Strap on your Boots

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I explore how artificial intelligence is transforming entrepreneurship by making it easier than ever to turn an idea into a working product. Drawing from my early experiences building Gugo, Picklify, and Instamour, I reflect on the years when launching a technology startup required expensive developers, complicated programming, and months of work. Today, to...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots, I explore why marketing a technology startup can be so much harder than promoting a movie. Drawing from my experiences building Instamour , Spinnr , Vengo AI , and Campus Pixel , I explain how changing products, shifting customer markets, and evolving business models can make startup marketing a constant challenge. I also share how I marketed my documentary...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I explain why adding more features isn’t always the answer when your startup struggles to attract customers. Drawing from my years running a technology consulting company, I share how founders often spend months building complicated platforms before discovering whether anyone actually wants them. We explore why launching a minimum viable product (MVP), list...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I explore why studying your competition can be valuable, but watching them too closely can actually hurt your startup. Drawing from my experience building products like Spinnr, I discuss how competitor research can lead to feature creep, distract from your original vision, and create unfair comparisons with companies that have far more resources. Instead of...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I speak with Michael Praver of FundingFundingFunding.com about the process of raising capital for a startup or business expansion. Michael walks through the funding process from beginning to end, including business credit, bridge funding, shelf corporations, corporate funding, and how entrepreneurs can position themselves to access larger amounts of capital. We also...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I explore why I’ve become increasingly interested in building companies with customers before turning to investors. Drawing from my experience with Instamour, Vengo AI, Campus Pixel, Spinnr, Axopods, Ortempo, and even my documentary Before the Moon, I look at how much cheaper and faster it has become to launch something today. Bootstrapping isn’t about avoi...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I speak with James King, founder and fund manager at ROAS Fund , about an emerging investment opportunity created by the way businesses acquire customers through platforms like Meta and Google. James explains what he calls the “ROAS economy,” how AI-driven advertising has created new inefficiencies in the market, and why measurable business revenue could become an a...

 In this episode of Strap On Your Boots, I reflect on nearly twenty years of independent filmmaking and why I believe there has never been a better time to make a movie. Using my latest documentary, Before the Moon , as an example, I explore how affordable cinema cameras, drones, editing tools, social media, direct screenings, physical media, and digital distribution have transformed what independ...

 In this episode of Strap On Your Boots, I reflect on how startup fundraising has changed since I first entered the tech world and why I’ve become far more focused on revenue than raising capital. From growing Instamour to roughly half a million users without solving monetization early enough, to building companies today around paying customers and enterprise contracts, I explore why proving peopl...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots, I explore why I've stopped treating five-year business plans as predictions of where a company will actually end up. After years of building startups, I've learned that customers, technology, competition, and entire markets can change faster than any spreadsheet can anticipate. I share how Vengo AI evolved from consumer to B2B SaaS to enterprise, why I now p...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I speak with Dr. Bruce Dorey , leadership expert, executive coach, and engineering CEO, about one of the biggest challenges organizations face today: preserving decades of institutional knowledge before it walks out the door. We discuss why experience is far more valuable than documentation alone, how mentorship and coaching help develop future leaders, and how AI c...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I explore one of the biggest advantages startups have over much larger competitors: speed. Drawing from my experience building companies and the evolution of Vengo AI from a consumer product to B2B SaaS and eventually enterprise, I explain how small teams can listen to customers, test ideas, pivot, and respond to the market incredibly quickly. Large compani...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I reflect on turning fifty and the biggest lesson I've learned after decades of building startups, making films, writing software, and exploring new ideas. Experience isn't just about accumulating knowledge. It's about developing judgment, recognizing patterns, and connecting lessons from projects that once seemed completely unrelated. I share how curiosity...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I speak with Bryan Blakeny, therapist, counselor, and founder of EQ Education , about why so many successful people still struggle to find fulfillment. After more than 26 years working in psychology, counseling, and personal development, Bryan has spent his career helping people understand the deeper connection between purpose, identity, emotional well-being, and lo...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I share one of the biggest mindset shifts I’ve had as an entrepreneur: why I stopped searching for the perfect co-founder and started focusing on building the vision first. Looking back at my early startups, I realized that talented people alone aren’t enough if everyone has a different picture of where the company is headed. I explain how building prototyp...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I reflect on one of the biggest lessons I've learned after building multiple software companies: creating a great product is no longer the hardest part of entrepreneurship. As software becomes easier to build with AI and modern development tools, the real challenge has shifted to earning attention, finding the right customers, and standing out in an increas...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I speak with leadership coach and somatic practitioner Naomi Scott about why so many high-performing entrepreneurs burn out — even after achieving success. Naomi explains how burnout isn’t a willpower problem, but a nervous system problem, and why the same drive that helps founders succeed can actually prevent them from sustaining growth. We dive into the biology be...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots , I answer one of the questions I get asked most often How do you decide what to work on next Looking back on a career that spans startups, AI, filmmaking, music, writing, and entrepreneurship, I share the framework that naturally emerged over the years. I discuss why I rotate between creative and technical projects, how curiosity shapes my decisions, why tim...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I speak with Founder and CEO Allan Khazak about why most high-ticket teams don’t have a lead problem — they have a broken conversion process. Allan breaks down the exact system he uses to help insurance producers, advisors, and service-based businesses increase show rates, reduce no-shows, qualify faster, and close based on economic outcomes instead of product pitch...

In this episode of Strap On Your Boots, I reflect on how startup culture shaped my view of entrepreneurship and why I recently found myself questioning one of my own assumptions. After learning about entrepreneurs who buy existing businesses instead of building companies from scratch, I began wondering whether we’ve become too attached to a single version of what entrepreneurship is supposed to lo...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I speak with Technology and Operations Expert Issac Hicks about why most AI projects fail — and how entrepreneurs can be part of the small percentage that actually generate real returns. Issac breaks down the gap between AI marketing hype and operational reality, explains why nearly 95% of AI initiatives never make money, and shows what successful AI implementations...

In this episode of Strap on Your Boots, I talk about how artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing entrepreneurship, productivity, and the future of work. Over the last few years, I’ve watched the barriers to building businesses collapse in real time as AI tools dramatically accelerate research, design, marketing, coding, automation, and content creation. What once required teams of specia...

In this episode of Strap on Your Boots, I talk about something that feels less theoretical by the day: the growing impact of AI on business, creativity, and everyday work. Over the past year, I’ve watched AI tools evolve from interesting experiments into practical systems that entrepreneurs and companies are quietly integrating into their daily operations. From marketing and customer support to co...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I speak with architect, entrepreneur, and father Peter Sandiford, who shares expert insights on how to bring your dream tropical home to life. We explore how to choose the right architect, why Caribbean modernism is on the rise, and how sustainability and technology are reshaping design in the tropics. Peter breaks down what makes a home not only beautiful, but clim...

In this episode of Zero to CEO, I chat with Mitch McGinley, an Exit Planning Advisor and Business Broker specializing in boutique fitness, health, and wellness businesses. Mitch shares three simple steps to plan your ideal business exit — whether you’re looking to sell in five months or five years. We break down what buyers are really looking for, how to avoid costly mistakes, and why your exit st...