#496 From Accidental Founder to 30,000+ Entrepreneurs | Jeremy Ames on Building Businesses That Last

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet, we sit down with Jeremy Ames, Co-Founder and CEO of Guidant Financial, a company that has helped over 30,000 entrepreneurs fund their businesses using US retirement funds. Jeremy shares his unconventional path into entrepreneurship, the rise of Main Street innovation, and what truly holds people back from launching businesses.

This is a masterclass in testing ideas, avoiding costly mistakes, and seeing opportunities where others don’t—plus a refreshing take on AI adoption in traditional businesses.

💡 Key Takeaways

• Why retirement funds can be a powerful startup capital source

• The secret behind starting a business without quitting your job: “Side Projects”

• Why validation before investment is non-negotiable

• What entrepreneurs often overlook about financial modeling

• The power of AI in traditional businesses and why it’s about culture, not just tools

• Why “shiny object syndrome” kills more businesses than lack of capital

• A personal story of failure—and what Jeremy learned from a loss-making franchise bet

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📚 What You’ll Learn

• How to reduce risk when starting a business

• What investors and entrepreneurs can learn from 30,000+ business launches

• How to blend tech savviness with service-based business models

• How AI is being used at Guidant Financial to create bottom-up innovation

• Why agency, ownership, and intention matter more than ever in today’s uncertain economy

👤 About the Guest

Jeremy Ames is a serial entrepreneur and the Co-Founder & CEO of Guidant Financial, a leader in innovative business funding solutions. With over 20 years of experience, Jeremy has helped 30,000+ individuals leverage their retirement funds to start and grow businesses through programs like 401k Business Financing (ROBS). A firm believer in the power of entrepreneurship to create wealth and freedom, Jeremy’s career spans successes, failures, and invaluable lessons, including being recognized as the SBA’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

http://www.guidantfinancial.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyamesentrepreneur/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyamesentrepreneur/

Episode Highlights 

00:00 – Intro & Jeremy’s background

03:00 – The emotional story behind his first business

06:00 – What keeps people from starting businesses

09:30 – The “Side Project” framework

13:00 – The viral cocoa bomb experiment

16:30 – Cleaning trash bins = $4M business?

19:00 – The engineer who bought a car repair shop

22:00 – Guidant’s approach to AI adoption

27:00 – AI’s role in business financing

29:00 – The #1 mistake entrepreneurs make after launching

33:00 – Coffee shop myths and financial realism

36:00 – Research, customer interviews, and competitive edge

40:00 – On the illusion of copying success

44:00 – A personal failure: the massage franchise story

47:00 – Final thoughts on agency, entrepreneurship, and ownership