Starting It Up
35 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 43 ratingsStarting it Up is where dozens of the top startup founders, CEOs, and investors share their entrepreneurial stories. Hosted by Ben Burman, each episode uncovers actionable information that you can learn from and use on your own journey.
Whether you've been dreaming about turning that great idea into a reality, are currently hustling to build your company, or just love business and startups, this podcast is for you.
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Episodes
E35: Sam Madani | BOMANI Cold Buzz - How Three Best Friends Created an Alcohol Infused Cold Brew Brand
June 26, 2020 13:31 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBSam Madani is the Co-founder and CEO of BOMANI Cold Buzz. The son of Iranian immigrants, Sam, has always been driven and motivated by his parents’ struggles and successes. After he graduated from USC and moved to New York to work in investment banking, he realized there was a glaring gap in the market for a delicious drink that had both natural caffeine and low-carb alcohol. BOMANI was created by Sam alongside his two best friends, Kai and Amin. One of the key features of BOMANI is th...
E34: Clive Jackson | Transforming Private Aviation - How Victor is Bringing Sustainability to the World of Jet Travel
March 06, 2020 12:24 - 49 minutes - 45.4 MBClive Jackson is the Founder and CEO of Victor, one of the fastest growing jet charter companies in the world. Victor has access to more than 7,000 aircraft in 40,000 destinations and offices in London, NY and Santa Barbara. Clive is a serial entrepreneur who has been at the forefront of the digital revolution developing innovative web services for luxury brands, financial services, technology and media. Clive founded Global Beach, one of the UK’s leading digital agencies in 1993...
E33: Jordan Paris | Growth Mindset University - How to Build A Business Around Your Podcast
February 28, 2020 17:00 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBJordan Paris is the host of the Growth Mindset University Podcast, the author of Growth Mindset University and the newly released, The Podcast Playbook. Jordan’s podcast, Growth Mindset University, was ranked #3 in Apple’s Training category and #5 in the How-To category. In Education, one of Apple’s most competitive categories, the show was ranked #15. On the show, he interviews young up-and-comers and some of the most successful people on planet earth like James Altucher, Kevin Rudo...
E32: Cindy Kim & Matt Maroone | Succeeding as Co-CEOs - How Silver Mirror is Changing the Way We View Facial Skincare
December 17, 2019 12:47 - 59 minutes - 53.6 MBCindy Kim and Matt Maroone are the co-founders and co-CEOs of Silver Mirror, a facial bar that offers unique and customized facial treatments to help customers achieve their skincare goals. Silver Mirror currently has three locations: two in NYC, one in Washington, DC, and is set to grow significantly in 2020. Cindy and Matt met while they were both studying in business school at Wharton and each had an entrepreneurial background. Cindy had previously founded a Korean beauty startup, P...
E31: Artem Mashkov | Focusing on the Fundamentals - How to Find the Right Business to Start, Invest in, or Join
October 31, 2019 12:03 - 1 hour - 64.7 MBArtem Mashkov is a repeat founder and investor who currently spends the bulk of his time as the COO of SwagUp. Artem started his entrepreneurial journey in the cell phone world where he went from handing out flyers to becoming the Principal Franchise Owner of 12 Verizon locations across NYC. In addition, Artem is the founder of Intelligent Ventures, through which he invests and partners with other retail and hospitality businesses like Proper West, Manhattan Proper and Little Choc Apotheca...
E30: Dan & Ben Mardkha | Building a Business as Brothers - How Marke Is Reinventing the Wedding Band Experience
October 24, 2019 09:00 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBDaniel and Ben Mardkha are brothers and the Co-Founders of Marke. Marke makes it easy for men to buy a wedding band. They're reinventing the traditional purchasing experience by simplifying and guiding grooms through the process. With Marke's home try-on-kit, they’ve been referred to as the “Warby Parker” of wedding bands. Dan and Ben grew up in the jewelry business -- they come from a family of ringmakers with over 30 years of experience and used that knowledge and expertise to launch t...
E29: Farbood Nivi | Going With Your Gut - How Coinmine is Making it Possible to Mine Crypto From Anywhere
October 17, 2019 10:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBFarbood (Farb) Nivi is a serial entrepreneur and currently the Founder & CEO of Coinmine. Coinmine One is the first all-in-one crypto miner for everyone. Farb and his co-founder, Justin Lambert, have revolutionized the crypto mining industry by creating a sleek, quiet, and aesthetically pleasing device to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Zcash, Monero, and others. Farb has been an entrepreneur since his college days where he ran multiple computer solutions business and later started ...
E28: Adi Agashe | Bubble or Revolution - How to Become An Authority on Any Topic
August 27, 2019 09:00 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MBAditya (Adi) Agashe is a Product Manager at Microsoft and the best-selling author of Swipe to Unlock: The Primer on Technology and Business Strategy as well as his most recent book, Bubble or Revolution: The Present and Future of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies. Alongside his two close friends and fellow PMs, Neel Mehta and Parth Detroja, Adi creates content that provides a thorough, yet understandable introduction to complex topics like how to break into tech and what exactly blockchai...
E27: Alex Boyd | Growing Your Revenue - How to Create A Winning Lead Generation Strategy
August 13, 2019 13:14 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBAlex Boyd is the Founder & CEO of RevenueZen. RevenueZen helps companies build and execute B2B lead generation engines using a powerful, proven blend of inbound marketing, outbound sales, and social strategies. Alex launched his startup a little over two years ago after realizing that he wanted to build out and create a team and culture of his own. Since then he has been able to bootstrap and scale RevenueZen up to a seven-figure ARR organization, with 18 people on the team, and an industry-...
E26: Dan Demsky | Pack Less, Experience More - How Constant Traveling Inspired Three Friends to Create a New Kind of Clothing Company
August 07, 2019 03:25 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBDan Demsky is the Co-founder of Unbound Merino. Unbound Merino sources nature's ultimate performance fiber, Australian Merino wool, to create apparel that can be worn for weeks or even months, without ever needing to be washed. Dan started this company alongside his two best friends, with the goal of minimizing the burdens of travel, so that you can maximize the experience of your trip. Dan had previously founded a digital media agency, and another clothing business prior to Unbound, so we s...
E25: Garrett Mehrguth | Unlocking Discoverability - How Directive is Taking Search Marketing to the Next Level
July 31, 2019 02:27 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBGarrett Mehrguth is the Co-Founder and CEO of Directive. Directive is a global B2B search marketing agency specializing in ROI-driven campaigns for clients such as: Cisco, Allstate, Samsung, Tencent and more. Garrett went from completing $5 marketing gigs on Fiverr, to bootstrapping Directive to $10M+ in revenue and 60+ full-time team members, alongside his Co-Founder, Tanner Shaffer,. Their mission is to serve the biggest brands in the world. We dive into topics like what separates a great ...
E24: Kristen Tyrrell | The Future of Work - How Catch is Creating The Ultimate Benefits Platform
July 23, 2019 09:00 - 45 minutes - 42 MBKristen Tyrrell is the Founder & COO of Catch, a rapidly growing FinTech startup combining savings, investment, and insurance for those without access to employer benefits. The relationship between employers and employees is changing. Multiple jobs at once, side hustles, and full-time freelancing mean more and more people aren’t being served by existing models. This is where Catch comes into play. Catch was founded in 2017, participated in Y-Combinator’s Winter 2019 batch and has raised $8M+...
E23: JT McCormick | The American Dream - How The Son of a Pimp & an Orphan Went From Broke to CEO, Speaker & Author
June 26, 2019 03:36 - 55 minutes - 51 MBJT McCormick isn’t your typical startup CEO. He was born in the 1970s to an orphaned, impoverished mother and a drug-dealing, pimp father. JT struggled since day one. Abused and overlooked by society, he was expected to fall into the poverty trap and fail, but JT persevered. After barely finishing high school, JT took a job cleaning toilets but determined to change his life for the better. JT ended up getting a job at a software company, where in a few years he went from the lowest paid po...
E22: Jonathan Frederick | Heart Healthy Hustle - How to Tackle Life As a Young Professional
June 19, 2019 02:05 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBJonathan Frederick is the host of The Heart Healthy Hustle Show, a podcast with the mission to equip, inspire, and connect driven and proactive young professionals. Jonathan is a curious learner who loves learning something new from every single conversation he has and that love for dialogue has led him to build a top-rated podcast where he’s interviewed world-class performers like Ed Mylett, John Lee Dumas, Jeff Hoffman, and many others. We dive into what it’s like to host and run a busines...
E21: Rick Plaut | From Intrapreneur to Entrepreneur - How to Be Innovative in Any Environment
June 11, 2019 11:00 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBRick Plaut is an intrapreneur turned entrepreneur and startup advisor. He began and spent the bulk of his career in sales and marketing where he was always finding ways to improve how things were getting done - Rick didn’t know it at the time, but he was something called an Intrapreneur (an entrepreneur within an organization). Eventually, Rick discovered the startup ecosystem through an angel investing group and began making investments in startups and taking on mentorship and teaching role...
E20: Steve O’Dell | Tea Time - How Curiosity, Drive, and An Adventure to Japan Led to the Founding of Tenzo Tea
June 04, 2019 00:45 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBSteve O’Dell is the co-founder and CEO of LA-based, Tenzo Tea. Tenzo Tea is on a mission to create a better world by sharing the healthiest energy on the planet and donating one year of clean water for every bag purchased. Steve dabbled in entrepreneurial endeavors while in college, and after learning about the benefits of Matcha, knew that this could be a huge opportunity. He and his co-founder went on a karate-kid style trip to Japan where they found a tea master and learned how to create ...
E19: Tom Marchant | The Luxury Travel Experts - How Black Tomato Is Creating the Ultimate Travel Experience
May 28, 2019 01:00 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBTom Marchant is an entrepreneur known for launching some of the fastest growing brands in the luxury travel and lifestyle sector. He’s the owner and co-founder of The Black Tomato Group, parent company of the travel brands Black Tomato and Epic Tomato, along with The Black Tomato Agency and Studio Black Tomato, the award-winning content and strategy agency. Tom and his friends were inspired by their travel experiences and wanted to start a company where they could travel and guide others ar...
E18: Nick Mathews & Ben Blieden | Investing in Main Street - How MainVest is Making it Easier Than Ever to Back the Entrepreneurs in Your Community
May 21, 2019 03:30 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBNick Mathews and Ben Blieden are college friends and roommates who after going down different paths post-grad, ended up reconnecting and co-founding MainVest together. Ben went down the financial analyst track at companies like Brown Brothers Harriman and Grant Thornton, while Nick joined Uber as an early-employee, leading their launch in the New England market. MainVest brings crowdfunding to Mainstreet by allowing people to invest in and support the small businesses around their communitie...
E17: Ryan Croft | The Future of Transportation - How TransitScreen Is Making It Easier to Navigate Your City
May 06, 2019 23:15 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBRyan Croft is a former professional baseball scout and adventure tourism guide turned technology entrepreneur. He’s currently the co-founder and COO of TransitScreen, a B2B software that provides real-time mobility, curated for specific locations. Ryan learned about the transportation issues that cities have from his time traveling the world and wanted to create a product that would make it easier for people to get around. TransitScreen is currently live in 60 cities throughout six countries...
E16: Jason Massey | Dungeons and Randomness - How To Turn Your Hobby/Passion Into Your Career
April 15, 2019 12:15 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MBJason Massey is a serial podcaster who’s most notably known for being the founder and host of one of the world's largest Dungeons and Dragons communities, Dungeons & Randomness. Dungeons and Randomness is a D&D actual play podcast with a bit of a twist. Several groups of adventurers make their way in the world of Theria at the same time and it’s not a campaign, it’s a living, breathing world. Jason began his podcasting career around a decade ago and eventually turned something he grew a pass...
E15: Christian Chasmer | Elevating Your Systems - How To Improve Your Business and Your Life Through Systemization
April 08, 2019 16:39 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBChristian Chasmer is the founder of Elevate Advisors, a consulting program that empowers entrepreneurs to increase profitability, reduce stress, and scale their business to 7 figures and beyond. Starting in college, Christian built a franchise from $0 to $1.2 million in annual revenue. He then co-founded the real estate development company CC Solutions and grew it to $6 million in revenue in under 2 years. He’s also the author of the best-selling book, Lose the Limits. Christian credits his ...
E14: David Liebowitz | Uncovering Opportunity - How David Went From Intern to Founding Team Member at Everipedia
April 04, 2019 02:06 - 42 minutes - 39.4 MBDavid Liebowitz is the Director of Strategic Partnerships and founding team member at Everipedia, a decentralized encyclopedia that’s building the largest knowledge base on the internet. David got his foot in the door by volunteering to help out during Everipdia’s very early stages. Fast forward a few years, Everipedia has raised $30M+ and since joining full-time in 2016, David has been at the forefront of recent developments at the nexus of technology, media, and culture. We discuss topics ...
E13: Charles Nick | A Better Cup Of Coffee - How With A Little Innovation, Third Wave Water Is Improving Your Morning Joe
March 25, 2019 08:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBCharles Nick is a serial entrepreneur that’s passionate about three things: Aviation, Entrepreneurship, and Coffee. He’s the Co-Founder and President of Third Wave Water, the Founder & CEO of The Wright Cup, and the Founder & Manager of Douvalis Labs. Charles mainly spends his time focusing on Third Wave Water which creates mineralization capsules for your water to create richer flavors for your coffee. Third Wave has run a successful Kickstarter campaign, appeared on Shark Tank where they g...
E12: Nathan Latka | How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital
March 18, 2019 10:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBNathan Latka is a SaaS entrepreneur, author, investor, podcaster, reality TV star, and so much more. At nineteen, he founded a software company, Heyo, with $119 in his bank account. Five years later, it was valued at $10.5 million. Although he passed up on a larger acquisition, Nathan sold the business and launched The Top Entrepreneurs podcast, which has more than 10 million downloads and is one of the fastest growing business podcasts in the world. Nathan’s most recent endeavor, his book:...
E11: [Part 2] Michael Martocci | The SwagUp Story - How Resourcefulness and a Passion for Entrepreneurship Can Take You Anywhere
March 11, 2019 10:00 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBMichael Martocci is the Founder and CEO of SwagUp. SwagUp focuses on creating high-quality swag packs for employee welcoming, client gifting, event attendees, and more. Although just under two years old, they’ve done over $3M worth of sales in 2018 and are on track to break $10M in 2019. SwagUp works with some of the biggest brands in the world including SalesForce, WeWork, and Samsung. So how did Michael, a college dropout who originally thought he would to go into finance, manage to creat...
E10: [Part 1] Michael Martocci | The SwagUp Story - How Resourcefulness and a Passion for Entrepreneurship Can Take You Anywhere
March 09, 2019 04:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBMichael Martocci is the Founder and CEO of SwagUp. SwagUp focuses on creating high-quality swag packs for employee welcoming, client gifting, event attendees, and more. Although just under two years old, they’ve done over $3M worth of sales in 2018 and are on track to break $10M in 2019. SwagUp works with some of the biggest brands in the world including SalesForce, WeWork, and Samsung. So how did Michael, a college dropout who originally thought he would to go into finance, manage to create...
E09: Regina Ye | Turning an Idea into a Tangible Product - How Regina Created Zirui
March 01, 2019 04:56 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBRegina Ye is the founder and CEO of Zirui, a secure, sleek, and simple case to make your personal care routines portable and accessible wherever you go. Regina came up with this idea while on a trip -- she experienced what so many of us have at one point -- her liquids spilling all over the inside of her bags. Regina set out to fix this issue by creating a functional AND stylish product that people will actually want to use and show off. Although her background is in software engineering, sh...
E08: Dylan Sanglay | The Hustling Economy - How Dylan is Leveraging Social Media to Run Multiple Clothing Businesses and Give Back to His Community
February 21, 2019 12:00 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBDylan Sanglay is a 19-year old entrepreneur who’s been obsessed with selling since he was a little kid. Dylan takes the word “hustle” to a new meaning. He runs multiple online and physical retail businesses, gives talks at local schools and events, raises money for and donates parts of his profits to the homeless in his community, all while studying in his first-year at UNLV. I had a really great time talking to Dylan about how to get started on a business, how to utilize social platforms to...
E07: David Segura | Catching the Entrepreneurial Bug - How David Went From Management Consultant to Founder of Giant Media, Angel Investor, and Crypto Entrepreneur
February 14, 2019 05:09 - 1 hour - 62.4 MBDavid Segura is a veteran when it comes to the startup world although he hadn’t originally planned for that to be the case. David began his career in a corporate consulting role but quickly realized that it wasn't the right path for him. He found that he couldn’t excel in the rigid hierarchies of the corporate ladder and decided to jump into the startup scene. David briefly worked at two startups, soon understanding that to achieve what he wanted in life, he had to venture off and put his de...
E06: Mark Metry | Developing a Bias for Action - How to Become the Best Possible Version of Yourself
February 05, 2019 23:30 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBMark Metry is a 21-year old whose mission is to help others live a life of mental and emotional freedom. Mark’s been an entrepreneur his entire life. He started the world’s number one Minecraft server when he was 15 years old, eventually selling it for more money than he knew what to do with. He then launched VU Dream, a virtual reality marketing agency and currently hosts Humans 2.0, a podcast where he interviews Billionaires, New York Times Bestselling Authors and Legendary World-Class hum...
E05: Angelo Damiano | Empowering Content Creators - How PowerSpike is Connecting Esports Streamers with Top Brands
January 28, 2019 02:30 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBOn this episode, we talk with Angelo (AJ) Damiano, the Co-Founder, and CEO of PowerSpike. PowerSpike is the turnkey tool for Twitch influencer marketing, helping streamers do what they love, full time. AJ dove into the gaming space early on, becoming ranked as a top 100 player in the world at World of Warcraft while in high school. After moving into the streaming space and doing a stint as a Shoutcaster, AJ saw the opportunity to connect brands with influencers, filling a much-needed role in...
E04: Emily Levy | Turning Sickness Into Strength - How Mighty Well Is Empowering Patients All Over the World
January 22, 2019 00:45 - 41 minutes - 38.5 MBOn this episode, we talk with Emily Levy, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Mighty Well. Mighty Well creates functional and stylish apparel and accessories to help patients turn sickness into strength. Mighty Well was started out of a need that Emily had herself after she was diagnosed with Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease and had a PICC line put in. She noticed that all the options available to cover it weren’t conducive to living a functional and “normal” life. Emily decided that she needed to c...
E03: Michael Vega-Sanz | Capitalizing on the Sharing Economy - How Lula is Transforming Transportation
October 08, 2018 10:30 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBOn this episode, we talk with Michael Vega-Sanz, the Co-Founder and President of Lula. Lula is a peer-to-peer car sharing platform that’s initially focusing on college students, with the goal of expanding to the general public and adding alternative forms of transportation to create an all-encompassing ride sharing ecosystem. We discuss topics like how to effectively build a marketplace, what it’s like raising money at the seed stage, the benefits of the sharing economy and what its future ...
E02: John Puma III | Going All In - Revolutionizing Real Estate Rentals Right Out of College
September 24, 2018 11:30 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBOn this episode, we talk with John Puma, the co-founder and COO of Wizio. Wizio is the first VR-based listing platform for real estate. We discuss topics like the impact of virtual and augmented reality, how to become a co-founder, the real estate market dynamic in cities like Boston, working full-time on a startup right out of college, and more!
E01: Aleric Heck | Building Your Skills - How a Youtube Channel at Age 12 Led to Two Successful Businesses at 21
September 08, 2018 03:27 - 46 minutes - 43.2 MBOn this episode, we talk with Aleric Heck, the founder of AdOutreach, a fast-growing video marketing consultancy and AppFind, a super popular YouTube app review channel. We discuss topics like taking those first entrepreneurial steps, keeping a business lean, organizing remote teams, video marketing trends in 2018, the importance of building a skillset, and more.