Ry and his team at Astronomer have goals as big as the sky. You know all that growing data that you are having a hard time wrangling? Well, Ry co-founded the company that is helping you move that data to where it is needed and when it is needed so you can make better sense of it all. It's a harrowing task, but he and his team have made enormous progress. And, along the way, Ry has learned more and more about himself as a leader. He gets personal about:
Down to earth, but reaching for the stars. That's I sum up this interview with the fast-growth Co-founding CEO of Astronomer, Ry Walker.
Eric has a growing list of accolades that all reflect the growth and success of his company, Vacasa. He's a humble guy whose fast-growth company all started with his family's 1800s cabin. That experience combined with two great first hires, hard work, diligence, and an amazing team have all resulted in the 2nd largest vacation rental management company in the United States.
In this interview you'll hear Eric address some unique topics like:
What's it like to found and scale the #1 cloud accounting software for small businesses and the self-employed? What's it like to work out of your parent's basement for three years while you grow your startup? What's it like to wait ten years to accept venture capital money and conquer your fear of doing so? What's it like to lead a growing company of over 250 team members?
Listen to Mike McDerment, the Founder & CEO of FreshBooks, in this revealing and candid interview as he answers all the above questions and more.
I was particularly impressed with his story about how greater self-awareness has been the key to his ability to scale himself as a CEO. My favorite quote: "I've got to slow down and actually be present in a way that is probably not natural to me."
Supplier diversity is a hot issue. Rod Robinson took his corporate knowledge of supplier diversity and corporate procurement and turned it into a SaaS platform that is having a huge impact on the industry. He shares:
Rod's authentic and candid interview will inspire you to think big and embrace constant learning.
We break the normal routine with this episode of the podcast. As many of you know, we usually interview Founders who are currently the CEO of the company they started. Our interview with Joel Holland is a bit different.
Joel Holland is the founder and now Executive Chairman of VideoBlocks, the first subscription-based provider of stock video and audio, with over 100,000 customers in the television and video production industry, from NBC to MTV to pro-sumers and hobbyists looking to enhance their video projects and productions.
In 2013, VideoBlocks was ranked the 32nd fastest growing technology company in the US/Canada, and the 2nd fastest growing technology company in the DC region by Deloitte for the Fast500, for achieving 7,000% revenue growth over the past 5 years.
Joel and his team have navigated incredible growth and the way they go about making their company a win-win for all is truly inspirational.
In this revealing interview, Joel covers some topics that we have not covered very often...like:
Joel really is amazing. For his work with VideoBlocks, Joel has been named one of the "Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25" by BusinessWeek Magazine, "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" by the United States Small Business Administration, "Entrepreneur of the Year" for the Greater Washington DC Region by Ernst & Young and in 2013, Joel was recognized on the Inc. "30 Under 30" list.
Plus, Joel was a lot of fun to interview. Enjoy the conversation and let me know what you think.