The Jason Cavness Experience

Steve Vincent did 25 years in the Navy, retired as an O-6, and has now spent 14 more years at the same company. He's about to turn 62. His wife has a passport that needs stamps. By most measures, it's time to slow down. He's not doing it. Not yet. Steve says he still has something to contribute, he genuinely likes the team he works with, and he gets zero satisfaction out of selling software just t...

Barbara Kvelstein had one facial in her entire life before she bought a medical aesthetics clinic. No aesthetics background, no nurse practitioner license, no industry experience. Just a business she found on LoopNet and a willingness to learn on the way. Barbara is the founder of Nordic Clinic and creator of Norderm, a Scandinavian-inspired skincare line launching out of the clinic. Before any of...

We're building artificial intelligence the way we built nuclear weapons, without the wisdom to manage it. Neuroscientist and AI ethics advisor Dr. Dave Hester argues that regulation isn't coming from Congress; it's coming from you, your company, and the engineers who know the real risks. If the researchers behind GPT and Claude are asking for a slowdown, we should pay attention. This is not a podc...

Paula Thomas left Amazon after 14 years as a software engineer. She's now running Viter Manufacturing—a 3D printing company focused on custom retail displays. But she's not a typical startup founder. She's a Gold Star military spouse, which means her husband died in service. Her approach to building a company around grief, resilience, and curiosity is the opposite of the hype-and-speed culture tha...

Chancy Williams didn't know the difference between GSM and cotton blend six months ago. Now he's running his own streetwear brand, Majority, funded entirely out of a 9-to-5 job and a college class schedule. Chancy is 20, a double major in international business and marketing, and the son of one of my old Army buddies. We get into why he started a clothing brand before he had a real job, what happe...

Keith McCall is building a company that watches the Earth from above. Omniris pulls imagery from drones, satellites, and IoT sensors, overlays it on a map, and adds the one thing that makes data powerful  time. Capture the same field or cell tower ten times across a year and you get a living database, a digital twin more useful than anything sitting in a spreadsheet. His network of 4,000 independe...

Most elected officials face voters. Many local officials never face an opponent. Brien Kennedy left a career scaling e-commerce businesses at Amazon, Microsoft, Nuun Hydration, and SmartyPants Vitamins to work inside the Kitsap County Superior Court. What he saw was a system that people depend on during some of the hardest moments of their lives. But often cannot understand or navigate. Now he is...

Preserving culture requires more than celebrating it. The traditions also need customers, economic opportunity, and a path to the next generation. Suleiny Altamirano, founder and CEO of Tizana Mexicana, shares how moving from Guerrero, Mexico, to Seattle inspired her to build a bridge between Mexican artisans and new markets. She explains why trust matters more than technology, how immigrant found...

Most brands do not have an influencer problem. They have a strategy problem. Alex Shebar, founder of NYC Social Club, explains why generic campaigns, rigid scripts, and oversized creator lists fail to generate meaningful results. He breaks down how brands can find creators who match their audience, test content without wasting their budget, and build smaller communities that actually care. We also...

The strongest encryption in the world cannot protect you when someone can force you to unlock your phone. Josh Thomas, founder of Deniable, explains why conventional mobile security ignores coercion and how plausible deniability changes the equation. He also shares a hard-earned rule for builders: decide what would make you kill a project before your identity, money, and emotions become attached t...

Ben King spent six years in the Army before starting over in the startup world as a Sales Development Representative. He brought discipline, leadership, and resilience, but still had to learn a new industry, prove himself in a new environment, and build his civilian career one sales conversation at a time. Now at Loop8, Ben is helping companies move beyond AI hype and use automation and cloud tech...

Quantum will not transform every workload and that is exactly why deep-tech founders need to stop selling it as a universal solution. Lori Salow Marshall explains where quantum computing can create real commercial value. Why it must be integrated with classical systems, and how science led companies can translate technical breakthroughs into focused market opportunities. She also breaks down why d...

Military Creator Con exists because the military community is bigger than resumes, contractor jobs, and transition checklists. James Van Prooyen, Air Force retiree and co-founder of Military Creator Con, talks about building a home for military-connected creators, podcasters, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, performers, and builders. We get into why Veterans need more creative paths, how community...

On this episode of The Jason Cavness Experience, Jason sits down with Tom Gurski, founder and CEO of Blue Dot Motorworks, an MIT-trained mechanical engineer who spent his career at the front end of product development. From Stirling engine generators at DEKA Research (Dean Kamen's company) to his own consultancy, Carbide Enterprises, to global sanitation projects in some of the world's poorest com...

Jason Cavness didn't leave the Army to become "Major Cavness" in a different uniform. He wanted a clean break. That decision pulled him into startups, podcasting, tech events, Vietnam business relationships, and a career built around one simple habit: say yes when the opportunity is aligned, then figure it out. Mark Shriner talks with Jason about the transition from military life to entrepreneursh...

A better product does not always win. The clearer story often does. Crystal Clarity, Chief Operating Officer at s2s Public Relations, joins The Jason Cavness Experience to talk about why founders struggle to explain what they actually do. Why deep tech companies need to stop leading with features and how AI is flooding the internet with content that feels productive but often makes real connection...

Daniella Young has built a brand by saying the thing most people avoid: bad leaders, bad groups, cult dynamics, and toxic loyalty are not fringe problems. They show up in politics, companies, the military, families, social media, and anywhere people stop questioning the room they are in. Jason and Daniella talk about turning trauma into work, why "followers" should not become worshippers, how she...

AI sales is often framed as replacement. Swetha Puvvada sees it differently: the real opportunity is using AI to remove the busy work so sellers can get back to listening, understanding pain, and having better conversations. Swetha is Head of Product & Growth at Teameight, an AI SaaS company building an augmentation platform for sales teams. We talk about product, GTM, customer feedback, career gr...

Fresh roti is simple to eat and hard to automate. Komal Kashiramka is building Poshan, a robotics company developing next-generation kitchen appliances, starting with an automatic roti maker designed to create soft roti that lasts for hours. Komal shares how she moved from Microsoft and Meta into entrepreneurship. Why hardware requires a different level of patience than software and what founders...

Most people run from grief. Eden Marryshow turned it into a film. In this conversation, Eden breaks down the emotional process behind filmmaking, storytelling, creativity, and why the best art usually comes from the most personal places. We talk about losing family, directing actors, independent filmmaking, community, and the long path creators take back to who they were before the world told them...

Entrepreneurship isn't freedom it's volatility, pressure, and constant uncertainty. Nathan Kaiser built 2bar Spirits by embracing that reality, not ignoring it. He breaks down why most people shouldn't start companies, what actually keeps a business alive, and how constraints, not capital, create better outcomes. This is a raw look at building something real in a crowded, unforgiving industry.  We...

Most founders don't fail because of bad ideas. They fail because they run out of moneyand don't know why. In this episode of The Jason Cavness Experience, I sit down with Morgan Rogers from NOW CFO to break down what actually happens inside companies when the financial side isn't dialed in. Morgan works with founders, operators, and investors every day cleaning up messy books, preparing companies...

From a failed startup to launching Founders Live across 155 cities and 58 countries, Nick explains what founders really need early on: community, storytelling, validation, and consistent action. He also breaks down why most people wait too long to start, how 99-second pitches force clarity, and what he's learned traveling through startup ecosystems around the world. Nick also shares how Founders L...

Most teams don't fail because of strategy. They fail because people can't align. In this episode of The Jason Cavness Experience, I sit down with Mimi Nguyen to break down why teams struggle to work together and what actually fixes it. Mimi has lived across Vietnam, the United States, and Malaysia, and brings a rare perspective on culture, communication, and decision-making. She's led initiatives...

Most small businesses don't fail because of bad ideas. They fail because they don't understand the system. In this episode of The Jason Cavness Experience, I sit down with Hugo Nicolas from Washington State's Office for Regulatory Innovation and Assistance (ORIA) to break down what actually stops businesses from growing. Hugo went from a small village in Mexico to helping thousands of business own...