and coming leaders, and the most influential leaders of today. K…

David Schnurman David & Adam go in-depth about the entrepreneurial Journey, about learning, the importance of books and gives us a special glimpse into his passion, personal stories, losses and the wins that brought him to the place he is in. David Schnurman is the CEO of Lawline, the leading provider of online Continuing Legal Education (CLE) in t…

Ruben Harris Ruben and Adam go on a conversational journey into topics such as creativity, transferable skills, going to the top, social media connections and more. Ruben Harris is a Bay Area transplant from Atlanta, Georgia Prior to working in tech, Ruben worked as an Investment Banker focused on Food, Consumer, and Retail companies in Chicago and…

Sarah Sarah Gibson Tuttle is the founder of Olive & June. She named the salon after her great-grandmother and grandmother, the Gibson women who taught her the importance of having high standards and a big heart. Before opening the Beverly Hills flagship nail salon in August 2013, Sarah worked for ten years as an equity sales trader at JP Morgan & M…

Brett Podolsky, the co-founder of The Farmer's Dog, shares his experience of how caring for his sick dog, Jada, evolved into a business that has now raised $49+ million in venture funding. That's over simplified but you're starting to get the idea. Brett share's how he went form being a comedian, to recipe testing healthy meals for his dog, and ont…

Lindsey Caplan, a talent development professional, is focused on understanding what brings people together in gatherings. Lindsey Caplan has been gathering people for over 15 years - first to entertain, as a comedy writer in Hollywood on shows such as “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, and “Malcolm in the Middle”, then to educate for companies like DreamWorks…

From building a vocational school in India that serves 10,000 students a year to running an MVP of her app DaVinci Club AR with 12,000 students in US Arjita, co-founder of equally, is hell bent on making education more accessible and effective. The entrepreneurial runs in Arjita's family. Inspired by here mother and encouraged from a young age to b…

Episode 30 features Kedar Reddy, Co-founder and CEO of Playloops. Playloops is a gif maker with a goal of creating gifs that are more inclusive in their representation. Listen in as Kedar shares how he built his team, the lessons his learned along his journey, and what’s next for Playloops. To listen to bonus episodes, receive a shoutout in an epis…

Tonio comes on The Founder's Mind and discusses his experience as the founder of Vemo, an income base repayment platform for educational institutions, and what it's been like to connect his past experience to his work in growing Vemo. Check out Tonio's work at Vemo. To listen to Tonio's bonus episode, the bonus episodes of other guests, and become …

Angelic Williams, Founder & CEO of MyUmbrella, comes on The Founder's Mind and shares her experience as a founder. She discusses making the decision to leave her "comfortable" job to pursue her entrepreneurial pull, the experience she's had building a brand and an app for the LGBTQIA+ community, and advice she's received a long the way. Angelic's A…

Andrew Dana, Founder & Chief Dough Boy of Timber Pizza, Call Your Mother, and Turus Pizza talks about going all in on restaurants. From a mobile wood fired pizza oven to two DC neighborhood hotspots with national and international recognition Andrew talks about putting in the work, lighting a fire under his own ass to get things rolling, and how pr…

Dale Pfeifer the Founder & CEO of Goodworld a donations platform talks about leveraging social media, hashtags, and network affects to enable organizations to raise money more effectively. Dale founded Goodworld and has lead the company as the CEO raising over 4 million dollars including it's most recent round of $750,000 from MasterCard [congrats …

Remy is on a mission to help individuals, teams, and organizations navigate emotional stressors in their lives. From witnessing this first hand to experiencing it personally Remy understands the individual costs of mental fatigue. Listen in to this episode to learn about Remy's entrepreneurial journey and how she's looking to leverage Me Tyme to mi…

Named after Nelson Mandela, Mandela SH Dixon is the Founder & CEO of Founder Gym, an online training platform for underrepresented founders, and has helped Founder Gym participants raise over 20 million dollars in Venture capital. Since her childhood, she has been deeply connected to social justice issues due to her parent’s occupation as civil rig…

Merav, the Founder & CEO of Data Society, shares her experience building a company from the ground up. Her transition from k-12 teacher into building programs and educating professionals on the constantly evolving world of Data Science. To listen to bonus episodes, receive a shoutout in an episode, and become a Founding Funder of The Founder's Mind…

John Zeratsky, New York Times Best selling author of Sprint, discusses his newest book: Make Time. The conversation dives into the importance of creating time for what matters by rethinking the defaults of constant busyness and distraction. In an age where we’re constantly being pulled in a many directions John dives into how we can make time and f…

Haley Hoffman Smith is the Founder of Her Big Idea Fund, in partnership with Brown University, they award grants to women of all ages and backgrounds. In parallel to the fund Haley published a book, available on Amazon, called “Her Big Idea” diving into the gap in funding for women and how to get more women following their entrepreneurial aspiratio…

Jes Christian is the Founder & CEO of Hypsole a specialty sports footwear company. Jes' company and their signature product is protective guards for athletic cleats. They call them cleat guards. As a Division I athlete at Notre Dame Jes saw a need for a product that was not yet on the market. In ideating, branding, producing, and launching Hypsole …

Kara shares her story about starting Hint over 13 years ago, how she’s grown it, and what’s driving her towards other products, beyond water, like sun screen. I’ll give you a hint, it’s personal. Kara discusses what it's been like to build a team and brand that has evolved from her first hand delivery to Whole Foods into a Nationally distributed an…

Cullen discusses his background in the food business, how Union Kitchen came to be, how they're growing, and the importance of leadership in the food space. Based in DC Union Kitchen is focused on creating the space and helping launch food businesses that will scale to $100 Million+ in revenue. To listen to bonus episodes, receive a shoutout in an …

Diego has done a little bit of everything. In this episode he talks about all the hustles he's strung together to create a career and business that work best for him. From running tutoring, running an AirBnB business to continuing his life long pursuit of advocating for more rights and access for those with disabilities. To listen to Diego's bonus …

Amelia Friedman has become a staple of the DC tech scene. From Brazilian Literature to founding a tech company Amelia has done a little bit of everything. We explore some of the lessons she's learned a long the way and Amelia shares about the viral card game that they created to raise money [$50,000+], some of the challenges they encountered along …

Chip Conley founded JDV Hotels, Worked with Brian Chesky and the team at AirBnb, has written books, and founded The Modern Elder Academy. These are all just a couple of his accomplishments... Listen in to learn more! Chip discusses some of what he learned in growing his own businesses and brands to learning to work in a high growth tech company as …

Daniel Pink opens up about his approach to picking the subject of his books and how he schedules his work day based on research used for his most recent book, When. Daniel is a New York Times best selling author and has a TedTalk that is in the top ten most viewed TedTalk of all time. Daniel talks about how he got started as an author back in 1997 …

Ruth Chandler Cook the Founder and CEO of HireHer. Ruth is focused on creating a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable hiring process. Motivated by her sister and the need for change she's all in on growing HireHer. Ruth shares her motivation and reason behind HireHer, some of the success, and some of the challenges she's had a long the way. Also,…

Rachel Koretsky shares all things starting your company, building community, and what it's like to be a non-technical founder of a tech company. To listen to Rachel's bonus episode, the bonus episodes of other guests, receive a shoutout in an episode, and become a Founding Funder of The Founder's Mind go here. Links Upace Website DC Startup Week Ra…

Cortni Grange discusses his work in the non-profit space. The power in manifesting and being a multi-potentialite. To listen to bonus episodes, receive a shoutout in an episode, and become a Founding Funder of The Founder's Mind go here Links: Cortni's Website Cortni’s Instagram Cortni’s Twitter ★ Support this podcast by donating ★…

Aubrey Blanche covers the gambit including but not limited Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and the importance of Balance in work and specifically tech. To listen to bonus episodes, receive a shoutout in an episode, and become a Founding Funder of The Founder's Mind go here Links Aubrey's Twitter Aubrey's Writing ★ Support this podcast by donating ★…

Emily Best is the Founder of Seed & Spark a crowd funding and media subscription platform for independent filmmakers. Emily has asserted herself as change-maker in a space in need of a transformation. Listen and learn how Emily saw a gap in fundraising and diversity in media and is all in, on fixing it. To listen to bonus episodes, receive a shouto…

Jinny Oh sheds light on what it takes to run a business and how sometimes taking a step back can be one of the most effective moves in leadership. To listen to bonus episodes, receive a shoutout in an episode, and become a Founding Funder of The Founder's Mind go here Links Jinny's Website Jinny's Instagram Wandr's Website Wandr's Twitter ★ Support…