The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts

In this episode of The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts, I sat down with Ari Jacoby, Co-Founder & CEO of Concentrate AI, and Zach Moskow, Founding GTM & Ops at Concentrate AI. Concentrate recently launched out of stealth after raising $5.1 million and is building an LLM gateway that gives teams one API to access leading AI models, manage token spend, improve reliability, and add security and...

In this episode of The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts, host Jack Pitts sits down with Nishank Gite, Co-Founder & CTO of Nirvana Robotics, to explore Nishank’s journey from physics and AI research into building a robotics company. The conversation covers Nishank’s background in collider physics, machine learning, neural networks, and robotics, along with the realities of building a hard-tech st...

In this episode of The Making Of , I sit down with Alex Dixon, former CEO of Resorts World Las Vegas and former executive at MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment. Alex shares his journey from growing up in Las Vegas as a third-generation casino employee to working at Goldman Sachs in New York and London, where he advised on major deals including Disney’s acquisition of Pixar and multi-billion dol...

In this episode of The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts , I sit down with David Sauers, co-founder of Royal Restrooms, one of the first luxury portable restroom companies in the country. David shares his journey growing up in Savannah, Georgia, working odd jobs as a kid, pursuing professional golf, getting into banking, and eventually building a nationwide franchise business after a frustrating expe...

In this episode of The Making Of Hosted by Jack Pitts, I sit down with Jesse Choe, CEO and Co-Founder of Bidflow. He breaks down his journey from early startup experiments to raising $1M at 19, dropping out of college, and getting into Y Combinator. Jesse shares how his path started with building “fake startups” in high school, learning through failure, and eventually realizing the importance of c...

On this episode of The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts , Shane Crocker shares his journey from growing up in a family business to building and operating across healthcare, oilfield services, and franchising. He breaks down how he approaches scaling in niche markets, making strategic decisions, and navigating private equity involvement from an operator’s perspective. The conversation also gets into...

Dave “Laundromat Millionaire” Menz didn’t start with much. He grew up in poverty in Flint, Michigan, wearing hand-me-down clothes and learning early that if he wanted something, he had to go get it. After spending 17 years in a stable corporate job, Dave found himself stuck, comfortable but unfulfilled. Instead of coasting, he made a bet on himself. Alongside his wife Carla, he saved aggressively,...

In this conversation, Lou Mongello shares how he went from practicing law to building a career around his passion for Disney. He talks about the early influences that shaped his entrepreneurial mindset, the challenge of balancing family and work, and why focusing on community became the foundation of his success. Drawing inspiration from Walt Disney, Lou explains the principles that guide both his...

On this episode of The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts, I sat down with Niilo Pirttijärvi, the co-founder & CEO of Inven, to talk about how AI is changing the way private equity firms find and analyze deals. We talked about how sourcing has traditionally worked in private equity and why Niilo believed there was an opportunity to rethink it using AI. He walked me through his path from McKinsey &...

In this episode of The Making Of Hosted By Jack Pitts , Jack interviews Kris Carlson, President and COO of The Fish Guys. Kris shares his journey from growing up in Champaign, Illinois, to building a career in sales at Reuters, and ultimately leading a growing food distribution company. He discusses how sports, Greek life, and teamwork shaped his leadership, and the lessons he learned navigating c...

This a new style for my podcast. Join my conversation with my good friend, Ian Hicks. Ian works at King Industrial in Atlanta as a broker. Ian came and visited me in NYC in December. In this episode, we share candid stories about life in New York City, building businesses, navigating friendships across distances, and the realities of entrepreneurship. Whether you're into real estate, travel, or ju...

In this episode, Robbie Ferman, co-founder and managing partners of Sollevare Group, shares his journey from corporate real estate to entrepreneurship. He discusses the importance of building relationships, the challenges of navigating the New York real estate market, and the significance of discipline and mentorship in achieving success. Robbie also reflects on his first deal, the importance of m...

In this episode, Jack Pitts interviews Doug Taylor, known as the Candyman, who shares his journey of building Taylor's Candy from a small family-run operation into a successful candy distribution and manufacturing business. Doug discusses his upbringing, early jobs, and the transition into the candy industry, highlighting the importance of hard work, family dynamics, and adapting to market changes...

In this conversation, Adam Stevenson shares his inspiring journey from a low-income upbringing in Detroit to becoming a successful entrepreneur. He discusses his early experiences flipping burgers, starting a landscaping business, and navigating college life while balancing sports and side hustles. The birth of Grassroots Records, a music label he co-founded, highlights his passion for music and c...

In this episode of The Making Of, Jack Pitts sits down with Gary Dennis, co-founder and former CEO of Mammoth Holdings, to unpack how a kid from Macon, Georgia ended up building one of the leading car wash platforms in the country. Gary walks through his path from humble beginnings — with a dad who was a maintenance mechanic and a mom who was a secretary — to Georgia Tech, an MBA from Vanderbilt,...