Welcome To Founder’s Talks
Founder’s Talks are one-on-one fireside chats with thought leaders, academics, top executives, investors, and founders. During these one-hour discussions, our guest give their unique insights on impact, social issues, scaling, gaining customers, raising capital, building a brand, and much more.
From Small Town To The Largest Black Franchisee Owner In America
During this Founder's Talk, Arthur Lee, CEO at Lee Wesley Group, talks about his journey from a small town in South Carolina to becoming the largest black franchisee in America.
Leveraging Circumstances, Opportunities, & Priorities
During this Founder's Talk, Sergie Albino, Co-Founder and CEO at ecoSPEARS, talks about understanding and leveraging the circumstances, opportunities, and priorities around you to your advantage.
Transitioning Your Business To A Healthier Place
During this Founder's Talk, Chauniqua Major, Chief Snack Officer at Major's Project's Pop, talks about the importance of developing healthy prospectives, processes, and practices to move an early-stage company to the next level.
Sell What You Have
During this Founder's Talk, Joel Cahill, Managing Partner at Calano Ventures, talks about the investment thesis of Calano Ventures and what early-stage founders should prioritize.
Find Your Way While Being Scrappy
During this Founder's Talk, Jordan Walker, Co-founder at Yac talks about the evolution of Yac, and the role that scrappiness and focus played in product development and raising over $11 Million in funding.
Zero To Four Houndred
During this Founder's Talk, Paul Ellis, CEO at Foundry Commercial, talks about how he grew a startup commercial real estate firm from zero to four hundred employees by embracing change and going two steps beyond the answer.
From WheelChair To Iron Man
During this Founder's Talk, Albert Manero, President of Limbitless Solutions, talks about how determination, purpose, and feedback fueled his company's journey from developing sensor-powered wheelchairs to Iron Man-inspired prosthetics for children.
Elevating Your Venture’s Personality, Promise, And Position.
During this Founder's Talk, Stephanie (Shinn) Darden Bennett, President at PRISMATIC, talks about the 3 P's of branding (personality, promise, and position) and how to elevate and filter the venture through them.
Improving Profits, Social Outcomes, And Quality Of Life Through Conscious Decisions.
During this Founder's Talk, Lauren Sears, Partner at Imaginal Ventures, talks about how social entrepreneurs can make conscious decisions that improve profit, impact, and quality of life.
Transforming Learning And Failure Into ROI And Great Product.
During this Founder's Talk, Rajiv Menon, Founder at Informulate and Startup Ninja, talks about the value of developing low-cost and high-impact experiments that allow startup founders to maximize learning and build great products.
Building Great Product Through Team, Discipline, Emotions, And Feedback.
During this Founder's Talk, Health Hensley, CTO at PowerDMS, talks about the role of emotions in building great products and provides practical insight on how to balance them with a great team, discipline, and customer feedback.
Persevering Well Through The Trials Of Entrepreneurship.
During this Founder's Talk, John River, Rally Maker and CEO at 4 Rivers Smokehouse and 4Roots, talks intimately about his personal and professional trials and provides encouragement and practical wisdom on how entrepreneurs can endure and thrive through theirs.
A Good Journey Takes Time, Reflection And Great People.
During this Founder's Talk, Justin Johnson, Chief Creative Officer at Vertical, reflects on his winding entrepreneurial journey, the people who came alongside him and the wisdom learned along the way.
Building Brand Reputation Through Purpose.
During this Founder's Talk, Latria Graham, CEO & Founder of GLB, talks about how she helps professional sports teams, athletes and organizations better communicate their purpose and engage causes while improving their brand.
Improving Your Team And Customers’ Experience With Your Venture By Nurturing Positive Emotions.
During this Founder's Talk, Kimberly Kapes, CEO & Founder of Experience First Agency & Expressions Gift Co., talks about how company leaders can improve the experience of their staff and customers by nurturing positive emotions into every interaction.
Finding The Nirvana Between Business And Social Mission.
During this Founder's Talk, Rob Panepinto, CEO at Rally and Civic Entrepreneur, talks about why it is critical for social entrepreneurs to find the nirvana between their business model and social mission.
Why Proximity To The Problem Matters.
During this Founder's Talk, Scott Benson, Strategic Advisor at NewSchools Venture Fund, explains why entrepreneurs proximity to the problem matters and how demonstrating it is essential to receiving early-stage investment.
Good Home Cooking For Every Early-Stage Social Entrepreneur.
During this Founder's Talk, Ja Ja Wade, Owner at ACE Rebar and Construction, serves social entrepreneurs in the early stage of their journey a full course home cooked meal filled with sound, practical, nourishing wisdom and insight.
Manufacturing Your Own Magic.
During this Founder's Talk, Kunal Patel, CoFounder And CTO at BrandXR, talks about ways that startups can manufacture magic through awareness, analogies, and serendipity.
There’s No Need To Over Complicate Marketing.
During this Founder's Talk, Orrett Davis, Founder And CMO of Mighty Orbit, talks about how early-stage ventures should approach marketing and not over complicate it.
Setting The Stage, Execute Well, and Tell Your Story.
During this Founder's Talk, Niki Decker, Global Strategic Leader and former Sr. VP of Strategy for Tupperware Brands, talks about the importance of setting the stage, making friends, executing well, and telling your story for better business results.
Finding The Thread And Flowing Towards A Better Business And More Customer Joy.
During this Founder's Talk, Jeanette Johnson, Co-Founder of Wall Crawl, Creator of J's Everyday Fashion, and Author, talks about the importance of finding the thread and flowing down the river towards a better business and more customer joy.
Renewing Society And Your Venture By Knowing Thyself And Finding The Rhythms.
During this Founder's Talk, Tim Seneff, President of NCF - Orlando & Former CEO of CNL Capital Markets, talks about the importance of knowing yourself and finding rhythms and rest for the renewal of your venture and society.
From Madden Football To Startup Failure To Horse Racing King.
During this Founder's Talk, Ian Cummings, Sr. Director/GM at Glu Mobile, walks us through his journey from Madden Football to failed startup to mobile horse racing app king, and the lessons he learns along the way.
What You Don't Know Will Hurt You.
During this Founder's Talk, Rajiv Menon, Founder/CEO at Informulate and Startup Ninja, discusses how to use the lean startup principles to keep the unknowns from hurting you.
Maximize Your Business And Impact By Knowing Your Purpose.
During this Founder's Talk, Jennifer Felder-Smith, Director, Strategic Alliances & Partnerships (Global) at Tupperware Brands, discusses why it's important for early-stage entrepreneurs to understand their purpose and what steps they can take to build better products, achieve business sustainability, and deliver more impact.
Demonstrating Leadership, Potential, Understanding, and Impact to Attract Social Impact Investment.
During this Founder’s Talk, Nadine Mentor, Founder and President of Mentor Holdings and Investments Inc., gives insight into her investment approach and what she and other impact investors are looking for in a founder, team, and venture.
How To Acquire Customers Through A.R.T.
During this Founder’s Talk, Mike Felix, Co-founder and Partner at Guerrilla Launch, discusses how startups need to build sales pipelines that grab customer's Attention, establish their Relevance, and build Trust.
Customer Persona Development Workshop.
Creating a customer profile is a method of describing the individuals who comprise your target market and their needs. A customer profile can provide a clear picture of the type of person or business you are planning to serve. This information helps to drive your marketing strategy, promotional design, and sales process. During this session, Ben and Kyle walk through the customer persona template and talk about how to develop and use it to shapes your product and deliver maximum value.
What Commercial And Social Problem Are You Trying To Solve?
During this Founder’s Talk, Dr. Mary Conway Dato-on, Professor of International Business & Social Entrepreneurship at Crummer Graduate School of Business, Rollins College, discusses how early stage social ventures can go about understanding customer problems, and the importance of knowing that they can change.
Understanding Your Desired Impact And Navigating Your Venture Towards It.
During this Founder’s Talk, Shawn Seipler, Founder & CEO of Clean The World, discusses how internal realities, market needs, and world events helped shape and maximize his ventures impact.
Gaining An Advantage That Helps Your Social Venture Win.
During this Founder’s Talk, Roi Ewell, Chief Strategy Officer for Big Vision and former Vice President of Industry Affairs & Corporate Responsibility at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, discusses how early stage social ventures can create an unfair advantage through patience, planning, and vigilance.
Creating Products That Customers Want.
During this Founder’s Talk John Caron, former Chief Marketing Officer of Darden Restaurants and President of Olive Garden, talks about how being laser focused on understanding customer needs and staying close to them will help early stage social ventures develop and evolve products that people want to buy.
Finding And Articulating Your Unique Value Proposition.
During this Founder’s Talk, Kyle Christian Steele, Program Director of Rally, Pitchfest Director of the Future of Education Technology Conference, and Founder of Learn Jelly, talks about the journey he took to understand, shape, and articulate his UVP while developing his education service that helps K-5 educators improve their students' reading through storytelling, art, and coding.
Developing Channels That Scale, Convert, And Deliver Impact.
During this Founder’s Talk, Julia Rivard Dexter, Founder of Squiggle Park and Dreamscape, a global literacy platform providing universal access to learning through digital games designed with proven efficacy empowering players to unlock their potential through play, talks about her journey in identifying and developing customer channels that scale, convert, and deepen her social impact.
Shaping And Growing A Venture With Purpose.
During this Founder’s Ben Hoyer, COO of Rally and Founder of Downtown CREDO, talks about how he found his purpose and then used it to create, shape, and grow his social ventures.