Ambition Today

Reminiscing on my first podcast is my guest, Ramphis Castro. We sat down for my very first podcast in August of 2015 and he has watched it grow over the years. It was great to have him here with me again. Ramphis is a serial entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist that has impacted several companies across 40 countries. His quote sums him up very well, “I am a Computer Engineer and Lawyer by training, serial entrepreneur by experience, and grass-root ecosystem builder by conviction.” A Puerto Rican Native, Ramphis grew up by the beach with his dad, mom and three siblings. He is close to his family and had his mom instilling entrepreneurship in his mind from the beginning. The family always had little ways to make some extra spending money outside of their jobs, which taught Ramphis investing and ways to make money from a young age. He was fortunate enough to go to a school that taught English and went to an Engineering school for college. From there he was hired as a Microsoft, which was the hot company

Join the A-list backchannel to get "Single greatest piece of advice ever received": https://siskar.me/best-advice-ever  Author, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Teacher, Investor, and Consultant, also known as our next guest, Nir Eyal. Well known for his blog, Nir & Far, Nir writes about “behavioral design” the intersection of psychology, technology and business. He helps companies with techniques to motivate and manipulate users. He has successfully founded and sold two businesses in the tech industry and now has his book “Hooked” on the market, with another book coming in September. Nir, originally born in Israel, moved to the US when he was just three years old and grew up in Orlando, FL. He received his MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he has since then taught. He is also an active angel investor as he believes in putting his money where his mouth is and invests in habit forming products. Listen in to learn more about Nir: Growing up in Orlando How Nir knew he would become an entrepren

Join the A-list backchannel to get "Single greatest piece of advice ever received": https://siskar.me/best-advice-ever    Fascinated about how things worked and technology from a young age, today’s guest, Byron Reese, makes you question, are you a machine? Today, he puts his fascination into good use as the CEO and publisher of Gigaom, an industry-leading technology research company. Bryon is also an award-winning public speaker and author of “The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity.” Byron grew up in Austin, TX and became an entrepreneur at the young age of 12. He did not have entrepreneurship in his family background, but that wouldn’t stop Byron from becoming a great success today. As a futurist, a forward thinker, Byron helps you think about the good that artificial intelligence has to offer and where we are going in this age of technology. Listen in to hear more about Byron: Growing up Rice University Starting his first company with a can of spray paint S

Join the A-list backchannel to get "Single greatest piece of advice ever received": https://siskar.me/best-advice-ever  Starting out young, today's guest, Matt Mandell, created his first company at the age of 12. Matt grew up with a supportive family full of entrepreneurs, so Matt was very comfortable with entrepreneurship from the start. He attended college in DC, where he spent the next several years developing multiple companies that were selective to college students. Matt is well known for his serial entrepreneurship and has spoken all across the nation teaching students how to become entrepreneurs themselves. He has been publicized multiple times, including New York Times, has helped start up multiple companies, and now is a managing partner with GAM Payments, a payment solution provider for mid-market companies. Interviewing Matt showed that there are different ways to look at being a leader that really make you think. Tune in to hear more: Growing up in an Entrepreneurial Family Creating his firs

Join the A-list backchannel to get "Single greatest piece of advice ever received": https://siskar.me/best-advice-ever  Entrepreneur, investor, public speaker and author are a few titles that Dr. Dileep Rao is known for. He came from India to America in 1973 for his education, and has been a success ever since. While obtaining his PhD, he started working for an Adventure Capital firm one summer that ended up changing his life. He since then has helped invest in hundreds of businesses, which includes four businesses he started himself. He is now a professor at the Florida International University and has been awarded numerous awards for teaching. Dr. Dileep Rao is now a nationally acclaimed author, writing “Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained”. He was able to study many successful entrepreneurs in his time, and he came up with 7 steps that all successful entrepreneurs seemed to follow. His book dives deep into his findings. Learn more about Dr. Dileep in this episode! ·         Coming to America for Educat

Join the A-list backchannel to get "Single greatest piece of advice ever received": https://siskar.me/best-advice-ever   Today’s guest grew up with Entrepreneurial spirit surrounding him. All of the men in Greg Alterman’s family for generations owned and operated one of the largest grocery stores chains in the South since the early 1900’s. With all the entrepreneurial passion within him, he started his first successful shirt business while attending college at the University of Florida. Alternate Apparel successfully grew until he sold the company for $60 million dollars nearly 30 years later. In 2015 Greg suffered from a brain hemorrhage that would change his life forever. During his recovery, he noticed that vibrant colors and clutter really were bothersome to his sight which lead him to create his newest business endeavor, m/f people. Alterman wanted to company that didn’t market towards one sex or the other. m/f people focuses on sleek and simple designs for skin care products as well as apparel. Listen

Join the A-list backchannel to get "Single greatest piece of advice ever received": https://siskar.me/best-advice-ever  NASA made history on August 12, 2018, launching the Parker Solar Probe; their first ever mission to touch the sun. Luckily, I was invited by NASA to come down to Cape Canaveral to have a front row seat to the rocket launch! This was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am proud to say I was able to witness with my own two eyes. While there, I had the opportunity and pleasure of interviewing Felipe Ruiz, who is the Deputy Lead Mechanical Engineer from John’s Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. He helped directly build the Parker Solar Probe and was kind enough to share his personal journey contributing to such an important advancement in human civilization. The Parker Solar Probe will use seven gravity assist Venus flybys over the next seven years to slowly shrink its orbit around the sun. This will bring the Parker Solar Probe as close as 3.83 million miles to the center of th

Did you know that only 17% of all startups have a female founder? Well, we are lucky enough to have a female founder on our show today, Alex Batdorf. Alex is a business coach, co-founder of Zip Fit, a company that delivers a perfect fit denim for every body and now the creator of a YouTube series called Get Sh!t Done. This series focuses on helping female entrepreneurs maintain a balance between pursuing purpose and profit. Growing up in Seattle, Alex had a lot of family support; they always told her the sky was the limit. She was never that kid that knew she would be an entrepreneur, she just knew she wanted to impact the world. Moving to Chicago for her undergrad degree was a big culture shock for her, but taught her a lot. After getting her Sociology degree and seeing all the entrepreneurs from her classes she realized the potential she had to become the great entrepreneur she is today. Tune in for more! ·         Growing up in Seattle ·         Culture shock moving to Chicago ·         Her degree in Socio

We are exploring the marketing world on today’s episode, with our special guest, Mitch Wainer. He is the creative marketing leader with many accomplishments such as Co-Founding Digital Ocean and being the Chief Marketing Officer at Clubhouse, a project management platform for software teams that provide the perfect balance of simplicity and structure. Mitch is an active advisor and speaker on entrepreneurship and growth marketing to the startup community Mitch grew up with a great family support system, that he feels is an important part in his entrepreneurial success. He graduated with a degree in Marketing from Northeastern. Short after graduating college, he found himself sitting in board meetings with seasoned professionals, trying to convince them that Facebook and Social Media is the way of the future. Listen in to find out more about Mitch and his success High school and college years Family Support System Teaching himself how to build websites Mitch’s first start out of college Being a part of the As

Growing up in an immigrant family, Brian Pasalich lived in Chicago, Croatia and even a small town in Montana all by the age of 13, which allowed him to have a deeper understanding of the different walks of life that people face. This combined with a passion for helping people led him to his career in financial planning. He is now the founder of Foundational, a consumer-mindset driven platform for financial health and wellbeing Since a young age, Brian’s passion has been helping others. In his career, he has been a volunteer EMT, a flight paramedic with the Army Reserve, serving on two SWAT teams, and a civilian flight paramedic for a trauma center. He majored in Microbiology at the University of Montana before finding his passion for helping people through financial planning and serving as a Mentor with Founder Institute. Listen in to find out about Brian’s unique experiences and how it has helped him help others: Being a SWAT flight paramedic Majoring in Microbiology at University of MT How his failing busi

As a serial entrepreneur, Matt Britton has successfully acquired and sold many companies at the perfect time. He is most known for his important role in creating MRY (Mr. Youth) and Suzy. MRY is a digital and social media marketing agency that helps companies market to the youth, which is tomorrow’s future leaders. His latest venture, Suzy, is a consumer intelligence platform which helps bring the voice of real consumers directly to brands. Now known as America’s leading expert on the Millennial Generation, Britton’s entrepreneurial spirit all started because of parties believe it or not. He ran 5 to 7 parties a week, and local businesses started to take notice. They would ask him to advertise their business during the parties, which led him to create his first business venue, Magma Group. This was just the beginning for Britton, listen to hear more of his great story:    How Magma Group came about The meaning behind “Magma” Creating MRY, Mr. Youth How MRY got Microsoft as their customer How Suzy was dev

Do you have to be an expert on a product in order to become a successful entrepreneur? Let’s ask today's guest, Adam Tishman. Tishman is a New Yorker through and through, growing up in Manhattan helped his independence from a young age. He received his Bachelors Degree at Princeton in History before he decided to pursue an MBA where he met his co-founders of Helix Sleep. Tishman knew he wanted to be a successful entrepreneur one day, however, he never thought it would be in mattresses. Knowing that mattress buying was confusing, expensive and hard for a lot of consumers, Tishman and his co-founders knew there had to be a better way. Listen for more details on how they have developed an amazing product, and what lead to Tishman's success: Born and raised in NY Growing up with a metro card Obtaining a BA at Princeton Tishman’s early on careers Meeting his co-founders How Helix Sleep came about The research behind Helix How sleep is innovative and necessary The meaning behind the name “Helix” Ambition Today Qu

We are proud to have Allen Saakyan on our show today. Not only do I get the pleasure of interviewing him, but I also had the privilege of being interviewed for his podcast, Simulation, as well! This episode will be a little different as we go back and forth asking questions for both of our podcasts, you won’t want to miss it! Growing up, Allen knew he was destined to take a different path. He was always curious, which drove him to wonder why so many people always took the same path. His quest became to figure out how could he help people desire to take their own path? Fast forward, and now he is the successful founder of Simulation, a podcast that facilitates humanity’s most thought-provoking questions.  He also is the host of World’s Fair, a festival with mind-blowing technology and futuristic talks. Listen in to hear more about: Allen's meaning of Simulation How people are working to make the world a better place Why mentorship is so crucial How Allen is working to bring back the iconic World’s Fair The ne

A successful entrepreneur, TED speaker, and father of seven, Wes Schaeffer is the person you seek when you want to generate more sales. Wes Schaeffer is a marketing strategist and is best known as The Sales Whisperer. He grew up in Houston, TX, served in the Air Force, graduated from A&M and became a successful salesman. Although he had the income and personal life he wanted, he wasn’t happy with his job, which is when he became decided to become the Sales Whisperer. Wes's analogy of being a sales whisperer came to him after some inspiration from the dog whisperer. Some dogs have behavior issues but the reality is that their trainers don’t have the proper training to enable them to be successful pets. Just like how sales leaders come to him with lack of training and sometimes incorrect sales tactics, it is Wes’ job to help them learn a better and more efficient way. Listen to our podcast to hear more about Wes’ insights! Growing up in Houston Life in the Air Force The start of his career and transition t

Author, public speaker, and entrepreneur are just a few great titles for today’s guest, Gabe Zichermann. He is the CEO and Founder of Onward, a company that helps you achieve tech-life balance. Gabe is also known for his expertise on the topic of Gamification. Having written three books, “The Gamification Revolution”, “Gamification by Design” and “Game-Based Marketing”.  Gabe grew up in Toronto with his two parents that immigrated from Hungary and Romania. He had a passion for games from a young age of 8 when he got his first computer, a Commodore VIC-20, and programmed his first computer game. After college, his first big success was Trimedia, which he sold in 2005. From there Gabe helped define the field of Gamification. In this episode, we get to discuss Gabe's full background, both the ups and downs of life, including:  The power of games and their application to the rest of the world What is "Gamification" How to recognize when to change your life Why it can be so important to take a step back The impor

From a small town in Western Kentucky to becoming an entrepreneur on Madison Ave, Terry Young joins us on this episode of Ambition Today. Terry is a successful advertising entrepreneur and the CEO of Sparks & Honey, a company identifying and mapping emerging cultural waves through the use of machine learning systems, algorithms, and human insight. After earning his Master’s Degree in advertising, Terry started working in the digital advertising industry in 1995, when digital marketing was just getting started. A short two years later, he was running the company. Terry got the opportunity to live in China and help start-up initiatives while working for McKinsey. He also lived in Kazakhstan while in the Peace Corp where he helped small business shops with their financing and starting their businesses. Terry brings a great perspective on culture and new trends. On this episode, we also discuss: Growing up in a small town in Kentucky The impact of joining the Peace Corp Rebuilding the traditional advertising

Anthony Pompliano is the Managing Partner at Full Tilt Capital, an early stage venture capital firm. Full Tilt Capital focuses exclusively on investing in world-class companies in the blockchain and crypto asset space.  "Pomp" was raised in Raleigh, NC, and is one of the first south easterners that we have had on the Ambition Today podcast. He is the oldest brother of five and during his junior year of college, he was deployed to Iraq. During his deployment, he gained a unique perspective on life. His world traveling allowed him to learn about new cultures all around the world in order study human behavior. Once he returned from duty, he jumped into the world of Silicon Valley. He built two small technology businesses and worked for large tech companies like Facebook and Snapchat before starting Full Tilt Capital. Anthony brings us his knowledge, unique insight, and more on this episode of Ambition Today:  Life lessons from being deployed to Iraq Building and selling his first technology business What it was

This episode comes to you from the heart of New York City for our first live podcast episode discussing cryptocurrency, ICO, & blockchain law. In late January almost 100 founders gathered at the offices of McCarter & English for our January Founder Institute Meetup! The crypto founders there heard from Joe Daniels, who is the Co-Chair of the McCarter & English's Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies practice. Joe has worked on numerous SAFT & token offerings, including San Francisco based Quantstamp, which just raised $30 million in its pre-sale, along with Augmate, The Valorem Foundation, RealECoin, VIMarkets, CoinBoost, and RecylcleGO. During this event, Joe reviewed the current cryptocurrency & ICO laws in 2018. Learn the key things that you need to know about ICO's, the SEC, international business, SAFT agreements, and more. If you are interested in understanding the legalities around cryptocurrencies, tokens, and the blockchain, then you will enjoy this episode. The slides t

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Brian Brault; a successful entrepreneur that has been recognized twice in his career by the Inc. 500 for building one of the fastest growing companies in America. Currently Brian is the Global Chairman of the Board at Entrepreneurs' Organization. He is also the founder of Advanced Facility Services and Pure Rooms which was deemed one of the best companies to work for in western New York and was awarded best entrepreneurial company in western New York. A graduate of the University of Buffalo’s School of Business, Brian is very active on community boards. Being the Global Chairman for Entrepreneurs’ Organization Brian helps grow their network of 12,000 entrepreneurial members in 54 countries. He believes in surrounding yourself with strong people because your success is a product of the five people that you spend the most time with. Today Brian talks about: What got him excited at a very young age to be an entrepreneur How he build Advanced Facility Services & Pu

On this episode of Ambition Today we explore Peter Shankman’s journey. Peter is the perfect example of what happens when you combine creativity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Peter shows us how ADHD can be a gift and a strong advantage in business. He is not only an entrepreneur, but an author and a notable public speaker. Many know him for founding Help A Reporter Out, (HARO). He is also the founder of ShankMinds Business Masterminds and he is the Host of the Faster Than Normal Podcast. Peter was born and raised in Manhattan, and was a New York City public school kid. After graduating from Boston University and going to Graduate school in Santa Barbara, CA, he started his professional career launching AOL Digital Newsroom. Peter is most well known for founding Help A Reporter Out, also known as HARO, which is the worlds largest public group of journalistic sources. In this episode, we talk about how Peter’s ADHD had a great impact on his many successes: Growing up in New York City Lau