David Hornik is a partner at August Capital and sits on the board of directors of DoneRight, Nomis Solutions, PayCycle, Six Apart, Splunk Technology and VideoEgg. He previously served on the board of Evite which was acquired by Ticketmaster and he was a board observer with Tickle, which was later acquired by Monster. He has taught business and law internationally and is a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. But what he is most well known for is being the first venture capitalist to begin blogging about the industry. His blog, aptly called VentureBlog, has over 50,000 subscribers which is more than the seating capacity at Fenway Park. He also hosts a podcast called VentureCast and authors several personal blogs, including SaysMe, which had me laughing out loud. Listen in to hear his advice for entrepreneurs.

 

 David Hornik's advice on how to become a venture capitalist [3:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1562)

 

 David Hornik VC and author of VentureBlog [44:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4366)

Today my guest is serial entrepreneur David Samuel, the co-founder of Spinner Networks, Grouper, and Brondell. In 1996, two years after graduating from MIT, David pioneered Internet radio with the creation of Spinner Networks. The company was acquired three years later by AOL (AOL) for $320 million. David’s most recent venture, Grouper Networks, which specializes in Internet video sharing, was acquired last year by Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) for $65 million. But his most unique venture is Brondell, the first American-based company to develop high-tech toilet seats. Toilets have seen little innovation in the past century and Brondell is looking to change that by offering seats with remote controlled heat, warm water spray, and dryer. Listen in to hear David’s story and his advice for entrepreneurs.

 

 Full interview with David Samuel co-founder of Spinner Networks, Grouper, and Brondell [24:52m]: [24:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1859)

Joe Markham’s dog Fritz liked to chew rocks. That’s right — rocks. Out of desperation to saves his dog’s teeth, Joe created the Kong, one of the most unique, successful and useful dog toys of all time. But building the Kong Company wasn’t easy. When he first pitched his idea to pet store owners, they told him not to quit his day job. Fortunately he disregarded their advice and since then, over 50 million Kongs have been sold. That’s almost one for every dog in the US. Listen in to hear how Joe did it.

 

 Kong Company founder Joe Markham [ 34:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2643)

Blip.tv is the video sharing website that focuses on TV style shows that are broadcast in serialized episodes. In addition to being named in Business 2.0’s list of the 25 startups to watch, Walt Mossberg wrote that it is his favorite website for original content episodic TV shows online. “WallStrip“, “Alive in Baghdad“ and “the show with zefrank” are just some of the choices you can find on blip.tv. Funded by several high profile investors including Ron Conway and Peter Thiel, the company is in an excellent position to take advantage of the next generation of video entertainment. My guest today is Dina Kaplan, one of the company’s five co-founders. Download the podcast to hear the company’s story.

 

 blip.tv co-founder Dina Kaplan [36:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1982)

Scott Kucirek is the co-founder of ZipRealty (ZIPR), the online real estate brokerage company founded in 1999. Scott and his partner Juan met on their first day of business school at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. The pair ended up starting four businesses together and although the first three failed, they all evolved into what became ZipRealty. Over the next five years the company weathered the dot com bomb, raised six rounds of financing and finally went public in 2004 in a deal that was 10 times oversubscribed. Download the mp3 to hear the story.

 

 ZipRealty co-founder Scott Kucirek [33:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2654)

Meebo is a web based platform that enables instant messaging from any computer. My guest today is Seth Sternberg, one of the three co-founders. Launched in 2005 with 10,000 users on day one, the company is off to an astonishing start. It’s popularity has surged in part because it is a convenient way to overcome the technical limitations on university and corporate networks that block downloading software typically required to IM. Funded by Sequoia Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the company has grown to support 90 million daily messages and 5.5 million monthly users. Earlier this month Business2.0 dubbed Meebo one of 25 startups to watch. Tune in to hear their story.

 

 Things that influenced Seth Sternberg to become an entrepreneur. [2:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1277)

 

 Seth Sternberg's recommendations on raising VC funding. [2:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1226)

 

 Seth Sternberg co-founder of Meebo. [20:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3044)

In 1995, at the age of 22, Mike Seckler co-founded Employease, the first company to offer software-as-a-service over the internet. With only $26,000 between them, Mike and his partner quit their jobs and began building what has become the leading HR outsourcing platform that serves over one million users daily. In October of last year, after 35 consecutive quarters of revenue growth, 50% year over year growth, and estimated annual revenues of $60 million, the company was acquired by ADP. Tune in to hear how Mike and his partner did it.

 

 Employease founder Mike Seckler [22:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1999)

In the US, more money is spent each year on cats and dogs than on babies. My guest is Laura Bennett, the co-founder of Embrace Pet Insurance, a company that is partnering with Lloyds of London to offer health insurance for pets. The market is enormous. In the US alone, there are 73 million dogs and 90 million cats and projected annual growth of insurance premiums is 45%. Embrace Pet Insurance was launched in 2003 after Laura and her partner won the annual Wharton Business Plan Competition, beating out dozens of Internet and technology ventures. Despite this strong start, it took over three years before the company could sell their first policy. Tune in to hear how Laura persevered and made her dream a reality.

 

 Embrace Pet Insurance founder Laura Bennett [17:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2955)

The New York Times dubbed Chris Wiesinger The Bulb Hunter for his dogged commitment to uncovering lost treasures. His mission is to bring the magic of flower bulbs to the masses by searching out, rescuing and reintroducing rare and heirloom varietals long out of fashion that are resilient and easier to care for than conventional flowers. Chris is the founder and president of The Southern Bulb Company. He took his love and passion for flower bulbs and turned it into a flourishing online business. Tune in to hear he did it.

 

 The Bulb Hunter aka Chris Wiesinger of The Southern Bulb Company [18:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2857)

Eventbrite founder Kevin Hartz is the quintessential serial entrepreneur. His most recent venture is a company that has created an online platform where users can sell tickets to events like reunions, fundraisers and classes. The small event ticket market is estimated to be in the billions with only 2% currently collected online. Other companies kevin previously founded include Connect Group which in the mid 90’s wired hotel rooms for internet access and Xoom an international online money remittance service funded by Sequoia Capital. Kevin had the insight to be an early investor in PayPal and saw firsthand how PayPal beat out dozens of competitors to emerge as the clear market leader. He is now applying the lessons learned from PayPal and his previous successful ventures to Eventbrite. Listen in to hear how Kevin and the Eventbrite team are tackling this enormous opportunity.

 

 Eventbrite founder Kevin Hartz [23:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3264)

Ravenswood Winery founder Joel Peterson began wine tasting at the age of 11 and had a dream to create wines in California that would rival the greatest of Europe. He turned his dream into reality in 1976 with his first vintage that won a prestigious San Francisco tasting. Even so, he kept his day job as a microbiologist for 15 years while he grew Ravenswood Winery into one of the most well known and well respected names in the industry.

Because of Ravenswood’s strong brand, Bill Hambrecht of WR Hambrecht thought it was the perfect candidate to test out his new idea for taking a company public via Dutch auction. Bill approached Ravenswood and in 1999 the company made history by becoming the first company to sell their IPO shares via auction over the internet. Two years later, the company was bought by Constellation Brands (STZ), the largest wine company in the world, for 3 times the initial IPO market cap. Tune in to hear the full story behind Ravenswood and how Joel built such a strong brand.

MerchantCircle co-founder Wayne Yamamoto started an internet media company that helps small businesses use the internet as an effective marketing channel to drive more customers and more revenue through their physical storefronts. They offer blogging and other tools to help business owners interact with, better understand and target customers. By current estimates, there are 14-25 million small businesses in the US and less than 3% are online. MerchantCircle aims to compete against the Yellow Pages for a slice of the estimated $97 Billion dollar local advertising market. Stay tuned for a glimpse into this exciting emerging market.

 

 MerchantCircle founder Wayne Yamamoto [16:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3270)

Southwest Airlines (LUV) is one of the greatest entrepreneurial success stories of all time. Prior to takeoff of their first commercial flight, they spent three and half years in legal battles defending their right to fly. Two battles went all the way to the United States Supreme Court which ultimately upheld Southwest’s right to fly. The date of the Supreme Court decision, December 7, 1970, is considered by many to be the beginning of deregulation in the airline industry. Southwest has grown into the largest US airline in terms of passengers flown, and yet since 1987 they have maintained the fewest overall customer complaints of any domestic airline and the lowest operating cost structure in the industry. They have been profitable for 33 consecutive years, in an industry where no other company has been profitable for even five consecutive years. Over the past 10 years, shareholder returns have been more than double the S&P 500, and their market cap is larger than the combined market cap of the next three largest airlines — American, United and Delta. Nearly every US competitor has tried to emulate their pioneering business model. Fortune has called Herb Kelleher perhaps the best CEO in America, and among all corporations in the United States, the magazine lists Southwest Airlines as the third most admired. Download the mp3 to hear how it came to be that you are now free to move about the country.

 

 Philosophical issue that kept Herb Kelleher fighting four year legal battle for Southwest Airlines' survival and how it shaped the company [2:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (80)

 

 Herb Kelleher's rule of thumb on raising funding [0:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (74)

 

 Childhood influences that shaped Herb Kelleher's character, leadership ability, ethics and vision [3:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (13)

 

 How Herb Kelleher got the idea to start Soutwest Airlines and and fought four year legal battle for the right to fly [5:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (89)

 

 Full interview with Southwest Airlines' founder Herb Kelleher [27:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (188)

Jens Molbak is the founder of Coinstar (CSTR), the self-service coin counting machines you see in your local supermarket. Coinstar processes more coins each year than the US Mint produces. When Coinstar installed their pilot kiosks in Los Angeles, they so significantly impacted the velocity of money flowing through the hands of consumers, the Federal Reserve called them up to find out what they were doing. Prior to launching, Jens surveyed over 1500 people as they exited local supermarkets. From his research, he estimated US households were sitting on $8 billion in loose change. The market opportunity was enormous, but Jens was equally motivated to prove that public, private and non-profit benefits can exist in one organization. Download the mp3 to hear how he did it.

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 Why the Fed called Coinstar when they launched their pilot kiosks and the impact it had on the US money supply [1:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (71)

 

 What motivated Jens Molbak to start Coinstar [2:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (10)

 

 Jens Molbak's advice for entrepreneurs [2:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (71)

 

 How Jens Molbak went from having a great idea to starting a great company [3:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7)

 

 Full interview with Coinstar founder Jens Molbak [25:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (157)