The Novice

Why are engineers and startup founders so excited about Artificial Intelligence? Is that because the field is hyped up, is that because we can ask ChatGPT all kinds of questions and get instant answers, or is it because of some deeper connection?  My friend Bijan came to talk about his experience starting EventMobi at the time when mobile web was just getting started, and how he is seeing many par...

Welcome to The Novice . Today it is my pleasure to share with you my interview with Harley Sitner , the amazing Seattle entrepreneur and driving force behind Peace Vans , a company that embodies the spirit of adventure and community. This episode will show you what it takes to take the leap and to leave a comfortable office job in the pursuit of happiness, even if that means stress and long hours...

Stewart Alsop III is not just the host of The Crazy Wisdom podcast; he’s a friend and a fellow adventurer in the wild world of podcasting. Our paths first crossed when Stewart invited me onto his show to dive into the magic behind Smashnotes.com . Since then, he’s embarked on an epic journey, recording nearly 400 episodes, quenching his insatiable curiosity, and even discovering a unique way to mo...

Hey there, Curious Minds, Have you've ever wondered how to make startup equity distribution way less stressful, protecting the founders and enabling employees to have more? This episode of " The Novice " is for you. We're diving deep into the future of startups with Rafal Dittwald, the masterminds behind Venture Hub . What’s Venture Hub? Venture Hub is a game-changer, an online community and platf...

Gooooood Morning, Internet! Prepare for a rollercoaster of wit, insight, and a sprinkle of absurdity in my latest episode of "The Novice"! This week, I sit down with the enigmatic Jack Kuveke , a startup founder whose recent claim to fame was his masterful act as a Venture Capitalist from Jabroni Capital. Just hit that play button and you will see what I mean. As Jack shares his "insights" on rais...

Ladies, gentlemen, and intellectually curious souls of the internet, I am thrilled to announce a new chapter in the grand pursuit of knowledge. Welcome to The Novice Podcast a podcast where I, alongside my brilliant friends, embark on a quest to learn from the most interesting people on the planet, or maybe just your neighbor or something. Picture this: a world where ignorance is not a burden but...

Paul Davis was once a 2nd employee at Amazon, on track to earn millions. Instead of sticking around to get filthy rich though, Paul decided he did not want to wait for the life to pass him by. He chose to spend time with his family, left Amazon, and twenty years later still has no regrets. His life has been nothing but wonderful. This is Paul’s story. Get full access to The Novice at novice.media/...

This is a story of how Anthony Edent founded DNSimple to become the fastest DNS management solution provider in the world. He built himself a company that not only cares about their customers, but also created the perfect place for their employees. They work hard, but they also do it remotely, from around the globe. How did he do it, and what lessons does Anthony have for fellow founders and entre...

Paul Orlando is a startup founder, entrepreneur, Director of USC Incubator Program & Adjunct Professor for the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Paul also has an avid interest in history, which he explores though his blog called Unintended Consequences . Paul's writing is a delight in the times of clickbait and social media. His blogs explore peculiar concepts and require the read to...

David Woodland is currently a Product Manager at Facebook, previously Head of Product at Palm.com and a Product Manager at Pebble. He is a father of 4, and a Management Consultant who found product-building life in Silicon Valley to be way more attractive than spreadsheets. On this episode we talk about his work and life balance, what it was like to work at Pebble, how his consulting career prepar...

Jason Calacanis is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. He was one of the early believes in Uber, Calm, Robinhood and many others. He is a host of the show This Week in Startups , and the author of Angel . If that was not enough, he is a founder of a startup accelerator Launch.co , and the founder of Inside.com On this episode, Jason shares his views and wisdom, advice that he's accumulated t...

Raising kids could be daunting, or it could ba lot of fun. Nathan is a startups founder and a dad who is making the best of every opportunity. We talk about his family, his work, and how the two intertwine to create a happy and healthy lifestyle.  You can find Nathan on Twitter and on YouTube . Full show notes are on SmashNotes . ----- Make your podcast audio sound awesome with ClipGain.io Get ful...

Noah Labhart is the CTO & Co-Founder of Veryable, an on-demand labor marketplace for manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing. He is also the Founder & CEO of Touchtap, a digital solutions studio. A dad of three, he also finds time to interview tech leaders on his podcast, Code Story. Get full access to The Novice at novice.media/subscribe

Roberto from the Expeditioners is the dad many wish they could be. Instead of holding a steady job, he and his family are busy traveling the world, taking gorgeous photos for brands that pay for his living. Roberto is fit and happy, and is not concerned with the norm. Find out what it takes to be a self-made entrepreneur, and how to be paid to be happy. Get full access to The Novice at novice.medi...

Anthony Armendariz is a founder and partner at Funsize , a creative design agency which he started with his wife Natalie. They spent years being laser focused on business, working day and night, and now count Facebook, Oracle, Adobe, EA, AT&T and many others among their customers.  Can such an ambitious and hard-working couple have a baby, and to actually enjoy it? We sit down with Anthony to find...

Jonathan Sposato is a Seattle entrepreneur, investors, and a community activist. He is a chairman of Geekwire.com and Picmonkey.com We talk about his childhood and what it was like to be growing up in a mixed family, in a time and place when that was definitely not the norm, and how that shaped his life and his outlook on the future. We talk about Janathan’s entrepreneurial endeavors, his investme...

How do you teach a child to learn a new language? You don't! Instead, you get her excited about learning, and one day she does it herself. The she goes to Yale. Stefan Weitz is the founder of Jetson Seasonal Probiotics and today he explains how to be a great dad, how to encourage and empower your kids, how international travel is the best thing you could do to broaden your kid's horizons, and more...

Mubashar Iqbal is a developer, dad, and a maker who just cannot stop creating products on the internet.   Mubs is the guy behind Pod Hunt, Product News, Practical MVP and quite literally, 80 other projects. Some of them sold, some shut down, and some are making him passive income. He's been featured on Lifehacker, The Next Web, Mashable, Fortune and more. How can one guy do so much, for so long, a...

Jason Schuller is a dad, a husband, and the founder of Press75, a WordPress theme company that he started in frustration, when a consulting client decided to skip paying the bills. That incident caught fire and set Jason on an entrepreneurial journey full of joys and setbacks. His company, and his lessons enabled him to be a successful founder, an engaged father and a thoughtful husband. Get full...

Vin is a dad of two girls, founder of a creative agency called Fixel, and when he is not busy doing those jobs, he is also a man's fashion model and entrepreneur, running a brand called Better Fellows where him and his partners sell men's apparel they would wear themselves. Vin is divorced and is running his own company, but that does not stop him from raising two beautiful girls, teaching them ab...

Can you have a family, a successful company making millions of dollars in annual revenue, and do it all at your own pace, with a remote office company, while having a life that you want to live? Vlad sure can, and we think you can too. Life is too short to live someone else’s dream. The story of Webflow and life advice from Vlad, in this episode.   Links from this episode 👉 Webflow Vlad Magdalin...

One day, needing a break from his entrepreneur endeavors, Drew rented an RV and took his entire family on a trip around the United States, for a whole year. This is his story. 👉 Drew Wilson Get full access to The Novice at novice.media/subscribe

Bryce Roberts is the founder of Indie.vc , an investment fund that is leading the new counter-culture startup movement, focusing on revenue and sustainable growth, rather than unhealthy obsession with raising money to achieve a billion-dollar valuation. Fueled by his own desire to do things differently, Bryce lives in Utah with his wife and five children, he works from home office, and while worki...

Jason is a co-founder of Dent , a company that creates and supports a community of entrepreneurs, executives, and creatives who are driven to “put a dent in the universe.” He lives in Seattle with his wife Monica Guzman, the founder of The Evergrey , and together they are raising two adorable multilingual kids. We sat down to talk about their startup journey and how to manage two creative jobs whi...

When he was six years old, Roel lost his mom to cancer and ended up in the foster care. Abuse, drugs, physical violence and the entire system that is structured to keep the kids in it, instead of helping them grow, Roel tells is all. Valuable to hear for the adults that work in the foster care, and most definitely 10x more valuable for the kids, to know they are not alone. If you know someone who...