Silicon Slopes | Leaders Interviewing Leaders

Clint meets with Sid Krommenhoek who is a co-founder of Album, a venture capital team in Utah that's investing in early-stage tech startups. They discuss investing cycles and how to avoid getting too involved in a single technology because the landscape is always changing. Sid brings up an interesting idea, that the more we work with machines (like AI or simply working from home instead of the office) and use social media, the worse our mental health becomes and we need to prioritize personal connection as much as possible. Ultimately, investing in people is what will drive the industry forward and we should dedicate everything we can to making our relationships more meaningful and collaborative. It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, or how you were raised, if you are appropriately ruthless about following your dreams, you can make it in this industry. "I think the cryptonite in our industry is FOMO. All of us, we'll all tell you our stories of the deal that we got FOMOed into and we maybe let passion and emotion and something irrational drive a decision."

On this episode of the Silicon Slopes Podcast, Clint meets with Utah legend, Paul Ahlstrom, who is an investor and entrepreneur, as well as the co-author of Nail It Then Scale It. Utah owes its dramatic rise in the tech and investment world to Paul because he co-founded the state's leading venture capital fund, which gave Utah the springboard it needed to become a part of every renowned investor's portfolio. They discuss his extensive background in investing and how Paul has made investing history by helping so many companies become the giants they are today. They dive into Paul's entrepreneurial journey and how he's an integral part of Utah's tech ecosystem, even creating the first venture fund in Mexico! Always on the hunt for the next problem to be solved, Paul's on a mission for three things: to cure cancer, end poverty, and disrupt Hollywood, by giving back and working to build things better. "I'm not really an investor. I'm an entrepreneur that's kind of disguised as an investor but if you look at the lens of everything I do, one of the things you can look at is just creating things out of scratch that are hard, that haven't been done before."

Join Clint for a fun conversation with Eric and Ethan Parker, the founding dream team behind Utah crypto giant, Giddy. In an effort to make crypto accessible to everyone, Eric and Ethan set out on a mission to help people self-manage their own crypto wallet, keeping user privacy at the forefront of their work. They talk about building Giddy and how they keep fraud out of the mix by fully incorporating their users. As block chain is constantly evolving, these local heroes are making this industry easy to understand for the typical newbie. Tune in to hear more about their entrepreneurial journey and how they quickly rose the ranks in the crypto world. "With all the absolute chaos, what we're built on is a foundation of really good technical innovation."

In this episode of the Silicon Slopes Show, Clint Betts sits down with current congressman, John Curtis, and discusses the most relevant issues affecting citizens of the United States today. Throughout his time in Congress, John Curtis has shown a commitment to conservative principles, working across party lines when necessary to achieve meaningful results. He has been a strong advocate for fiscal responsibility, economic growth, and responsible public lands management, all with the goal of improving the lives of his constituents in Utah's 3rd congressional district.During his service, he’s had the opportunity to witness both compelling and repelling changes and choices made inside the United States government. Enjoy this episode as Clint and John dive deeper into the view of congress, dramatic changes of political parties, the impact of personal responsibility, and much more.

On this sugary episode of the Silicon Slopes Podcast, Clint meets with Bennett Maxwell who is the Founder of Dirty Dough, a massive cookie chain. He discusses how to be a resilient business owner in the face of controversy and how his franchise is thriving through the Utah cookie wars. From this experience, he's been able to open locations across America and grow his business greatly across the States. He discusses survival and not backing down during difficulty - a fundamental skill of every great entrepreneur and business owner. Tune in to learn more about being a franchise owner, the future of Dirty Dough, and deliciously dirty details of the infamous cookie wars that rocked the nation.