Office Hours with David Meltzer

Ron Levin Ron Levin is a socially conscious venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and amplifier of inspiring “double bottom line” enterprises and entrepreneurs through his popular Substack, The Higher Purpose Venture Capital Blog. Currently a managing partner with Alumni Ventures, the most active VC firm in the United States. Levin has been an angel investor and advisor to over a dozen startups. He wa...

David Dodson David Dodson is on the faculty of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he guides students in tactical execution. He teaches one of the most sought-after courses at Stanford, and in 2023 The Economist listed his course as one of the three “hottest” courses at Stanford. He is a recent recipient of the MSx Teaching Excellence Award and a six-time speaker in the gradua...

Melissa Llarena Melissa is an author, imagination coach, consultant, speaker, and contributor to Forbes Women articles that have garnered 4 million + views. She is also the host of Unimaginable Wellness, the podcast for entrepreneurs, founders, and creators who are also moms. Featured guests include GaryVee and Beth Comstock. Melissa holds a psychology degree from New York University, an MBA from...

Cassandra Gucwa Cassandra Gucwa is an accomplished entrepreneur and leader in the search engine optimization (SEO) industry. Driven by a desire to provide exceptional service without restrictive big agency bureaucracy, Gucwa built Menerva Digital into an agile team of 30+ SEO experts. With decades of combined experience optimizing enterprise websites, the Menerva Digital team lives and breathes SE...

Randy and Nicole McKillop Randy was a seasoned Government and Business Consultant in Pennsylvania in his previous life. But now, his focus has shifted to a cause that transcends all else: ensuring that we NEVER FORGET the tragic events of September 11th. In his pursuit to honor the memory of that fateful day, Randy is driven by a deeply personal mission—to bring recognition to his teammate, Mike H...

Dr. Roger Firestien His expert views on creativity have been covered in Fast Company, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, Inc. and The New York Times. His nine-part series on innovation is available on the OpenSesame e-learning platform. Dr. Firestien has written seven books and hundreds of articles on the creative process. He is Associate Professor Emeritus at the Center for Applied Imagination at...

Dave Erickson David Erickson, co-founder of Phound, embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 2001, introducing the world to cost-free teleconferencing through FreeConferenceCall.com. This innovative platform rapidly gained traction, evolving from a modestly priced domain into a globally dominant conferencing and collaboration brand. At its peak, it attracted approximately 40 million users monthl...

Grace Hawthorne Grace Hawthorne is the author of a quick and insightful guide called Make Possibilities Happen: How to Transform Ideas into Reality (with the Stanford d.school). Hawthorne has been transforming great ideas into actual products on the market for clients like Walmart for years. She's a highly accomplished designer, entrepreneur, educator, and decade-long creativity researcher. Hawtho...

Sharad Mehta Sharad Mehta is a notable figure in real estate and technology, recognized for executing over 750 real estate deals and managing a significant volume of house flipping and property management operations annually. Sharad actively invests and manages his businesses, which thrive under his direction. Sharad's entrepreneurial spirit led to the creation of REsimpli in 2016, a groundbreakin...

Anders Jones Anders is a young entrepreneur and early-stage tech investor, Prior to Facet, Anders founded Argyle Ventures to invest in emerging startup markets before the age of 30 and is an expert at raising money. Anders was also on the early team at LiveRamp (acquired by Acxiom for $310 million) and has been involved as an investor or advisor in many other startups in Silicon Valley. Since 2016...

Marty Abrams and Bruce Katz, Jeffrey Seder | Office Hours #597 Marty Abrams and Bruce Katz Founded in 1954 by Dave Abrams, Mego Corporation underwent a transformative shift in 1971 when Marty Abrams assumed leadership, earning him the title "father of action figures." Under Marty's direction, Mego ventured into licensed action figures, introducing iconic lines such as the World's Greatest Super He...

Steve Dennis Steve is the President of SageBerry Consulting, where he has advised dozens of brands on their growth strategies. He is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, podcast host, and author of LEADERS LEAP. He has been named a top global retail influencer by multiple organizations, and his thoughts on the future of shopping are regularly shared in his role as a Forbes Senior Contributor, as...

Brittany Dolin Brittany Dolin and Nicole Dayan co-founded the Pocketbook Agency. It is an elite boutique recruitment firm in Los Angeles that specializes in bespoke administrative and support roles for both corporate and domestic environments, serving esteemed clients across a diverse range of industries, including Technology, Entertainment, Financial Services, Real Estate, Fashion, Food & Bev...

Philippe Bouissou, Ph. D. Philippe Bouissou, Ph. D., has had a multifaceted career spanning three decades in Silicon Valley, encompassing roles as an entrepreneur, CEO, venture capitalist, and management consultant. Currently serving as Managing Partner at Blue Dots Partners LLC, which he co-founded. Notably, he played a pivotal role at Apple as Director of the Worldwide Internet Commerce Group, p...

Jeffrey Dunn Jeffrey Dunn is an author of cultural fiction and poetry. Embracing his dyslexia as a gift, Dunn earned a Ph. D. in English literature and cultural studies and retired after 41 years of teaching. Jim Brosnahan James J. Brosnahan is a member of the California Trial Lawyer’s Hall of Fame. He is a federal prosecutor and a defense lawyer who has tried 150 jury trials to conclusion with ca...

Justin Jones-Fosu Justin is the driving force and CEO behind a movement that empowers organizations across the globe, delivering over 50 keynote addresses a year on the pivotal topics of meaningful work and inclusion. His mission is to ignite a transformation in corporate culture, guiding organizations and individuals to ascend to their peak potential through mastery of mindset, purpose, and perfo...

Dave Liniger Dave is the Co-Founder and Chairman of RE/MAX, the Denver-based global real estate company franchise that he co-founded with his wife Gail in 1973. RE/MAX is the leading franchisor of real estate offices throughout the world and has expanded to more than 8,000 offices in over 100 countries, with 125,000+ sales agents. Mr. Liniger is highly respected internationally for his vast knowle...

Andy Schachtel Andy is the President and CEO of Sourcefit, a Business Process Outsourcing company based in Manila, Philippines. He has managed outsourced projects on the client side in the areas of Advertising, Web Design, Web Development and Mobile Development since 1997 in Asia, Europe and South America. He has been managing outsourcing projects on the provider side in the Philippines since 2006...

Aaron Marcum Aaron Marcum is a successful entrepreneur who experienced burnout despite financial success in 2015. Seeking sustainable happiness, he pursued a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Martin Seligman. Integrating his entrepreneurial expertise with positive psychology, he devised the Entrepreneurs' Eight Laws to alleviate stress and promote...

Crystal Foote Crystal Foote is an award-winning marketing professional known for her commitment to diversity and innovation, providing value to Fortune 500 brands and major advertising holding companies. She is the founder of Digital Culture Group, the sole woman-owned and black-owned advertising technology company in her field. Kale Sudhoff, Kale Sudhoff, aged 19, is an accomplished author and il...

Dutch Mendenhall Dutch Mendenhall is a devoted husband, father, and a patriot known for his visionary leadership style and unwavering commitment to success. Transitioning from a career in baseball coaching to real estate consulting in 2007, Dutch quickly became a respected thought leader in the industry, leveraging advanced analytics and AI to drive remarkable performance across six real estate in...

Jimmy Nelson Jimmy Hays Nelson, aka Coach Jimmy, has been a high-performance business coach for over a decade. Jimmy's unique skill is helping his clients to seamlessly connect their personal stories to their product or service, creating a strong "know, like, and trust factor." Using his 20+ years of experience as a stage and film performer, he crafted his own personal story to create a 7-figure b...

Chris Hewish Chris Hewish is a distinguished Interactive Executive and Studio Head, acclaimed for his adept management of operations and market strategies across the video game industry. With a track record spanning companies like Activision, DreamWorks Animation, Survios, Skydance, and Xsolla. He's led teams of all sizes, managed budgets, and brought popular games to life, like Tony Hawk and Spid...

Duncan Clark Duncan Clark is the Canva Europe Lead and the CEO of Flourish, a leading data storytelling tool that Canva acquired in 2021. Flourish visualizations, which are interactive and animated, are used by leading newsrooms, consultancies, and other organizations all over the world. He also oversees Canva’s expansion in Europe, seeking to grow the company’s user base and communities across th...

Dr. Eric Siegel Eric Siegel, Ph. D., is a prominent consultant and former Columbia University professor renowned for his expertise in machine learning deployment. He founded the Machine Learning Week conference series, instructs the online course "Machine Learning Leadership and Practice – End-to-End Mastery," and serves as executive editor of The Machine Learning Times. He authored the bestsellin...