The Unconventional Path: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Stories and Ideas.

This week's guest is Andrew Hutton He is the founder and CEO of Day One, which helps new entrepreneurs launch businesses. This business incubates entrepreneurs that are outside the tech world. He combines his experience in the tech world, venture capital, design, and innovation into providing valuable support for entrepreneurs that do not fit into typical VC funding or traditional incubator programs. We had a great conversation about helping small businesses grow and thrive. You can check out Day One here: Day One www.joindayone.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

This week we have a special episode of our podcast. To start off the 2021 New Year, Mike and I have looked over our 100+ episodes and pick the ones we think are the most interesting or thought-provoking. We also want to thank all of our super guests and you, our listeners. In the 2 plus years, we have been doing this podcast, we have had over 17,000 listens all around the world. From the United States to Sweden to Saudi Arabia to India to Uganda. It has been a load of fun and we have certainly garnered many insights from our guests. Bela: One of the episodes that stands out to me is EP-95 with Mike Saccocio. He is the executive director of the city mission in Schenectady, New York. The creativity, energy, and compassion that Mike has helped so many people. I was fascinated to learn how Mike took a negative, ie. having a homeless shelter in your neighborhood, and turned it into a positive with the downtown ambassador program. Just pure genius. A complete win-win. So check out EP-95 with Mike Saccocio Mike: My favorite topic has been organizational culture and two episodes that really helped me better understand entrepreneurial culture were David Dussault and Darrin Jahnel. David was our guest in EP-2 and is the CEO of P1 Industries, which is a precision mechanical component manufacturing company. And Darrin Jahnel was featured in both EP-5 and EP-84. Darrin is the Co-Founder of Jahnel Group, a software development company. Darrin was on the show twice so, that in itself says something. I was really impressed with how both David and Darrin focused on their company culture, It is reflected in everything they do, their management style, company functions, and meetings, hiring practices, and opportunities for employee growth. Many founders talk about culture, but very few do anything about it. We can all learn something from these two founders. Give them a listen on EP-2, 5, and 84. Bela: The next one I have is EP-27 with Euwyn Poon the founder of Spin. Spin partners with cities, college and corporate campuses, and businesses to provide dockless scooter-share services to get you where you need to go. I had several key take-a-ways from this episode. Euwyn spoke about how he looks at the VC's who invest in his company. He is hiring them! He looks at what the VC's bring to the table in addition to money. What connections do they have? What skills and experience do they have? How can they help him grow his business? Euwyn also discusses how he wanted to be at the epicenter of the start-up universe. He wanted to be where all the action is, the talent is, because he fletch this was the best environment for success. Mike: One thing I am really focusing on right now in my teaching is trying to influence issues of gender inequality in the startup world. The data are really concerning, so I have been actively trying to explore my own teaching, coaching, and mentoring to try and make sure opportunities are not being unintentionally blocked for women entrepreneurs. So, I really like EP-10 with Charlotte Hayden and EP-11 with Nicole Snow. You know Charlotte and I think there is a good story about inspiration, taking actionable steps, seeking mentors and advisors. For Nicole, I think it's all about building a customer community. Both are great stories that are worth listening to. This has been a fun episode to put together. What a great way to kick off what we hope is a better 2021 for all of us after all the challenges we faced in 2020! 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 week's guest is Jeroen Corthout. He co-founded Salesflare, a CRM company that competes with the likes of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. We have a great conversation about how a small company that makes mission-critical products can compete against much larger players. Jeroen discussed how they started small, understood the customer's critical needs, tested their concepts, and then got into sales mode. You can check out Sales Flare here: Salesflare 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 week's guest is Drew Cappabianca. Drew is the founder of The Hub, in Brant Lake NY, which is a combination bike shop and restaurant. It's located in a small town in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate NY, with lots of access to bike trails, some of which were developed by Drew as part of his vision to create a bike-centered ecosystem in his part of the Adirondacks. Live music is also a big part of his business model and we will talk about how he founded the Hub, but also how he responded to the challenges of the COVID pandemic. You can check out The Hub here: The Hub 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 week's guest is Maddie Brown. Maddie is a CPA and CEO of Smashing Numbers, which is an Accounting, Payroll, Tax, and Consulting firm in Bronson, Iowa. Maddie focuses on providing strategic financial guidance to small firms all across the United States. We had a great conversation about her early career working at a public sector job and how left the public sector and purchased an existing business that she expanded from a local firm to one with clients all across the United States. You can check out Smashing Numbers here: Smashing Numbers 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 week's guest is Eric Reed. Eric is founder and CEO of Reed5Group. His company works with client organizations to improve performance through a better understanding of organizational dynamics, leadership, and culture. We have a wonderful conversation on corporate culture and Key Performance Indicators. (KPIs) You can check out Reed5Group here: Reed5Group 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 week's guest is Tyler Ornstein. Tyler founded Tylers Coffee - the first acid-free coffee. Why acid-free coffee, well for certain individuals, it's the only type of coffee they can drink without causing serious gastrointestinal issues. And he did this as a 15-year-old! It's a really fascinating story and as you will hear, Tyler's story is very unique. You can check out Tyler here: https://tylerscoffees.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

This week's guest is Tony Guarnaccia. Tony has vast experience in working with companies is helping them best utilize their marketing dollars. We all know how complex this has gotten for companies. From search engine optimization to social medial to email campaigns. Tony helps us understand how do you break through all of the clutter. You can check out Tony here: https://tonyguarnaccia.com/ https://smallstepsgrowprofits.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

This week's guest is Lance Graulich. Lance founded and runs Ion Franchising. He helps individuals sort through the vast number of franchising options. We had a great conversation where Lance shared some great tips and ideas on franchising. This is a must-listen for those who have an interest in buying a franchise or franchising their current business. You can check out Ion Franchising here: https://www.ionfranchising.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

This week's guest is Dan Demsky. Dan, along with his two best friends, founded Unbound Merino. The company offers the highest quality merino wool clothing. Pack light, save money & enjoy the comfort of our merino wool t-shirts, socks & underwear. It's a great story on how to start a business, use crowdfunding to get launched and constantly build your brand and the connection with your customers. Dan's concept of manufacturing your own momentum is a wonderful take-a-way for all entrepreneurs. You can check out Unbound Merino here: https://unboundmerino.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