Project Idealism

Episode 18: Regular Scheduled Momentum

November 05, 2014 06:16 - 47 minutes - 21.6 MB

Nate Kontny, the new CEO of Highrise, joins me to talk about the path he's been on that lead to him becoming head of the company recently spun out of Basecamp.

Episode 17: That moment is given to you by the lack of gravity

January 31, 2014 22:52 - 34 minutes - 15.7 MB

Late last year, I decided I wanted to talk with someone who had gone though what might be the most unique human experience possible, someone who has been into outer space. Fast forward to today where I was able to interview Astronaut Clayton Anderson, thanks to Source Sleuth, a service that finds experts for people telling stories. Clayton and I talked about what it felt like to ride a rocket ship into outer space, the 15 year path he took to get there (including 14 years worth of rejectio...

Episode 16: The delusion is that you need a hockey stick to succeed

January 22, 2014 16:49 - 38 minutes - 17.7 MB

In this episode Kevin and I talk about how they bootstrapped two products to profitability, the decision they made to not pursuing funding, how to compete with larger more well known products and the importance of marketing.

Episode 15 - People didn't leave radio, radio left the people

December 04, 2013 16:50

In the 15th episode of our podcast I sit down with Shawn Campbell, the Founder of CHIRP radio. We talk at length about how she started the radio station, obstacles she had to overcome, organizing over 200 volunteers everything else that's been required to build CHIRP.

Episode 14 - The fantasy dies when the marketing begins

November 15, 2013 22:00 - 35 minutes - 16.5 MB

Ryan Evans is the founder of Lift Marketing and Bite Size PR. Both companies help small businesses get marketing and in this episode we talk about building products, marketing them and why so many people put off marketing and sales for so long.

Episode 13 - Discussing the Jobs Act

August 30, 2012 17:46 - 1 hour - 28.2 MB

After an extended hiatus we return Interviewing William Carlton, a Seattle based attorney who specializes in startups. William and I discuss a variety of things about the new JOBS act, though much of our focus is on the crowd funding provisions. For an excellent resource on the JOBS act and a variety of other topics, check out Williams home on the internet at http://wac6.com.

Episode 12 - A Conversation with the AppendTo cofounders

June 21, 2011 17:38 - 46 minutes - 21.1 MB

In this episode I interview Jonathan Sharp and Mike Hostetler of appendTo, a JQuery development shop that was founded by the two in 2009. They took the time to talk about the growth of their organization, how they go about getting clients, being a small business that works with big clients, and the point at which they turn business down. We also talked quite a bit about pricing, managing teams that are geographically dispersed, and the benefits and challenges that come with working from ho...

Episode 11 - Projects, products and design

May 10, 2011 17:30 - 44 minutes - 20.4 MB

In this episode I'm joined by Ryan Singer, a designer at 37signals who kids that his "cocktail title" would be a product manager. Much of what I know about web design comes from listening to what Ryan has to say on the matter, and I really appreciate the time he spent with me. We talked about how teams work together, design, how work gets prioritized, and the kinds of things that influence their decisions - about both design and the process of getting their work done. The People and links ...

Episode 10 - Talking with a serial entrepreneur

April 13, 2011 17:21 - 38 minutes - 17.7 MB

In this latest episode I interviewed Lance Walley, who has been building businesses for over 20 years. Most recently Lance co-founded Chargify - a recurring billing system, and before that EngineYard - a Rails application hosting company. Lance spoke candidly with me about launching new ideas, scaling a business, failure, success, investing, and more.

Episode 09 - Prediction markets, business and blogging

March 22, 2011 17:08 - 46 minutes - 21.1 MB

I had the pleasure yesterday of Interviewing Nate Kontny, one of the founders of Inkling Markets, and co-creator of Tgethr and CityPosh, for my latest podcast episode. Nate is one of my favorite bloggers, super intelligent and a really nice guy to boot. I had a blast talking to him about starting projects, running a business, and the creative process that goes into building software and writing great blog posts.

Episode 08 - Who needs cupcakes!

January 27, 2011 17:59 - 38 minutes - 17.5 MB

Mari Luangrath of Foiled Cupcakes, a gourmet cupcake delivery company based in Chicago joins us for episode eight. Over the course of about a year, Mari has built a fun, profitable, growing business without a storefront - instead leveraging Twitter and Facebook to get the word out about her company.

Episode 07 - Interviewing a new Author

May 31, 2010 16:52

In this episode I interviewed Tracey Bianchi, author of Green Mama - The guilt free guide to saving the planet. I'm really grateful that Tracey joined me on the podcast. We had the opportunity to talk about the creative process involved with writing the book, the path she took to get the book published, and some of the main things she learned along the way.

Episode 06 - Learning to program

March 30, 2010 16:48 - 25 minutes - 11.8 MB

In my latest podcast I opted not to interview anyone, but instead talk about what I've learned so far from trying to learn Ruby on Rails. I talk a bit about feeling like I'm learning how to use a computer all over again, feeling somewhat more empowered, and how different people have been willing to help me with the project.

Episode 05 - Interviewing a Top Chef

February 20, 2010 17:40

Dale Levitski, Executive Chef of Sprout Restaurant in Chicago and Season 3 Top Chef runner-up on Bravo's wildly popular TV show joins me on the 5th episode of our podcast. We talked about the creative process involved with making a new dish, the challenges involved with running a restaurant, the process of training new chefs and a host of other things. I had a blast doing this interview with Dale and am really grateful that he took the time to sit down with me. Dale also writes and video b...

Episode 03 - Interviewing the Director of Human Rights Projects

January 11, 2010 17:34 - 47 minutes - 21.8 MB

Daniel Rothenberg is the Managing Director of International Projects for the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University's College of Law, and he was kind enough to join me for Project Idealism's second full podcast. Daniel oversees numerous Human Rights projects, and in this episode the primary topic of our discussion is The Iraq History Project. Taking a victim centered approach to documenting various Human Rights violations under Saddam Hussein’s regime, this project is...

Episode 02 - Interview with an Artist

December 21, 2009 23:00 - 24 minutes - 11.4 MB

Interview with Chicago Artist Harry Sidebotham

Episodes