The Genuinely Interested Podcast

Jacob Pechenik is the founder & CEO of Lettuce Grow, which he co-founded with his now ex-wife Zooey Deschanel. When they learned what goes into their food (additives, processed foods, toxic agricultural chemicals, and food miles), they decided to create a system that allows everyone to grow 20% of their own fresh food at home with no pesticides and 95% less water than traditional agriculture.  Jacob has had a very successful and somewhat unconventional career, as he has dabbled in a few different industries and successfully managed to build and sell companies. However, no company has given him the sense of purpose that he has as much as Lettuce Grow and the vision to change our current food system.  Jacob and I discussed:  Lettuce Grow's mission  Trading stocks at 14  Becoming a successful movie producer  How the whole process of Lettuce Grows works The future of growing food  The importance of locally sourced food What are weather derivatives? What is distributed farming? Being a CEO in his early 20's  And much more... Jacob Peckenik  My Take: I believe that as technology advances growing your own food will become easier, more affordable, and accessible. I think that over the next few decades we will see a massive change in the way our food is produced and how we choose what we consume. marrying agriculture & technology will allow us all to grow our own food at home, from salads to steaks to oat milk. Support The Podcast

Ted McDonald, or Barefoot Ted, as he is more well known as, is the founder of Luna Sandals and has for the last 20 years been an advocate for mastering simple techniques for optimal personal fitness. His philosophy is simple - self-experimentation is key. Find your own path. Share what you discover.  Many have come to know about Ted through the pages of Christopher McDougall's best-selling book "Born to Run" - which became a national bestseller! Ted has completely embodied the lifestyle he preaches and has enjoyed sharing his philosophy on life with audiences across the world. As "Barefoot Ted", he has played a major role in defining and popularizing the natural running movement, being an early adopter of the current trend. Ted and I discussed: The interesting correlation between surf culture and barefoot running The many advantages of barefoot running Western culture's growing interest in indigenous cultures Where you should run barefoot  Why so many sports emerged from California  What's Ted's secret to longevity & staying youthful? Why self-experimentation is crucial His survival experience in the Utah desert (!) And so much more... Barefoot Ted My Take: Try everything once! New ideas are abundant, some are good, some are bad, and some are world-changing. Don't be afraid to try new things that may seem out of the box. They may not work for you, but there's also a small chance they could be the best thing you've ever done. The only way to know - is if you try it.  Support The Podcast

Austin Cohen is the founder & CEO of Flexit. Flexit is an app that provides users with on-demand access to fitness brands around the country by offering both virtual personal training and entry into gyms. Before the pandemic started in 2020, FlexIt allowed users to pay by the minute to workout at gyms where they were not members, but in March 2020 they added new features and created the Virtual Personal Training platform - which has been a big hit with consumers.  Prior to launching Flexit, Austin was a founding member and partner of Wheels Up, a private aviation company. Austin and I discussed: The original idea behind Flexit and how that changed when COVID hit How they got their first customers  How they choose the best personal trainers  Future plans for Flexit His time with Wheels Up Expanding into international markets And so much more... Austin Cohen My Take: Adapt or die. If you are not implementing new technologies and innovations in your company your days of success are likely numbered. You have to keep an open mind and realize when it is time to pivot in order to keep afloat and win. Everything from the food we eat to the items we buy (and the type of workouts we are doing) is being changed by technology. You have to harness the power of change in order for you to offer the best experience or product to your end consumer.  Support The Podcast

Andrew Carter is the co-founder and CEO of Smallhold.  Andrew is a greenhouse and vertical farming specialist, he builds controlled environments and has been doing urban agriculture projects for years. Most of his background is in commercial greenhouse and vertical farm systems. together with his co-founder Adam DeMartino they built Smallhold.  Smallhold is on a mission to dramatically shorten the distance between you and fresh, gourmet mushrooms. They have a network of organic indoor farms where they ship fresh mushrooms. They also have installations in supermarkets and restaurants where you can pick fresh mushrooms on the spot. They want to shift the definition of locally grown foods to represent foods grown locally, not 500 miles away.  Andrew and I discussed:  What Smallhold means Could this model of growing food be the future of supermarkets  Health benefits of mushrooms  Their different revenue streams/verticals The recent surge in interest in mushrooms How they efficiently grow their mushrooms Why COVID was a massive spike in business for them The mechanics of indoor growing Who leads the world in mushroom growing  And So much more... Andrew Carter My Take: There is so much innovation that is occurring in the food space that it is hard to know what our food system will look like in 10 years. With so much focus on sustainability, organic products, less water usage, and reducing carbon emissions & plastic consumption, I am extremely interested and cautiously optimistic about what the future of food of our food is going to look like.  Support The Podcast

Erez Yoeli is a research scientist at MIT's Sloan School of Management where he directs the Applied Corporations Team. His research focuses on altruism: understanding how it works and how to promote it. He collaborates with governments, nonprofits, and companies to apply the lessons of this research towards addressing real-world challenges like increasing energy conservation, improving antibiotic adherence, reducing smoking in public places, and promoting philanthropy. Erez also has a popular Ted Talk about how to motivate people to do good for others. His new book Hidden Games: The Surprising Power of Game Theory to Explain Irrational Human Behavior with co-author Moshe Hoffman is a fun, powerfully insightful book, but also, an eye-opening argument for using game theory to explain all the irrational things we think, feel, and do. Erez and I discuss: A brief introduction to Game Theory His coauthor's remarkable story Why we crave "saviors" The importance of reputation in influencing good behavior How we determine what good behavior is How is game theory applicable in the political domain? His TED talk And so much more... Erez Yoeli My Take: We are not as rational as we think we are. It is important to take stock of this fact and question - why do we do certain things? Why do we act in ways that may go against our own self-interest? The path to knowledge is through questioning - and it is imperative to ask the most important question first - why? Support The Podcast

Jose Rosado is an online entrepreneur from the Dominican Republic who helps people achieve their full online potential. He teaches folks who want to learn how to make a full-time income online how to do precisely that. Jose has mastered the art of building a community and, most importantly, building trust with the people who follow him. In a few short years, he has amassed a massive following on Twitter by following a simple yet persistent pattern that has yielded incredible results. While some may think that creating online content is "easy" or "fast" the truth of the matter is - it's a process that makes time, energy, self-belief, and just a bit of luck. However, experts like Jose can speed up that process for people who are determined to succeed and are open to learning.  Jose and I discussed:  Why losing his job was a blessing in disguise  How he got over his language issue The importance of community building  Why being a lone wolf is a recipe for failure  Who were his inspirations early on How to find growth on Twitter Why "just being yourself" on social media is bad advice  Why collecting emails really matters The idea behind social proof The "overnight success" fallacy  And so much more... Jose Rosado My Take: Both from my own personal experience but also from talking to many creators and online entrepreneurs, I can say for a fact that making money online and creating a viable, lucrative business takes time and does not happen overnight. This should not deter you from starting but simply help you create a realistic framework for you to work with. This is why many people start & stop because they don't see the type of engagement they thought they would see. Creating realistic expectations allows you to treat this path the way it should be treated - as a marathon, not a sprint.  Support The Podcast Catchphrase eBook

Ron Schneidermann, CEO of AllTrails, talks about the origins of AllTrails and the importance of UGC. They discuss their mission to help people explore the outdoors and the boom of their success during COVID. They also touch on the importance of inclusivity in the outdoors, hitting their 1 million subscribers goal, and the role of culture in the company.

Michael is the Co-founder and CEO of Oros Apparel and has also been featured on the Forbes 30Under30. Oros is a performance outerwear company that uses the same stuff NASA uses to insulate spacecraft - and transformed it into max-warmth, zero-bulk apparel. While backpacking across Europe, Michael decided to climb one of the tallest mountains in the Swiss Alps,  but he looked like the Michelin Man (tons of bulk and layers of outerwear). He wanted to figure out a way to cut the bulk but keep the warmth, and that was the initial spark that started his quest for better insulation.  While in college, he received a scholarship created by the Mercury 7 Astronauts — The Astronaut Scholarship. Through that scholarship, he learned about aerogel — this material NASA used to insulate things in space - and the rest is history.  Michael and I discussed: What is Solarcore What is Aerogel What has been his biggest challenge as far as consumer education  The advantage of being a young entrepreneur  Who their key demographic is and why  The capability of their technology  Early-stage growth strategies Opening a physical retail location The importance of NASA The early history of the company And much more... Michael Markesbery  My Take: Taking something that has worked for many years or even decades and reimagining it, is the work of dreamers, sometimes visionaries. Without visionaries, we would not have many of the advancements we so frequently enjoy and so easily take for granted.  Support The Podcast Catchphrase eBook

Mark Achler is a Managing Director of MATH Venture Partners. Prior to MATH, Mark was the Senior Vice President of New Business, Strategy, and Innovation for Redbox. He is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded four companies as well as being a partner in an earlier venture fund called Kettle Partners. Additionally, Mark teaches Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business and is a frequent speaker, resource, and ardent champion for the entrepreneurial community. Mark recently released the book - Exit Right: How to Sell Your Startup, Maximize Your Return and Build Your Legacy, in which he and his co-author Mert Iseri interviewed dozens of M&A leaders at the biggest  Silicon Valley acquirers—as well as attorneys, bankers, and founders who have been through the trenches. Mark and I discussed: How he met his coauthor Examples of great exits Why they decided to write the book  Is raising capital harder than exiting? How to prepare for a job interview  Why Investing in relationships is crucial Common mistakes first time entrepreneurs make And so much more... Mark Achler Exit Right: How to Sell Your Startup, Maximize Your Return and Build Your Legacy My Take: It's important to focus on long-term strategy and start learning early on what a good exit looks like - if you are interested in starting a company and raising $. It's a less-discussed aspect of startups, perhaps because many don't make it that far but it's a crucial aspect of building and selling a company.  Support The Podcast Catchphrase eBook

Duncan French is the Vice President of Performance at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Performance Institute. Duncan gained his PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of Connecticut and has over 20 of experience as a high-performance specialist. He has worked with many athletes who have competed in the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Commonwealth Games.  Back in England, among other things, he was the head of Strength and Conditioning at Newcastle United Football Club in the Barclays English Premier League. His role in the PI is a unique one where he gets to work with the majority of the UFC roster and help them with everything from diet, recovery, strength & conditioning, weight cuts & more.  Duncan and I discussed: Weight cuts Team sports vs individual sports Why fighters are such unique athletes Long term effects of fighting The business model of the PI What is the PI's main function And much more... Duncan French IG Duncan French Twitter My Take: Fighters are special athletes, not only physically but mentally. Knowing you are going into battle against another fine-tuned killer and that the result of the fight, win or lose is all on you, is a sobering reality. Helping fighters achieve their best performance through precise data behind the scenes deserves the recognition that perhaps is sometimes less talked about.  Support The Podcast Catchphrase eBook