School for Startups Radio

Jim Beach
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On 60 AmFm stations around the US, the show argues that anyone can be a successful entrepreneur when they forget creativity, risk, and passion! Join host Jim Beach, bestselling McGraw-Hill Author for his SBA award winning nationally syndicated radio show. Copy an idea, execute it better, start with less than $5,000 and reserve passion for family & religion.

  1. 55 MIN AGO

    May 22, 2026 – The Alloy Market Brandon Aversano and Legal Rights Cindy Cohn

    Brandon Aversano – Founder of Alloy Market In some of the darkest times come the brightest moments. Brandon Aversano is the founder of Alloy Market, a Newtown, Pennsylvania-based fintech startup launched in 2023 to bring more transparency, trust, and simplicity to the gold and fine jewelry resale market. Alloy Market buys gold jewelry and other precious metals directly from consumers online, offering a tech-enabled alternative to the traditional “Cash for Gold” or pawn shop experience. The idea came from a deeply personal moment. While undergoing cancer treatment at age 30, Aversano brought jewelry he had inherited from his grandmother to Philadelphia’s historic Jeweler’s Row, hoping to sell it to help cover mounting medical bills. Instead, he had what he described as “an absolutely horrific experience,” marked by lowball offers and little clarity into how prices were being set. That experience became the foundation for Alloy Market. The company’s model gives customers a free evaluation kit, insured shipping, and an offer based on weight, gold content, and current market prices. Alloy uses X-ray fluorescence technology, certified scales, and real-time pricing data to analyze each item and provide a more transparent process. Now, Alloy Market has launched a new model where sellers get paid upfront and also keep a share of the resale upside, something rarely seen in this category. The goal is to give consumers immediate liquidity while allowing them to participate in the additional value their jewelry may create on the resale market. The timing is significant. Resale prices for fine jewelry are reportedly up about 17% year over year, with high-value pieces seeing roughly 22% growth on resale platforms. Gold has surged more than 200% since 2020, and demand is especially strong for high-purity gold pieces and everyday “wearable assets,” rather than only ultra-luxury jewelry. Mid-tier jewelry in the $500 to $2,000 range is now driving much of the resale volume, while pieces with intrinsic material value, including gold, pearls, and certified stones, are outperforming trend-based jewelry. Before founding Alloy Market, Aversano worked in management consulting, strategy at JetBlue, and financial services at JPMorgan Chase, where he oversaw a major co-branded credit card portfolio, including the Amazon Prime card. Since launching, Alloy has raised approximately $3 million from partners including 11 Tribes, Hustle Fund, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners. At its core, Alloy Market is built around a simple idea: customers deserve honesty, transparency, and respect when selling valuable personal items. As Aversano puts it, “We just try to be as honest and transparent as possible. I think that goes a really, really long way with customers.” Brandon can speak to why more consumers are liquidating jewelry right now, what is happening in the gold and estate resale market, the shift from pawn shops to digital resale platforms, and why more people are moving from “buy and keep forever” to “buy, wear, and eventually liquidate.” Alloy Market, just launched a model where sellers get paid upfront and keep a share of the resale upside, something we haven’t seen before in this category. Cindy Cohn – Executive Director of Electronic Frontier Foundation The AI doesn’t know when it’s lying to you and when it’s not. Cindy Cohn is the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. From 2000-2015 she served as EFF’s Legal Director as well as its General Counsel.  Ms. Cohn first became involved with EFF in 1993, when EFF asked her to serve as the outside lead attorney in Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice, the successful First Amendment challenge to the U.S. export restrictions on cryptography. Ms. Cohn has been named to TheNonProfitTimes 2020 Power & Influence TOP 50 list, honoring 2020’s movers and shakers.  In 2018, Forbes included Ms. Cohn as one of America’s Top 50 Women in Tech. The National Law Journal named Ms. Cohn one of 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2013, noting: “[I]f Big Brother is watching, he better look out for Cindy Cohn.” She was also named in 2006 for “rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online.”  In 2007 the National Law Journal named her one of the 50 most influential women lawyers in America. In 2010 the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California awarded her its Intellectual Property Vanguard Award and in 2012 the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded her the James Madison Freedom of Information Award. Ms. Cohn is the author of the professional memoir, called Privacy’s Defender published by MIT Press in March, 2026. As part of promoting the book, she appeared on The Daily.

    55 min

  2. 2 DAYS AGO

    May 20, 2026 – VC Nikhil Choudhary and Cementing Change Mary Lou Panzano

    Nikhil Choudhary – Managing Partner at Nirman Ventures The world we live in right now is designed around a human form factor Nikhil Choudhary is a Silicon Valley-based investor and operator focused on technologies modernizing the physical economy. He has spent more than two decades building and scaling businesses across construction, manufacturing, logistics, and real-asset–driven industries, before turning his attention to early-stage investing in robotics, autonomy, and applied AI systems deployed in real-world environments. His work centers on under-digitized sectors where productivity, safety, and labor constraints present both structural challenges and long-term technology opportunities. Choudhary’s perspective is shaped by hands-on operating experience, with an emphasis on solutions that perform outside controlled settings and deliver measurable outcomes on job sites, in warehouses, and across industrial operations. Mary Lou Panzano – Author of Cementing Change-Cracking the Code for Communications that Work & Cracking the Rich Code Volume 18 You can’t fix what you can’t see as a problem Mary Lou Panzano is an award-winning communications executive with over 35 years of experience in employee communications at global companies, empowering leaders to guide strategic organizational change. She is a certified leadership coach, communications advisor, speaker, and best-selling author, passionate about helping people succeed through any change they want to make in their business or lives. Mary Lou is a featured author in the Cracking the Rich Code, Volume 18 anthology and a contributing author in The Art of Connection: 365 Days of Resilience Quotes by Entrepreneurs, Business Owners and Influencers. Her solo book, Cementing Change: Cracking the Code for Communications that Work, will be published in 2026

    54 min

  3. 3 DAYS AGO

    May 19, 2026 - Ageless Peak Performance Ted Yang and Geofencing Chris Seminatore

    Ted Yang – Author of Ageless Peak Performance: The Playbook for AI-Powered Excellence What becomes the real skill is knowing what’s real from AI slop. Ted Yang is a visionary entrepreneur, MIT-trained engineer, and multidisciplinary leader at the intersection of finance, technology, and social impact. With a career spanning elite institutions such as Bridgewater Associates and Citadel, Ted has led high-stakes investment strategies and built transformative businesses—from hedge funds and private equity platforms to high-growth startups like Daily Voice and Purple Insurance. Equally committed to public service and personal storytelling, Ted co-founded 4-CT, Connecticut’s largest COVID-19 relief fund, and earned a regional Emmy nomination for his creative work. He’s the author of a deeply personal memoir chronicling the premature birth of his triplets, Table for Five (see below!) and was appointed by Governor Lamont to the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education, helping shape the future of learning in Connecticut. A compelling speaker and storyteller, Ted has taken the stage at South Summit, Startup Grind, Cleantech Open, and university commencements, and is known for translating complex ideas into actionable insights. His thought leadership has been featured by Fox Business News, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR. Chris Seminatore – Founder of GetGeofencing A location is the strongest indicator of buying intent. Chris Seminatore is the founder of GetGeofencing.com, a location-based digital marketing agency that has worked with more than 1100 businesses across the U.S. and Mexico. He’s spent the past seven years helping organizations in highly practical, often overlooked industries like funeral homes, plasma donation centers, real estate, and political campaigns, and use geofencing and targeted advertising to drive measurable results. Before starting his agency, Chris served five years in the U.S. Navy, including deployments during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After leaving the military, his path included time in Los Angeles working in television commercial production, founding multiple businesses (one of which he exited), and eventually building GetGeofencing without outside funding. Today, he runs the company remotely from Mexico and is known for a straightforward, ROI-focused approach to marketing that prioritizes clarity, execution, and results over buzzwords or vanity metrics.

    54 min

  4. 4 DAYS AGO

    May 18, 2026 – Easy App Building Joel Brewer, Functional Health Dr. Dusty Hess and Ford’s Matt Atkenson

    Joel Brewer – CEO of Brewer Digital You can move really, really fast, but you have to know where you’re headed. Joel Brewer is the Founder and CEO of Brewer Digital, a US based software development agency that helps early stage startup founders launch products with confidence. A software developer himself, Joel works directly with founders who have an idea, some traction, or fresh funding but no internal engineering leadership. His team builds MVPs, rescues failed offshore projects, and helps founders make smart technical decisions before they burn runway. Joel believes most startups do not fail because of bad ideas. They fail because they build the wrong thing or build it the wrong way. Brewer Digital partners with founders who value communication, clarity, and long term thinking over cheap shortcuts. With deep experience in HealthTech and FinTech, Joel helps founders decide what to build next, why it matters, and how to launch without creating technical debt that slows them down later. Dr. Dusty Hess –  Founder and CEO of Upstream Health If you see yourself as not playing a role in your own health, and you’re leaning on your health insurance to get you healthy, you’ve already lost Dr. Dusty Hess is a functional medicine doctor, speaker, and founder of Upstream Health, where he helps Christian families restore health by returning to God’s original design. Our modern world has drifted far downstream from the way we were created to live. Processed food, chronic stress, poor sleep, environmental toxins, and disconnected lifestyles have left many families feeling burned out, inflamed, anxious, and spiritually depleted. Dr. Hess believes the good news is that the body was built for more, and it still remembers how to heal. Through Upstream Health, Dr. Hess helps families turn upstream again by restoring physical, mental, and spiritual health through faith-driven functional medicine tools, education, and community. Through Upstream+, a personalized functional medicine membership, and Upstream Magazine, a monthly faith-based health publication, Upstream Health equips Christian families with practical, God-aligned habits to help prevent and reverse chronic disease, reclaim energy, and live with greater joy and purpose. As a speaker, Dr. Hess brings together science, Scripture, and humor to make audiences laugh, think, and take action. His talks are faith-filled, evidence-based, and designed to inspire lasting change long after the event ends.   Matt Atkenson – Executive Director of Sales & Operations at Ford Motor Company What I know from small business is that they watch their costs relentlessly. Matt Atkenson is the Executive Director of Ford Pro North America Sales and Operations at Ford Motor Company, where he leads sales and operational strategy for Ford’s commercial, government, and dealer reported business channels. In this role, he oversees key areas including production planning, inventory management, vehicle allocation, and scheduling, while working closely with dealers, fleet customers, field operations, and retail marketing teams. He also serves as chair of the Ford Pro Dealer Council and Fleet Advisory Board, helping strengthen Ford Pro’s dealer network and support businesses that rely on work vehicles every day. Atkenson has been with Ford for more than 20 years and has held leadership roles across sales, service, dealer relations, field operations, commercial and industrial sales, and retail communications. His work focuses on aligning Ford Pro’s vehicles, services, and customer support with the real needs of North American businesses, especially commercial fleets and small business owners.

    54 min

  5. 15 MAY

    May 15, 2026 - WorkMoney Carrie Joy Grimes and Greatest Hits Mike Michalowicz

    Carrie Joy Grimes – Founder and CEO of WorkMoney and Author of The Joy of Money: How to Do More With and Feel Better About Your Money—No Matter How Much You Have Money is math plus motivation or feelings. Carrie Joy Grimes is the founder and CEO of WorkMoney, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping Americans lower costs, increase incomes, and build financial stability. Through its community of more than 9 million members, WorkMoney connects people with practical tools and resources that have helped them save more than $2 billion. Carrie Joy is the author of The Joy of Money: How to Do More With and Feel Better About Your Money No Matter How Much You Have, a practical guide that helps readers understand both the math and the emotions of money so they can build lasting financial security. Mike Michalowicz – Author of The Pumpkin Plan, CEO at Provendus Group Entrepreneurial success is around innovation based upon necessity. Mike Michalowicz is an entrepreneur, speaker, and bestselling business author known for helping small business owners build more profitable and sustainable companies through simple, practical systems. He is the author of several widely recognized business books, including The Pumpkin Plan, Profit First, Clockwork, Fix This Next, and Get Different. By age 35, Mike had founded and sold multiple multimillion dollar companies before experiencing a major financial collapse that reshaped his approach to entrepreneurship. That experience became the foundation for his focus on building businesses that prioritize profitability, efficiency, and long term stability. Today, he serves as CEO of Provendus Group and continues to advise entrepreneurs around the world through speaking, writing, consulting, and media appearances. Mike is also a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and a former business makeover expert for MSNBC.

    54 min

  6. 13 MAY

    May 13, 2026 – NYT Best Selling Author Jay Kopelman and Greatest Hits Kevin Johnson

    Jay Kopelman – CEO of Mission to Live Foundation and Author of From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, The War, And A Dog Named Lava These medicines don’t show you what you want to see or what you want to know. They show you what you need to know and what you need to see. Jay Kopelman is the CEO of the Mission to Live Foundation, dedicated to expanding access to psychedelic therapy for veterans navigating the invisible wounds of war—PTSD, mild traumatic brain injury, depression, and addiction. A New York Times bestselling author, former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, and two-time cancer survivor, transformed by ibogaine and  5-MeO-DMT therapy himself, Jay brings exceptional passion, lived experience, and urgency to this work. Jay works tirelessly to raise funds to provide psychedelic therapy scholarships for veterans and first responders in need. He has dedicated his life to service – either as an officer of the Marines for 20 years, a healthcare leader for 10 years, seeking improved patient outcomes (Johnson & Johnson, Airstrip); or as a business advisor to veteran entrepreneurs. A year after his transformation, Jay has evolved from participant to President and CEO of Mission to Live Foundation, having raised over $2 million to fund scholarships. He has firsthand knowledge of what’s at stake. In 2024, after a lifetime of service and battles both internal and external, he underwent a profound healing journey through ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT. His authenticity, transparency, and courage in sharing his own story have been the catalysts. His vision is for the foundation to be the “American Cancer Society of Ibogaine Access”: raising awareness, mobilizing resources, and ensuring no one is left behind, knowing every veteran’s path is different, and healing doesn’t end when the retreat is over. Under his leadership, the Foundation is setting a new standard for veteran care: not just funding treatments, but full-spectrum healing journeys that include integration coaching, meditation, functional medicine, hormone balancing, long-term support, and data collection to provide outcomes evidence. Jay’s fight for mental health access is personal and lifelong. From a young age, he felt called to defend those who couldn’t defend themselves. As a Marine, he served with honor—including in combat in Iraq. As an author (From Baghdad with Love), he helped reshape public perceptions of war and recovery. As a nonprofit leader, he’s supported countless causes—animal rescue, wounded warriors, humanitarian relief. Also a cancer survivor, he understands what it means to face death and choose to fight—not just for himself, but for others. Living with intention, today, Jay trains daily in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, speaks publicly on the power of psychedelic therapy, and mentors fellow veterans navigating their own transitions. He describes his work as a second chance—not just to heal, but to do good. Jay’s ethos is simple: “Go into the world to do well, but more importantly, do good.” For him, that means showing up—day after day, donation after donation, veteran after veteran—to make sure the doors to healing are open for everyone who needs it. As Jay says, he’s “just a regular guy trying to inspire others and show a little grace every day.” Kevin Johnson – CEO of Johnson Media Inc. and Bestselling  Author of  The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs The energy that it takes to go after a big idea is the same energy that it takes to go after a small idea. Kevin D. Johnson, founder and president of Johnson Media Inc., has several years of experience leading his award-winning company as a successful marketing and communications firm. It serves many of the most notable Fortune 100 businesses today. As an innovative leader, he has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS, CNN, Oprah Radio, and in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal. Recently, Johnson Media Inc. was awarded two 2015 Telly Awards. With nearly 13,000 entries from across the US and around the world, the Telly Awards honors the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world. In October of 2014, the company was also awarded a 2014 International Davey Award by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts today. With nearly 4,000 entries from across the US and around the world, the Davey Awards honors the finest creative work from the best small firms, agencies and companies worldwide. He also supports non-profits and enjoys doing community service as a volunteer for the East Lake Foundation, Junior Achievement, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, Economic Empowerment Initiative, Latin American Association, and Boys & Girls Club of America.

    54 min

  7. 12 MAY

    May 12, 2026 - Value Creation Family Lee Benson and Greatest Hits Second Act Jay Samit

    Lee Benson – CEO of ETW and CEO of Dinner Table and Author of Value Creation Family: The Proven Playbook for Setting Up Your Family to Enjoy True Success All of the opportunity in the world, in my view, is in the struggle. CEO Lee Benson has spent more than three decades helping organizations and families focus on what creates the most value. A lifelong entrepreneur, Lee founded and led eight companies, including aerospace company Able Aerospace, which grew from just two employees into a global operation with more than 500 team members serving over 2,000 customers in 60 countries before achieving a nine figure exit in 2016. Today, through ETW and his family leadership platform Dinner Table, Lee helps business leaders and families align around purpose, values, execution, and long term success. Lee is also the author of the bestselling book Value Creation Kid and the new book Value Creation Family: The Proven Playbook for Setting Up Your Family to Enjoy True Success, where he shares practical frameworks for building stronger families, creating lasting impact, and defining success beyond money. Known for his straightforward and actionable approach, Lee has become a respected voice on leadership, value creation, execution, and strategy. His insights have been featured in major media outlets including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Inc. Magazine, and he has appeared on networks such as CNBC and Bloomberg. Jay Samit – “Coolest Job,” Video on Demand Creator and Author of Disrupt You!: Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation Every obstacle out there is actually a new form of opportunity for an entrepreneur to create a solution to make life better and profit Jay Samit has been described by Wired magazine as “having the coolest job in the industry.” He is a leading technology innovator who has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for startups, sold companies to Fortune 500 firms, taken companies public, and partnered with some of the world’s biggest brands, including Coca Cola, McDonald’s, General Motors, United Airlines, Microsoft, Apple, Verizon, and Facebook. Samit is CEO of SeaChange International, a leading global multi-screen video software company. A technology innovator and entrepreneur, he was a senior advisor to LinkedIn and was appointed to the White House initiative for education and technology by President Bill Clinton. Samit is the host of the Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year series. Samit helped grow pre-IPO companies such as Linkedin, held senior management roles at Sony and Universal Studios, pioneered breakthrough advancements in mobile video, internet advertising, ecommerce, social networks, ebooks, and digital music that are used by billions of consumers every day. An adjunct professor at USC, Samit teaches innovation at America’s largest engineering school and is author of Disrupt Yourself: Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation. He frequently appears on ABC, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC and tweets daily motivation to the over 100,000 business professionals who follow him on Twitter. An expert on transformational corporate change, Samit has been quoted in The New York Times, The Economist, Businessweek, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Fast Company and TechCrunch. He was awarded with the Leonardo Da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award.

    54 min

  8. 11 MAY

    May 11, 2026 – BenefitRFP Bob Nienaber and Greatest Hits Larry Wyman

    Bob Nienaber – CEO of BenefitRFP Life has so much excitement that I really truly do live each day at its fullest Bob Nienaber, CEO of BenefitRFP,  a fintech executive benefits firm that helps HR leaders and CEOs turn executive compensation from a cost into a strategic advantage while increasing shareholder equity. Bob specializes in uncovering hidden revenue opportunities, typically $3–5M per company, by optimizing IRS and regulatory components of executive plans. Using proprietary tools like the benefitMATRIX™, companies can reveal $1M+ in untapped value in as little as 20 minutes. He has helped numerous Fortune 500 companies and large enterprises identify opportunities they didn’t even know existed, showing HR leaders how executive plans can drive real business impact. Beyond uncovering hidden value, Bob provides practical, actionable strategies HR leaders can implement immediately. From rapid plan audits to real-world success stories, he shows how optimizing executive benefits not only boosts shareholder equity but also improves employee retention, engagement, and satisfaction. His approach turns complex compensation plans into clear, measurable tools that drive both financial and organizational results. Larry Wyman – Co-founder of Okeanos We are poisoning ourselves daily with the amount of plastic that’s being made. Larry Wyman was a founding partner in the international commercial real estate development firm HRO International, Ltd. beginning in 1981, when he left the practice of law at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson in New York. He was responsible for all aspects of the commercial development process on 12 major projects in New York City during the 1980’s and 1990’s. He also directed HRO’s activities in London and Frankfurt from 1996 to 2004, as well as HRO Asset Management in New York beginning in 2004. Since stepping down from day-to-day involvement at HRO, he remains a member of HRO’s advisory board, with projects now focused in Paris. He became a Board Member of Okeanos in September, 2019, and has since stepped into the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Larry and his wife of 35 years, Sheryl, have two adult children, Nicole and Max, both of whom live in New York City.

    55 min
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About

On 60 AmFm stations around the US, the show argues that anyone can be a successful entrepreneur when they forget creativity, risk, and passion! Join host Jim Beach, bestselling McGraw-Hill Author for his SBA award winning nationally syndicated radio show. Copy an idea, execute it better, start with less than $5,000 and reserve passion for family & religion.

Information

  • Creator
    Jim Beach
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    101
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    School for Startups Radio