The Unconventional Path: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Stories and Ideas.

Keri O'brian is one of the first employees company founder and CEO, Nichole Snow hired. All companies need entrepreneurial thinking and action. Keri discusses how by teaching piano lessons, she learned how to be organized and keep track of finances. Her stint at Americorp taught her how to lead teams and get stuff done. Keri loves the culture at Darn Good Yarns because she has the opportunity to make a difference every day and does not need to ask permission to get stuff done. Keri also reflected on the value to putting yourself into challenging situations where you feel uncomfortable, as this is where learning and skill growth happens. Hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike Check out Keri and the rest of the Darn Good Yarns team here: Darn Good Yarns We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com We will answer your questions in a future episode.

Actor, entrepreneur, and improv veteran, Kat Koppett discusses blending improv techniques into leadership training, enhancing sales team listening skills, and embracing career transitions. She shares insights on applying improv in corporate settings and the importance of adapting to change for entrepreneurial success.

Tony Civitella started as an intern at Transfinder and is now CEO. Listen to his great life story starting at arriving in the United States with his parents from Italy, to serving as the translator to help his father buy a car, and growing and running an international business. Tony continues to grow Transfinder and recently started the NYBizLab, a business incubator in downtown Schenectady. He is a great story teller and offers several pearls of wisdom. This podcast is produced by Bizi Media, they can be found at www.bizimedia.co Transfinder Web Site https://www.transfinder.com/ NY BizLab Web Site http://www.nybizlab.net/ We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com We will answer your questions in a future episode. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Euwyn Poon was born in Singapore and moved to Canada as a young lad. His entrepreneurial tendencies and drive were evident at a young age. He entered Cornell University at the age of 15. After graduating with a degree in computer science, he went to Cornell Law School. It was during a sabbatical from Simpson Thacher, a top NYC law firm, he got the entrepreneurial bug and joined Y-Combinator. Euwyn is a great observer of the inefficiencies that surround us and turning them into business opportunities. He started Spin after a trip to China. Less than two years later, he sold it to Ford Motor Company. This podcast is produced by Bizi Media, they can be found at www.bizimedia.co Euwyn's Blogg https://blog.spin.pm/moving-forward-with-ford-49aa4ff056e Spin's LinkIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/ridespin/ Y Combinator https://www.ycombinator.com/ We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com We will answer your questions in a future episode. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Kate Cartini started her working life as a TV News producer and now is one of the three key executives at Chloe Capital, a seed-stage VC firm investing in women founded companies and COO at Upstate Venture Connect.. Throughout her career, Kate has witnessed the birth of the Charlotte, NC start-up ecosystem. From there it was onto Boston and now upstate NY as one of the key leaders in the entrepreneurial environment. Kate Cartini web site https://kathryncartini.com/ Upstate Venture Connect: https://uvc.org/ UNY 50 https://uvc.org/uny50/ Chloe Capital - investing in women entrepreneurs - pre-seed capital https://chloecapital.com/ Carvel Ice Cream https://www.carvel.com/ We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com We will answer your questions in a future episode. This podcast is produced by Bizi Media, they can be found at www.bizimedia.co Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Ever wonder how business founders with a great idea and very little operational and finance experience make a start-up work? They hire people like Drew Sheppard to help. Drew was trained as an engineer and quickly developed a broad range of managerial skills, including finance, operations, and HR. Drew's career has followed an incredibly interesting arc spanning from the industrial midwest to Silicon Valley and finally back to the midwest to be a part of Columbus, Ohio's vibrant start-up scene. Drew's vast range of experience has helped several companies over the past 30 years. His current role is VP of Operations and Finance at Dynamit, a web and mobile application company in Columbus. We think you will enjoy listening to Drew share his story and advice on how to move start-ups past the initial burst of energy into sustainable, value creating businesses. This podcast is produced by Bizi Media, they can be found at www.bizimedia.co Drew's LinkedIn Account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-sheppard-2a84293/ Drew's company, Dynamit: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dynamit/ We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com We will answer your questions in a future episode. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Devon Watson spent summers as a professional wakeboarder. Enjoying the sun and jumping wakes while getting a great tan. After Devon graduated from Clarkson University, he joined forces with his brother, and they started a business. He then got the "bug" to join the venture capital industry. His story on how he approached getting the attention of VC firms is a great lesson in getting yourself in the door. Now as Chief Marketing Officer of Diebold Nixdorf, a $4.5 Billion global financial technology business. This podcast is produced by Bizi Media, they can be found at www.bizimedia.co We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com We will answer your questions in a future episode. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Coworking spaces have become the big buzz in the business world. From new startups to remote workers needing a meeting place. Some of these coworking spaces are formal and structured, others are less formal and may be your local corner coffee shop. This is a great way for entrepreneurs to reduce start-up cost and remain very flexible. It's also a great way to build your network and learn from others. We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com We will answer your questions in a future episode. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike This podcast is produced by Bizi Media, they can be found at www.bizimedia.co

The business professor starts a restaurant. Really? Marc Compeau clearly has the entrepreneurial gene. Marc's entrepreneurial activities started in primary school, continued into college and he is currently the owner/founder of Jake's, a very successful restaurant. And no, he is not a chef. Like most successful entrepreneurs, he did not let a few major setbacks derail his drive and instead turned them into new adventures. Marc's consistent focus; Providing something valuable for the customer, he craves customer satisfaction. Marc is on the Faculty at Clarkson University where the teaches Entrepreneurship and Marketing. Mark and his wife Christine opened Jake's on the Water, five years ago. Jake's is a fine dining restaurant located in Hannawa Falls, New York, serving innovative American, locally sourced cuisine in a modern, beautiful waterside environment. Jake's on the water Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com We will answer your questions in a future episode. This podcast is produced by Bizi Media, they can be found at www.bizimedia.co

This week we respond to a listener email. Bob K. writes; Bela and Mike, Just wanted to say I enjoy the podcasts but the latest one with Mark Dzwonczyk was really special. I love the micro observer term and opportunity recognition Thank you for doing these. Mark mentioned a book Seth Godin's Purple Cow, do the two of you have books that you would suggest for your audience. Thanks again. Bob K. We put together a reading list and a list of podcasts that we think are relevant. We will also have podcast/book of the month club, where we will share our current favorite book or podcast. Thank you Bob K. for your suggestion. Mike's Favorite Books: Lean Startup by Eric Ries, 2014 https://amzn.to/2EjPb7j Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2011 https://amzn.to/2EjENN0 The Startup Owners Manual, by Blank & Dorf, 2014 https://amzn.to/2E2oP8K The above links are to our Amazon affiliates link. If you purchase a book via the above links, Mike and I get a few dollars to help pay for the cost of making this podcast. Mike's General Reading List (magazines, newspapers, and blogs) Fast Company http:/www.fastcompany.com MIT Technology Review http://www.technologyreview.com The Economist http://www.economist.com Strategy+Business http://strategy-business.com Harvard Business Review http://www.hbr.org MIT Sloan Management Review http://sloanreview.mit.edu Core77 http://www/core77.com Wired http://www.wired.com New York Times Business Section http://www.nytimes.com/business Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com TechCrunch http://www.techcrunch.com Futurism http://www.futurism.com VentureBeat http://www/venturebeat.com Bela's Favorite Podcasts Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444600/marketplace Revisionist History - by Malcolm Gladwell http://revisionisthistory.com/ How I built this - by Guy Raz https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built...