Featuring Vermont’s most influential business leaders, Start Here bridges the gap between entertainment and inspiration by presenting the unfiltered stories of today’s top innovators. Everybody starts somewhere - why not Start Here? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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This special edition of Start Here features Jon McNeill — 6x entrepreneur, former President of Tesla, and author of The Algorithm — who spoke at AI After Hours on the hypergrowth formula that transformed some of the world's most iconic companies. Jon shares frameworks behind the explosive growth at companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Lululemon, and General Motors, and what founders and leaders can take…
After selling his company, Neil Shah took a break and found his next startup while sitting by his woodstove. That moment led to Oru, a woodstove-monitoring system that embodies a beautiful lamp. The catch? Neil knew nothing about woodstoves. He turned to Reddit, learning from the community that would eventually become his first customers, with more than 1,700 people now on the waitlist. A software…
“To be an entrepreneur, you have to be inherently lazy.” RJ Adler joins Start Here to give us the update on WheelPad, a manufacturer of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) based in Wilmington, Vermont. Aside from building ADU’s for families around the country, RJ talks about his experience coming from a large family of entrepreneurs, his early ventures as a student at Middlebury College, and why…
Michele Asch is the kind of leader who builds things… and then helps others do the same. As Chief People Officer at Twincraft Skincare, she's part of the team making Vermont a legitimate hub for skincare innovation, manufacturing premium products for over 150 brands across North America. Outside of Twincraft, Michele invests in startups by putting real capital behind Vermont founders who are…
If there’s an entrepreneur to watch right now, it’s Kevin LeSage. He’s the founder of SearchLight, an analytics platform bringing a clear, unbiased view to return on ad spend and showing contractors which leads actually turn into booked jobs. He’s taken a different path to get here, choosing to learn inside other businesses before building his own. From marketing and corporate sales to business…
Jason “J” Levinthal started making skis in his parents' garage at the age of 24. After founding a company, seeing it acquired, and realizing he wasn’t built to sit still, he launched J Skis, a direct-to-skier brand creating hand-crafted, limited-edition skis. With a background in brand marketing, J’s goal is to turn heads on the mountain and beyond, from brand partnerships to collaborations with…
Jason Wilbur is the founder of Wilbur, a luxury watch company. He joins the show to talk about what it really takes to break from the expected and build something entirely your own. After leading advanced design at Honda, Jason walked away to create what he calls “mechanized art”— a bold reimagining of luxury rooted in craftsmanship, rebellion, and individuality. Inspired by the counterculture of…
Julie Jatlow is truly a queen. She is one of the owners of Fuse, a teen and young adult marketing agency helping brands reach the younger generation. Julie explains everything from working with the world’s biggest brands to strategies centered on youth culture, sports, and experiential marketing. There are so many good tips and stories in here. Take notes! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy…
We sat down with our friend Chelsea Bardot Lewis, the Executive Director of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR). She’s steering VBSR into its next chapter by doubling down on in-person connection, pragmatic advocacy around housing, healthcare, workforce, and climate resilience, and building a stronger, more generous Vermont business ecosystem! We loved hearing her passion for the…
We sat down with our dear friend David Aronoff, managing partner at MCJ, one of the leading early-stage climate tech venture funds. David brings decades of venture experience, from building rocketship startups to investing at top firms like Greylock and Flybridge. What sets MCJ apart is its unconventional approach: no board seats, no led rounds, just relentless focus on portfolio support powered…
