Finding Founders

Today on the show we talk to Kevin Ramsey, founder of Warren James, a custom merchandising firm that specializes in the content creator ecosystem. I just threw a lot of words at you there so let me break down what we’re actually looking at here. A decade ago when people heard the term content creator, they thought of a bunch of teens with crappy webcams recording vlogs in their room for YouTube. N...

The story of how Milt Larsen turned a century-old mansion into a world-famous, Hollywood cultural icon that brings magic lovers and magicians together form across the world. Countless celebrities have performed at the castle including Orson Welles, Johnny Carson, Steve Martin, Neil Patrick Harris, and many more. Together we'll dive into Milt's magical childhood, how he came to notoriety, and how t...

This past Monday we held a Virtual Summit with Dalton Combs on the Future of Artificial Intelligence. We talked about the history of A.I., how it can massively improve our lives, and how it also might kill us! Don’t worry if you missed it because you can hear the full live event right now. If you don’t want to miss the next live event and the opportunity to interact directly with our community of...

Today on the show we talk to   Jonathan Skogmo. He’s the founder of Jukin which is an innovative media company that focuses on user-generated content. What is user-generated content? Well, it’s stuff like a video of a mom laughing hysterically while wearing a Chewbacca mask. That video is known as Chewbacca mom and the original video alone received over 140 million views. In fact, the video became...

Today we talk to Hollis Carter, co-founder of The Baby Bathwater Institute. Alright, I’m going to give you guys a second to close your eyes and listen to that name one more time: Baby Bathwater. Without restricting that creative mind of yours, try and guess what his company does. Alright, ready? If you guessed it was a group that hosts outdoor networking conferences with healthy food, unlimited bo...

Pixar had sunk millions of dollars into Toy Story 2 and it was almost deleted... Today on the show we analyze how Pixar failed and the steps they took towards recovery. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m Samuel Donner, and today on the show we talk to Markian Benhamou, a social media influencer with over 5 Million followers across Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. When I first met Markian at USC through UCLA’s entrepreneurship club, he seemed like a nice, hardworking guy. I would have never expected that he had such a serious following. But he does have a serious following, and he’s serious ab...

Today on the show we talk to Brian Freeman, the founder and CEO of Heartbeat, a social media marketplace that empowers creators at any level, from 100 to 100,000 followers, to work with established brands. When I met Brian I noticed pretty quickly that he speaks with a lot of energy. This infectious energy pulled me into Brian's world. I felt that I could see his vision, it was almost tangible. I...

We loved Rob’s story but there was a lot of sciencey stuff that came up and it just didn’t fit int he episode, so we wanted to dedicate a mini-episode to the science. To talk about that sciencey stuff I wanted to introduce Luke Riggan, an immunology Ph. D. student here at UCLA. Luke is smart, especially with sciencey things, so at the end of our interview, he used that big brain of his and talked...

Today on the show we talk to Rob Rhinehart, 27-year-old founder of Soylent, an innovative food replacement startup that has rocked the world of consumer packaged goods. Soon after the interview started I noticed that Rob has an incredibly intentional way of speaking. It seems like each word was meticulously chosen to most effectively communicate his internal dialogue. I think this intentionality d...

Today on the show we talk to Dalton Combs, founder of Boundless Mind, formally known as Dopamine Labs. Dalton has built a company that specializes in persuasion AI, a technology that shapes human behavior. I know what you are thinking: IRobot, The Matrix, Ex Machina, Terminator, death, and destruction. It initially seemed like pretty nefarious stuff to me as well. I was curious on two accounts. On...

Today on the show we talk to John Terzian, the owner and co-founder of The H.Wood Group, a Los Angeles hospitality and lifestyle company catered to curating some of the most iconic brands in the world. Ranging from upscale nightlife venues to groundbreaking new restaurants, H.Wood Group runs thirteen venues in Los Angeles, five others across the nation and continues to broaden its reach every year...

In this podcast, we’ll explore how Cannabis is changing, and how the partnership between Wayv and Hypur will rapidly accelerate the growth of the Cannabis industry. But to understand how this partnership will shape the future of Cannabis we have to take a look at the history of Cannabis and where it is today. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about you...

Today on the show we talk to Glen Irani, a native Angeleno and the founder of Glen Irani Architects, an architecture firm that has been at the forefront of environmental research, sustainability, and breathtaking design for over 20 years. You have probably passed by one of his designs while in the LA area, which is actually how I first met him. I was walking on the outskirts of Venice when I was s...

Today on the show we’re talking about holograms. Now you are probably most familiar with this tech from a little movie called Star Wars. Well, holograms are real and Ben Conway, co-founder of the company VNTANA, has been turning what was once science fiction into science fact. VNTANA is on the bleeding edge of an augmented and virtual reality revolution that will drastically change how we perceive...

Today on the show we talk to UCLA undergrad Angel Herrera, and how he went from gang life to becoming a co-founder of Need (now Duffl), an online retailer that delivers everything in a matter of 10 minutes or less. I think the best way to put it is 7-Eleven on wheels.  Along the way, we'll introduce a few of the other cofounders including David Lin and Rohun Vora. --- Support this podcast: https:/...

Today on the show we talk to Keith McCarty, the 4th employee of Yammer which was acquired for 1.2 billion dollars; the founder of Eaze, a company that revolutionized and legitimized the Cannabis industry; which he left while it was still growing massively to start a new even more exciting company: Wayv, the Amazon of Cannabis. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Le...

From selling t-shirts to his classmates in high school, to paying for school by selling phone cases from his dorm room - Marcel loves to hustle. Along the way, Marcel has learned the ins and outs of social media to drive sales and push growth. He’s created viral content garnering millions of views on Facebook and Instagram, and worked with influencers and content creators across the globe. 2 years...

Today on the show we talk to Alex Canter, the 26-year-old founder of Ordermark and one of Forbe’s 30 under 30. But If you’ve lived in LA for any time at all you’ve probably heard of Alex Canter, well at least his last name. Canter’s Deli is one of LA’s longest standing and most famous Deli’s. Alex is part of the 4th generation of owners but eventually struck out on his own and created Ordermark, a...

Today on the show, we talk to Kong Pham, founder of Simple Pickup and Jumpcut. Kong has never been traditional. In his schooling and entrepreneurial ventures, he continuously breaks the molds set by the establishment. In this spirit, he ventures to disrupt one of the oldest institutions in America and the world, University Education. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/sup...

Today on the show we talk to Melinda Moore, founder of Moore Ventures, Loving Eco, Tuesday Nights, Software Television, They, iConsumer… you get the idea. Melinda is a serial entrepreneur and has had many successes and failures, but her insatiable drive to educate herself and those around her keeps her moving forward. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more...

Dov Charney, Founder of American Apparel and, more recently, Los Angeles Apparel is a controversial figure, but controversy is something that he seems to thrive in. Dov and I talk about his beginnings in Montreal, the start of his company American Apparel, losing that company, and starting anew with Los Angeles Apparel. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn mor...

Starting a business in college is all about hustle. There is so much opportunity in the collegiate community, once you identify a market, form an idea, and work tirelessly on that idea; you can achieve anything. Tim Connors, founder of Gradstreet saw an opportunity with the graduation market and seized it. He talks about how he transitioned from just being a student to being a student entrepreneur...