Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do

Kenny Van Zant is a serial entrepreneur who was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Since his days at the University of Texas he has worked for start ups. He is now the Head of the Business Team at the San Francisco based Asana. www.asana.comIn this episode Kenny shares his entrepreneurial journey and his advice for those who want to start their own business. Follow Kenny on Twitter at @kennyvz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joel Trammell is a successful CEO and entrepreneur with a 20-year career in IT-related software companies. He is currently CEO of Khorus, which provides a business management system for CEOs and other leaders. He is also Chair Emeritus of the Austin Technology Council and Co-founder and Managing Partner of private equity firm Lone Rock Technology Group. In addition, he serves on the boards of several public, private and nonprofit companies.Joel’s leadership as a CEO has resulted in successful nine-figure acquisitions by two Fortune 500 companies. As CEO of network management software firm NetQoS, he delivered 31 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth and nearly $60 million in revenue. CA Technologies acquired the company in 2009, generating more than 10x return on capital to its private equity investors. In 2010, he co-founded Cache IQ, a storage software company that NetApp acquired two years later.Joel is committed to using his experience to help current and aspiring CEOs. In addition to The Am

From the courtroom to the boardroom, Linda Byars Swindling, JD, CSP, is the premier authority in high-stakes communications, negotiating workplace drama, and influencing decision makers. Her specialty is helping people communicate powerfully so that others will listen.Listen in on this episode as Linda shares her journey from law firm partner to solopreneur business owner.www.lindaswindling.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Domitrz, CSP, is an author and educator who has devoted his life to the mission of The Date Safe Project. Mike and his team provide parents, educators, middle schools, high schools, colleges, university campuses, and military installations the SKILLS for addressing consent, respect, bystander intervention, teen dating, sex education, abstinence, sexual assault (rape), and supporting survivors of sexual assault.In the past 2 decades, Mike has spoken on 4 continents and to hundreds of educational and/or military institutions. Currently, he presents to audiences in over 75 cities each year. His clients range from local school districts and parenting organizations throughout the country to some of the nation’s most prestigious college campuses to the US Military (both stateside and overseas). In episode 69 of "Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do" Mike talks with Thom Singer about his entrepreneurial journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laurie Guest, CSP, is an entrepreneur at heart. She went from working in the healthcare industry to being a speaker and trainer serving a wide variety of industries. After eleven years as the owner of Solutions Are Brewing, professional speaking and training company she has found that all industries, not just healthcare clients, are interested in the secrets to better customer service. Laurie speaker all over the United States on how to attract and keep new customers and develop a team that can deliver the best service possible.In this interview she shares her entrepreneurial journey and gives her best tips for those who want to start a business. She also talks about "Sweet Spot Pricing", a topic that is important to every business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Lutz is one of the best connected people in the meetings and events industry. After a 22 year career with ExpoExchange (now Experient) he launched Velvet Chainsaw Consulting. He has built a team of six amazing industry experts, and together they help clients in the association and corporate world with "annual meeting improvement".Dave believes that your network is key to success. In today's digital world he still believes the power is in face-to-face. He also knows that having the right people who bring complementary skills is how a small company will succeed. Listen to this episode as Thom Singer talks with Dave Lutz about his career, his entrepreneurial journey and his advice for others.www.velvetchainsaw.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shion Deysharkar is the CEO of Datafiniti, an Austin based technology company. The Datafiniti team is a group of people passionate about data. Every day data is changing how we live and work. Because of this, the Datafiniti team feel that data has the potential to transform the world. They are working to make it easier for this transformation to happen. Datafiniti makes it possible for everyone to tap into the potential of the largest source of data that exists – the Internet itself.Listen to this episode as Thom Singer chats with Shion about his company, his entrepreneurial journey, Carnegie Mellon University, Austin, TX and advice for those looking to start their own company.www.datafiniti.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stacy Tetschner is the CEO of the National Speakers Association. These days associations need to be nimble and take risks to behave more like entrepreneurial ventures in an effort to stay relevant to their members.Join this conversation as Thom Singer and Stacy Tetschner discuss ways associations behave like a business. Hear about how "Non-profit is our tax status, not our business strategy" and how what the NSA and New Coke have in common.www.nsaspeaker.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Bradford is the CEO of The Center for Simplified Strategic Planning. He has spent 27 years working with interesting clients assisting them in their growth through his unique focus on strategy.A graduate of Princeton and Dartmouth, he joined his father's consulting business after obtaining his MBA and has never looked back. He likes being the boss because he calls the shots, but admits that it can also be lonely when you have to be in charge.Robert works with companies all over the world, but uses his international business as an example of how long term planning takes time. He set the plan two years before the clientele appeared, but as a future thinker he knows that success requires a plan, action and patience.Download this episode and share it with your friends and co-workers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thom Singer shares his ten tips for being a master of ceremonies. Being the EmCee is very different than speaking at an event. It takes more planning and a mix of personality and event management skills. Tune into this episode and hear his advice for the next time you host a meeting, awards show, or conference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Hahn II joins Thom Singer on this episode to talk about the windy road to career and life success.  James is the Founder & CEO of Tribe Rocket. He is recognized throughout the oil and gas industry as a visionary leader of the great crew change. He began his career in the oil business working as the digital marketing manager for Drillinginfo where he increased blog traffic by over 2,000% in one month, attained over 1,900 email opt-ins in less than 6 months, and established the company as a “best in class” thought leader in the industry. Listen in for his insights and advice for people who want to forge their own path. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fantastic conversation about entrepreneurship and the power of having awesome presentation skills. In this episode Thom Singer chats with best selling author Michael Port about his journey and gets great tips for those who want to have their own business.Called “an uncommonly honest author" by the Boston Globe, a "marketing guru" by The Wall Street Journal, and a “sales guru” by the Financial Times, Michael Port is a NY Times bestselling author of five books including Book Yourself Solid and The Think Big Manifesto. His 6th book, Steal the Show is being released this Fall of 2015. Interestingly, he is probably the only NY Times bestselling business book author to have also been a successful professional actor, guest starring on shows like Sex & The City, Law & Order, Third Watch, All My Children and in films like The Pelican Brief and Down to Earth. These days, Michael can be seen regularly on MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS as an on air expert in communication and business development. Learn more about your ad choice

Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do goes international with this interview with Donal Scannell, CEO of Gigstarter (From Dublin, Ireland).Gigstarter was created with the intention to improve the process of putting on great live gigs and events. Donal and his team have developed a platform that provides valuable insight into fan data, but also gives a much fairer deal to all who participate in the event.The love bringing people together, but often potential organizers worry about selling enough tickets to cover the costs. Gigstarter takes away the fear and pain by enabling your to sell tickets first and only confirm an event when the costs are covered. This breaks down the barriers to arranging events.Listen to this episode and hear Donal's journey as an entrepreneur. He shares a lot of insights into the path of starting and running your own business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thom Singer has been working as a solopreneur for six years. He is a professional master of ceremonies, keynote speaker, consultant and coach. During his time as a solopreneur he has experienced the good and bad of running his own business. In this episode he shares his "20 Tips for Solopreneurs" and reviews how his own experiences have lead him to growing his career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Williams is a technology and online media entrepreneur, interested in the consumer web, social media, e-commerce, mobile, and gaming. He loves launching ideas, start-ups, and businesses online.Ryan has a proven track record in marketing and business development with experience in social media, business development, brand strategy & management, mobile, and video content marketing. He is the host of the "Influencer Economy" Podcast and is working on releasing a book by the same title.He joins Thom Singer for this conversation about his experiences moving from a career as an employee to over a year as a solopreneur. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter is CEO of Certain, Inc. a San Francisco based SaaS provider of a complete enterprise event management platform that powers personalized event experiences and enables meaningful connections to accelerate business for corporations, meeting management companies and event producers worldwide. He has more than 25 years of public and private business software company experience including roles as CEO, president, general manager, sales executive and board member. His experience includes successful roles as president of Cognos Corp. the leading business intelligence vendor (acquired by IBM); CEO of NativeMinds, Inc. (acquired by Verity/Autonomy now HP); CEO of Kinecta Corp. (acquired by Stellent now Oracle). In addition, Peter served as a director of Centura, Inc. a NASDAQ traded company.Listen to this episode where Thom Singer talks to Peter Micciche about his career journey.** Check out the book mentioned in this episode: "Making Rain With Events" by Scott Ingram. This book was released in conjunction with Ce

March in Austin, Texas means the South by Southwest Festival. Thom Singer took his mobile studio with him to the SXSW Interactive events and interviewed several attendees about why they come to SXSW and their thoughts on entrepreneurship.If you were not present at the 2015 SXSW Interactive Festival, listen to this episode for a taste of the coolness that happens in the hallways and at rooftop parties during this annual gathering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is a "Mastermind Group" and why do some people say they make all the difference for success. There are CEO groups like EO, YPO, Vistage, etc... and there are paid online groups, weekend groups, etc... Thom Singer belongs to a formal Mastermind Group with four other professional speakers, all of whom credit the group with their continued success.This episode was recorded at the SXSW Interactive Festival before Thom, Jessica Pettitt and Gerry O'Brion lead a conversation on the topic" "Mastermind Construction Zone". Listen to this edition of the show as they share their ideas on how to create a group, keep it going, and what benefits they have seen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a "Podcast Simulcast". Bob Nolley, PhD of the Labrador Leadership Podcast and Thom Singer have a chat about leadership and entrepreneurship that is being aired on both shows that will be released on the same day. Dr. Bob Nolley is a leader and educator that is committed to the success of businesses and individuals through coaching. The strategy used to help executives, managers, team leaders, employees, and individuals is based on the creation of an environment that allows them to remove themselves from the pressing task list of the day and give thoughtful consideration and reflection on their experiences and challenges. In doing this they find a much greater probability of better choices that create alternative actions leading to successful outcomes.More information at http://www.labradorleadership.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brendan Hufford is a teacher, high school administrator, the founder of OK! Komonos and the host of the Entrepreneurs and Coffee Podcast. He has an internal engine for entrepreneurship that has one speed... FAST. Listen to this episode as he shares this vision and desires for all business professionals to grow and thrive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices