Story in a Bottle

Dan Maccarone interviews Tristan Snell, discussing his experiences in law, technology and politics. They cover Snell's legal battle with Trump University and his video platform startup. Snell describes how his experiences have influenced his approach to politics and legal battles and highlights his transition from high-stakes legal cases to the fast-paced tech startup environment. Key Takeaways: -...

When Amanda Goetz left her corporate gig to sculpt her own path through the entrepreneurial wilderness, she didn't just trade a desk for a dream; she crafted a multifaceted empire, painting a life that harmonizes ambition with the purest forms of self-expression. Her story isn't just a blueprint for building a personal brand that resonates across social media platforms; it's a testament to the she...

When Bitcoin started gaining traction, Mike Dudas started buying. In fact, of all the cryptocurrencies out there, bitcoin is the only one he's gone all in on. But his passion for the Blockchain and Crypto world didn't end there. IN 2018, he not only put his money where is mouth was, but his whole career, when he started The Block, the goal being to create THE destination for news in the Blockchain...

The tech world is understandably frustrating and at some point, you've just had enough. For Katie Smith-Adair, that point came after she watched Sonar, the startup she was working for, blow up. The mobile app was part of a plethora of location-based people finding networks that permeated South by Southwest in 2012, but never really found its footing. Over a bottle of Chardonnay at Fools Gold in Ma...

From music promotion to managing bars. From political strategist to startup founder. From consultant to professor. Jeremy Kagan's gone down many roads over the course of his career. Over a variety bourbons at Fool's Gold in New York, Jeremy talks about how his career has taken so many different turns, the emotional trauma of running your own startup and how all his experiences prepared him for his...

Leah Finnegan's journalism journey reads like the resume of someone decades in, which makes what she's accomplished even more impressive. She first discovered her passion for journalism while working on the newspaper at the University of Texas and parlayed that into a stint at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, where she quickly realized that one does not need a master's in journ...

Adam Levin has lead five different lives or at least had five different careers. From consumer protector to politician to real estate investor to digital entrepreneur to best selling author. And there's even more beyond that. Over glasses of Lafroig scotch at Fool's Gold in Manhattan, Adam sat down and discussed all of these facets of his life, including his experience shaping New Jersey's consume...

Growing up on the Hawaiian island of Kauai may not seem like a place where technology takes the forefront, but for Nicole Wilke it was a ubiquitous part of her life. Taking her lifelong education around design and computer science with her from the islands to the mainland, Nicole worked her way through media and tech's biggest names. Over negronis  at Fool's Gold in Manhattan, she talks about her...

When Nick Carlson started at Business Insider, he was a young reporter coming off stints at Gawker Media and Internet News, putting his faith in a fledgling media startup. Today, he's the Global editor in chief of BI and oversees 250 plus reporters and writers at the publication, which has become one of the biggest voices in tech journalism. Over Old Fashioneds at Fools Gold in New York City, Nick...

The genre of political and social journalism has spawned a plethora of new voices over the past few years and Taylor Lorenz has emerged as a notable voice, most recently as a staff writer for The Atlantic. Her origin story starts in New York City, where she grew up and as social media became a major destination for communication, she quickly adapted to it by becoming an early Tumblr user and build...

From a young age in New Zealand, Hamish McKenzie always had a passion for writing and he knew he was pretty good at it! He pursued an English degree and eventually earned a graduate degree in  journalism. Hamish went on to be a reporter and wrote for PandoDaily, the Guardian and the Toronto Star. His freelance writing eventually lead him to he role as head writer for the innovative car company, Te...

Erin Ryan grew up in a small town in Wisconsin and was always a big fish in a little pond. After earning a degree in English from Notre Dame, she began a career in finance, a path she quickly realized was not her destiny. And it was the Gawker Media run, woman-focusted site Jezebel that changed her life. An avid reader of it, she eventually started participating in the conversations there and, eve...

Lucas Arzola is a man with many different titles. He is an entrepreneur, educator, and innovation ecosystem builder. Originally from Puerto Rico, Lucas ventured to University of California, Davis for college and wound up staying to coordinate strategic partnerships between the university and pharmaceutical biotechnology companies. Lucas went on to found Betabox, a technology company that designs a...

Beth Schoenfeldt and Megan Hannum are experts at understanding the needs of startups. As business partners, they complement each other with Beth running the operations side of their company, FundedBuy, and Megan handling the networking. Together they are an unstoppable duo. At their core, Beth and Megan leverage their skills to ensure founders can focus on what it will take to get their founders t...

Dave Malouf is a man who comes from many different career paths, but the one course he has stayed on through and through is the almighty Internet. He originally graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Anthropology, but he soon discovered he loved something else: web design. As Dave created new site after new site, he began to realize that he could help other users and other web designers come...

At her core, Glynnis MacNicol has always known writing was her passion. She still remembers her first journal from when she was only 6 years old. Glynnis has translated that fierce need for independence into her role as the co-founder of TheList, a women only social network that seeks to bring professional women together for camaraderie, business connections and a space for open conversation . Gly...

Ross Asdourian spends his day to day solving problems. According to him, that is one of the main qualities that makes a great producer. From starting as a freelance producer after college, to getting his first big break as the NBC News Creative Digital Product Manager, Ross paid his dues to get to where he is today, including roles as a Creative Director for NBCUniversal and a Producer for Red Bul...

Every choice you make in life can be a calculated decision. For Stephanie Vaughan, that is the way she let her career evolve. She was originally in the United States Marine Corp after attending the Naval Academy where she studied quantitative economics. Once her tour in Afghanistan was over, she went back to school where she received her MBA from Columbia Business School in order to further everyt...

Zach Mach's original dream of working in the world of media has finally come to fruition, but not in the way he expected. Zach moved to New York right after he graduated college, in hopes of becoming a writer and even though he did have gigs at places like Gawker, he soon realized that a full time career in that world wasn't his passion. His greater love in life was beer. And he has turned that in...

When you start your career in a complicated industry and are able to realize how much experience you don't have in order to do it well, that's admirable. To actually gather that knowledge and then come back is exemplary; that is exactly what Melody Kohdid. After starting in venture capital after college, she didn't think she was fit for the job just yet and wound up founding her own start up and,...

When Chris Maddern discovered his passion for technology, he knew he was hooked. His addiction to it lead to a career that started with pioneering the early days of app development with his company AppLaunch, but quickly lead to a passion that has permeated his career since: solving the challenge of making transactions easier everywhere and anywhere. His work on Venmo revolutionized peer to peer p...

Melanie Cristol has always let her passions drive her career. Those passions lead her to become a lawyer and, now, to become an entrepreneur. As a founder, she's launched her most personal product yet: Lorals. Lorals are lingerie worn during oral sex, for when you love the idea of oral and you want to love the reality. This latex underwear will block anything you don't want transferred, whether it...

We all have a lost feeling after college life, even astrophysicists! Andrew Fleming originally went to Michigan Tech for physics and then took it one level higher to study astrophysics at Columbia University in New York. He realized before he was officially done with all school that the prospect of him spending the  rest of his days studying the stars and universe wasn't in the cards if he didn't...

Courtney Boyd Myers has always been a multitasking mover. She was born in Connecticut and grew up playing in multiple sports at one time, and in a family that moved around a lot. Both of those qualities has molded her into the person she is today. Courtney is the founder of AKUA , a company that creates sustainable, seagreens-based foods, an adviser of GreenWave, a nonprofit that supports the rege...

Daniel Kibblesmith grew up loving comedy and always found himself gravitating towards writing, but it took him awhile to realize he was actually writing comedy as a career. Starting off his career in Chicago after college, Daniel worked for Groupon as an in-house comedian and wrote humorous ad copy. This lead to him becoming one of the founding editors of ClickHole which eventually lead him to Buz...