Best John Espey Podcasts (2024)

1
#83-Christian Giordano, Mancini Duffy 56:00

3y ago56:00

56:00

When Christian Giordano joined Mancini Duffy, he was attracted to working with a well established architecture firm with a top shelf list of customers and a stellar reputation. He would eventually take a majority ownership stake and help the company transform the industry by embracing technology. Christian hosts The Anti-Architect podcast. He and J…

1
#82 - Jeff Wickersham, The Morning Fire 46:54

3y ago46:54

46:54

Jeff is a podcast host and executive coach who focuses on helping executives perform better by improving their daily habits. In this episode Jeff tells his story of a life changing event that made him walk away from a successful corporate career to figure out how to improve his own health and effectiveness. He ultimately turned that into a business…

1
#81 - Amy Buckner Chowdry, AnswerLab 54:47

3y ago54:47

54:47

Amy is the founder and CEO of AnswerLab, a design strategy firm that she started after working with a design-focused startup in Japan. In this episode she talks about starting and scaling AnswerLab. She discusses challenges that female founders face and also talks about her ongoing efforts to support diversity and inclusion. Amy created The Human-C…

1
#80 - Mac Lackey, 6 Exit Founder 1:08:42

3y ago1:08:42

1:08:42

Mac has started multiple successful business in industries ranging from apparel to internet software to soccer agency and many others. He has six total exits and in this episode tells the story of how his career has shaped up. He also talks about his interest in blockchain, what role soccer has played in his life, and what he is currently working o…

1
#79 - Grant Ingersoll, Lucidworks 53:07

3y ago53:07

53:07

Grant is one of the founder of Lucidworks, a leading search engine platform. In this episode he and John discuss the evolution of search and big data, starting a business with a group of friends, scaling that business and raising money, contributing to and starting new Apache open source projects, and becoming the CTO of Wikimedia and some of the u…

1
#78 - Laura Smailes, Ventureprise (UNCC) 1:14:25

3y ago1:14:25

1:14:25

Laura is the Assistant Director at Ventureprise, an entrepreneurship center at UNCC. In this episode she discusses working on a radio show, creating a radio program for NASCAR, joining a startup, and eventually joining Ventureprise after working closely with it at her startup. She discusses entrepreneurship in Charlotte, building an ecoSystem, and …

1
#77 - Aaron Bock, Opkalla 1:29:48

3y ago1:29:48

1:29:48

Aaron is one of the founders of Opkalla, an IT services company based in Charlotte. In this episode Aaron talks about going out on his own, surviving a pandemic, and scaling a business in a rapidly changing IT landscape.

1
#76 - Jonathan Kite, Rent Ready 1:26:32

3y ago1:26:32

1:26:32

In this episode John talks with co-founder and CEO of Rent Ready, Jonathan Kite. Rent Ready is a turnkey solution for multi-family real estate owners. Jonathan discusses the origin story of the company, when he and two friends with very complementary skillsets came up with the concept and turned it into a reality. He discusses raising angel and VC …

1
#75-Lee Arthur, Blenheim Chalcot 40:05

3y ago40:05

40:05

Blenheim Chalcot is the UK's leading venture builder and much of the inspiration for Defiance Ventures. In this episode Lee Arthur gives an overview of several of BC's portfolio companies. He also talks about what it takes to make it in early stage companies.

1
#74-William Bissett, Portus Wealth Advisors, Charlotte Angel Connection 1:01:30

3y ago1:01:30

1:01:30

William hosts one of the most popular early stage investment podcasts in the SouthEast. In this episode he and John discuss angel investing in Charlotte, entrepreneurship broadly, and how the Charlotte early stage community has changed through the years.

1
#73 - Desmond Wiggan, BatteryXchange 1:04:30

3y ago1:04:30

1:04:30

BatteryXchange is a Charlotte-based startup that provides portable charging solutions for mobile devices in popular venues. Desmond is the founder and CEO. In this episode he describes the process that led him to create the company. He talks about building a supply chain in China, raising money, and the challenges that minority founders face throug…

1
#72 - Matteo Collina, NearForm, Creator of Fastify, and Node.js Steering Committee Member 52:52

3y ago52:52

52:52

Matteo is a JavaScript expert, having created and maintained multiple open source frameworks including Pino and Fastify. Matteo is also a Technical Director at NearForm, a leading application development consultancy that focuses on JavaScript and Node.js in particular. In this episode Matteo talks about the popularity of JavaScript, speaking at con…

1
#71 - Juston Burris, Carolina Panthers, Real Estate Investor 42:44

3y ago42:44

42:44

Juston Burris talks in this episode with John about making it in the NFL and planning for the future. Juston purchases and up-fits homes in towns that he knows and turns them into income producing short term rentals.

1
#70 - Cassmer Ward, Nexagy, Intelligent Design 1:23:24

3y ago1:23:24

1:23:24

Cassmer is the founder of multiple companies throughout his career. He is also a professor at Queens University and hosts a popular entrepreneurship video series. He also has written a book on cost accounting.

1
#69 - Chris Shipferling, Global Wired Advisors 1:05:00

3y ago1:05:00

1:05:00

Chris is one of the founders of Global Wired Advisors, an investment bank with a particular focus on e-commerce. In this episode Chris discusses starting Global Wired Advisors with partners, watching COVID unfold and the incredible effects it had on his clients, and he talks about growing, scaling, and exiting an e-commerce business.…

1
#68 - Farhan Hussain, Axcelinno, Open Source Architects 1:01:23

3y ago1:01:23

1:01:23

Farhan is the founder and general manager at Axcelinno, a software consulting shop based in Dallas and Charlotte. In this episode he and John discuss the growth of open source, the disruption of public and hybrid clouds, OpenShift, and the Red Hat/IBM acquisition.

1
#67 - C-Trax 1:27:04

3+ y ago1:27:04

1:27:04

C-Trax is a cannabis POS solution developed by the founding team of Sean and Kiah Tolliver and Michael Clinton. In this interview, the team talks about weed legalization, social justice, raising money as minority founders, and the future of legalization in this country and globally

1
#66-Steve Amedio TKXS, All In to Fight Cancer 1:11:45

3+ y ago1:11:45

1:11:45

Steve has founded, invested in, run, and exited multiple companies through the years. He is the founder of All-In to Fight Cancer. In this episode he talks about his philosophy on business, work life balance, fitness, and especially on the progress being made against cancer.

1
#65 - Duncan Littlefield 1:30:29

3+ y ago1:30:29

1:30:29

Duncan operates multiple companies related to marketing and sales. In this episode he explains how he started each company and where he is taking them.

1
#64, Tony Mecia, Charlotte Ledger 1:19:57

3+ y ago1:19:57

1:19:57

Tony decided to build a subscription news service focused hyper-locally on Charlotte. In this episode he talks about new business models in media enabled by Substack. He talks about creating a free service and converting it into paid. And the two discuss the changing landscape of tech and media broadly.…

1
#63 - Meggie Williams, SkipTown 1:14:04

3+ y ago1:14:04

1:14:04

Meggie joins John for her second appearance to talk about pivoting during a pandemic and having to dig deep. She also talks about the various stages of fundraising as the company has matured. She also discusses growth strategy as we come out of lockdown.

1
#62 - Solosode - Health Hacks 46:46

3+ y ago46:46

46:46

John discusses the various ways he seeks to improve his health. This includes a fairly extensive list of supplements, self quantification devices and tests, dietary approaches, mindfulness, and hormetic stressors.

1
#61 - Joseph E. Pizzorno, ND - Bastyr University, ICMJ, Institute for Functional Medicine 1:10:02

3+ y ago1:10:02

1:10:02

Dr Pizzorno is a Naturopathic Doctor and the founder and director of Bastyr University, founder and director of the Institute for Functional Medicine, and editor in chief of PubMed Indexed IMCJ. He has authored 13 books as well. In this episode he and John discuss functional medicine (also known as naturopathic medicine) and its history in the Unit…

1
#60 - Solosode, Get in the Game 6:44

3+ y ago6:44

6:44

In this episode John discusses how it is often more important to "get in the game" than to figure out every detail and wait for perfection.

1
#59 - Kyle Hepp, Boxmagic 1:18:31

3+ y ago1:18:31

1:18:31

In this episode John interviews Kyle Hepp, founder of Boxmagic, the leading gym management software platform in Latin America. John and Kyle discuss starting a gym in Chile as an American female and then starting a software business to support gyms. They also discuss handling the business in a pandemic when gyms were forced to shut down.…

1
#58 - Jeff Wanner, PairPEO 1:28:57

3+ y ago1:28:57

1:28:57

Jeff is the founder of PairPEO, a PEO brokerage that helps clients save money on health and dental benefits. In this episode he explains how PEOs work and why they are so popular, and he talks about scaling a business through building his network meticulously.

1
#57 - Bobby Robinson, IntellyDoc 1:31:05

3+ y ago1:31:05

1:31:05

Bobby is the founder of IntellyDoc, a contract management system. He also is an attorney with a history in M&A and a current focus on social media influencers. In this episode he gives the background on building IntellyDoc and selling it to Defiance. He also talks about challenges minorities face in law and entrepreneurship and how to turn those ch…

1
#56 - 2ULaundry, Dan D'Aquisto and Alex Smereczniak 1:05:16

3+ y ago1:05:16

1:05:16

The founders of 2ULaundry came back to the studio to chat about a pivot, managing during a crisis, how their board of directors helped them react to COVID, and the future of laundry.

1
#55 - Stu Brauer, WTF GymTalk, UrbanMvmnt 1:41:51

3+ y ago1:41:51

1:41:51

In this episode John sits down with Stu Brauer, his first guest on the show and now his first repeat guest. They cover a wide range of topics including workout modalities, using workouts to mentally prep for a tough day, franchising vs licensing, the changes at CrossFit HQ in 2020, and a host of other topics. Stu also talks about navigating the pan…

1
#54 - Jim Roberts, WALE and NEW 1:13:42

3+ y ago1:13:42

1:13:42

Jim has been involved in and started numerous organizations throughout the Southeastern United States. He currently runs an entrepreneurial network and an angel fund in Wilmington, NC. In this episode Jim talks about starting eco-systems, the wild success Wilmington is currently having, early stage funding, and gives his thoughts on how NC cities c…

1
#53 - West Kept Secret 1:11:10

3+ y ago1:11:10

1:11:10

West Kept Secret is a boutique gym that combines cardio with pilates and strength training in a High Intensity Interval (HIIT) format. In this interview John interviews Marissa West and Heidi Hillman. They discuss how Marissa parlayed her experience as a Panthers cheerleader into doing personal training and then partnering with Heidi as a client. T…

1
#52 - Sureyya (Sy) Ciliv, Kuika 53:48

4y ago53:48

53:48

Kuika is an innovative low code suite of tools that allow enterprises and divisions to build better, faster software. In this episode John is joined by Sy Ciliv, owner of Kuika. They discuss the industry, the biggest challenges large companies face, building an international business, and how Sy was able to leverage his experiences leading some of …

1
#51 - Gower Smith, Swyft 55:45

4y ago55:45

55:45

Gower is a serial entrepreneur. He has founded multiple companies in the US, New Zealand, and Australia. Defiance Ventures led an investment round in Swyft, his most recent creation. Swyft is the global leader in unattended retail. In this article he and John discuss what it takes to start multiple companies, modern trends in retail, growing an int…

1
#50 - Yigit Ihlamur, Vela Partners 1:18:18

4y ago1:18:18

1:18:18

Yigit is the founder of Vela Partners, a Bay Area based Venture Capital fund focusing on AI and machine learning. It has developed very interesting AI technology to help it find the best investment opportunities in the space. Yigit tells his story about joining Google early on and how he parlayed that into building a world class VC fund.…

1
#49 - Emir Dukic, Rabbu 50:46

4y ago50:46

50:46

Emir Dukic owns Rabbu, a short term rental commercial real estate startup in Charlotte. In this episode John and Emir discuss going out on his own, the short term rental market, being flexible in the COVID-19 era, and working with AirBNB.

1
#48 - Ramy Serageldin, HoneyFi 1:12:22

4y ago1:12:22

1:12:22

HoneyFi is a couple's financial planning platform. In this episode John interviews its CEO and founder, Ramy Serageldin. Ramy talks about starting a company after learning from a high flying fintech success story from very early on. He shares insights into the payments industry and gives indispensable guidance to any would be startup founder.…

1
#47-Jack Ossa, Power of Design Podcast and Ossa Studio 1:43:20

4y ago1:43:20

1:43:20

Jack Ossa owns Ossa Studio which designs commercial real estate projects and has branched into marketing services and even software development. He also hosts the Power of Design Podcast. In this episode John and Jack dig into his business, how he got started, and where he wants to take it.

1
#46 - Mike Privette Interviews John 52:56

4y ago52:56

52:56

Mike is a technologist who has been working at big banks and recently started his own consultancy where he advises startups on partnering with banks and on cyber security. In this episode he interviews John about his history and what he's doing with Defiance. They discuss what makes products successful and what things entrepreneurs need to be able …

1
#45 - Ivan Barajas Vargas, MuukTest 55:59

4y ago55:59

55:59

Ivan Barajas Vargas is the founder of MuukTest, a TechStars 2020 company that provides a comprehensive automated software testing solution. In this episode John and Ivan talk about lessons learned working for one of the biggest enterprise software companies in the world and building a product and company to solve problems encountered along the way.…

1
#44 - JP Conklin, Pensford and LoanBoss 1:24:05

4y ago1:24:05

1:24:05

In this episode John interviews JP Conklin, founder of Pensford and LoanBoss. Pensford was his first company and it is a financial services company providing derivatives for commercial real estate owners. From what he learned in building and scaling Pensford JP identified a set of software tools that were not supported well by existing PropTech ven…

1
#43 - David Wells, New Years Revolutionary Podcast 35:41

4y ago35:41

35:41

In this episode John is interviewed by David Wells, founder of the New Years Revolutionary Podcast. The sound volume level is a little low as this was the first episode recorded in the Defiance Ventures studio since COVID, but David asks John about his history and philosophy on building scalable businesses.…

1
#42 - Jamie Brown and Jeff Tonidandel - Haberdish, Crepe Cellar, et al 1:11:08

4y ago1:11:08

1:11:08

In this episode John interviews the couple behind popular NoDa restaurants Haberdish, Crepe Cellar, Growlers, and Reigning Donuts. In this episode Jeff and Jamie discuss starting a restaurant during a recession and financial crisis, growing into multiple restaurants, driving innovation on both the culinary and mixology in one of Charlotte's top nei…

1
#41 - Derek Holt, K4Connect 1:46:42

4y ago1:46:42

1:46:42

In this episode John interviews Derek Holt, president of K4Connect, a tech company that is transforming the way nursing homes and assisted living communities serve their customers. Derek covers a lot of ground ranging from transitioning from IBM to a startup community to actual startups. He also talks about scaling a business during the COVID pande…

1
#38, Chris Elmore, Avidxchange 2:04:05

4y ago2:04:05

2:04:05

Avidxchange is one of the most well known startups in Charlotte. It has been recognized for many awards and has raised over $1 billion of capital. In this episode John interviews Chris Elmore, one of Avid's first employees. Chris talks about the early days at Avid, scaling it, raising multiple rounds of capital from big name investors across the US…

1
#40 - Nina Barnett, Grooop 1:22:01

4y ago1:22:01

1:22:01

Nina is an impressive young entrepreneur who created a safety app while in under grad to address a problem that she and her friends could not find a good solution for. She talks about building an app without a technical background through a partnership and what she had to do to figure out how to build a company around it. Her company Grooop is an a…

1
#39 - Neeta Kirpalani, Consultant, Healthtech Women 58:19

4y ago58:19

58:19

John interviews Neeta Kirpalani. Neeta left a successful career in healthcare to become an independent consultant and her practice has thrived. She also invests her time in Healthtech Women and Springboard Enterprise's Women's Health Tech Hub. Neeta talks about building a branding strategy, building a team to support her efforts and scale, and movi…

1
#37, Lauren McAbee, Chakti Yoga, Essential Thrive 1:27:12

4y ago1:27:12

1:27:12

In this episode John interviews Lauren McAbee, founder of Essential Thrive, a holistic health company focusing on essential oils and Chakti Yoga, a yoga form she created that combines dancing moves with Yoga. Lauren talks about the health benefits of Yoga, why she created her own form, and also about going virtual and actually increasing revenue. S…

1
#36-Jordan Schindler, nufabrx 1:04:32

4y ago1:04:32

1:04:32

Jordan started and runs a company that infuses vitamins and other transdermal products into fabrics. His business recently was featured on Fox News resulting in a massive increase in sales of anti-microbial copper infused surgical masks. In this episode he talks about starting the business while at the University of Washington, moving the business …

1
#35, Linda Nash, WellcomeMD 1:13:47

4+ y ago1:13:47

1:13:47

In this episode John interview Linda Nash, a serial entrepreneur from Richmond, VA. Linda discusses starting and exiting three businesses prior to starting WellcomeMD, she explains proactive vs reactive medicine, she talks about concierge and executive medicine, and she goes into how the medical industry has changed through the past two decades. Jo…

1
#34, Dino H Carter, D Branding 50:20

4+ y ago50:20

50:20

Dino Carter, a brand and marketing consultant, interviews John in this episode for a video series he hosts. They talk a lot about running a business and raising money during a pandemic and also cover technological and business changes that may come out of the current COVID crisis. They also talk about the startup scene in North Carolina.…

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