Finding Founders

This is an update to an episode we did a while back in April of 2020. And we’re doing an update because Jonathan Skogmo, founder of Jukin Media, has some pretty big news… recently he sold his company for a reported $140 million dollars. In this episode we take a behind the scenes look at that 9 figure deal, and try to understand emotionally what it’s like to sell a company you’ve built from your apartment over the last decade. A bit more about Jon: He’s the founder of Jukin which is an innovative media company that focuses on user-generated content. What is user-generated content? Well, it’s stuff like a video of a mom laughing hysterically while wearing a Chewbacca mask. That video is known as Chewbacca mom and the original video alone received over 140 million views. In fact, the video became so popular that this Chewbacca mask completely sold out around the world. Although the Chewbacca mom, otherwise known as Candace Payne, technically owns the video, the right to license that video belongs to Jukin. By

If there's one thing that drives Laura Osuri, it’s serving her community. After college, she sprang into an expedition that would take her across the globe to Europe and Latin America in search of new perspectives. Coming back to the states she felt listless, but soon sunk her energy into Street Sense media, whose mission was to vocalize homeless issues and provide community support. Realizing that she could help the marginalized, Laura once again saw a calling as the Syrian refugee crisis erupted. Taking action, she joined her church in welcoming and supporting newly displaced families. Her work with these agencies eventually inspired her to found her own resettlement nonprofit--Homes Not Borders right in her hometown of Washington D.C. However, things would get more complicated as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. https://www.homesnotborders.org/ Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Foll

Since Kevin Greene moved to the US from Jamaica at age 6 he's always been hustling. Entrepreneurship was his personality, but at times it wouldn't be fully expressed. In 2006 Kevin got a job at T-Mobile, and quickly realized that the corporate world didn't take kindly to conflict. The same voice that made him such a great entrepreneur, held him back in the corporate world. Although he was passed by for promotions, he did gain insight into mobile phone industry. This would eventually lead him to create Faces International in 2012, a mobile marketing and development firm. Diving deeper into his knack for spotting a trend Kevin noticed the high growth potential of Cannabis and decided someone needed to step in to educationally legitimize the industry. In order to fulfill the need for a qualified workforce in the rapidly-growing cannabis industry, Kevin co-founded the Cleveland School of Cannabis in 2018, the first and only school for cannabis with national accreditation. https://csceducation.com/ Subscribe to

Jeff and Judy Bowman are the acclaimed founders and owners of the Living Waters Spa, which was an internationally renowned clothing-optional spa in Desert Hot Springs, California. Before becoming key members of the clothing optional community, Jeff & Judy were church folk who started and grew congregations across America. Suddenly Judy was diagnosed with breast cancer which led Jeff to question nudity and soon question his religion. This would send both of them on a quest to understand their relationship with nakedness and come face to face with a new clothing-optional lifestyle. Words of Wisdom: Jeff and Judy challenged their beliefs and found that in doing so, they were able to get more in touch with their spirituality. Sometimes trials are what you need to better understand yourself and others around you. They experimented with clothing optional facilities. Never be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Self discovery can be the most enlightening part of life. They stayed true to their beliefs a

Originally from Seoul, Liah was studying architecture and feeling like she didn't really fit into the mold of South Korea. She decided to explore the idea of going into the beauty industry and released her first YouTube video. Not too long later, Liah Yoo is now a beauty guru and has amassed a following of over 1 million. But she wouldn't stop there. In 2017, Liah had a “lightbulb moment” and realized that the skincare market was overwhelming and oversaturated with products that created new skin problems rather than making skin healthier. She decided to launch Krave Beauty, a sustainable brand with a simple array of products designed with only the consumer in mind. https://kravebeauty.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support

What does it mean to fall in love with a place? In this episode, we explore this question by talking to Marnie Gustavson, the executive director of PARSA Afghanistan and leader of the Afghan Scouts revival movement. Though her journey actually began in Washington, Marnie was introduced to Afghanistan at 9 years old when her father relocated the family for his new job. Growing up in a foreign country, she struggled against cultural gender roles but eventually found her passion for leadership and directing through bargaining in Afghan markets. After returning to the US, Marnie realized how much she missed Afghanistan and decided she wanted it to be her permanent home. It was there she got her unlikely start at PARSA that led to the creation of her own program Sisters for Sisters and Brothers for Brothers. When the Afghan government unexpectedly collapsed during the 2021 Taliban Offensive, Marnie’s organization was faced with sudden social upheaval. In the face of great adversity, Marnie shares stories of resili

So today's guest I specifically sought out after reading his book “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant.” I was floored by essentially every sentence and thought the book was so incredible that I had to talk to the person who wrote it. That person is Eric Jorgenson. After working at a startup for a decade and technically being unemployed, he decided to delve into a myriad of projects including podcasts, blogs, and a self-paced course on leverage. His recent, and most successful book, is a guide to wealth and happiness curated and distilled entirely from Naval’s spoken and written words. If you haven't heard of Naval, he's semi famous within certain silicon valley circles. He's founder of AngelList, an angel investor, and a modern day philosopher. The wisdom inside this book is near unparalleled, and if you haven't read it already, I highly recommend you do. You can buy Eric's book, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, right now on Amazon. Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: fin

So when I talked to today's guests it was during the Halloween Haunt, an event took place in the same village as my LARPing adventure with John Basset (episode #96). But this interview would be extra special because I would be talking to the head honcho of the LARPs in that area... David Pulcifer. David Pulcifer is the President of the LARP City Project, an organization with the goal of creating the best Live Action Role Play (LARP) sites across the United States. David has over 20 years of experience, and the LARP City Project is currently pursuing an ambitious goal to build 6 permanent LARP sites across the country over the next 2 decades. David believes in the positive impact of Live Action Role Play, and that it can improve the lives of gamers’ through the encouragement of creativity, positive social interaction, and physical health. Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Found

This is a follow up interview with Andrew Warner (episode 48)-- we told his life story back in November of 2020. Quick recap on Andrew. Shortly after college, Andrew was handling millions of dollars and taking on massive risk. Only a few years later, he’d resign from that frantic lifestyle, jump ship and head for a respite in the Caribbean. It was here he reflected on his life and returned to his youth, a childhood filled with libraries, books, and learning. He realized that his own life with all the peaks and valleys of the entrepreneurial journey, mirrors that of his initial mentors who lived within the pages of those books. He took those lessons, founded a few companies, and now continues to learn from entrepreneurs with his show Mixergy, asking the question: What do startup founders know that you don’t? Since our initial interview, we've stayed in touch and he's been giving me great advice. In this episode of founder wisdom we're going to dive into his new book, we're going to learn how to focus on the

How do you make digital art physical? How can you print video? Infinite Objects founder and CEO, Joe Saavedra is answering these questions. Growing up in a small town, Joe tapped into artistic self expression with the saxophone. He took this artistic interest to college as he discovered how he could create art using technology which would spark a life's mission to combine these interests. This journey has lead him to play a leading role in the creation of so many cool products, including the Google Talking Shoe and a wearable personal pollution monitor egg. Most recently, he has become the founder and CEO of Infinite Objects, a company at the forefront of NFT tech that essentially “prints” videos in physical form. However, a journey of passion always has its trials and tribulations. https://infiniteobjects.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram

Giuliana Furci was born in London but her family returned to Chile when she was 15 years old. At 19, she stumbled across a bright orange mushroom which caught her eye while doing field work in the forest. This moment inspired Giuliana to devote her life to addressing the lack of information on fungi. Starting her career as a self-taught amateur, she became the first female field mycologist in Chile and started the Fungi Foundation, the first NGO dedicated to fungi in the world. Under her leadership, Chile became the first country in the world to include the Fungi kingdom in its environmental legislation. https://ffungi.org/eng/ Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support

In this episode, we sit down with Lori Kay, a sculptor, business woman, mother, naturist, and owner of Lupin Lodge. As a kid, Lori learned to adapt and have an open mind as her family moved around due to her father’s military service. When Lori was a young adult she studied abroad in Switzerland, where she experienced first hand a different approach to nudity. When weekly trips to a sauna meant wearing nothing but a towel in a coed room, Lori was not judgmental but rather embraced the cultural difference. When she returned to the U.S. Lori was introduced to Lupin’s community (a nudist retreat) and quickly became a regular member. This led to her falling in love with the owner and eventually becoming an owner herself. Find out how her determination would build a community of body positivity and self discovery. https://www.lupinlodge.com/ https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.co

Elyse Burden founded Real World Scholars (2014), where she works to give students the opportunity and resources needed to become change makers and social entrepreneurs in their communities – not one day, but right now. She provides money for the students to help pursue their business, pay it forward, and invest in the greater good. She believes in creative solutions and recognizes that young people are brilliant, creative, and angry enough to help the world find solutions to some of our scariest challenges. https://www.realworldscholars.org/ Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support

In today’s episode, we’ll get to hear from Forrest Garvin, former U.S. Air Force NCO, creator of several technology startups, and founder of the PrepperNet community. Forrest had a front row seat during the Y2K crisis, working with computers that were expected to crash at the turn of the century. Even though he couldn’t understand why it was a big problem at the time, it was the initiation of his prepper lifestyle. With a desire to learn and protect his family, Forrest honed in on his survival skills. And although he faced isolation and embarrassment for his wish to prepare for the unknown, those skills would come in handy when the world was faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. In a journey that takes us from North Carolina to Greece, and projects us from the year 2000 to 2020, Forrest teaches us how basic human survival can not only help a lot of people, but also forge a fearless community. https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/

Eric Molinsky is the creator and host of Imaginary Worlds, a podcast exploring fictional worlds and works, the non-fiction stories behind them, and the communities around those stories. Born in Boston, Eric moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in animation for several years, thinking it was what he wanted. Eventually, he came to realize that his true passion was in crafting stories and “pieces of time.” Eric moved back to the East coast and started working for New York public radio and began finding his footing in the audio storytelling industry. Frustrated with public radio’s tongue in cheek attitude toward covering science fiction and fantasy, Eric became a freelancer to tell stories he wanted to tell, and eventually started his own podcast to do just that. Since then, he’s taught classes at NYU in podcasting and audio storytelling, and through his podcast, he’s discovered whole new imaginary worlds to fall in love with. Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findin

Daisy Luther has learned the hard way how important preparation is. From debilitating poverty, to losing her father, to becoming a single mother, we follow Daisy on her story of suffering through extreme hardship. But we’ll also understand how she managed to survive and thrive in spite of it. Facing loss after loss Daisy never gave up, and now she is a successful author, the founder of TheFurgalite.com and TheOrganicPrepper.com, websites that gets millions of views and teach us how we can be more prepared when things go wrong. https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support

After graduating from college and getting a corporate job, Chris Bello found himself unmotivated and looking for a new pursuit. Seeking inspiration, he read  Rich Dad, Poor Dad and The Four-Hour Work Week, which led Bello to quit his job and take a one month hiatus to Asia. Afterwards, he returned and began working on his personal brand, working on a mailing list, website, and podcast simultaneously. Along the way, he also ended up working in real estate wholesale. Nowadays, he continues his mantra of “less dreaming, more doing” by continuing to work on all of these things and remaining consistent. With over 50,000 monthly downloads as well as one million total downloads on his Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast, Bello hopes to interview increasingly popular guests in order to expand his reach and inspires others to stay motivated while facing their fears. Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow

In this episode we sit down with John Basset, founder of Twin Mask and an avid LARPer. Live Action Role Play, or LARP, has been part of John's identity ever since he was in high school, but what is LARP? Well, it's a role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players enter a fictional world but interact with real objects, all while in character. I'll admit even that explanation confused me, so I traveled down to the LARP event to see what it was all about. I learned how a break from reality can help you find your community, understand yourself, and bring the world a bit closer together. Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support

Christina Catalano is a noted human rights leader and founder of RISE. Although it started small, the RISE Anti-Bullying Initiative has grown to become one of the largest anti-bullying initiatives in the world. And Christina's influence doesn't stop there, in fact, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020. But before the awards and accolades, her experience with bullying was personal. Growing up on the Jersey Shore, school was a place she felt isolated and attacked. https://www.theriseinitiative.org/ Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support

In this episode of Finding Founders, we hear from Hala Taha, a leading podcast entrepreneur, founder, and CEO. Hala’s story shows a journey to realizing your self-worth in the face of post-9/11 obstacles, working without compensation, and failing time and time again. Hala started with a pretty “blessed childhood”, going with her father to work at the hospital, and was a bit of a tomboy. But, after 9/11 her life changed dramatically. In high school, she experienced a feeling of isolation and being shut out of those activities she used to love. It wasn't until college that she really found her stride. She soon found a career in entertainment, working at Hot 97, then blogging with strawberryblunt.com, and eventually starting YAP and hosting the Young and Profiting Podcast. But her journey was far from smooth. Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/