Today's guests are the amazing Steve O’Dell and Robbie Page , the founders of Tenzo Tea . These two guys wanted to make a massive impact on the world through a product that really makes a difference in people’s lives. In this interview we cover a wide range of topics from: What lead them to choose matcha over other energizing products? What are most important steps to get an E-commerce company off the ground. Why the lessons learned from playing professional sports directly translates to success...
Apr 30, 2018•39 min
Mark Kithcart is the Vice President of Marketing, Sales, Client Management and Contracts at AVRS a software service for the automotive industry. Post graduation from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mark worked as a mechanical engineer, but he trained himself in the late hours of the night to be a professional marketer. In this interview we discussed topics like: Why customer service is the lifeblood of any business? How to find a mentor? Why marketing comes down to human behavior? Why is it important t...
Mar 22, 2018•1 hr 21 min
In 2005, Sandy Grigsby founded Brio Five , a creative studio specializing in branding, photography, web, and graphic design. She is most well known for her work as an Empowerment & Brand Photographer with over 15 years of industry experience working with high power CEOs to celebrities. Sandy's talent lies in her ability to evoke and capture images that demonstrate a woman’s true essence and power. Her in-depth knowledge of web design, coupled with her vast experience as a model, actress, and...
Feb 02, 2018•1 hr 3 min
Erik Huberman is the Founder & CEO of Hawke Media , a full-service outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA that launched in 2014 and has been valued at $60 million. In just 3 years, Hawke Media has grown from 7 to over 120 employees and has serviced 400+ brands. Prior to Hawke Media , Erik founded, grew and sold Swag of the Month and grew Ellie.com’s sales to $1 million in four months. Erik is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including Forbes “30Under30”, Inc Magazine’s “Top 25 M...
Jan 19, 2018•51 min
Nicole Behnam and Mariella Rudi are founders of the media company Beyond The Interview , where they curate a collection of interviews, essays, and social news. As two women who left full-time careers as successful journalists to pursue entrepreneurship, their story is one of taking creative control of their work and embracing a new age of personal, digital journalism. In this show, Nicole and Mariella talk about their adventure in leaving their careers to pursue entrepreneurship, the importance ...
Dec 07, 2017•1 hr 30 min
Sean Allen is the CEO and Co-Founder of WizeFi , a personal finance platform that helps you make the most of your money and helps you make more money so you can live your ideal lifestyle. With 20+ years experience in the financial advising industry, Sean is bringing a tool once reserved for professional financial planners to the masses. In this show, Sean explains how important behavior change is to achieving your desired financial goals, and how WizeFi illustrates how each decision you make can...
Nov 22, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Josh Haynam is the co-founder of Interact , a platform and software serviced based out of San Francisco. Interact creates quizzes (“like the ones that you see on Facebook”) and assessments for clients wanting to reach potential customers whose interests may align with those of their company’s. After cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit at the start of high school, Josh had to switch gears and buckle down for college, where he met the person who would later become his co-founder. When he and his...
Nov 08, 2017•1 hr 35 min
Ladan Davia is the CEO & Founder of Beeya , a company she founded in January of 2015. Beeya is a platform that automatically matches employers and employees using a unique algorithm while generating an automatic matching score from your data. The platform combines the elements of online job searching, social networking, and professional work concepts to create a cohesive solution for the user. Before founding Beeya , Ladan was the founder and president of Accelerate Test Prep for two years, ...
Oct 11, 2017•1 hr 17 min
Andrew Healy and Alex French are the Co-Founders of Bizzy Coffee, “coffee for people who don’t have time for coffee.” Bizzy Coffee comes in the form of an organic two-ounce cold brew shot and can be found in a multitude of grocery stores, as well as on Amazon. Bizzy Coffee was created by two people who complement each other well: Alex’s background is in in Finance and Entrepreneurship while Andrew’s is in Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing. After trial and error and some product tweaking, ...
Sep 30, 2017•1 hr 11 min
Baird Hall is the Co-Founder of Wavve , a platform based out of Charleston, South Carolina. Having launched in 2016, Wavve helps podcasters, musicians, radio show hosts, and various other content creators easily turn audio clips into social video content -- whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or wherever else. Wavve – a platform created by two people who met a mere 2 years ago and have successfully grown their company to help a plethora of users since – also provides multiple video te...
Sep 20, 2017•1 hr 8 min
Ryan McLeod became an indie app developer after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2014 and briefly working as a web developer. After working on a social music startup for a time that ended up disbanding, Ryan switched gears and started learning iOS. Originally a side project, this knowledge led to the creation of the popular iOS app Blackbox , a game that helps players practice creative thinking by solving puzzles without actually touching their screen. Some Questions I Ask Ryan: What ...
Sep 13, 2017•1 hr 26 min
In this episode, we speak with Kyle Rawson, the founder of SyphonSound. Syphon Sound is an audio company that came to fruition in 2011 and specializes in motocross and snowboarding sound technology. Kyle grew up snowboarding throughout junior high and high school. After 3 business competitions, he finally decided to pursue his idea intermingling these passions while being able to listen to his favorite music with comfort and ease. Some good luck with investors and years of research and developme...
Jul 17, 2017•1 hr 33 min
In this episode of Cult of Startup, our guest is Brad Gauthier. Brad is the founder of Sitecast, Founded in 2013 and based out of Portland, Oregon, Sitecast.com is a platform of configurable API’s to rapidly build and deploy serverless web projects with ease. Brad discovered a talent for building websites at the age of 12 when he landed his first client. He pursued that skill to get where he and his company are at today, with a few crucial detours along the way. Some Questions I Ask Brad: What r...
Jul 03, 2017•1 hr 49 min
Today’s guest in this episode of Cult of Startup is Alex Littlewood, the founder, and CEO of Motoroso. Founded in 2013, Motoroso is an online hub for motorsports and automotive enthusiasts alike to plan, build, and share their dream vehicle projects -- from drawing ideas and inspiration through content to locating specific parts, accessories, and service providers. Motoroso stemmed from Alex’s passion for working on and riding cars and motorcycles. In today’s episode, we get to the root of what ...
Jun 21, 2017•2 hr 8 min
Today’s guest in this episode of Cult of Startup is Steve Irby. Steve Irby is the founder and president of KICKER , a company he began in 1973 that produces high-performance home and personal audio, car audio, power sports products, and other vehicle-specific solutions. Steve’s learned a wide variety of lessons when it comes to creating your own company from the ground up, especially when it involves something you love doing. For Steve, it all started with building and constructing speaker syste...
Apr 30, 2017•1 hr 20 min
Today’s guest is Raj Singh. Raj is the founder of Tempo AI , a mobile productivity app that was recently acquired by Salesforce. Raj has had extensive experience in the technology and startup industries. And in this interview, we talked about what it takes to create a startup and the best methods and strategies for working in one, as well how to maneuver their ever-evolving structure in society. Some Questions I Ask Raj: How can a student find a position in a start-up or find a company that woul...
Mar 23, 2017•1 hr 14 min
Today’s guest is Marcus Noel , who is the founder of Heart of Man which aims to EMPOWER YOUNG PEOPLE TO THINK LIKE CREATORS, NOT STUDENTS. In this interview, we discuss a variety of topics from education reform to why students should walk away from high school with an entrepreneurship toolset in their pocket. Marcus recommended that we all take Strengths Finder by Gallup . As always thank you for listening! Please feel free to leave us a review in iTunes....
Jan 21, 2017•1 hr 10 min
Today’s guest is Alex Henige, who is the founder of Reduce Reuse Grow, a small compostable packaging company that provides packaging for small coffee shops & food venders. And with each product they serve Reduce Reuse Grow will in turn plant a plant at a local restoration site. We start by talking about his indirect approach to Kickstarter & how that grew into over 20k in contributions from backers. How a product can evolve by running it through the business model canvas? Why your first ...
Dec 24, 2016•1 hr 26 min
In this episode I sit down with Seth Hiatt, serial board game entrepreneur & founder of Mayday Games . Originally Seth ran a successful online business selling through eBay; however, that all ended suddenly when eBay shifted away from a single listing fee to taking a percentage of each sale. Overnight Seth had to make a choice between going back to his previous career as an accountant or to rework his business model. Follow us through our conversation as we discuss his journey & discover...
Nov 04, 2016•1 hr 20 min
Today’s guest is Boman Farrer, the co-founder of LunoWear , a stylish watch brand made from bamboo that nearly raised half a million through crowdfunding. Even when they had to switch funding platforms after raising 400k! In this interview we discuss the following topics: The value of family tradition Building a loyal audience before launching a product How to properly execute a crowdfunding campaign. Instagram strategies using hashtags & influencers How to use Facebook ads The pros & co...
Oct 08, 2016•1 hr 25 min
Today’s guest is Tod Nelson, the 8th hire of Amazon and now the Executive Director of the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (cie.calpoly.edu). In this interview we talk about what the early days of Amazon were like. In addition we address topics that range from PR stunts to unorthodox hiring practices to Jeff Bezos leadership style on down to what you learn from packaging someones books. If that isn’t enough, we dig deep into the following questions: How to manage explosive gro...
Sep 08, 2016•58 min
Information can tell a story, but without structure, that story remains incomplete. Today’s guest, Nick Grant, is completing that story with eye dropping designs created by his agency Killer Infographics . Nick’s business evolved from serval fledgling ideas that earned their wings, but never really took flight. In the interview he talks about your first business idea not always being your best, nor your last. We also discuss the struggles a startup must face in growing, including things like off...
Aug 19, 2016•56 min
Our guest today is Cameron Manwaring and in this interview we discuss how hustling & being present for opportunities completely changed his life. We start by talking about his early days in entrepreneurship. Where he started his own window washing business to avoid working at a taco joint & how he broke the all time record for a class assignment to have $1,500 in revenue before the end of the semester. We then get into the meat of our conversation, where Cameron started working with Devi...
Aug 02, 2016•1 hr 23 min
In today’s podcast, we have with us, special guest Austin Craig . Austin got his start in YouTube by acting in a video for the brand Orabrush , which makes a special tongue cleaner that rids your mouth of bad breath. From this one YouTube video Austin has had opportunities to work with numerous brands and has helped them sell millions worth in product. We conclude the interview talking about his production company & how it has been recently hired by Brigham Young University to produce a seri...
Jul 25, 2016•1 hr 3 min
Today’s guest is Chris Kelsey, a high school dropout who left school with only six months left to go during his senior year. Now almost 2 years later his company Appsitude.com is set to gross over 4.8 million in revenue for 2016. His business has built 100 plus mobile applications amounting to over 50 million total downloads. They have grown from a small team to now nearly 50 employees located around the world. Can you believe he's still a teenager? We go over some topics that a lot of young ent...
Jul 18, 2016•1 hr 46 min
How many times have you wished you were more environmentally conscious as a consumer? Brett Edwards aka Mr. Eco can teach you how through rap! While in college Brett started free style rapping for fun, under the rap identity of “Mystery E” and one day while at lunch with his sister and dad they suggested, he should start rapping about the environment. And thus, Mr. Eco was born! Since that moment Mr. Eco has performed at 270+ elementary/middle school assemblies to 135,000+ children in The United...
Jul 13, 2016•1 hr 12 min
Today’s guest is Jessica Santana, who is the co-founder of New York on Tech, a startup where it is there mission to prepare the next generation of technology leaders. Jessica is a great example of leaving corporate to pursue a startup. And what makes her story so interesting is that her experiences working as a minority in corporate inspired her to develop New York on Tech. Not to mention her parents are immigrants that came here to help their family achieve the American dream. We cover the topi...
Jul 08, 2016•1 hr
Craft wine is booming and today’s guest is in the thick of it! We welcome Sarah Kraft, co-founder of Hillersden Wine to kick off July with a bang. Hillersden has been able to accomplish some mind blowing results within a short period of time. In this episode we cover topics that include: Why is it important to get involved in entrepreneurship at the college level? How jumping into a startup can be a way to discover your true passions? Doing vs planning? What is the difference between US and New ...
Jul 01, 2016•52 min
Today’s guest is Jeremiah Miller , founder of Forging Leaders , who in 2009 started his journey out by doing speaking engagements and writing articles when ever the opportunity presented itself. Eventually, in 2010 he was able to quit his 9 to 5 and pursue his passion of helping to make other leaders great. In this interview we discuss the following questions and topics: How accountability is one of your biggest assets in building a company? Why is the greatest fear we have rejection? And how to...
Jun 26, 2016•1 hr 4 min
Today’s guest is someone whose story is both that of success and doing the right thing for people who need it the most. Aaron Steed and his brother started Meathead Movers as a way to make money while going to school and stay in shape for sports. Since this aha moment, they have strived endlessly to utilize the braun and brains of student athletes to help people move. With over 300 employees, MeatHead Movers has grown to become the largest independent moving company in California. Additionally, ...
Jun 23, 2016•52 min
