The Founders' Journey

In 2016, Chris Barbin sold Appirio, the company he built from four founders to 1,500 employees, to Wipro for more than $500 million. This spring, he spent 38 days completely alone on the Pacific, rowing 1,750 miles from Monterey to Puerto Vallarta with no support boat, no sail, and no motor. Chris joins Ryan Heckman to talk about the leap from operator to private equity investor at Tercera , and t...

Kevin Palamara has spent his entire 24-year career at one firm, a rarity in investment banking, and it shows. As a Managing Director at Provident Healthcare Partners , Kevin has been on the front lines of the private equitization of American healthcare, from fax-machine deal rooms in 2002 to today's fiercely competitive physician practice markets. In this conversation, Ryan and Kevin unpack t...

Karl Mecklenburg was the Swiss Army knife of the Denver Broncos defense, a six-time Pro Bowler who played all seven front positions and never told the offense where he was going. But what Ryan Heckman remembers most is how Karl walked off the field after a loss. In this conversation, they explore the leadership lessons hiding inside professional football: what it means to mentor rather than protec...

David Gardner co-founded The Motley Fool on AOL in 1994 at age 28, with $50,000 of his own money and a belief that most people still don't share: that ordinary investors can beat the market. In this conversation, Ryan and David trace the origins of Rule Breaker Investing, the third school of thought that sits between Bogle's indexing and Buffett's value discipline, and how it led Ga...

What if the future of entrepreneurship is not Silicon Valley, but everywhere else? In this episode of The Founders’ Journey , Ryan Heckman sits down with Linda Rottenberg , Co-founder and CEO of Endeavor . What began in Buenos Aires in 1997 has grown into a global network spanning 45+ countries, helping build companies that generate over $100 billion in revenue.  Linda shares how Endeavor transfor...

What happens after you build the company? After the exit? After the identity you wrapped yourself in no longer fits? In this no-BS conversation, Ryan Heckman sits down with Chip Conley , founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, former Head of Global Hospitality & Strategy at Airbnb, bestselling author, and founder of the Modern Elder Academy . Chip shares how he raised $1.1M at 26 to buy a broken...

In this episode of The Founders' Journey , Ryan Heckman sits down with Tony Aug , Co-founder and CEO of Nimble Gravity , one of the most sought-after data science and AI consultancies in the U.S. Known for his intensity and intellectual firepower, Tony surprises with a deeply human origin story rooted in curiosity, discipline, and heart. Tony shares how growing up in an educator household sha...

In this episode of The Founders’ Journey , we sit down with Michelle Collie , Founder and CEO of Highbar Physical Therapy , to explore a story where the journey is just as personal as the objective. From a life-changing ACL injury on a basketball court in rural New Zealand to building and scaling a leading physical therapy platform alongside Rallyday, Michelle shares hard-earned lessons on leaders...

In this episode of The Founders’ Journey , we sit down with David Gilberg , Founder, CEO, and President of Elder Care Homecare , who made the bold leap from investment banking at Morgan Stanley to building a purpose-driven home care company alongside his mother. What began as a small family practice rooted in compassion has grown into a leading concierge home care provider serving more than 600 pa...

After building a thriving law firm, Denise Logan left it all behind for life on the road and found her purpose helping founders navigate one of the most emotional chapters of their lives: selling their business. In this episode, Denise joins Ryan Heckman to explore why every exit is more than a financial transaction. It’s a reckoning with identity, legacy, and personal transformation. Drawing on h...

In this episode of The Founders’ Journey , Ryan Heckman sits down with youth psychologist Keith Sousa to explore the tension between building companies and raising kids. Keith shares why the skills that make us effective in business don’t always translate at home, how presence matters more than perfection, and why it’s never too late to reconnect with family. At its core, this is a conversation ab...

What does it take to grow as a leader while scaling a company? In this episode of The Founders’ Journey , Ryan Heckman sits down with executive coach Ed Batista —who’s logged nearly 10,000 hours working with CEOs and founders. They explore the shift from force to power in leadership, why structure can actually create freedom, the lonely work of being a CEO, and how self-coaching can help founders...

In this episode of The Founders' Journey, Ryan Heckman sits down with Dan Cremons, the newly appointed and sole Strategy Architect at Rallyday Partners , to explore his evolution from middle-class Cincinnati roots to becoming a transformative force in private equity - challenging industry norms with a refreshingly human-centered approach. Dan shares his journey from Alpine Investors to foundi...

In this episode of The Founders' Journey, Ryan Heckman sits down with Nancy Catarisano and Frank Longobardi of Insero Advisors to explore their remarkable journey from startup founders to industry leaders in the rapidly evolving accounting sector. Nancy and Frank share insights on navigating what might be the fastest-changing professional services landscape today - balancing technological inn...

In this episode of The Founders' Journey, Ryan Heckman sits down with Vance Brown , renowned entrepreneur and civic leader, to explore his evolution from ambitious North Carolina student to Colorado software pioneer. Vance shares his remarkable journey through three successful software ventures - from family-run Buildsoft to billion-dollar FrontRange Solutions to bootstrapped Cherwell Softwar...

The Founders’ Journey: Special 3-Part Series, Tariff Talks In April 2025, sweeping new tariffs triggered market turmoil, shook CEO confidence, and sparked urgent questions across the business landscape. At Rallyday, we responded the way we did during COVID - by calling trusted voices on the front lines. And this time, we hit record. In just 48 hours, we captured three candid conversations explorin...

The Founders’ Journey: Special 3-Part Series, Tariff Talks In April 2025, sweeping new tariffs triggered market turmoil, shook CEO confidence, and sparked urgent questions across the business landscape. At Rallyday, we responded the way we did during COVID - by calling trusted voices on the front lines. And this time, we hit record. In just 48 hours, we captured three candid conversations explorin...

The Founders’ Journey: Special 3-Part Series, Tariff Talks In April 2025, sweeping new tariffs triggered market turmoil, shook CEO confidence, and sparked urgent questions across the business landscape. At Rallyday, we responded the way we did during COVID - by calling trusted voices on the front lines. And this time, we hit record. In just 48 hours, we captured three candid conversations explorin...

In this episode of The Founders’ Journey , Ryan Heckman sits down with Tameem Hourani , Founder & Principal of RapDev , to explore his bold journey from Bahrain to Boston and from Wayfair engineer to tech entrepreneur.  Tameem shares how he launched RapDev while still at Wayfair, scaling it into one of the fastest-growing IT consultancies - without any outside funding. They dive into the reali...

In this episode of The Founders’ Journey , we sit down with telecommunications titan Dan Caruso , founder of Zayo Group and author of the newly released book Bandwidth . Known as "The Bear" for his intense leadership style, Dan shares how he built Zayo from zero revenue in 2007 to a telecommunications powerhouse with $1 billion in EBITDA, culminating in a $14 billion valuation when he st...

In this episode of The Founders’ Journey podcast, host Ryan Heckman interviews Susan Salgado who spent 15 years working with restaurateur Danny Meyer to scale Union Square Hospitality Group's magical culture. Salgado reflects on her journey from academic researcher to cultural architect, sharing how she led Meyer's hospitality-driven philosophies into systematic practices and legendary s...

What if everything we thought we knew about human potential in business was wrong? In this textured conversation with Jeff Hunter , founder & CEO of Talentism , he challenges conventional wisdom about leadership, personal growth, and organizational success. Hunter's fascinating journey has taken him through multiple start-ups, Electronic Arts during its revolutionary growth phase, and Ray...

Join host Ryan Heckman and Samantha Citro Alexander , CEO and co-founder of Bitewell , as they discuss her journey from theater major to stints at Bridgewater Associates and Estée Lauder to founder of a groundbreaking nutrition technology company. Samantha shares how Bitewell is revolutionizing healthy eating through their innovative "food health score" and online ‘farmacy’ while buildin...

In this episode of the Founders’ Journey podcast, we had the opportunity to speak with Robert Wolfe and Edward Norton (yes, the legendary actor, director, and producer), co-founders of Zeck. Zeck is on a mission to revolutionize board meetings through its online workspace, which cuts preparation time by over 50%, enhances collaboration before and after meetings, and provides a transformational exp...

In this episode of The Founders' Journey podcast, we welcome Haley Rushing, Co-Founder and Chief Purposologist of The Purpose Institute. Haley shares her insights on how purpose-driven businesses outperform their peers, drawing from her work with companies including Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, and Southwest Airlines. We explore the "purpose paradox" - how focusing on purpose for profit s...