The Founder Hour

Chris Stang is the co-founder and CEO of The Infatuation, a restaurant recommendation website and messaging service based in New York. They are most known for publishing restaurant reviews and guides, and as creators of the hashtag #EEEEEATS. In 2018, the company acquired the Zagat rating company from Google.Chris grew up in Denver and found his way into the music industry after a stint in college radio, working in promotion and marketing for 12 years at Atlantic Records alongside massive acts such as Skrillex, Coldplay, Matchbox Twenty, Bruno Mars, and Santigold.In 2009, he had an idea to launch a food blog with his now partner, Andrew Steinthal. After some early growth, they both decided to leave their corporate jobs in the midst of their careers to dive into the world of startups. Since then, they’ve grown a loyal community in over 20 cities worldwide and raised millions of dollars in funding (most recently, a $30 million round from Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo).In this episode, Pat and Posh hung out with Chris during one of his trips to LA to learn about his upbringing, experience working in the music industry, the early days of launching The Infatuation, and how he’s been able to manage the company’s massive growth. Chris also shares why they acquired Zagat, the parallels between music and business, the lessons he’s learned as a founder and leader, the next wave of innovation in the food industry, and what’s coming next from The Infatuation and Zagat.Fun fact: The Infatuation was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2014 for writing a review of a fake restaurant called Underfinger!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

This episode was originally released on May 20th. To round out 2019, we asked our listeners who their 2 favorite episodes of the year were - and this was one of them! Hope you enjoy!----Chef Johnny Ray Zone is the founder and owner of Howlin’ Ray's, the famous restaurant known for bringing Nashville Hot Chicken to Los Angeles. Originally starting out as a food truck, Howlin’ has quickly become one of the hottest spots in town - literally. Ever since opening their doors in Chinatown in 2016, they’ve had 2+ hour lines every single day with hundreds of people just waiting to get their hands on a delicious hot chicken sandwich!In this episode, Pat and Posh hang with Chef Johnny to hear about his childhood growing up in LA, what inspired him to become a chef, and the various jobs he’s had up to the launch of Howlin’ Ray's. We also learn about what Nashville Hot Chicken REALLY is, the wild journey he’s had from being $80,000 in debt to growing one of the most popular food concepts ever, and what’s to come next!Whether or not you’re a foodie, make sure to tune in for an amazing story and conversation with Chef Johnny!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

This episode was originally released on July 14th. To round out 2019, we asked our listeners who their 2 favorite episodes of the year were - and this was one of them! Hope you enjoy!----Ashley Merrill is the founder and CEO of Lunya, a company who makes modern, luxury sleepwear for women. Before launching the company in 2014, Ashley was working at a venture capital firm as well as an online media company when she realized there was a gap in the sleepwear market for women.Born and raised in LA, Ashley attended UCLA for her bachelors and MBA as well as culinary school prior to working as a professional. She officially launched Lunya by accident while in business school literally as she was giving birth to her first child!In this episode, Pat & Posh sit down with Ashley to hear about her upbringing, the opportunity she sees for Lunya, the challenges she faced growing the company, their approach to marketing, and what the future looks like for the brand.We also chat about other exciting topics such as the Japanese concept of Ikigai and the impact it’s had on her life and the decisions she’s made, what it’s like being married to an entrepreneur (Marc Merrill, founder of Riot Games, who we had on episode 42!) while raising children and running a successful company of her own, and her advice for other entrepreneurs.Tune in for an awesome conversation with Ashley!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Jaclyn Johnson is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Create & Cultivate, an online community and conference for women looking to create and cultivate the career of their dreams. She’s also the host of the WorkParty podcast and the author of a book with the same name.Throughout her career, she’s worked with massive brands such as Microsoft, Urban Decay, L’Oréal Paris, Estée Lauder, and Uber for their social media and events.In this episode, Pat and Posh sit down with Jaclyn to hear about her upbringing, starting and selling her first business No Subject, how Create & Cultivate went from a side project to a massively successful venture, and the tough challenges she’s faced along the way.Jaclyn also sheds light on how she’s been able to navigate uncertainty as an entrepreneur, her advice for picking co-founders, female founders and women in business, and much more!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Peiman Raf is the co-founder and CEO of Madhappy, an optimistic lifestyle clothing brand focused on positivity and mental health.Peiman was born in Italy but moved to America at a young age. His parents are Iranian immigrants who ultimately brought their family to America for a better life and more opportunities for Peiman and his younger brother, Noah.Before launching Madhappy in 2017, Peiman worked as an investment banker in New York for several months after graduating college but quickly realized he wasn’t on a path that he wanted to go down. Over the holidays, while on a ski trip, he reconnected with a couple of friends from high school and discussed the idea of starting a clothing brand - they decided to call it Madhappy (a catchy name that their co-founder and friend, Mason, had come up with a few months prior).Since then, the four founders (Peiman, Noah, Mason, and their friend Josh), along with their growing team, have gone on to build an incredible community and a brand that stands for something. They’ve put on pop-ups, thrown massive parties, and sold millions of dollars worth of product. In May 2019, they raised a strategic round of capital from high-profile investors such as LVMH, Tommy Hilfiger, and the founders of Sweetgreen.In this episode, Pat and Posh hang with Peiman at Madhappy HQ to chat about the early days of starting the brand, the mistakes and lessons they’ve learned, and what’s to come for the growing label. They also discuss the topic of mental health and the personal connection to the founding team, how Peiman maintains his own mental sanity while building the next big clothing brand, and his advice to anyone who’s just starting out in the space.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

This week, we have another exciting segment of AFTER HOURS for all of you!Pat & Posh discuss PayPal’s massive $4 billion acquisition of Honey (we had the founder, Ryan Hudson, on the show last year!), the future of USC football amid its current state of operational chaos and how it ties with business in general, Posh’s crazy dream about Scooter Braun, and some thought-provoking questions submitted by listeners such as the distinction between purpose in life vs. purpose in your occupation as well as how to raise funding for a new business.They also dive into a deep question, inspired by The Deep (started by a previous guest on the show, Ashley Merrill) about what the biggest waste of human potential is.Tune in and send us your thoughts on some of these topics (email is hello@thefounderhour.com and our IG is @thefounderhour) - we’d love to hear from you!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Everette Taylor is a serial entrepreneur, marketing executive, and public speaker. His entrepreneurial journey began at the age of 19 when he started an event marketing technology company, EZ Events, which he successfully sold 2 years later.Since then, Everette has been a leader in the world of entrepreneurship and marketing, building several multi-million dollar brands.As CEO of ET Enterprises, Everette oversees a diverse portfolio of companies that include PopSocial, MilliSense, ArtX, Southside Fund, Hayver, and GrowthHackers.As a marketing executive, he helped lead both Qualaroo (acquired by Xenon Ventures) and Skurt (acquired by Fair) to successful acquisitions, oversaw growth for new mobile apps for Microsoft China, and led e-commerce company Sticker Mule to unprecedented growth as their youngest executive ever.He has been called a "marketing genius" by Forbes, a "marketing star" by Fortune Magazine, and "an innovator who's changing the consumer marketing game" by Black Enterprise. Most recently he was named one of the "100 Most Influential African-Americans" by The Root and Forbes 30 Under 30.In this episode, Pat and Posh sit down with Everette to learn about his upbringing in Richmond, VA, overcoming homelessness at a young age, getting his first marketing job at 14, and launching his own businesses after running marketing for various successful startups.He also shares his thoughts on today’s social media landscape, growing one’s personal brand, putting impact over profits, and what “wanting more” means to him.Tune in for a super genuine conversation with Everette as he uncovers some truths about being an entrepreneur and demystifies the crazy world of startups!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

This week, The Founder Hour is coming to you LIVE from Summit LA19, Summit’s flagship event and the world’s preeminent ideas festival, which went down on November 8-11 in DTLA’s historic Broadway Theatre District!Pat and Posh start off the episode by doing a quick recap of the weekend’s festivities followed by an insightful conversation with Summit co-founder, Elliott Bisnow, and legendary chef Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse and the farm-to-table movement in America.Summit, founded in 2008, is a global community of today’s brightest leaders. Through a series of invitation-only events, Summit fosters a global community of entrepreneurs, academics, athletes, artists, astronauts, authors, chefs, engineers, explorers, philanthropists, spiritual leaders, scientists, and beyond.Chez Panisse, founded in 1971 by Alice Waters, is a neighborhood restaurant in Berkeley, CA, famous for its organic, locally grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine. Alice, known as the founder of the farm-to-table and slow food movement in America, also started The Edible Schoolyard Project in 1995 which has led the national movement to transform the health and academic experience of students in America and advocated for a sustainable, delicious, free lunch for every student.In this episode, we cover everything from the vision behind Summit as well as Chez Panisse, building communities and widespread movements, fast food vs. slow food, and what can shape the next generation of food consumption.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Tony Gonzalez, Drew Bledsoe, Warren Moon, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, Patrick Mahomes. These are just a few of 300+ pro athletes that Leigh Steinberg, founder of Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, has represented throughout his 45-year career as a sports agent.Growing up in LA, Leigh attended UC Berkeley in the late 1960s during the historic Free Speech Movement era. While a dorm counselor, he met Steve Bartkowski, who was the starting quarterback for the UC Berkeley football team and would later become the #1 pick in the 1975 NFL Draft (Steve Wozniak, co-founder and creator of Apple, was also a student on his floor).Leigh, fresh out of law school with zero professional legal experience, was asked by Bartkowski to represent him and the rest is history. Leigh went on to negotiate the largest rookie contract in NFL history for Bartkowski and has successfully negotiated over $3 billion in contracts ever since. He was also the real-life inspiration behind the movie, Jerry Maguire, starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr. ("SHOW ME THE MONEY!").In this episode, Pat and Posh sit down with Leigh to hear the incredible story of how he pioneered the sports agent world and was able to represent such successful talent across several sports, his approach to finding the right athletes to represent, the massive successes as well as setbacks he’s faced throughout his life, and the accomplishments he’s most proud of.He also shares his thoughts on the parallels between sports and life, athletes as today’s biggest influencers, advice for those who are looking to have a successful career as a sports agent, and the nationwide debate around college athletes getting paid.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

For the first time ever on the show, we have a mother-daughter power duo, Jenefer and Melissa Palmer, founders of OSEA. OSEA is a line of high-quality, naturally sourced skincare products that are also vegan, gluten-free and biodegradable.Jenefer, the visionary behind the company, originally came up with the formulations for OSEA’s products in the 1980s while she was a spa director, but the discovery of seaweed as an active ingredient in skincare dates back to her grandparents. After realizing the massive benefits it had for her clients, she and her daughter Melissa decided to team up and officially launch the company in 1996.In this episode, Pat & Posh sat down with Jenefer and Melissa to learn about their origin story, the journey to building a successful skincare business, their approach to creating high-quality consumer products, and the lessons and challenges they’ve experienced along the way.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour