Ambition Today: Avi Yashchin of Clean Edison Talks Having His Company Acquired, Data Science And Clean Energy
The sounds of science are ringing through episode 12 of Ambition Today when Avi Yashchin comes on the show. Avi is the founder of Clean Edison, the nation's largest sustainable energy education and training firm in the US. for those seeking to enter the Solar, Wind, and larger Energy space.
The sounds of science are ringing through episode 12 of Ambition Today when Avi Yashchin comes on the show. Avi is the founder of Clean Edison, the nation's largest sustainable energy education and training firm in the US. for those seeking to enter the Solar, Wind, and larger Energy space.
Avi had a fascinating front row seat to the great recession in 2008 while employed by Lehman Brothers and his story is quite incredible. The lessons and uncertainty created from being inside a failing company led Avi to afterword, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, found Clean Edison. In this episode we talk about his story growing and eventually having Clean Edison acquired by Kaplan. Also data science, the future of energy, and even more science:
How going to Rocket School as a kid impacted Avi.
Starting a career in New York in late 2001.
What the Great Recession looked like from the inside of Lehman Brothers.
What to do if you have multiple ideas to start multiple different businesses.
Having Clean Edison was acquired by Kaplan.
Finding the right partners that compliment your business.
The importance of building a business with recurring revenue.
Why data science is cool.
How the declining cost of data is going to impact the world.
The future of clean energy.
The future of the planet.
Ambition Today Question of the Day:
Do you always have “an ask” ready everyday just in case you meet the right person to answer it?
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Links from this episode:
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Ambition Today: Justin Dombrowski Uncovers The Power Of Curiosity, History, Bitcoin, & Education In Life
Break out your pen and paper and get ready to take notes because you will be tested on this episode! Justin Dombrowski, Principal at Historiocity teaches some incredible lessons during Episode #11 of Ambition Today.
Break out your pen and paper and get ready to take notes because you will be tested on this episode! Justin Dombrowski, Principal at Historiocity teaches some incredible lessons during Episode #11 of Ambition Today.
One of my favorite quotes from this episode perfectly embodies Justin's strong curiosity from a young age:
"I was trying to figure what kind of things best explained the world that I was interested in."
Justin has more degrees than you can count from institutions such as Columbia and Oxford. The real question though is why? Listen in to find out what Justin thinks of his personal experience with the formal education he has received and how he compares it to the world of entrepreneurship.
Through all his education Justin has become an expert on world history. We talk about what the past can teach us and ask the question: does history repeat itself? In his post academic life Justin now applies his intellect as an expert in the world of Cryptography, Bitcoin, and Financial Technology. Episode 11 of Ambition Today is packed with the following:
The power of curiosity.
How to manage curiosity.
How the access to information is changing education.
The value of formal education in the modern world.
How to use history to understand today.
Does history repeat itself?
How core human behavior is the golden thread unifying history across centuries.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
What is the future of Bitcoin.
How will Bitcoin impact the world.
The importance of living life.
Ambition Today Question of the Day:
What kind of education is most valuable?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
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Ambition Today: John Federico, Co-Founder Of Event Hero On The Future Of Podcasting, Marketing, and Superman
What an event episode ten of Ambition Today is as Jon Federico, co-founder of Event Hero and @GadgetBoy himself comes on the show all the way from warm and sunny Austin, Texas.
What an event episode ten of Ambition Today is as Jon Federico, co-founder of Event Hero and @GadgetBoy himself comes on the show all the way from warm and sunny Austin, Texas.
Ever wonder why most podcasts are sponsored by Audible.com? Today we a speaking with John Federico who years ago worked at Audible and invented the podcast affiliate program. Through the years he also worked at Advance Internet, Blog Talk Radio, and more. He is now the co-founder of Event Hero which is the first integration Platform-as-a-Service for event technologies. He also hosts the EventTech Podcast is all about event technologies where John interviews EventTech company CEO’s and product managers, industry thought leaders and event organizers. If you are a new startup founder and want to better understand the world of podcasting, audio, and marketing this episode is for you.
How an economic crash can influence you years later.
Why the medium of audio matters.
Recognizing when life deals you an opportunity and capitalizing on it.
Understand the world of podcasts.
How John created the Audible Podcast Affiliate program at Audible.com.
Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur.
How to re-brand your company.
Who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman?
The future of podcasting.
Using content marketing such as blogging or writing a book to grow your brand.
Winning the battle for people's time and attention.
Ambition Today Question of the Day:
What is the optimal work life balance that let's you enjoy success and make all the time and energy worthwhile?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Links from this episode:
Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
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Ambition Today: Rob Principe, Founder & CEO of Scratch On Partnering With Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., The Future Of Music, And The Rise Of The DJ
Episode nine of Ambition Today finds us with the King of the DJ's, Rob Principe, the Founder & CEO of Scratch Music Group. We talk about meeting your hero's as a child and then growing up to become business partners with them. Also, the Future of DJ'ing, Music, and much more.
Rob Principe, CEO of Scratch Music Group
Episode nine of Ambition Today finds us with the King of the DJ's, Rob Principe, the Founder & CEO of Scratch Music Group.
Young Rob Principe with Run-D.M.C.
Growing up on Long Island as a child Rob loved music, especially Run D.M.C. One day the popular music group happened to sit down next to him on a plane as he was traveling to a tennis tournament. Afterword he took a picture with the group. Fast forward years later Rob had founded Scratch Music Group and after some hustle, Rob would show this very picture to Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. in a greenroom at the Letterman Show in New York City while pitching him his vision. Jam Master Jay was in and together they co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy. I found Rob's story to be pretty incredible. During this episode we go over the history of Scratch as well as:
What is it like meeting your childhood hero's.
How Rob and Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy.
The importance of building credibility when building your initial startup's team.
Recognizing that defining inspirational moment in your life that changes the path your on.
How Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. came to collaborate on "Walk This Way".
The moment when your startup becomes and feels real to you as the founder.
Converting your initial traction into a paid business model.
The importance of moving the chains over and over during the early years of your startup.
The future of DJ'ing and Music
How Music Festivals became so popular.
Ambition Today Question of the Day:
Do you think childhood plays a role in defining who people become?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Links from this episode:
Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
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Ambition Today: Jeff Wald, Co-founder of Work Market, talks Harvard, NYPD, Venture Capital, Startups, and Mentoring
On episode eight Jeff Wald, Co-founder and President of Work Market and his incredibly charitable no shave Movember mustache join Ambition Today. "The only thing I know with 100% certainty is that it ain't going down like this." - Jeff Wald
Jeff Wald, Work Market
On episode eight Jeff Wald, Co-founder and President of Work Market join's Ambition Today.
"The only thing I know with 100% certainty is that it ain't going down like this." - Jeff Wald
Jeff Wald’s background is nothing short of impressive. He started at Cornell University and then went to J.P. Morgan. He then went back to school at Harvard for an MBA. After Harvard Jeff spent time at Glen Rock Group before going on to Co-found Spin Back. The wild ride of Spinback, his first startup, took Jeff to almost moving back home after coming close to running out of money. The answer was to rebuild the business which later ended up getting acquired. After acquisition Jeff went to Barington Capital Group, and finally to his current company where he is the Co-founder and President of Work Market. Did I mention he was also an auxiliary member of the NYPD as well? This is an episode packed full of insights:
Is getting a Master's of Business Administration worth the return on investment?
Should you start a company or get an MBA?
The value of spending time with Entrepreneurs.
How to break into Venture Capital.
Leaving a job in Venture Capital to start a new company.
How to attract high quality investors in your startups such as Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, and Softbank.
The one question you should start every meeting with.
The four different types of conversations.
Differences between Advisors and Mentors.
The importance of giving back to others
The Ambition Today Question of the Day:
Who would win in a fight, Batman vs Superman?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Links from this episode:
Work Market, Acquired by ADP
@JeffreyWald on Twitter
Why I Mentor by Jeff Wald in the Huffington Post
NYPD Blue -- What I Learned About Startups Patrolling the Streets of New York City by Jeff Wald in the Huffington Post
NYPD Auxiliary Officer program
Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
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Ambition Today: Beatriz Helena Ramos, Founder & CEO of DADA Restores Power To The Artist
Beatriz Helena Ramos, Founder and CEO of Dancing Diablo & DADA. After moving from Venezuela to find success in America, Beatriz thought that would be the hardest thing she ever had to do. Then she started her first business.
Beatriz Helena Ramos
On episode 7 Beatriz Helena Ramos, Founder and CEO of Dancing Diablo & DADA is with us.
Her most recent startup, DADA is a visual conversation platform for artists and art enthusiasts.
Founded 14 years ago, Dancing Diablo is is live action and animation production company based in DUMBO, Brooklyn, with a sister company in Caracas, Venezuela. The company has directed over a 100 spots including TV commercials, promos and videos for the web whose clients include: Coca Cola, Jet Blue, Chip's Ahoy, Bayer, General Mills, Kraft, PNC Bank, Tums, Oreo, Bronx Zoo , Movistar, Alka Seltzer, Ralph Lauren, University of North Carolina, Whirpool, Stouffer's, Toyota, Wendy's, Sesame Workshop, PBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Disney, ESPN, among others.
After moving from Venezuela to find success in America, Beatriz thought that would be the hardest thing she ever had to do. Then she started her first business and learned that was not going to be true anymore. During this episode we go through:
Starting a brick and mortar Comic book store in Venezuela
Moving to America to find success
Working for MTV and Disney
Who would win in a fight, Batman vs Superman?
Running a remote office in another country
How to restore power to the artists
How to find impactful Mentor's and Advisors
The Ambition Today Question of the Day:
What is Ambition to you?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Links from this episode:
Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
Listen to this episode now:
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Eric Duffy, CEO of Pathgather On What's Next For Learning Management & Startup Life In Silicon Alley
Eric Duffy, Co-Founder and CEO of Pathgather, a beautiful and engaging learning platform for the modern workforce joins us on episode 6 of Ambition Today. We get into the insights fast on this episode.
Eric Duffy, Pathgather
Eric Duffy, Co-Founder and CEO of Pathgather, a beautiful and engaging learning platform for the modern workforce joins us on episode 6 of Ambition Today. We get into the insights fast on this episode:
"What do I think will allow me to have the most impact on my short time on earth" - Eric Duffy
For Eric, after some time abroad in Africa, the answer to his question was to start Pathgather. We discuss how traveling the world can lead to inspiration for new great ideas. From there Eric moved back to Silicon Alley and joined the Founder Institute in New York to launch Pathgather. His journey through founding a startup takes us through:
How a great MVP tests user behavior and can attract your first customer.
Graduating the Founder Institute New York.
How to position yourself to enable meeting your Co-founder.
Joining Techstars New York City.
Disrupting a stagnate industry such as the Learning Management System (LMS) space.
Fundraising your seed round and how a convertible note works.
Attracting investors such as Bloomberg Beta, Contour Venture Partners, Techstars, The Vedas Group, Tigerlabs Ventures, Palm Drive Ventures, Jerry Wang, Thomas Wisniewski, and Michael Derikrava.
And also:
The Ambition Today Question of the Day:
What should a new startup founders first step be?
Todays News:
What are your thoughts on Twitter naming Jack Dorsey, one of its founders, as CEO?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:
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Founder Institute
Ambition Today: Cory Crosland of Croscon on Bootstrapping, Grammys, and the Future of Mobile.
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by serial entrepreneur Cory Crosland. Cory is the founder of Croscon, an engineering company which partners with big thinkers to plan, engineer and support their digital business.
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by Cory Crosland. Cory is the founder of Croscon, an engineering company which partners with big thinkers to plan, engineer and support their digital business.
Today we talk about how to bootstrap a company from one person just doing freelance work to a growing team of almost 20 people. How you can stay motivated years into your company. What it is like being nominated for a Grammy and winning a Webby Award. Also, what is the future of mobile now that Android has 1.4 billion users and much more.
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:
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Shahab Kaviani of CoFounders Lab, Breezio, and Hyperoffice on Ambition Today
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by serial entrepreneur Shahab Kaviani. Shahab is most notably the co-founder of CoFoundersLab, a global organization helping entrepreneurs find their co-founder and launch lasting new businesses together.
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by serial entrepreneur Shahab Kaviani. Shahab is most notably the co-founder of CoFoundersLab, a global organization helping entrepreneurs find their co-founder and launch lasting new businesses together. Previously he cofounded Hyperoffice and recently he is the co-founder of a new company Breezio, which is a collaboration platform for research scientist to accelerate discoveries through team science.
Today we discuss Shahab's journey through serial entrepreneurship. We explore some questions such as:
When is the right time to replace yourself as CEO?
What to do when Google decides to enter your market?
How to test your companies MVP offline without even building a website?
Who could be the right company to merge with?
The new Ambition Today Question of the Day ( Q.O.T.D.™ )
And More
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Clark Dever of Heads Up Display Talks Wearables, Travel, and Elon Musk's Solar City in Buffalo on Ambition Today
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by Clark Dever. Clark is the founder of Head Up Display, a visual notification system for workers in hazardous environments.
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by Clark Dever. Clark is the founder of Head Up Display, a visual notification system for workers in hazardous environments.
Today we discuss how to travel the United States of America for only $600, the future of e-sports entertainment, and how to compete with Google Glass and Oculus Rift. Also, how do you grow a startup ecosystem out of a an industrial renaissance? Buffalo N.Y. may have the answer. Elon Musk's Solar City, ecosystem driving programs like Z80 Labs and 43 North, and affordable cost of living are some of the things driving Buffalo forward as a startup city.
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
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Ambition Today with Guest Hans Bakan of Open Dreams
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by serial entrepreneur Hans Bakan. Hans is the founder of Open Dreams, a non profit working to provide education and mentorship to young students in global emerging markets.
Hans Bakan
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by serial entrepreneur Hans Bakan. Hans is the founder of Open Dreams, a non profit working to provide education and mentorship to young students in global emerging markets. We discuss what it takes to avoid failure in your first company and carry those lessons learned with you to make your current company more successful. Also, how you can use a company to improve the world. We discuss how Open Dreams is working to do just that in emerging global markets.
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Announcing My New Podcast: Ambition Today
I am very excited to announce my new podcast: Ambition Today. A podcast show discussing with other entrepreneurial people what it means to achieve success, grow your startup, try to change the planet for the better, and go after your dreams, in todays modern world.
I am very excited to announce my new podcast: Ambition Today. A podcast show discussing with other entrepreneurial people what it means to achieve success, grow your startup, try to change the planet for the better, and go after your dreams, in todays modern world.
While working with new startups in New York I come across many ambitious people who are battling impossible odds to try and manifest something they truly believe needs to exist in the world. I will begin to introduce you to some of those people. We will talk about their journey, the news, how to help you the listener, and more. The first pilot episode is up and you can find it here on Siskar.co, the home of Ambition Today. Click below to listen.
Be sure to subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
