Finding Founders

This is a follow up interview with Andrew Warner ( episode 48 )-- we told his life story back in November of 2020. Quick recap on Andrew. Shortly after college, Andrew was handling millions of dollars and taking on massive risk. Only a few years later, he’d resign from that frantic lifestyle, jump ship and head for a respite in the Caribbean. It was here he reflected on his life and returned to hi...

How do you make digital art physical? How can you print video? Infinite Objects founder and CEO, Joe Saavedra is answering these questions. Growing up in a small town, Joe tapped into artistic self expression with the saxophone. He took this artistic interest to college as he discovered how he could create art using technology which would spark a life's mission to combine these interests. This jou...

Giuliana Furci was born in London but her family returned to Chile when she was 15 years old. At 19, she stumbled across a bright orange mushroom which caught her eye while doing field work in the forest. This moment inspired Giuliana to devote her life to addressing the lack of information on fungi. Starting her career as a self-taught amateur, she became the first female field mycologist in Chil...

In this episode, we sit down with Lori Kay, a sculptor, business woman, mother, naturist, and owner of Lupin Lodge. As a kid, Lori learned to adapt and have an open mind as her family moved around due to her father’s military service. When Lori was a young adult she studied abroad in Switzerland, where she experienced first hand a different approach to nudity. When weekly trips to a sauna meant we...

Elyse Burden founded Real World Scholars (2014), where she works to give students the opportunity and resources needed to become change makers and social entrepreneurs in their communities – not one day, but right now. She provides money for the students to help pursue their business, pay it forward, and invest in the greater good. She believes in creative solutions and recognizes that young peopl...

In today’s episode, we’ll get to hear from Forrest Garvin, former U.S. Air Force NCO, creator of several technology startups, and founder of the PrepperNet community. Forrest had a front row seat during the Y2K crisis, working with computers that were expected to crash at the turn of the century. Even though he couldn’t understand why it was a big problem at the time, it was the initiation of his...

Eric Molinsky is the creator and host of Imaginary Worlds , a podcast exploring fictional worlds and works, the non-fiction stories behind them, and the communities around those stories. Born in Boston, Eric moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in animation for several years, thinking it was what he wanted. Eventually, he came to realize that his true passion was in crafting stories and “pieces...

Daisy Luther has learned the hard way how important preparation is. From debilitating poverty, to losing her father, to becoming a single mother, we follow Daisy on her story of suffering through extreme hardship. But we’ll also understand how she managed to survive and thrive in spite of it. Facing loss after loss Daisy never gave up, and now she is a successful author, the founder of TheFurgalit...

After graduating from college and getting a corporate job, Chris Bello found himself unmotivated and looking for a new pursuit. Seeking inspiration, he read   Rich Dad, Poor Dad and The Four-Hour Work Week , which led Bello to quit his job and take a one month hiatus to Asia. Afterwards, he returned and began working on his personal brand, working on a mailing list, website, and podcast simultaneo...

In this episode we sit down with John Basset, founder of Twin Mask and an avid LARPer. Live Action Role Play, or LARP, has been part of John's identity ever since he was in high school, but what is LARP? Well, it's a role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players enter a fictional world but interact with real objects, all while in character. I'll admit ev...

Christina Catalano is a noted human rights leader and founder of RISE. Although it started small, the RISE Anti-Bullying Initiative has grown to become one of the largest anti-bullying initiatives in the world. And Christina's influence doesn't stop there, in fact, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020. But before the awards and accolades, her experience with bullying was personal. G...

In this episode of Finding Founders, we hear from Hala Taha, a leading podcast entrepreneur, founder, and CEO. Hala’s story shows a journey to realizing your self-worth in the face of post-9/11 obstacles, working without compensation, and failing time and time again. Hala started with a pretty “blessed childhood”, going with her father to work at the hospital, and was a bit of a tomboy. But, after...

This is a followup episode with Maxwell Nee from High-Performing Coach . He teaches us how to make our businesses pandemic proof, how he's scaled his business, and the tools and strategies you need to start your own coaching business. If you'd like to grow your own podcast check out our coaching cohort --> The Pod30 A bit about Maxwell: Maxwell Née spent the majority of his life pursuing a stab...

How can private cities use entrepreneurship to create social good? In this episode, we meet Erick Brimen, businessman, entrepreneur, and founder of the special economic zone, Próspera . At an early age, Erick came face-to-face with the social and financial disadvantages that most people face. And that experience would eventually lead to the visionary project of prosperity districts, where entrepre...

In June of 2018, Dan was involved in “The Bucatini Dialogues: A Debate About Pasta Shapes”, a live event in which his controversial opinions about spaghetti would lead to a journey in creating his own pasta shape. From learning about the different types of flour to finding a factory which would take a chance on “the little guy”, Pashman’s 3 year journey would eventually lead to success and 'cascat...

Today’s interview is, well, a bit different. This isn’t any guest, actually this is a pretty personal story. Today we’re talking to the co founder of my family, my grandmother, Dorothy Donner. This is my dad’s mom but she’s not just my dad’s mom. In fact my dad is one of ten kids, a frikin handful to deal with. She’s raised 10 kids, has lived through the great depression, numerous wars, and a glob...

Navid Seyedali was born in Iran and eventually began living around the world in places such as the US, Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. These travels developed within him an exceptional sense of empathy, which, over 25 years ago, led Navid to help establish and further the Child Foundation. The organization's mission is to educate children around the world. Initially Navid began as a vol...

How many chances do we have in life, and what do we do with them? In this episode of Finding Founders, we answer this question with Jay Clue, an accomplished conservationist, explorer, and photographer. Jay began his life as a troublemaker and a bit of an outcast, narrowly escaping jail time on a couple of occasions. He turned things around, studying graphic design in college, working as an art di...

For many Americans, debt is a serious issue. A recent study found that the average American holds $53,897 in personal debt. Jason is trying to destroy debt with his new company, Relief. But he didn't always start with these altruistic intentions. His first entrepreneurial endeavor at 12 was hustling kids at lunch with three card monte. Eventually he'd enter the sales world realizing he had the gif...

How much do we value stability? We discuss the answer with Karen Bradfield, a former engineer for Procter & Gamble turn founder of Adventures in Baja. Karen was born in England, and though the ocean was freezing, she still felt drawn to it, constantly swimming or sailing. After finishing her studies she worked a few conventional jobs, but always felt like something was missing. She wanted to d...

Hey this episode is going to be a bit different. I’m usually the one doing the interviewing, but this time I’m on the other end of the mic. A former Finding Founders editor, Nathan Tower, invited me on his podcast, the Phasey Wave show. He did a great job of bringing my story to life! We talk about my weirdest experiences with guests, my founding philosophy, building teams, insulting high profile...

How do we discover our purpose and find work that fulfills it? In this episode of Finding Founders we discuss the answer to this question and more with Philipp Moser. He is an established tour guide, diver, and owner of Cabo Trek. Philipp was born in Austria and always loved nature, the ocean specifically. Following the conventional path, he studied to be a mechanical engineer and worked in produc...

After Sana Javeri Kadri earned their IB diploma from UWC Adriatic, she worked as a Documentary Filmmaker for P.R.I.D.E India in Maharashtra, India and was a freelance photographer for Kadri Consultants Pvt. Ltd in Mumbai, India before attending Pomona College. While pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Performing Arts, she accumulated an array of experiences during college. At 23 years old in...

Is there a relationship between visual arts and discipline? For today’s episode we had the chance to spend the whole day with Enrique Bascón, a multidisciplinary artist based in Cabo San Lucas where he has his art studio and gallery. Born and raised in the Basque country in Spain, Enrique’s journey was not always about art. From wanting to follow his own rules and making his own path as a kid, to...

Raby Gueye emigrated from Senegal at the age of 7 to the United States. Her early childhood emphasized the importance of education, primarily due to the necessity to translate for her family. Her experience translating to teachers, doctors, and even cable/utility companies all reinforced the necessity to pursue an education and eventually lead her to become the first woman to graduate from college...