The First Customer

Atlanta born-and-raised CTO and Co-founder Hesom Parhizkar cut his teeth in electrical engineering before making the switch over to computer science and the rest was history.  His sharpened his skills in strategy, architecture, design and development for more than two decades then co-founded an innovative company, AdvizorPro, that provides their clients direct access to high-quality financial advi...

Jake Stein grew up in North Jersey and had the itch for entrepreneurialism early in life. He started creating businesses ("hair-brained schemes") in high school and that interest and passion for business never went away.  He learned about venture capitalism in college, dove into that world headfirst, then came out again looking to create more businesses of his own. Do yourself a favor an...

Joe started his journey in Minneapolis, Minnesota and discovered a passion for language at an early age. Then he saw C3P0 and decided to make a universal translator a reality. He's a serial entrepreneur and IT Transformation Architect with a broad technical foundation in AI, Natural Language Processing, applications/solutions, integration, data and infrastructure and cloud implementation. Oh,...

Chris started out in the Lehigh Valley but also spent a ton of his youth in Philadelphia. He has an inspiring story of how being adopted helped shape a lot of his entrepreneurial journey and perspective on life.  He went on to found multiple businesses, coach tons of clients to success, and help inspire people to be a better version of themselves. Get yourself a day pass to the Lehigh Valley Zoo t...

Peter grew up in quiet Quakertown Pennsylvania. He bounced around a bunch of different non-profits, lived in the nations capitol, but his love for PA couldn't keep him away forever. Pete took his passion for politics and non-profits and built a platform that gives people a voice with social impact programs and movements. He shared lots of lessons about how to create change and go out on a lim...

Born in Brazil, Nick Balee wrote business plans as a kid. He moved to America and trained with international chess champions.  After college he pivoted from his history background to start his first business back down south in Brazil. After learning some important lessons, he moved back to the states and went into sales. His background in cold calling eventually helped him create second successful...

Philly born and raised, Drew Griffin's lessons around starting with the end in mind should serve any future or current entrepreneurs well. A really inspiring, humble, smart guy that shared a lot of how he built his empire.  Starting as a wound-care nursing specialist, Drew took a different path than some to being a serial founder. Now he's started and sold multiple tech companies.  He al...

Damian may be one of the nicest, coolest, and inspiring guys you'll have the pleasure of meeting. His experience ranges from representing some of the top NFL and NBA athletes in the world to founding a revolutionary platform to help people secure their future careers. Phynally is a platform that allows job-seekers to meet transparent employers and professionals without cannabis pre-employment...

My cheeks still hurt from laughing so much with the absolutely wonderful  Dr. W. Soyini Powell ("Dr. Sy"). What should I have expected with someone who calls herself "The Rogue Gynecologist"??? Applying the lessons she learned from getting healthy, Dr. Sy offers a transformational experience to help you take back control of your health and live your best life. Leaning on her de...

There's quite a few people I meet that I think I can outwork. Adam Fiore is not one of those people. From his early days in the Navy to starting multiple successful businesses, Adam has walked his talk.  He's currently working on his company Limitless AF which is a combination of wellness and healthtech.  Put the bag of chips away this week and cinch up your belt for a really fun episode...

From Jimmy Johns franchisee to co-founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, Matt Wampler (pronounced wham-pler) worked harder, then smarter.  Matt took the path of restaurant owner to consulting to founder after identifying a huge gap in restaurant analytics and never looked back. Order up a hoagie and kick back and relax for a fun episode with an even more fun guy this week.  Connect with Jay on LinkedIn htt...

Dave started his business early and learned a ton of lessons along the way.  From his first customer to his current portfolio of happy clients, Dave always listened to his employees and clients to build a trusting culture that has stood the test of time. Call up your current accountant and tell him you may be late to lunch and buckle up for a fun ride this week with Co-founder of Quanitify Dave As...

Starting out in South Street in Philadelphia, April Burks based her life around volunteer work and building communities and events. She quickly found her path to creating successful businesses and giving back to her community.  Grab a cheesesteak at Jim's and kick back and listen to the story of an awesome human being doing awesome founder things in this week's episode. Pink Social Strat...

A slip and fall down the stairs woke Sean up to chase his dream of creating his own AI-powered planner app, Heydai.  Heydai learns patterns about your time and the things you need done to recommend a balanced agenda between productivity and leisure. Sean's a great guy with a great story on how to take what you've learned across your career and turn it into an awesome product. Make sure y...

A standup comedian and standup guy. Steve started his journey in Jersey before setting out west and making a name for himself in comedy. Founder and host of "The Coop Tank" and about a million other things, Steve lives by a simple but awesome rule: Don't be a jerk. He's a master interviewer and a masterful guest. No laugh tracks needed for this one, grab a drink and settle in f...

Shawn Richard's awesome company hails from equally awesome Eagle Mountain,  Utah. His previous life in operations and business development helped kick off his journey into consulting and owning his own business. His passion to help others grow their business has allowed him to create an impressive coaching and consulting services firm.  He's a long-distance Phillies fan and compassionate...

From custom made lacrosse sticks to upending one of the biggest industries in the world -- Carl is not your average sauceman. Carl's a tall, big-energy-but-down-to-earth founder with all the ingredients for big-time success. He and his co-founder Paul are taking the condiment industry by storm with a novel concept, powdered ketchup called AWSM Sauce. Across their late-night taste-tests to gam...

DOCTOR Miles Aron is an extremely cool guy. He's worked at ESPN, NASA, Stanford Linear Accelerator where he worked on Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiments, and the founder of multiple exciting startups -- just to name a few places.  An audiophile on a never-ending quest for learning has been a thread connecting Miles from childhood to his current role as co-founder and CEO of Arcanium. He...

If you live in or near Philadelphia you'll eventually be asked "Do you know Mike Bertoni?"  A sales-machine-turned-business-owner, Mike is never short of energy or great advice. He's built an incredible staffing agency laser-focused on SaaS talent. His innate ability to excite his audience, be creative with his sales process, and flood the room with positive energy make it clea...

If you want to be inspired by simple goals that turn into big things, look no further than Bob Cooper.  Bob has a knack for feeling the undercurrent of technology and marketing before they break the surface. From video kiosks to the dawn of multimedia marketing to selling companies to coaching others to do the same, Bob has done just about everything. There's a good chance right now Bob is of...

A true gem born and raised in Central New Jersey, Jessica Corrado is professional passion personified.  Dedicating a large portion of her career to marketing and Life Sciences, Jessica set out on her own and quickly realized it was just as easy as she expected. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone with a more laser-focused, confident, and infectious personality. Hop on a jug handle and ride...

Boring. Low-Energy. Lazy. Unmotivated.  You won't find a more polar opposite person to that description than Evan Yudell, CEO of Sales Made Simple.  He's a smart, driven, passionate leader who saw his opportunity to become a founder  and didn't flinch. Do yourself a favor and listen as we go from his roots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to Penn State and Drexel to creating an industr...

Motivated, adventurous, and inspired. Never short on energy, excitement, or alliteration (sorry Chels). Chelsea Craig, CEO of Rhino Reviews, took a personal experience and turned it into a thriving business in the online review management space. From Maryland to Center City Philly, take a trip up I-95 and hear the cool story of an even cooler entrepreneur.  Connect with Jay on LinkedIn https://www...

From Chicago to Colorado -- Brandon Frisch always took the path less travelled by. He started a tech company as a non-tech guy. He built a powerhouse in the software development space through unconventional means. He's successful and cool and one of the nicest guy's you'll ever meet. Tune in to hear how Brandon decided to play whack-a-mole professionally with his development studio...

Half man, half machine. Alex is a charming, smart guy who knows how to run a business. He also knows how to program. And surf. He also goes to Italy but just for the food and coffee. Alex takes us on his journey from journeyman to CEO of Materialize Labs, a world-renowned development agency.  Connect with Jay on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayaigner/ The First Customer Youtube Channel htt...