Finding Founders

Oct 31 2024 326 ep. 39 mins 244

Finding Founders Podcast artwork

A podcast about vulnerability and entrepreneurship — learn from the life stories of founders 🚀, activists ✊, and even drug lords 💊 Our aim is to inspire you and let's face it... you aren't inspired when you hear about success. Real inspiration comes from hearing someone's lowest moment, and rising with their success. Using music, sfx, and voiceover, we interview the founders of companies, movements, and even drug cartels to reveal vulnerability so you can learn from victory. I’m your host, Samuel Donner, and together with my team we aim to inspire and educate a global community of leaders.

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From 37 Rejections to Over 40M Books Sold and a Hit Netflix Show - #156:Daniel Handler | Creators

Oct 31 2024 54 mins

Disheartened by the 37 rejection letters in his back pocket, Daniel was shocked when a hasty bar-pitch landed him with a $40,000 publishing deal. After all, he was still relatively unknown…and his children’s story was odd to say the least. What kind of kid would want to read a faux (FOE) gothic novel about three orphans with a bloodthirsty relative out for their inheritance”?

The $300M Space Junk Problem - #160: Nobu Okada | Astroscale

Oct 24 2024 35 mins

Kobe Earthquake 1995. At 5:46 in the morning, the city was struck by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, leaving 6,000 casualties and 45,000 others homeless. Nobu Okada was only just out of college when he witnessed this scene of devastation and decided to turn his life towards a path of action and purpose. But what career would he turn to next? Now, we know Nobu as the founder of Astrosca

From Hustling Video Games at 11 to $500M Construction Empire- #225 Damion Lupo | Financial Underdogs

Oct 17 2024 100 mins

Damion Lupo has always been a hard worker since the age of 11. His first business started when he wanted to buy video games for himself. When he went to college he started another business of selling books at a cheaper price than his school bookstore. Damion was kicked out of college for outselling his school bookstore shortly after. Damion found a love for real estate. However dur

Black Magic, Boarding School and Bali's First Waterpark- #183: Sayan Gulino | Waterborn Bali

Oct 10 2024 47 mins

Maybe it was black magic, or maybe it was the locals pushing back on the first signs of foreign development. Regardless, it is a complicated thing to start a business when you are a foreigner. In spite of countless roadblocks, Waterborn stands, and Sayan Gulino, the current CEO of Waterborn Bali, has pushed his father's legacy forward. Today, Waterborn has won several awards and is

Transforming Lives Through Psychedelic Microdosing- #224 Paul Austin | Third Wave

Oct 03 2024 57 mins

For Paul Austin, psychedelics are a tool or skill to be used to courageously explore and create. His own psychedelic journey began at the age of 19, and through those journeys, they allowed him to release some of the shame and guilt he’d been raised in within a fundamentalist religious family. Now, with Third Wave and Psychedelic Coaching Institute, he works to expand knowledge a

From Drive-By Shootings to Chicano Social Movements- #166 Raul Baltazar | Creator

Sep 26 2024 46 mins

Raul Baltazar wields the power of painting, video, visual art performances, and much more to examine the experiences of the Mestizo Los Angeles Communities, including responses to trauma and post-colonialism. Baltazar has exhibited his community-focused art in LA and internationally, including Mexico, Taiwan, Vienna, and Australia. Baltazar has earned international acclaim and rece

This Entrepreneur Traveled the World to Help Others Find Themselves- #223 Patrick McAndrew | HARA

Sep 19 2024 69 mins

After growing up in Ireland, Patrick McAndrew moved to New York City to work in business. But after feeling called to quit his job to start his first business, he became interested in exploring human attention, particularly how we relate to technology. With that question in mind, he founded HARA, an inner circle for exceptional entrepreneurs and leaders trying to reach their highes

From the City to the Set of Alone- #222 Joe Robinet | Bushcraft Survivalist

Sep 12 2024 97 mins

Growing up in a city with no wilderness at close proximity, Joe Robinet found his love for nature through television shows such as Little House on the Prairie. With over a million subscribers on YouTube, Joe has been sharing his outdoors experiences since 2007. Joe goes on 1 - 2 week camping adventures. However, a dirt bike incident has resulted in Joe getting lots of nerve and lig

Can AI Help us Speak to the Past?- #165 Heather Smith | Storyfile

Sep 05 2024 47 mins

Have you ever wished you could capture a memory forever? Heather Maio-Smith and her team have made this reality through thousands of recorded interviews with Holocaust survivors. After working with them to create interactive testimony exhibits, Heather was inspired to develop new technology that not only captures a memory, but allows for the most unlikely of conversations to occur,

How a Sand Castle Business Thrived in the Pandemic- #221 Janel Hawkins | Sand Castle University

Aug 29 2024 82 mins

Janel Hawkins was just scrolling on Craigslist looking at jobs when she noticed one hiring sand sculptors, no experience necessary. She worked there through college, but as she was going into her senior year, she decided to blow her life up. In one month she cut her lease, left a bad relationship, dropped out of college, quit her job, and moved back home to start her own sand castl