From the Ground Up

Trek Epic founder Andrew Bryan explains why experiential learning, mentorship, and even a long walk can help emerging adults understand their strengths, make better decisions, and navigate an uncertain future.

Charles Masi shares how a life of curiosity led him through physics, business, teaching, art, journalism, and film production. He explains why systems thinking matters and how creative work depends on understanding how different parts fit together.

Business attorney Matthew Fornaro explains why many legal problems begin as business planning mistakes. He shares how entrepreneurs can protect their companies early, use AI responsibly, and avoid costly disputes before they happen.

Rastegar Capital founder and CEO Ari Rastegar discusses why failure drives growth, how entrepreneurs can navigate messy markets, and what it means to make business and real estate decisions with a 100-year horizon.

Independent travel advisor Mimmo Cricchio shares how his family's hospitality roots shaped his career, why word of mouth remains his most powerful marketing tool, and how rebuilding after major change pushed him to think bigger about travel and entrepreneurship.

Tim Wilbur, International Director and Leadership Trainer for Vineyard India Compassion Trust, shares how education became the center of his life’s work. Through New Song Community School in Telangana, India, the organization helps children from rural villages gain access to English-medium education, opportunity, and a broader vision for their futures. The conversation explores poverty, service, s...

Jon Ramer, founder and “first first follower” of the Compassion Games, explains how acts of kindness can become a framework for social change. Drawing on music, technology, Indigenous wisdom, and decades of movement-building, he shares why cooperation may be one of humanity’s most important evolutionary advantages. The conversation explores compassion, AI, regenerative commerce, bioregions, and wh...

Seymour Segnit, founder of MAGFAST, shares how a simple frustration with messy charging cables became a long, difficult, and ultimately revealing entrepreneurial journey. He explains how transparency, customer trust, product design, and persistence helped MAGFAST survive delays and rebuild momentum around a new generation of chargers. The conversation explores crowdfunding, communication, environm...

Ranbir Chawla, founder of Vardalux Collections, shares how a lifelong love of cars, watches, and mechanical beauty became a business built around smarter collecting. Drawing on decades in technology, consulting, and luxury markets, he explains why the right physical assets can create access, preserve value, and bring real enjoyment when bought with discipline. The conversation explores watches, ca...

Gina Fossitt, founder of Dandelion BevEd and creator of the Less Booze, All the Buzz community, is helping people rethink how they drink without sacrificing connection or experience. Drawing on nearly two decades in beverage education, she explores the rise of mindful drinking, the changing habits of younger generations, and why consumers increasingly want options that fit every occasion. The conv...

Mary Howerton, founder of La Belle Route Custom Tours, joins From the Ground Up to discuss how intentional travel can create deeper cultural connection and more meaningful experiences. She shares how her decades in educational and experiential travel led her to build a company focused on immersive journeys rather than checklist tourism. The conversation explores literary trips, fandom travel, stud...

Janese Murray, founder of Inclusion Impact Consulting, joins From the Ground Up to discuss how workplace culture, feedback, and inclusion shape professional growth. She explores why playing small can become a career trap, especially for women navigating rooms where they may be underrepresented. The conversation covers imposter syndrome, perfectionism, mentorship, speaking up, and how professionals...

In this episode, Anthony Vinci, founder and CEO of VICO, explains how his company is using AI, mathematics, and data science to forecast global events and improve high-stakes decision-making. Drawing on his background in intelligence, technology, hedge funds, private equity, and his book The Fourth Intelligence Revolution, Vinci breaks down why leaders need to think in probabilities rather than bi...

Kirsty Sharman, founder and CEO of Referral Factory, shares how she built a company around one of the most overlooked growth channels in business: existing customers. This conversation explores her entrepreneurial journey from South Africa to Europe and Armenia, along with her views on referral marketing, SEO, and building an AI-first company. It is a candid look at what it takes to grow a modern...

Andy Hedrick shares what has changed in sales and why so many deals are lost before a real conversation ever happens. He explains his 2V2R framework and how companies can improve close rates by showing value, proof, and credibility earlier. This episode is a practical look at what modern buyers respond to and how sales teams can adapt.

Greg Whalen, CTO of Prove AI, joins the show to explain why the biggest challenge in generative AI is not just building models, but making them observable, governable, and supportable at scale. The conversation explores telemetry, AI governance, and why leaders need to get closer to the details as software development changes under GenAI. It is a practical look at what enterprises must do now to a...

Mo Maureen Cowie, founder of Seahorsegal Designs, joins the show to share how a passion for handmade jewelry grew into a brand centered on affordability, individuality, and beauty. From custom pieces and natural stones to her philosophy on confidence, creativity, and self-trust, Cowie brings a refreshing perspective on building a business with heart. The conversation also explores positivity, soci...

Silicon Valley investor Ed Dua shares the journey from coder to venture capitalist and the lessons he has learned backing more than 100 startups. He explains how IAC Ventures evaluates early-stage companies, why vertical AI is attracting serious investor attention, and what founders often misunderstand about raising capital. The conversation also explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping i...

In this episode of From the Ground Up, Taiefa Tabassum shares how lean SaaS teams can compete by prioritizing positioning, disciplined experimentation, and founder-led storytelling over vanity metrics. Drawing from her journey from visual design to tech marketing at MyWorks, she explains the 70–30 rule, the importance of narrative-driven campaigns, and how small teams can validate demand before sc...

Will Cady, founder of HEAL MVMNT and former Reddit executive, joins From the Ground Up to discuss why culture, story, and human values are becoming essential leadership tools in an increasingly data-driven world. He explains how his HEAL framework helps organizations align decision-making with purpose, uncover blind spots, and build stronger communities both inside and outside the business. Cady a...

Peter Rojas, Mozilla’s SVP of New Products, joins From the Ground Up to share how his early internet-building background influences the way he approaches mission-driven product development today. He breaks down how Mozilla is thinking about trust, transparency, and sustainable business models while expanding beyond Firefox with new products. Rojas also explains the Mozilla Pioneers program, a resi...

Jasper Fu, Co-Founder & CEO of Coinsub, is building stablecoin payments infrastructure that feels so seamless most people won’t realize it’s crypto. In this episode, he explains why adoption is still earlier than the industry thinks, why payment service providers—not merchants—are the key to scale, and how programmable subscriptions unlock real-world use cases. It’s a grounded conversation abo...

Jim Alkove, CEO of Oleria, shares how decades inside Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce led him to tackle one of enterprise security’s most overlooked problems: identity. This episode explores why access management is broken, how AI is reshaping security from the inside out, and what it really takes to transition from big tech leadership to startup founder. It’s a candid look at trust, conviction,...

Amy Rencher, SVP of Small Business and Talent at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, breaks down how Michigan supports entrepreneurs across all 83 counties through local partner networks, access-to-capital programs, and place-based initiatives. She explains what makes Detroit’s ecosystem distinct, how SmartZones and Small Business Support Hubs connect founders to resources, and why one-...

Ethan Williams, CEO of Quantide Growth Partners, breaks down why pricing is one of the most overlooked growth levers for small and mid-sized businesses, and how founders can stop defaulting to discounting. He explains Quantide’s new Digital Pricing Officer, built around proprietary pricing data and structured workflows that help companies quantify value, choose pricing models, and defend price wit...