On the Way (OTW) with Ryan and Aaron Caradonna

Ryan Caradonna

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BUSINESS
UPDATED WEEKLY

Entrepreneurship | Sports & Entertainment | Life

2024-02-01

12: 1 Million Subs + 160 Million Views - Mike Rosa (Anabolic Aliens, Founder of Exerprise) shares his winning mindset, tricks and insights

- Routine beats motivation every time—how to set up your “frequency” to guarantee a more successful routine - Building an audience from 0 to 1 million subscribers by using a simple Problem-Solution template - Choosing an authentic mission by serving your younger self or others close to you Follow Mike! IG: @anabolicaliens Youtube: @anabolicaliens App Store: Exerprise Workout Meal Planner

43 min
2024-01-18

11: James Develin (NFL/Business Owner) - Winning 3 Super Bowls by Doing What Others Are Unwilling To Do

What does it take to thrive in the high-pressure world of the NFL? In this episode of OTW, Aaron and I explore this question with James Develin, NFL Veteran and 3x Super Bowl Champion who played alongside Tom Brady and under Coach Bill Belichick on the New England Patriots during the dynasty years. This episode is more than just football though; it's about resilience, teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence. Enjoy Episode 11 !

53 min
2024-01-08

10: Printing Success: how Austin Boyd (CEO, Alive Print Shop) turned simple written goals into a multi-million-dollar business

New year, new episode! On our first OTW episode of 2024, we hosted Austin Boyd. Austin has been running his business since he was a teenager, has had extraordinary success (millions in revenue, partnerships with celebrities, major league sports teams) and yet is one of the most humble people we’ve met. He shares a ton of wisdom on his journey and tips for building a sustainable business and growth mindset. In this episode we discuss: ✍🏽 Making $40,000 off school spirit merch as a Junior in High School—and learning hard lessons blowing through it 🐐 Losing 85% of revenue overnight when the pandemic hit, betting the farm on M&A and coming out with stronger performance than ever ⚡ How Austin thinks through hiring and organizational growth—via classifications of Technicians, Managers, and Entrepreneurs We learned a ton in this episode and think you will too—enjoy Episode 10!

47 min
2023-12-27

9: Making a Blockbuster Movie in the Hollywood Hills with Conor Holway (Founder, Golden Deer Productions)

Happy holidays y’all! Aaron and I brought the always charismatic Conor Holway onto the podcast to share some wisdom on everything from running events to producing his debut feature-length film Conrad the Last Defender. In this episode we discuss: How Conor hacked his way to hosting his first 50/100 person events and paid sponsorships at “The Snake Pit” Parlaying little wins into achieving a grand roadmap – Conor’s tactical tips for achieving his North Star vision of producing a Marvel Movie Hollywood economics—the actual costs and payoff potential of producing a film The pitch Conor used to recruit a star cast member who’s done over $1Bn at the Box Office Hope you enjoy episode 9!

31 min
2023-12-13

8: Mastering the Fundamentals with Arian Galavis (Partner, Perkins Coie)

We’re back! On this episode, Aaron and I got the privilege of hosting Arian Galavis on the show. Arian is a true renaissance man. He’s a Corporate/M&A Attorney by trade but moonlights as pro-level pianist…playing a wide array of music ranging from Beethoven to Blink-182 in his spare time. Arian shared a ton of wisdom on the importance of passion, fundamentals and consistency whether learning a new skill or striving to make Partner at a top law firm. In this episode we discuss: - Methods to fundamentally learning anything (vs. memorization), as illustrated by Arian’s training in classical piano - The mindset and actions it took to go from being a “terrible Junior Associate” to Partner - What a superstar Analyst/Associate looks like in Big Law / Investment Banking - Tactical advice for first time Business sellers We learned a ton in this episode and think you will too! Enjoy episode 8!

52 min
2023-12-05

7: Holding Serve in Tennis and Business with Bharani Sankar (Product, Runwise)

Howdy! Aaron and I had the pleasure of hosting Bharani Sankar on this week’s episode of On the Way. Bharani is a former state title winner & D1 tennis player who’s parlayed his mindset and approach to Product roles at high-growth startups that have raised millions of dollars. In this episode we cover the following: - Learning discipline through collegiate tennis and translating it to career - The importance of knowing your “game” strategy: playing offensive vs. avoiding unforced errors - Overcoming fear of putting yourself out there as a creative (whether making music, a podcast or a technology product) - Getting in touch with identity fueling motivation and purpose - The idea that Indian-Americans are due for a breakthrough in music, sports and entertainment – who will be the “Bad Bunny” breakthrough talent? Enjoy Episode 7!

57 min
2023-11-27

6: Mixing Business with Passion with Matt "Rapta" Raposo (EQ Tickets)

Special EQ edition of the pod today! Aaron and I brought our co-founder, Matt “Rapta” Raposo onto the show. This is a fun one because we know Rapta’s story pretty well (having worked with him at EQ for the last 2+ yrs), BUT even we learned a ton about his story in this conversation. In this episode we cover the following: - 💰Getting recruited by a Major record label and what these contracts actually look like - 🪄How musicians should think about AI + example use cases - 🧑‍🤝‍🧑Tips for building a team—whether as an artist or as a startup - 🎵 Rapta’s creative process when making a song Enjoy Episode 6!

57 min
2023-11-15

5: Chad Sonkin (Edge Theory Labs) - The Universe Rewards Action

All I can say is try skipping your coffee this morning and listen to this episode instead. Aaron and I had the pleasure of hosting Chad Sonkin on the Pod. Chad will inject energy into your day, I can personally guarantee that. Besides being one of the most energetic, positive people we know, in this episode we discuss the following topics: - Biasing towards action – “the universe rewards action” - Sales tips, tricks and hacks from someone who has worked at unicorn tech and consumer companies - All things cold plunge – the science, mental and physical benefits - An in-episode breathing exercise! Enjoy Episode 5!

58 min
2023-10-30

4: Find Your Way through the Rabbit Hole with Richard Jackson (Oklahoma Deputy Attorney General & Marine)

We’re back! For this week’s episode we got to spend time with @Richard Jackson. RJ is a swiss army knife—he’s a Marine, an attorney, an angel investor, a crypto-enthusiast and even a retired bodybuilder. In this episode we discuss: Lessons from the Marine Corp – building mental toughness, discipline and focus How RJ created his current title (Oklahoma Deputy Attorney General for Cybersecurity, Technology, and Digital Assets) leveraging all of his interests and experiences RJ’s insane NCAAF attendance track record (~100+ games in the last 10 years) and turning his passion for sports into entrepreneurial outlets (startups, investments) Where RJ sees investment/startup opportunities within the next-gen technologies that have recently emerged—Blockchain, AI, etc.—and how the US can use entrepreneurship to remain a global leader in innovation Mantra: “I am the river, I am the rock” Hope you enjoy Episode 4 with RJ!

1h 1m
2023-10-17

3: Robert DeWolff (SEQL) - Breaking the Mold

Robert (SEQL) is an energizer bunny. He keeps it real...really real about all things startups, motivation, and winning. If you're looking to start a venture or raise capital, there's a lot to learn in this episode about the realities of the journey. In this episode we discuss: You must find complementary teammates in business and in life Energy is often the one element you can control as a founder—bring it every day. Fundraising tactics Robert learned raising from tops VCs and Athletes such as DeAndre Hopkins and Barry Sanders SEQLs Growth Strategy moving forward and what Robert looks for in hiring Enjoy! --- Website: https://www.seql.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-de-wolff

42 min
2023-10-09

2: Bryan Pollard (Ask Alex) - Hang Around the Hoop

Episode 2! Aaron and I hosted product & growth wizard Bryan Pollard this week on the pod. We ran through a wide range of topics: from interning in Turks and Caicos to flipping baseball cards to Unicorn Startups he’s worked at (Bird, Route) to what keeps him motivated every day as he builds out his company Ask Alex. Some themes and takeaways from our discussion: There are a million paths to business success, but the best way to learn “how to do business” is to just do it rather than reading it in a textbook. Bryan started ith flipping baseball cards and those first entrepreneurial repetitions (i.e. negotiation, seeking value “investments”) still serve him today 15 years later It takes a bit of delusion to succeed as a founder of anything—having to run through stop signs of people telling you something can’t work makes you either an idiot or a visionary…or both 99 times out of 100 you have to take some big Ls before getting a W. Bryan minted 5 Bored Ape NFTs for $120 each in early 2021—for the unaware, these NFTs peaked at about $400k PER NFT in 2021/2022. Experiences like this can teach you how/when to take money off the table next time—"there’s no such thing as taking profits too early” Bryan shared some growth hacks he used at Bird (the Scooter company) to help the company become the fastest company (at the time) to ever reach a billion-dollar valuation When raising venture capital, find the people who align with what you’re doing rather than trying to change people’s (i.e. investor’s) minds! Oh and this search process may very well take 100 conversations so mentally prepare with that in mind You WILL have to pivot—the word pivot often comes with negative stigma but the best founders and companies continually pivot towards the best opportunities to apply their resources against. Bryan and Jordon Durst started Ask Alex as a B2C text concierge for restaurants (in 2021 before ChatGPT was cool) and throughout the last 2 years pivoted their way towards what they are today—an AI-powered B2B solution for brick-and-mortar companies (restaurants, retail, etc.). Pivoting and staying in the game has paid off—they’ve recently landed multiple recurring contracts, including a franchise-wide deal with a billion-dollar company Bryan predicts Messaging (i.e. SMS) as the next wave

42 min
2023-10-02

1: Aaron and Ryan Caradonna - What it Takes to Win in Sports, Business and Life

Yo! Aaron and I figured that we’d stand behind our claim to be community builders, starting with our own company, EQ. The world certainly wasn’t begging for yet another podcast, but we decided that a podcast would be a fun (and unique) way to document our journey at EQ and share stories, insights and secrets from all the talented builders, investors and entrepreneurs that we’ve met and will meet on our journey. With that backdrop, the podcast is named “On the Way” (OTW) for two reasons. We want to share where we’ve been in the past and the lessons we learned ‘on the way’, and to signal that we’re currently (and always) ‘on the way’ and doing what we can to enjoy the journey. For Episode 1 we thought it was only right to give background on ourselves and the journey to-date. We covered: Starting our first business—a sports agency—at 15 (me) and 20 (Aaron) years old Hustling to sign our first clients, the frustrations of getting clients poached or having them quit pre-season What the sports agent business is actually like (spoiler: not quite what Entourage paints it to be!) Our motivations and seeking opportunities that give us energy—“the reward for doing good work is more work”, so you’d better enjoy it!

42 min

12 Episodes

Entrepreneurship | Sports & Entertainment | Life

Creator

Ryan Caradonna
Years Active

2023 - 2024
Episodes

12
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Ryan Caradonna
Show Website

On the Way (OTW) with Ryan and Aaron Caradonna