School for Startups Radio

Calvin Correli – Founder & CEO of Simplero How you see yourself shapes everything. So it’s not like, it’s really, weend up living within a container that is our identity, that is how we seeourselves, and then the limiting beliefs live inside of that container. Calvin Correli is the founder and chief executive officer of Simplero, a fully integrated SaaS platform designed to help coaches, creators, and founder-led brands market, sell, and deliver their digital products and services with simplicity and soul. With a background as a software engineer and a lifelong entrepreneur, Calvin built Simplero out of a desire to replace the frustrating patchwork of tools most creators were forced to use with one system that supports business growth without compromise. Under his leadership, Simplero has been bootstrapped and grown into a purpose-driven company that emphasizes integrity, ease of use, and meaningful impact in the online business world. Beyond his work at Simplero, Calvin is known for blending technical expertise with a focus on personal growth and intentional entrepreneurship, often speaking, writing, and coaching on how to build businesses that align with deeper values and purpose. His journey reflects a commitment to helping others bring their unique voices and knowledge into the world in ways that are both effective and personally fulfilling. Tim Berry – Lean Business Plan Guru, Founder/chairman of Palo Alto Software and Author of Lean Business Planning: Get What You Want From Your Business There’s no value in sticking to a plan, the plan is to help you connectthe dots, to help you keep long term and short term in mind, to helpyou go step by step, but you always have to be reviewing and revising. TimBerry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software, founder of bplans.com, and co-founder of Borland International. He is an author of several books and has created software platforms that help create business plans. Tim has also taught entrepreneurship at the University of Oregon for 11 years and he is a frequent speaker on topics of business planning and entrepreneurship. His latest effort is a new startup offering social media business planning for entrepreneurs, business owners, and marketers. His blog is available at Planning Startups Stories  and will help entrepreneurs explore lean business planning. Tim also writes a monthly column on the Entrepreneur.com site, and for Huffington Post, AmEx OPEN Forum, Small Business Trends, and Up and Running. He is the author of books including “Lean Business Planning,” published by Motivational Press, “The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan” and “3 Weeks to Startup.”

Ted DeBettencourt – Co-founder of Juvo Leads Plan to have no life for two to three years until you get it figured out. Try harder than your competition. Care more about your clients than anybody else Ted DeBettencourt is a 3rd generation Martha’s Vineyard native who has been in legal marketing for 12 years after having earned a JD/MBA from Case Western Reserve. Before starting Juvo Leads in 2015 he ran a legal marketing agency in Boston helping law firms grow through online efforts (SEO/PPC). Ted was using the existing chat companies on the market but didn’t like how they were answering his clients chats so he fired them and started answering chats himself. What started as 1 person answering chats for a few small firms in Boston has turned into a team of a little under 100 chat agents answering chats for about 1100 firms around the country. Brenton Hayden – Founder of Renter’s Warehouse and Investor at Leafline Labs Your story is being written right now, with or without you, and the ending is entirely up to you. Brenton Hayden is a highly accomplished investor and entrepreneur, especially in the real estate industry. He is currently an investor in Leafline Labs. This company is a pharmaceutical grade laboratory that grows, researches, and retails high grade medical quality cannabis for the following qualifying conditions: Cancer with severe/chronic pain, with nausea or severe vomiting, Glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Tourette’s Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Brenton is also the owner of Suits, LLC, specializing in rural development of small business and residential rental real estate. They also work with holdings in residential multi-family, laundromats, and commercial retail. Previously, Brenton was the CEO of Renter’s Warehouse, and now is the chairman of their board. The company helps property owners  to rent and manage their residential real estate. As Chairman, he plans to establish a board to help the company expand nationally, and focus on projects that will directly benefit the business.

R.C Goodwin – Author of Making God Laugh: A Memoir of Psychiatry, Dublin, and the Electric Chair If you write something and it doesn’t strike you as absolutely right,it’swrong. You may not dislike it, but if it’s not quite right, then it’s wrong. R.C. Goodwin has worked as a psychiatrist and consulted for the Connecticut Department of Correction, nursing homes, a substance abuse facility, and a major university mental health clinic. Goodwin’s debut book, The Stephen Hawking Death Row Fan Club, was named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Indie Books of 2015. His novel, Model Child, was published in 2018. He lives in Connecticut, and is a member of the Connecticut Authors & Publishers Association and the Writers Guild of America. He is a graduate of Yale and attended medical school in Dublin. After graduating from Yale, R.C. Goodwin spent six demanding but wonderful years in Dublin attending medical school before returning to the U.S. for an internship and psychiatric residency. Since then, he has worked in private practice, jails and prisons, nursing homes, a substance abuse facility, and a student mental health clinic at a major university-all of which he describes in his memoir, Making God Laugh. His fiction has appeared in Elixir, Center, Northeast, and Writers Digest Online among other publications. It has also been published in two anthologies, Stories that Need to be Told and Coolest American Stories. Goodwin’s debut book The Stephen Hawking Death Row Fan Club, a prison-based collection of award-winning short stories and a novella, was named a Kirkus Indie Best Book of 2015. He has also written a novel, Model Child, a psychological thriller. He lives with his wife and a spoiled, bossy cat in Connecticut. Jay Samit – “Coolest Job,” Video on Demand Creator and Author of Disrupt You!: Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation Every obstacle out there is actually a new opportunity for anentrepreneur to create a solution, make life better and profit. Jay Samit has been described by Wired magazine as “having the coolest job in the industry.” He is a leading technology innovator who has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for startups, sold companies to Fortune 500 firms, taken companies public, and partnered with some of the world’s biggest brands, including Coca Cola, McDonald’s, General Motors, United Airlines, Microsoft, Apple, Verizon, and Facebook. Samit is CEO of SeaChange International, a leading global multi-screen video software company. A technology innovator and entrepreneur, he was a senior advisor to LinkedIn and was appointed to the White House initiative for education and technology by President Bill Clinton. Samit is the host of the Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year series. Samit helped grow pre-IPO companies such as Linkedin, held senior management roles at Sony and Universal Studios, pioneered breakthrough advancements in mobile video, internet advertising, ecommerce, social networks, ebooks, and digital music that are used by billions of consumers every day. An adjunct professor at USC, Samit teaches innovation at America’s largest engineering school and is author of Disrupt Yourself: Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation. He frequently appears on ABC, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC and tweets daily motivation to the over 100,000 business professionals who follow him on Twitter. An expert on transformational corporate change, Samit has been quoted in The New York Times, The Economist, Businessweek, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Fast Company and TechCrunch. He was awarded with the Leonardo Da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Roy Zwahlen – Author of Race to Innovation: Unleashing the Power of Entrepreneurship For Everyone Who’s going to be the first solo preneur Unicorn company where there’s an employee of one because of AI agents that have been created to help stand up and run that company, whether that’s possible or not, time will tell. Dr. Roy Zwahlen is a strategic innovation leader and author with deep expertise in innovation strategy, entrepreneurship, and translating research into real-world impact. He currently serves in leadership roles at the Eshelman Institute of Innovation and the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, where he drives innovation strategy, partnership development, and operational excellence in therapeutics and digital health while advancing strategic partnerships and risk management in academic and translational environments. Dr. Zwahlen’s work bridges innovation ecosystems, impact capital, and entrepreneurial communities to expand access and opportunity for diverse innovators. He co-authored Race to Innovation: Unleashing the Power of Entrepreneurship for Everyone, a book that highlights how inclusive entrepreneurial practices and diverse perspectives can unlock transformative opportunities and economic value across society. Through his writing, leadership, and innovation practice, Dr. Zwahlen champions entrepreneurship that is accessible and empowering for people from all backgrounds.Brian Smith – Keynote Speaker & Founder of UGG You have to have a certain amount of ignorance to be a good entrepreneur,because if you did all the research and knew what was ahead, you wouldnever start. And my ignorance was that everyone in Australia is born withthick skin knowledge. Dr. Roy Zwahlen is an innovation strategist, academic leader, and co-author of Race to Innovation: Unleashing the Power of Entrepreneurship for Everyone, a book that explores how inclusive entrepreneurship and diverse perspectives drive breakthrough innovation. He serves in senior leadership roles at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the Eshelman Institute for Innovation, where he focuses on innovation strategy, translational research, venture development, and building partnerships that move ideas from discovery to real-world impact. With experience spanning higher education, healthcare innovation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems, Dr. Zwahlen works at the intersection of research, risk, and opportunity to expand access to innovation for founders from all backgrounds. His work emphasizes practical pathways for entrepreneurship, institutional change, and scalable innovation that creates both economic and social value.

Jay Davis – Founder & CEO Pillow Cube When I first had this idea, people were like, you know, no one, most peopledon’t make pillows that way because it’s really expensive to make pillowsthat way. It’s a lot cheaper if you just fill a bag with crap. But I knew that thisprovided the experience that personally I loved and really changed the wayI slept. And that quality sleep is so important to feel happy and kind of beour best selves. Jay Davis is the founder and chief executive officer of Pillow Cube, a sleep products company he launched in 2019 to solve his own problem of finding proper neck support as a side sleeper. After earning a degree in business management with an emphasis in entrepreneurship from Brigham Young University, Davis built his career in product development, marketing, and startup growth, including key roles at Vivint and as an early team member of The Color Run before founding his creative agency, Creatably. Driven by innovation and a deep understanding of consumer needs, he brought Pillow Cube to life through a successful Kickstarter campaign and has since grown the brand into a leading pillow company designed specifically for side sleepers, expanding its offerings and earning strategic investment along the way. Outside of Pillow Cube Davis is also an investor and entrepreneur with interests in other ventures, and he balances his professional life with family, including his wife and children.Bryant McGill –  Founder of Peace Prize Foundation & a Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Activist and Social Entrepreneur If you’re really humble, you’re going to be great. Okay, if you’re trulyhumble, you’ll be great. You know why? Because it is supremely arrogantto throw away the gift of life. There’s nothing humble about throwingaway the gift of life and all you could be. Bryant McGill is a human potential thought leader, international bestselling author, activist, and social entrepreneur. He is one of the world’s top social media influencers reaching a billion people a year (2016). His prolific writings have been published in thousands of books and publications, including a New York Times bestselling series, and his Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller, read by over 60 million people. He was the subject of a front-page cover story in the Wall Street Journal, has appeared in Forbes as a featured cultural thought leader, Nasdaq’s leadership series, Entrepreneur Magazine, and was listed in Inc. Magazine as an “Icon of Entrepreneurship” and one of, “the greatest leaders, writers and thinkers of all time.” He is the creator and founder of McGill Media, the McGill Peace Prize Foundation and Charitable Trust, The Royal Society (2015), and Simple Reminders. He is living his dream daily, serving those seeking inspiration, health, freedom, and truth around the world. McGill is a United Nations appointed Global Champion and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, who received a Congressional commendation applauding his, “highly commendable life’s work,” as an Ambassador of Goodwill. His thoughts on human rights have been featured by President Clinton’s Foundation, in humanities programs with the Dalai Lama, and at the Whitehouse. He has appeared in media with Tony Robbins and Oprah, in a Desmond Tutu endorsed PBS Special with Jack Canfield, and has delivered speeches at the United Nations’ General Assembly Hall on Human Rights Day, with the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, and with Dr. Gandhi, Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. McGill’s work has been endorsed by the president of the American Psychological Association, and has appeared in Psychology Today, and in meditation programs by Deepak Chopra. His writings have been published by Oprah’s Lifeclass, Simon & Schuster, Random House, HarperCollins, Wiley, McGraw Hill, and Writer’s Digest. His writings are regularly used in the curriculum at the university level, have been reviewed and published by the dean of NYU, and at Dartmouth, Stanford, and Yale, and were impleme