

Smart Business Revolution | Turn Relationships into Revenues | Networking | More Clients | Relationship Advice
John Corcoran
"Top 100 Small Business Podcasts 2014" -- Small Biz Trends. Former Clinton White House Writer John Corcoran shows you how to build relationships intelligently to get more clients, grow your income and advance your career. Discover how you can use win-win networking and intentional relationship-building with Influencers and VIPs, even if you "hate networking" or feel like you have "nothing to offer" people who are successful. Interviews with today's top entrepreneurs and authors such as Dan Pink, Michael Port, Gary Vaynerchuk, Marie Forleo and Guy Kawasaki, who reveal how they use relationships to grow their businesses and their incomes. Find out more at SmartBusinessRevolution.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 21, 2021 • 44min
Jason Spievak | [Top UCSB Entrepreneur Series] Growing Multiple Billion-Dollar Companies and Solving the Global Food Poverty
Jason Spievak is the Co-founder and Managing Partner at Entrada Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm on the California Central Coast. Entrada Ventures focuses on disruptive innovations that have the potential to reshape markets. Jason is also a longtime investor, board member, and an executive with Apeel Sciences, which is reinventing the multitrillion-dollar global fresh produce market. Prior to that, Jason was Co-founder and CEO of Invoca, a leading provider of marketing automation technology for inbound phone calls. They were backed by some big names in the venture capital community like Accel Partners, Upfront Ventures, and Salesforce. Before founding Invoca, Jason was CFO at CallWave, where he led the company's successful IPO in 2004. He has had an esteemed experience throughout Silicon Valley in various different venture capital firms. He also teaches a startup class in UCSB's Technology Management Program. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran interviews Jason Spievak, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Entrada Ventures, about Jason's strategies for growing multibillion-dollar businesses. They also talk about the story behind the founding of Apeel Sciences and how disruptive technologies impact venture capital funds.

May 17, 2021 • 17min
Dr. Jeremy Weisz | How to Niche Without Niching: Seasons vs. Series
Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25, a company that helps B2B business owners connect with their ideal prospects, referral partners, and strategic partners through a done-for-you podcast service. Dr. Weisz has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a senior producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders. Dr. Weisz has also been running his own podcast, Inspired Insider, since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs of companies such as P90X, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, the Orlando Magic, and many more through video interviews. Dr. Weisz also founded a nutritional supplement business and continues to run his own chiropractic and massage facility, Chiropractical Solutions & Massage. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran is joined by Dr. Jeremy Weisz, his Co-founder at Rise25, to talk about podcast series and seasons. Dr. Weisz explains why he advises clients to do series over seasons, shares his strategies for creating a valuable series, and explains how to niche without niching in a podcast. Stay tuned.

May 14, 2021 • 39min
John Greathouse | [Top UCSB Entrepreneur Series] From GoToMeeting to VC to Professor of Entrepreneurship
John Greathouse is a venture capitalist, deploying roughly $100 million into approximately 60 ventures. He has written for Forbes since 2008, as well as The Wall Street Journal Inc., Business Insider, Entrepreneur Magazine, and TechCrunch. He has held a number of senior executive positions with successful startups, where he spearheaded transactions and generated more than $350 million worth of shareholder value, including an IPO and a multi-hundred-million-dollar acquisition. John is also a CPA and holds an MBA from the Wharton School. Since 2007, he has been a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he teaches entrepreneurship. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran interviews John Greathouse, a venture capitalist, about his background in building tech companies and becoming a venture capitalist. John Greathouse also explains how he helps entrepreneurs evaluate their business ideas and build startups, and he talks about some of the successful companies and entrepreneurs he has worked with. Stay tuned.

May 10, 2021 • 39min
Andrei Cherny | From the White House to CEO of Disruptive Fintech Innovator Aspiration
Andrei Cherny is the Co-founder and CEO of Aspiration, a mission-driven company that offers financial solutions that put its customers, their conscience, and the planet first. He has spent nearly 20 years working to make the financial system more open and fair. His background includes working as an advisor to some of America's top companies, Co-founder and President of a media startup, financial fraud prosecutor, historian, White House aide, and Navy Reserve Officer. He has provided strategic counsel to all kinds of companies from Mega America to Intel. He also launched and grew Democracy Journal, one of the most widely read idea journals in America. Andrei Cherny, the Co-founder and CEO of Aspiration, is John Corcoran's guest in this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast where he talks about his background in politics and founding a mission-driven fintech company. Andrei also explains how he builds his team and his online community of customers, and how the rise of retail investors has impacted his business.

May 7, 2021 • 45min
Marc Randolph | From Co-Founder and First CEO of Netflix to Selling to Google for $2.6 Billion
Marc Randolph is the Co-founder and first CEO of Netflix. He is a seasoned entrepreneur and advisor, and he has founded over a half dozen successful startups and mentored scores of other early-stage entrepreneurs throughout his career. Since his retirement from Netflix in 2003, Marc has become a sought-after international speaker who shares his wisdom with entrepreneurs around the world. Marc is the author of the internationally best-selling book That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea. He is now the host of the That Will Never Work Podcast. In addition to Netflix, one of his more recent companies was Looker Data Sciences which was sold to Google in 2019 for $2.6 billion. Marc Randolph, the Co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, is John Corcoran's guest in this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast where he talks about his entrepreneurial journey and the founding of Netflix. He also shares his experience working with Reed Hastings, meeting Jeff Bezos during the early days of Netflix, and writing his book. Stay tuned.

May 3, 2021 • 27min
Mike Provance | Innovating in a Highly Regulated Industry
Mike Provance, PhD, is the CEO of 3x3, a marketing technology company focused on modernizing how brands and liquor retailers uniquely engage and sell to the independent channel consumer. He is a serial entrepreneur, author, and speaker on technology model innovation and new venture management. Mike is also a digital technology strategy expert. He has built groundbreaking technology businesses and launched award-winning digital properties for over 30 years in financial services, information services, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. He has even worked with the US Navy and US Special Operations Command. Prior to that, he ran early-stage investments in computing and medical technology for the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. He holds a PhD from George Washington University, an MBA from Penn State, and a BS in Management Science from MIT Sloan School of Management. Mike Provance, the CEO of 3x3, joins John Corcoran in this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast to talk about the impact technology has had on innovation in the wine and spirits industry. Mike talks about some of the challenges sellers in the wine industry face, how he helps retailers within the industry grow and find new customers, and his thoughts on working in a heavily regulated industry. Stay tuned.

Apr 30, 2021 • 26min
Dr. Jeremy Weisz | Podcast Production Companies: How Do You Choose Which is Right For You?
Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25, a company that helps B2B business owners connect with their ideal prospects, referral partners, and strategic partners through a done-for-you podcast service. Dr. Weisz has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a senior producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders. Dr. Weisz has also been running his own podcast, Inspired Insider, since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs of companies such as P90X, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, the Orlando Magic, and many more through video interviews. Dr. Weisz also founded a nutritional supplement business and continues to run his own chiropractic and massage facility, Chiropractical Solutions & Massage. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran is joined by Dr. Jeremy Weisz, his Co-founder at Rise25, to discuss some of the key questions new podcasters need to ask themselves before choosing which podcast production company to work with. They also compare doing everything in-house versus working with an individual person or agency, the importance of considering one's goals, and how Rise25 works with its clients.

Apr 26, 2021 • 23min
Evo Terra | Podcast Lessons from an Early Podcaster
Evo Terra is the CEO of Simpler Media Productions and a podcast strategist with two decades of experience in business operations. He launched his first podcast at 36 years old back in 2004 before podcasting became popular. He has been a host or co-host of over 20 different podcasts and has consulted for, edited, and advised over 700 podcasts — and counting. Evo is the co-author of Podcasting for Dummies and Expert Podcasting Practices For Dummies. He is also the host of Podcast Pontifications, a show that advances podcasting by examining the challenging — and often existential — questions surrounding the medium. Evo Terra, the CEO of Simpler Media Productions, is John Corcoran's guest in this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast where he discusses the lessons learned from podcasting since 2004. Evo explains how the podcast industry has evolved over the years, how it has impacted his life, and common mistakes new podcasters make.

Apr 23, 2021 • 19min
Vinnie Fisher | Scaling a Services-Based Business and Leadership Lessons
Vinnie Fisher is the Co-founder and CEO of Fully Accountable, an outsourced accounting and finance firm for small and medium-sized eCommerce and digitally-based businesses. Vinnie has 20 years of experience growing businesses to eight figures and beyond. After selling his consumer product company in 2014, he launched Fully Accountable to fill the need for modern accounting services in eCommerce and digital companies. A lawyer by trade, Vinnie practiced tax and business law for 10 years before leaving the field in 2007 to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. He studied at the Canisius College and earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Government. He also earned a law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran is joined by Vinnie Fisher, the Co-founder and CEO of Fully Accountable, to talk about the concept of “renting before buying” and how to scale a service-based business. Vinnie also explains how he develops leaders within his organization and the strategies he uses to build his company culture.

Apr 19, 2021 • 49min
Victor S. Nunnemaker | From a Traumatic Upbringing to Financial Freedom [Top UC Santa Barbara Entrepreneur Series]
Victor Nunnemaker is a serial entrepreneur, investor, mentor, coach and board member. Most recently, Victor became an apple farmer after he purchased an apple farm in California's wine country. Victor overcame an extremely traumatic childhood in poverty and an abusive home. However, in spite of this very difficult upbringing, he went on to become the only person in his family to get both a college and graduate degree. Victor ran track and worked three jobs to pay for college. He went on to take multiple companies public and worked as a CFO before founding his own companies, which he was able to scale up and sell. Victor loves spending time with his kids, learning how to graft trees, making cider, and tending to his apple farm in Northern California. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran interviews Victor Nunnemaker, a serial entrepreneur, about his story of rising above adversity to become a successful business owner. Victor talks about his experience studying in Germany and Switzerland, his love for education and investments, and why he went into entrepreneurship. Stay tuned.