Grit Daily Startup Show

Mike Karadimas carried the idea for The Kalogeris Blood Empire for decades before finally turning it into a novel with help from his son. He joins Phillip Lanos to talk about drawing from Detroit, Greek family life, organized crime lore, and memories passed down through generations to build a fictional mob story centered on loyalty, ambition, and family. Karadimas also shares why writing the book...

Edward McGeorge was thrown out of his father’s home at 13, became an elite athlete, sparred with Muhammad Ali, and went on to build one of America’s largest RV dealerships. He joins Phillip Lanos to share the remarkable decisions, setbacks, negotiations, and relationships behind the success, including the $1.6 million bet that changed his future. Now the author of ALL IN, McGeorge expl...

Startups can go global faster than ever, but their financial operations often struggle to keep pace. Anna Tobin, Business Development Lead at Performa, joins Phillip Lanos to explore how fragmented bank accounts, digital wallets, stablecoins, cross-border payments, reconciliation, and reporting create costly friction as companies scale. Drawing on 15 years across fintech, startups, payments, and d...

After the sudden loss of her husband, Laila France found herself navigating grief while simultaneously confronting financial accounts, legal paperwork, business ownership, probate, and decisions she never expected to make alone. Now, as creator and host of The Laila France Show, she is turning that experience into practical guidance for other women. Laila joins Phillip Lanos to discuss why familie...

Entrepreneur and The Jersey Sound executive producer Randy Dominguez spent 55 years in finance before entering documentary filmmaking and music storytelling. He explains how financial discipline, careful planning, and the right collaborators helped turn a creative vision into a finished film and a growing platform dedicated to preserving music history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

Leadership coach and consultant Dr. Leigh Byers explains why strategy can break down when leaders focus on tasks while overlooking the people responsible for carrying them out. She shares how self-awareness, collaboration, recognition, and her Seventh Level Leadership framework can help leaders build organizations that function without depending on constant intervention from the top. See omnystudi...

Eywa Biotech founder and CEO Victoria Costa Paz explains why bringing psychedelic medicine into mainstream mental health care requires far more than producing pharmaceutical-grade psilocybin. She shares how Eywa is combining biosynthesis, patient tracking, professional education, and treatment infrastructure to build a system around a new model of mental health care. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Real Motors co-founder Trent Dingman explains how the company is building “Future Machines,” beginning with Project : ARES, an electric Neo Cafe Racer designed around its Electric Analogue philosophy. He also discusses why Real Motors is rethinking manufacturing alongside the machines themselves, and how the company plans to use engineering, smaller-scale production, and shared industr...

Hooman Tavakolian has built a career spanning Wall Street, wrestling, sports diplomacy, and international humanitarian work. He explains why the discipline that helped him rise from poverty also led him to reconsider the idea of being “self-made,” recognizing the coaches, strangers, colleagues, and small acts of kindness that shaped his path. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Propulse Your Career founder Robert Saltz explains why artists need to develop the professional skills surrounding their craft rather than waiting to be discovered. Drawing on his experience in hospitality, higher education, career services, and life alongside a successful opera singer, he explores ownership, visibility, resilience, financial awareness, and the career strategy creative professiona...

Educator and SciEdScrumming founder Heather Cowap explains how Agile Scrum and Universal Design for Learning can give students more agency without sacrificing accountability. She argues that as AI becomes more common in classrooms, schools need to teach collaboration, planning, self-assessment, and the foundational knowledge students must have before technology can become a useful tool. hcowap@sci...

LawShift CEO Nick Kringas explains why AI is changing how injured people search for legal help long before they ever contact a law firm. Drawing on years in legal marketing, he argues that firms competing only at the moment of intake are overlooking the part of the client journey where trust is increasingly being formed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ceramics artist and business owner Gina DeSantis has built a career around handmade work while navigating wholesale, retail, staffing, pricing, and production limits. She explains why creative businesses often need a different definition of scale, one that protects craftsmanship while still creating room for sustainable growth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ideal Siding CEO Alex Filipuk explains why great ideas and strategy are not enough to build a successful company. Drawing on his journey from serial entrepreneur to franchisor, he shares why execution, complementary teams, and patient growth turn ambitious visions into scalable businesses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rei Cosmetics founder Nami Soejima saw a simple gap in the beauty market: American consumers were becoming obsessed with Japanese cosmetics, yet many of Japan’s most trusted brands were still difficult to buy in the U.S. She shares how she turned that frustration into a growing retail business, navigated tariffs and cross-border logistics, and learned that patience and trust are essential wh...

Candie Zar believes exercise is more than a workout—it's the foundation for confidence, longevity, and showing up as your best self. The founder of SWEATWITHCANDIE shares how discipline, community, and consistency can transform not only your body but every area of your life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ProAssisting co-founder Ethan Bull explains why experienced executive assistants are no longer reserved for large corporations. He shares how fractional support, human expertise, and AI can help growing businesses scale without the overhead of traditional hiring. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Serial entrepreneur Steve Burns discusses why the future of food delivery is not another app, but a purpose-built robotics platform. He explains how physical AI, specialized hardware, and relentless cost optimization can make delivery safer, faster, and dramatically more affordable. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Entertainment executive Steven Saxton discusses why artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of filmmaking, publishing, and music—and why creators need better ways to protect their intellectual property. He explains how Hollywood Studios™ aims to provide secure collaboration, responsible AI tools, and stronger ownership for creative professionals. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Scott McPherran explains why rapid growth can expose law firms to hidden profitability, cash-flow, and governance risks. He also outlines how better reporting and business intelligence can help firm leaders make faster, more informed decisions without pulling attorneys away from practicing law. Enright-McPherran Professional Consulting Enright-McPherran Professional Consulting helps orga...

Sytes co-founder and CEO Rafael Weiss saw millions of dollars in potential real estate deals delayed or lost because tenants, landlords, developers, and brokers struggled to connect. His answer was to build a marketplace that makes commercial real estate matching easier—and refuse to assume throwing more money at the problem would make it grow faster. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Lossdog CEO Tom Sosnoff is building technology designed to help people understand what their careers may actually be worth. Drawing on decades of financial modeling and company building, Sosnoff argues that better information, faster decisions, and longevity can create opportunities that traditional systems often leave hidden. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remote Leverage founder and CEO Abbas Mohammed explains how replacing founder bottlenecks with specialized global talent helped him scale from working 16-hour days to building a business generating $1.5 million a month. His approach reveals why better hiring, stronger fulfillment systems, and AI-enabled teams are becoming critical to sustainable growth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Ari Rastegar, founder of Rastegar Capital, explains why real estate, investing, and technology are entering a once-in-generations reset. He shares how AI, automation, market cycles, and personal reinvention are reshaping business, leadership, and the future of opportunity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suzy of Suzy and the Substitutes shares the story behind her new rock single “21st Century” and the long road that brought her into music as an independent artist. She discusses the message behind the song, her unusual creative process, and the collaborators who help shape the band’s rotating sound. The conversation explores persistence, reinvention, rock’s tradition of soc...