Angelique is one of those Founders whom you say to yourself...just wow! Super smart, truly dedicated, inspirational, ready to tackle complex problems, and a wide variety of amazing experiences all combine in one amazing CEO. Angelique and her team are combining SaaS, with change management, with innovation, and with a deep understanding of cultures and how they react to re-invention.
Angelique talks about two really important issues that I am sure you have either struggled with or which you will probably encounter in the future:
You can tell by Angelique's mindset that she is a winner.
Eric has quite the background. As one of the founding engineers and Vice President of Engineering at WebEx, he LOVES connecting people digitally. And, with Zoom he has created an experience that I have found to be truly magically.
Since we use Zoom for our Founder & CEO peer groups, Trail Team 10, I just has to get Eric on the show so you and I can learn more about the leader behind this great communication tool. With over 370 people on the Zoom team and over 320,000 customers, Eric sure is doing something right.
In this interview Eric shares:
Andrea ("Drea") and her team inspire me. I have personally traveled the world and fully appreciate when I am able to authentically connect with the people of the region I am visiting. Drea's emphasis on authentic experiences rather than simply bus "drive by gazing," is a refreshing approach to a travel industry that is increasingly dominated by familiar experiences.
As she has built LocalAdventura, she has also experiences her own personal growth. In this interview she gets personal about:
A few years ago the wood swing set in our back yard had deteriorated enough for me to start worrying it may not be safe for my family. I knew it would take me forever to disassemble it. And, then there was the issue of what to do with all the pieces. So, I called 1-800-Got-Junk. It was gone in an hour. Wow!
After interviewing the company's Founder & CEO, Brian Scudamore, in this episode, I now know why my experience with 1-800-Got-Junk was so exceptional. Brian is exceptional. His energy, enthusiasm, attitude, are contagious and his entrepreneurial leadership is extraordinary.
In this candid interview Brian covers:
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.
Have you ever thought that you and your company would be better off with a partner? Not just someone to work with you as an employee, but someone who has an equity stake in your growing company?
Well, listen in on this very interesting episode as our guest from episode #10, Corey Whitaker, comes back to the podcast and shares the why and the how he developed a partnership with Parker Stevenson to help his company grow even faster.
This is the first time we have invited two guests to be on the show at one time. And, I am so glad we did. Both Corey and Parker get really personal and share insights about:
But, as many of you know, there is nothing simple about launching a business, let alone a one-for-one social enterprise. During his journey From Founder To CEO, Eric learned a lot about himself and growing a social enterprise. He speaks about:
Originally from Uzbekistan, Ilya Bodner started with nothing and is tackling one of the toughest industries in which to launch a startup - insurance. But, with determination, thousands of hours of interview research, lots of patience, and a wonderful team, Ilya has successfully grown an #insurtech company that is getting huge traction. With over 2,000 insurance agents using his platform, he is well on his way to taking Bold Penguin to even more bold growth.
And, along the way, Ilya has learned quite a bit about the transition from Founder to CEO. You'll hear him talk about:
The world is complex and getting more complex by the day. In my experience, anyone that can take aware some of that complexity has a winning business.
Erin Green understands this and founded a fast-growth company that helps you ensure you are getting the value you contracted for with your out-sourced service providers. That includes telecommunications, utilities, merchant processing, and more contract management. It's all about a laser-like focus.
Erin's wisdom about growing from Founder to CEO is well worth a listen. She opens up about:
Despite one of the largest bubble bursts in the oil and gas industry, Amit Mehta has not only been able to create great value in that industry, but he has been able to grow his company in this challenging and very traditional industry. He is a fountain of knowledge and experience that he freely shares in this interview. You will learn about:
One of the other things I learned about Mehta is how much he loves to read. I thought I read a lot. But, wow...he is the epitome of "leaders are readers." Listen and let me know what you think.
Adrienne Garland is a leader on a mission - on a mission to uplift and educate women leaders and entrepreneurs to be the leaders they can be. Along the way, she has learned a lot about herself as a leader and Founding CEO as she has built her company. I'm sure many of you can relate to her stories about:
For me, Adrienne's perseverance, grit, and determination are inspirational.
Oh, and check out her October 2016 conference by clicking here:
Nick Francis is on a mission to make the "help desk" an amazing experience for every business. He and his team have created a powerful platform that puts the customer first and makes it easier for every business to make customer service a great experience. On the road to building his company, he has learned quite a few things which he shares in this candid interview. He talks about:
A few months ago I was looking for some help naming our new service (I can't wait to share it with you). Many of you would probably agree, it can be challenging to find good names that are not already being used. So I was excited when I read about Squadhelp in Dan Shapiro's book, "Hot Seat: The Startup CEO Guidebook." I checked it out and it seemed like a great resource to help with our new service.
The experience was amazing. We found our name! So, I figured there had to be a great Founding CEO and dedicated team behind this crowdsourcing platform. I was right. Darpan Munjal's leadership insights, challenges, and stumbles have all led to an organization that delivers on its promise.
I think you'll learn a lot from his "leadership struggle" story about focus. As always, please let me know what you think.
“Be the difference for one,” is the driving motto behind Todd’s organization Back2Back Ministries. He is leading an international team of amazing people who dedicate their lives to support orphans around the world. As inspiring as that mission is, Todd is just like you. He also has had some ups and downs as a Co-founder and CEO of a startup that grew into a international organization. And, his journey is filled with opportunities to learn as a leader. In this fun interview he shares:
Todd’s enthusiasm is infectious…he just makes you want to be a better person, better leader, and have more positive impact on the world. Let me know what you learned by contact me here.
Refreshing. That's what came to mind while I was interviewing Jessica for this episode. Jessica has experienced significant success with her fast-growth company, inDinero. She is just one of those down-to-earth CEOs who isn't afraid to honestly describe the struggles we all face as we begin to scale our startups. She talks about:
Jessica packs in a lot of valuable insights in this short episode. Please let me know what you think.
Since I was a kid I really enjoyed being organized. Maybe I was a bit unusual. I organized my closet once a quarter. My desk had everything in its place. Even the books on my shelves were categorized my topic. So, when I interviewed Kip Tindell, Co-founder and now former CEO of The Container Store, he said something that really resonated with me. He said, "Life is better if you are organized." I couldn't agree more.
Kip's enthusiasm for life is infectious. And, his leadership principles are inspirational. You may be hard pressed to find many people who put the words "love" and "business" in the same sentence. But, Kip does just that in this interview and shares so much more about his personal journey from Co-founder of a small retail store to CEO of a business with 6,000 employees and more than 80 stores across the United States.
We recorded this interview in August of 2016 a few months after he stepped down as CEO, a role in served in for many years. We talked about a very challenging time during the fast-growth stages of his company and what he did to overcome them. And, we also talked about his decision to step down as CEO.
If want to year what successful entrepreneurial leadership through hard work and humility sounds like, give a listen to this interview with Kip Tindell. My bet is you'll feel uplifted just like I felt while I interviewed him. Let me know what you think: todd@fromfoundertoceo.com.
It is really cool technology that you can check out in this video.
In this revealing interview, he shares his personal journey from Founder to CEO along with some hiring wisdom that you will want to pay attention to.
Lots of entrepreneurial activity is boiling over in the Erie, Pennsylvania area. One of the many success stories is Karen Rzepecki and her Mason Jars Company. Karen is a self-described "late blooming" entrepreneur who took her engineering background and put it to good use helping thousands of people find new ways to reuse the mighty Mason Jar.
I love when Founding CEOs like Karen take something old and breathe new life into it in new and creative ways that brings value to so many. She shares some of her personal struggles shifting into the CEO role in this fun interview.
What do you think is the number one leadership skill she wished she learned earlier? You'll have to listen to find out. :)
I have always been fascinated by the growing entrepreneurial spirit in India. In fact, I love reading the website Your Story because it showcases so many wonderful stories of Founding CEOs like Nithin Kamath. I first learned about Nithin on Your Story and found myself fascinated by how several failures led to the co-founding of Zerodha. In this candid interview, Nithin describes the struggles and victories on the road to scaling India's first discount brokerage firm.
What has been the hardest part of building Zerodha? Listen. It may not be what you would expect.
Todd Wichmann truly knows the difference between corporate leadership and startup leadership. He became a Founding CEO after leading the Tide detergent brand for global giant, Procter & Gamble. He took his knowledge gained at P&G and used it to build a company focused on organic cleaning products.
He shares his ups and downs as a Startup CEO AND he shares the story of how he and his team developed one of the hottest new products to combat the Zika Virus - an organic mosquito repellent called FIT® Organic—Mosquito Repellent. It's a game changer for many, including the country of Brazil where the virus has affected so many.
Oh yes, listen carefully to his story about his biggest struggle shifting from Founder to CEO, I think you will learn a lot. I know I did.