The Ascent Podcast

In this episode, I spoke with Zach Suchin, co-founder and CEO of an agency called Brand Knew. We discussed how Zach got his start in entrepreneurship at a young age, to his journey into co-founding a successful company that works with world renowned brands.

In this episode, I chatted with Larry Jordan, a career techie with a passion for the IoT. We discussed Larry's career, starting in his father's workshop and eventually working for GM. Here's the full run-down: 01 - Meet Larry Jordan, President & CTO of Wi-Tronix 02 - Starting out really early with a passion for tech (2:34) 03 - The highs and lows of being an entrepreneur (4:14) 04 - The intersection of computers and big systems (5:17) 05 - Sheer data and information generated by the IoT (7:55) 06 - Value proposition of safety + efficiency (9:31) 07 - Embracing the IoT & having an inspector on every train (11:52) 08 - Being drawn to the unexpected niche industry of trains (13:45) 09 - How railroads linked the world together (15:57) 10 - Taking efficiency and safety to the passenger market (17:37) 11 - The future of AI and locomotives (19:10) 12 - Changes within job markets due to autonomous transport (21:29) 13 - Closing remarks and how to reach Larry (23:51)

In episode 7, I caught up with Alida Miranda-Wolff, a career over-achiever, former venture capitalist, and recent founder. We discussed Alida's journey to date, which includes a LOT of activity over the past several years. Here's the full run-down: 1 - Where Alida Miranda-Wolff came from is a little tricky... (0:00) 2 - Attending The University of Chicago at age 16 (3:26) 3 - A car accident about as dramatic as you can imagine (7:02) 4 - Why not join a startup before starting one... (9:24) 5 - An undergrad opportunity at Hyde Park Angels (11:18) 6 - 6 Future of Innovation reports in 6 months (13:00) 7 - The impact of living and experiencing rapid change (14:47) 8 - Being the Director of Platform at Hyde Park Angels (19:08) 9 - HPA takes a people-first approach to investing (20:58) 10 - Bringing capital from the coasts to the midwest (22:25) 11 - Being 1 of only 24 Latina VCs in the country (24:23) 12 - A goal in making the world more beautiful (27:30) 13 - Living a life of purpose and

In episode 6, I caught up with Shaun Black, a 20+ year entrepreneur with some serious ties to the produce and grocery store game. We discussed Shaun's journey to date, which includes many important business lessons from past failures. Here's the full run-down: 1 - Meet Shan Black, family man and no-nonsense entrepreneur (0:00) 2 - An official start to the entrepreneurial journey (3:16) 3 - Shaun's 3 most important lessons about business (5:28) 4 - When bad systems meet a bad culture in the grocery store biz (9:22) 5 - The real value the comes from experience (11:04) 6 - Getting creative in the produce business after 20 years (13:59) 7 - The acquisition of B2B produce business (16:19) 8 - You can't automate a customer you're not doing business with (17:49) 9 - The hidden 4th most important business lesson (20:22) 10 - How you can get ahold of Shaun (22:00)

In episode 5, I sat down with Jessica Zweig - friend, personal branding expert, and agency CEO. We discussed Jessica's post-college life in Chicago, her struggles with being an actor, as well as what led her to start and grow a couple of really successful companies.