Jon Laster is a stand-up comic, MC at the Comedy Cellar, and now founder and CEO of Blapp, an app that maps and sells Black-owned businesses.
In this powerful episode, Jon shares how the murder of George Floyd led him to shift gears from punchlines to product-building. What started as an idea during lockdown is now a growing tech platform with real impact: helping Black-owned businesses get discovered, generate revenue, and stay alive.
Jon opens up about what it really takes to build a startup with no traditional tech background, how he convinced names like Chris Rock and Tiffany Haddish to invest, and why he sees comedy as the ultimate founder bootcamp.
This is a conversation about resilience, reinvention, and staying scrappy — no matter how many nights you bomb on stage.
The Turning Pro Podcast