The Thoughtful Entrepreneur

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the President and CEO of Capitalogix, Howard Getson.Capitalogix is an artificial intelligence or data science company that is also known for its hedge fund that is run by autonomous AI. AI is becoming more intelligent every day, it used to be proficient in things that only had definitive results or guidelines, such as chess. Now, AI is able to read things such as mammogram scans better than humans based on hundreds of thousands of images it has seen because it does not have the same functions and distractions as humans do. Automation and machines have been taking on the biggest constraints of consumers for many years, such as a machine reaping and sowing, so a farmer does not have to do it by hand or a GPS telling someone where to go so they do not get lost or have to use a map. Howard explains AI is useful in many standard practices because it allows for things to get done and decisions to get made, without distractions or stressors getting involved such as emotions. AI also has the application of recognizing opportunities anytime which humans cannot do if they are focused on different things at different times. Howard explains the hedge fund is more like a joint venture with financial partners to create financial products for them that also has a purpose. To learn more about Capitalogix you can go to the website and click learn more, sign up for the newsletter, or text AI to 972-992-1100 for an AI model pdf. Key Points from the Episode:What Capitalogix does Artificial Intelligence and its applicationsEngagement with Capitalogix About Capitalogix:Their MissionThey are focused on purposeful innovation and committed to being dynamic and adaptive as the world around us changes. This creates a lasting legacy for their clients and the wealth that matters.Their PhilosophyThings work until they do not. To keep your edge today, you have to continuously find new ones. They are unrelentingly focused on the long-term from an investment and a business perspective. They believe the highest probability of generating value comes from creating our own future and staying on the apex of the innovation curve.Their Core ValuesCreate BreakthroughsThe engine for their progress and one of their major differentiators is their refusal to rest on their laurels. They are constantly raising the standard in every aspect of their business. What they want is often beyond their current capabilities – and they are comfortable being uncomfortable as they strive to reach new pinnacles.Constant Unrelenting ProgressThe world is constantly changing. Instead of waiting for the world to make them obsolete, they strive to stay ahead. They see a bigger picture and then find a way to build it. There is always a best next step – and they are going to find it.Veritas et FidelitasHonesty and loyalty must come first in business. They are honest with themselves, with each other, and with their clients. They are good corporate citizens and strive to do good.Learn and GrowTo grow the company, you first have to grow your people. Their culture is one of meritocracy, in which accountability, responsibility, and performance are minimum standards. They enable growth and learning wherever and whenever possible. Want to learn more? Check out the Capitalogix website at https://capitalogix.com/Check out Capitalogix on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/capitalogix/Check out Howard Getson on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/hgetson/Check out Howard Getson on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hgetsonCheck out Howard Getson on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/hgetson/Check out Howard Getson on Twitter at https://twitter.com/hgetsonDon’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:️  We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here. 

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder and CEO of Bottomless Branding, Ben Marcoux.Ben explains bottomless branding as a contrarian approach to branding by connecting to people and making relationships. Building and maintaining relationships within the business sector can not only help with the existing clients but can also bring in new clients through the way of referrals. Ben states that he makes this happen by being a bright spot in people's day by making them smile and laugh, as well as being good at the work he does. Fame work is an idea that Ben has been working on and codifying his entire life but mostly for the past five years. Ben explains that there are four main problems for service professionals that include mindset, lead gen, positioning, and sales. If an individual's mindset is not right, it could lead them to self-sabotage their business even in the most subtle ways. The four letters in fame coincide with each problem service professionals face. The F is for a foundation to solve mindset issues. The A is for an attentive audience to solve lead gen problems. The M is for money-making signature systems to solve positioning issues. The E is for emotional enrollment to fix any sales problems. Ben explains that the best way that he deals with lead gen is by creating deep connections with a few individuals and from there he is introduced to more and more people. He explains that he has also done lead gen in an approach of messaging which has not yielded good results in regard to stats for the business or leads generated. Trying to obtain leads in this way is not good for a business and can also sour relationships with present or potential clients, leaving an individual worse off from where they started. Key Points from the Episode:What Ben defines bottomless branding asFAME-WORKLead genAbout Ben Marcoux:Hi, my name’s Ben, and I’m an ad-aholic. I’m a jazz saxophone player turned freelance media buyer, copywriter, and strategist. I officially hung my shingle in 2015. And since then I’ve spent thousands of hours studying history’s (and today’s) most lucrative ads. My copywriting grossed multiple 7 or 8 figures of revenue (who really knows). And I’ve profitably managed $10,000,000+ of ad spend for my own businesses and for clients, generating over 250,000 leads and hundreds of millions of dollars in sales across many verticals. My “day job” is making business owners big bucks by creating simple scalable advertising systems, writing direct response sales copy, driving targeted traffic to high-integrity offers, and using data, analytics, and relentless follow-up to maximize the ROI of these funnels. Now I help other B2B experts effortlessly close premium clients by using “The FAME-WORK” to package their expertise into a Money Making Signature System and position themselves as the go-to authority in their market. Want to learn more? Check out the Bottomless Branding website at https://bottomlessbranding.com/Check out Bottomless Branding on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/bottomless-branding/Check out Ben Marcoux on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-marcoux/Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:️  We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the founder of Blueprint CFO, Jim Downes.Blueprint CFO is an accounting firm. They focus on future based accounting that will allow their clients to make better decisions based on information typically left out by normal accounting firms. They take the financial data and make a plan to help their clients better approach their business ventures. Jim explains that cash is the end goal but things like bills, high inventory, and overtime expenditures are important to focus on as they can drive how cash flow ends up in a specific way. Jim shares that running a business is similar to flying an airplane, without proper instrumentation, people may be less apt to go onto that airplane. The analogy works with running a business, as data is needed to tell business owners what are successful practices or not. Having a successful business is something to be celebrated as many businesses struggle to make it through the first year. However, relying on gut instinct for the accounting aspect can be a hindrance as the data can help further the growth of a business in crucial ways. Jim shares that his engagement with businesses includes strategic planning. They use practices such as charts and graphs to better illustrate the client's financial trends, rather than using only balance sheets or income statements. Strategic planning allows for goals to be set, as well as the flexibility to revisit those goals and adjust them where it is needed to better the financial future of a business. Jim shares that growth potential is a key component among those that Blueprint CFO works with. Jim shares that he started as a CPA and a personal experience led him to venture outward from the typical job responsibilities of a CPA. Through his time of learning, he earned the entrepreneur of the year award in Michigan in 2001. Jim explains that business owners should focus more on a profitability roadmap rather than a revenue roadmap. This can show where money is going and how to instill better financial practices, in contrast to only focusing on the revenue that is brought in each month. Blueprint CFO provides case studies on past clients to provide evidence for their accounting work. Prospective clients can go to the Blueprint CFO website to find these case studies alongside information on how to contact them about a possible partnership. Want to learn more? Check out the Blueprint CFO website at https://blueprintcfo.com/.Check out Blueprint CFO on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/blueprintcfo/.Check out Jim Downes on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/6criticalfunctions/.Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass. 

1216 - Leading A Life of Joy with Amy Joy Coaching's Amy Joy

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the CEO and president of Shift/Co and Share On Purpose, Terri Maxwell.Share On Purpose is a business that helps create and or invest in companies that are making a noticeable impact in the world. Terri explains that she wanted to do more than simply grow businesses. There is an impact to be made on the world through business and she is exploring how to do so with Share On Purpose. Realizing this after an epiphany, Terri decided that focusing on purposeful companies was more important than making money through companies that do not have the goal of bettering the world with their products. Times have changed in regard to how consumers view businesses and their practices. In the past, the impact a company had on the world was an afterthought for consumers. However, millennials and Gen Z are becoming more aware of the need for businesses to create a positive impact on the world. This means for a company to reach this audience, they must have a purpose within their company to better the world. Terri explains that the world is changing from a profit-based focus to a global improvement focus. Employees are also wanting a change from their normal jobs to one that gives them purpose. Terri speaks about giving employees this purpose and it comes back around in the form of good retention. Shift/Co uses cultivation through ideas as a way to accelerate business ventures that make the world better. Shift/Co was created when Terri had a realization brought on by positive feedback by clients about her conscious business growth platform. Terri speaks about how community is extremely valuable and important at Shift/Co. Through providing free events, it can help prospective members become comfortable around the people they could be working with in the future. Shift/Co does not measure success based on company revenue. They base success on the percentage of clients that have doubled or tripled their revenue in a span of one to two years. Terri explains that the conscious business growth platform is included in the membership as well as it being tailored personally to each specific client. The coaching provided by Shift/Co consists of a pathway coach and a phase coach. With no long term commitment, Shift/Co maintains a 95.2% monthly retention rate. Terri explains that once a geologically specific market reaches 100 members, the members can choose a nonprofit to do work for and Shift/Co will match what they do. Want to learn more? Check out the Shift/Co website at https://shiftco.global/.Check out the Share On Purpose website at https://shareonpurpose.com/.Check out Shift/Co on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/shift-co-org/.Check out Share On Purpose on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/share-on-purpose/.Check out Terri Maxwell on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrifmaxwell/.Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass. 

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the President of Rapport International, Wendy Pease.Rapport International translates with high quality between languages and they cover everything from start to finish for the clients they work with, including all translatable assets. Rapport International was founded over 30 years ago, and 17 years ago, Wendy helped to develop the systems that have kept their business at the forefront of this industry. Wendy and her team help businesses grow and avoid liability, especially with bad translation services. Rapport International takes pride in the quality of services they provide. Everything from accuracy to SEO is taken into account when they work with clients to translate their content. Wendy shares that many translation companies make the mistake of using machine translation that’s only edited and tweaked later by human efforts. The biggest problem with this is that machines don’t understand the human elements and nuances of a language – which makes for clunky translation. Wendy believes that machines will never take over high-quality translation needs. Anything that needs exact precision of communication or legal considerations can’t afford the liability of a poor translation. Beyond that, new words are added to languages all the time. Getting your meaning across with absolute clarity means needing a professional translator. Some words don’t even have direct translations into different languages – again, machine translations can’t keep up. If you’re going to need translations for your business, don’t make the mistake of relying on machine translation software. Josh and Wendy explore how attentive marketers are in their native language – and if you need translations, you need to put in the extra investment in order to achieve that same clarity of messaging, no matter what language demographic you need to target. According to Rapport Translations’ website, you’re not just selecting a language when you translate your marketing and business materials, you're connecting with people. As Wendy stressed, you need to do it through clear communications. Connecting with your audience on an emotional level requires an intimate and nuanced form of messaging. Rapport Translations’ proven process of people-focused translations helps you find the best solution for your multilingual business communications strategies. Their work can connect you with the people you need to communicate with, locally or globally, no matter the language.Want to learn more? Check out Rapport International’s website at https://www.rapporttranslations.com/. Want to contact someone from the Rapport Translations team? Contact them at https://www.rapporttranslations.com/contact-us. Check out Rapport International on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/rapport-international-sudbury-ma/. Check out Wendy’s book, The Language of Global Marketing: Translate Your Domestic Strategies into International Sales and Profits on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Language-Global-Marketing-Strategies-International/dp/1736561405. Check out Wendy Pease on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass. 

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder and CEO of Innovation Discovery, Carlo Rivis. Innovation Discovery is a strategy think tank that works with two pillars. They help founders become the best versions of themselves through skills and attitude/mindset work, and they help to innovate technology roadmaps to bring new tech to the market. If you don’t innovate and future proof today, you won’t make it in the next few years, Carlo shares. Josh and Carol explore the fact that there’s a serious amount of misinformation in the tech space today. It’s harder now than ever to even research tech solutions, especially as an entrepreneur. Founders are having to sort through dozens of tech options and generally don’t end up happy with the results. This is why there is a need for a better vertical search engines that can accurately research these tools. Innovation Discovery offers a database of these tools and tech options to take the pain and trial and error out of finding tech suites for your company. Carlo and his team take the time to research exactly what their client is looking for, with the background understanding to get the most accurate and specific tools required for business growth. Instead of using keywords, Innovation Discovery encourages its clients to write out exactly what they need so that they can find the absolute best tech solutions and tools out there. Innovation Discovery’s tools work whether you’re a high-performance, advanced company with 1,000 or more employees, or if you’re a start-up looking to get a competitive edge through targeting excellent tech solutions. If you’re interested in Carlo’s work at Innovation Discovery, check out their website and sign up free to try out their search tool. It will take 24 hours for them to get back to you with results, but access to the user interface is granted instantly.According to their website, Innovation Discovery is a unique boutique with the aim to boost and diffuse the most advanced technologies and design new disruptive innovations. The company is composed of a team of consultants who develop strategies for international markets, manage teams in different countries, and develop opportunities for innovative ideas. Innovation Discovery wants to provide users with the opportunity to discover how innovations can be incorporated into users' daily lives. The company’s mission is to connect the world’s innovations to make them more diffused and successful. When users join Innovation Discovery, they gain access to innovations, technologies, innovative talents, dealers, installers, consultants, joint venture partners, testers, incredible skills, updates, and insights.Want to learn more? Check out Innovation Discovery’s website at https://innovation-discovery.com/. Check out Innovation Discovery at https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovationdiscovery/. Check out Carlo Rivis on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlorivis/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Ericka James. Ericka James helps her clients get clear about what they were set out to do, and then she helps them build extraordinary things. She does this through her speaking and training business, The Convergence Center, through her women’s business network called The Alliance, and through hosting her show. Ericka began as a keynote speaker and in corporate work and training. She shares that while she loved being on stage and inspiring others, she also had a passion and skill for helping people access their greatness and manifest. Twenty-one years ago, Ericka realize she had a passion for professional coaching. She was a single mother and needed to figure out a way to bring the information online. She has built online courses and training options ever since. Now, she builds community and pours herself into her members and the groups she has built. Ericka explains that she starts where other coaches finish. First, she helps her clients figure out what’s in their head, heart, and their body. By the time people find Ericka, they usually already have a vision they’ve been working on. Their work focuses on scaling and bolstering these visions, especially in business. Ericka also shares that while running a mentor group two years ago, she had a private session with someone discovering their vision. She hadn’t worked in quite some time on her business and her savings account was empty. Ericka shares that in a year and a half, this client was making 7-figures. In a short time, she went from broke to successful because she lived up to her own vision and potential. According to her website, The Ericka James Show: Life on Purpose is not just another talk show. It’s a process. It is an experience designed to lead you right into living your destiny and fulfilling your life’s purpose. This is a show for those who know they were created for more. If you believe that there is something more in you to share with the world, this show is for you! Along with sharing her gift of prophecy, Ericka brings her depth of wisdom to bring solutions and guidance to help viewers understand why they were created and how to manifest their purpose. In addition to Ericka, the show’s guests share their biggest lessons, mistakes, insights, advice, secrets, and internal shifts they had to make along the way to create, sustain and grow their success. The best life is a life lived on purpose and this show will help the audience know they can do it.Check out The Ericka James Show: Life on Purpose at https://watch.erickajamesshow.com/apps/3851/158710. Want to learn more? Check out Ericka James’s website at https://erickajamesshow.com/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass. 

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the CEO of Scale Architects, Scott Ritzheimer.Scale Architects helps entrepreneurial companies find the right coaches for where they are in their business growth. Beyond that, they train their coaches to understand how what stages they work best at. This means Scale Architects matchmakes their clients and coaches so that they have the best people providing the right help at the right time. Scale Architects have seven formal stages of business development that they follow. Stage one, naturally, is ‘early struggle.’ Every business, no matter how successful, started small and struggled in the beginning at times. As a business grows and overcomes these challenges, they move into the next stage: ‘ organic fun.’ Most entrepreneurs would agree that this stage of experimentation and scaling is exciting because it’s all about getting yourself out there. Delivering quality, again and again, leads into the next stage, ‘white water’ complexity. Suddenly, all the go-to levers you might have used in the past don’t work anymore. Now you have to strategize solutions that don’t affect your profitability. You can’t outsell your way through this complexity, Scott shares. You have to take a step back and look at how to actually address the issues behind that complexity; this comes with systems and processes. You can’t tackle a systemic problem from the front end. Mistakes and systemic failure happen where the decisions are made. It could be senior leadership or an executive team, but either way, your decision-making has to match your execution. The truth is, when you’re in this stage, even the most senior executive, needs the systems and processes just as much as anyone else (maybe even more.) But what do you do during the ‘white water’ stage? You have to reduce complexity and enjoy the ‘fun’ stage, or you can do the systemic work to scale and reach predictable success. Revenue goes up during this difficult stage, but systemic failure begins to occur chronically. You might lose valued clients or talent; there is no one event that triggers this stage, but many small failures of the system that build up as complexity grows. You have to bring others into the decision-making process during this stage. Scale Architects works with businesses at a team level to help get them through the white ‘white water’ stage of growth to help launch businesses into the final stage later on, ‘predictable success.’ Want to learn more? Check out Scale Architects’ website at https://www.scalearchitects.com/. Check out Scale Architects’ free book Predictable Success at https://www.scalearchitects.com/free-book/. Check out Scale Architects at https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalearchitects/. Check out Scott Ritzheimer on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-ritzheimer/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass. 

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the founder and General Partner of Mendoza Ventures, Senofer Mendoza.Mendoza Ventures is on a mission to help underrepresented founders ‘write the check.’ Mendoza Ventures is an artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and fintech venture capital firm. They’re based in Boston, MA but invest globally. Amazingly, 100% of their GP team are minority or female! Senofer shares that she and her partner were founders who scaled and exited from more than one successful venture. However, they also saw the cracks and faults within the venture capital space. Senofer shares that there seems to be a lack of transparency between the people writing the checks and the internal teams of the startups. Mendoza Ventures started because Senofer and her business partner wanted to build a firm around the act of supporting a small business. This required a new level of transparency at all levels of venture capital. By operating this way, they’ve created actional support for founders so that they always have the help they need, no matter the circumstances.Senofer shares that she loves her work and that she is passionate about dedicating her time to helping underrepresented entrepreneurs connect with investors who value transparency and effective communication. Mendoza Ventures seeks to be at the forefront of inclusivity in the venture capital space. Their company is designed to be inclusive and has been from the beginning. Statistics show that diverse teams often outperform, Senofer explains. Senofer and her team set out to raise 10 million dollars during their second round of funding, and they were oversubscribed by another 4 million dollars.  Much of this, she explains, is because they are at the forefront of diversity in venture capital. They are now being championed both on social media and by investors, who are happy to write the check.Josh and Senofer stress the importance of pursuing a diverse workplace within your company. The statistics don’t lie; it will hurt your performance if this isn’t part of your core principles as a business. Bias can feel like a risk, Senofer says. You have to intentionally create an environment where everyone on your team can be heard. If you can inspire a diverse group of people to pursue the same cause, you have a strong cultural foundation that will boost your business’s performance. You have to be committed to pushing your team to grow in the same direction with the same goals, no matter what walk of life they come from. Want to learn more? Check out Mendoza Ventures’ website at https://mendoza-ventures.com/. Check out Mendoza Ventures at https://www.linkedin.com/company/mendoza-ventures/. Check out Senofer Mendoza on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/senofermendoza/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.