Scuttlebutt Podcast: Veteran Owned Business Growth

Join us as we dive deep into the world of government contracting with Hillary Voice, an Army veteran and founder of BAFO Services. Hillary shares her extensive experience navigating the complexities of government contracts across various sectors. She offers invaluable insights on finding opportunities, understanding federal acquisition regulations, and the importance of building a robust network....

In this episode, Brock interviews Randy Wootton, CEO of Maxio, as they delve into various aspects of pricing and monetization strategies for B2B SaaS companies. Randy shares his extensive career history, including his time in the military, his rise through the corporate ranks, and his experiences leading multiple companies. The discussion covers key metrics like ARR, CAC, gross retention, and net...

In this episode of the Scuttlebutt Podcast, host Brock Briggs sits down with Charlie Felker to discuss the transformative impact of AI in the home services industry. Charlie shares his journey from running a traditional customer support operation to embracing cutting-edge AI technology to streamline and enhance customer interactions. Expect to learn: How AI can improve efficiency and accuracy in c...

In this episode, Alex Mikhailovsky, a medically retired Army veteran, discusses his journey to founding Organic Grit, a CBD company tailored for veterans. Alex shares the how they're overcoming challenges with the legal landscape of CBD and the strategies that have fostered Organic Grit's growth, including using customer education to drive customers down funnel. Expect to learn the importa...

In this episode of the Scuttlebutt Podcast, host Brock Briggs delves into the fundamental principles that propelled Amazon from their first sale in the 1990s to a staggering $575 billion in revenue by 2023. Drawing from the book 'Working Backwards' by former Amazon employees Colin Breyer and Bill Carr, Brock shares key takeaways that can be applied to any business. Key lessons include the...

Mastering Global Talent: Leadership Strategies and Business Lessons with John Matzner In this insightful episode of the Scuttlebutt Podcast, John Matzner, co-founder of Sagan Passport, a global talent agency, shares his expertise on building and managing a global workforce. The video delves into the principles of leading remote teams, maintaining effective leadership, and ensuring your business se...

In this episode Brock talks with Aaron Hale, a former Navy cook and Army EOD technician. Aaron shares his life journey from military service to becoming blind and deaf due to an IED explosion and bacterial meningitis. Despite these challenges, Aaron started a successful chocolate business, EOD Fudge, turning adversity into opportunity. He discusses the importance of resilience, gratitude, and find...

There's lots of garbage career advice out there and I get why - its hard to apply principles across different disciplines, personal pursuits, and backgrounds. That was true until today - meet Joel Martycz. After his time in the Air Force, Joel has gone on to work in the broadest array of fields I've ever seen from Space X to Target and Optum Health. Joel breaks down how to position yoursel...

How do you take over a 50 year old ice business? What new verticals is there to explore in such an old industry? These are questions Brandon Adams answers in a conversation with Brock. Brandon is former Army Recon and walks us through his time growing a fund from 25 million to 12 billion before being sold to Blackstone, taking the ETA path to the ice business, and his reflections on personal growt...

Who did we leave behind in the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan? How are we looking for interpreters and other civilians who aided US efforts throughout the GWOT? What is the status of visa process? These are all questions Brock dives into with Mikael Cook, the author of the upcoming book Life and Death at Abbey Gate. Mikael's book recounts the story of his relationship with Abdul and...

In this episode, Brock talks with Jake Dulle. Jake is a former Navy submarine officer and now currently the CEO of Localvest, a marketplace to bring together veterans looking for funding for their small business and investors. In this episode Jake talks through how he found himself in the position of looking to make private investments, why he explicitly invests in veteran founders, and what they&...

In this episode, Brock walks through 4 lessons learned from guests spanning 100 episodes. Show Notes: Purpose and its creation over time through life experiences. 0:01 Finding fulfillment in life and career. 2:47 Deliberate action and choosing your own adventure. 9:23 Trial and error in career and life choices. 15:31 Career development and decision-making. 20:54 Personal responsibility and account...

In this episode, Brock talks with Colin Carroll. Colin is a former Marine Corps recon and intelligence officer and today works at Anduril on strategy and growth. Colin has been a part of several unique teams within and adjacent to the Department of Defense. We get into his time at Project Maven as well as the Joint AI Center to talk about building innovative teams from scratch, why people are the...

In this episode, Brock talks with Deed Zieglar. Deed is a former Marine Corps infantry and intelligence officer and now, in addition to working in business development at Anduril, is the founder of Recpak, an ultralight meal replacement drink for harsh and austere environments. Deed discusses how the idea for Recpak originated from long time spent leading a sniper platoon in the Marines where move...

In this episode, Brock talks with Brendan Aronson. Brendan is a former Marine Corps infantry officer and currently an associate at Context VC as well as the co founder of the Military Veteran. In this conversation, you're going to hear from the frontlines of the veterans mission space. Brendan talks through building a company exclusively aimed at transitioning vets, different business models t...

In this episode Brock talks with Tom Croteau. Tom is a former Air Force maintainer, and the current president and owner of Operfi. Operfi is a factoring company serving the $800 billion trucking and logistics industry. In this conversation, you're going to learn what factoring is. We get into Tom's training and education program he's currently building out for his carriers. Tom gives u...

In this episode, Brock talks with Nicu Parente. Nicu is former Army Infantry and today is a senior product manager at Salesforce. In this discussion, we dive into the role of product manager and how best to be an effective one. Nicu is a builder at heart and connects the dots between solving real problems, balancing business needs, and serving the customer. We also discuss Cal Newport's idea o...

In this episode, Brock talks with Amanda Rose. Amanda is former National Guard and CIA and comes on to discuss everything from weapons to toxic femininity. Amanda shares why changes in societal norms around gender roles is harming both men and women in the workplace. We discuss gun control and common misconceptions women have around self defense. Amanda also gets into why consumerism and what our...

In this episode, Brock talks with Doug Spence. Doug is a naval flight officer and a big real estate investor which is what we get into today. We start out with discussing best bars in Pensacola and why F18s are better than helos before discussing single family home investing and being a GP in an RV park investment syndication. Then we also have him break down a issue that I'm currently facing...

What asset class is bigger than housing, but 10x less efficient? LAND. In this conversation, Brock talks with Justin Piche, former Navy submarine officer, about how he started flipping land on the side while working his W2 at Exxon Mobil and now leads a team of 10 full time employees. Episode Resources: Justin's Personal Website Justin on X Show Notes: Parenting, marriage, and preparing for ba...

How is Anduril changing the defense undersea landscape? This week we hear from Ariana Pybus, a program manager on the Dive-LD, Anduril’s unmanned undersea vehicle. Ariana and Brock discuss why unmanned undersea vehicles is a massive unlock for the future of defense, her first interaction with Palmer Luckey in her new hire class where she asked him about Andruil’s ambitions in undersea, and her pla...

What does it mean to be a Navy SEAL? Well, that answer differs based on what time period you're talking about. In this conversation, Kevin Stark, former Navy SEAL of 22 years, talks with Brock about the identity crisis the community had which led to writing the ethos. It was at this time a shift towards picking individuals of high character, not just physical strength. We also talk about the h...

In this episode, Brock talks with Reagan Roberts. Reagan is the CEO of Mission Essential Gear, former infantry Marine as well. We talk about launching Mission Essential and printing T shirts from the back of his house to the warehouse that are distributing out of now. We talked about using relationships as fuel for business, being better than the Marines and having a hard problem to solve the need...

In this episode, Brock talks with Caleb McMurtrey. Caleb is a reserve Army logistics officer working in civil affairs and full times in the cyber security space. Since the Hamas and Israel conflict began in October 2023, Caleb has been covering the fight with in depth analysis and joins the Scuttlebutt to discuss the players involved, a chronological walkthrough of the attacks, and where things co...

A crash course on the state of Israel and what the current crisis tells us about ourselves. In this episode, Brock talks with Bill Toti about Israel and Hamas. Bill walks through the history of the nation of Israel, why the current conflict is important to the world, probable outcomes, and important factors that could lead to future US involvement. Episode Resources: Background on Israel and Hamas...