Foundr Magazine Podcast | Learn From Successful Founders & Proven Entrepreneurs, The Ultimate Startup Podcast For Business

He was told it couldn’t be done. Social good was meant for nonprofits. Businesses were for making money. But Tom Dawkins always felt like there was a puzzle to be solved, that he could put the pieces together and run a profitable business that created change in the world.   A serial entrepreneur from a young age, Dawkins worked in both nonprofits and tech startups before finally solving it. The result was StartSomeGood, a crowd-funding platform for anyone—nonprofit, for profit, or individual—with an idea to make positive change in the world.   In this episode you will learn:   - How to start your own social enterprise - How to measure your impact and why - The true definition of social entrepreneurship - How find a problem that needs solving - Budgeting 101 with a for profit social enterprise - & So much more!  

In this episode we go behind the curtain and shine the spotlight on someone part of the Foundr Magazine team that is an absolute superstar designer, entrepreneur and ruckas maker.   Enter Karan Jain.   You wouldn't probably know this, but Foundr Magazine wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for Karan. Karan taught me the power of design and branding. This bold move that we've made with the level of Foundr's design has allowed to build great reputation in the entrepreneurial space. Not just as brand itself, but also as an influencer in the entrepreneurial space.   In this interview you will learn:   - What it takes to have epic design and branding in your startup - The untold foundr story you wouldn't know - Behind the scenes on the creation process of Foundr Magazine - Key lessons from Karan on how to choose a design agency - & So much more!

Dan Tocchini wants to change how we use the web. His website design startup The Grid have had almost 50,000 founding members and they might just pull it off. For all of the advances in how we use the Internet in recent years, the options for the average person who needs to make a website can still be simultaneously dizzying and uninspiring. It usually comes down to either paying someone a bunch of money, learning to do it yourself, or buying a template.   Dan Tocchini wants to change that. His startup The Grid poses the questions: What if having your own unique website was as easy as posting to Facebook? What if you could just supply the content, and a program just did the rest for you?   The answer he and his team came up with is an automated alternative to services like Wordpress or Squarespace. And if Tocchini’s right, it might just change how people view the web. While the company hasn’t gone live yet, the team has racked up two hit Kickstarters, two rounds of funding, more than 31,000 preorders, and an o

It is with great pleasure we bring you this interview with the one and only Ed Dale.   If it wasn't for this man, Foundr wouldn't exist. I've been lucky enough to learn a lot of my marketing and online business chops from Ed Dale, so I thought what better reason to bring him on the show to share with us the infamous secrets to doing a $1 million launch.   Ed Dale is the creator of The Challenge and co-founder of MagCast. He's helped over 300,000 entrepreneurs start online businesses and is a world re-knowned online marketer.   The best place to find Ed is at eddale.co   In this interview you will learn:   - The processes that Ed goes through to prepare for a $1m launch - What is good will, and why it matters when it comes to doing a $1m launch - The secrets to getting other people to promote your products/services when it comes to getting affiliates - What it takes to create a successful digital product - & So much more!

In business, in music, or in life, there are few people you will meet as unapologetically honest as Amanda Palmer. A lifelong nonconformist, Palmer has evolved from living statue to award-winning musician—as one half of cabaret rock duo Dresden Dolls and soon to hit the stage opening for Morrissey and Blondie—from TED-talker to esteemed author, and now thought leader. Palmer’s Twitter bio colorfully advertises a performer, writer, giver, taker, yeller, listener, love-lover and rule-hater to her one million-plus follower base. And from our own conversation with Palmer, all of these qualities seem fairly apt.  But there’s one thing this self-account fails to capture, and that is how authentic she is. Palmer has built legions of passionate fans—and certainly her share of detractors—by having a unique voice that is louder than her music ever could be. And by simply asking.  And the answer for many is a loud and resounding YES. Ask, Don’t Tell Being a born storyteller has perhaps taken Palmer in directions even sh

Marketing guru and multiple New York Times bestselling author Seth Godin explains why you should focus less on doing what you're told and more on doing work that's worth doing. In order to take advantage of the unique opportunuties afforded by our times, some rules just have to be broken. Some people just get it. They grasp the spirit of the times in ways that ordinary people don't. They understand the patterns and progression of history, and can interpret current events and trends with rare wisdom and insight. Seth Godin is one such person. You might say his knowledge about the world of business borders on the prophetic. You could also safely say Seth Goden is a man who sees the world not for what it is, but for what it could be. He's in the business of change: predicting it, implementing it, and watching it unfold. You've probably seen his TED talks, his books, his blog, his podcast; he's the one of those characters who are grounded, yet somehow still larger than life. For those late to the Godin party, he'

So we've decided to mix things up a little with this podcast episode.   This one is a short bite-sized episode, detailing our top 7 hacks for Instagram. You're probably not aware, but in the past 8 months we've been quietly building up a very strong community on Instagram, and within the space of 8 months our Instagram account is 197,000+ followers from the time of writing this.   So often our community is asking us how we did it, so I wanted to share with you our top tips and tricks on how to gain a massive following on Instagram fast. In this episode you will learn the following tips:   - The importance of posting content regularly - How to create epic content and why - Why you should have a CTA (call to action after every post) - The importance of optimizing your bio and account - How to use hashtags and a secret hack to increase your engagement in 30 seconds - What an S4S is, and why it's super important - Why you should be commenting on other pages.   If you would like to learn more on how to take advant

If, like me, you think the job Lifestyle Entrepreneur seems completely made up, you’d be right. Lewis Howes’ title, like everything else about his career, is completely self-styled and made into reality on his own terms. The popular School of Greatness podcast host, who is also an accomplished author and former Arena League football player, quite possibly achieves more before breakfast than most of us do in a week. And it’s all because he took the time to design the life he really wanted. In part, the job description includes overseeing his School of Greatness Academy, a resource for entrepreneurs that gives people access to tools, a community, and accountability coaching to bring their business and lifestyle to the next level. We sat down with this marketing guru, lifestyle coach and all-round nice guy to learn how he went from couch-surfing to being one of the most sought after online thought-leaders. We also picked up a bunch of expert advice on how one achieves the level of greatness that would warrant su

Rod Drury conveys a palpable sense of urgency. If there’s one thing he’s picked up in his many years as an entrepreneur, it’s that having a certain velocity can make all the difference. “Biggest thing I’ve learned in business is actually making things happen. So picking up the phone, asking why, why aren’t we doing it now, why’s it going to take a week, let’s go do it today,” Drury says. “Just driving urgency, and getting things done puts you so far ahead of most other businesses that you can win in a really significant way.”    It’s the kind of attitude you’d expect from the cofounder and CEO of a company that went public on day one, raising $15 million out of the gate with only about 100 customers. (“I think they were all blood relatives.”)   Since that early IPO in 2007, Drury’s accounting software company Xero has been essentially building a startup in the public eye, and that very sense of urgency has translated to some pretty incredible momentum. Over the course of eight years, the company has raised mo

Beanies, caps, eyewear, tees and tops, watches, snow accessories, backpacks, hot tub shorts. You name it, Neff rocks it. So how did Shaun Neff, founder and namesake of the California-based clothing company, skyrocket this global apparel giant from his humble backpack into the big time? By keeping it real, staying rad and being an insanely astute businessman. On the surface, Shaun Neff might seem like just another hip, down-to-earth cat — but don’t be fooled. The 35-year-old Californian native is as sharp as they come. He’s also a lifetime opportunist and networking powerhouse. As the founder and CEO of Neff Headwear, he also bears the lofty responsibility of serving up trends to the world’s most sort-after audience — the youth market. The tale of how Neff got to where he is today, at the helm of a multi-million dollar brand selling in 50 countries, is particularly intriguing. It’s one that takes a sharp departure from the usual “worked my way up from the bottom” story. Mostly because Shaun Neff, to this day,

We’ve all been curious about the best way to get better at languages, sports, cooking, fitness, and of course, how to start a business. Using a grand total of four hours per week, Tim Ferriss showed us how. Ferriss needs no introduction. Multiple New York Times best-selling author. Entrepreneur. Self-help guru. Investor. Celebrity. And now star of his own television show.   Even if you know nothing of entrepreneurialism, you probably know the work of Tim Ferriss. The 4-hour Workweek ring any bells? Chances are, it’s that book your roommate is always gushing about. A #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller, it has seeped into the zeitgeist and changed more lives than its detractors would like to admit. The 4-Hour Workweek was on the New York Times best-seller list for four-and-a-half years straight and stayed on other lists for seven consecutive years. Released in 2007, this seductive and seminal book was about escaping the workaholic lifestyle to “find your muse.” For the uninitiated, that means

Getting laid off is enough to make anyone want to crawl into a hole and hide. But Pat Flynn went the other direction. He took the opportunity to open himself up, and put his experience in the spotlight. And that very openness became the key to his success, as his Smart Passive Income Community has now reached millions of entrepreneurs.   It’s not every day that you have the chance to become an overnight sensation, but for Pat Flynn, the stars seemed to align perfectly for him on a gloomy day in 2008. After landing the job of his dreams and working passionately at it for many years, the mid-2008 recession hit him harder than he’d ever imagined. Being recently promoted at a large architecture firm, he was shocked when his boss announced that the company could no longer pay for his services and expertise.   Although he was clouded with the fear of unemployment during the first few weeks, this obstacle was the golden opportunity that would change his life forever. Enter Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income   In t

Barbara Corcoran doesn’t look far past the family tree for inspiration. While many entrepreneurs seek seasoned businesspeople to learn from, Corcoran’s mentor was her mother, not because her mother managed a company—she didn’t—but because she managed a family. “She ran our little, tiny two-bedroom flat like a corporation,” Corcoran recalls. Everything was organized, and everything had a system. Her mother did a phenomenal job motivating each of the children, helping them do what they did best. “If she had been in business, she would’ve been a tycoon,” Corcoran says. “I wouldn’t have wanted to compete with her.” Common sense was one of her mother’s virtues, and it’s a trait that Corcoran says is vital in business. “I think you have to trust your natural instinct,” she says to aspiring entrepreneurs. Business is about street smarts. It’s not something you can learn in a classroom — you have to do it. That’s exactly what she has done. Corcoran’s resume includes several businesses and millions of dollars, and she

Mattan Griffel wasn’t prepared for his first job. After he graduated college, a startup company asked him to be their marketer, but he didn’t know how to be a marketer. Mattan had studied philosophy and finance, but despite years of delving into the life of the mind and the management of money, he couldn’t snag a job in the financial sector. So he sat there, tasked with an entirely different field: marketing. Griffel really wasn’t prepared, so he decided to fix that. He charged into the challenge, devouring books on marketing, consuming online classes, doing everything he could to eat up as much knowledge as possible. In just a year and a half, he says, he learned more about marketing than four years at university taught him about finance. Learn voraciously. A passion for new skills can expand your opportunities and multiply your successes. Griffel’s drive to be good at whatever he did gave him the ability to successfully manage a marketing budget of half a million dollars. Now, that same drive has put Griffe

Some people thought entrepreneur Justin Gold was nuts for trying to disrupt the peanut butter market. A decade later, he’s been recognized by Inc. and Ernst & Young as one of the food and beverage sector’s rising stars. Originally from Pennsylvania, Gold is one of the Boulder, Colorado startup community’s big success stories, having moved to the mountain town after becoming disillusioned with his original career plan to become a lawyer. The keen outdoorsman made the most of the biking and skiing lifestyle while waiting tables to support himself, and found himself frequently chowing down on peanut and almond butter for the protein benefits. Gold decided to start making his own at home, experimenting by adding everything from maple syrup to berries in his concoctions. They proved a big hit with his roommates, who ate everything he whipped up, so Gold started labeling the jars “Justin’s,” at first just to keep them away. “At that point it changed from a kitchen experiment to a project,” he says. Being completely

Bleeding brain. Fractured skull. Concussion. These were the effects. The event was just as sudden. One Thursday in late July, Sean Stephenson took his dog for a stroll. Then he fell — ripped from his wheelchair, Stephenson crashed onto the concrete ground, a traumatic impact that landed him in the hospital and left him for some time without short-term memory. But he had dodged death, and not for the first time. When Stephenson was born, he was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta, an uncommon disease that brings stunted growth and fragile bones. Doctors predicted he would quickly perish. Instead, he lived, growing up to become a motivational speaker and businessman. After traveling for years, speaking to audiences far and wide, Stephenson has cut down on the airplane flights and shifted to holding seminars in one location in Arizona. His success hasn’t been easy, but he says that only a fraction of his challenges stem from disability. The rest have to do with the sorts of things most people struggle with in

This is not your typical interview where I interview someone well known in the entrepreneurial space.   Steve Mehr is an entrepreneur, businessman, all round hustler and the founder of an Ad Agency called Webshark 360 in Southern California. I met Steve through Instagram via his extremely popular account (@agentsteven) and we have been great friends since. Overtime Steve has actually taught me a lot about life and business, so I thought why not get him on the show to share with everyone how he has built a multi-million dollar empire.   In this interview you are going to learn: -How Steve built his empire and fortune from the ground up -How to achieve scale with businesses and grow them at a rapid pace -Key mindsets required to not stay successful in business and life once you have attained "success" in the eyes of society -Hiring and Recruitment 101 -Managing a team -Setting goals and why it's Steve's secret to success -Instagram and the Importance of it -The importance of measuring   If you want to learn how

A very long time ago before I even considered starting a business, I once read that the self storage industry was a brilliant business model, and a booming industry. Little did I know 4-5 years later I would be speaking to a disrupter of this industry. Enter Rob Rebholz, Co-founder of Spaceways whom are currently turning the self storage industry on it's head at a rapid pace, with the kind of growth that most startups would dream of.   Rob is an extremely savvy and interesting entrepreneur and in this interview he shares with us:   - The story behind spaceways, how the idea was conceieved - Customer Development, and how to find out what your customers truly want - Marketing 101 and the power it can bring to your business if you done properly - His experiences being backed by Rocket Internet - Top web apps and tools that they are using to help manage a rapidly growing business and team - & Much more   I need your help!   If you haven’t already, I would love if you could be awesome and take a minute to leave a

In the brave new world of business that has arisen with the growth of the web, there are many types of entrepreneurs. There is the planner, who plots every move from the beginning, never a scandal in sight. There is the accidental entrepreneur, who falls into a business and makes it work. There is the enfant terrible, such as Mark Zuckerberg, who was likely always going to be successful, but couldn't have anticipated the impact Facebook would have on the world. And nestled neatly within the pack there is the visionary, the type of entrepreneur that could just as easily pass for a seer such is their knack for knowing what to do and when to do it. Marie Forleo, the founder of Marie Forleo International, is nothing if not a visionary. Forleo's first rule of business is to lead with your heart, and it is safe to say that in 2015, with 14 years of entrepreneurship under her belt and an eight-figure business, Forleo's heart has served her well. Marie was named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation an

Greg Koch doesn’t care if you don’t like Stone Brewing’s Co.’s beer. Case in point, the label on a bottle of Arrogant Ale:   This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory…   Koch, Stone’s CEO and cofounder, insists that when he wrote that caption back in 1997 when they first released the beer, it wasn’t a marketing gimmick. He really didn’t want people who prefer “fizzy yellow beer” to buy this hoppy, high-alcohol monster without fair warning. Of course, he did have some fun with it, reveling in the mocking tone of the Arrogant Bastard.   “That’s a tone of voice that I attribute to the beer and not to myself. Although maybe there is a little bit of me in there,” says Koch, who with partner Steve Wagner started in 1996 what would become one of the largest and most beloved craft breweries in the United States.   T