The Unconventional Path: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Stories and Ideas.

Today we are excited to be joined by Jimmy Hickey. Jimmy is the founder of Findlay Hats, a company that makes and sells creative and really useful hats. This is a great story, about an innovative guy who added a cool twist to a commodity product and built an avidly loyal community around it. Check out Findlay Hats web page here: https://www.findlayhats.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. Mike and I would like to thank the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP for sponsoring this podcast episode. We are proud to partner with Phillips Lytle because of the entrepreneurial approach they take to legal matters and their long history of success with startup businesses. Please reach out to Phillips Lytle Partner Rich Honen at 518-618-1225 or rhonen@phillipslytle.com or check out their website at PhillipsLytle.com. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Today we are excited to be joined by Bryan Clayton. Bryan is the CEO and co-founder of GreenPal, which is an online marketplace that connects homeowners with local lawn care professionals. GreenPal has been called the "Uber for lawn care" by Entrepreneur magazine and has over 100,000 active users completing thousands of transactions per day. Before starting GreenPal Bryan Clayton founded Peachtree Inc. one of the largest landscaping companies in the state of Tennessee growing it to over $10 million a year in annual revenue. Check out GreenPal's web page here: https://www.yourgreenpal.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. Mike and I would like to thank the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP for sponsoring this podcast episode. We are proud to partner with Phillips Lytle because of the entrepreneurial approach they take to legal matters and their long history of success with startup businesses. Please reach out to Phillips Lytle Partner Rich Honen at 518-618-1225 or rhonen@phillipslytle.com or check out their website at PhillipsLytle.com. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Today we are joined by Mike DelPrete. Mike is a global real estate tech strategist, and a scholar-in-residence at the University of Colorado Boulder. He's a former tech entrepreneur and CEO. He founded and sold his 40-person tech startup firm, Agora Games, working on games such as Guitar Hero and Call of Duty. After Agora, Mike moved to New Zealand to work as a corporate strategist identifying investment opportunities at Trade Me -- New Zealand's largest marketplace and classifieds website. He is the author of a book, Adventures in Real Estate Tech, and several research papers. Check out Mike's web page here: https://www.mikedp.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

Today we are joined by Van Carlson. Van is the CEO of Strategic Risk Alternatives and helps entrepreneurs manage risk more effectively through self-insurance. He focuses on intangible assets, which traditional insurance companies often are not set up to effectively insure assets such as intellectual property, brand, etc. Check out Van's company here: https://strategicriskalternatives.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

Today we are joined by Larry Ludwig. Larry is founder and CEO of Ludwig Media Inc. and founder of Investor Junkie which he sold for $6MM several years ago. In this podcast, Larry shares his wisdom on digital marketing, SEO, and affiliate marketing. Check out Larry here: https://larryludwig.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. Mike and I would like to thank the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP for sponsoring this podcast episode. We are proud to partner with Phillips Lytle because of the entrepreneurial approach they take to legal matters and their long history of success with startup businesses. Please reach out to Phillips Lytle Partner Rich Honen at 518-618-1225 or rhonen@phillipslytle.com or check out their website at PhillipsLytle.com. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Today we are joined by Justin Goodbread. He started his first business, a landscaping business, at the age of 15 and operated it while he earned a degree in horticulture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. After several years, Justin sold his business for profit and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. Justin then earned a business degree and worked in a large wealth management firm for many years, but in 2009, Justin and a business partner ventured out on their own, opening Heritage Investors, a boutique-style wealth management and financial planning company. In 2016, Justin launched the Financially Simple enterprise - a financial blog, podcast. and video education portal - to make finances simple for small business owners. Through Financially Simple, Justin uses his skills to guide business owners through business sales, mergers, or buy-outs, ultimately preparing them for the next chapters in their Iives. Check out Financially Simple here: https://financiallysimple.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. Mike and I would like to thank the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP for sponsoring this podcast episode. We are proud to partner with Phillips Lytle because of the entrepreneurial approach they take to legal matters and their long history of success with startup businesses. Please reach out to Phillips Lytle Partner Rich Honen at 518-618-1225 or rhonen@phillipslytle.com or check out their website at PhillipsLytle.com. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Today we are joined by Darrin Jahnel, CEO of Jahnel Group. Darrin co-founded the company with his brother, Jason. Their company does software development for a wide range of clients. This fast-growing company is known for its unique culture and Darrin is known as a strong and engaging leader. This interview was recorded as part of the BizLab-Clarkson University Lunch Series. This is Darrin's 2nd time on the podcast. He was a guest back on EP-5 Check out Jahnel Group here: https://www.jahnelgroup.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. Mike and I would like to thank the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP for sponsoring this podcast episode. We are proud to partner with Phillips Lytle because of the entrepreneurial approach they take to legal matters and their long history of success with startup businesses. Please reach out to Phillips Lytle Partner Rich Honen at 518-618-1225 or rhonen@phillipslytle.com or check out their website at PhillipsLytle.com. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Today we are joined by Jake Jorgovan the founder and CEO of LeadCookie and Content Allies. Jake is another example of an entrepreneur who is seeking a balance between life and work. At Lead Cookie, helps B2B sales teams generate more leads through done-for-you Linkedin Prospecting. Jake build Lead Cookie from Zero to $33k MRR as a productized service in 6 months. At Content Allies, Jake helps turn consultants into thought leaders through content marketing. Prior to starting Lead Cookie, he ran business development for a video production agency and won the business of multiple Fortune 500 clients and A-List touring artists. Jake then launched Outbound Creative which was an outbound marketing company. Jake has a very uniques approach, as he does not have an office and he does not meet clients in person. Instead he works 100% remotely and travels all over the world. Learn more about Jake here: https://jake-jorgovan.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. Mike and I would like to thank the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP for sponsoring this podcast episode. We are proud to partner with Phillips Lytle because of the entrepreneurial approach they take to legal matters and their long history of success with startup businesses. Please reach out to Phillips Lytle Partner Rich Honen at 518-618-1225 or rhonen@phillipslytle.com or check out their website at PhillipsLytle.com. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

This is the edited audio of an online small business owners/leaders panel discussion that I participated in. We discussed how the COVID outbreak has impacted their businesses and the steps they have taken during these challenging times. We discussed a broad range of topics including communications, changing work patterns, leadership and increasing their outreach with their employees and into the community. The conversation was inspiring, comforting, informative, and contains many take-a-ways that other business leaders can draw upon. The individuals on the call are: * Jeff Buell of Redburn Development, which builds affordable housing in the NorthEast of the united states * Antonio Civitella of Transfinder, which makes school bus routing software for school districts, and owns the New York BizLab * David Dussault of P1 Industries, manufacturing power generation equipment * Heidi Knoblauch of Plumb Oyster Bar and works for Pioneer Bank. Payroll protection program -this is a financial relief program for small businesses introduced by the US Federal Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is designed to help small businesses continue to meet their payroll and other expenses as a way to limit economic damage to this important sector of the economy. Rich Honen a Partner at Phillips Lytle LLP. A regional law firm and the sponsor of this podcast. The discussion was moderated by Bela Musits and Rick D'Errico. Rick is the BizLab's managing director and Transfinder's director of public relations. We did this panel discussion online so the sound quality is variable. I also had to do some significant editing as we had several dropped calls and echos. You can watch the complete, unedited video of the panel on this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QMo8D4AW7I&list=PLOe3ywn73zkKL7Ft2jiYcknM1sttbWAua&index=7 Mike and I hope you enjoy this special episode. 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. Mike and I would like to thank the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP for sponsoring this podcast episode. We are proud to partner with Phillips Lytle because of the entrepreneurial approach they take to legal matters and their long history of success with startup businesses. Please reach out to Phillips Lytle Partner Rich Honen at 518-618-1225 or rhonen@phillipslytle.com or check out their website at PhillipsLytle.com. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike

Today we are joined by Tracey Bissett the founder and CEO of Bissett Financial Fitness. Tracey is on a mission to help entrepreneurs understand the financial health of their companies. With over 20 years of experience in the financial services business, she has developed great insight and understanding into the critical financial aspects of small to medium-size businesses. She provides a wide spectrum of education and consulting services to help entrepreneurs improve their financial fitness. She also has her own podcast, titled "Young Money with Tracy Bissett. Check out Bissett Financial Fitness here: https://www.bissettfinancialfitness.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. Mike and I would like to thank the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP for sponsoring this podcast episode. We are proud to partner with Phillips Lytle because of the entrepreneurial approach they take to legal matters and their long history of success with startup businesses. Please reach out to Phillips Lytle Partner Rich Honen at 518-618-1225 or rhonen@phillipslytle.com or check out their website at PhillipsLytle.com. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike