Office Hours with David Meltzer

Ross Mandell Ross Mandell, born in Brooklyn in March 1957, is a resilient entrepreneur who has navigated both notable success and significant personal struggles. Raised on Long Island, he excelled academically, earning a scholarship to SUNY Albany before transferring to the University of Maryland. After college, Mandell briefly worked in his family’s business before transitioning to finance, where...

William Dulude William began his finance career as a Java Developer, creating order and portfolio management systems. He utilized his technical skills to modernize and automate operations, taking on leadership roles such as Director of Operations at Courant Capital, as well as roles at KCG and Tower Research Capital. His expertise continued to grow when he served as Global Head of Operations at Ta...

Ella Davar Ella Davar is a registered dietitian and health expert who specializes in longevity, gut health, and personalized nutrition. She created the You-tarian Diet™, a nutrition approach tailored to individual bio-individuality, considering factors like hormones, gut health, genetics, and lifestyle. Ella frequently hosts Longevity Dinners and wellness events across Miami and Switzerland, where...

Tyler James Tyler James is a full-time professional Onewheel athlete and a two-time world champion with the Onewheel Factory Pro Team. With over 15 years of experience in board sports, including surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding, Tyler has also competed in surfing for seven years. He is passionate about pushing the limits of adventure and is now dedicated to pioneering Onewheel as a new cat...

Amer Iqbal Amer Iqbal is a seasoned innovation consultant with two decades of experience helping leading global companies, including Meta (Facebook) and Deloitte Digital, drive business transformation. As the author of The 5 Ways to Innovate and host of the Riding the Wave of Innovation podcast, he focuses on helping organizations think, act, and behave like startups to navigate the challenges of...

Peter Goldstein Peter Goldstein is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur with over 30 years of extensive experience as a C-Suite executive and member of the Board of Directors for public and private companies. Peter brings a unique blend of skills and expertise with managing emerging growth, corporate finance, compliance, capital market and investment banking activities with a results driven focus...

Bernadette Joy Bernadette Joy is a financial coach and speaker who is passionate about financial literacy and empowerment. She went from being $300,000 in debt to having a net worth of $1 million in her 30s, all while being a first-generation Filipina-American. Her journey shows that with smart money habits, anyone can take control of their finances. Since launching Crush Your Money Goals in 2020,...

Nicole Spiegel-Gotsch Nicole Spiegel-Gotsch is a startup advisor and business coach dedicated to helping female founders thrive. In 2020, she founded HelloMavyn, a consultancy focused on assisting women in building, launching, and growing their businesses. With over 20 years of experience working with startups, small businesses, and Fortune 500 clients, Nicole blends her creative and business skil...

Emmy Sobieski Emmy Sobieski is a bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, former institutional investor, and executive coach. In 1999, she managed the world’s #1 fund with a 493% return, overseeing $800 million in assets. Having worked closely with billionaires, she now uses her insights to help tech professionals from companies like Amazon and Google transition into startups and build their o...

Tami Reiss Tami Reiss, also known as the Product Leader Coach, is an expert in helping leaders thrive. With nearly 20 years of experience leading startups, enterprise companies, and community organizations, she now focuses on guiding others to define and execute their growth strategies. CEOs, CPOs, and VPs rely on her expertise to develop cohesive visions, scale organizations, and improve relation...

Melissa Saleh Melissa Saleh is a serial entrepreneur with a career centered at the intersection of technology and storytelling. In 2020, she co-founded FairPlay AI, the world's first Fairness-as-a-Service company, which addresses equity and fairness in AI systems. Prior to this, she built a successful content strategy firm, Brick Wall Media, where she worked with Fortune 500 companies like Faceboo...

Anne Marie Anderson Anne Marie Anderson is a three-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, keynote speaker, and author. Her career began at ESPN, where she gained unique insights into the world of high-performing coaches, athletes, and executives. Drawing inspiration from their bold, risk-taking approaches, Anderson applied these principles to her own life, leading her to become one of the most exper...

Marco Benitez Determined to make a difference, Marco co-founded ROOK, initially focused on wearable tech for fitness, but quickly expanded into healthcare and insurance. Partnering with Jonas Dücker, he used his deep industry knowledge to create ROOK's API, which harmonizes data from various wearables to serve personalized wellness and healthcare needs. Marco's mission with ROOK is deeply personal...

Dr. Kary Oberbrunner Dr. Kary Oberbrunner is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books. As the CEO of Igniting Souls and Blockchain Life, he specializes in helping authors, entrepreneurs, and influencers publish, protect, and promote their intellectual property, turning it into multiple streams of income. In addition to his successful career as a novelist, screen...

Qi Cao Qi is the founder & CEO of Chargeblast, which he bootstrapped to $2bn+ protected annual volumes and over 2,000 merchant clients in 1.5 years. The inspiration for Chargeblast came from his prior AI EdTech business as students often charged back their subscriptions. Prior to being a full-time entrepreneur, he was a long/short hedge fund analyst at Point72 covering enterprise software and...

Shawn Fry Shawn Fry is a highly experienced Business Transformation Coach with over 24 years of expertise in driving operational excellence and business transformations across manufacturing and global supply chains. Having worked with industry leaders like GE, Honeywell, Boeing, and Toyota, he has led diverse teams and impacted operations in over 60 facilities across 17 countries. Shawn’s backgrou...

Jon Richards Jon Richards is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of NOMATIC, a successful brand he started 10 years ago with his cousin, Jacob Durham. NOMATIC has raised over $16 million through 15 crowdfunding campaigns, and Jon has a strong passion for helping other entrepreneurs achieve success. In 2016, he launched a digital marketing agency that specialized in crowdfunding, offering advi...

Athena Brownson Athena Brownson is a leading luxury realtor in Denver, known for her sharp insight and commitment to clients across a broad spectrum, from first-time homebuyers to high-profile figures like Denver Nuggets players. Born and raised in Colorado, Athena’s deep connection to the state is reflected in her unique approach to real estate, blending her experience as a competitive skier with...

Jim Cichanski Jim, the founder and CHRO of Flex HR, has over 30 years of experience in human resources, working in senior roles across various companies, including Fortune 50 firms and high-growth businesses. He has expertise in industries like high tech, manufacturing, and services, with a focus on organizational process improvement, labor laws, business integration, and cost reduction. Jim has m...

Lori Rogers Chef Lori, a celebrity chef and cookbook author, combined her Southern Alabama roots and Northern California upbringing to create a unique product: Jam Vino, a line of gourmet wine-infused jams. Drawing from the traditions of jam-making and wine-making, she crafted an entirely new category of jam, using just five simple, all-natural ingredients. Jam Vino is vegan-friendly, gluten-free,...

Chandler Stroud Chandler is a wife, mother of two, and seasoned marketing professional with nearly 20 years of experience working with some of the world’s largest brands, including Amex, Kraft Heinz, and Dannon. Despite outward success, she struggled with anxiety, irritability, exhaustion, and a sense that something was missing. It wasn’t until discovering a book during a work trip that Chandler b...

Larry Chester Larry Chester, the founder of BackOffice Simplified, has over 25 years of experience as a corporate CFO, where he became adept at finding back-office solutions for his employers. After transitioning to building a fractional CFO business, CFO Simplified, he observed the rapid rise of fractional workers. He realized that while these individuals had technical expertise, many lacked the...

David Heacock David Heacock is the Founder and CEO of Filterbuy, a leading direct-to-consumer indoor air quality company he founded in 2012. Under his leadership, Filterbuy has grown into a $200 million business, creating 1,000 jobs and serving over 7 million customers. David has expanded the company’s offerings to include high-quality air filters and HVAC solutions. Known for his focus on innovat...

Cameron George Cameron George is the founder of TRU KAVA, a brand focused on providing high-quality kava products as a natural alternative to alcohol. His journey started after battling a serious autoimmune condition that left him unable to function for almost a decade. Determined to regain his health, he spent years researching alternative therapies and exploring functional medicine. Cameron's pa...

Don Spillane Don Spillane, born and raised on the South Coast of England, served as a young detective with Scotland Yard in the 1960s and 1970s, working in the Whitechapel and Bethnal Green areas—Jack the Ripper's old territory. During his career, he investigated numerous crimes, including murders and robberies, while gaining invaluable experience from senior officers who had been involved in majo...