PROCO360 | Best Podcast for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners

Every Entrepreneur Needs Help All The Time

“Every entrepreneur needs help all the time.” 

Erik Mitisek, CEO, Highwing 

You may know Erik Mitisek as a founder of Denver Startup Week, or as Colorado’s Chief Innovation Officer, or from his many other endeavors in the Colorado entrepreneurial community.  This is a great conversation with Erik as we transition through several topics including Colorado as a home for startups, Erik’s current venture – Highwing, and lessons of entrepreneurship.   

Solar-Powered Democracy at Work

“1 person, 1 share, 1 vote… how we spend profits is an important ownership decision.”

Jason Sharpe, CEO, Namasté Solar

Namasté Solar takes being a “B Corp” to a new level with what CEO Jason Sharpe calls a “Democracy” where employees can become owners by buying-in ($5,000).  I explored with Jason how that could possibly work, and he explained that they run the business day to day differently from how they make Governance decisions.  A really fascinating look inside an employee owned “democracy.”

Blossoming to Pop-Up Markets

“It’s a logistics challenge… we’re building a Garden Market every week for 5 weeks in a row.”

Jeremy Friedman, President, Plum Creek Garden Market and Brown’s Greenhouse

I like this episode for two reasons.  First, I’ve always wondered about the greenhouse/nursery business, particularly about how and why quality varies so much.  Second, I am fascinated by the whole “pop-up” business concepts – businesses that temporarily take space to meet seasonal niche demand like at Halloween, Christmas – and in this case, spring planting.  I dove into both of those topics in this interview during which I was surprised to learn that Jeremy Friedman had no background in the business… he found the original greenhouse company for sale online! 

The Powder that Powers Electric Cars

“You have to meet all of today’s performance requirements… then of course greatly outperform on others – that’s the justification for adoption.”

Doug Campbell, CEO, Solid Power

Solid Power is a “technology transfer” business with science that originated at CU.  Solid-state batteries are 50% more efficient than current lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles and other products.

I wanted to get a better understanding of Solid Power’s technology and learned that the battery business, even the newer solid-state battery business is more competitive than I’d realized, and even more wildly expensive to get into.  Doug Campbell explains Solid Power’s focused strategy: develop and then manufacture the solid-state POWDER electrolyte that is the critical substance inside of solid state batteries, and sell that powder to the many companies building batteries for electric vehicles and other applications.  Doug is a dynamic entrepreneur, and you’ll enjoy this interview.

 

Shedding a Bike Storage Problem

“That was the problem – we had too many mountain bikes… and I decided to build my own nice looking shed.”

Jeremy Nova, co-Founder, Studio Shed

Studio Shed is another Colorado example of a business started, not on purpose, but as the outcome of one person’s effort to solve his or her problem and not being able to find that solution on the market.  Jeremy Nova was a professional mountain bike racer – an Olympic athlete – who needed a way to store his mountain bikes.  His answer became the now thriving Studio Shed! 

Fun & Fear Drives 30 Wheel Brands

“We had somewhat of a plan, we kind of knew where we were going… the truth is the basis for a plan didn’t even come close to what the business is today.”

Randy White, co-Founder & CEO, Wheel Pros

It took me a while to understand the impressive scope of Colorado-based Wheel Pros.  I’d done my research and erroneously entered my interview with Randy White thinking that Wheel Pros was a distributor of many brands of custom wheels.  No – Wheel Pros created and built 30 distinct brands of wheels that owners of Ferrari’s to lifted Jeeps to ATVs purchase for their vehicles.  The story is bigger and more impressive than I’d realized! 

Great Name, Unlocked Niche raises $100M

“I constantly tell my senior leadership to try to do less and think more.”

John Street, Founder & CEO, Pax8

Pax8 CEO John Street shares perspective and wisdom in this episode, all shaped and earned through his multiple startups.  John has been an entrepreneur steering technology innovations in telecom, email, internet technology, and now cloud services technology.  In each business, John was the industry innovator – early to the game with the risks and opportunities of being at the forefront.  You’ll love when John goes off on a tangent and shares the 8 rules for naming a startup, including Pax8! 

Celebrities Clamber for Fitness Climber

“What I think is great about the TRUTH is that it always wins… It’s not about selling – it’s about sharing knowledge with people and letting them make a decision.”

Avrum Emakis, Founder & CEO, CLMBR

CLMBR (“Climber”) is earlier stage than I normally feature and I was super excited to do this interview because I love cool fitness equipment (see the picture of me demoing it!) and because CLMBR has attracted a ton of celebrity support and investment.  CEO Avrum Elmakis has very engaging “humble confidence” – and I’m humbly confident that you’ll enjoy this episode!

Arts & Business Together at a Challenging Time

“Most people don’t think of the Arts as an industry sector.  It’s 4 ½ % of our GDP – we need to make sure that arts and creative industries are part of our state’s economic recovery strategy.”

Christin Crampton Day, Executive Director, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts

A couple of times a year I feature a successful non-profit and its leader.  I like to find non-profits that intersect with Colorado’s business community, and in the midst of the brutal effects of COVID on the arts and entertainment sector, I invited Christin Crampton Day, Executive Director of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, to join me  CBCA advances Colorado’s creative economy by connecting business and the arts.  Christin obviously faces some huge challenges now – arts venues are shut down – we talked about that, and about WHY there’s a strong connection between business and the arts.  I left our conversation convinced that a business’s operations can be enhanced by partnerships with the arts community.

Electric Aircraft Close to Taking Off

“There’s a profoundly important problem to be solved... in terms of creating a product with DEMAND, electric aviation is the ideal solution.” 

George Bye, CEO, Bye Aerospace

The key topics I wanted to discuss with George were 1) the patience and perseverance required to create an entirely new aircraft, and 2) how he maintains his excitement for an aircraft that is designed as a 2-seat trainer when in his past, George flew fighter jets.  Both answers really speak to lessons of entrepreneurship which make this episode interesting and valuable!