Grit Daily Startup Show

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...

Mimmo Cricchio, an independent travel advisor with Fora Travel, discusses how a family business rooted in Italian hospitality became the foundation for his career in travel. Drawing on his background with his family’s Baltimore restaurant and years spent helping travelers experience Italy, he explains why thoughtful planning, local knowledge, and human relationships still matter in an age of...

Dr. Vedaprabhu Basavarajappa, founder and CEO of BeamGrid, shares how conviction, grit, and deep technical expertise helped him build a company focused on intelligent RF infrastructure. From satellite-to-phone connectivity to infrastructure monitoring and future wireless energy systems, BeamGrid is working to make connectivity, sensing, and energy move more seamlessly through space, air, and struc...

Pierre Aurimond, founder and CEO of FlexMode, is building a sports-based community platform designed to help professionals connect in the real world. In this episode, he explains why traditional networking is losing relevance, how Miami's wellness culture inspired FlexMode, and why shared experiences create stronger connections than social apps ever could. The conversation explores entrepreneurshi...

Janese Murray, founder of Inclusion Impact Consulting, breaks down why performance alone is not always enough for women of color navigating corporate spaces. She explores executive presence, personal brand, mentorship, sponsorship, perfectionism, and the pressure to code-switch without losing oneself. This conversation offers a grounded look at how professionals can build influence, manage the int...

Brian Fielkow, author of Make Safety Happen, explains why safety is much bigger than compliance and why strong defenses often create stronger growth. Drawing from leadership roles in trucking, logistics, and risk-intensive industries, he shares how culture, trust, and operational discipline can become competitive advantages. The conversation explores everything from acquisitions and employee reten...

Anthony Vinci, CEO of Vico, joins the podcast to explain how AI-powered forecasting can quantify uncertainty and help people make better decisions. Drawing from his background in intelligence and investing, he shares how predicting probabilities—not certainties—can shape everything from global policy to everyday life choices. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sid Dobrin joins the podcast to discuss his book The Not So Perfect Machine and why artificial intelligence is already shaping daily consumer life in ways most people never see. He explains how AI influences shopping, media, scams, pricing, trust, and decision-making, while offering practical ways people can regain control. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the Grit Daily Startup Show, host Phillip Lanos sits down with Canadian-born aviation technology pioneer and global business executive, Louis Bélanger-Martin. As a seasoned entrepreneur who spends nearly six months of the year in the air, Louis shares his three-decade journey of transforming the commercial passenger experience. From co-founding DTI Software to eventually...

In this episode, Luke McEndarfer, president and CEO of The National Children’s Chorus, shares how a childhood love of singing grew into leading one of the country’s major youth choral organizations. The conversation explores music education, access, leadership, classical music’s need for renewed public connection, and programs like Project Unison at Compton High School. McEndarfe...

MC Leo explains why the future of AI depends on the infrastructure most people never see. He shares how AurCore is helping data centers and enterprises modernize their networking systems for speed, control, and scalability. This episode looks at the real bottlenecks in AI growth and why open infrastructure may be the key to solving them. Host: Phillip Lanos | philliplanos.com | Strategic Media &am...

Munawar Karim has spent decades working at the edge of physics, aviation design, and global infrastructure, tackling problems most have long set aside. In this episode, his work spans from a breakthrough approach to electron stability to aircraft innovation and energy proposals shaped as much by politics as by engineering. It’s a conversation about persistence, big ideas, and what it takes t...

In this episode, Phillip Lanos speaks with PSQ Productions founder Mark Entner about building a large-scale events business that operates at the intersection of public partnership, private execution, and community experience. Entner shares how PSQ Productions grew from entrepreneurial ambition into a major live-events operation, managing venues, festivals, and concerts while navigating trust, logi...

In this episode, Phillip Lanos speaks with Freehold Group CEO Brendan McDermott about how retail design, fabrication, and installation shape the way consumers experience major brands in the real world. McDermott explains how experiential marketing extends far beyond pop-ups, touching everything from flagship stores and cultural activations to in-store beauty concepts and seasonal retail moments. T...

In this episode, Phillip Lanos speaks with five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and Digital Rights Network founder Neil Mandt about the emerging fight over who controls the digital layer of the physical world. Mandt explains why augmented reality is no longer a futuristic concept, but a present-day business, legal, and property rights issue that could reshape real estate, advertising, media, and...

Tony Pinedo shares how leading inside a youth correctional facility reshaped his understanding of leadership, trust, and human potential. Drawing from decades of experience, he explains why empathy, non-judgmental curiosity, and intentional presence are the true foundations of influence. This conversation explores how integrating values across work and life can transform culture, performance, and...

Phillip Lanos and Sharon Wood explore the intersection of gaming, family connections, and memory enhancement. Sharon shares her journey from marketing in the gaming industry to creating products that foster joy and dignity for individuals with fading memories. They discuss the importance of relationships, the science behind gaming, and the innovative approaches being taken to enhance quality of li...

Greg Whalen, CTO of Prove AI, explains why many enterprises are stalling with generative AI by treating it like traditional software and postponing the hard parts like observability, debugging, and governance. He breaks down what “observability” actually means in AI systems, why outcome-based metrics matter more than chasing black-box explanations, and how Prove AI helps teams collect...

Will Cady, founder of HEAL MVMNT and former Reddit creative strategist, joins the show to explore why technology is advancing faster than the moral frameworks needed to guide it. He explains how his organization helps leaders align community, culture, and purpose so companies can scale without losing their humanity. Cady also shares why keeping a “human in the loop” is essential in the...

Van Camp and Carlson join Phillip Lanos to unpack the moment when fast-growing businesses outgrow basic tax prep and start needing real cash flow visibility, risk strategy, and proactive advisory support. They break down why many CPAs default to familiar year-end moves, how liquidity becomes a hidden failure point, and what owners should look for in an advisory team as complexity rises. The conver...

This episode spotlights Himanshu Rathore, the operations leader behind Teleperformance Thailand’s remarkable rise as a global talent hub. Listeners will hear how people-first leadership, multicultural collaboration, and crisis-tested resilience shaped one of the company’s strongest success stories. It is a compelling look at what modern operational excellence truly requires. Host: Phil...